“And, let him walk all over us? His army would kill us all if we don’t do anything.”, Joti agreed with Gollow it seemed.
“That is not accurate, Joti. Hums have very strict non violence code. The army being deployed here are all bots and they would not, under any circumstances, harm us. They are being deployed as a preemption. Their orders are to stop any attacks on hums, that's it. It is imperative that we do nothing to show aggression.”, Holum said.
The room was silent for a while. Gollow didn’t buy the non-aggression policy and Joti was still trying to convince herself. This was big news for them. The alien threat was becoming real. Joti knew that if the hums wanted they could easily kill every man, woman and child on Nole independent of whatever resistance humans provided. Only hope for survival was to play along, for now.
Ibu started speaking, breaking the silence, “But, we don’t know what he really wants and this is killing me. I never believed the story about aliens controlling the Union and conspiring to bring humans to Nole but now that doesn’t sound so paranoid. Igogo certainly needs something from us and it was clearly not Kevin. What is it then? What can hums get from us that they already do not have themselves?”, he confessed.
“Well, let's just hope that Boris and Kevin find that out before it is too late, my friend.”, Holum replied. He noticed that Joti was still confused about Kevin. He tried to persuade her to understand Kevin’s actions.
“I hope you understand Kevin’s position, Joti. He loves his friends and humans more than you think. But, this is his path. He is the only chance humans and hums have against Igogo. He is the only royal descendant who can challenge Igogo in the upcoming elections. Once Igogo is out of his office, he would not be much of a threat.”, Holum explained.
“I knew Kevin is on our side!”, Gollow shouted with excitement. “I have never been wrong in my life when it comes to making friends.”
Joti sank deeper into her guilt on hearing this. She always wanted to believe that Kevin was on her side but facts were stacked against him. Was she supposed to overlook the overwhelming evidence and trust Kevin?
Holum saw it on her face. He knew Joti needed some consolation right now. He said to her, “It's not entirely your fault to be honest, Joti. Kevin, yourself, Gollow, you all are young and need to learn to separate your emotions from your judgements. Kevin had good guidance all along. Myself, Ibu and Boris, we all made sure that Kevin got the right message at the right time. But I must confess I completely forgot about you. You were left alone amidst all this to interpret the incidents around you on your own. This would not have happened if I was more careful. I am sorry you had to go through all of this alone.”, Holum meant every word that he said.
Gollow knew Joti needed this. He said, “Yes, he is right Joti. You were not alone, I was swayed by the evidence too. It was just a bad time. Forgive yourself.”
Joti was still feeling the guilt. She wanted to help make things better again. She picked herself up and said to Holum confidently, “I will resign first thing tomorrow. I want to join your leadership. Tell me what is the plan?”
Holum smiled and replied back, “You will do no such thing. I want you two to be in the Union. A plan will be worked out soon enough, but meanwhile I want you to win over Francis completely. It is absolutely important that he trusts you both. Sacrifice whatever you have to, but make that happen.”, Holum insisted.
Gollow nodded with excitement. His seemingly boring job now looked very exciting. He said, “I love working on secret projects.”
“Be careful you two. Francis is not a fool and neither is Igogo. Trust no one.”, Ibu cautioned them.
Joti and Gollow walked out of the cabin feeling much better than earlier.
“No matter how bad the situation be, you feel good when you have friends by your side, don’t you?”, Joti asked.
“Good to see you being optimistic again.”, Gollow replied.
“Thanks Golli for putting up with me all this time. You were always there when I needed you.”, she said as they walked out of the lift on their level.
Joti and Gollow kept walking towards their cabins. On their way back Joti seemed to be thinking hard about something. As they reached Joti’s cabin, Gollow prepared to wave her good night but Joti had some other plans. She tried dragging Gollow by his hand into her cabin. Gollow had no clue what was happening. He resisted.
“Are you out of your mind?”, Gollow reacted as soon as he realised what Joti was trying to do.
Joti seemed out of control. She was all over Gollow, trying to embrace him with both hands, right in the middle of the lobby.
“I don’t think this is right, Joti. What if someone sees us this way? I cannot do this to Kevin.”, Gollow insisted, trying to pull her hands away.
Joti was in no mood to let go. “I can’t hide the way I feel for you, Golli. Let everyone see.”, She said out loud. Then she leaned towards Gollow, bringing her lips near to his ears and said softly, “It is important that they see, you thick head.”
3. Igogo
For Kevin, Mone was a lot different from Peele. The air was different, the ground was different, even the gravity was different. There were flying vehicles everywhere as if the skies were the highways. Thus the streets looked clean and safe for walking with almost no vehicles driving around on the ground. Mone looked busier than Peele too. Kevin hardly saw a flying vehicle on Peele during his entire two days of stay but Mone was full of them. He looked at the buildings with amazement, like a tourist in a big city as he walked through the streets with Keele. They both had paper bags in their hands, they were coming back from a grocery store.
“Mone is one big city, Kevin. Almost half of Mone is urban, occupied mostly by politicians, bureaucrats and media persons. Apart from the city, the rest of the surface is forest and water. The city is still expanding, though. A democratic government needs a lot of bureaucrats and as a result a lot of office space to seat them. We might have to borrow some more land from the forest if democracy wins one more time.”, Keele said to Kevin.
“That's bad. You people should learn from our mistakes.”, Kevin said, still looking around. He found the buildings very interesting. Each one having its own theme, constructed to fulfill a specific need. The buildings on Mone looked a lot different from those on Peele.
“Cutting down of forest might not be the worst thing that would happen if he wins.”, Keele stopped at a hoarding. The hoarding said “True freedom lies in the liberty to make mistakes” along with the picture of a man. It was clear who that man was but Kevin asked anyways.
“Is that him?”, Kevin’s gaze was now focused at the hoarding.
“Yes.”, Keele said.
“He looks absolutely normal, not evil at all.”, Kevin was surprised. Maybe he expected a fierce monster. After all that is what dangerous aliens are supposed to look like.
“He is as charming as they come, Kevin. What were you expecting? Some daemon with horns?”, Keele quipped as he started walking again.
“I don’t know what I expected.”, Kevin followed Keele. He was now more interested in the conversation than the surrounding buildings.
“He is the democratically elected prime minister of the most evolved species that you know of. What did you expect?”, Keele smiled as he looked at Kevin. He was smiling at his naivety.
“How is he in person?”, Kevin asked.
“Charming, as I said. One meeting with him and you would feel that he is the best friend you have got in the entire world.”, Keele said.
“I don’t understand, why do we hate him so much then?”, Kevin wanted to understand.
“He is quite popular among hums, I will be honest with you. Those who believe that a change is necessary are against democracy, against popular measures, not him. Hums don’t believe that the deteriorating state of affairs in our society is his fault, in fact they think he did the best anyone could have done in a democracy. But there are few others, like Boriri, who believe that he might not be the selfless lea
der everyone thinks he is.”, Keele said.
“Why is that?”, Kevin asked.
“It's better that you hear it from Boriri himself. But I am afraid Boriri’s concerns are based just on his intuitions right now. There is no evidence of foul play. If there was then it would have been easy to put Igogo away.”, Keele replied as they both walked towards Boriri’s apartment building.
As they walked through the main entrance, a beautiful girl seeked Kevin’s attention. She looked at Kevin in a way celebrities are looked at by their fans. Kevin was unaware of his admirer, he was still lost in his thoughts. Keele, however, noticed everything.
“Kevin, meet Seriri. She is the great granddaughter of Moriti.”, Keele introduced them.
“Good morning, prince.”, she said.
“Please call me Kevin.”, Kevin shook her hand. Seriri looked really pleased to meet him.
“Why don’t you come in? I will make some wake.”, Keele asked Seriri to join them.
“No, I am in a hurry. I have to take a class in 10 minutes.”, she said. “But, I am free this evening.”, She expected Kevin to take the hint but Kevin was still lost in his thoughts. Keele intervened before Seriri could feel the coldness in Kevin’s attitude.
“You know you are always welcome to my wake.”, He said.
Seriri left the building as Keele and Kevin continued to their floor through the stairs.
“Kevin, do you have a date for the Gala?”, Keele asked.
Boriri had told Kevin about the Gala but not about bringing a date. He asked, “No, do I need one?”
“Yes, it would look really sad if everyone came with a partner except the prince himself.”, Keele smiled.
“I need to find one then.”, Kevin said as he entered the apartment.
“Why don’t you ask Seriri? I think she likes you”, Keele said.
Kevin agreed silently. He would have preferred taking Joti but that was not going to be possible.
“What is it? You look sad.”, Keele asked.
“It’s nothing. What’s the plan? Are we going to sit home the whole day?”, Kevin tried changing the topic.
“Not at all. We will visit your new home. Boriri has asked me to show you around the royal residence.”, Keele said.
“Is it really my home?”, Kevin was not sure.
“Why not? No one stays there anymore. Moreover, people need to see their prince live like one.”, Keele explained.
“What about the queen? Soboro’s wife.’, Kevin asked.
“You mean Cabori? She no longer stays there. In fact, I don’t know where she is. I have not heard of her in two hundred years.”, Keele said.
“But isn’t she the rightful owner of that palace?”, Kevin asked.
“Legally, no! Only the royals are. She lost that right when Soboro divorced her, two days before his death.”, Keele said.
“I didn’t know about the divorce.”, Kevin was surprised.
“Nobody knew when Soboro died. It was only after a few years after his death, that the proctor made the news public. Divorces are not rare among royals but it was curious why it was not revealed right away.”, Keele pointed out.
“What is a proctor?”, Kevin asked.
“It’s a who, Kevin. Proctor is the caretaker of the royal residence. He oversees and manages the palace. Although anyone can be appointed a proctor, it usually runs in the family. The next proctor is often the son or the daughter of the current proctor.”, Keele replied.
“Can’t wait to see the palace. When do we have to leave?”, Kevin asked with excitement.
“As soon as you are ready.”, Keele answered.
“Fine. Give me two minutes.”, Kevin said as he went into his room.
###
Keele and Kevin were now sitting in a bus which flew in the Mone traffic. It flew only high enough to avoid buildings, similar to the other vehicles. Inside, the passengers were busy interacting with their mobile devices. Kevin turned to Keele and said, “I should get one of those devices for myself. Is it connected to the internet?”
“You mean the network?”, Keele asked.
“Umm, don’t you have a special network that everyone is connected to?”, Kevin said.
“Yes, we do. We simply call it ‘The Network’. As everything is part of the same network, there are no separate networks to give separate names to.”, Keele replied casually.
“The network! It makes sense.”, Kevin said to himself, although out loud. He then turned to Keele and said, “Everything just makes sense. Sometimes I feel I should have been born here.”.
“I am glad you feel that way, Kevin. I will get you one of those on our way back.”, Keele replied.
“Where is your’s? Kevin asked.
“I have it inside me. I am all chips and circuits anyways, why carry it separately?”, Keele joked.
“Look at that! What a beautiful building.”, Kevin pointed out a giant building spread over a large area.
“Thats our royal residence.”, Keele said with a smile.
As the bus descended to land in front of the royal residence, it appeared more and more enormous. Kevin gazed at the building with appreciation and awe.
“This is one of the oldest buildings on Mone, Kevin. Royals were the first to move to Mone. It was originally their idea that hums should expand to Mone but no one wanted to be the first to move here. So, they came here to show that Mone was as livable as Peele. This building has been their residence since then.”, Keele said as they both got off the bus.
Kevin was mesmerized by the size of the entrance. The building was almost as large as the spaceship which brought him to Nole. Surrounded by gardens, groves and fountains the royal residence truly looked like a palace. He said, “This must be a tourist attraction?”
“Yes, it is. But remember that you are not a tourist.”, Keele stopped to make a point. He wanted Kevin to understand something before they proceeded.
“What do you mean?”, Kevin asked. He was confused.
“You are the royal descendant, there is no denying that. But, I hope you understand that some of us do not like the fact that a complete outsider who was not even born here is now the prince.”, Keele said.
“You mean the procto, don’t you? I knew it! He hates me, doesn’t he?”, Kevin quickly understood what Keele was trying to say.
“Can you blame him? He has raised many royal kids and has served many prince and princesses in his life. It is only logical that he is protective of this family and everything related to it. Now, he is legally bound to serve you as long as he is employed as the proctor but he does not have to like you. You will have to earn his respect.”, Keele said.
“Got it. The butler hates me.”, Kevin summarized the situation.
“Good. Now understand that if you act as a tourist in front of him then he is not going to think very highly of you.”, Keele explained.
“I understand. Can we go now?”, Kevin said impatiently.
“Yes.”, Keele said and started walking through the entrance which lead into the main hall. Kevin tried hard not to stare at the gigantic dome which had beautiful engravings all over it.
An old looking man was waiting for them at the center of the hall. He was tall. Taller than most of the hums Kevin had seen. He stood straight like a bamboo tree with his gaze focused at something far away.
“May I help you?”, he said as he looked towards Keele.
“Tomiri, you don’t recognize me? I am Keele, we have met before.”, Keele was surprised.
“I remember Keele, but he looked a lot different.”, Tomiri said in a monotonous voice.
“Aah, I understand. You have not seen me since my transplant.”, Keele said.
“Most certainly I have not.”, Tomiri didn’t look amused.
Keele was a bit startled by the bluntness of Tomiri’s remarks. Not that he expected him to be pleasant but it was awkward for him to be dismissed as a stranger in front of Kevin. Without taking any offence he proceeded to identify himself.
&nb
sp; He lifted his right hand, with his palm facing Tomiri and said, “I swear that I am Keele. 3rd generation housebot currently assigned to Boriri of Ri-gardens, Peele.”
Keele’s palm was glowing green this whole time. Tomiri watched Keele and his palm with the least amount of interest and then turned to Kevin. He asked, “and sir, you are?”
Kevin didn’t know how to prove his identity. He tried copying Keele. He lifted his hand with palm facing front and proceeded to speak.
Keele stopped Kevin before he could speak though. He said “No, Kevin. You cannot prove your identity this way. It is only for bots. We are required to always tell the truth and in the rare case when we lie, our palms glow red. Thus showing our palm while we speak is a way to prove that we are speaking the truth.”
Keele then reached inside his pocket and took out a bracelet. The bracelet looked similar to the one Boriri had brought to Nole to show him that he was a royal descendant. Keele then asked Kevin to put it on. Tomiri and Keele both watched the bracelet, as it prepared to show the rating. Tomiri was keenly observing this time, for a change.
The bracelet took its time but no one blinked. It finally showed 100%.
“Welcome to the royal residence, prince. I am Tomiri, the procto. How can I be of service?”, Tomiri spoke respectfully but with a disdain in his voice and on his face.
“Why don’t you bring us some Wake while we take the tour. Are tourists visiting today?”, Keele asked.
“No, sir. And may I point out that since the residence is occupied now, it is up to the prince to let tourists visit.”, Tomiri said in the same boring tone. He then left after a hint of a bow.
“I think he doesn’t like me either”, Keele confessed as he looked to Kevin.
“I am not living here alone. Not with him lurking around. If it was up to him, he would slit my throat in a blink.”, Kevin joked nervously.
Earth To Nole: Return of the Prince Page 5
