3. The Fake Heir Knows Naught

 

21 Years Later

People have often talked about an re-birthing of themselves or an epiphany as they name it. Especially if you've been close to dying from an illness or an attempted assassination. But waking up and realising that I've literally reincarnated into a cloned body of myself, takes it to an extreme form. When I woke, I was noticed by a group of old men claiming me to something I had no training with. Claiming I to be called Remipor Larferna has got to be one of the most far-fetched things I've come to experience. I've been awake for half a day now and Ceoda Moore has requested to chat with me about future progressions. Renum, the spokesman of the Larferna council has recommended that I should allow him to replace my presence during the meeting with Ceoda. If it wasn't for Atalie's fascination with Ms Moore, then I probably would have agreed to Renum's suggestion. Hence why I sent for Atalie Marcie to be present during my meeting with the Quadrillionaire Tycoon, Ceoda Moore. Renum seemed disappointed in my response and left without a dismissal. Later, I asked if my Kings guard could wait outside while I have a cheeky snooze but they declined. I tried again, this time ordering them in the command of the King, which to no surprise they did. Before closing my eyes in anticipation for my long awaited nap, I started to hear a commanding voice through my bedroom door. 

“Annel, get me in contact with Remi so that I could ask him to let me pass his weak security team of twelve,” she snapped out. Suddenly I got a text notification from the Royal solar phone that was situated on the left of my bedside table. It’s from someone called Annel and it reads, “Ceoda Moore is currently outside The Royal Room of Rest and is craving to speak with you.” I started texting back, “Annel who?”

“I’m the Head of Assistants working under Ms Moore.” 

“Why can’t she text me herself, or better yet call me herself?”

“Then I would lose showcasing one of my most valued skills.”

“And that is?”

“Informational relay.”

“More like Ceoda pays you to text for her.”

“That’s what most assistants do, don’t you have one? Wait, I’m actually texting the Royal King of Larferna himself?” 

“Yeah, why what’s wrong?”

“I’m so sorry but please just let my boss come in.”

“Apparently you’ve to address me as my Majesty, but I reckon that only applies to Earthlings, so it’s okay ;)” I jested.  

“I don’t believe I’m texting the right person because correct me if I’m wrong, but did the King of Larferna just sent me an emoji?” I laughed at her reply whilst using my bed sheets to cover my mouth in order to muffle the sounds of my amusement. Incase Ceoda heard me and thinks that I’m laughing at her current situation instead. This was before I knew my room was sound proofed. 

“How else do I communicate my amusement through texting? This is why I preferred it if you called. How did you get this number anyway? It’s just been recently activated and it’s coded with a private server that only the Larferna council has access to.”

“Ceoda probably pays me more than the twelve guards combined thats posted outside your door, all for my specialty in accessing the unknown.” 

“Annel, it’s been over a minute and counting, what is going on?” Ceoda shouted her frustration.  

“It seems that your boss is angry, I thought geniuses are well calculated in the act of self control?” 

“Ceoda creates technology that helps progress humans all over the Galaxy, and this limits her time in practicing self absorb feelings such as anger management.”  

“I like it when an employee defends their boss, but isn’t it dangerous letting someone as powerful as her to be bypassing anger management? What if she decided to nuke my whole Planet due to a dislike towards me?”

“If you just allow my boss in and let her present her ideas, then the nuking theory would have been forwarded into isolation.” 

“I’m not my sobered self at the moment, hence my on-going self satisfying questions.”

“Is that a confirmation to open the doors?”

“No, it was a confession to my current attitude. I’m usually less talkative.”

“What drug(s) did they give you?”

“The Doctors offered pain killers but I substituted them with cannabis.”  

“So what does your drug minded self want in order to let Ceoda in?”

“You have to be in the room as well as Atalie Marcie.” I waited a good seven-seconds before Annel replied back, this time it was a phone call. 

“Hi Annel,” I cheerfully said.

“And how should I address you,” asked Annel.

“Quent?”

“Don’t call him that,” whispered the same voice that shouted through my door earlier.

“Was that Ceoda? I’m on speaker phone?”

“Yes and yes.”

“Ask her why you can’t call me Quent.” I heard angered whispers directed towards my new texting companion. 

“It’s not your real name she said,” replied Annel. 

“What about Remi then? I heard her calling me that earlier.”

“Yeah that works, so can we come in, Remi?”

“Is Atalie outside too?” 

“She’s currently with Octlyn at the hospital, he’s been injured and you were the only one who had an Exporta, so Octlyn’s healing the natural way.” I was told about Octlyn’s contract three hours after I had woken up from my Exporta surgery, and I didn’t quite give the reaction my informer expected. 

“Fine, let me get changed first.”

“Looking forward to meeting you, Remi,” she said, then I hung up. 

I was naked in bed, except for the Royal silky pants I had on. The room was set to accommodate my body heat so wearing anymore clothes would have produced a sweaty King. I opted for a thin looking robe by the Royal closet. I turned on half the lights and saw how big my room was for the first time by myself. I’ve only seen it once when I first awakened from my operation earlier today, that was around the time when I was surrounded by enough people to fill up the whole room. So standing here by myself, causes me to see it from a different perspective. This is more like a ballroom, it has a bulletproof wall blocking the entry door with a distance of 10 yards. The whole room is filled with huge statues of my supposed ancestors. With a couple of dog heads of a K9 breed, with the height of 35 feet, facing opposite of each other, placed near the entrance of my bulletproof wall. Apparently the wooden walls are made of the fallen branches of the Larferna tree, which are called Larfern wood. I texted Annel to come in and when the doors opened, my twelve Kings guard walked in also. 

“I’m going to skip the introductions because I’ve already met everyone in this room except you.” I said. Looking at Ceoda Moore in the flesh for the first time in my room, was probably unusual for Ceoda, since I’ve heard people popularly make their way to her instead. 

“What I have to say is intimate as f**k so you’ll probably gain more respect out of me if you order your twelve boys to stand elsewhere,” said Ceoda.

“Probably not a wise idea, my Ferna,” said the head of my security, whose name is Deconi. 

“I thought you said every Earthling must address you as my Majesty?” Annel pointed out. Ceoda seemed surprised by Annel’s question. Something that told me she’s usually less talkative.   

“Having people address me as Majesty doesn’t make me feel anymore Majestic than when I was a soup stirrer. So I decided that if Earthlings want to call me by something similar to Royalty, but still maintain an air of my family ties, then it might as well be a nickname to my surname, though my council insist I keep the ‘My’ part.” Annel smiled at that and I joined her out of kindness. 

“So why did you mention that people should address you as my Majesty every time they talk to you,” Annel asked. 

“I just woke up from an operation that could have killed me, and that degree was only just passed when I woke up today.” 

“Fair enough,” said Annel.  

“Deconi, can you lead the men to wait outside for now please.” They scrammed back out and closed the doors. 

“You shouldn’t have to say please to your employees, especially since you are their King,” advised Ceoda Moore. 

“I’m not really a fully fledged King yet, I’ve still to be crowned publicly before that could happen.” 

“You shouldn’t reveal information as easily as you just did either.” I nodded in agreement and nodded again for her to begin her presentation. 

“I’m wanting a permanent residency on the Larferna Lands, but your law states that everyone that isn’t an Earthling is to be ignored from the chance of living here.”

“My kindness tells me to give you a residency due to the fact that your Exporta operation saved me, but my inner selfishness is telling me to ask for something in return.” Ceoda seemed to lighten up from my reply. “But I don’t know what to ask for yet.” I quickly added.  

“How about I offer you something that only I could offer?” she proposed. 

“I was just joking,” I giggled, “you can have your residency for free. Annel too, if she wants.” I walked to my fridge and grabbed a gold plated water bottle. 

“Want a drink to finalise our deal then?” I offered. Ceoda seemed surprised at my current response. “You not even going to hear me out on my offer,” she asked, clearly baffled. 

“You can tell me all about the offering you’re so eager to give, through drinks?” I waved a couple of glasses in front of them.

“Right, sure Remi,” said Ceoda, in an expression of total ignorance of kindness. 

“You too, Annel,” I suggested. She walked over to sit next to us by the table that overlooks the Remelan City and the Larferna tree. 

“So what’s the offer, huh?” 

“Mentors are one of the most valuable stepping stones for success, and I’m offering mines to you,” pitched Ceoda. 

“Why,” I asked. 

“Octlyn’s contract stated that he was meant to help guide you into becoming a King, but since he’s failed. That role goes to his brother Jakcon, and he’s been missing, leaving you with your Royal council.”

“And what’s wrong with my council?”

“Well, where are they? Shouldn’t they be here with you?”

“Its night time, they’ve all got families to look after.”

“Which is my point, did you realised how easy it was for me to stand outside your door, did you notice how easy it was for Annel to hack into your phone? I've built several empires and a Planet by just using my wits. So let me help you out because everyone knows you lack it." Atalie would have loved this. 

"Annel, can you wait outside for a moment,” I asked kindly, she did the mandatory eye contact with her boss to see if Ceoda agrees, to which she does. "Yeah, of course,” she paced herself out pretty fast. Ceoda looked at me thinking all sorts of things, no doubt.

"I'll consider your help but you've to answer me honestly."

"Answer what,” she asked. 

"Did you do something to my brain when it was being transferred to another vessel? The Exporta operation you gave me.” Ceoda squinted at me for a quarter of a half split second. 

"Yes, before putting back your brain into a cloned vessel of your original body. I did the wisest thing any leader would do.” 

“Tell me.”

“I looked into your mind, Remi.” 

“Oh,” I said, clearly shocked by the whole honesty of her answer. 

“I did it to check if you we’re a psychopath because you seemed to be raised like one.” Ceoda said it with the up most professional tone. 

“My whole life has been observed by strangers. I must be immune to it by now, because I  don’t feel offended about you looking into my private life without permission.”

“I’m sorry, Remi.” I ignored her poor effort of an apology.

“Why is it that I’m feeling more confident than before though? I was always very shy.”

“I took out a certain brain cell that carries the memory foundation of your shyness during the brain operation known as Exporta. You were nearly dead so we had no choice but to move your current brain to another body, a cloned body of yourself of course.” 

“Can’t say that it wouldn’t help with the future speeches I will be conducting as King, but why take out that, out of all things,” I asked. 

“Because shyness seems to be the only thing holding back your potential.”

“What potential?”

“Whilst I was looking into your mind, I discovered that you have an incentive attitude that could be used to help rule this unbalance but profitable Kingdom know as Earth.”

“I don’t want to have potential, I want to have accurate success. Potential is just like having a good hand in poker, and it lacks for a definite answer to winning.”

“Un-resourceful leaders tend to ignore the benefits of taking chances, and your potential has the chance to develop into what you call accurate success.”  

I scratched my already arched eyebrow and continued. 

“So what else did you extract from my brain?”   

“Just the shyness cell,” she casually said.  

“What did you see when you were in my head?” 

“I only had your brain for a night, so I didn’t see much.” I nodded at the illegalness of the current invasion of my basic human rights. 

“I heard you gave every one of my council members an Exporta?”

“Actually, they asked me,” she subtly giggled. 

“And I take it you’ve looked into their minds also?”

“Wouldn’t you,” she asked. 

“Hence why I brung it up, I want to know what you saw,” I smiled.

“I don’t think your ready for it now. As a mentor, I would advise you to wait until you’ve learned and gained the correct responses of what is about to be revealed.”

“I didn’t agree to your mentorship yet.”

“Remi, please don’t over play the hard to get card.” 

“What do you even gain from helping me?” 

“I’m a genius and naturally curiosity lurks within me, so why wouldn’t I want to mentor the first King I’ve ever met. It’ll also be great for my biography book; imagine reading about Ceoda Moore, inventor of the C. T. Ship, Ceoda.com, Exporta and Mentor to the King of Earth.”

“I don’t believe your doing this just for the sake of a publicity boast. So I’m asking again, why do you want to help me?” 

“While your guards enhance your lifespan by protecting you. I will enhance your wisdom by mentoring you. Does it really seem like a bad idea to accept my help?” 

“I’ll revoke your residency if you keep delaying the question.”

“Larferna traditions stated that in order to finalise a deal, you must drink to it. And didn’t we just do that?”

“I could still revoke the deal by denying it.” 

“Annel just hacked into your phone in less than a second, don’t you think we’ve recorded this whole conversation? You rejecting the deal would provoke me into posting it publicly, and the people you rule over will know you as a dishonest King.” I breathed out a defeated tone. 

“S**t, even I didn’t know about that tradition.” Look, being advised by a genius may be an advantage toward future enemies, but Ceoda Moore is a tactical thinker. And the only possible reason why she wants to live on my Planet is because it’s the only world that won’t die. Meaning Ceoda can remain an immortal without the worry of surviving on a dying Planet. And when she becomes accustomed to my world, she’ll probably want to rule it in her own way. But it isn’t fair to think so negatively of her, so I’m going to give her a chance and say the words that I could one day possibly regret. 

“Sure, mentor me then.”