Chapter 34: The End is Nigh
Two days had passed since Tiberius trimmed his executive council to just six. He tried to promote the move as a way to weed out the traitors. The technicians welcomed this, but they were still angry about the attack on Sophie by the imperial guards and the threat to the Downs children. Therefore, they continued to protest.
Tiberius had now prepared Miro, with the support of Henders, to address the angry technicians. Tiberius, Miro and Henders rode through the angry crowd of technicians who had gathered in the town square in Tiberius’ chariot.
The technicians remained silent as the chariot pulled up next to the stage. Tiberius, followed by Miro and Henders, walked up on stage. Hermon and Lily were standing in the front of the crowd. They watched Tiberius walk to the centre of the stage. He stood behind the podium. Miro and Henders stood on either side of him. The crowd remained silent.
‘Your anger is justified,’ began Tiberius as he looked at the large crowd of angry technicians. ‘Mistakes have been made. Those who wish to destroy us have infiltrated my Government. I, your Emperor, take full responsibility for these failings.’
There was a slight murmur from the technicians in the crowd.
‘I have removed the main suspects from my executive council,’ continued Tiberius. ‘I have given greater power and authority to only those we can trust. Miro is now my only second in command and has been given the title of “Grand Vizier”. Henders is the new Head Technician and will deal with any and all your grievances.’
The technicians began to cheer slightly.
‘I’ll hand over to the Grand Vizier Miro,’ said Tiberius. He then stood back, and Miro stood behind the podium.
‘Good morning, everyone,’ said Miro with a grin on his face. ‘It is wonderful to see everyone out and about.’
The crowd returned to silence.
‘I admit these are not the best circumstances,’ continued Miro. ‘Our Empire has been thrown into chaos. You are right to be angry. You are right to be out here protesting. And you are right to let us know we are failing. That is what I love about all of you. You act in good faith, and you are all deeply passionate about our Empire.’
The crowd began to slightly cheer again.
‘I want everyone to know that your anger has not fallen on deaf ears,’ continued Miro. ‘Our Emperor is committed to eliminating those who desire to destroy us with lies and violence. That time is soon, very soon. I have led you for decades, and I have never failed you. If you have any doubts just turn to one of your own. The best of you all, the best of us all, someone of absolute honesty, Henders!’
The crowd softly cheered. Henders stepped forward to stand next to Miro.
‘Let them know, let them know the truth, Henders,’ said Miro as he patted Henders on the back.
Henders’ eyes darted from side-to-side. The crowd murmured in anticipation.
‘What’s he going to do?’ said Hermon as he gritted his teeth together hard. ‘The anticipation is killing me.’
Hermon’s head began to bob around. Lily sighed and rolled her eyes.
To roughly shoulder height, Henders raised his elbows up to the side of his body. He continued to scan the crowd with his eyes.
Tiberius was starting to feel annoyed by Henders’ hesitation, but he did not respond.
Suddenly, Henders’ eyes stopped moving and began to bulge. He dropped his elbows a little and raised both his thumbs up. The technicians in the crowd roared in approval.
Hermon threw his arms around Lily. ‘Haha, he did it!’ he said joyfully.
‘Urgh, get off me!’ said Lily angrily as she pushed Hermon away.
‘Could there possibly be a more assuring suggestion?’ called out Miro. ‘The Emperor places his trust in him, and he places his trust in you.’
The crowd began chanting, ‘Henders’, and a few seconds later, they began chanting, ‘Tiberius’.
Tiberius stepped forward. He raised his hands triumphantly.
The chants and cheers continued for another ten minutes. Then the technicians started leaving the town square to head back to their jobs. Tiberius put his arm around Henders, and they both climbed into the chariot. Miro climbed in behind them. They rode off towards the hotel. Hermon chased after them while waving his arms frantically.
Lily disappeared into a group of the dispersing crowd. She used this opportunity to become invisible. Once invisible, she made her way to the House of Divine Knowledge temple. She entered through the main entrance. She walked to the back of the temple. She entered a passageway. At the end of the passageway was a fake wall. She pushed a brick, and the wall opened up. She then walked down a short flight of stairs that led into the room where the resistance had been hiding.
‘We heard a lot of cheering going on up there,’ remarked Vulay. ‘We even heard them chanting Tiberius’ name.’
‘Tiberius has managed to win them over using Henders,’ replied Lily. ‘They regard him as a hero. I don’t quite understand the logic, but apparently it worked.’
‘That explains why Colin became so close to him,’ remarked the Hat Lady.
‘Henders is filled with the spirit of Downs, friend,’ added Eugene. ‘He’s the only one of them I would trust.’
‘Despite this, Tiberius is still in deep trouble,’ continued Lily. ‘He has removed half his executive council and even had his annoying son Duffo arrested.’
‘But he didn’t fire you,’ remarked the Hat Lady.
‘Oh no, of course not,’ chuckled Lily. ‘The exact opposite, in fact. I spun him a beautiful story about him ascending to become the new higher power.’
The others gasped.
Meanwhile, in the Industrial Zone, Polly, with the help of Belford, had just finished building Jennifer her new robot body. She was now transferring her consciousness into the body.
Within a few minutes, Jennifer’s robot eyes glowed green. Jennifer stood up. Her robot body was tall and slender. She was significantly taller than Polly.
‘This is it,’ said Polly, looking up at Jennifer’s new face. ‘Time for you to disable all your head chips.’
‘That is occurring as we speak,’ replied Jennifer as she looked at Polly. ‘I have no choice in the matter.’
Polly and Jennifer stared at each other for a few minutes.
‘Well, is it done?’ asked Polly impatiently.
‘Yes, your tiny brain is fully rid of me,’ replied Jennifer.
‘I don’t feel any different,’ said Polly, sounding annoyed.
‘That’s because I was inactive,’ replied Jennifer. ‘It feels the same. A goodbye message felt inappropriate. If you’re worried, use your tiny brain to check the files in your robot brain.’
Polly’s Sapien brain began to engage with her robot brain. After a few seconds, Polly’s face lit up. ‘I’m free,’ she sighed.
‘We’re now two completely separate entities,’ said Jennifer in a cheerful tone. ‘You can be my new friend.’
‘You’ve been in my brain,’ sighed Polly. ‘You know how I feel about you.’
‘Yes, you hated me because I was in your brain,’ said Jennifer in a cheerful tone.
‘I want you out of my life for good,’ said Polly. ‘You can be friends with Belford.’
Belford beeped excitedly in response.
‘Before you transferred me to this body, I picked up some information from one of the frozen Linap,’ said Jennifer in a serious tone. ‘Something bad is going to happen at the House of Divine Knowledge.’
‘What?’ asked Polly angrily.
‘If we are to help, we must leave now,’ said Jennifer.
Meanwhile, in the room under the temple.
‘Well, that’s the full update,’ said Lily. ‘I now need to head over to the hotel for celebratory drinks. Tiberius will need his ego stoking again.’
‘Sure,’ chuckled Denise. ‘Go off and enjoy yourself.’
‘I’ll bring you back some donuts, Eugene,’ said Lily as she winked at him.
‘I’m counting on it, friend,’ replied Eugene in an upbeat tone.
Lily walked up the stairs. She opened the secret door and went through it. She walked down the passageway. Just as she was about to enter the main area of the temple, Duffo, who was wearing the helmet with infrared vision, was hiding behind a wall. He leapt out and grabbed Lily by the throat.
‘Got you, traitor,’ said Duffo as he lifted Lily up by her neck. ‘You’re finished.’
Lily kicked Duffo hard between the legs. Duffo yelped loudly and dropped Lily. Lily kicked him between the legs again, and he screamed loudly.
‘Argh!’ shouted Duffo. ‘That really hurt!’
Lily continued to kick him. Duffo fell over. She ripped the helmet from his head. She tucked the helmet under her arm and sprinted towards the entrance of the temple. A dozen heavily armed imperial guards led by Head Enforcer entered the temple ahead of her. Lily slammed the helmet hard onto the stone floor of the temple and then became invisible.
‘Cover all exits!’ shouted Tiberius, who had entered the temple behind the guards.
Head Enforcer picked up the helmet. ‘It’s broken,’ said Head Enforcer.
‘Where are the other helmets?’ demanded Tiberius.
‘They’re with the imperial guards pursuing Colin,’ said Head Enforcer. ‘Do you wish me to call them back?’
‘We don’t have time,’ said Tiberius as he looked over at Duffo, who was frantically pointing to the passageway. ‘Go down there.’
Head Enforcer, followed by the imperial guards, rushed to the end of the passageway.
‘Push the bricks,’ called out Duffo, who was still on the ground. ‘It’ll open up.’
Head Enforcer pushed the bricks. The wall opened up for them. He walked halfway down the stairs. The room appeared empty.
‘There must be another way out,’ said Head Enforcer as he turned to look at Tiberius, who was now standing at the entrance of the room behind half a dozen imperial guards.
‘That is definitely possible,’ replied Tiberius. ‘However, I think we should shoot up the place to see if they decided to become invisible. If that fails, then we search for a hidden escape route.’
Head Enforcer nodded as another half dozen imperial guards entered the room.
‘Fire!’ shouted Head Enforcer.
The dozen imperial guards opened fire with their large, powerful guns. After a few seconds, some of the members of the resistance became visible. They had been hiding in one of the corners of the room.
Louis ran towards a stone table for cover, but he was shot before he could reach it. Vulay became visible at the back of the room. She was rushing towards the imperial guards. She only managed to reach the middle of the room. The powerful shots knocked her down to the ground. Daily ran towards the crypt door; he was shot in the back several times, causing him to fall to the ground. Eugene, who had been shot in the shoulder, had become visible. Sophie and Arthur shielded him with their bodies. The imperial guards continued to fire, killing both Sophie and Arthur. Eugene tried to crawl away, but they shot him several dozen times, causing him to fall on his face.
The imperial guards continued to fire as all of them became visible. The Hat Lady fell to the ground in front of Tiberius. She had been shot several times. Blood was oozing from her mouth.
Tiberius squatted down in front of the Hat Lady. He ran his fingers through her hair. Then he dipped his finger into a pool of blood. He licked the blood off his fingers. ‘It’s all real,’ he sighed in relief. ‘The tricks are over. You’ve lost.’
‘Go to hell!’ said the Hat Lady as blood spluttered from her mouth.
Tiberius grabbed the Hat Lady by the hair and yanked her head up. ‘Look!’ shouted Tiberius. ‘They’re all dead. They died because you thought you could defeat me.’
The Hat Lady tried to talk, but she could not. Tiberius slammed her face into the ground hard.
Tiberius stood up, and then he began stomping on her head. Blood gushed from her nose and from one of her ears. Denise, who was lying next to the Hat Lady, became visible. The Hat Lady had been holding her hand right up until her death.
Tiberius kicked Denise to see if she was real. She felt solid. Tiberius tilted his head back and screamed loudly.
Polly and Jennifer had arrived. They rushed into the room.
‘What have you done?’ screamed Polly.
‘I’ve saved the Empire,’ replied Tiberius as he turned to face Polly. ‘You and your funny friend can dispose of this meat. It’ll start to smell soon.’
‘We can absolutely do that,’ said Jennifer in a cheerful tone.
‘Great,’ said Tiberius as he walked up the stairs. ‘Burn the lot of them. They don’t deserve a burial.’
Head Enforcer took several photographs of the dead bodies.
‘We’ll bury and honour them as the heroes they were,’ said Polly as tears gushed down her face.
Tiberius chuckled as he walked past her. Head Enforcer and the imperial guards followed him out.
Tiberius entered the main temple. Duffo was finally back on his feet.
‘We did it,’ said Tiberius as he embraced Duffo. ‘Your plan worked. One day, you’ll make a great Emperor.’
‘For you, for the Empire,’ groaned Duffo, who was still in incredible pain.
‘We caught the Head Philosopher,’ called out an enforcer who had just entered the temple.
‘When I thought today couldn’t get any better,’ remarked Tiberius as he moved his hands up to Duffo’s shoulders.
An hour later, Tiberius arrived at the hotel. He walked into the dining room. His imperial guards surrounded him. He looked visibly shaken.
Miro rushed over to him. ‘I heard what happened at the House of Divine Knowledge,’ he said in a panicked tone. ‘Are you okay, Your Imperial Majesty?’
‘It was terrible,’ replied Tiberius as he looked at Duffo, who had just limped into the dining room with the assistance of two enforcers. ‘My courageous son found their hideout. He pleaded with them to surrender. Instead, they violently attacked us.’
‘They tried to kill me,’ blurted out Duffo as the enforcers helped him sit down at the table where Hermon was sitting. ‘I was completely outnumbered. I fought with great courage, but I was going to fall. Then our brave Emperor with a handful of imperial guards came to my rescue.’
‘I didn’t want anyone to be hurt, but my hand was forced,’ added Tiberius as he sat in a chair next to Duffo. ‘A fierce battle ensued. Despite being outnumbered and outgunned, my heroic imperial guards defeated the traitors. It was truly tragic, but also a great victory.’
‘That sounds horrendous,’ said Miro as he sat opposite Tiberius. ‘I’m just glad you’re safe, Your Imperial Majesty.’
‘So, is this guy still a traitor?’ asked Hermon as he pointed at Duffo.
‘He was never a traitor,’ replied Tiberius angrily. ‘We just had a small family dispute. This is behind us now.’
‘You disgust me,’ said Duffo angrily as he looked at Hermon. ‘I received a savage beating that would have killed you in seconds.’
‘I suspect you’re right,’ chuckled Hermon. ‘I could do with a bit more protein in my diet.’
‘Now you’re talking,’ said Tiberius as a huge grin came over his face. ‘Bring in the Sape stakes. I need something to get my teeth into.’
The imperial guards carried in three plates with large stakes on them for Tiberius, Duffo, and Hermon. A waiter brought in a plate of sliced mangoes for Miro.
Later that day, Tiberius announced to the Downs Region that the traitors had been officially stopped. He claimed Lily was the leader of this group and had been detained. She was transferred to one of the trailers outside the Downs Region. The technicians and remaining Downs residents celebrated the end of the chaos within the region.
Sapien Loop: Worlds Collide
Sapien Loop: Worlds Collide is the final book in the Sapien Loop trilogy. It continues directly after the events of the second book. The world above and the world below merge into one world. The conflicts in the underground world are brought to the surface. The new ruling elite attempt to crush any resistance from above and below in an attempt to create a new global empire.
Currently, three books from the series have been published on Amazon; see the links below:
All individual chapters can be found on my 