Most of the recruits spent the next three days relaxing and eating many sweet treats. Eugene spent the entire time in his room, studying all the material he had. He wanted to be as prepared as possible for the final task.
Three days later, after breakfast, the recruits gathered in the simulation room.
‘Today is your final task,’ said the head trainer firmly. ‘This task will determine if you are worthy of the honour of Head Enforcer.’
‘Yeah!’ shouted the recruits excitedly.
‘This simulation will feel as real as life itself,’ said the head trainer. ‘In this simulation, you have been tasked with hunting down an extremely prolific serial killer. You must end the killing spree.’
‘Sounds like a dream come true,’ said Arville excitedly.
‘You will enter the simulation in pairs,’ said the head trainer. Eugene! Arville! You’re up first.’
‘Yes, sir!’ replied Eugene enthusiastically.
‘This is going to be fun,’ chuckled Arville as the trainers placed the virtual reality headsets on both Arville and Eugene.
The headsets began to vibrate. Both Eugene and Arville were disconnected from reality as they became fully immersed in the virtual world.
Eugene was transported to a crime scene. It was in an alley behind a large supermarket.
An enforcer walked over to Eugene. ‘This is now the third one in three days,’ said the enforcer. ‘Same thing; she’s missing her left ear.’
Eugene looked down at the dead body; he felt queasy.
‘What’s the cause of death, friend?’ asked Eugene as he looked up at the enforcer.
‘Like the other two,’ replied the enforcer. ‘Blunt trauma to the head.’
Eugene continued to ask many questions. When he was done, he headed to the enforcer headquarters to inspect the evidence from the previous two murders.
All the victims were female. All the bodies were found outside. However, they were probably killed somewhere else. All the murders appeared to have been committed between 8 and 9 p.m. The three murders were committed within a one-kilometre radius.
Eugene tried to learn more about the victims. He soon found out that all three victims had children attending the same class in the local school.
The next day, Eugene went to the school to speak to the class teacher. She had not arrived to work that day. Eugene was soon to find out she had been killed. Her body had been dumped in some bushes near the school. Like the other killings. She had been killed by blunt trauma to the head, and her left ear had been removed. Unlike the other killings, this had been done in the morning. Eugene noticed her ear had not been cut off as cleanly as the previous three victims.
Eugene immediately suspected that there could be two killers.
Eugene returned to the school, which had been closed because of the death of the teacher. Outside the school was the head teacher. Eugene approached her.
‘Excuse me, madam,’ asked Eugene. ‘Would you mind telling me about the children of Class 4B?’
‘Tragedy, such tragedy,’ said the head teacher in an overly dramatic voice. ‘Six months ago, a sweet child named Donna fell down a well. She was found two weeks later. Sadly, by then it was too late. What a terrible way to die!’
‘That’s so terrible,’ replied Eugene as he sadly hung his head.
‘Her spirit has returned to take revenge on the mothers who should have heard her cries,’ added the head teacher in an aggressive tone. ‘
The head teacher went on to give Eugene the names of the mothers who were taking care of Donna and the other children the day that Donna fell into the well.
There were six mothers on the list. Three of them were already dead. The teacher who had just been killed. She did not appear to be linked to what happened that day.
Eugene decided to question Donna’s parents. Eugene went to Donna’s parents’ apartment. The door was left open. Eugene walked into the apartment. Donna’s mother was lying dead on the floor. She had been killed by a blow to the head, and her left ear had been removed. Like the teacher, her ear had not been cut off cleanly.
Eugene informed the enforcers to contact Donna’s father. They were unable to do so. He did not pick up his phone, and he had left work early.
Eugene knew time was running out. He told the enforcers to take the three remaining mothers to a secret location and for them to stake out their homes.
Two hours later, the mothers arrived at the safe house. Eugene decided to stay with the mothers to keep them safe.
Just before 8 p.m., someone shone a bright torch through the window. Eugene radioed the enforcers outside to investigate, but they did not respond. Suddenly there was a loud explosion. Eugene rushed out of the safe house to see what had happened. The car the enforcers were in had been blown up.
Eugene rushed to the vehicle to see if he could help anyone, but the heat kept him from getting close. Eugene called the emergency services.
Eugene turned around and rushed back to the safe house. However, when he reached the door, it was locked. Eugene ran over to a window, but it was also locked. Eugene pulled out his baton and smashed the window. He quickly smashed out all the glass, and then he jumped through the window.
Loud classical music was blaring out. Eugene rushed into the room where he had left the three mothers. Just as he entered, he was hit hard in the face with a baton. Eugene landed hard on his back. Arville was standing above him.
‘Sorry, idiot,’ chuckled Arville. ‘I didn’t want you to interrupt his grand performance.’
Eugene turned his head. He could see Donna’s father cutting the ear off one of the mothers.
‘You must stop him,’ panted Eugene. ‘He’s killing them.’
‘Nah, better than that!’ exclaimed Arville. ‘I’m recording him. This will be irrefutable evidence of his guilt. Real Head Enforcers don’t take chances.’
‘We’re supposed to save lives,’ panted Eugene in dismay.
‘Once he’s done, I’ll arrest him,’ replied Arville in a nonchalant tone. ‘He’ll never hurt anyone again.’
Eugene tried to get up, but Arville whacked him again with his baton.
‘Stay down!’ said Arville. ‘I can’t let you get into shot. It’ll ruin my evidence.’
Arville looked over at Donna’s father. He had almost finished cutting the ear off the final victim. Arville walked up behind him and smashed him over the head with his baton. He then pulled Donna’s father’s arms behind his back and cuffed him.
‘You’re under arrest, scumbag,’ chuckled Arville as he pulled him to his feet.
Everything went blank. The trainer removed the virtual reality headsets from Arville and Eugene’s heads.
‘I won, I got him!’ shouted Arville at the head trainer. ‘You see, I’m a better Head Enforcer than him,’ he continued as he pointed at Eugene, who was struggling to breathe.
‘We followed both your journeys,’ said the head trainer as he stared coldly at Arville. ‘You committed four murders and assisted in three others.’
‘I also met both the task objectives,’ replied Arville angrily. ‘I hunted down the killer, and I ended the killing spree. I win!’
‘Take him to a holding cell!’ ordered the head trainer as he turned to his trainers.
The trainers immediately grabbed Arville.
‘Get off me!’ shouted Arville as the trainers dragged him out of the simulation room. ‘I have committed no crime. I’m a future Head Enforcer. You’ll regret this, damn it!’
The head trainer turned to Eugene. ‘You did well,’ he said as he rubbed Eugene’s shoulder. Eugene was pale and still in shock. ‘You’ll make a great Head Enforcer.’
Eric, who had just completed the simulation, approached Eugene. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t back you up,’ said Eric. ‘He threatened to punch me. I was so scared.’
‘Grow a backbone,’ said the head trainer angrily to Eric.
‘It’s okay, friend,’ said Eugene as he put his arms around Eric. ‘There’s something seriously wrong with him.’
‘Next question is!' said the head trainer as he turned to Eugene. 'Where do you want to go from here?’
‘I would love to return to the Phoenix Region to be with my family, but I feel Downs Region is calling to me,’ said Eugene as he looked at the head trainer with a glimmer in his eyes.
‘How about we try for the best of both worlds?’ said the head trainer with a smile on his face. ‘We can send you to Downs Region to be a commander. There, you’ll understudy the current Head Enforcer. When your family are ready, they can join you.’
‘Now that sounds like a plan,’ smiled Eugene. ‘My brother, like myself, is also of the Mosaic Trisomy-21 persuasion.’
’Yeah, I know,’ replied the head trainer. ‘That’s why a full family relocation will not be questioned. Our “elites” try their hardest to keep Downs a secret to most of Sapey.’
‘That just means it’s extra special,’ replied Eugene as he dramatically raised his eyebrows.
Two days later, Collingswaggle visited Arville, who was still in a holding cell waiting to be officially transferred to the Cellrebrum Rehabilitation Centre. Arville was sitting in the corner of the cell wearing a straitjacket.
‘I heard what happened,’ said Collingwaggle as he entered the cell. ‘I’ve come to set you free.’
Arville looked at Collingswaggle and frowned.
‘Technically, you have not committed any crimes,’ said Collingswaggle. ‘They have no business keeping you here.’
‘I won!’ said Arville angrily as he looked at the ground. ‘I should be Head Enforcer.’
‘That’s still in your future but not quite yet,’ said Collingswaggle. ‘I still need you to earn it. I want you to begin your career as an enforcer in Adoy.’
‘What for?’ asked Arville as he looked back up at Collingswaggle.
‘We have our suspicions that something is stirring,’ replied Collingswaggle. ‘Someone of your talents is needed to sort things out.’
A big smile came over Arville’s face.
Eugene returned to the Phoenix Region to celebrate his graduation with his family. Arthur and Sophie were incredibly proud of Eugene’s success. They were also delighted to accept his invitation to live in the Downs Region with him.
One week later, Eugene moved to Downs Region to understudy the existing Head Enforcer. Another three weeks later, Arthur, Sophie, and Freddy joined Eugene in Downs Region. Around six months after that, the Head Enforcer retired, and Eugene took over.
Arthur got a job as a mechanic, and after graduating from school, Freddy joined him. Sophie became the head teacher of the learning disabilities school.
Images were created with the help of Bing Image Creator
Sapien Loop Short Stories
Sapien Loop short stories explore the adventures of some of the characters from the Sapien Loop series. These stories are intended to reveal more about individual characters and the events that have helped shape them.
Currently, two books from the series have been published on Amazon; see links below:
All individual chapters can be found on my @captainhive account.
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