Chapter 53: Real or Fake
Orcilla entered the medical centre. Yassmay was still lying on the floor. Yassme was sitting next to her. When Yassme saw Orcilla enter, she jumped to her feet and stormed over to her.
‘What did you do to my sister?’ asked Yassme angrily.
‘We’ve had a few very tough days,’ said Orcilla as she held her hands out to Yassme.
‘You put all this on her,’ said Yassme angrily as she pushed Orcilla.
‘She wanted to save them,’ said Orcilla as she took a step back. ‘She wanted to save everyone.’
‘They died, so you let her take the blame,’ said Yassme as she pushed Orcilla again. ‘I wonder who would have taken the credit if they had all lived.’
‘Please don’t argue, not in here,’ said Yassmay, who had now sat up.
Yassme walked back over to Yassmay. ‘I’m here for you, sister,’ said Yassme as she bent forward to put her arm around her.
Yassmay pushed Yassme aside and walked over to Orcilla. Orcilla put her arms around Yassmay and hugged her. Yassme stared angrily at Orcilla.
An hour later, a meeting was held in the town hall. Orcilla had invited Denise, Daily, Freddy, Louis, Eugene, Colin, Alex, Vulay, Demadrian, and Duffo.
‘It appears we are missing someone,’ said Orcilla as she looked at two empty chairs.
‘I have arrested Louis,’ said Eugene. ‘He is being held in a cell on the third floor of the Hotel Prison. He has no balcony access, and his desserts are being rationed.’
‘Good,’ replied Denise. ‘I suspect he has been communicating with an external party.’
‘External party? What external party?’ scoffed Duffo.
‘I think she is referring to the external party masquerading as my uncle,’ said Demadrian.
Duffo glared angrily at Demadrian.
‘Please, let’s not jump to any conclusion,’ said Orcilla. ‘It also appears we are missing Colin.’
‘Colin is meeting with Miro,’ said Duffo. ‘He is generously contributing more resources to this region.’
‘Fine, so we are all accounted for,’ said Orcilla.
‘Not quite,’ said a voice. It was L1 Linap. She and her wheelchair became visible. She rolled up to the table.
All those around the table looked at her in surprise.
‘It appears I’m quite good at this,’ chuckled L1 Linap.
‘You're more than good,’ remarked Vulay. ‘You made your wheelchair disappear. You were completely silent, and you even caught Orcilla out.’
‘I just hope I’m not intruding,’ said L1 Linap as she looked over at Duffo, who was angrily staring at her.
‘Not at all,’ replied Orcilla. ‘I’m sorry I haven’t invited you before.’
L1 Linap nodded.
‘Miro has informed me that Demadrian’s uncle will be arriving in two days,’ said Orcilla. ‘He claims he is bringing with him a cure that will save all our sick.’
‘Miro has offered you only kindness, yet you speak with such doubt,’ said Duffo as he raised his hands in annoyance.
‘You have good reasons for concern,’ said Demadrian as his gaze moved from Orcilla to Duffo. ‘You need to be confident you can trust him and this Linap claiming to be my uncle.’
‘I have my eye on everyone,’ said Eugene as his eyes darted from side to side. ‘My enforcers have put up cameras everywhere.’
‘I spent time with Miro’s younger brother, Flint,’ said Denise. ‘Even though we were the intruders, he treated us with respect and kindness.’
‘That’s true,’ added Daily as Freddy nodded.
‘That’s a strong endorsement,’ said Eugene as he held both his thumbs up.
‘I can help with identifying your uncle,’ said Denise as she turned towards Demadrian. ‘I have captured several pictures of him when he was frozen.’
‘He would be able to shapeshift to look like him,’ said Demadrian.
‘My cameras will be able to pick up any shifting,’ said Eugene proudly.
‘I can tell if he’s holding another form,’ said L1 Linap. ‘If in doubt, grab his wrist right here.’ L1 Linap held up her wrist.
‘She’s right,’ said Orcilla. ‘It works.’
‘Okay, just wait a moment,’ said Vulay in a raised voice. ‘What if we expose him as a fake? They aren’t going to just leave.’
‘If he is fake, he will also be exposed to Miro,’ said Duffo confidently. ‘Miro has clearly proven to be acting in this region’s best interests at heart. We have nothing to worry about.’
‘You really like Miro,’ said L1 Linap in a sarcastic tone. ‘Did he buy you flowers or something?’
‘I think we should speak to Colin,’ said Freddy. ‘I’m sure he has a good feel for him.’
Eugene pointed at Freddy and nodded.
‘If Demadrian’s uncle is the real deal, what are our next steps?’ asked Orcilla.
‘It’s obvious,’ said Duffo. ‘We test his cure on your sickest.’
‘We study it first. We run a few tests in the laboratory,’ said Demadrian. ‘It might not work the way he thinks it does.’
‘I agree,’ replied Orcilla. ‘After what we’ve just been through, we need to be cautious.’
Duffo threw up his arms and shook his head.
‘Have you ever tried telling over a dozen family members that you have saved their loved ones lives only to tell them two days later that you actually killed them?’ shouted Demadrian at Duffo.
Well… they’re,’ stuttered Duffo. ‘They’re only….’
‘Shut up if you know what’s good for you,’ shouted Demadrian to cut off Duffo.
‘I’d be very interested in hearing the end of that sentence,’ said Vulay as she stared at Duffo.
Duffo bowed his head and remained silent.
‘I think we should conclude this meeting,’ said Orcilla as she stood up.
Two days later, the group of underground Linap with L6 Linap and Polly arrived in Downs. Eugene and the enforcers had arranged their usual welcome party with a large banner and more carts of fruit. Eugene, Vulay, Orcilla, Demadrian, Duffo, Jenna, L1 Linap, and Miro walked through the gates to meet them. Enforcers and Miro’s guards followed them. Denise was sitting on the wall, waiting to watch with her binoculars.
Captain Cecil, L6 Linap, and Polly exited the first vehicle. Miro rushed ahead of the others to meet L6 Linap.
‘Welcome to the region of Downs, sir,’ said Miro as he bowed his head slightly.
‘It’s something functional at least,’ said L6 Linap as he walked towards the rest of the welcome party.
‘Uncle, the whole family is here,’ said Demadrian. ‘We are all relieved you are well.’
‘In my absence, you’ve done well keeping everyone together,’ said L6 Linap.
Demadrian quickly grabbed L6 Linap’s wrist. He expected him to shapeshift into his real form. L6 Linap remained unchanged. L6 Linap squinted his eyes as Demadrian quickly removed his hand from his wrist.
Jenna walked over to L6 Linap and put her arms around him. ‘Oh Daddy, I don’t know you anymore, but I want to know you again,’ said Jenna as she continued to hug him.
‘Oh, you will, my darling,’ said L6 Linap as he hugged Jenna tightly. ‘Soon you’ll remember everything, just like I do.’
L1 Linap studied L6 Linap closely to see if he was shapeshifting, but he appeared perfect.
‘Hello, I’m Orcilla,’ said Orcilla as she held out her hand. ‘We arranged a little welcome feast for you and your family to enjoy.’
‘That’ll be wonderful,’ replied L6 Linap as he rubbed Orcilla’s arm. ‘My robots have something special for you.’
Belford opened his chest cavity to reveal many vials of the seaweed cure.
‘That’s impressive!’ exclaimed Orcilla.
‘Nothing else,’ said L6 Linap as he shrugged his shoulders.
Orcilla and Jenna escorted L6 Linap into the region.
‘It doesn’t make sense,’ whispered L1 Linap to Demadrian. ‘Why does he have so many?’
‘He’s not shapeshifting,’ whispered Demadrian to L1 Linap. ‘So it’s him then.’
‘Can you remember what he actually looked like?’ asked L1 Linap.
‘Not sure,’ replied Demadrian.
Duffo pushed in between the two of them.
‘Smile, he is as promised,’ said Duffo as he put his arms on both their shoulders.
Denise joined them at the party. She approached Orcilla and Demadrian.
‘It’s him. He was frozen in the pod at Location 6,’ said Denise.
‘Looks like I was wrong,’ said Demadrian.
‘So the cure he’s offering should be real too,’ said Orcilla. ‘I can’t wait to run some tests on it.’
Vulay approached Polly. ‘So you’re a robot?’ asked Vulay.
‘No, I’m a cyborg Sapien,’ replied Polly. ‘My name is Polly.’
‘What happened to you?’ asked Vulay.
‘You took control of a vehicle I was in,’ said Polly. ‘Then you crashed it into the outer wall of the Adoy Region. The crash destroyed most of my body, but I did not die. Then Jennifer chose to turn me into a cyborg. I am surprised you don’t remember.’
‘I’m really sorry about what happened,’ said Vulay as she turned slightly pale. ‘I had no control over myself then. It was Jennifer.’
‘Jennifer controlled me too,’ replied Polly. ‘She had to disengage with me when Cellrebrum was destroyed.’
‘You’ll never have to suffer under her control again,’ said Vulay as she put her arms around Polly.
Lily was standing on the rooftop watching the party. Then the lift door opened, and out came Yassme. She was holding a plate with a slice of cake on it.
‘You don’t want to join in with the others?’ asked Lily as she turned to Yassme.
‘I’m not in a party mood. I’d rather be up here with you,’ said Yassme as she put her arms around Lily.
‘What’s wrong? You seem so sad.’ asked Lily.
‘It’s Yassmay. I’ve never seen her like this before,’ said Yassme as tears began to roll down her face. ‘She won’t talk to me. She just keeps crying. This just doesn’t happen to her. She’s so strong. Much stronger than me.’
‘What happened?’ said Lily as she led Yassme over to her poolside table.
‘Yassmay thought they had a cure for the sick,’ said Yassme as she sat down. ‘She tested it on some of them. It seemed like it worked, but it didn’t. A few days later, they died. Yassmay worked all day and night to save them.’
‘That’s terrible,’ said Lily as she rubbed Yassme’s shoulder. ‘I can’t imagine what that must have been like.’
‘I saw their bodies,’ sobbed Yassme. ‘They were ripped apart from the inside. I can’t imagine how much they must have suffered. Yassmay thinks it’s all her fault.’
‘I understand why she would feel that way,’ said Lily. ‘It’s not her fault.’
‘I should have been with her,’ said Yassme as she looked up at Lily.
‘No blame falls on either of you,’ said Lily. ‘You are both victims.’
Yassme sighed.
‘Come and take a look,’ said Lily as she got up from her chair. Lily and Yassme walked to the edge of the roof. They looked down at the party.
‘Do you see Orcilla over there?’ said Lily as she rubbed Yassme’s back. ‘Do you see her face?’
‘She’s smiling,’ said Yassme in dismay. ‘She seems happy.’
‘I don’t need to tell you anything,’ said Lily in a calming voice. ‘You can see the truth with your own eyes.’
‘I will destroy her,’ said Yassme as her face turned red in rage.
‘No, no, no,’ said Lily as she wrapped her arms around Yassme. ‘You must think of your sister. She needs you more than ever right now. You must protect her.’
Yassme continued to stare down at Orcilla.
Sapien Loop: End of an Era
Sapien Loop: Frozen in Time is the sequel to the book Sapien Loop: End of an Era. Sapien Loop: End of an Era is available on Amazon, in collection series on my @spectrumecons account, and in individual chapters in my @captainhive account.
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