Sapien Loop 3: Chapter 10: Time to Sleuth

Chapter 10: Time to Sleuth

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It was early the next morning. Eugene was lying in his bed asleep. Suddenly, his eyes sprang open.

‘Big sleuthing day ahead,’ he said to himself.

Eugene leapt out of bed and began to do his morning exercises.

‘Oh, he’s up early today,’ said Sophie to Arthur, who was lying next to her in bed. 'I'd better get his pancakes and lunch basket ready.

‘Oh yeah,’ grumbled Arthur.

‘He’s our special Head Enforcer,’ said Sophie as she stood up. ‘He needs the best start to the day possible.’

‘Make me some too,’ said Arthur in a sleepy voice as he watched Sophie rush out of the bedroom.

After completing his exercise routine, Eugene rushed to the bathroom for a quick shower. He turned the shower on full blast and began to sing loudly. Sophie rushed into Eugene’s bedroom. She placed his enforcer uniform on his bed. Then she rushed back to the kitchen. Eugene walked back into his bedroom with a towel around his waist.

‘Ha!’ chuckled Eugene as he looked at his uniform. ‘Things are already falling into place.’

Arthur gingerly walked into the kitchen. Sophie was stacking up the pancakes.

‘They smell great,’ said Arthur as he sat at the table.

‘Good, they need to be extra tasty,’ said Sophie as she placed the plate of stacked pancakes on the dining table.

Arthur grabbed his fork to take a pancake, but Sophie stopped him.

‘What are you doing?’ asked Sophie angrily. ‘Eugene gets the first pancake.’

‘He’s not here yet,’ grumbled Arthur as he placed his fork down.

Suddenly, Eugene rushed into the kitchen. He plonked himself down in the chair next to Arthur.

‘Back turned for a second, and the plotting begins,’ said Eugene as he leaned towards Arthur.

‘Help yourself to the pancakes,’ said Sophie as she sat down opposite Eugene. She had a piece of toast on her plate. ‘I made them especially for you.’

Without breaking eye contact with Arthur, Eugene grabbed the whole plate and pulled it in front of himself. Then he grabbed the syrup bottle and began squirting syrup over the stack.

Arthur shook his head and grunted in disbelief. Eugene continued staring at Arthur as he shovelled pieces of pancake into his mouth.

‘I’ll make you some toast,’ said Sophie as she got up again. She rubbed Arthur on the shoulder.

After he had finished his breakfast, Eugene rushed to the front door. ‘I have some important sleuthing to do today,’ said Eugene as he grabbed the door handle.

‘I have your lunch basket,’ said Sophie as she grabbed the basket on the counter and then ran after Eugene, who had just entered the outside corridor.

Eugene sharply turned around. He joyfully raised his eyebrows when he saw the basket.

‘There’s plenty of fresh fruit, two donuts, a slice of apple pie, a cream custard tart, and a flask of your favourite fruit smoothie,’ said Sophie as she held out the basket.

‘That’s perfect, Mummy,’ said Eugene as he grabbed the basket. ‘I can see where I get my great instincts from.’

Eugene directed his gaze towards Arthur, who was standing behind Sophie. ‘I can also see who I didn’t get them from,’ added Eugene, frowning a little. ‘Don’t think I’m not looking into you.’

Sophie kissed Eugene on the forehead. ‘I know you’ll make us proud, our special Head Enforcer,’ said Sophie.

Eugene smiled, and then he ran off down the corridor.

‘I think you might spoil him,’ said Arthur.

‘I do, but I can’t help it,’ said Sophie as she closed the door. She put her arms around Arthur. ‘You’re a good father and husband. You keep him confident.’

Eugene skipped down the road towards the Enforcer Headquarters. Yassme, who had just left the laboratory, joined him. She was carrying a mind voice device.

‘This should fit him,’ said Yassme. ‘Some quick calibration and we’ll be rocking.’

Eugene gave her a high five, and the two of them happily skipped towards the Enforcer Headquarters.

They both entered the headquarters together. ‘Hey friend, I need Daily in the interrogation room now,’ said Eugene to the enforcer on duty.

‘Well, um…' stuttered the enforcer on duty. ‘I should probably check with…’

‘With your Head Enforcer, well, that’s me,’ said Eugene firmly as he leaned intimidatingly towards the enforcer on duty.

‘Yes, sir,’ said the enforcer on duty as he stood up and saluted.

‘Eugene!’ said Yassme in admiration. ‘Throwing your weight around.’

‘I’m sure I’ll be packing on a few more pounds with this,’ said Eugene as he held up his basket.

‘Look, there’s Daily,’ said Yassme, curtsying. ‘May I set this up?’

‘Absolutely, friend,’ said Eugene. ‘We need to get to the bottom of this.'

Yassme quickly hugged Eugene and then skipped towards the interrogation room.

‘Excuse me,’ said a voice from behind Eugene. ‘Do you remember me? We met during enforcer training.’

‘You look like a suspicious character,’ said Eugene as he turned to him.

‘Yes, that’s what you said when we first met,’ he replied. ‘I’m Eric.’

‘Do you still have that electric toothbrush?’ asked Eugene as he began to smile.

‘I lost everything after the Sentray attack,’ said Eric. ‘Then I was rescued, and after that I spent years in the medical centre fighting to stay alive.’

‘Sounds like you have mental toughness that can’t be replicated,’ said Eugene as he patted Eric on the shoulder. ‘I’m making you a commander. I need all the help I can get with these new enforcers.’

‘Strong and assertive,’ said Tiberius, who had just entered the Enforcer Headquarters. ‘I know I made the right choice keeping you as Head Enforcer.’

‘It was the obvious choice, friend,’ said Eugene as he raised his eyebrows.

Eric nodded excitedly.

‘Phillip is here to see you,’ called out the enforcer on duty. ‘He seems unhappy.’

‘Disgruntled resident!’ said Tiberius with a slight grin. ‘Would you mind if I observe how you resolve this?’

‘Master class in conflict resolution in progress,’ boasted Eugene as he looked at Phillip, who was approaching him while holding a jumbo pizza box.

Eugene led Phillip and Tiberius into his office.

‘Tell me what’s wrong, friend?’ asked Eugene as Phillip placed the pizza box on his desk.

‘Look!’ said Phillip as he opened the pizza box to reveal a jumbo cheesy pizza covered in pineapple chunks.

‘I see,’ said Eugene as he looked up at Phillip.

Tiberius was grinning smugly as he watched them.

‘Jumbo pizzas are supposed to have six slices,’ said Phillip, shaking his head angrily as he pointed at the pizza that had been cut into quarters. ‘I feel betrayed.’

‘Looks more like a customer service issue, friend,’ replied Eugene.

‘Yassmay, Yassme, and Daily are not around,’ said Phillip, sounding flustered. ‘A technician served it to me. He didn’t understand the problem.’

‘I have just the thing,’ said Eugene confidently as he opened his drawer and pulled out a pizza cutter.

Eugene cut each slice in half. ‘There you go,’ said Eugene, sounding satisfied.

‘It’s still wrong,’ replied Phillip as his eyes bulged slightly. ‘There are too many slices now.’

Eugene took two slices of pizza out of the box and placed them on a plate. ‘Here you go,’ said Eugene. ‘You now have your six-slice pizza.’

‘You did it!’ exclaimed Phillip in excitement. ‘Thank you so much, Head Enforcer. I no longer feel cheated.’ Phillip closed the box and triumphantly walked out of Eugene’s office.

Tiberius stared at him in disbelief as he left. He then turned towards Eugene and asked, ‘Is he mad?’

Eugene sighed and raised his hands. ‘I would say he is extremely satisfied,’ replied Eugene. ‘However, when he came in, he might have been a little mad, but I’m leaning towards disgruntled. Let’s check the cameras to confirm this.’

Eugene tapped a few buttons on his computer. ‘Here we are,’ said Eugene as he paused the surveillance video of Phillip entering the Enforcer Headquarters. ‘We captured his face and expression perfectly as he entered the building.’

Tiberius stared at the paused video as Eugene grabbed a book off his shelf.

‘This book by Mummy is a must-have sleuthing tool,’ said Eugene proudly as he flicked the pages. ‘Here we go – a perfect match. He was definitely disgruntled.’

Eugene’s mother, Sophie, had made Eugene a book of facial expressions to help him accurately identify the mood of Downs residents.

Tiberius stared at the photograph of a Downs resident in Eugene’s book in amazement.

‘Now let’s check the camera on the other side of the road to capture his face when he left,’ said Eugene as he pressed a few more buttons on his computer. ‘Got it!’

‘Hmm, this looks more like content than extremely satisfied,’ sighed Eugene as he looked at his book again.

‘You have an excellent setup with these cameras,’ said Tiberius, frowning a little. ‘May I explore some of the footage from the past few weeks?’

‘You’re in luck, friend,’ replied Eugene in a chirpy tone. ‘This system only started recently. Lily and Colin deserve much of the credit.’

‘I expect nothing less from such great leadership,’ said Tiberius, smirking a little.

Eugene led Tiberius to the audio and video room. He showed Tiberius how the system worked, and then he headed back to his office.

Eugene sat down to eat the two pizza slices when Yassme burst into his office in excitement.

‘I’ve done it! I’ve done it!’ shouted Yassme in excitement. ‘Mind voice is calibrated for Daily. We can now get the truth straight from his brain.’

‘That was quick,’ said Eugene as he picked up the plate with the pizza slices on it.

‘Yes, hence the excitement,’ replied Yassme. ‘Come on! Come on! Time to prove his innocence.’

Eugene and Yassme entered the interrogation room that Daily was held in. Daily was sitting behind a table with the mind voice on his head. Standing behind Daily were four underground Linap enforcers.

'Hello, friends,’ said Eugene politely as he placed his plate on the table. ‘Here to learn a bit about sleuthing, eh?’

‘Commander Cecil is on his way,’ said one of the enforcers in a monotone voice.

‘That’s even better,’ said Yassme. ‘I’m sure he could learn a thing or two.’

‘I wouldn’t count on it,’ chuckled Eugene. ‘He doesn’t seem that sharp.’

Yassme giggled. The enforcers did not seem impressed with Eugene’s comment.

Commander Cecil entered the interrogation room. ‘I heard you’re performing some sort of lie detector test on this traitor,’ said Cecil as he pulled up a chair.

‘In Downs, you’re innocent until proven guilty,’ said Eugene firmly as he raised his hands in shock. ‘You don’t even know the basics. I think you should consider a career change.’

‘You are nothing more than a puppet Head Enforcer,’ replied Cecil angrily. ‘Most of the enforcers are now loyal to me. You better show me some respect.’

‘I hope you’re aware that everything you say in this room is being recorded,’ said Yassme as she smiled gleefully at Cecil. ‘It sounds like you might be the traitor.’

‘Smash that stupid device on his head,’ said Cecil as he looked over to the enforcers.

‘You try that, and I’ll broadcast what you just said across every room in the headquarters,’ said Yassme. ‘Hamish is just a few rooms down from here.’

‘Wait!’ said Cecil abruptly to an enforcer who was about to grab the mind voice.

‘I was joking,’ chuckled Cecil. ‘We have a different sense of humour than you. Our culture is a little different.’

‘I think you’re pissing your pants because you’re a bully and a coward,’ said Yassme as she tilted her head slightly.

‘I should have you arrested,’ said Eugene as he turned his head sharply towards Cecil.

‘You’ve no idea what you’re messing with,’ said Cecil as he stood up.

Cecil’s words began playing over the headquarters speakers.

‘Oops!’ said Yassme. ‘I must have pressed the wrong button.’

Cecil stormed out of the interrogation room. Tiberius was standing in the corridor.

‘He’s deliberately taunting me,’ said Cecil in a desperate tone.

‘He’s playing you because you’re a fool,’ said Tiberius as he gazed angrily at Cecil. ‘Report to Miro. I’m sick of you.’

Cecil and his four enforcers left the headquarters. Tiberius returned to the audio and video room.

Meanwhile, in the interrogation room, Yassme had started her lie detector test.

‘Please tell me your name?’ Yassme asked Daily.

‘My name is Daily,’ replied both Daily and the mind voice on Daily’s head.

Eugene gestured by raising both his thumbs up.

‘I would now like you to intentionally lie,’ requested Yassme. ‘Do you understand the question?’

‘Yes,’ replied both Daily and the mind voice.

‘What colour is this table?’ asked Yassme.

‘It’s green,’ replied Daily.

‘It’s light grey,’ replied the mind voice.

Eugene raised his eyebrows up and down excitedly.

‘Perfect,’ replied Yassme. ‘From now on, I only want the mind voice to respond to my questions. Do you understand?’

‘Yes,’ replied the mind voice.

‘Did you intentionally leave the convoy of vehicles?’ asked Yassme.

‘Yes,’ replied the mind voice.

‘Why did you leave the convoy of vehicles?’ asked Yassme.

‘We needed to get Orcilla to safety,’ replied the mind voice. ‘Her life support needed a power supply. Location 10 was our best chance.’

‘Were you speeding?’ asked Yassme.

‘Yes,’ replied the mind voice.

‘Why were you speeding?’ asked Yassme.

‘We were trying to escape a flying vehicle, which was attacking us,’ replied the mind voice.

‘Did you attack them first?’ asked Yassme.

‘No,’ replied the mind voice.

‘Who was in charge of this flying vehicle?’ asked Yassme.

‘It was Commander Cecil,’ replied the mind voice.

‘The traitor has been revealed,’ said Eugene, shaking his head.

‘Were you involved in any plot to attack any of the underground or frozen Linap?’ asked Yassme.

‘No,’ replied the mind voice.

‘Thank you, Daily,’ said Yassme. ‘I have no further questions.’

‘Well done, friend,’ said Eugene, raising his thumbs. ‘I’ll have you out of here in a jiffy, if not faster.’

‘Thank you so much,’ replied Daily as Yassme removed the mind voice from his head. ‘The mind voice is truly a miraculous invention.’

Eugene entered the audio and video room to speak with Tiberius. Tiberius was looking at the videos from the hotel. He wanted to know who had been spending the most time with Lily while she was under arrest.

‘We’ve finished the lie detector test,’ said Eugene proudly. ‘Daily was only interested in saving the life of his wife, Orcilla.’

‘Orcilla is a fugitive,’ replied Tiberius. ‘Surely, helping one escape is a crime.’

‘He was not involved in any plot, and Orcilla was not accused of any crime at the time,’ replied Eugene as he raised his finger. ‘Commander Cecil used excessive force to stop the vehicle. In doing so, he caused the death of a technician and serious injury to Daily. Despite Daily’s injuries, he refused to give him immediate medical attention.'

‘What is your proposed course of action?’ asked Tiberius, grinning slightly.

‘Daily’s immediate release and Commander Cecil’s arrest,’ replied Eugene firmly.

‘That sounds fair,’ replied Tiberius. ‘However, Cecil falls under Miro. I can only provide arrest as a recommendation. I feel some other form of recourse would be better received. In regard to Daily, he is free to go.’

Eugene nodded and left the room.

‘You’re so much more dangerous than you seem,’ said Tiberius to himself as he turned his attention back to the video. He could see that Yassme and Julie were Lily’s most frequent guests.

‘Well, Yassme is a given,’ said Tiberius to himself. ‘Lily was manipulating her. Julie, you are just a little too nosy. I know enough. Time to make a move.’

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:

• Sapien Loop: End of an Era
• Sapien Loop: Frozen in Time
• Sapien Short Stories: Missing Links

All individual chapters can be found on my @captainhive account.

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