The next morning, Tiberius and Miro were enjoying breakfast in Miro’s tent together.
‘This place seems to have an endless supply of the most superb food,’ remarked Miro as he bit into his apricot Danish.
‘Lots of sweet stuff like fruits and cakes,’ said Tiberius as he fiddled with his fork. ‘Nobody here eats meat. They treat the Sapes like friends. It’s very bizarre.’
‘We’ve been vegetarian for a thousand years,’ replied Miro. ‘I don’t think we could digest meat.’
‘You went a thousand years without tropical fruit, yet you have no problems digesting them,’ chuckled Tiberius.
‘It wasn’t all moss and ferns. We were able to grow berries,’ replied Miro. ‘Some years they were sweet. Sadly, there was never enough for everyone. Therefore, we let the children have them.’
‘It won’t be long before you’ll be able to bring the children to the surface,’ said Tiberius as he picked up a small piece of melon with his fork. ‘A beautiful life awaits them.’
‘Thanks so much to you, sir,’ replied Miro, nodding.
‘I’m making an important speech in the town square this afternoon,’ said Tiberius. ‘The next chapter of our lives is about to begin.’
Meanwhile, at the laboratory, Yassmay had been moved to a private room to recover. Daily had connected several devices and scanners to Orcilla in an attempt to determine if she had any brain function and if she was healing. Unfortunately, the machines were unable to pick up any activity.
Daily sat in a chair opposite her. He pondered what he could do next to help her.
In the next room, Yassme was awake and feeling a little better. Vulay decided it was time to question her.
‘Do you know why I have handcuffed you to this bed?’ asked Vulay.
‘You’ve always craved power and control,’ replied Yassme.
‘We have footage of you outside the laboratory covered in blood,’ said Vulay.
‘There’s also a hundred thousand shapeshifting Linap just outside our region,’ replied Yassme.
‘Where were you at 9 p.m. the night Orcilla was stabbed?’ asked Vulay.
‘I spent the afternoon and evening with Lily,’ replied Yassme. ‘Just ask your enforcers or even Lily.’
Vulay frowned.
‘When I left, your enforcers were not at their posts,’ said Yassme. ‘They would have seen me leave.’
‘They would have been helping with the generator,’ replied Vulay.
‘Are you forgetting that I just risked my life to save Orcilla!’ stated Yassme. ‘Have you ever known a killer to do that?’
‘No, I haven’t,’ replied Vulay.
‘There’s a camera outside the Hotel Prison,’ said Yassme. ‘Check that; you’ll probably find I’m on it.’
‘Okay, I’m sorry,’ sighed Vulay as she started to uncuff Yassme. ‘The evidence fitted.’
‘Did it?’ asked Yassme. ‘The power to the building was cut. Maybe you should be looking for whoever could have done that.’
‘We’ll look into it,’ said Vulay as she left the room.
That afternoon, a stage had been set up in the town square. A large crowd had gathered to listen to Hamish’s speech. This crowd included the Downs residents as well as many of the senior technicians. The ten Linap residents, Denise, Eugene, Colin, and Alex, stood in the front row. Lily watched from the rooftop of the Hotel Prison.
Tiberius, followed by both Duffo and Miro, walked up onto the stage. Tiberius was holding a microphone.
‘Hello to everyone, on this wonderful afternoon,’ called out Tiberius as he made his way to the centre of the stage.
‘It’s going to rain in an hour,’ shouted someone in the crowd. ‘I feel it in my hair.’
‘The weather can change very quickly, and so can our fortunes,’ said Tiberius in a solemn tone. ‘Two days ago, your leader was stabbed, and her life still hangs in the balance. A true tragedy.’
The crowd became quiet. Tiberius began to pace.
‘Yesterday, we came to an agreement regarding the seaweed treatment,’ continued Tiberius as his voice became more upbeat. ‘By the end of today, everyone in the medical centre would have received their first round of this miraculous treatment. By the end of next week, we hope all in the medical centre will be discharged with a clean bill of health. The years of suffering from sickness are ending now.’
The crowd began to cheer excitedly.
‘There are going to be more changes,’ said Tiberius. ‘All of these are for the benefit of Downs.’
Tiberius held his arms out to his side as he bathed in the loud applause of the crowd.
‘I will lead you into this great new era!’ declared Tiberius.
The applause continued.
‘As part of my new government, I will include the smartest, the best, and the most dedicated,’ continued Tiberius. ‘I’ll have representatives from Downs, the underground Linap, the frozen Linap, and the rescued from other regions. I will give you official structure.’
The applause continued. Denise looked around in disbelief at the cheers they were giving Hamish.
‘My deputies will be Duffo and Miro,’ announced Tiberius. Colin will be the head of the new Economic Institute. Eugene will be the only Head Enforcer. Yassme will be the head of technology. Alex will be head of food supply and distribution. Lily will be the head of the new House of Divine Knowledge.’
Tiberius looked over at Miro and nodded.
‘Our next order of business is the construction of new settlements for the underground Linap,’ said Tiberius. ‘All Downs residents who have not been assigned a particular duty in Downs will be involved in the construction. You will be relocated to campsites outside areas we have selected for construction. Our technicians will provide you with the equipment and expertise you need to get the jobs done.’
The crowd applauded again. Denise bowed her head and sighed. L1 Linap grabbed her hand.
‘They’re cheering for their own imprisonment,’ said Denise as she looked down at L1 Linap.
‘This is not over yet,’ said L1 Linap. ‘We’ll expose him for what he really is.’
Meanwhile in the laboratory, Daily was pacing up and down the corridor. He was still trying to think of a way to bring Orcilla back. He was incredibly frustrated; he had no idea what to do next.
Julie and Phillip entered the corridor. Julie was carrying a tray of cakes and Phillip a mind voice device.
‘Shouldn’t you be at Hamish’s big speech?’ asked Daily as they approached.
‘We want to help save Orcilla,’ said Julie.
‘I’m afraid cake isn’t the answer this time,’ replied Daily.
‘This mind voice might help, friend,’ said Phillip.
‘That’s sweet, but I can’t see how this will help,’ said Daily as he rubbed Phillip’s shoulder.
‘If it’s on the highest level, it can detect any thoughts,’ said Phillip.
‘You mean it’ll tell me if she’s still alive?’ asked Daily as his eyes widened.
Both Julie and Phillip nodded.
‘It’ll also tell me if she’s not,’ said Daily as he rubbed his head. ‘I don’t think I can handle that.’
‘It’s better to know, friend,’ said Julie.
Daily looked at both of them. Then he turned around and walked the other way.
‘I don’t understand,’ said Phillip to Julie.
‘Just put it on the side,’ replied Julie. ‘I’m sure he’ll change his mind.’
Tiberius had finished his speech, and as he was leaving, Jenna rushed over to him.
‘That was a lot of information,’ said Jenna. ‘I was hoping we would have a question and answer session.’
‘I had one planned, but look at the sky,’ said Tiberius as he pointed upwards. ‘I was under the impression the Downs residents didn’t like the rain.’
‘That is true,’ replied Jenna. ‘You’ll do it another time, then.’
‘Of course,’ replied Tiberius. ‘I truly value transparency.’
‘Talking about transparency,’ interrupted Duffo. ‘All of you need to try the seaweed and the therapy. Your brain will start flowing with memories.’
‘He’s absolutely right,’ added Tiberius.
‘Yes, it is time we all remembered,’ replied Jenna.
‘Tomorrow, we’ll be transferring our equipment to the laboratory,’ said Tiberius. ‘Once it’s up and running, we’ll start.’
Meanwhile in the laboratory, Daily was staring down at Orcilla. He was holding her hand.
‘Are you there?’ asked Daily as a tear rolled down his face. ‘Just something, anything, please.’
Daily looked at the mind voice. He took a deep breath.
‘Please, show me something,’ he said as he picked up the mind voice.
He looked at the back of the mind voice; on it was a label that read, ‘Yassme’.
‘If it’s calibrated for her, it must also be calibrated for you,’ he said as he looked at Orcilla.
Daily turned the dial on the side to the maximum sensitivity, and then he placed it on her head.
The mind net began to pick up faint murmurings and a few random words.
‘You’re in there,’ said Daily. ‘I was so scared you were gone.’
He looked over at the door where Phillip was standing. ‘She’s alive!’ he called out to him. ‘Now we just have to bring her back.’
Phillip clenched his hands together and began shaking them up and down.
‘Thank you so much,’ said Daily as he began to smile.
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 
