Chapter 43: This Will Push Them Over the Edge
The next evening in the West Camp, Tiberius had called another meeting in the main tent. Once again, he invited Miro, Walter, and his enforcer captains.
‘You’ve had a day to ponder,’ said Tiberius. ‘What can we do to defeat the cult?’
One of the captains raised his hands. ‘Yes,’ said Tiberius, looking at him.
‘I say we flood the tunnels and their underground hellhole,’ said the captain excitedly.
‘Where exactly is this massive quantity of water going to come from?’ asked Tiberius, sounding annoyed.
‘We could build a pipeline from the ocean,’ replied the captain.
‘Anyone else have a suggestion that won’t take us a hundred years?’ sighed Tiberius.
‘We could pollute or even poison their water supply,’ called out an enforcer captain.
‘Interesting,’ replied Tiberius. ‘So you know the source of their water.’
‘Well… not really,’ replied the enforcer captain.
‘Then that’s not very helpful, is it?’ sighed Tiberius, shaking his head.
There was a brief awkward silence.
‘Son, do you have any suggestions?’ asked Tiberius as he looked at Walter.
Walter pointed to himself in surprise.
‘Yes, it’s okay,’ said Tiberius. ‘You’re my son; your opinion is welcome here.’
Walter cleared his throat as he looked around the table while raising his eyebrows slightly. ‘Seems like to me that you’re hankering for a fight,’ said Walter. ‘And the other side isn’t playing ball.’
‘A slight simplification, but your thinking is somewhat there,’ replied Tiberius, nodding his head.
‘I say we fight each other instead,’ said Walter as his eyes began to bulge.
‘You’ve been watching too much Masters of Wrestling,’ chuckled Cecil.
Laughter broke out around the table. Tiberius did not laugh. He had a serious look on his face.
‘Do not laugh at my son,’ said Tiberius as he thumped the table. ‘He has the best suggestion of anyone so far.’
The laughing around the table immediately stopped.
‘We all know the cult have spies lurking in this camp,’ continued Tiberius. ‘Infighting would create the perception of instability, disunity, and weakness. This could be enough to entice them to attack us.’
Some of the captains around the table began to clap.
‘Good effort, son,’ said Tiberius with a slight smile. ‘I feel creating realistic theatre for our enemy is going to be problematic.’
‘I have an idea,’ said Miro.
‘My dear Grand Vizier,’ said Tiberius as he gestured towards Miro. ‘I was hoping you would present us with a viable solution.’
‘I suggest a three-step approach, Your Imperial Majesty,’ said Miro. ‘In the underground world we rely on columns of glow rocks, which permeate natural light into the cities to grow food. Step one: we block these columns from above. Only twelve generators power the entire underground world. They draw in energy from the outside world. Step two: we target the generators at locations six and ten. This will affect the cult and all the other traitorous West Tribes. This will force them to the surface. Step three: we attack whoever comes to the surface based on information from the scouts we just sent out. This will force them to either fight us or starve.’
‘You do not disappoint, my Grand Vizier,’ said Tiberius as he gently clapped.
Miro smiled and nodded.
‘Send two teams using our flying vehicles to find the glow rocks that light up their city,’ said Tiberius. ‘Send several technicians to both locations, six and ten. They need to be protected by several dozen enforcers.’
‘They’ll set off immediately,’ replied Miro.
Another day had passed in the laboratory. Demadrian’s involuntary shapeshifting had become less frequent. Julio remained unconscious and motionless.
‘Why are they responding so differently to the serum?’ asked Angelo as he rubbed Julio’s hand.
‘They are quite different,’ replied Orcilla. ‘Demadrian has experimented on himself many times before, and he is an original Linap. Julio suffers from the weaknesses of the later generation of Linap. We can only monitor them and respond to their needs.’
‘I feel inspired,’ said Angelo in a suddenly upbeat tone. ‘I’m going to paint them.’
‘Sure, if it helps you,’ sighed Orcilla.
Angelo poked his head around the laboratory door and ordered a guard to collect his paints and easel.
Orcilla glanced at the dozen vials of the drug remaining. ‘You better start pulling through soon,’ she said to herself. ‘Or else things could become ugly.’
A little while later, a few guards arrived with Angelo’s paints. One of the guards handed Angelo two flasks containing fruit juice.
‘You haven’t slept in days,’ said Angelo as he held out a flask to Orcilla. ‘This mixed fruit juice of power berries will keep you going.’
‘Thanks, Angelo,’ said Orcilla as she took the flask from him.
‘I need to up a gear or two if I’m going to capture this important moment,’ said Angelo as he unscrewed the lid on his flask.
A few hours later, after several of Demadrian’s shapeshifting fits, Angelo had finished his painting.
‘Yes, I think I nailed it,’ said Angelo, nodding his head.
Orcilla walked over and looked at the painting. ‘You really captured the craziness in his eyes,’ she remarked.
‘This is all deeply disturbing,’ replied Angelo in a more serious tone as he gazed at his painting. ‘I fear we have unleashed something terrible.’
‘If anyone can control this power, it’s Demadrian,’ replied Orcilla.
‘Are you sure?’ asked Angelo.
‘Not really,’ replied Orcilla. ‘We’re well past the point of no return. We have to try and be positive.’
Meanwhile in the Downs Region, Duffo was visiting Lily again. She had been cut down from her restraints and was held in the partitioned back half of the trailer. She was now fully clothed again, but she was still covered in blood. Many of her wounds had started to heal. There was also a beanbag on her side of the trailer, which she could rest on.
‘I hope you’re feeling a little more comfortable now,’ said Duffo as he pushed a slice of apple pie into her area.
Lily looked at the pie and cautiously picked it up.
‘I’ll arrange for you to have better food and for you to get washed up,’ sighed Duffo as he sat down on the floor opposite Lily.
‘Then your fake father shows up, and I’m tied up getting whipped again,’ snarled Lily as she squinted her eyes as she looked at Duffo.
‘No, no,’ said Duffo. ‘I’m making a case that you have reformed and that the kindness we have shown you has worked.’
‘Deluded nonsense,’ replied Lily as she took a bite out of the pie.
‘Please just play your part,’ whispered Duffo. ‘I know you know how the game’s played.’
‘I think it’s time we played a new game,’ said Lily as she smiled slightly.
That evening, there was plenty of activity at the West Camp. Technician and enforcer task forces had been sent out to cut the power and block off the glow rocks. A scout team had reported that they had sighted followers but were unable to capture them because they became invisible. They were able to seize the food they had gathered and taken from a nearby silo.
Tiberius was frustrated they were not captured. He called Miro into his tent to express his annoyance.
‘If they come to the surface, we need to capture them,’ said Tiberius angrily as he stared at Miro, who was standing at the opening of the tent.
‘We will be able to address this problem soon, Your Imperial Majesty,’ replied Miro. ‘Infrared goggles and helmets are currently in production in our east underground city.’
‘How long is soon?’ insisted Tiberius.
‘A week,’ replied Miro. ‘We should have a hundred infrared goggles in around a week.’
‘Well, in the meantime, I suggest you order the scouts to use their firepower,’ sighed Tiberius. ‘I’m sure you’ll hit at least a few of them.’
‘I’ll pass that on to the scout teams,’ replied Miro.
Tiberius angrily gestured Miro to leave. Miro smiled, nodded, and then shuffled backwards out of the tent. Once outside the tent, his smile turned into a frown.
At that moment, the main gates of the camp opened. Fiona and her team had arrived with more food. Hamlet, Rico, Sapiod X, and four other Sapiods pulled the carts of food into the camp. Hamlet, Rico, and Sapiod X had temporally joined Fiona’s team.
Walter, RJ, Alex, Phillip, Scott, and Freddy walked over to greet them.
‘Looks like you’ve learnt how to behave yourself this time,’ said Walter to Hamlet as Fiona was unhooking her from the cart.
‘Hamlet always behaves herself, friend,’ said Alex as he rubbed Hamlet’s cheek.
‘Bad memory or something?’ asked Walter as he leaned towards Alex while tapping his head.
‘These pineapples will be perfect for my cobbler,’ remarked RJ as he picked up a pineapple.
Walter’s face turned red. He desperately wanted to shout, but he held in his anger and took a slow deep breath. Everyone was waiting in anticipation for him to erupt into a mad rage as he normally did.
Instead, his face returned to its normal pale green, and he said, ‘I’ve made a jumbo cobbler. I’d be happy to give you some tips.’
‘Great!’ replied RJ as he raised his eyebrows. ‘You’ve given me an idea for a new blog.’
‘I have, have I?’ grinned Walter with gritted teeth.
‘What to do and what not to do if you want to make the perfect cobbler,’ teased RJ as he raised his eyebrows.
‘Nice idea. I’ll help you write it,’ replied Walter as he forced himself to grin.
‘I didn’t know you were fully literate,’ chuckled RJ.
‘There are so many things you don’t know,’ replied Walter as he shook with rage. ‘I’d be happy to educate you.’
‘Wonderful,’ chuckled RJ. ‘Learning from others’ mistakes is my…’
‘Shut up!’ shouted Hamlet through the mind voice on her head. ‘Stop acting like a jerk.’
Sapiod X picked up RJ, tucked him under his arm, and then walked off with him.
Alex, Phillip, Freddy, and Scott began to applaud Walter.
‘Hey, what’s this all about?’ said Walter, sounding slightly surprised.
‘You handled a difficult situation without resorting to vulgarities or violent behaviour, friend,’ said Scott as he smiled broadly.
‘Trust me, when the time is right, I’m going to get him,’ said Walter as his eyes darted from side to side.
The others stopped applauding. They shook their heads and walked off.
An hour later, Alex, Walter, RJ, Phillip, Scott, Freddy, and Big Burt crammed themselves into Revals’ cabin to watch another Masters of Wrestling event. Walter dished out his cobbler to everyone. RJ admitted he quite liked it. He was just about to criticise Walter, but Scott put him in a headlock and licked his head. Everyone laughed and enjoyed the rest of their evening.
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 