The judgement of the accused was set for one week after Sanguine’s speech. The Head Enforcer randomly selected the jurors. However, his process was not entirely random. One of the jurors was one of his senior enforcers. The other eleven were selected from a pool of family members of those who had been killed at the Grand Final.
On the morning of the trial, the Head Enforcer went to the prison to meet the accused. They were all lined up in the prison courtyard. The technicians were lined up at one end. Hadrian stood next to them, and James was at the end.
The Head Enforcer walked past the technicians, paying no attention to them. He stopped in front of Hadrian and turned towards him.
‘Your father spent his whole brilliant life building the Alset Empire,’ said the Head Enforcer smugly. ‘You brought the whole thing down in a matter of weeks.’
Hadrian stared at the Head Enforcer.
‘Too afraid to talk,’ said the Head Enforcer. ‘I don’t blame you. You should be. A whole world of pain awaits you.’
‘I’m not the one hiding my face behind a helmet, Tiberius,’ said Hadrian in a stern tone as he began to breathe heavily.
‘You know I am only to be referred to as the Head Enforcer,’ said the Head Enforcer in a slightly raised voice.
‘It’s true,’ interrupted James. ‘It was part of his introduction at my….’
The Head Enforcer turned suddenly and punched James hard in the stomach. James leaned forward, gasping in pain.
‘Punching someone who can’t fight back is just your thing,’ remarked Hadrian.
‘I’ll see you later,’ chuckled the Head Enforcer as he walked off.
The enforcers grabbed the accused and took them up to the city hall, where the jury would judge them.
The Head Enforcer entered the main prison building. He walked down the corridor to the cell where the Hat Lady was being held. She heard footsteps. She touched the cell to make a large section of the wall invisible. The Head Enforcer was walking on the other side of the wall. He caught the change in the wall in his peripheral vision. He stopped. The Hat Lady saw the word ‘Head’ on his helmet.
‘Hey, I’ve been waiting to meet you. What’s taken you so long?’ insisted the Hat Lady.
The Head Enforcer turned to face her. He stared at her from inside his helmet.
‘I think it would be civil if you removed your helmet,’ said the Hat Lady calmly. ‘I don’t care if you have a face like a Sape’s ass. I don’t judge.’
The Head Enforcer began to chuckle. Then he shapeshifted into NB14564. The Hat Lady stood back in shock.
‘Why did you let me die? I thought you loved me,’ said the Head Enforcer in a childlike voice.
‘You’re here to bring us all down,’ remarked the Hat Lady as she continued to stare at the Head Enforcer in disbelief.
The Head Enforcer shapeshifted back into himself. ‘Today is only possible because of what you set in motion,’ said the Head Enforcer as he began to chuckle again. ‘I owe you a great deal of gratitude.’
‘You’re supposed to be dead,’ said the Hat Lady.
‘I don’t die,’ said the Head Enforcer. ‘Then again, I’m not surprised you thought that. Death follows you around like an old friend.’
‘I will come for you,’ said the Hat Lady as she stared intently into his visor.
‘Sure you will, but you seem much better at finishing off your friends,’ said the Head Enforcer as he shapeshifted into NB14583.’
The Hat Lady’s expression did not change.
‘Oh, that’s right, she’s alive,’ said the Head Enforcer as he shapeshifted back into himself. ‘This is fun. I fully understand why you got so many kicks out of it. Lucky Bucket 333.’
‘What the hell are you talking about?’ demanded the Hat Lady angrily.
‘I bought two centre field tickets for the Pound Ball Grand Final, but sadly, I couldn’t go. So, I donated them to the “Thirsty Sape”. I told them to give them to you in some sort of creative manner,’ boasted the Head Enforcer. ‘After winning with lucky Bucket 333, I knew you would give them to your friends. Perfect gift to the happy couple.’
‘Your obsession with every orphan is disgusting,’ said the Hat Lady as she continued to stare into his visor.
‘It doesn’t matter where you go or who you shapeshift into. I will always find you,’ chuckled the Head Enforcer. ‘I know you. I feel you.’
The Hat Lady continued to stare at the Head Enforcer as he turned and walked away.
‘Oh, by the way, threatening the Head Enforcer is a serious crime,’ called out the Head Enforcer. ‘I’ll have to tack a bit more onto your sentence.’
The Head Enforcer began to whistle as he went out of sight.
In the city hall, the trial was about to begin. The accused had entered the main hall. They were being escorted to their seats, which were placed directly in front of the jury. Jeff Yensid was in the main hall. He was among the survivors in attendance. When he saw James, he called out to him. James turned around. His face was full of joy when he saw his brother was alive. The enforcer with him yanked his arm hard to force him to continue towards his seat.
A few minutes later, the accused and the audience were seated. The jury came out to take their seats opposite the accused. The enforcers lined either side of the hall as well as the centre aisle, dividing the seats. Percival was standing closest to the jurors. Finally, Atlas came out. He took his position on a stage behind and above the jurors. He was facing towards the accused and the audience. There was no media presence inside or outside the city hall.
‘Good morning, everyone,’ said Atlas enthusiastically. ‘I’m here to chair the judgement of that lot.’ He pointed at the accused. ‘My jobs are to maintain order and announce the outcome. This lot in front of me will be doing the judging and sentencing,’ he added as he pointed to the jurors.
The audience lightly applauded.
‘This whole shindig seems pretty straightforward,’ said Atlas as he shrugged his shoulders up and down. ‘All of the accused have pleaded guilty.’
‘I’ve changed my mind,’ shouted James as he stood up abruptly. ‘I plead innocent. My conscience is clear.’
The audience roared angrily. Atlas looked nervously over to Percival. Percival shook his head and stepped forward.
‘Silence!’ shouted Percival.
The roar immediately died down. Percival approached James. ‘May I confirm that you have officially changed your plea to not guilty?’ Percival asked James.
‘I confirm, I plead not guilty,’ said James firmly as he leaned towards Percival.
‘Remove him from the hall,’ shouted Percival as he turned towards the guards at the front of the aisle.
The guards grabbed James and escorted him out of the hall. Percival returned to his position. He gestured towards Atlas to continue.
Outside, James Yensid passed the Head Enforcer, who was walking towards the entrance of city hall.
‘What are you doing with him?’ demanded the Head Enforcer as he looked at the enforcers escorting him.
‘I changed my plea,’ said James firmly. ‘I’m going to fight you on this, and I’m going to expose you for the fraud you are.’
‘Love the optimism,’ said the Head Enforcer as he patted James on the shoulder. ‘I’ll reschedule an elaborate trial for you sometime in the distant future.’
The Head Enforcer turned to the enforcers and said, ‘Put him in cell seventy-six. His friend is in the next cell. The company will be good for his morale.’
‘Yes, sir,’ responded the enforcers simultaneously. They yanked James away as the Head Enforcer made his way into city hall.
The Head Enforcer entered the hall just as Hadrian was about to make his statement.
‘I plead guilty to the horrendous atrocities committed at the Grand Final,’ said Hadrian as he bowed his head.
The hall remained eerily quiet.
‘I plead for clemency for my family,’ continued Hadrian. ‘They had no part to play in my dastardly plan. I’m the monster you want. I’m the monster who should face the full force of the law.’
‘Thank you, Hadrian,’ said Atlas. ‘You have made a brilliant case for both you and your family. Next, we have the technicians who put up the plexiglass and rearranged the seating.’
One of the technicians stood up. He explained in great detail about the plexiglass used in the stadium and how it was erected. He rambled on for over an hour. After that, another technician stood up and explained how they changed the seating to fit more attendees into the stadium as well as how the standing area was organised.
Percival asked them about the acid in the sprinkles. They responded by talking about water pressure and thermal sensors. Percival asked about the collapsing columns and roof. They responded by talking about the thickness of the pillars and the spacing between them. It was as if they did not understand what they were being accused of. The questioning continued for another hour, but little progress was made.
‘Thank you, Alset technicians,’ said Atlas as he rubbed his chin. ‘I believe we can confirm that you are pleading guilty to the charges that were read out to you earlier.’
The technicians nodded their heads enthusiastically.
‘Okay, I guess that wraps up our proceedings for the day,’ said Atlas. ‘Jurors deliberate your judgement and the sentences that you choose to give. We will convene tomorrow to hear your judgement.’
Atlas turned and left the room. The jurors followed him. The enforcers ushered out the audience.
James was taken to the cell next to the Hat Lady. The Hat Lady was curious about her new neighbour. She made a small, invisible peephole to peek through at him. Once she saw it was James, she made a huge invisible section in the wall.
‘You’re the biggest idiot in the world,’ said the Hat Lady in a raised voice.
‘Nice to see you too,’ replied James.
‘What have you done, and what’s going on out there?’ demanded the Hat Lady.
‘Jeff’s alive, and I have a plan,’ said James. ‘I’m going to fix everything.’
‘You hired Tiberius to be Head Enforcer,’ shouted the Hat Lady. ‘Are you brain damaged or something?’
‘No, that was Ryan,’ replied James. ‘He made a deal with Sanguine. He was worried he was going to start a civil war.’
‘So you put that maniac’s son in charge of ten thousand enforcers,’ said the Hat Lady sarcastically. ‘The exact thing he needs to win a civil war.’
‘When you put it that way, it does sound like a mistake,’ replied James.
‘Tell me everything. Tell me absolutely everything that has happened since I’ve been in here,’ demanded the Hat Lady.
Meanwhile, in a room at the back of the city hall building, the jurors were deliberating over their judgement and sentencing of the accused.
‘Hadrian Alset is unimaginably evil,’ said juror nine. ‘There is no place for him in this world. I say he’s put to death.’
Most of the others expressed their agreement with juror nine.
‘He did confess. Surely, that counts for something,’ said juror four. ‘Maybe we should grant some level of mercy.’
‘He showed no mercy for my son or any of the other fifty thousand,’ shouted juror three. ‘He never showed mercy to those who died in the mines. He is an evil who deserves the worst death imaginable.’
Other than juror four, the others loudly agreed.
‘Let’s take a vote,’ said juror ten. ‘Raise your hand if you want that monster put to death.’
Only jurors three, four, and twelve did not raise their hands.
‘He should be tortured and then killed,’ shouted juror twelve. ‘He took half my family. They never did a thing to him.’
‘We can’t sentence torture, said juror four. ‘We’re better than that.’
‘I suggest a compromise,’ said juror ten. ‘Raise your hand if you want that monster to suffer a very painful death.’
Juror four was the only one not to raise his hand.
‘No, we can’t do this,’ said juror four. ‘We’ll be just like him.’
‘Sorry, you’re outvoted,’ said juror ten firmly. ‘Now onto his rotten family.’
Meanwhile, in the prison, James explained everything that had happened to the Hat Lady. After he had explained, she let go of the wall. Without a word, she flopped onto the cell bed and buried her face into the pillow.
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 
