Chapter 84: The Genocide Cover Up
Denise, David, Hamlet, and the Bramley family had stopped at a rock formation to rest and conserve fuel for the rest of the journey. The food rationing annoyed Hamlet, but David was always able to calm her down.
Demarcus climbed the rock formation to look at the sky. He felt comfortable walking around in the wastelands now. Jacob, Janice, and Darlene were still afraid to wander outside the vehicle. Denise had little fear of the wastelands. She was taught by her father to question everything. She really missed him and hoped she would see him again soon. She also feared the fate of her mother. The world had become so unpredictable. Nobody was safe anywhere.
Darius was out of the vehicle. He was wandering around the bottom of the formation. Denise approached him. She needed to accept that he might remain Sapiod-like for good. She rubbed his arm. He looked back at her, but he did not recognise her. She began talking to him. She knew he probably could not understand much of what she said but hoped her voice might jog his memory in some way. It seemed hopeless. He just stared back blankly. As she turned to walk back to the vehicle, Darius reached out and grabbed her hand. She turned around to look at him. He still did not understand her or know who she was, but he did seem comforted by the sound of her voice. Denise decided to talk to him for a while longer.
Demarcus rushed down from the rock formation. ‘There’s something coming. It’s huge,’ he called out to the others.
‘What kind of something?’ asked Denise.
‘A huge flying machine,’ replied Demarcus.
‘We better get back in the vehicle,’ said Denise.
Denise and Demarcus got in the front, and the others climbed in the back. Denise drove the vehicle as close as possible to the rock formation so that they would be less noticeable.
Soon they could hear a rumbling sound. It was one of the giant flying machines. They could see it pass over them from the windows in the vehicle.
‘I think it’s heading to Adoy,’ said Jacob.
‘Any idea what it is?’ asked Darlene.
‘I think it’s used to spray crops in the Central Agriculture Zone,’ said Jacob.
‘I have a really bad feeling about this,’ said Denise.
‘Let’s be positive,’ said Janice. ‘They might be using it to evacuate the Adoy residents.’
‘Yeah, that could be it,’ said Jacob in a disheartened tone.
He put his arm around Janice. Janice spoke more positively than she felt.
A few minutes later, the flying machine was out of sight. The group felt relieved that those on board the machine had not spotted them. However, they were also terrified of what this might mean for Adoy.
At first light, they continued their journey to the Central Agriculture Zone. It was a clear day, so they used the solar panels on the roof to power them. They did not know how long it would take to get to the Central Agriculture Zone, but they were confident they were heading in the right direction. As long as they headed straight north, they should not get lost.
In Adoy, the violence had finally died down. In the absence of enforcers, the theologists and philosophers of the House of Divine Knowledge had managed to reason with the residents of Adoy. They called an emergency session in the centre of town.
Suddenly, the power went out again. Shortly afterwards, they could hear a rumbling sound. The giant flying machine moved in directly above Adoy. It stopped in the centre of town, just above where they had gathered.
‘Looks like they have come to evacuate us,’ shouted a resident.
The bottom of the flying machine opened. It began spraying something over Adoy. A dense gas drifted down to where everyone was standing. The gas was a type of hallucinogenic. Before long, the residents began experiencing vivid and terrifying hallucinations. They began attacking each other again. These attacks were primal. They knocked each other over and started biting each other. Some were even able to bite chunks out of others.
This continued for around thirty minutes. Next, the giant flying machine sprayed some sort of corrosive liquid. When it landed on the residents of Adoy, it started to dissolve their skin and flesh. They continued attacking each other, almost oblivious to the harm being caused to them by this liquid. This continued for almost an hour. All those in the centre of town were dead. Their bodies were hideously disfigured.
Finally, a dense toxic gas was released. This was to kill anyone not killed in the centre of town. Many of the residents were hiding in their homes; this did not protect them as the gas seeped through the vents. Others ran to the outer walls but soon found themselves trapped as the gas surrounded them.
The gas went everywhere. No one was spared. Latma was sitting in her apartment as the gas surrounded her. She remained unmoved until she fell to her side. More and more gas was pumped out. There was an instrument in the flying machine that could detect the presence of any living being. It finally registered that no one was left alive.
In Jeed, a similar extermination event was occurring. The giant machine was less effective at killing the residents as they could escape into the Southern Agriculture Zone. Once all the residents in the Jeed Region were killed through the various processes, enforcers were sent into the Southern Agriculture Zone to hunt the residents who had escaped. Some of the residents fought back. Eventually, they were all overwhelmed by the enforcers’ superior equipment and technology. The enforcers also hunted the Sapiods and wild Sapes for fear they had consumed the contaminated water.
After several hours had passed, the giant flying machines discharged another gas. This was used to break down the poisonous gas into something harmless. The technicians on the giant flying machine restored power to Adoy.
Media teams were lowered from the giant flying machines. The media were wearing hazmat suits to protect them from any form of toxicity, real or fake. The lead reporter in Adoy was Ofnisim. She was known for her documentaries on exaggerated, frivolous social issues. She was loyal to neither the Business Sector nor the House of Divine Knowledge. She worked for whoever gave her fame and a large payout in unprogrammed tokens.
Ofnisim began reporting in the centre of Adoy, where the death toll was highest. Her camera crew filmed up close to the bodies. She pointed to what she claimed were huge bite marks. She claimed that the toxicity in their bodies had caused these bite marks to expand. Next, she took the camera crew to a playground. They filmed several distant shots of dead children. Ofnisim insisted they stop filming, as she was too overwhelmed with the horror.
After a short break, the camera crew visited a childcare centre. The cameras panned across several rooms. They filmed the dead bodies of dozens of young Sapiens. Ofnisim did not add commentary to these scenes. She thought the images spoke for themselves. She thought additional commentary would make her appear callous.
Several drones flew around Adoy, capturing video footage of the bodies that most resembled the dead Water Sapes. They zoomed in close on several of them.
The drones flew over the train tankers that were carrying the solution. ‘If only the solution had been added in time,’ said Ofnisim in a sullen voice as the cameras zoomed in on several of the full tankers. The drones continued to film various areas of the region.
After a couple of hours of filming, Ofnisim was raised back into the giant flying machine. Ofnisim took off the hazmat suit. She sat by a window where the region could be viewed. The camera crew began filming her.
Ofnisim wiped some fake tears from her eyes. ‘I’m trying as hard as I can to be professional, but the scenes down there are too overwhelming.’
Ofnisim paused as she held her hand over her face. ‘The dangers from the wastelands are real. They are very, very real. There is nothing like seeing the carnage caused by this evil,’ she sighed. She looked down, and then she slowly raised her head as she looked towards the camera. She gently shook her head as a few more tears rolled down her face. ‘This is so hard, but I had to do it. I had to bring you the truth. I came here to report a rescue mission, but instead I give you this. It is a tragedy but also a very grave warning.’
Ofnisim’s face turned from sadness to anger. She looked directly at the camera. ‘There were delays in getting the solution into the water. Those delays may have cost this region thousands of lives,' she said as she aggressively raised her voice. 'Conspiracy theorists spread lies and doubt. Adoy has had more than its fair share of them. They are just as responsible for this tragedy as the wastelands. I urge the Government to pass much tougher laws against conspiracy theorists. They are worse than murderers, and they need to be stopped.’
They stopped filming. The producer ran over to Ofnisim. ‘Masterful performance. This is award-winning gold, hahaha!’ said the producer emphatically as he pranced around.
Ofnisim smiled smugly at him. ‘For me, and I deserve it,’ she said proudly. ‘Uurrrgghhhh, this place is disgusting. Let’s head home.’ She pulled a ghastly face as she headed to the buffet table to grab a slice of cake. The giant flying machine turned around to head back to the Central Agriculture Zone.
In Jeed, a similar process took place. The media coverage was in less detail. They used a combination of aerial shots and footage from security cameras in the various zones. This was sent to the giant flying machine departing Adoy. The production team used clips of the footage to make a special news report that was to be aired that evening. They combined all the footage to make a short documentary to be shown, in full, a few days later.
That evening, the news special was aired. Pardi was sitting on the sofa in his lounge with Collingswaggle.
Pardi turned to Collingswaggle. ‘They didn’t want my solution, so we gave them the final solution.’
They both laughed.
‘I’ve also solved the artificial intelligence problem,’ said Pardi. ‘The parameters of its programming have been updated to restrict it to just two regions. Danger averted.’
‘Conspiracy theorist problem has also been resolved,’ said Collingswaggle. ‘We are going to vote on the death penalty for anyone accused of spreading misinformation.’
‘My first batch of adult Linap has matured,’ said Pardi. ‘They’ll be ready to move to a new home in a few months. The next, much larger batch will reach maturity in several months.’
‘How are the babies?’ asked Collingswaggle.
‘The healthy Linap babies have just been moved to their new nursery,’ replied Pardi.
‘Wow, we’ve won,’ said Collingswaggle.
‘Almost. The rest of the solution needs to be distributed,’ said Pardi. ‘I suspect we will have widespread protests demanding the solution. I have enough for the whole country. I will become their saviour, and they will be extinct in less than a generation.’
Pardi and Collingswaggle raised their glasses of pineapple juice to congratulate themselves.
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