Warri – Node Tower Perimeter – 06:18 A.M.
Smoke drifted from the shattered vents of the SynGen Node Tower. Sirens wailed faintly in the distance as the rebels emerged from the compound, bruised but alive.
Arewa stumbled out first, rifle slung over her shoulder, eyes wide with disbelief. "It worked..."
Alero helped a limping Glyph down the last steps of the fire escape. "We shut Jericho down. Clean. No burnback. No casualties."
Then Tunde stepped out of the darkness. Torn shirt, bloodied hands, but eyes alive — burning.
Arewa ran to him and threw his arms around his neck.
"I thought you—"
"I'm here," he whispered into his ear. "We're not done."
....
Abuja – Presidential Emergency Room – Same Morning
President Nwachukwu watched the broadcast from his reinforced chamber. His hands trembled as images flashed: SynGen's collapse, NDLEC defectors taking key communication towers, and the Unity leak files spreading through encrypted networks.
He looked to his Chief of Staff. "Get me the Defense Minister. And someone find Kasim Bako. Now."
The Chief of Staff hesitated. "Sir... Minister Bako's assets were seized at 0400. His biometric access revoked. He's... he's vanished."
Nwachukwu muttered, "He's not vanished. He's preparing for the next move."
....
Unknown Location – Offshore Refuge – Midday
Minister Kasim Bako sat in a sleek, unregistered hovercraft drifting past Nigerian maritime boundaries. A satellite phone buzzed on the table beside him.
He answered.
"Samira?" His voice was calm. Calculated.
"I failed," she replied from her secure hideout. "Tunde neutralized Jericho. Zuma hesitated."
Bako didn't raise his voice. "That's disappointing. But not unexpected."
"You gave me your word—"
"I gave you options," he said coldly. "The game isn't over. It's only paused. The people may love Tunde now, but love is fickle."
"What do you want me to do?"
"Disappear. Reset. We'll need you again."
She hung up.
Then deleted her existence.
....
Benin City – Rebel Relay Station – 1:22 P.M.
Tunde, Arewa, and Alero regrouped with Ejiro and Nana Kojo inside a makeshift war room built inside an old railway control station.
Glyph rolled in a battered holo-terminal. "The files from the Node Tower — I decrypted more. SynGen was just one head of the beast."
Tunde stepped closer.
"There's a web of offshore corporations tied to medical trials, prison labor, brainwave tracking through VR education programs. Bako wasn't just laundering power. He was farming control."
Alero frowned. "How far does it go?"
Ejiro answered, "Farther than Nigeria. There's a node in Marrakesh. One in Dubai. Another in London. And the one pulling most of the strings?" She tapped the screen.
The Odion Group.
Arewa leaned in. "I've heard that name."
"Everyone in the black sectors has," said Nana Kojo. "They don't operate in daylight. But they write the rules the rest of the world thinks are laws."
Tunde stepped back, hands clenched.
"So we just exposed the first layer."
Alero nodded. "Now we dig."
.....
Elsewhere – Odion Group Subterranean Facility – Unknown
In a vast room of glass and black steel, men and women sat around a diamond-shaped table. None of their faces were visible. Only voices filtered through filtered masks and modulated speakers.
One spoke:
"Tunde Ajayi is becoming a problem."
Another replied:
"He's becoming a hero. That's worse."
"Do we engage?" asked a third.
A pause.
Then a fourth voice said coldly:
"No. We invite him."