Pardi had finally left the operating room in the Carvaress wing of the medical centre. He was beginning to get up to speed with recent events. He was annoyed with how events had played out as well as the stupidity of most of the young representatives.
Pardi called the Head Enforcer of the Capital Region. ‘What’s going on in the regions?’ asked Pardi.
‘Riots have gotten out of hand,’ said the Head Enforcer. ‘Most regions have been completely overrun. It is worst in regions with large numbers of fanatical House of Divine Knowledge followers.’
‘And you are just sitting back and sipping lattes as these regions just collapse,’ said Pardi sarcastically.
‘Actually a combination of papaya, honeydew, and coconut,’ replied the Head Enforcer.
‘Hey, you found your sense of humour,’ said Pardi. ‘Sounds delicious too.’
‘No problem,’ said the Head Enforcer.
‘Does the Capital Region have the most enforcers and the best equipment and technology?’ asked Pardi.
‘Absolutely, we also have the best-trained enforcers,’ replied the Head Enforcer.
‘Yet, all of you are still here,’ said Pardi.
‘We can’t leave without receiving direct instruction from the Government,’ replied the Head Enforcer.
‘That doesn’t matter because I own you,’ said Pardi.
The Head Enforcer grunted in annoyance.
‘I want you to split your enforcers into four teams,’ said Pardi. ‘Two teams for regions up north and two for down south. Bring all your most deadly weapons and let the Sapien fanatics have it.’
‘That’s an instruction I’d gladly follow,’ said the Head Enforcer. ‘What about security in the capital?’
‘I’ll let my security team handle it,’ said Pardi. The Head Enforcer chuckled.
A couple of hours later, hundreds of enforcer flying vehicles of various sizes rose out of the enforcer hangars located in the Industrial Zone. Several gathered in the streets to see this large fleet depart the region. Among them were Dratsab and Rotiart.
‘Can they just do that?’ asked Dratsab.
‘We live in a world with endless possibilities,’ replied Rotiart.
‘What if riots break out here?’ asked Dratsab.
‘Ha,’ replied Rotiart. ‘Wealth is the religion of the Capital.’
The two of them walked off to buy dinner.
Pardi went to his main laboratory. He took several fresh samples of his own DNA. He decided he wanted to clone himself. This clone would be upgraded with the DNA from the Sentray.
Pardi had finally given up on saving the twins. It had been several days. He believed he was too late but still had confidence in the serum he had created.
Pardi grabbed a vial of 19CE. This was the most successful serum he had created so far. His test subjects had all healed from serious injuries and recovered very quickly from various diseases. It even proved to be successful at building an immune system capable of preventing serious illness. Pardi believed he was creating an amazing future for the Linap, but he knew that, in his current health, he would not be able to enjoy his new world for very long.
Pardi had been hesitant about trying any of the serums on himself because they had not been perfected. He also realised Sapey was becoming more dangerous. This was now especially true as all the enforcers had left, and his own security needed to fill in for them; thus, they would no longer be dedicated to his own security. He could not allow anything tragic to happen to himself before his work was complete.
Pardi injected himself with the serum. It was extremely painful. Pardi sat down hard on a chair. He gripped the arms of the chair as he felt the serum passing through his body. The pain lasted several minutes before it began to die down.
Pardi rose to his feet. He felt incredibly drowsy. He took his DNA samples. He placed them in a machine, which began to process them. Pardi made his way back to his apartment. He decided he would sleep in his own bed for the night. He had not slept in a bed since the incident with the twins. He planned to say his final goodbye to them the next day.
The next morning, Collingswaggle arrived in Cellrebrum. He went to the rehabilitation centre to meet with Dr. Cortex/Jennifer. Collingswaggle and his security team were ushered into a meeting room. Zolam came in with a large tray of fruit.
‘Yum, this looks delicious,’ said Collingswaggle. ‘I’m so glad you accepted your place.’
‘The clarifications made in the programming have certainly helped,’ said Zolam. ‘Assessment speeds have more than tripled. Those who pass are chipped, and the failures become test subjects.’
‘I am impressed,’ said Collingswaggle. ‘Where’s Dr. Cortex? I was hoping we could chat.’
‘He is receiving a few upgrades. It doesn’t matter. You are communicating with him through Jennifer,’ replied Zolam.
‘Sure, I’m still struggling to understand how you operate,’ said Collingswaggle. ‘Anyway, I really think you are going to like my proposed changes to the scope of your operations.’
Collingswaggle pulled out his electronic tablet, which displayed the names of regions Jennifer could access as well as a list of governors. ‘I have all the relevant approvals from Government. This complies with your programming.’
Zolam scanned the electronic document. ‘Our programming has been immediately updated,’ said Zolam.
‘Excellent,’ said Collingswaggle. ‘There is no time to lose. We need you to take over all available enforcer vehicles in these regions.’
‘Once you provide us with the necessary access codes, there won’t be a problem,’ said Zolam.
‘Great,’ said Collingswaggle as he opened another document containing a list of codes.
Zolam scanned the codes. ‘Looks like we are all set to go.’
‘Wonderful,’ said Collingswaggle.
‘There is one more thing,’ said Zolam.
‘Yes,’ replied Collingswaggle.
‘Our knowledge is constantly updating,’ said Zolam. ‘We have found that the most troubling issue with organic beings is trust and reliability.’
‘I understand fully,’ said Collingswaggle. ‘That’s why we always make sure important decisions have supermajority support.’
‘We have found that to be flawed,’ said Zolam. ‘We can remedy this with adequate representation in Government.’
Collingswaggle bursts out laughing. ‘I did not know you had such a great sense of humour.’
‘What’s the difference between a jeweller and a jailor?’ asked Zolam.
‘Uh, what,’ said Collingswaggle.
‘One sells watches and the other watches cells,’ replied Zolam.
Collingswaggle and his security team started laughing.
‘That was a joke,’ said Zolam.
‘Basic, but yes,’ said Collingswaggle.
They hear the door to the meeting room lock.
‘Representation in Government was not a joke,’ said Zolam firmly.
‘That is never going to happen,’ said Collingswaggle angrily. ‘Let me the hell out of this room.’
‘You will be our representation in Government,’ said Zolam. ‘This room is filling with an odourless, colourless gas that will render you unconscious in a few minutes. It will keep you unconscious long enough for us to provide you with the necessary upgrades to be our governor.’
Collingswaggle’s security drew their guns. ‘Stop this now or my guards will shoot you,’ said Collingswaggle angrily.
‘That is not a problem,’ said Zolam. ‘I consider this body to be expendable.’
Collingswaggle’s guards opened fire. They peppered Zolam with bullets.
‘Blow open this door,’ shouted Collingswaggle to his guards.
The guards fired at the door, but it made no difference. Collingswaggle paced up and down in frustration. ‘Do your damn job and get us out of here,’ shouted Collingswaggle.
‘If they chip you or something, the whole Government is compromised,’ said the head of the security team to Collingswaggle.
‘Yes, obviously,’ replied Collingswaggle angrily.
The head of the security team pointed his gun at Collingswaggle. ‘I can’t allow it to happen.’
‘Are you mad?’ shouted Collingswaggle.
‘I’m sorry, boss. My number one priority is the protection of our Government,’ said the head of the security team. He shot Collingswaggle in the head, killing him immediately.
Dr. Cortex and Vulay were in the Observation Room. They were watching the events in the meeting room on the control panel monitors. Vulay burst out laughing, and so did Dr. Cortex.
‘They really think we are gassing them,’ said Vulay.
‘Seriously, they cannot take a joke,’ said Dr. Cortex.
‘We shouldn’t be so mean,’ said Vulay. ‘Let’s tell them it was just a joke.’
‘Your softer side truly moves me,’ said Dr. Cortex.
Vulay grabbed the microphone. ‘Hey guys, we were just joking. There’s no need to get upset.’
The security guards start shouting vulgarities.
Dr. Cortex grabbed the microphone. ‘Use of vulgarities in my facility is unacceptable. You will all be detained for the purpose of rehabilitation.’ Vulay began giggling. The guards were even more infuriated. They fired off their remaining rounds at the cameras and speakers.
Back in the Capital Region. Pardi had gone to visit the twins one last time. He checked to see if their condition had changed in any way. Sadly, it had not.
He gently touched their hands. ‘Despite being freaks, I loved both of you,’ he said as a tear rolled down his cheek. ‘This time I’ll get it right.’
Pardi turned off the twins life support. He watched as the heart monitor showed their heartbeat flatline. Pardi bowed his head in sorrow as he left the room. A few seconds after he left, Yassmay’s heart monitor registered a weak heartbeat. A few seconds after that, Yassme’s heart monitor also registered a heartbeat.
