₦airaland Forum

*

“She is a field agent, you know?” Someone said.

“Really? I thought I was the one sitting my behind on a chair all day,” another person answered the first one.

“Stop being obtuse, you know what I meant,” the first voice answered.

“How would I know that? I am not a mind reader,” the second voice replied.

“You know what she did before that,” the first voice was sounding exasperated.

“Will you two shut your mouth,” a voice Aina recognised as belonging to the woman who rolled the case in said.

“Who are you? Shouldn’t you be asleep?” the second voice retorted.

“I would be, if you had thought to keep your mouth shut. She might hear you, you know?”

One of them snorted, and everywhere was silent.

“What’s happening with that thing?” the first voice asked, after some time.

“I don’t know, let’s ask the expert.”

The woman sat up from beside Aina on the sofa. Aina opened her eyes and saw that the hologram was pulsating faster than it was before. She sat up and watched as the woman worked on the computer it was connected to. She looked to the large screeen on the wall and saw as the image of a building was displayed on it.

The woman looked back, and saw Aina awake. She gestured at the large screen and said, “That is it?”

Aina stood up and walked to the woman. “Can I get a better look than this?”

The woman did something, and a 360 view of the building was displayed on the large screen. It was a large warehouse.

“What is it used in storing?” Aina asked the woman.

“Just about anything. It is currently being used to store farm machineries.”

Aina went back to the large case and brought out another case within it. She took the case to the woman, the others were already gathered behind the woman.

“Connect the drones,” she told the woman, as she took out the five lightweight drones from the case.

The woman did so, and Aina directed one of the team to open the door wide.

“Give them the location and directives.”

As the woman did so, Aina moved to another computer, and accessed the operation center network. She selected Alvene’s profile and messaged him, telling him about the drones and to find someone to give them access above ground.

As she finished the message, the drones began to move away, outside the room, they all watched their progress from the large screen.

*

They were all fully geared and ready hours after the drones exited the room.

It was twelve midnight and they were well rested. They left the room, with Aina leading and the woman exiting last, this time with a small case in her hand and her weapon slung from her shoulder.

The corridors Alvene led them through had been cleared of people, and they reached their transportation above ground without anyone seeing them. Alvene had barely reacted when he saw the weapons they were with and their complete gears.

They entered the minibus and Alvene took the drivers seat. He drove them out of the compound and after a while, two other vehicles followed behind them.

They reached the warehouse and they all alighted the bus, Aina got down last but not before telling Alvene, “Just one hour.”

They broke into the warehouse, two people leading in guns up, and the others following behind in formation.

There was no one in sight, but the machines stored did not allow for much to be seen. They all took cover and waited while the woman opened the case and brought a tablet, she worked with it and a number of miniature drones rose from the case. They spread out and formed a perimeter. After a while the woman signalled and they all got back in formation. They followed systematically behind, after the drones had carefully swept the area.

They did this till the woman signalled again, she moved towards Aina, and after a quiet discussion, Aina said to her team, “There is a staircase leading below ground. We follow in pairs, four stairs apart,” she pointed at the woman, “she takes the midpoint.”

They continued onwards, climbing down the winding stairs. They were near the last step when the woman signalled a stop. She moved to Aina at the front and showed her the display on the tablet.

Aina cursed under her breath. “How has this place been under the radar all along?”

“This place has been in operation for a long time. There would have been more than enough time to do it over the years.”

“How large is it?”

“An acre give or take.”

“Just for this?”

The woman shrugged. “Should we continue with the mission?”

“Of course. Show it to the others, and lets plan how we are going to successfully navigate this maze.”

“That place might have an exit, and he might have escaped us.”

“We shall know that if we cant find him.”

*

Getting off the staircase, they entered into the maze. The maze was wide enough to allow three people abreast, but they continued forward in pairs.

The drones were sent forward to map a section of the maze before they proceeded forward. They were turning around a corner to avoid a dead-end when the two men at the end let off shots that tore a chunk out of the concrete.

“Moving target,” one of the men reported.

“Did you get a visual?”

“It fits the spec.”

“Get two drones over there.”

They waited a while, before the woman indicated a negative.

“Let’s take another route backwards. We might blindside him that way.”

They took another turn, mapping the maze as they went.

They were turning around another corner when it happened. The woman with the tablet was about making her turn around the corner, when the wall beside her opened. She was grabbed by strong mechanical arms, and it was over before she could let out more than a cry of surprise and the others could react than turn to her.

“Damn!” Aina exclaimed. The incident had put everyone on edge, and away from the wall. They could only look at the already closed wall which had no seam or crack to show where it had just swallowed one of them.

“We have to go on blind. If we get him, we can get her back. We have to continue carefully now,” Aina said.

They continued on, careful to keep away from the wall. The floor beneath the rear members of the team opened inwards, and one of them fell in completely while the other one held onto the floor with his hands. One of the men before them tried to help him up, but before he could reach him the floor he was holding unto bent inward and he fell. The floor snapped back in place with no evidence of ever opening.

“We have to go back, Agent,” the woman beside her whispered, “We can bring in weaponized drones to finish him off.”

“If we get back,” someone muttered.

“What about your comrades? We just can’t write them off,” Aina said, ignoring the mutter.

“Yet,” the woman replied.

“Everyone, we have to move faster now. Single file, three steps apart.”

They made faster progress. Aina led them back towards the entrance they took in. They reached a dead end and were about to backtrack when the floor opened under the rear member. The person behind him tried to pull him, when the floor opened beneath him too.

Seeing the possible pattern, the person next in line tried to jump back but wasn’t fast enough. The next person had began to move back when the floor opened directly underneath him.

Aina and the woman beside her had already pressed themselves to the wall, and both waited with hardened expression. The floor stopped opening when it reached their front, and provided them a view of its darkened depth from the ledge they stood on.

The wall directly behind the woman opened in and swallowed her. Aina was left standing alone, the floor still opened before her. She thought of what next was going to happen, and she didn’t like any of them.

Then John appeared on the other side of the chasm. Her reaction was instantaneous. She tried bringing up her weapon, only to find her hands immobilized. She looked at her arms and found them held by steel arms, she was disarmed and held immobile.”

The floor began to close back and he walked slowly across to her. he looked her over, smiling. “You know this is where I have always wanted to have, your back to a wall.”

She looked at him calmly and said, “Where are they?”

“Your team? They are somewhere better than you are.”

“What do you want?”

“To humble you,” he answered.

She laughed. “You are going to leave me alone? I will make sure you regret that.”

“Your arrogance will always be your undoing. You always have a need to display the obvious power you have over others. I have you with your back against a wall with nowhere to go. I could as well kill you for your useless threat.”

“Why don’t you do so. You can’t, can you?” She said with a derisive snort.

“As I said I want to humble you, not as you would love to kill you.”

“How do you plan to do that. Hold me down and do what?”

“Don’t flatter yourself. I am just here to help you, to show you that no matter how strong you have come to see yourself, those weakness you are trying to build a wall around are still there. You, Aina, are not indomitable.”

“You have shown that already,” she said looking herself over.

“No, I haven’t,” he said, and brought a small cylindrical object out of his pocket, he pressed it to her neck where it attached itself to her neck. “Now I have.”

She watched unseeing as he left her there. She fell to the floor on her knees and she barely took note. Her eyes were filled with tears and her body wracked by sobs.

All that happened after, as she crawled across the floor, her body wracked by heart wrenching sobs, she took no notice. Only the visions that tormented her were all that mattered, as she fought in her head to break their hold. But John was true to his word, she lived and relived them, the moments that broke her heart and those that made her shed tears in secret.

Oblivion if it ever came would be a blessing long overdue.

Chapter Seven


The plane was taxiing on the runway when Aina woke up from her controlled slumber. During the takeoff from a special hangar at the Aguna domestic Airport, Aina’s mind has been obsessed over the many possible reasons for John appearing in Lewang. As far as she and everyone at the OCDA were concerned, the place was dead.

The place registered nothing on the spiritual plane. The reason for this was discovered after many explorations by the OCDA, the cause for this phenomenon was found not to be artificial (man or god) but natural occurrence, an anomaly of nature. Sometimes, she thought of it as a way of nature making its joke.

Since the place was spiritually dead, it gave John an advantage to hide himself in another disguise without being discovered. It would have been a great way to hide from the OCDA, and with his supposed skills, possibly till his death. To have exposed himself in such a manner as he did was too blatant to have been a mistake. She wondered if it was a taunt at her, but dismissed such thought. She needed herself calm and focused for the task ahead, whatever reason he had to expose himself such, it will be best he revealed it himself when she had him apprehended.

The members of her eight strong team were ready in their combat gears. Each man or woman was the best at what they do. She was confident they were more than enough to fight off whatever John threw at them. All of them stood at attention in the plane, ready and waiting on her to lead them off the plane.

She stood up from her seat, walking down the row of seats. She reached the airplane’s door and waited as it opened downwards, bringing in the sight of the cloudy heavens. The atmosphere was noticeably cooler on the deserted runway, as Aina climbed down the stairs, her team following closely behind.

The welcoming team from the operation center in Lewang had arrived before the plane landed, and the four men were walking towards her team. Both parties met midway between the plane and the land vehicles that was there to transport Aina’s team and the welcoming team back to the operation center.

“Good afternoon, Agent Aina. I am Alvene from the Lewang operation center. I and my partners are here to see to your transportation needs and welcome you officially to Lewang,” he said, and stretched out his hand for a handshake.

Aina looked at the little smile on his lips as she shook his hands, which he held almost reverently. “We thank you for your hospitality.”

She moved away from him and continued on her way to the vehicles. As she happened to glance back, she saw a member of the welcoming team try to collect a large case from one of the woman in her team, probably to help her carry it, and stepping back as the woman glared at him.
She stepped through the front door of the minibus, barely glancing at the driver who sat behind the steering. She moved to the back of the bus and took her seat. The members of her team began to enter one after the other, each taking their seat till the last person entered. The driver started the engine and soon began to drive away from the deserted runway.

Aina closed her eyes again, forcing herself into slumber. She needed to conserve her strength and make sure her mind was well rested. She needed to be at her peak to face whatever will happen in the coming hours.

*

When the vehicles reached their destination, Aina came awake, the cessation of motion bringing her out of her slumber. Her team were all on their feet and once again waited for her to lead the way, which she did.

She came out this time to the sight of a beautiful manor surrounded by a wide stretch of carefully mowed lawn. She wondered how the OCDA agents here were able to keep the place pristine and pleasing to the eye.

She came down from the bus, and heard a member of her team whistle. She was sure the person was also wondering about the lawn, and others were joining too, she didn’t look back. She followed behind the welcoming team on the pathway between the lawn, her team close around her. The vehicles had moved away, probably to be parked in the garage.

She and her team walked through the double doors behind the welcoming team into a large parlour that had its roof on the second floor. The place was well furnished, showing an high taste for aesthetic décor. This place and the apparent display of luxury was beginning to make her wonder what the OCDA agents here actually did with their time.

They moved to the kitchen which was in no way inferior in its décor and luxury, as it featured all the implements for a master chef. The welcoming team stopped before a wall, and Alvene moved forward and made a series of knocks and taps on it. He shifted back, and a door shaped imprint appeared on the wall, then slid apart to show an elevator car large enough to accommodate the whole team with more space to spare.

Everyone entered and waited while Alvene pressed a series of buttons. The descent was barely noticeable. The elevator door slid open into a brightly lit corridor. The welcoming team led them down the door filled corridor, through a series of turns, and finally into a large hall occupied by what Aina thought was the majority of the agents present in the operating center.

Aina noticed that this building was different from the luxury palace above it, in its totally utilitarian décor. The hall was silent as the welcoming team led she and her team to the podium, where a man and two women stood observing their movement through the assembled crowd.
She reached the podium climbing the stairs from the side, her team following close behind. The welcoming had diverted their path and joined the crowd at the front. The man stepped forward, the women walking by his side. She met him and took his outstretched hand. The handshake was brief.

“Welcome, Agent Aina. I am Katu, and my associates here are Agent Fila and Agent Vendi,” the two women each indicated with a nod when their name was mentioned, “and on behalf of every agent of the OCDA, a majority of whom are present here, I welcome you to Lewang. I also pledge to you their collective support in providing assistance to you for the duration of your mission and stay.

“We humbly welcome you to our home.”

Aina thought the man was in a sense pompous, but she also saw the bond which everyone in the hall shared, which was evident in his every word. She felt the sense of a tightly knit union amongst a people who hid nothing from each other. She saw them as a single consciousness. She doubted there would be any secret here.

“My team and I thank you all for warm welcome, and we promise not abuse your trust,” she said to the man and his two associates, then turned to the agents assembled beneath the podium.

“My stay here is possible to be a long one, and I promise not to interfere with your daily operations. And on the other hand, my stay here might be short, and as you have promised to me your full support, I promise not to ask more than any of you can give.” She said, paused a breath and continued, “My team and I if you will permit would love to get into our business here as soon as we can. Once again, I thank you for your warm welcome.”

“Of course, Agent. We have prepared a suite for the duration of your stay. Alvene, would lead you there.” He turned to the agents in the hall and said, “You can all return to your duties and leisure.”

As the agents departed the hall, she heard murmurs cut across different groups among them all discussing what she guessed was the same topic. The man, Katu nodded her way before departing, his two associates following by his side, they were talking in whispers.

When everyone departed the hall, she jumped down from the podium. The man who introduced the welcoming team, Alvene, stood there, his eyes were on her as she moved towards. Most members of her team repeated the same action she performed, except the woman with the case. She rolled it down the stairs of the podium.

“Please lead the way to the suite.”

“Please follow me.”

He moved to her front and led she and her theme out of the hall, he moved right leading her deeper into the complex. They followed a straight path until he turned right into a short, wide corridor that led to a door.

He moved aside and swept his arm to the door, she reached the door and turned the knob. She pushed open the door and entered into a large parlour. The room had a large screen on one wall, five computers were placed on a desk with an equal number of swivel chairs. A sofa was placed fat back from the screen. The dining was placed farther back, near another wall. She saw five doors at the opposite side of the doorway she stood in. She moved inside and Alvene followed her in, her team moved in behind, and moved around the room, some of them dropping their packs on tables and chairs.

Some had moved to check the other doors. “The four rooms from the right are bedrooms, and the last one is the lavatory,” Alvene told her.

“What is this place for?” She asked.

“For receiving the occasional dignitaries.”

She raised an eyebrow.

“Only OCDA members. No outsiders.”

“Do you have any facility here capable of generating a spiritual field?” She asked him.

He looked at her, probably wondering why she asked such a question. She knew they had one. “Yes we do,” he answered, “this room is capable of creating one. Should I show you how?” He asked.

She nodded, telling him to do so. He moved to the left side of the screen and she followed behind him. He opened a panel in the wall, and flipped a switch. Immediately he did so, she felt the change in the air, and she was sure her team felt the same, as they looked around trying to pinpoint what caused the change they felt.

Alvene looked at her, and she told him to leave it on. “What have you people been able to discover about John Orinigba’s whereabouts?” She asked him.

He shook his head. “Nothing, but we are sure he is not in any hotel or any rented house. We have also surveyed every building in the city and we have checkpoints everywhere around the city. But we still can’t find a trace of him.”

“I see. What exactly do you do, Alvene?”

“I liaison for the OCDA to the Lewang authorities, Agent Aina.”

She nodded. “Do I have access to the data concerning the search for John?”

“You have access to all our data.”

“It will seem I do not have need for more of your services then. Thank you for your time.”

“It is my pleasure. You can call for me anytime you need me.”

“I will.”

He left the room, closing it behind him. She moved to the door and slid the two bolts on it into place.

She turned to her team, and nodded to the woman with the case, who stood in the middle of the room.

The woman nodded back, and laid the case down. She squatted and opened it, she brought out the first item on top, a device that looked like a sleek, rectangular DVD player. She moved to the desk with the computers and plugged the cable behind the device into the USB port on one of the CPU. A few seconds after she did this the device came to life, soon after it changed its shape and morphed into a cube. They all watched, gathered around the case on the floor, as the woman placed the cube on the desk. Immediately she did so, a blue hologram of a face appeared on the top of the cube. The woman did something on the computer for some time before coming back to join them around the case.

“No surveillance,” the woman said as she joined them, directing this at Aina.

She nodded. The others were looking between she and the woman, then back to the hologram, its blue light was dimming and brightening at a slow interval.

Aina squatted before the case and pointed at the pulsating hologram. “That thing over there will help us solve the problem of finding our fugitive. It will process all the data available to it in this operation center and run a lot of algorithm in helping us determine the position of our elusive fugitive. Beyond that, it can do nothing else. The planning and execution we will have to carry out ourselves.”

She brought out another case from inside large one on the floor. She opened it and within was three guns, which brought surprised gasps from the members of her team. She brought out two more cases that also contained the same type of weapons. “This is the only thing I know cam deal with him. I would love it if you try not to shoot at his head and torso.”

They all nodded, and affirmed to do as she asked. “It will take some time before we get any tangible result. I will advise we all rest before that time comes.”

Pallas grinned widely, with more than enough effort given to reveal as much of her teeth as possible. “Here in Aguna.”

There was a sharp intake of breath from Lola. Pallas thought it was probably the mention of it happening in the same state as she was. Her brother was calm though and he said, “I am not going to like the next thing you have to say, am I?”

If Pallas could have been grinned wider without the risk of scaring the girl sitting next to her, she would have. But she kept her, never letting the amusement fade from her face. “It is in the western parts, and,” she paused, letting him anticipate before she confirmed his fears, “it breathes and walk on two legs.”

As she was talking, his eyes had been widening , and by the time she was done he was near fainting, his breath coming in short gasps. By the time he got his breath under control, he spilled a lot of curse words to make Lola scrunch her face up. Pallas only laughed, making the girl glance at her.

“What is happening?” Lola asked.

“Something beyond a simple set up and kidnap.”

She looked at him, her face betraying her lack of understanding.

“Pallas, what do you think it could mean or be. The OCDA not discovering it all this while has to mean something,” he said.

Pallas shrugged, “I do not know. You have more knowledge than I about matters such as this.”

He sighed. “I know you must have come to some conclusions about all this. I need those conclusions, please.”

She raised an eyebrow. “You do?”

He nodded. Lola only looked at them both, and sighed before she rested her back on the bed facing the ceiling.

“Well. There is the signal which is too weak, and the program has shown that the search needs to be targeted. This implies that its existence is already known beforehand to some certain people.

“It is less likely this is happening from within the OCDA itself, but some rival organisation or some very powerful people.

“Whether the artifact is powerful or not, I do not know. But I do know it is very important and likely to be dangerous.”

John looked towards the ceiling, brooding, “Pallas, this is proving to be beyond what I imagined, on a very big scale. Do you think I should share this with the OCDA, they are equipped to handle it better.”

Lola sat up quickly at that.

“While you sit behind, and manipulate events in your favour from afar, and get the one behind it when the time is right and come out the hero?” Pallas asked.

He smiled at that, and shrugged. “Something like that.”

“That is exactly what you should do, brother. That was why I came here, to convince you. You need not take part in all this. I have been thinking. We can get out of this country, with new identities, I know you can make that possible. We can start over again, and you need not work in such dangerous places again,” Lola said.

John only sighed and looked away from her, wistful.

Pallas smiled softly, “What about me, am I not a part of your plan?”

Lola looked at her, “You can come along if you want.”

John’s body shook with suppressed laughter. Pallas said, “have you forgotten what I said about being contained within this place.”

“Oh. You can’t truly move away from here?” Lola asked.

Pallas only shook her head, she faced John. “If you inform the OCDA of this, it might complicate the situation. Doubtless, the people behind this will have contingency plans to handle any possible situation. I will advise you to keep their current operations that we are aware of under close surveillance, and wait for the opportune and unexpected moment to strike at them.”

John nodded his head in agreement.

“You both need your head checked. I am out of here and done with you,” Lola said walking out. “If you two gain your senses back let me know.”

They both watched as she opened the door and banged it shut as she closed it. They looked at each other. Pallas shrugged, John stood up from the chair and moved to the bed.

“If that closes it for the day, I will love to say goodnight,” John said.

“Goodnight, then. Move aside, I will be sleeping here.”

“You sleep?”

“Am I talking to John or his half-wit sister?”

“Ah. She is really smart, you know?” John said as he moved to allow Pallas join him.

“No more talk. Goodnight.”

Chapter Six


John sat on the bed in his room, his eyes were unseeing of his environment as his mind was locked up in thoughts of what to do. He had to accept within himself that whoever was behind the kidnap of his sister and the stealing of the artifact was beyond formidable and had everything planned out. His only hope was to wait on what Pallas will make of the signature he copied from that intruder in the OCDA.

He blinked, looking up at the white ceiling that held no clue for him. He wondered if he should seek divine assistance, but the great mother had been resolute in her silence to him. He hadn’t heard in a long time from the gentle voice that guided him, steering him through the path that had brought him where he was today. He was certain of her presence which has never forsaken him, the gentle caress at the nape of his neck, that buoyed his confidence and assured him that she will always nudge him in the right direction.

He expected to have heard her gentle voice, but having otherwise not heard anything from her, he considered praying to her. He had done it before, a lot of times, but never to ask something of her. He had sang praises to her name and given her thanks.

He sighed, and got up from the bed. He walked to the middle of the room and lowered himself to his knees, he brought his forehead down to the floor, both hands out beside his head to support him.

He did as he hadn’t done in a long time, a time long in the past, when he was still a boy and lived with parents who were devout. He prayed for all he was worth, for guidance.


*

Pallas had analyzed the data from the device she removed from under John’s tongue. Though, she knew not what most of it was, possibly the artifact’s signature. Such thing was not a part of what she knew of and she had found no reference to such thing. She had a strong idea what the remaining part of the program was after running it through a thousand different processes and she was on her way to John’s room to tell him of her discovery.

Having chose to walk to his room from the underground complex, she passed Lola’s room. The girl was barely awake, reading a book on the chair in her room. But she was dozing already with the book about to fall from her hand. Pallas thought to enter the room and wake her, and help her get into a comfortable position for sleep, but she discarded the idea. The girl could take care of herself perfectly, even if she fell off the chair, it won’t hurt her much.

She walked past the room. The information she was about to share with John was detailed and important, and she was sure he would find it delightful as it will give him a sense of how to continue his mission.

He was in a strange position — one she knew had to do with praying or paying obeisance to one’s god. She didn’t know John had such need to seek divine assistance or being pious.

As she stood in front of his door, she debated whether to open the door or wait till he finished his prayer.

The door to Lola’s room opened and the girl came out, her eyes showing clearly she was recently asleep. She yawned as she moved towards Pallas, rubbing her eyes, the hem of the overly long nightdress she wore dragging on the floor.

“What are you doing here?” Lola asked.

“The same question I should be asking you.”

“I wanted to tell my brother something before I go to bed,” she replied, and looked at Pallas.

“I am here to see him,” she replied, not saying more.

Lola blinked once and said, “Then why don’t you knock or…,” she brought her palms together, then moved them apart, “you know, disappear here and appear inside.”

She moved to knock on the door, but Pallas held her hand. “He is praying. Let him be done with that and we will enter.”

Lola looked at her, frowning. “How did you know that.”

“I see everything that goes on in this house,” she replied casually, “I think you should have known that by now.”

Lola moved back from her, and Pallas freed her hand, “That is spying,” she said.

“Is that so?”

Lola looked at her with suspicion, as if wondering what she trick was about to pull. “Yes it is.”

“If you have to consider that this house and the whole of the land it is situated upon is a field that contains my whole essence. Wouldn’t you consider it that I am just being aware of my self as you are aware of every part of your body,” she said, pinching Lola slightly.

She flinched and pouted, eyeing Pallas with obvious displeasure at the little sting.

As they stood there, one eyeing the other, the door opened and John was about to step out before he noticed them.

“I was on my way to come see you,” he said to Pallas, “but you are here already, come right in.” he moved aside, opening the door wide to allow her come in.

“You were about to come see me?” Pallas asked.

“Yes, of course.” He furrowed his brows then nodded, rubbing his face with one hand. “Yes, I could have just called you.”

“I hope you are well enough. A lot more rest will be very advisable,” Pallas said as she walked in.

“I am well enough and will take your advise.” He turned then to Lola, “you aren’t asleep yet?”

“I want to see you. Can I come in?” she asked him.

“Of course.” John told her, letting her in and closing the door behind her.

Pallas raised her head to look at the girl as she sat beside her on the bed and smiled at her, she didn’t smile back, but Pallas saw the hint of one on her lips. She looked at John who sat on the only chair in the room, facing both of them.

There was silence in the room, none of them speaking, waiting for someone to break the silence. As Lola was about to speak, Pallas spoke up.
“I found out what it is, it is totally innovative. It was designed for the search of something in particular. From the analysis I made, it is required to be in very close proximity to the subject of the search. The signal it searches for is something—with the data I worked on— I believe to be erratic and short-lived. But to combat that, the program was designed to be carried in a lot of devices, allowing for them to become a network that can easily pickup the signal and allow for the ease of getting a lock on it quickly.”

Lola blinked, John only sat there his face set in serious mien, his gaze set to the floor, eyes thoughtful.

He raised his head and looked at Pallas their eyes meeting. She wondered what exactly he was thinking, but she knew the likely question he would ask next. “That means if the signal has been detected, there would be a good number of certain people converging at a certain place. Where is that place?”

I wish they would also help with creating a section for completed works, work in progress and the abandoned works.
Although some stories here have sexual contents, some of them still have a story to tell.
I think what should be done is to tell the authors to moderate what they write, and if they can't do so, the sexuality section is there.

Christie171
Jadeliyi
Extremelygolden
Statistics1
Bigbauer
Greatme2good
Neemike
Purity23
Ifud
Ann2012
Khriztarl
Jupitre

Hi guys. I apologise for the broken promise. This time around I promise not to be erratic with the update.

I will make sure I drop another one tomorrow. And I will make sure to keep it coming steady.

Enjoy as you read. And please show me your goodwill by accepting my humble apology.

“You can eat?” She asked the question, before she thought better of it.

Pallas frowned “Obviously I can, have I led you to believe otherwise,” she answered.

Lola shook her head, “It really seem strange, and I have seen a lot of that with you. It only never crossed my mind that you could eat or you would need to.”

“I understand how that will seem out of place in your mind. I don’t need to eat, I just enjoy a good meal now and then.”

“You enjoy?” Lola asked.

Pallas snorted. “Forget it, I am not having this discussion with you now.”

Lola wondered what strange things she might still discover about the enigma that was Pallas. She glanced at her brother who looked like he had taken as much of the meal as he possibly could.

“What happened, brother? You were confident you weren’t going to be discovered. Look at how it turned out, you almost made me sick with worry.”

He cleaned his mouth with a napkin before he answered her, “They were prepared, and I underestimated them in regards to the length they will take go.”

She listened to him as he narrated his ordeal at the OCDA headquarters, everything that happened and his eventual escape.

“That was a stupid and dangerous thing to do. Whatever that function you used was, I am certain it has its own access terminal and requirements for use,” Pallas berated him.

“I didn’t have the option of doing anything safe, it was that or get captured.”

“I understand that, but it was a great risk to take for something untested. A great number of things could have gone wrong.”

“He is here safe now. It is fortunate everything worked out fine,” Lola said, “now that they know about you, how are you going to go along with your plan to get the people who started this mess.”

“When I am done here, I will have Pallas analyze the program I have with me, and plan my next step carefully,” he said.

Pallas nodded at that, her face taking on a look of introspection before she disappeared, deliberately leaving an afterimage of herself.

Lola looked away from where Pallas had been sitting before she disappeared and looked at her brother, not surprised to find him looking back at her.

She smiled at him, “Are you recovered fully?”

He nodded, returning her smile.

“Are you going to go after them? Why don’t you let everything play out. The OCDA has more than enough people to find their lost artifact and apprehend the ones behind all this.”

“They happen to think I am the one behind all this, and I am the one they will be after. I just need to clear my name and everything will be fine.”

“They didn’t believe you the last time you told them so, why are you sure they will now.”

“Last time everyone was angry, I am sure cooler heads will prevail the next time we meet.”

Lola looked at him, letting him see clearly the doubt in her eyes. He only smiled, stood up and came to her before gently patting her shoulder and moving towards the corridor leading to the other rooms.

Lola watched him go, praying for his safety and that he was right in his assumption that he will clear his name.

* * *

In the conference room, Aina sat at the head of the table, Kelvin to her right, and other top members of the OCDA occupying the six remaining seats. Her face was stoic, doing well enough not to reflect the roiling emotions going on within her. The anger, sense of betrayal, fear and rage she was feeling only had one face representing it, and it was that of John Orinigba.

She was going to make sure she tore him apart piece by piece, the next time she got her hands on him. He was the source of all her current problems, and she feared not only for herself but for everyone, what will happen if he had his way with whatever sinister plan he had cooked up.
She had to get her hands on him, before he does anymore harm than he had already done.

“We are clearing the whole system and returning it to its default mode. This process will take a lot of time, but we are confident in our abilities to get it back to a secure state,” the lead technician was explaining to the seated people in the room of which Aina was among.

“We are sure of your ability to do the job well,” Aina told the woman, “I have one question for you. What happened when we were about to apprehend the intruder? What was that disappearing act he pulled?”

“As I have explained earlier, madam. Whatever happened then appeared in all the system logs as a power surge, a very powerful one. Whatever function he used, if it was part of the building, we have never seen it before.”

“I had to be sure all has been accounted for. You can return to your work, if we need your presence again we will call for your attention.”

The woman nodded, and made her way out of the room.

Silence reigned for some time, and no one wanted to break it as they were at a loss for what to do. The blatant breach of the building’s defenses was a new occurrence, nowhere in their record had such a thing occurred before. One person having total control of the whole system, that he could hide his activities was still a shocking concept to absorb. The realization that they had been harbouring one of the most dangerous criminals and had given him access to their systems only added to their mistakes.

“Well?” Aina asked everyone in the room.

“We have tried a search for artifact twenty-seven from the system here. We couldn’t trace it, and my guess is that it has already been cloaked somehow,” one of the men seated in the room said.

Aina sighed, “I know that already. Tell me something I don’t know.”

Kelvin cleared his throat. “There has been an influx of people to the western parts of Aguna.”

Aina laughed, “How is that any of our concern? People move in and out of this city, and if they are causing trouble that is the job of the police.”

“I think we might find something of importance here. They aren’t ordinary people, a good number of them are mercenaries. They are causing no trouble as yet, but their pattern of movement suggests they are either spying that part of the city or they are on the search for something.”

“That is interesting, we should look into it. Any new thing before we call this meeting off?”

“I received a report before this meeting was called, I am still looking into it to confirm its veracity. But the report stated that John Orinigba was spotted on the CCTVs at Lewang’s train station, he was on the arriving train.”

The silence in the room was total in its intensity.

“Why wasn’t I informed of this immediately?” Aina asked, hitting her fist on the table.

“I had to be sure, as the report itself is baffling. He has been careful enough not to allow his face to be captured, and he has enough skill to make sure of that. I had agents trailing him. They haven’t seen him since he left the train station physically or on any surveillance system, but they are still on his trail.”

“I do not care if he appeared once and didn’t appear again, for all you know he could have made a mistake. You should have informed me, the moment you spotted him.”

She turned to Kelvin. “Get me two teams of four agents each, I will be leading them myself.”

“I will do that immediately we are done here,” Kelvin told her.

“Is there anything else I should know about?” When no one answered in the affirmative, she rose from her seat, “that will be all then. When it is safe to do so, I will love to be kept abreast of all reports.”

The others stood up and were about exiting the room, when she said. “Someone should get a plane ready, I will need to transport my team directly by air to Lewang.”

“Your plane will be ready by the time you need it, Agent Aina,” one of the men replied her before he exited the room.

Chapter Five

Waking up in the room had him disoriented. His head throbbed with a rhythm that left him gently groaning, and wishing he could be back in the gentle embrace of blissful sleep. Opening his eyes, he was confused at first of his whereabouts. His eyes had trouble focusing on a particular point, moving slowly around and blurry.

An infinitesimal moment passed, and little tidbits began entering his conscious mind, his vision becoming less blurry. As he began identifying little things like the way the table was placed at the wall end, the odd assortment of gadget pieces on it; the pattern of the floor and the odd bits. His vision began sharpening, and he came to the realization that he was currently lying down on the bed in his room.

Or I am just in a dream of my own wishful thinking.

He tried sitting up, and immediately regretted the stupid action. The throbbing went numerous scales higher to a pounding of a crazily fast tempo, that left him short of breath and sweat drenched in the pleasantly cool room.

“You are awake already, though, I would have liked it better for you not to try killing yourself,” he heard Pallas say. He had his eyes closed and dared not open it as the pounding went down slowly.

“You almost blasted your nerves apart with whatever you did, it was a wonder you were able make it back here alive.” As she talked, he felt something pierce his shoulder.

When whatever it was, likely a syringe, was removed. He felt a strange bliss overcome him.

In that moment of euphoria and steadily encroaching oblivion Pallas word pierced his mind saying, “that will be the last dose, sleep well.”

He woke up again. The amount of time that had passed he wasn’t sure of. But he knew it must have been much as he felt well rested and ravenous, both things that were absent in his first instant of consciousness. He didn’t try sitting up this time around.

Pallas came in through the door, passing through the wood as if it were of no substance. Her antics sometimes amused him, but she had come as he knew she would.

“You look well enough, considering your close brush with death,” she said to him.

“Was it that bad?”

She gestured at him on the bed, “it did not look that way at first, but then I noticed what was happening to you under the cloned skin. I had to take you into our little clinic, and begin your diagnosis. The situation of your condition was beyond critical. Your Central Nervous System was greatly strained. You were near being in a permanent vegetative state.”

“It was that bad.”

“Yes.” She answered.

He noticed she had more animation in her tone, “how is Lola?”

“She is currently awake, sitting at the dining, and waiting for you. Joining her there for your dinner would be the best course of action.”

“Dinner? How long was I out?” He asked her.

“Approximately forty hours.”

He sighed deeply. That had been unforgivably long considering how fast everything was happening. A lot he was still trying to make sense of.
“I will take your advice. Will I be able to walk there? I haven’t tested my legs in approximately forty hours.” He said, glancing towards his legs.

“You should be able to. I will grant you help if there is need.”

He sat up slowly, this time with no adverse effect and gently brought his legs down. His legs firmly placed on the floor, he pushed himself slowly with both hands placed on the bed to his feet. His balance was horrible, but he had Pallas help as she promised, her body holding him upright as he leaned against her till he had a shred of balance.

He laughed gently, she looked up at his face as they were locked in an embrace. “You are going to have to free me if we are to walk out of here.”

She moved slowly backwards from the embrace, her arms stretched forward so he held on to them as he gained more of his balance.

“I think I can walk alone now,” he said as he felt more confident of his steadiness on his legs. He removed his hands.

“Hold on to one of my hands.”

He did as obliged, and she led him to the door, and they walked side by side down the corridor to the sitting room.

*

Lola sat at the dining, looking at the food Pallas had served. Her worry for her brother had taken a great toll on her, stretching her nerves, and reducing her appetite for the food Pallas had been serving her.

Despite Pallas assurance that her brother would be fine, there was still the worry nagging at her that the artificial intelligence was hiding from her the real state of her brother’s condition.

She looked in the direction of the door that led into the sitting room, waiting her brother to walk out from there. She fixed her eyes on it, resolving not to look away until she saw him walk out of there as Pallas had promised when she left a few minutes ago.

She looked at him walking hand in hand with Pallas, and though he looked weak to her eyes, her joy knew no bounds as he walked out of that doorway.

She stood up and ran gently towards him, embracing him while being careful not to hold him too tight. She pulled back, her eyes catching the somehow amused look on Pallas face, before her eyes turned back towards him and the smile on his face. He patted her hair gently, and she moved to his other side. She and Pallas guided him to the dining to take a seat at the head of the table.

She took it on herself to serve the best of the meals available, piling on his plate the best meals that ought to help him recover faster. That amused look was still on Pallas’s face, following her every movement. After she was satisfied with the food she had served him, she took her seat.

He ate the food slowly at first, and as he dug into it with apparent gusto, she couldn’t help the smile that lit up her face seeing well enough to enjoy his food.

That simple act had her relieved and happy, giving her the assurance she needed that he was well. She took her own food, relishing the sweet burst of the good food on her tastebuds. She glanced at Pallas and she was shocked by what she saw, her eyes widening a bit as the AI drank from a teacup and nibbled on a slice of bread.

Hello guys I am sorry for abandoning this story for over a month, I beseech you all to please bear with me. I will be continuing this now and will drop an update today.

jadeliyi:
hy giamem who is the new girl and how is her events connecting with john.

Her role will be coming into light soon. Please bear with me.

Hi everyone, that is today's chapter. I will love, and humbly wait for your feedback. Thank you, everyone, for following.

The day went well without any other mishap, a fact for which she was thankful. She doubted her chances were good if Mrs. Sawa sacked her. As a secondary school certificate holder, her chances for gainful employment were very low. Coupled with her lack of skills, she knew she could never find a job as well paying as the one with Mrs. Sawa.

She knew the struggles of other orphans like her in a highly populated city like this one. It was something she was grateful for, not having to be in their situation. She had lost her parent to a motor accident which claimed the lives of everyone aboard the bus. The bus her parent were in had collided with a trailer.

It had been the most sad event in her life and a turning point. She had made a sale of the meager possession her parents had, and left their room and parlour apartment when the rent expired knowing she couldn’t afford it. She had no family member that she knew of, and her parents weren’t friends with a lot of people. She had left the area, trying for an area that suited her new status.

Those few months she did low paying odd jobs were the hardest of her life. It was with luck that during an errand for one of her former boss that she met Mrs. Sawa. She still found it hard to believe the little help she offered to Mrs. Sawa could get her a job.

She closed for the day at nine. After every of the workers had gotten out of the restaurant, Mrs. Sawa locked it, and went to her car.

“What happened?” Sarah asked as she and Narasiwi made their way to the bus stop, being the only ones who lived far away from the area the restaurant was.

“Why do you care? I am not interested in being your center of gossip.”

Sarah placed a hand on her heart, getting in front of Narasiwi. Feigning hurt, she said. “You wound me, Narasiwi. I want to be your friend, why are you pushing me away?”

Narasiwi laughed, going past her. “Go and try your wiles elsewhere.”

“At least you are getting smarter. Maybe if you stop acting like a loon people won’t stay away from you.”

Narasiwi kept going forward, walking faster than normal. She ignored Sarah’s mocking words behind her.

She arrived at the single room apartment she called home. Her apartment contained a gas stove, the ceiling fan, the small mattress, her shoe rack, her foodstuffs, the bag containing her clothes and other useful stuffs.

She went to the window and slid it open, allowing in the fresh air. She sat on her bed, watching the night sky through the open window. After some time, she stood up and drew the curtain over the window.

She switched over the electricity, and plugged the charger into her phone. She brought out her reading lamp and one of the textbook she had from her secondary school days. She had never let her situation deter her resolve to further her education.

Mrs. Sara paid her a good monthly salary and she had been saving a very ample part of it in the bank. She planned to start learning a good trade before the year ended. She hadn’t been able to decide on one yet.

She refreshed her memory every night with the books she read.

Narasiwi had her life going well except for the bad spells that sometimes marred a good day. Like the one that happened earlier today. She had been having dreams like that, but this was the first time whatever it was, pursuing her, had caught up.

Sometimes, her body seized up unexpectedly, and usually left her disoriented when it resumed itself. Causing her to lose her balance and stumble, like what happened during the plate incidence.

These were things that she had not told anyone about, and they were always a heavy weight on her heart. She brought out a small box from where she kept it under her clothes in the bag. It contained all the keepsakes from her time with her parents.

The picture of her parents and her two year old self, the three of them smiling at the camera, her face cheerful. One of her mother’s ring, the one she had kept to herself after selling the other jewelleries she had. Her father’s treasured hat, which he allowed no one wear, but still found its way to her mother’s head on occasions.

It was as usual a bittersweet recollection of pleasant memories, and her loss was never more profound as of those moments. Enjoying the treasured memories of their time together and also remembering painfully that there will be no more moments to create memories of again.

This always brought her pain at their loss to the fore. She cried then. Looking at those mementos always brought to her the feelings that her parents were with her, if not in body then in spirit. And she talked to them, explaining to them her plans, her troubles, her feelings.

She fell asleep, looking at those beautiful keepsakes she will forever treasure.

***

In the dark room, an oppressive feeling pervaded the air. Her shoulders bowed under the weight of the presence she shared the room with.

She bowed to the waist. Even though the room was totally dark, to an extent she couldn’t see her own hands. She knew well enough that the man who at the same time was not a man, inhabiting this room could see her perfectly. He had shown more than enough examples of his abilities to do so.

“What do you have for me, dear Sawara,” he made it a statement.

“Good tidings, Lord. The item has been confirmed to exist, and the reports that came in tells that its signals had been picked up twice, though they were brief and very weak. They have its general location to be in the western part of Aguna. The exact location is still unknown, but they are assured of pinpointing it soon.”

The man chuckled. “That is good, Sawara. Have them bring every of our searchers there. I want the net spread thick and tight over those places in Aguna it might be. Something tells me it won’t be leaving there soon.”

“Yes, Lord,” Sawara said. “Your wish is my command. I will do as you have ordered.” She placed her fist on her chest.

“Go and do so, Sawara.”

She turned around, and made a beeline for the door. She had done this enough time to know where it was and not stumble around. She opened the door and closed it behind her, going through and out of the equally darkened hallway. She came out to the soft light of her office, and issued via the telephone, the instructions she had been given.