Chapter 11: Those Cold Cold Brains

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The next day, Yassmay had organised intelligence tests for the seven Linap. She seated them at separate desks inside the lounge. They had a small booklet and pencil in front of them.

‘Hello everyone,’ said Yassmay. ‘Firstly, I’d like to thank all of you for cooperating with me.’

‘We’re lost in an unfamiliar world trying to come to grips with an unfamiliar life,’ replied L7 Linap. ‘So we have little choice but to work with you. Besides, you seem quite nice.’

‘Thank you, L7,’ said Yassmay. ‘I find you nice too.’

L11 Linap raised both his thumbs up in approval.

‘Today, I would like to give you a test to stimulate your thought processes,’ said Yassmay. ‘I believe if we can get you actively thinking, we might be able to help you recall more about yourselves. Any questions?’

The Linap remained silent.

‘Great, you may begin,’ said Yassmay. ‘You have half an hour to finish the test.’

After about ten minutes, L7 Linap slammed his pencil down and said, ‘I’m done.’

Three minutes later, L5 Linap did the same thing. Every few minutes, a Linap declared they had finished the test. L1 Linap was fifth to declare she had finished. L2 Linap was the last to declare she had finished. She did so with less than a minute left to go.

‘Well done,’ said Yassmay. ‘I’ll have this marked in a few minutes. You can relax for now.’

‘Do the results matter?’ asked L1 Linap.

‘Not really,’ said Yassmay. ‘Just though it would be nice for you to know since you made the effort to participate.’

‘You just know I nailed this,’ said L7 Linap as he looked over at L1 Linap with a big smile on his face.

‘You clearly missed the point of this exercise,’ said L2 Linap as she turned to face L7 Linap. ‘We are supposed to spend the thirty minutes thinking about the problems and not rushing to prove how smart we are.’

‘You make a great point, L2,’ said Yassmay as she exited the lounge with the test papers.

In the corridor, she bumped into Orcilla. ‘I spoke with Lily last night,’ said Orcilla. ‘She translated the contents of the document.’

‘Do you trust what she said?’ asked Yassmay.

‘I’m incredibly sceptical of everything she says,’ said Orcilla. ‘From the vibes I got from our conversation, I feel what she is telling me is probably accurate. It also aligns with our current thinking.’

‘Okay, that’s good,’ replied Yassmay. ‘Maybe she really wants to help.’

‘Would be nice, but she probably has ulterior motives,’ said Orcilla. ‘She’s probably taking the honest approach for now to win our trust.’

‘We’ll play it as it goes,’ said Yassmay.

‘Yes, ever remaining vigilant,’ replied Orcilla.

Orcilla then went on to explain to Yassmay what Lily had told her.

Meanwhile, Yassme had gone to visit Lily in the Hotel Prison. An enforcer had escorted Yassme up to Lily’s penthouse cell. Lily was on her balcony, enjoying the view of the region.

‘Aunt Lily, I had to come and visit you,’ said Yassme as she ran over to her.

‘I’m so glad you did,’ said Lily. ‘I’ve so missed your company.’

‘I’m so conflicted about being here,’ said Yassme as she leaned on the balcony railing. ‘You’ve always been my hero, but they always say bad things about you.’

‘When you say “they”, you mean Vulay and Orcilla?’ asked Lily as she stood next to Yassme.

‘Mostly, but sometimes even Yassmay,’ said Yassme as she looked down. ‘If anything, we wronged you.’

‘Forget about that interview,’ said Lily. ‘In all fairness, I got what I deserved. I lied and manipulated my way to the top. I wanted to be better than the other lying politicians, but if I’m doing the same things as they are, I’m clearly no better.’

‘There is a big difference,’ said Yassme as she turned to Lily. ‘You had good intentions and you admit when you’ve done something wrong.’

‘You’re so sweet and forgiving,’ said Lily. ‘It’s such an awful world. Such virtues are now treated as weaknesses.’

‘This is not to be the case anymore,’ said Yassme as she rubbed Lily’s arm. ‘We are building a better world. I want you to be part of this world. You’ll be the G.O.A.T. for real.’

‘You know something!’ remarked Lily. ‘I requested something you might enjoy.’

Yassme smiled and followed Lily back inside the penthouse cell. Lily picked up a speaker.

‘Let’s head to the roof,’ said Lily. ‘I have a song I wanna play, and I’m sure you have some dance moves to break out.’

‘The Lily G.O.A.T. dance!’ said Yassme in excitement.

‘Yup, they even have it here,’ said Lily as they got into the lift together.

Once on the roof, Yassme called out to Phillip, Scott, Julie, and Sophie. She could see them heading towards the Agricultural Zone.

‘We’re going to do the Lily G.O.A.T. dance,’ Yassme shouted down to them.

They turned around and began waving their hands in the air.

‘They want to join in too,’ said Yassme in excitement.

Lily turned the speaker on, and the song blared out across Downs.

Lily and Yassme began dancing at the edge of the rooftop. The four on the ground joined in. After a few minutes, several other Downs residents joined in. Before long, a large crowd had gathered around the Hotel Prison. Even Eugene joined in.

Orcilla walked out of the laboratory. She looked at all the Downs residents dancing in the streets. Then she looked up at Lily and Yassme energetically dancing on the roof. Vulay walked over to Orcilla. She did not look impressed.

‘She’s dangerous. She’s very dangerous,’ said Vulay to Orcilla in a stern voice. ‘Under no circumstances can we let her gain access to Jennifer again.’

‘Your concerns have been noted,’ replied Orcilla as she continued looking up at Lily. ‘She will not be able to communicate with anyone or anything beyond this region.’

Lily looked back at her. A big smile appeared on her face as she continued to dance. Vulay angrily turned around and left the area.

Lily played the ‘Lily G.O.A.T.’ dance song on a loop. They all danced for almost half an hour. When Lily stopped the loop, the Downs residents began chanting, ‘G.O.A.T.’ Lily grabbed Yassme’s arm and raised it above her head. The Downs residents cheered even louder. After enjoying the cheers for almost a minute, Lily and Yassme turned around and headed back to the lift to descend to the penthouse cell.

‘Oh my gosh, they were cheering me too!’ exclaimed Yassme to Lily as they descended in the lift.

‘Why would that surprise you?’ asked Lily as the lift opened and they walked back into the penthouse cell. ‘You’re amazing, and they’ve clearly noticed.’

‘I try to do what I think is best,’ said Yassme as she followed Lily to the lounge section. ‘It’s just that Orcilla is unhappy about my priorities.’

‘It’s very stressful being a leader,’ remarked Lily as she sat down on the sofa. ‘I heard on the bus trip here how bad it has become. So many are sick, so many are dying, and so many will never have children. Of course her priority is to fix this.’

‘So I am wrong to not help,’ said Yassme as she sat beside Lily.

‘Not at all,’ replied Lily with a smile. ‘There’s a difference between making something your number one priority and making something your only priority. Orcilla has fallen into this trap. That’s something a great leader would never do.’

‘Orcilla has sacrificed her own health to help others,’ said Yassme. ‘Surely that’s a sign of great leadership.’

‘A great leader must always put themselves in the best position to make the best decisions,’ replied Lily. ‘Poor health does not allow that.’

‘So what do I do?’ asked Yassme as she looked intently at Lily.

Lily began to chuckle.

‘Hey, what’s so funny?’ asked Yassme, frowning a little.

‘Seeking advice from an experienced leader is a great start,’ replied Lily with a smile. ‘It seems like I don’t need to tell you this because you just did that.’

Yassme smiled and nodded.

‘You also upgraded those buses to carry great weight across the wastelands,’ said Lily excitedly as she put her arm around Yassme’s shoulders. ‘I even heard you built flying vehicles twice as fast as the originals just out of scraps. You’ve made amazing advancements in renewable energy to power them.’

‘You just got here,’ said Yassme as she tilted her head in surprise. ‘How do you know all this?’

‘I was on a bus for a week with Downs enforcers and maintenance workers,’ chuckled Lily. ‘Trust me, these guys love to talk, and they love you.’

‘That’s… that’s so cool,’ replied Yassme. ‘I just didn’t realise I was appreciated.’

‘A great leader must surround themselves with those who are supportive,’ said Lily.

‘Oh yes, that makes sense,’ replied Yassme as she smiled and nodded. ‘I noticed you missed out one of my most significant inventions.’

‘I’m so sorry, do tell?’ asked Lily as she sat forward attentively.

‘Sapes do not have a voice,’ said Yassme. ‘I want to end that. I have developed a device that can read Sape’s minds. I call it “mind voice”. It consists of three components….’

Yassme explained in detail how her device worked. Lily listened attentively to her entire explanation. Yassme felt so proud she had captured Lily’s full attention.

That evening Yassme walked out of the Hotel Prison. She was whistling the tune to the Lily G.O.A.T. song when Vulay walked over to her and grabbed her arm.

‘I think it’s best you don’t visit her anymore,’ said Vulay firmly.

‘Is that because the evil AI told you she is evil?’ asked Yassme as she broke free of Vulay’s grip and began walking in the direction of her home.

‘She is evil,’ said Vulay as she pursued Yassme. ‘I lived through it.’

‘Ever thought that it was Jennifer who was evil,’ said Yassme in a raised voice as she turned abruptly to face Vulay. ‘She fed you lies. Besides, you can barely figure out what’s real and what’s a nightmare. I’ve known Lily personally. She was going to be my mother. We were going to be a family. Then everything fell apart.’

‘We’re your family now,’ said Vulay. ‘Denise, Orcilla, Yassmay, Daily, myself, and many others.’

‘I had a long conversation with Lily about all that I have done,’ said Yassme in a sad tone. ‘Do you know how many conversations I’ve had with Orcilla or even Yassmay about any of that stuff?’

‘We are living through tough times,’ said Vulay as she moved forward to give Yassme a hug.

‘The answer is none,’ said Yassme as she turned sharply away from Vulay. Vulay stood back and watched her walk away.

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Sapien Loop: End of an Era

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 @spectrumecons account, and in individual chapters in my @captainhive account.

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