Abuja – Presidential Sector – 9:47 A.M.
The air in the capital had changed.
Drone patrols had doubled. Civilian activity was thinning. A state of "quiet emergency" had been declared — no formal announcement, just an invisible tightening around the throat of the city.
Minister Kasim Bako stood behind tinted windows of his skyscraper office, watching synthetic clouds roll over the skyline. He hadn't slept. His usually pristine agbada was wrinkled, and there was a nervous tremor in his hand as he sipped black tea.
Behind him, Samira entered without knocking.
"You look like a man standing in a house he set on fire," she said.
He didn't turn. "It's collapsing, Samira. And it's your fault."
She chuckled, cold and sharp.
"You forget who handed me the matches."
....
Benin City – Operation Firepulse Hub – 10:03 A.M.
Alero gathered the team in the warehouse's central war room. Tactical projections danced across the dusty wall, mapping critical infrastructure points across Lagos and Abuja: communication hubs, data vaults, financial pressure nodes, drone relay points.
"Phase Two begins now," she said, her voice commanding. "Our mission: strip the system naked. No more slow leaks. We'll broadcast everything — internal NDLEC communications, SynGen's development notes, bribe logs, blackmail videos."
Arewa crossed her arms. "And what happens when we cross the point of no return?"
Tunde stepped out of the shadows, bandaged but burning with purpose.
"Then we burn the throne," he said. "Because the throne is a lie."
....
Encrypted DarkStream – 11:00 A.M.
Within minutes, a new drop flooded the encrypted net:
#ThroneFiles — Part One: "The Children of War"
Surveillance footage. Internal memos. Handwritten logs. Video of Minister Bako ordering controlled chemical field tests in Zamfara's refugee zones. Transcripts from foreign pharmaceutical executives laughing about "the African test lab."
The world snapped to attention.
Nigeria trended globally — not for music, sports, or innovation — but for mass state-sponsored human trials.
....
Warri – Secondary Safehouse – 1:12 P.M.
Arewa flipped off the screen after watching the drop go viral.
"You just put a target on all our heads."
Tunde adjusted his jacket, eyes locked on the flickering holomap of Abuja's Presidential Sector.
"Then let them aim."
She stepped closer. "We need a bigger move. Something symbolic."
He turned to her. "I'm listening."
She pointed at the map.
"The Founders' Monument. The annual Unity Day Gala is in four days. The President, Bako, half the council — they'll all be there."
"You want to crash it?"
"No," she said. "I want to shatter it."
....
Lagos – SynGen AI BlackSite – 3:22 P.M.
Samira reviewed security footage of Tunde's marshland encounter. The body of one operative floated facedown in swamp water. The other bled from his ears, neural overload from a failed mind hack.
The AI system beside her, sleek and faceless, spoke in a genderless voice:
"Subject Tunde displays increasing resistance to neural manipulation. Cognitive firewalls are adapting. Memory recursion is ineffective."
Samira narrowed her eyes.
"Then we turn public perception against him. Broadcast the worst version of him we can fabricate. Make him the monster."
The AI paused.
"Shall I resurrect Operation Black Sleet?"
She hesitated… then smiled.
"Yes. Let them fear what he could become."
....
Benin City – Nightfall – 9:44 P.M.
Ejiro patched into the comm feed.
"Glyph just intercepted a dirty signal bouncing off SynGen's satellite proxy. They're reviving old neural warfare protocols. Something called Black Sleet."
Alero's jaw tensed. "I remember that. It was designed to induce mass panic via hallucinogenic frequency bursts — tested in a prototype in Kano back in 2031."
Arewa's eyes widened. "And blamed on local insurgents."
Tunde nodded grimly. "If they unleash it, people won't know what's real anymore."
"Then we hit first," Glyph cut in over the comms. "Before the gala. Before the fog."
Alero turned to Tunde.
"You sure you're ready to walk into a gala full of snakes?"
Tunde grinned. "I've danced with vipers before. Let's make them bite each other."
....
Abuja – Minister Bako's Private Compound – 11:59 P.M.
In a heavily secured basement room, Minister Bako stared at an old photo on the table — a younger version of himself with a boy barely ten years old. Beside them, a woman smiled, her arms around them both.
A knock at the door.
His aide entered, hesitant. "Sir, there's something else in the leak. A code within the files — something you didn't authorize."
Bako blinked. "What code?"
The aide handed him a printed sheet. Bako's hands trembled as he read.
NDLEC Case File: Operation Husk
Subject: Bako, Tunde — genetic enhancement trial participant. Status: Survived. Asset potential: extreme.
His breath caught.
"Dear God… he wasn't just a stray."
No.
He was their weapon.
And now, he'd turned around.