Just over an hour earlier, Orcille and the Inquisitives entered the area beneath the train station.
‘The food is basically ready. I just need to warm it up a little,’ said Orcille with a grin on his face.
‘I’m surprised you were able to cook a meal in this place. It’s not like it has any sort of kitchen,’ commented Victor.
‘Not exactly,’ responded Orcille. ‘However, this place is the entry point for anything manufactured outside of Adoy. We just so happened to have a delivery of cooking appliances and equipment courtesy of my employer, the Carvaress Company.’
‘Jeezz, you have a way of making things happen,’ said Victor, shaking his head slightly disapprovingly.
The Inquisitives took their places around a recently arrived conference table. Victor offered to help Orcille bring in the food, bottles of juice, and disposable cups and plates.
The food was placed in the middle of the conference table. The meat was presented on a large, industrial-looking disc at the centre of the table. The vegetables were placed at either end of the table. The bottles of juice were placed between the meat and the vegetables. A plate and cup were placed in front of each Sapien. The plates and cups were empty. Victor took his place at the far end of the table. Orcille stood at the opposite end.
Orcille drummed his fingers on the table and then cleared his throat. ‘Before we begin this magnificent meal, I would like to say a few words,’ announced Orcille.
‘Go on, yer big show off,’ yelled one of the Inquisitives.
Orcille ignored the remark and continued. ‘The Inquisitives were making great progress long before I arrived. You came up with an alternative economy and an alternative social system. You challenged the existing manipulative systems, and you offered something better. The representatives, the theologists, the philosophers, and any other form of authority felt threatened by you. They wanted to bury you. I came along and did just one thing. That was to give you a voice. Your words came out of my mouth. I am merely a conduit for the message in the hearts and minds of all who sit at this table tonight. Now, they can no longer bury you. They can no longer ignore you. This is the start of a new Sapien era,’ declared Orcille as he raised his hands in the air.
All the Inquisitives around the table began to applaud. Two of them rose to their feet while applauding louder. The others followed. Morgan began an Orcille chant. The others joined in. ‘Now, dig in and eat,’ declared Orcille in a powerful voice.
The inquisitives grabbed their utensils and started loading the food onto their plates. They poured the juice into their cups. Then they began eating. They seemed to enjoy the food greatly.
‘Wow, you were not exaggerating when you said this was the finest Sape meat. I have tasted no better,’ said Morgan to Orcille.
‘I ordered it from the Cabas Branch of the Ueban Company. They have recently developed a new way of seasoning the meat to give it a richer taste,’ replied Orcille. ‘I’ll email you the website if you are interested. I must warn you, you’ll need a lot of food tokens to be able to acquire even a small piece.’
‘Looks like you get some nice “privileges” working at Carvaress,’ said Morgan while raising an eyebrow.
‘At the moment, it is merely a means to an end,’ replied Orcille.
The Inquisitives continued to tuck in. Most of them began their second helping. Victor only had one helping. He enjoyed the food, but he was strongly against excessive indulgence. He was disappointed that none of the other Inquisitives showed the same restraint at this moment. Before long, the food on the table had disappeared.
Orcille rose to his feet again and said, ‘I hope everyone enjoyed the meal.’
A few from around the table answered affirmatively.
‘We are not done yet. I have also made a special dessert for all of you,’ said Orcille as he scanned the table with his eyes. He could see their delight and excitement about receiving more food. ‘This dessert is made from a special fruit only grown in the Southern Agriculture Zone,’ he declared.
‘Isn’t this all a little opulent? We would be better off using our resources to support our cause,’ interrupted Victor.
‘Yes, we would, but I did not use our resources. I used my resources,’ said Orcille in a slightly offended tone and a slightly raised voice.
The other Inquisitives looked a little uncomfortable as some tension became apparent between the two.
‘We are grateful,’ said one of the Inquisitives.
‘Yes we are,’ added several others.
Orcille continued to stare at Victor. Victor diverted his eyes away.
‘Who would like to help me clear the table?’ Victor asked the room.
Two Inquisitives volunteered to help. They placed the disposable plates and cups in plastic bin bags. They placed the disc in a large industrial sink and gave it a thorough wash.
Orcille brought in another large disc with the fruit dessert on it. He placed it in the centre of the table. ‘Tuck in, everyone. You are going to love it,’ said Orcille.
‘Umm, we don’t have any plates or utensils,’ said Morgan.
‘Should I grab some more plates and utensils, or maybe that would be too opulent as well?’ responded Orcille as he gazed directly at Victor.
‘You made your point,’ replied Victor.
‘Then maybe you could help me bring them in,’ said Orcille in a flat tone. ‘There are some more at the back.’
Victor and Orcille went off to get the plates and utensils. The other Inquisitives felt a little uneasy about what they were witnessing.
Victor and Orcille reached the back of the area. ‘Is everything alright?’ asked Victor.
‘I’m trying my best to advance our cause, your cause. I feel you don’t appreciate what I have done and what I am doing,’ responded Orcille in a saddened voice.
‘You have made an incredible difference. You have changed the momentum of our group,’ replied Victor.
‘This party was intended to celebrate us and you. You ate the least of any one of us. I put in so much effort, but it clearly didn’t please you,’ said Orcille in a slightly trembling voice.
‘I loved the food; I just do not like to indulge. Many of the Inquisitives do not have time to work and earn “privileges”. We get by with the minimum from the “rights” we receive and what we do to help each other. There is no room for indulgence,’ said Victor as he placed his hand on Orcille’s shoulder.
‘I’m sorry for acting aggressively towards you. I’m also stressed about the children that have gone missing,’ replied Orcille as he looked downward.
‘I too feel deeply troubled by what might have happened,’ said Victor as he gently squeezed Orcille’s shoulder.
‘The media are covering their disappearance and trying to bury us yet again,’ said Orcille in a frustrated voice.
Victor dropped his hand from Orcille’s shoulder and took a step back. ‘You are stressed about the attention their disappearance is being given,’ snapped Victor.
‘It is getting in the way of us achieving our goals,’ replied Orcille in a slightly startled voice.
Victor’s face turned red. He was about to say something but then stopped himself. He grabbed a big stack of disposable plates and utensils and briskly marched back to where the others were seated. Orcille did not immediately follow. He gazed at the ground. He had noticed, out of the corner of his eye, a doll poking out of one of the containers.
Victor plonked the plates down hard on the table. ‘Hand these out amongst yourselves. I need to leave,’ he said in an agitated voice.
He climbed the steps and exited through the basement door. The Inquisitives looked at each other, feeling confused by Victor’s reaction. They began to hand out the plates. They decided to wait for Orcille to return before commencing with the dessert.
A few minutes later, Orcille joined the room. He looked pale and had a very worried look on his face. The group just waited for him to say something. He was about to talk, then he stopped himself. He began pacing backwards and forwards. The Inquisitives at the table did not know how to react to his behaviour.
Finally, Orcille composed himself and said, ‘Go on, you can eat. It’s all going to be fine.’ Nobody said or did anything. ‘Please, just eat some of it. It’s really nice,’ pleaded Orcille.
‘Yeah, yeah, we will,’ said the Inquisitive sitting to his right. She gently touched his hand, but Orcille avoided any eye contact with her. The other Inquisitives began to take a share of the fruit dessert. Orcille sat down and stared blankly. He did not help himself to the dessert. The others appeared to be enjoying it.
Orcille got up from his seat. ‘I need to make a quick call,’ he said in a shaky voice. ‘I’ll be back soon.’
He went up through the basement door. He pulled out his phone and dialled a number. ‘Adoy Enforcer Department here. How may we help you?’ replied the voice over the phone. Orcille took a deep breath and said, ‘I’d like to report a crime…’
