Keele giggled, he knew it was a joke. He then said, “Jokes apart Kevin, I hope you understand that proctos are very loyal. He may not like you or consider you worthy of staying in the same room as the royals he has served before, but he will die before he allows a scratch on your body.”, Keele said. He then added, “Moreover, I can stay along with you here if you want me to. Boriri has asked me to be with you as long as you need me.”
“Thank you!”, Kevin was relieved.
Keele started showing Kevin around. They talked about the architecture and technology used in the building. Kevin was surprised to know how sophisticated and classy everything was. Royals seemed to have an immense interest in technology and a distinct taste for simplicity. It was evident in every part of the building.
A few housebots were seen carrying out different household chores. Keele pointed out that these bots were not as sophisticated as him. These were 1st generation housebots who were only good for menial labour. They are a regular phenomenon of every hum household, especially families with children, old people or sick patients.
“These are 1st gen and you are 3rd, right?”, Kevin asked.
“Yes. But there is a gulf between the two. For example, the most valuable parts of a 1st gen bot are its motors, gears, etc which help in doing labour. A 3rd gen bot’s most valuable parts are on the inside, the organic ones, which drive the personality and intelligence.”, Keele said.
“You said you had a transplant earlier. What was that for?”, Kevin asked.
“Someone accidentally reset me. I was dormant for almost 48 hours which made the flesh on my body decay. They had to give me a new body. This is what we call a transplant.”, Keele explained.
Kevin understood the confusion that happened earlier, he said, “A new body meant a new face too. So, Tomiri was not completely out of the line not recognizing you!”.
“Yes, he is not a bad person. He is just, sour.”, Keele smiled. “Although in my defense, the transplant happened more than 300 years ago. I was under the impression that he would have met me or at least seen me once in such a long time.”
Kevin’s face lit like a bulb. He said, “Did you say 300 years?”
“Yes, why?”, Keele asked.
“So many interesting things happened 300 years ago, it’s almost like they are all interrelated. Soboro died 300 years ago, ending the royal bloodline. Boriri comes to Earth the second time 300 years ago. Humans leave Earth to come to Nole 300 years ago. And now you say that you were reset accidentally, 300 years ago.”, Kevin paused, he was onto something now. “Let me guess, Igogo came to power for the first time 300 years ago. Didn’t he?”
“That is really clever of you, Kevin. I have never thought it that way. You guessed it right, Igogo completed 350 years in office, last year. He was elected for the first time exactly three hundred and fifty one years ago.”, Keele replied.
“What are the chances that humans were forced to leave earth at the same time when your last king mysteriously died?”, Kevin wondered.
“One in 25th power of 10.”, Keele replied.
“What?”, Kevin didn’t understand.
“The answer to your rhetorical question, Kevin. The chances of both these events happening on the same day is one in a trillion.”, Keele said.
“But these two didn’t happen on the same day. We left earth in 2780 AD.”, Kevin said.
“He was elected for the first time in 2712 AD, earth time. Still, the probability of both the events happening in the same century is one in a …”, Keele was interrupted before he could mention the number.
“Don’t show off Keele, we both know you are good at calculations. Sufficient to say that it still is a very rare coincidence for those two events to happen in the same century.”, Kevin argued.
“Your wake, prince.”,Tomiri came in with a housebot who was carrying two cups and a tray.
Kevin and Keele picked up their cups. They thanked Tomiri after which he left the room.
“Are you really going to drink that?”, Kevin asked.
“I can pretend to. I usually hold on to an extra cup when I am with Boriri. He often needs his wake refilled.”, Keele replied.
Keele and Kevin both looked at each other in silence for a few minutes. They knew the conclusion that they were arriving at was both alarming and groundbreaking. Kevin finally broke the silence, he was the impatient one.
“Keele, you previously said that we didn’t have any evidence against Igogo and that Boriri’s intuitions are the only basis for our interest in him.”, Kevin recalled.
“Yes. I said that.”, Keele confirmed.
“Do we have sufficient proof now that we know it all started when he got elected?”, Kevin asked.
“Let me summarize what we know.”, Keele said.
“2712, Igogo becomes the new prime minister in a long running democratic cycle. He becomes an instant hit. After all, not every day we see politicians who are otherwise talented too. Igogo was a fine pilot, expert in combat flying. He was also a fine engineer, from a prestigious school, the same where Boriri and Soboro went. Five years later in 2717, he is reelected. Being reelected gives him the confidence he needed. He sets his evil plan in motion. He begins by killing Soboro, his only competition, in 2720. Then he makes the next move. He makes humans leave earth and come to nole.”, Keele paused. He was not happy with the last line, something didn’t make sense.
“I still don’t see why he would have humans here?”, Keele said.
“Maybe, he never wanted humans here in the first place, he just wanted the earth them all killed. He knew there was no royal blood left on Peele. The only threat now was earth. Humans leaving earth might just have been a side effect.”, Kevin tried to explain.
“How could he know about the royal bloodline on earth? No one knew about it except for Boriri and his close confidantes”, Keele asked.
“Igogo must have found out about Boriri’s trips to earth. When did his trips to earth start exactly?”, Kevin asked.
“2722.”, Keele said.
“That doesn’t make sense. We left in 2780. Igogo couldn’t have allowed us half a century to prepare and leave earth. If he wanted to, he would have killed us all by late 2725.”, Kevin said.
“He couldn’t have known about Boriri’s trips until 2755. I remember distinctly. That was the year when Boriri disclosed it to others. He came to Mone from Earth one day and called for an immediate meeting. That was the year he told them about a possible royal descendant on earth. Before that even I was not aware of the real reasons for his trips.”, Keele said.
“That's it, someone from that meeting must have talked to Igogo. It makes complete sense now. I was born in 2755. Boriri must have told them about me. Igogo saw me as a real threat and started planning to destroy earth to get rid of me.”, Kevin said.
Kevin and Keele stood there in silence again, staring at each other. Kevin kept sipping his wake.
“What’s next?” Kevin asked.
“I still have to give you a tour of the place.”, Keele said.
“Can we do it later? I think we should talk more about our little theory that we just came up with.”, Kevin said.
“We can talk about that later, Kevin. You need to become familiar with this place. The gala is going to be organized right here, in this hall. We don’t want you to be unaware of your own palace, do we?”, Keele said.
Keele and Kevin continued their tour of the palace. Kevin was a bit hesitant at first but then the beauty and the scale of the palace took him over completely. They spent almost the whole day going around it. Kevin enjoyed the food Tomiri had arranged for him. By the end of the day, Kevin and Keele both looked tired. Keele was programmed to simulate hum’s limitations like tiredness and fatigue to put up a more realistic appearance.
On their way back to Boriri’s apartment, they talked more about their theory. They were both excited by the possibility of exposing Igogo after all these years.
“We should talk to Boriri tonight, about
our theory.”, Kevin said.
“Yes we must, but not tonight. Boriri is busy till the gala night. He is working really hard to gather support for you in the elections. Anyways, he won’t be back in the apartment tonight.”, Keele replied.
“Do we have to do the gala? I mean we have some serious theory here. We could instead spend time strengthening our case. We might be able to have Igogo arrested.”, Kevin said. He wanted to avoid the gala.
“I know you are trying to escape the gala, but I recommend otherwise. Boriri thinks it is important to put you in front of the hums during the gala. Hums need to know who their new prince is. You will get a lot of media coverage that night. It is imperative that we utilize the event to the fullest.”, Keele stressed. “Moreover, we just have a consistent theory at best, no proofs. It is premature to say that Igogo could get arrested just yet.”
Kevin looked a bit disappointed. Partly because he really believed in the theory and partly because in spite of his subtle efforts, he was not able to escape attending the gala.
They talked more about the theory before they got down at their stop near the apartment. Moriti was taking a stroll outside and saw Kevin and Keele walk to the apartment. She joined them and started chatting. Keele left them to talk and went ahead.
“Why don’t you drop by somethime, Kevin. I make good wake, I am told.”, Moriti said to Kevin.
“Do you stay near by?”, Kevin asked.
“Yes.”, Moriti replied.
“Interesting. So you and Boriri are neighbours. I wonder why.”, Kevin was teasing Moriti.
“Stop with it, will you? It's water under the bridge now. We are both approaching the end of our lives.”, Moriti said, casually dismissing what Kevin implied. She continued, “It’s your generation which has to make those decisions now. Which reminds me, do you have a date for your gala yet?”
“I was thinking of asking Seriri”, Kevin said.
“Wonderful!”, Moriti seemed to like the idea.
“Keele has invited her to some wake in the evening. I will ask her then.”, Kevin added.
“I think she is looking forward to it.”, Moriti winked.
The next few days quickly passed by as everyone prepared for the Gala. Boriri was working the hardest of all. His years of investments into bringing back king’s rule was about to bear fruit. He spent these last days and nights leading up to the gala meeting bureaucrats and politicians, trying to prepare them for the next set of changes that were about to take place. If all went well, democracy would be replaced by the king’s rule after many centuries. Boriri wanted everything to go smoothly.
On the other hand, Kevin spent almost all of his time with Keele and Moriti. Keele taught him about hum’s history and technology while Moriti gave her an insight into their society and philosophy. Kevin also spent a lot of time with Seriri, unaware of her infatuation towards him. She always happened to be visiting her great grandmother when Kevin was there. It all worked out well for his learning, nonetheless. Moriti and Seriri both gave him a very different perspective of hums and their values as compared to Keele or Boriri. Owing to his daily interactions with Keele and Moriti, Kevin increasingly felt confident about going to the gala.
###
Finally it was the evening everyone was waiting for. The royal residence, or “The Palace” as hums called it, was glowing with artificial light. Its open parking lots were filled with vehicles which had brought guests from all over the Mone. A lot of vehicles still hovered above in a queue waiting for their turn to park themselves. Roco bots could be seen everywhere monitoring every movement in and around the palace. From managing the traffic in the sky to escorting the guests into the palace, the roco bots made sure that everyone was taken care of.
Inside the palace, everyone gathered in the main hall. The hall was large, larger than a medium sized football stadium but still looked full. Anyone who was anyone on Mone was present that night to officially welcome their prince. That night, the beauty of the palace was only matched by the beauty of the people gathered there. Everyone looked their best, flaunting their best dresses and accessories. Housebots could be seen everywhere. They moved across the hall catering to the needs of the guests, serving mostly wake and other drinks.
Kevin stood with Boriri, Seriri and Keele as a housebot arrived there with drinks in a tray. Glasses with wake were clearly recognizable to Kevin but he did not recognize the red liquid in other glasses. To his surprise no one picked wake.
“Don’t be surprised Kevin, it's only wine. It is too late in the evening for wake.”, Keele came to Kevin’s rescue.
“I am not sure, I have a speech to give and alcohol doesn’t settle well with me.”, Kevin hesitated.
“That’s ok. Take the wake for now, you can try our wine after the speech.”, Boriri said. He looked uptight tonight. His years of preparations could be for nothing if Kevin made a fool of himself tonight.
“Why don’t you loosen up a bit. It’s not a test. You might make him nervous.”, Seriri said as she looked at Boriri and smiled gently. She meant no disrespect. She knew how much it meant to him.
“Oh, but it is, my dear.”, Boriri turned to her and started explaining. “I agree that Kevin is genetically a royal and those who want king’s rule have no other choice. But, let’s not forget that people have rejected royal candidates in the past too. It is imperative that they find him likeable.”
“Rejected whom? Poreti?”, Seriri recalled.
“Yes, the evil brother Sokoro - Poreti. Wasn’t his gala a disaster?”, Boriri whispered. He definitely didn’t want other guests to remember Poreti.
“That’s just one, in the long history of galas.”, Seriri still defended her opinion that tonight was not a test.
“Yes, but it happened in my lifetime. These same people chanted the slogans against him.”, Boriri said with a hint of concern in his tone.
“Can you blame them? Poreti was not cut out for it. He was a total misfit. He was nothing like a royal is supposed to be.”, Seriri quipped casually.
Boriri was not amused. He wanted to reply but Kevin interrupted.
“Can someone please explain these names and events?”, Kevin looked at Keele.
Boriri and Seriri looked at Keele too. It was now understood that Keele was the one to explain historical events to Kevin. After all no one could quote the dates and other details as accurately as a bot.
“Okay, okay, stop staring.” Keele began. “Poreti and Sokoro were brothers. Poreti was the elder one and hence the former of the two to be nominated to represent the royals in the elections. On his gala night, he was however…”. Keele was interrupted.
“Why would be have a gala night? Was he from outside too?”, Kevin asked.
“Of course not. He was born and brought up here. It is customary to have an introductory gala night for first time nominees. When his father decided to retire he had to nominate someone. Naturally, he nominated Poreti, who was older to Sokoro. But, Poreti was never cut for it. He came to the gala, all drunk and messed it up. The guests were not happy. The next morning the newspapers were full of it. They explained how the line of the royals was now no longer the special one. Democracy was already popular those days and people were in no mood to give the leadership to an immature prince.”, Keele explained.
Kevin asked, “His father should have exercised better judgement. Why didn’t he choose Sokoro?”
Boriri jumped in before Keele could start, “because Sokoro was 16 at that time. The minimum age for contesting elections is 25. But, I think I have made my point that tonight is after all, a test.”.
Seriri smiled and shook her head with disapproval. She knew Boriri was right but also felt he needed to loosen up or else he would make Kevin nervous too. She turned to Kevin and rubbed his biceps with appreciation. She told him that he was way better than Poreti and that the guests were going to fall in love with him.
People started coming to Kevin and introducing themselves to him. Seriri stood by him as he went from o
ne handshake to another. Slowly a small queue formed around Kevin and Seriri as guests realised that it was time for them to meet the prince in person. Boriri and Keele walked a few paces away from them to allow the guests stand closer to their prince. They stood not far away though, they wanted to hear everything just in case he required any guidance.
“Seriri looks beautiful, doesn’t she?”, Keele said as he watched them talk to the guests one after the other. She was doing a fine job assisting Kevin with the who’s who. She looked very graceful, in her white dress. Her half brown half golden hair was updo with a silver hair clip holding it in its place. She stood with her head held high on her perfectly shaped body.
“Yes, indeed. She reminds me of Moriti when she young.”, Boriri said.
“Why didn’t you ask Moriti out tonight? Do you like going to galas with me?”, Keele asked.
“Not at all. But I thought she already had a date. If only I knew she was coming alone.”, Boriri said casually as he saw Moriti talk to some of the scholars and scientists in one corner of the hall. He appeared to be a bit less uptight now. The guests were liking their new prince.
“How did your meetings go? Should we expect to win?”, Keele asked Boriri.
“Frankly, I am optimistic. We could win, after all.”, Boriri said.
“Would they vote for Kevin? They barely know him.”, Keele wondered.
“Not just for Kevin, they would vote for the king’s rule. They all know politicians and bureaucrats can’t run it forever.”, Boriri said.
Keele prepared to ask another question but Boriri silenced him. “Shhh, here comes Igogo.”, He drew Keele’s attention to Igogo who walked through the queue of waiting people and headed straight to Kevin.
Kevin saw a young man walk towards to him. The guests moved out of his way as he cut through the queue leading up to Kevin. Even though he had been in the hall only for a couple of minutes, he looked in control. Others bowed and nodded at him and greeted him with respect. He responded with respect too. He seemed polite. He bowed and nodded back to each one of them but kept his eyes fixed on Kevin. It had to be Igogo, Kevin concluded. He recalled from his conversations with Moriti that Igogo was very popular among hums and enjoyed everyone’s respect.
Earth To Nole: Return of the Prince Page 6
