Epilogue and Chapter 79: Making the World a Better Place
Epilogue
Chapter 79: Making the World a Better Place
Over the next few months, the majority of the Downs residents moved back to the Downs Region. The technicians that were still living underground replaced the Downs residents in the camps and construction sites. They were more prepared for the climate above. They had developed a powerful factor ten sunblock. They also wore UV-resistant goggles and floppy hats.
Progress was incredibly slow because of the loss of transportation vehicles and shortages of resources. Initially, there were some food shortages, but the consistent work of the Sapiods and the return of the Downs residents very quickly resolved this problem.
Freddy was finally reunited with his parents and his older brother Eugene. They held a party in the Downs Agriculture Zone to celebrate. Freddy invited his closest friends from the West Camp. Even Hamlet, Rico, and fluffy Lily were invited.
Frank completed his musical, but the official opening night was delayed because there was no operating theatre in the Downs Region. The badly damaged and only partially built palace was going to be converted into the Downs Region’s official theatre and would become the home of Frank’s greatest musical. A makeshift open-air theatre was built in the Downs Agriculture Zone near the memorial. Despite becoming High Philosopher, Homer remained focused on his role in the musical. He would give a weekly sermon to encourage the followers who were mostly focused on helping technicians rebuild the Downs Region.
Sapey still did not have any formal leadership. Everyone was just trying to help each other with reliance on the senior technicians for guidance. The action team, which was led by Henders, had an official plan. They had organised a presentation at the town hall. All the other community representatives were present to discuss their progress. Orcilla, Vulay, Daily, Shamia, Lily, and Walter also attended as observers.
The presentation team consisted of Henders, Octavius, Eugene, Denise, and Louis. They were sitting at a table facing the others. Hamlet, who had replaced the chubby Sape, stood outside. She was looking through a hole in the wall. She had two carts of fruit with her to calm her nerves.
Denise stood up to introduce their plan. ‘I want to thank everyone for their input to our plan,’ said Denise. ‘We truly welcome everyone’s enthusiasm.’
Everyone in the room lightly applauded.
‘We want to create something that has never been done before,’ said Denise. ‘We’re sick of someone ruling over us. Whether directly or from behind the scenes.’
‘It’s because they’re all nutters,’ said Walter angrily as he patted his fist. ‘They cooked our beautiful region.’
‘Yes, exactly,’ said Denise, nodding. ‘I fought against this as an Inquisitive and then as part of the resistance. Now, we can finally win. I’ll let my good friend Octavius Spiro outline the plan so far.’
‘Thank you, Denise,’ said Octavius as he looked around the room. ‘I’ve been around a long time. I’ve seen many things. It’s always the same. Control ends up in the hands of the few. It does not matter if the leaders born are into power, seize power, or are elected. A thousand years ago, I was part of a meeting where we decided power had to be shared. In reality, it never happened. Those we thought represented us only represented the same characters from behind the scenes. This was a mere mirage of shared conditional power. As long as we have a face to power, we will have someone controlling it. From here onwards, there will be no faces to power, just representation.’
‘Are you suggesting we should be leaderless?’ asked Lily. ‘A form of anarchy.’
‘Shut up and let him finish, moron,’ said Walter as he stared at Lily.
Lily waved her finger at Walter, and Orcilla chuckled a little, which caused Lily to divert her stare towards her.
‘No, not leaderless,’ replied Octavius. ‘Quite the opposite. We’ll have leaders everywhere. Leaders in business. Leaders in innovation. Leaders in education. Leaders in entertainment. You name any area; they’ll be leaders. Anyone could emerge as a leader.’
Lily sighed and shook her head.
Octavius looked at Henders, who handed him a stack of notes.
‘Let me break things down into a less ambiguous structure,’ said Octavius as he smiled at Henders. ‘We want minimal intervention. We want society to shape itself. We want society to address its own needs and wants. On an individual level that will be automatic. In this regard, our framework serves the purpose of maintaining fair competition.
‘That’s Business Sector 2.0,’ chuckled Lily.
‘It’ll be nothing like that,’ replied Octavius. ‘There was no competition in the Business Sector. There were monopolies in every sector. The Government were the main buyers, claiming to represent the Sapiens. The only group they needed to serve was themselves.’
‘The Business Sector only served to enrich the Linap,’ interrupted Louis. ‘The Sapiens were forced to accept “rights” and the limited items that we could acquire within a limited time with the tokens we earned.’
‘Leaw gave me three pay packets in a row of just garden tool tokens,’ replied Walter. ‘I ended up with seventeen rakes, and I live in an apartment.’
‘Why didn’t you trade your rakes with someone else for something you wanted?’ asked Wendell.
‘Barter trade was a serious crime, friend,’ said Eugene as he stared at Wendell. ‘All rakes were electronically tagged. The moment the rake left his apartment, my enforcers would wrestle him to the ground. Repeat offenders would have flavoured ice cream suspended from their “rights” package for two months.’
‘That’s so savage,’ remarked Gilling.
‘Now you know why I went through that grumpy phase,’ sighed Walter.
‘In our new system, this will never happen,’ said Octavius proudly. ‘You will be able to buy what you like, and you can swap items with friends if you want.’
‘You seem to be onto something really good,’ said Orcilla, smiling.
‘That’s just the beginning and the easy part,’ said Octavius. Henders nodded excitedly in agreement. ‘I’ve only talked about individual needs and wants, which I expect competitive market forces to determine. We still need to talk about collective needs and wants.’
‘This is the new and really clever bit,’ said Denise, nodding as she rubbed Henders on the shoulder.
‘Oh finally!’ gasped Lily. ‘I’ll listen with baited breath.’
‘Argh!’ screamed Hamlet.
‘A shared sentiment,’ said Orcilla as she looked at Lily.
‘We are proposing that each region has its own representatives,’ said Octavius. ‘Their job will be to bring attention to matters that are important to the residents of their region, but they will not be responsible for resolving them. This responsibility will sit with whoever can win the battle of ideas.’
RJ, Scott, Alex, and Freddy entered the room carrying trays of giant novelty coconuts.
‘These look great,’ said Gilling, clapping.
‘Attention seeker incoming,’ said Walter as he frowned at RJ while Alex placed the coconut in front of him.
‘This is the berry brain blast mixed with a little coconut milk and banana puree,’ said RJ as he joyfully looked around the room. ‘If you want to know more about this fantastic concoction, just read my latest blog.’
Walter quickly got up and pushed RJ out of the room. ‘This shameless behaviour needs to end,’ he said as he closed the door.
‘I thought that was quite sweet of him,’ said Shamia.
‘It’s just part of his scam to get more views of his blog,’ said Walter as he sat back down. ‘It’s best to ignore him.’
‘It’s fresh and has a kick to it,’ said Vulay. ‘I’m definitely curious.’
‘No, no,’ said Walter, waving his hands at her.
‘Thanks, the refreshments are appreciated,’ said Octavius as he watched Scott, Alex and Freddy leave the room. ‘Anyway, where was I?’
Henders pointed at the notes in front of Octavius.
‘Ah yes, battle of ideas,’ said Octavius as his face lit up. ‘Our greatest and smartest will try to address any community problems. They will identify the symptoms and the causes of these problems. They discuss and debate courses of action, and the most heavily supported ideas will win the day.’
‘Are you suggesting some sort of vote?’ asked Vulay.
‘That’s the most expected approach,’ said Octavius. ‘Only experts in the relevant fields would vote. The expert with the winning idea will form a team to implement the proposed course of action.’
‘Who are these experts?’ asked Daily.
‘Someone becomes an expert based on personal accomplishments in a particular field,’ said Octavius. ‘Individual regions should decide the threshold needed to become an expert.’
‘You mean someone like Frank,’ said Shamia excitedly. ‘He’s a musical genius and a master electrical technician.’
‘I guess,’ said Octavius as he looked at Henders, who was nodding enthusiastically.
‘The opening night of the greatest musical ever is tomorrow,’ said Shamia. ‘This news will motivate Frank to a whole new level.’
‘Henders has suggested a system of metrics to determine if someone qualifies as an expert,’ said Octavius. ‘The current shortage of experts would set the bar quite low to begin with.’
‘How about funding and the Economic Institute?’ asked Lily.
‘The Economic Institute will be gradually phased out,’ replied Octavius as he looked at Henders, who was nodding. ‘It will be replaced by a blockchain-based system. New currency will be issued based on predetermined economic indicators. It will be distributed to winning projects. Every region will be allocated a share based on demographic data. If a region has significant needs, they can borrow from another region or raise funds through other means such as taxation.’
Vulay gestured an explosion above her head with her hands.
‘These are mostly Henders’ ideas,’ said Denise. ‘His brain is on another level.’
‘We will also have a blockchain database for all documentation relating to transactions, projects, and voting,’ added Octavius. ‘He wants complete transparency regarding newly created money and community projects.’
‘I don’t trust anything that confuses me,’ said Lily.
‘I trust something far more if it confuses her,’ chuckled Orcilla.
‘All of this is a few steps away,’ chuckled Octavius. ‘At the moment, we are focused on the elements of our framework that contribute the most to the current rebuilding efforts.’
Hamlet burped loudly. She had finished all of her fruit.
‘You’re running out of time, champ,’ said Walter as his eyes darted from side to side.
‘That’s the gist of our framework,’ said Octavius. ‘You can look at Henders’ four-thousand-page document; it’s mostly pictures. If you still have questions, come and look for me.’
Hamlet screamed impatiently.
‘Okay, that’s a wrap,’ said Denise as she stood up. ‘Feel free to bring your coconut with you.’
Everyone quickly got up and left the town hall.
The next evening, everyone gathered in the Downs Agriculture Zone. The recent flow of money from Tiberius’ account and the money gifted by Walter meant everyone could afford the exorbitant opening night price for Frank’s greatest musical.
Orcilla, Daily, Yassmay, and Yassme had just arrived and were about to take their seats in the tenth row. Polly rushed over to Orcilla. She seemed deeply concerned.
‘Are you here to watch the most anticipated musical in history?’ asked Orcilla.
‘Yes, sure,’ said Polly as she handed Orcilla a printout. ‘I have some concerning news. I took Hender’s coconut and ran a DNA test.’
‘This doesn’t matter,’ said Orcilla firmly. ‘He’s not who he’s related to. Nobody should be judged on that.’
‘It’s just that he’s playing such an important role in reshaping our society,’ said Polly.
‘Destroy this,’ said Orcilla. ‘It doesn’t matter. He should only be judged on his own actions.’
‘Yes, that seems fair,’ replied Polly, smiling slightly. A small flame came out of her finger, and she burnt the paper.
‘The electronic files too,’ said Orcilla.
‘Of course,’ replied Polly.
The little miracles walked up on stage and began to sing the theme song of the musical. A few moments later, Frank strutted up on stage. He was wearing his famous red outfit and his massive red wig. For a few seconds, he performed a little dance, and then he turned to signal to the little miracles to stop singing.
‘Are you ready for the greatest night of your lives?’ shouted Frank as he jumped up and down while looking at the massive audience.
‘Yeah!’ roared the audience; this was followed by a deafening ‘Frank’ chant.
‘So it begins!’ shouted Frank as he dropped to his knees. A few moments later, he flapped his arms frantically and then leapt off the stage.
The music blared out, and the greatest musical began.
Three hours later, the greatest musical ended to ecstatic roars from the audience. A few minutes later, the cast walked back on stage, and the audience erupted in ecstatic roars of joy again.
Yassme pulled Orcilla’s arm. Then she pointed at Walter and RJ, who were dancing joyously together.
‘It’s the power of the greatest musical,’ shouted Orcilla as she pointed at the several dozen Sapiods who had managed to climb the perimeter wall to watch the musical. ‘I feel everything has changed. We’re going to make it.’
Frank jogged onto the stage while shooing the cast to the back of the stage so that he could become the focus of the applause. Then he started skipping joyously. He was holding a small box in one hand and a microphone in the other.
After another five minutes, the deafening applause finally died down.
‘You loved it!’ shouted Frank. ‘How could you not love the greatest masterpiece ever?’
The audience clapped but less enthusiastically.
‘I can’t take all the credit,’ chuckled Frank. ‘Well, maybe ninety-five percent of the credit. This lot here deserves four percent,’ added Frank as he pointed at the cast and then the crew. ‘The final one percent belongs to my wonderful Shamia. Come forward, let them see you.’
Shamia walked through the cast and to the front of the stage, where Frank had dropped to one knee.
‘Oh Frank!’ said Shamia as she clapped her hands in joy. ‘Is this the day?’
‘A sham marriage is the final step on my journey to theatrical godhood,’ said Frank enthusiastically as he opened the box to reveal a large ring lolly.
‘That’s amazing!’ gasped Shamia.
‘Just say it!’ said Frank as he turned to stare at the audience.
‘The answer is no,’ replied Shamia, shaking her head. ‘I have someone else in my life.’
Homer skipped to the front of the stage and grabbed Shamia. ‘That’s me, arsehole,’ chuckled Homer. He kissed Shamia on the lips and then blew raspberries at Frank.
Frank’s mouth dropped open in shock. The audience roared in laughter.
Shamia shapeshifted into Leticia. ‘We fooled you,’ said Homer and Leticia together.
Frank stood up and screamed. He turned around to leave the stage, but the real Shamia was standing in his way.
‘Are you serious?’ asked Shamia.
‘It would be great for both our careers,’ said Frank nervously. ‘Yours in particular.’
Shamia turned around and walked away.
‘You will shine in my stardom,’ shouted Frank as he chased after her. ‘You’ll be known forever as Frank’s wife. Please, don’t go.’
The audience cheered in excitement as the two of them ran off. The little miracles returned to the stage to sing one final song.
‘Was that scripted or for real?’ asked Denise as she looked at Vulay.
‘I think it was a marketing stunt to get us to buy tickets to the next show,’ replied Vulay. ‘Surely he can’t be that dense.’
‘Maybe he is or maybe he isn’t,’ giggled Denise as she looked at Vulay. ‘There’s only one way to know for sure.’
Vulay looked around, and she could see everyone buying tickets for the next show. ‘Fine, let’s find out.’
Vulay opened her phone to buy tickets for the next show. ‘Okay, I got us tickets,’ sighed Vulay. ‘It was selling out fast. We’re back in row three hundred and thirty-three.’
Sapien Loop: Worlds Collide
Sapien Loop: Worlds Collide is the final book in the Sapien Loop trilogy. It continues directly after the events of the second book. The world above and the world below merge into one world. The conflicts in the underground world are brought to the surface. The new ruling elite attempt to crush any resistance from above and below in an attempt to create a new global empire.
Currently, three books from the series have been published on Amazon; see the links below:
All individual chapters can be found on my 