When Ginger’s medical condition had stabilised, she was transferred to the larger medical facility in West. As soon as Marlon was informed about his mother’s condition, he and Jeff rushed to West to see her.
‘She’s awake now,’ said the medical expert. ‘You can see her, but I must warn you that she might not quite be herself.’
Marlon entered Ginger’s room while Jeff waited outside. Ginger was sitting up. She was staring blankly into space.
‘Mum, it’s me, Marlon,’ said Marlon as he sat beside her bed.
Ginger continued to stare into space. Marlon held her hand.
He spoke to her for about an hour, but she was unresponsive the whole time. Marlon kissed her on the cheek and left the room. Jeff walked over to Marlon and asked him how Ginger was doing. Marlon threw his arms around Jeff and burst into tears.
A few hours later, Jeff and Marlon met Reveileb at the House of Divine Knowledge. The three of them took a walk in the grounds of the temple.
‘I can’t do this anymore,’ said Marlon as he hung his head down low.
‘Not on your own,’ said Reveileb as he put his arm around Marlon. ‘We go from tyrant to tyrant. Our system is broken. We need to fix it.’
‘The system benefits those in power,’ replied Marlon as he looked across at Reveileb. ‘Whoever gets or takes power has zero incentive to fix it. They just work for themselves, or more accurately, whoever is pulling their strings.’
‘The power structure grows ever weaker,’ said Reveileb. ‘None of them can keep their promises. The population grows ever angrier. We can give them someone who is willing to make positive change.’
‘History tells us prolonged anger leads to revolution,’ said Marlon. ‘Revolution has only ever brought more pain.’
‘It has,’ replied Reveileb, ‘but never in history have we been plagued with such catastrophic sickness.’
‘I don’t wish to further dampen the mood,’ said Jeff as he turned to face the other two. ‘The leaders of the Business Sector have arranged a secret meeting at the palace before the barbeque. Apparently, they don’t think they are rich enough as it is.’
‘They’re despicable,’ said Marlon angrily as he began to walk faster.
‘It won’t matter,’ said Reveileb. ‘All the wealth in the world won’t save their legacy.’
‘If they realised that, maybe we would have a chance,’ added Marlon as he slowed slightly for the other two to catch up.
‘James has managed to get himself invited,’ said Jeff. ‘Just maybe he can make a difference or at least acquire some important information we can use to plan our next steps.’
‘Let’s just hope it’s not a trap,’ said Marlon in a saddened tone.
A few days later, the leaders of the Business Sector met in the basement meeting room of the palace. James casually walked into the meeting room carrying a large container of fruit juice.
‘Hey everyone, refreshments are on me,’ called out James as he plonked the container down on the conference table.
‘What are you doing here?’ demanded Maskameera.
‘I’m here to represent Yensid Media, the Carvaress Company, and Ginger Holdings,’ replied James as he sat down on a chair at the table.
‘Hahaha,’ chuckled Jason. ‘I invited him because he promised Waldo would perform at my barbecue this afternoon.’
James grinned broadly at Maskameera.
‘Waldo is a fat, old idiot,’ said Maskameera angrily as she stared at Jason.
‘Enough of the bickering,’ said August Rezif, the vice president of Rezif Company. ‘James may not be one of us, but he still represents important Business Sector stakeholders.’
‘None of you would exist if it wasn’t for my entrepreneurial brilliance,’ boasted James as he briefly scanned the room with his eyes before stopping at Maskameera.
‘That’s wonderful,’ said Jason as he clapped his hands.
‘Maskameera, would you mind grabbing some glasses?’ said Joseph Bramley, Jason’s younger brother. ‘That juice is making me thirsty.’
Maskameera stared at Joseph angrily.
‘Don’t worry, I’ll get them,’ said James chirpily as he got out of his seat. ‘We wouldn’t want to burst Maskameera’s delusions of grandeur.’
Several around the table began to chuckle. Maskameera did not look impressed.
‘May we get down to business?’ asked August curtly.
‘Yes, let’s do that,’ said Jason as he tried to hold back his chuckling.
‘We have a way forward,’ said August. ‘There are several new vaccines that will soon be trialled. We have many new treatments that are beginning to show amazing results.’
‘That’s superb,’ said Jason as he pumped his fist. ‘I’m planning on starting a family soon. Can you assure me that my children will be healthy?’
‘They’ll be the next generation of technicians,’ chuckled James as he began placing glasses down on the table.
‘We’re still a few years away,’ said August as he glanced across at James. ‘None of this is going to be cheap.’
‘Great, we’ll mint more coins,’ said Jason as he nodded.
‘No, we won’t,’ said the head of the Economic Institute firmly. ‘We have too many coins in circulation. We can’t risk hyperinflation.’
‘You also said the vault was empty,’ said Jason, sounding concerned.
‘Yes, it is,’ replied the head of the Economic Institute.
‘Nothing to worry about,’ said August, grinning. ‘The Government is rich. Rich in assets.’
Jason broadly smiled at August.
‘We’ll buy the assets,’ said August confidently. ‘Then you can pay us with all the revenue you receive.’
‘That’s one heck of a scam,’ said James as he placed the last glass down and sat back in his seat.
‘It’s all legal,’ said August firmly as he glanced over to James. ‘We’re not criminals like you.’
‘I have no objections,’ chuckled James. ‘It’s almost exactly what I’d do.’
‘What will the Government be left with?’ enquired Jason.
‘We’ll leave you with some buildings for your emergency departments and enforcers,’ replied August.
‘What about the palace and the Economic Institute?’ asked Jason, looking a little stunned.
‘The palace will become the residence of the highest bidder,’ chuckled August. ‘The Economic Institute will still be under your leadership, but it’ll be owned by us.’
Several around the table put their fingers to their lips.
‘In theory, that all sounds great,’ remarked Jason. ‘However, there is something about this plan that leaves me feeling a little emasculated.’
They all began laughing.
‘Your personal wealth will vastly increase,’ said Maskameera encouragingly. ‘That’s all you need to be concerned about.’
‘Let’s drink juice and celebrate,’ said James as he stood back up.
‘Since you went to such an effort to bring this sweet juice, you should be the first to try it,’ said Maskameera as she grinned at James.
‘Sure, why not?’ said James as he scooped out a full glass and downed it within a few seconds. ‘It’s the perfect blend of the finest exotic juices.’
They all remained silent for a few seconds, and then Maskameera began to giggle nervously.
‘It really is great,’ said James as he helped himself to a second glass.
Shortly afterwards, they all helped themselves to a glass.
Half an hour later, the meeting ended. Maskameera approached James.
‘Sorry about my hostile attitude earlier,’ said Maskameera. ‘I didn’t really think you would poison us.’
‘Of course you wouldn’t think that,’ chuckled James. ‘It’s not like you slaughtered a convoy of innocents and I sought revenge on you for killing one of my closest friends.’
‘Of course,’ said Maskameera as she approached the meeting room door. She was about to walk through but decided to turn around.
‘That blend of juices was truly exquisite,’ said Maskameera as she looked back at James. ‘Do tell me what was in it.’
‘Pineapple, mango, banana, passionfruit, honeydew,’ said James as his face slowly began to light up, ‘and a dash of the very powerful mind-enhancing liquid blue juice.’
A look of horror came across Maskameera’s face. She turned to look into the large mirror on the meeting room wall. Her eyes had turned blue.
‘Welcome to the curse of the next generation,’ said James as he passed her to leave the room. ‘Think of it as an incentive to find a real cure.’
Maskameera stared at her own reflection for a few more moments before screaming in rage.
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 
