Earth To Nole: Return of the Prince by Kumar Lomash Page B

Igogo did that.
    “What else could he have done? Have you seen the news articles lately? People don’t care who is the king. They just want democracy to end. Everyone wants the bureaucrats and politicians gone. There is no way democracy is winning again.”, Keele tried to put Igogo’s behavior into perspective.
    He continued, “He is just saying it now so that he remains a friendly face even after his loss. This way he gets to be the prime minister who brought back the king’s rule. Otherwise, he will look like a typical politician who didn’t want to step down.”
    “I think you might be right. I am getting old now. My instincts are all over the place.”, Boriri confessed. He continued, “Somehow my rusty brain still says that he genuinely wants Kevin to win. I know it's absurd but I just can’t get it out of my head. He was the one who disclosed Kevin’s true identity to roco and now he has gone out of his way to endorse him publicly. If he just wanted to be diplomatic, he needn’t go this far.”, Boriri was confused.
    “Well, he disclosed Kevin’s existence to roco because he wanted to portray humans in a violent shade. He knew you were with him all the time so there was no point fighting the facts. He announced it himself so that he is seen as a supporter of the king’s rule. Don’t you see? He is a politician. The only way for him to stay relevant is to be a king supporter now.”, Keele again had a good point.
    “I get that, but I would feel a lot better if I knew for sure that his smile and support for Kevin is fake right now.”, Boriri said.
    “You know I can’t do that. He is still the prime minister. I cannot analyse him. It would be illegal.”, Keele knew what Boriri wanted but refused. Anyways, he didn’t seem to agree that it was necessary.
    Boriri stood in silence. He was helpless. A third generation housebot like Keele could easily analyse a person’s gesture, facial movements and heartbeat to detect if he was lying. But it is frowned upon to do so unless the person has agreed for the analysis himself. Moreover, it was illegal to do this kind of analysis on government officers, including the prime minister. Boriri knew it was impossible for a bot to do something which was illegal, even if for the greater good.
    To change the topic, Keele started speaking. “I and Kevin have developed a little theory about Igogo. We believe we have circumstantial evidence about how he could have been behind all of this. Including Soboro’s death and humans’ arrival on nole”.
    “Let’s talk tomorrow. I need some rest tonight, It has been a long week.”, Boriri responded with lethargy. He looked tired. Seeing that the gala was going as planned, he seemed to have allowed himself a break. Tonight, all he wanted was to sleep peacefully.
    Before leaving, Boriri asked Keele to stay back with Kevin as it was his first night at the palace. To this Keele readily agreed. Kevin’s speech was over now. Boriri waited for it to finish before leaving as a very satisfied man.
    Everyone was still clapping as Igogo and Kevin walked down the stage. Igogo shook Kevin’s hand one last time and left the hall. Two roco bots stood with Kevin now. They were his personal guards and would follow him everywhere now that he was officially announced the prince.
    “Why do I need so much security if hums are not that violent?”, Kevin asked Seriri who joined him after the speech.
    “There are others here too, Kevin. Mone is frequently visited by Jaks, Forengs and other species of nearby star systems.”, Seriri responded casually as she posed for the flying cameras along with Kevin.
    Kevin was surprised to hear this, he struggled to keep a straight face for the cameras. He asked, “How many species are there?”
    “No one knows. The Universe is infinite. We have not found its edges yet. Every civilization has explorers who travel deep into the space and discover other civilizations. That is how we know each other.”,