Epilogue: When the Past Becomes the Present
Octavius Spiro had no qualms about being the first to undergo the procedure. He had an adventurous nature, and he knew he needed to maintain a good relationship with August, who had become the wealthiest and arguably the most powerful in Sapia.
When Octavius was injected with the serum, his body did not react well. He was not as physically strong as Sapiod X. After remaining in critical condition for around a week, Octavius pulled through. It appeared he was growing bigger, and his facial features were changing. He was beginning to look like a Sentray. The growth spurt lasted around a week before he stabilised at around twice his original size.
‘I think I’ll have to lower the dosage,’ said August, rubbing his chin.
‘Let’s check if it really works first,’ said Maskameera as she picked up the shotgun.
Octavius waved his hands in fear, while Sapoid X nodded his head. Maskameera shot him twice in the chest, knocking him flat on the ground.
Three minutes later, he slowly sat him up. His wounds were already healing.
‘Now try shapeshifting?’ asked August.
Octavius looked angrily at Maskameera and then shapeshifted into his former self. Maskameera clapped her hands in joy.
Maskameera went next. She was injected with a smaller dose than Octavius. She was unconscious for several days, but she was stable. On waking, she noticed she had grown and looked different in appearance, but not to the same extent as Octavius.
Maskameera looked at herself in a mirror and shrieked, ‘I have scales.’ She quickly shapeshifted back into her former self.
‘Shotgun, please,’ said Octavius with a huge grin on his face.
‘Oh, of course,’ said Maskameera as she picked up the shotgun. She pointed it at Octavius and shot him in the face. Then she giggled.
August was next. He was injected with the same dosage as Maskameera. He was unconscious for a similar time to Maskameera. He awoke slightly bigger and with facial features similar to Maskameera. He continued growing for a few more days but was considerably smaller than Octavius and slightly bigger than Maskameera. They spent the next week testing their immortality.
Over the following decades, the Linap population continued to fall, but eventually, the extent of population collapse began to slow. Carvaress Company had developed a vaccine that greatly increased life expectancy and reduced the rate of sickness.
The Sapien population had exploded and far exceeded that of the Linap. It was time for the Linap to conceal their identity through shapeshifting. The secretly back breed Linap blended in with the Sapiens who were migrating to the newly constructed regions. This led to an unknown blending of genetics.
Reveileb’s new governance structure gave the Sapiens political and economic power. August was unhappy with this development. August did not want their power to grow. They needed a plan to take back power. They had to do it in a way that was not obvious. Maskameera proposed further separation of powers. The Economic Institute would become separate from the Government. The media would break away from the Business Sector. The powers of the largest businesses were to be further reduced by the Agreement of Four, which stated each industry must have at least four independently run businesses.
The proposal was very popular with the House of Divine Knowledge and the majority of the Sapien population. However, these changes greatly increased the power of the Economic Institute. August secretly owned the institute. Business owners elected the financiers who unofficially worked under him. All of whom were Linap. The media, which was predominantly controlled by Maskameera, grew more powerful with independence from the rest of the Business Sector. This enabled her to profiteer off almost anything as well as control certain political narratives.
One of the most important early narratives was the wastelands. It was the reason each region needed to be protected by high walls. The Alset generators built by the Carvaress Company were used to convert rubbish and waste products into a toxic-looking ash. Its appearance was enough to scare the Sapiens into staying in their ‘safe’ regions. This lie was hard to maintain as Sapiens still needed to travel between regions. Their path needed to be controlled. Otherwise, the Sapiens would realise that the wastelands were a lie.
The Sapien Loop was built on a pre-laid wasteland area. This area was laid by machines. The Sapiens who built the Sapien Loop could see the wastelands for themselves, and so could everyone who travelled on the Sapien Loop after construction. After centuries of travelling on the loop, this lie was unquestioned.
August, who had now lived many lives over, wanted more control. He arranged with the Carvaress Company to develop a new programmable currency. This would prevent any Sapien from accumulating wealth. The Carvaress Company agreed to do so in exchange for an enormous payout. This made them the most powerful company in Sapey, but still in line with the Agreement of Four.
Sapey was now thriving once again, and the quality of life of all Sapiens had become so good that very few wanted to put that at risk. The programmable currency was promoted for its convenience and yet another step to greater prosperity.
The Economic Institute had the power to make any Government look good or bad based on their control of the money supply. The media had the power to turn the population very quickly in favour of or against any political figure. The political battles between the Business Sector and the House of Divine Knowledge were just theatre, but very few, even at the higher levels, ever fully understood this. It was ironic considering the theatrical performances they put on in parliament.
Maskameera had fun playing various different roles across the centuries. August always remained in the Economic Institute. He never wanted to leave the centre of power. Octavius played a dominant role in the Business Sector, but he eventually became more of a recluse as he began to struggle to shapeshift. He was the only one of the three who was showing some sign of physical deterioration.
The young representative, Lily, caught August’s attention. There was something a little different about her. August had become perceptive of the slight flaws in each Linap’s Sapien form. Lily’s form appeared perfect. When Lily became a governor, he invited her to the Economic Institute to discuss the budget. August was now playing the role of Senyek.
Lily walked into the main meeting room at the Economic Institute. Senyek was sitting at the end of the table with Ofnisim, Maskameera Wolf’s new identity.
‘Off you go,’ said Lily to Ofnisim. ‘I’m here on official business.’
‘I prefer she stayed,’ replied Senyek. ‘I pride myself on transparency.’
Ofnisim began to giggle.
‘I’ve started what I’m calling a “rights” revolution,’ said Lily as she sat down on the other side of the table. ‘This year’s budget is going to be huge. Next year even bigger.’
‘Well, you’re in luck,’ replied Senyek. ‘The economy is in great shape. We’ll be creating lots of tokens for you to splash out on.’
‘You look beautiful,’ said Ofnisim as she got up and walked around to Lily’s side of the table.
‘Thank you,’ replied Lily as she then focused back on Senyek. ‘How about next year?’
‘The Business Sector will probably slow things down to spite you,’ replied Senyek. ‘That will put us in a difficult position.’
‘Couldn’t you use your influence?’ asked Lily.
Ofnisim grabbed Lily’s wrist. Lily turned sharply to face her.
‘I want to see you in Linap form,’ said Ofnisim.
‘Get off me,’ said Lily in a stern tone.
‘Don’t be afraid,’ said Senyek with a smile. ‘You’re among friends.’
‘This is outrageous,’ said Lily angrily. ‘I’m a governor.’
‘Yes, you are,’ said Senyek. ‘You’re a Sapien governor.’
‘I truly admire your strength and courage,’ said Ofnisim as she released Lily’s arm. ‘I want you to be the greatest governor of all time. My influence in media can do that.’
‘My influence in the Economic Institute will ensure you will always be well funded,’ added Senyek.
‘Why?’ asked Lily, sounding stunned. ‘You don’t see me as a fraud.’
‘You’re in good company,’ said Senyek as his smile broadened. ‘We’ll give you everything if you just do us the occasional favour.’
‘This makes me feel uncomfortable,’ replied Lily as she stared at Senyek.
‘You’ll feel far less comfortable if we expose you,’ said Senyek firmly.
‘She is a strong female leader,’ added Ofnisim as she gazed across at Senyek. ‘Promise me you would never request anything of her that would compromise that.’
‘Of course I wouldn’t,’ replied Senyek. ‘The main reason I’m supporting her is because of her strength and integrity.’
Lily looked backwards and forwards between the two. She felt incredibly nervous, but she did not let it show. ‘Okay,’ said Lily. ‘I agree to this arrangement.’
Lily charismatically won over the other governors affiliated with the House of Divine Knowledge to support her ‘rights’ program. She received positive coverage by the media. The Sapiens loved all the new ‘rights’ they were given, and the economy, according to the Economic Institute, flourished further. Lily was hailed as a hero and the greatest of all time by some media. She was commonly referred to as the G.O.A.T.
Pardi Carvaress was deeply annoyed with the success Lily and her policies were having. He decided to pay Senyek a visit.
Pardi stormed into Senyek’s office.
‘She’s giving them everything. It’s an outrage,’ said Pardi as he slammed his fist on Senyek’s desk.
‘We’re an apolitical organisation,’ said Senyek calmly. ‘We have no business getting involved in politics.’
‘I don’t trust your figures,’ said Pardi as he leaned forward on Senyek’s desk. ‘My wealth’s not growing in accordance with your figures.’
‘These are aggregates,’ replied Senyek. ‘Other businesses are obviously doing much better.’
‘Nonsense,’ said Pardi as he stood up straight.
‘Maybe if you did not spend so much time on your little experiments, you would be doing much better,’ said Senyek as he leaned forward. ‘You don’t want to mess with the natural order.’
Pardi frowned and then stormed out of Senyek’s office.
Senyek considered Pardi a threat. He had the best technology and the most wealth and was becoming increasingly uncooperative. He contacted Octavius Spiro to encourage him to develop artificial intelligence that would surpass Pardi’s ‘Cella’ program. Octavius refused until he had an official Government contract. Senyek asked Lily to visit Ripe Company in Jeed to facilitate a contract with Aivr and Direct Robotics to build an AI program based on the technology used in ‘Cella’. Octavius was secretly a part owner of both of these companies. Ripe was an ideal company to work with, considering their knowledge of John and Merida’s frequent trips. Octavius included a backdoor for the Government as well as for himself, Ofnisim, and Senyek to gain control over the AI program when necessary.
The AI program took longer than Senyek had hoped. Pardi’s security was sufficient to prevent him and any of his contacts from infiltrating them. The events in Adoy were a welcome surprise. It gave them the opportunity to approach Lily to seek an alliance with Pardi. Given the circumstances, Lily was receptive to this proposal.
Senyek was delighted when Lily managed to obtain full access to the Carvaress facilities. He soon became very alarmed when he found out that Pardi had access to Sentray DNA and was planning to create a Linap-Sentray hybrid. Senyek wanted Lily to send in enforcers to destroy all of Pardi’s work. She refused him as she still needed Pardi’s support to stop the Business Sector taking absolute control over the Government.
After the Business Sector won the Governors Election, Senyek knew the enforcers would not touch Pardi. Senyek’s dissatisfaction with Lily grew as she continued her alliance with Pardi. He needed another way to get to Pardi.
Ofnisim convinced Senyek to take advantage of the next General Election. A landslide victory for the Business Sector would result in plenty of new, inexperienced representatives they could target. In order to cause a landslide victory, they needed Lily’s support to collapse. Considering Lily’s recent conflicts with Jallelle and Pardi’s treacherous nature. This task seemed plausible.
Ofnisim promised Senyek she would use her media companies to do whatever was possible to ruin Lily’s chances of reelection. Opportunity arose very quickly when Jallelle approached several media companies with a video recording of Lily kissing Pardi. Ofnisim jumped on this opportunity. She used Wolf News, the company she founded, to completely destroy Lily’s career.
Ofnisim had obtained a reputation for being able to spin any lie when required. She had little to no morals, and her loyalty was to the highest bidder. Pardi and other Business Sector owners considered her ideal to cover the destruction of Adoy.
Ofnisim jumped at the opportunity. If she needed to, she knew she could hold what she knew about this heinous crime against the Business Sector and their new representatives. It also enabled her to obtain more inside information about them, their plans, and their weaknesses. However, Ofnisim’s strongest motivation was to see the Sapiens die up close.
Lily’s fall from power left her broken. Her encounter with Demarcus remotivated her. She knew there were more Sapiens like her. She had a strong desire to save them. Her hatred for Pardi deepened. She knew that exposing his plot could bring him down.
Lily decided it was necessary to contact Jennifer. Even though, at this point, Lily had no control over Jennifer, she knew that their interests would align. Jennifer could see the value of Lily’s help. Therefore, she provided her with data regarding the solution. Lily used this to help her scientists identify the toxic substances in the solution.
Her former friend, who posed as a scientist, betrayed Lily. This resulted in Lily being locked up in prison to be executed. Meanwhile, Senyek and Ofnisim realised that the new representatives could be easily manipulated and that Pardi’s grip on control was fading. However, they still needed someone on the inside. Lily seemed like the best option, as she still had access to the Carvaress facilities.
Ofnisim found a young girl who was an avid fan of Lily. She told her she could save Lily’s life. The girl went to visit Lily for a final prayer session. The girl handed Lily a note. Lily asked the girl if she really wanted to do this for her. The girl nodded enthusiastically. Lily and the girl shapeshifted and swapped places.
A day later, Lily met Ofnisim in a warehouse in the West Region. Ofnisim had kidnapped the popular newly elected Governor Rotiart. She intended Lily to replace him.
‘After Adoy, how can I trust you?’ said Lily angrily. ‘Your actions are beyond despicable.’
‘We do what we must do to survive,’ replied Ofnisim. ‘Look at yourself. You funded the horrors of Jeed, and you just let a sweet Linap girl die for you. We are not so different.’
Lily lowered her head and nodded.
‘Study him for a while, and then finish him,’ said Ofnisim as she handed Lily a large knife.
Lily took the knife and entered the room where Rotiart was being held captive.
The plan was to use Lily’s natural charisma to turn the governors against Pardi. That plan changed quickly when Senyek heard the Sentray scream. His hearing could pick up the high frequency of the scream. He contacted Octavius to find out more about the scream. Octavius told him that it was being broadcast from inbound trains to the Capital Region.
Octavius pondered the outcome of a Sentray attack on the Capital Region. He was unsure if they could overcome the might of the enforcers’ technology. He believed he needed them to leave.
In order for them to leave, there needed to be a huge security issue somewhere else in Sapey. He consulted with Ofnisim. She came up with the idea of banning the House of Divine Knowledge. She knew the newly elected governors were naïve and despised the House of Divine Knowledge. She was also aware that the House of Divine Knowledge was now actively trying to turn the Sapiens against the new Government.
Ofnisim met with Lily in the same warehouse to discuss how this plan could be pulled off. Lily showed up in the form of Rotiart. Ofnisim was impressed with how well she had taken to the role.
‘Even in this form, you absolutely exude charisma,’ said Ofnisim as she walked towards Lily. ‘So are you up for it?’
‘It’s still a tall ask,’ replied Lily. ‘After tonight’s emergency sessions, I might have the ammunition I need to convince these fools that the house must fall.’
‘I’m surprised. I thought you might need a little more convincing,’ said Ofnisim. ‘They are your home team.’
‘They let me down,’ said Lily in a cold tone. ‘I’m happy to take a stab at it.’
Lily pulled it off. The House of Divine Knowledge was banned. As Ofnisim had predicted, the riots broke out across Sapey. It was only a matter of time before they would need reinforcements from the Capital Region.
Soon, the Capital Region was left defenceless. If the Sentray attacked, the whole city would fall. Most importantly to Senyek, Pardi’s work on a hybrid would be stopped.
Senyek packed his belongings and boarded a train to Downs. He had agreed to meet Ofnisim there. They both planned to change identities to fit in with the locals. Senyek would become Colin, and Ofnisim would become Julie. Octavius chose not to join them. He moved onto his houseboat, which he relocated to the centre of the lake in the Lake Region.
Lily remained in the Capital Region to prevent Pardi from escaping. She believed she killed him. She went on to set fire to his laboratory. She escaped in his helicopter. She took with her some of his serum. She used the emergency protocol to regain control of Jennifer.
The sensors in the helicopter indicated it was heavier than it should be. Jennifer recorded the weight discrepancy. Octavius still had access to Jennifer’s outputs. He was suspicious, so he contacted Colin. Colin immediately suspected Lily had taken some of Pardi’s serum. Later, Jennifer sent a message to Octavius informing him that Cella was attempting to recall the helicopter. Octavius disengaged Jennifer from the helicopter and let Cella take over. It was their best opportunity to destroy the serum as well as to get rid of Lily now that she had served her purpose.
Colin expected the Sentray’s attack to end once they found the source of the scream. Instead, their attack was far more comprehensive than he anticipated. When Cellrebrum fell. He knew the situation was indeed grave. He had lost communication with both Jennifer and Octavius.
Colin had an idea how to stop the Sentray. Downs had a huge supply of fruit. He could use the fruit as an indication to the Sentray that the Downs residents were fruitarians. The Sentray would recognise this as an indication that they were not a threat. Colin approached Eugene with his suggestion. To his surprise, Eugene jumped on the idea with great enthusiasm.
Colin and Julie went outside the walls of the Downs Region. They climbed the tallest tree they could find to observe what happened when the Sentray arrived. At first, it first appeared Colin’s plan had failed. The Sentray in the east were about to attack. When Colin heard a high-pitched call from the west, then he heard a loud roar from a Sentray in the east. The attack halted.
‘How is this possible?’ asked Julie in astonishment. ‘How did you know the fruit would stop them?’
‘The Sentray are the greatest apex predator,’ replied Colin. ‘They know the value of preserving a future prey. They will be back when they need to be.’
‘You learnt this from your research?’ asked Julie.
‘I know this from the part of them that is inside of me,’ he replied as he turned to look at Julie.
Five days after the first Downs residents had moved out. Colin met Julie on the rooftop of the hotel.
‘I can see why Lily likes it up here so much,’ commented Colin as he looked out across the region.
‘Are you definitely sure she’s not around?’ asked Julie.
‘Oh yes,’ replied Colin. ‘She’s over at one of my warehouses. She’s requested a chariot be built for her.’
‘Her ego is unreal,’ chuckled Julie.
‘Our beloved G.O.A.T. thinks she rules the world,’ replied Colin. ‘We can’t blame her for that. Tiberius is at her mercy, and he controls everyone else.’
‘I absolutely despise him,’ scoffed Julie as she shuddered a little. ‘No wonder he was erased from history.’
‘His new reign of terror will be short,’ replied Colin. ‘Jennifer has completely mapped his mannerisms and personality. When we’re ready, we’ll give him the right drugs. We’ll let Jennifer creatively play out his final act. This will ultimately lead to Lily’s swan song surprise.’
‘Marvellous,’ said Julie as she clapped her hands.
‘Of course, we can’t forget her protégé, Yassme,’ added Colin. ‘Never underestimate a Carvaress, especially one with a smidgeon of Bramley genetics.’
‘Naughty, naughty,’ said Julie, shaking her head. ‘You didn’t tell me we had confirmed that’s how some of the Sapiens are able to shapeshift.’
‘Another great discovery by Jennifer,’ replied Colin. ‘She found the “Bramley” gene in a couple of her subjects.’
‘The gift that never stops giving,’ said Julie while subtly nodding her head. ‘I’ll let you handle the Carvaress mongrel. I’m eager to begin my next project.’
‘Is it food-related?’ chuckled Colin. ‘Octavius has become rather fond of desserts.’
‘No, friend, it’s not,’ giggled Julie. ‘If I ever make him a blancmange, it’ll be unexpectedly and uncomfortably spicy.’
‘Well, from that response, I can tell you have something particularly devious up your sleeve,’ said Colin.
‘My project involves Demadrian and Miro’s brother,’ said Julie as a smile broadened on her face.
‘That sounds promising,’ said Colin as he nodded. ‘We’ll have both sides chipped. Things can play out just as we like.’
‘I assure you, worlds are about to collide!’ said Julie excitedly as she grabbed Colin’s arm. ‘East versus west. Brother versus brother. Once Duffo replaces Tiberius, it’ll also be father versus son.’
‘That’s mind-blowing,’ replied Colin.
‘That is only the tip of the iceberg,’ said Julie as she tugged on Colin’s arm. ‘I have so many more creative ideas. Wait until I tell you about what I have planned for the Sentray when they return.’
‘I’m all ears,’ said Colin as the two of them walked towards the lift together.
Just as they entered the lift, a few ripples appeared in the swimming pool.
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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