Chapter 66: Debate the Truth
In Adoy, Demarcus had convinced his family that Darius was alive and had been changed into a Sapiod. He managed to make his arguments about the other things he had seen on his journey, such as the waste disposal plant in the wastelands and the disappearance of the rescued Sapiens. However, he did not know how he could get his message to the rest of the residents of Adoy.
As Demarcus was on the train when it crashed, he was officially considered dead. He needed to be officially reinstated as alive. However, he was concerned that this would more likely result in him being secretly taken away. He knew he could not remain hidden indefinitely. He needed someone else to represent him and the evidence he had gathered. This was going to be difficult considering the strict rules that had been put in place about spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories.
Jacob had an idea. The final Adoy regional debate for the General Election was going to take place in two days. Jacob had asked to be an audience member for the debate. He used his discovery of the killed Sapes as a reason he should be in the live audience. He argued that he would be the perfect Sapien to ask the candidates a question about what he had found. The organisers of the debate agreed. He was given a formal invitation.
Jacob discussed with Demarcus how they would approach his question. They needed the candidates to reveal more about what was happening in the wastelands or to catch them in an obvious lie. They were still in a tricky situation, as Jacob was permitted to ask just one question. Demarcus had many questions he believed needed asking, which would then lead to many follow-up questions.
Jacob believed the best approach was to focus on the type of question the organisers wanted him to ask. Jacob showed Demarcus some of the photographs he took of the dead Sapes. In one photograph, it was clear that the size of the bite mark far exceeded that of any Sape. They both agreed that Jacob would ask about the effect of the contamination on the size of Sapes and possibly Sapiens too.
The debate was held at the town hall. Jacob arrived early to get a good seat. The rest of the family watched the debate at home on their local news channel.
The debate was between six candidates. The two current incumbent representatives, one aligned with the House of Divine Knowledge and the other aligned with the Business Sector. Two of the remaining four candidates aligned with the House of Divine Knowledge, one aligned with the Business Sector, and one was an unaffiliated candidate.
The debate consisted of three parts. Part one consisted of questions relating to the nation. Part two consisted of questions relating to Adoy. Part three was questions from the audience.
Part one was dominated by questions relating to ‘rights’ and ‘privileges’. This part of the debate was fairly short. Part two focused on the problems relating to the recent events in Adoy. The candidates were asked what they believed to be the cause of the problems and what they believed needed to be done. They were asked questions on rehabilitation and education. They were asked about the roles of Government and the Business Sector.
Jacob was told he would be asking the last question of the night. Jacob sat back and listened to the questions of the other audience members. They asked questions about train schedules, housing upgrades, relocation permits, and other uncontroversial things.
Finally, it was Jacob’s turn. Jacob got to his feet. He was holding the question he and Demarcus had put together the day before. Jacob was a little nervous, as he was not used to public speaking or appearing on television. He wanted to ask his question but hesitated a little.
‘Yes, Jacob,’ said the host mockingly, ‘you can ask your question now.’
There was a slight murmur from the other audience members.
‘I was the captain of the vessel that found the partially eaten and mutilated Sapes,’ said Jacob as he held up his photographs. ‘According to Capital Region scientists, Sapes had attacked each other. The same scientists claimed this was due to the poisoning of the coastal water by toxic dust particles from the wastelands. Did the toxic dust particles also cause the aggressive Sapes to dramatically increase in size, as the large bite marks could not have possibly been from a regular or even a large-sized Sape?’
The host looked a little perplexed. She turned to the candidates.
‘I’ll address this question,’ said Dratsab as he tugged on the lapels of his suit. Dratsab was one of the candidates aligned with the Business Sector. ‘There are some trying to spread the rumour that the attack was made by some giant monster from the deep. That is false. The bite marks are made from larger Sapes. That is because larger Sapes are stronger than smaller Sapes. When there is a fight, the larger one wins.’ Dratsab turned to the other candidates and chuckled confidently.
‘Just look at the size of these bite marks,’ exclaimed Jacob as he continued to wave his photographs. ‘The host took the photographs from Jacob and handed them to the candidates.
‘I have to admit those bites are huge,’ said Darren, the unaffiliated candidate.
‘Do not try to fuel conspiracy theories,’ said Dratsab as he turned sharply to face Darren.
‘Then why are these bites so big?’ asked Darren.
Dratsab quickly browsed through his notes. ‘I knew something ridiculous like this could happen,’ he muttered as he continued looking through his notes.
‘Here we go,’ he said. ‘Based on this laboratory report, the size of the bite marks appears very large due to the presence of toxins in the body. The area of the bite expanded post-mortem.’
Jacob sank back in his seat. He was not sure how to follow up on the response.
‘I would like to mention that Jacob is the father of Darius. Darius was one of the Inquisitives,’ added Ray. Ray was the other candidate aligned with the Business Sector. He was also one of the incumbent representatives.
‘I guess we know the source of his son’s radical ideas,’ said Dratsab as he glared straight at Jacob. ‘I suggest the enforcers keep a close eye on him.’
The next day, a final poll was released before the General Election. Dratsab was at the top of the poll, Darren was second, and Ray was marginally behind. Darren’s popularity vastly increased after the debate. It appeared that many of the public were suspicious of the official response. The candidates aligned with the Business Sector and the House of Divine Knowledge were uncomfortable with this reaction.
The media were aware of the dissatisfaction of the candidates. They immediately began a smear campaign against Darren. They accused him of believing in giant monsters. They ran a comedy skit with actors pretending to be him running away from giant CGI monsters. Another media company suggested that Darren wanted to help rebuild the Inquisitives.
Demarcus watched how the media attacked Darren. He just hoped the smear campaign would backfire. Demarcus believed that if Darren became a representative for Adoy, he might be able to restore his status as a citizen as well as expose what was really going on in Sapey. If that fails, he might still be able to turn to Rednik. It was possible he would soon become Head Enforcer.
Darlene walked over to Demarcus, who was deep in thought. She tapped him on the shoulder. ‘Hey sis, what’s up?’ asked Demarcus as he turned to face her.
‘I have an idea,’ said Darlene.
‘What’s that?’ asked Demarcus.
‘They attacked Darren because they were scared he would reveal the truth,’ said Darlene.
‘Yes, those in power are terrified of being exposed,’ replied Demarcus.
‘There is someone on the outside of this power structure who knows everything,’ said Darlene.
‘Who and how would that be possible,’ said Demarcus in frustration.
‘Lily,’ said Darlene.
‘She is the most powerful governor in the Capital Region,’ said Demarcus.
‘She won’t be for much longer,’ said Darlene.
Demarcus looked thoughtfully at Darlene. Using her phone, Darlene accessed several recent news reports about the election in the West Region. Demarcus read them in amazement. It was clear that Lily had been stripped of all power.
‘Do you think she will still protect the Government, the media, the Business Sector, and the House of Divine Knowledge now?’ asked Darlene.
‘Sadly, I do. But there is some chance that she could lash out at them in spite,’ replied Demarcus.
‘You need to contact her,’ said Darlene.
‘Impossible. We have no way of obtaining her contact details,’ said Demarcus.
Darlene smiled. She opened a file on her phone. It contained Lily’s contact details.
Demarcus smiled at Darlene and said, ‘Where did you get this?’
‘I hacked the West Region information centre,’ replied Darlene. ‘Their security was weak. I used a program Darius got from the Inquisitives. It seems like I’m pretty good at using it.’
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