Chapter 96: Civil War
The parliamentary session was broadcast to all regions across Sapey. Within hours, in outrage at the result of the vote, Sapiens took to the streets. Enforcers and staff from the House of Divine Knowledge went out to calm them down. Protests lasted throughout the night in almost every region. The enforcers were unable to calm the crowds.
Philosophers and theologists from the House of Divine Knowledge were able to convince the crowds not to become violent. This worked for most of the day, but that changed when the regions’ Head Enforcers demanded that all those aligned with the House of Divine Knowledge denounce it. When there were mass refusals, protests became riots. Enforcers were soon overwhelmed.
In West, protesters had broken into the Enforcer Headquarters. The enforcers were unable to hold back the protesters. They got to the back of the headquarters, where Merida and Jaslene were being held. Merida and Jaslene were eating scones and drinking tea. The protesters ripped off the cell door.
‘We freed you. We freed you,’ shouted a protester.
‘That’s really sweet of you,’ replied Merida. ‘I hope you don’t mind if we finish our tea. It is a bit of a hassle to carry around.’
The protesters ran off to continue smashing random items in the offices.
‘Looks like we sparked quite a reaction,’ said Jaslene.
‘This has nothing to do with us, silly girl,’ replied Merida.
Jaslene shrugged her shoulders.
News of the chaos in the regions reached the Capital Region immediately. This was one of the very few peaceful regions. Collingswaggle was still trying to reach Pardi. However, he remained uncontactable.
The governors called an emergency meeting. Just before the meeting began, Collingswaggle approached Dratsab and Rotiart.
‘I told you this would happen. You wouldn’t listen, you damn fools,’ he said to them both angrily.
‘We’ll just send reinforcements,’ replied Rotiart. ‘A strong show of force will teach them.’
‘Oh yes, like we have a million enforcers in reserve who we can send out on a whim,’ replied Collingswaggle.
‘You have better,’ said Rotiart. ‘You have artificial intelligence in your own region.’
Collingswaggle frowned as he took his seat at the meeting.
‘I’m glad everyone could make it to this really important meeting,’ said John. ‘It looks like we are back in crisis again. Geez, this happens a lot.’
The governors groaned at his remark.
‘It is really quite simple,’ said John. ‘We can have an emergency session to reverse yesterday’s bill.’
‘Sit down and shut up,’ said Rotiart angrily. ‘You really disgust me. You are annoying, pathetic, and incredibly stupid.’ Several of the governors began to giggle.
Collingswaggle stared angrily at Rotiart, and John sat back in his chair with his mouth wide open.
‘What you are proposing is an ultimate sign of weakness,’ said Rotiart. ‘We don’t reverse laws because a bunch of simpletons demand it. If we did that, we would lose all credibility.’
‘Then what do you suggest, junior?’ asked one of the other governors.
‘The answer is artificial intelligence,’ said Rotiart. ‘Our honourable Governor Collingswaggle has a region dominated by artificial intelligence. He can quell all rebellions quickly and forcibly.’
Collingswaggle frowned and said, ‘We can’t reverse what has been done. However, the artificial intelligence in my region is capable of neutralising the rebels. The riots in Cellrebrum lasted only a matter of hours. This came at the cost of several hundred lives.’
‘We can’t take any action that will put lives at risk,’ said John firmly.
‘They won’t be at risk. They will just be dead,’ said Rotiart. Some of the governors chuckled.
‘I can’t believe you are considering this barbaric action,’ said John angrily.
‘I can’t believe you always get the most votes,’ said Rotiart. ‘I think they only voted for you to make Lily look so smart.’
‘In the eyes of Linap, all life is precious,’ said John.
‘Dude, we are Linap,’ said Dratsab. ‘That is just the garbage your cult spouts to the masses as a mechanism of control. It doesn’t apply to us.’
Rotiart rose to his feet. He slammed his fist down on the table. ‘Let’s stay on point. Collingswaggle, are you going to get your AI to solve our rebellion problem?’
‘I’ll head to the Cellrebrum Region first thing tomorrow morning,’ replied Collingswaggle.
‘Good boy,’ said Rotiart in a condescending tone.
After the meeting, Collingswaggle approached Rotiart.
‘Who are you?’ he asked. ‘Young ambitious Linap, who seeks the greater good of our kind,’ said Rotiart smugly.
‘You’re full of it,’ said Collingswaggle. ‘I’ll be watching you.’
‘I welcome the attention,’ replied Rotiart as he raised his eyebrows just before he walked away.
The next day, Collingswaggle and his security team boarded an express train to Cellrebrum. The train had to be diverted to the North Coast Line because of station closures caused by riots in some regions.
Before leaving, Collingswaggle had informed Dr. Cortex/Jennifer of his intentions. They welcomed the opportunity to expand their reach. Rotiart contacted Dr. Cortex/Jennifer after Collingswaggle had left. He provided a few additional details that contradicted what Collingswaggle had told them in the earlier conversation. Jennifer analysed the voices on the calls. Jennifer considered Rotiart more reliable than Collingswaggle.
In West, the enforcers had been defeated. Many enforcers had been killed, and even more civilians had died in the riots. In the main town square, around two dozen enforcers had been chained together and covered in fuel. A large crowd was shouting vulgarities and throwing things at them.
Merida walked to the centre of the square. She was carrying a microphone. ‘Listen everyone. This is not in the spirit of our Divine House. These acts of revenge are vile and cruel.’
‘They deserve it,’ shouted someone in the crowd.
‘No, they do not,’ replied Merida. ‘They were merely following instructions. They were doing their jobs. Your anger should be directed towards the Government.’
The crowd shouted angrily back at her.
‘We’ll send a message to the Government alright,’ shouted a rioter as he grabbed a burning piece of wood and ran towards the centre of the line of enforcers.
‘Stop this. Stop this now,’ demanded Merida.
The rioter threw the burning piece of wood at an enforcer. The enforcer caught fire. The enforcers chained to him began screaming as the fire started spreading along the line. The enforcers tried to escape the fire, but they just pulled each other in opposite directions. They dislocated their arms and leg joints as they tried to break free, but to no avail.
The crowd started to scream in shock. Rotaderp from Wolf News was there with a camera crew. They filmed the screaming crowds and the enforcers as the fire spread from the centre to both ends of the line.
‘The citizens of West are cowering in their homes as their brave enforcers sacrifice their lives for them,’ shouted Rotaderp into the camera.
The roar of another crowd was heard. These residents were in favour of the actions taken by the Government to ban the House of Divine Knowledge. They chanted ‘terrorists’ as they approached. The two sides started shouting at each other. Then two Sapiens who had taken guns off the enforcers started firing into the crowd. The two sides began to fight each other violently. Merida shouted at them to stop. A rioter picked Merida up and ran off with her.
The riots in other regions also intensified as the residents of the regions turned on each other depending on how they aligned themselves. Despite the advantage they had in terms of weapons, the enforcers did not have anywhere near the numbers to fight back successfully against the very large crowds.
There were also very few regions that could send enforcers to help, as the riots were occurring simultaneously. The Head Enforcer of the Capital Region wanted to send reinforcements to help the regions. However, officially, he needed permission from the governors to lead a significantly large team to help.
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