The Sector

Scene 21-"The Bitter Hag"

The Elders of the sector were called the next day; every epidian knew that there was tension because they had heard the explosion not far from the separated sectors. They called the meeting to discuss the unexpected event. It was a stir in the hall, the same hall they used to delegate the new successor.

"I beg for silence" a voice yelled above the tensed crowd, they were all trying to find their seats and at the same time were trying to look for some sector to blame the explosion. Clearly they were not told about anything that happened in the main headquarters for the 5 months after the new delegation.

Noise and voices were all at pitch, "Order, please, Order" the same voice begged. It was none other than Mr.Gregory, a bulky man in a black cloak that reached his foot. He like the elders had a bit of grey hair on his head and despite his huge size his voice seemed to not conquer the disturbed crowd. "they say it was an invasion" he heard one of the old women in the crowd whisper, "and that's why they called us here" the white haired woman spoke.

Mr. Gregory knew that gossip and rumour would be spread within the sectors and not even the elites could stop this monstrous disease from spreading. "Please find yourself comfortable and settled before we begin" he called out louder than the previous one. Once he saw the elders had settled he began the tedious ceremony with a vote of thanks for the presence of the elders and then he proceeded to the main climax of the meeting.

"As you may all have heard, we were attacked the night before" gasps flooded the room, and those who knew of this were not surprised because they heard the blasts and screams of those epidians who were close by.

"We are gravely sorry for the disturbance that may have you all tensed, but We assure you that there is nothing to worry and that all is taken control of" he smiled to show that nothing was wrong up in the head quarters.

"Lies!" shouted an elderly man from the crowd, Mr Gregory tip toed to see who shouted such words. "Mr Jones," he began, "I beg your pardon?" and Mr Jones did not hesitate to repeat his irresponsible words. "You heard me, Lies!" he shouted again.

The crowd sat in silence and respect because they knew who Mr Jones were, not because he had a very high credential of being the oldest in the Elite sector, nor did they respect him for his grades in IQ or that he was an ex-keeper but the fact that his daughter had followed his foot prints just as he did with his ancestors.

He was also the descendant of the first four keepers who implemented the system from the beginning of time. The crowd eyed him from a distant and not directly at him. Noone in the crowd could meet his eyes for a long time; because he was a grumpy old man who demanded a lot for little in return.

"Why do you think that it is a lie? Clearly you were not there" Gregory continued, "Lies" muttered the old man. "If there is one thing I know, its that the headquarters and all the departments up there are hiding something from us, from us all!" he spoke. If anyone met Mr Jones, they might have thought he was a butcher because he had scars and cracks of dry skin on his face and hands. "There is nothing we are hiding, Mr Jones" Gregory replied trying to sound professional at his job. He knew what Jones was like, the bitter old man who suddenly turned reckless when he found out that his daughter died.

"If there is nothing you are hiding, Mr Gregory" whispered the bitter old man as he leaned in to gregory's ear, "Then why are your knees trembling behind those black cloaks?" a smirk flashed upon the old man's face and stepped back to turn to the crowd of elders.

"Is this what we expect from our generations? To be treated like weaklings?" his voice roared the air and seemed to break the walls of the hall. "We are told that there is nothing wrong, and yet we witness an explosion. We are told that our keepers are not hiding anything, then where are they?" he yelled.

He sure was declaring tension, and the elders began to mutter in their seats nodding to his exceptional speech. He was a very persuasive man and this was proven definite.

"We need to talk to them, not their messenger, but the Four elected keepers!" he spoke turning to Gregory and smiled, "Where are the four elected keepers?" he sarcastically asked.

Mr Gregory gulped and looked at the crowd whose eyes held ancient fury, he was ordered not to talk about the keepers but to tell the elders that there was nothing wrong and that everything was taken care of. He close his eyes, took a deep breath and reminisced every scene Twitch told him to say because she knew the sour soul of Jones would be present at the meeting and as expected she was right.

"You tell him, that the keepers are handling the problem as we speak. That the chaos is being dealt with and that it is none of his concern because he swore under oath to not intervene with The Sector headquarters." She said sternly looking at his eyes, "remember this Mr Gregory and you can earn yourself a seat in my government" a smile flashed on his face and he nodded.

"It's a deal" he replied shaking her hands.

"The Keepers are not present today," he spoke, and again the crowd was tensed. He watched Jones smile with victory but he knew too well that the victory will not last for long, "They are not here today because they are dealing with the problem, Mr Jones" he replied, still a smirk on the bitter man's face. "So you lied? To us? The Elders of this parliament?" the old hag boasted with a prideful face. "Something like that," "where are they?" he demanded and the crowd stood silent as ever, trying to absorb the moment. "what they are doing and where they are, Is none of your concern Mr Jones." He replied, he watched the old sour hag's face turn into a frown, "We need-" and that was it, Gregory finished his sentence "It is not all of your concern because as is part of the treaty, An Elder may know the problem but not the privacy of the keepers and their affairs therefore I will only tell you the problem".

Havoc and curiosity filled the room, "Last night, we received an epic disruption in one of our pipe lines that run from sectors 1 to 3. And the problem is being handled as we speak." He watched Jones face turn black as night and before he knew it the old man turned and slapped his face, "You are a disgrace to us all!"

The elites on the side of the platforms ran to arrest the offender having him with his hand behind his back, "You traitor! You betrayed us all!" he spat. Once Jones was out of the room, Gregory dismissed the meeting and sat on the platform rubbing his cheek as it continued to sting.

He sat reminiscing the dark atmosphere jones seemed to hold, and then he remembered twitch's words,

"He'll slap you, but that is the point. Get him out of the way so we can do our job," he nodded in response to her brilliant plan to put out a mutiny flame before it started. She suspected Mr Jones for being a defector because just like his daughter, Twitch could not have another epidian interfering with her plan or she will teach them a lesson they will never forget, just like the one he helped complete.