Every Muurian security and intelligence outfit were immediately informed of Varodi after the Council's report which showed that there was no complicity on the part of the security operatives stationed along the earth's operative outfit with operational base in the Ring of Sagurn. Linagu, alongside his family are the only people still with the actual knowledge of everything going on. Varodi was declared wanted, violent, hostile, erratic and dangerous; he is to be captured with immediate effect alongside his collaborators after it was learnt he sold Muurian secrets to Izemoru. A bounty was also placed on his head among Dro-Bidders.
After some brief discussions with his mom, Linagu met Eledu while he was coming out of the Queen's Quarters.
"It was him." He said after exchanging pleasantries and letting Linagu know he's been looking forward to talk with him.
"Who?" Linagu asked him.
"Varodi...the attack, the ambush at the old turbine abandoned factory when Neerudi nearly killed me." Eledu reminded him to his surprise.
"Why didn't you say something?"
"I wasn't sure. Didn't want to report about something I wasn't hundred percent certain of. He is not working alone obviously, and I'm guessing you already know that and with whom I suppose." Eledu stated.
"With whom do you suppose he is working with?" He asked him.
"We don't know yet. But, there is something else." Eledu replied.
"Alright...not here!" He replied him before they both asported off to one of Linagu's luxurious lair not far from the palace. It covered about 870square-meters in size, made mostly of solid Muurian steel and Berrian-C12 special glasses.
"Drink?" He asked, offering Eledu a special blend of Lalmie, an alcoholic brew extracted from the Lalmie tree. They went to the back of the lair afterwards, which allowed them a wonderful view of the rainbow mountain and the estuary of the Marrialu River.
"We have solid Intelligence report that the Nolnadian king Izemoru, is involved in this, they are in league." Eledu stated emphatically as he gulped down the drink and refilled it again.
"In what capacity?" Linagu inquired.
"Izemoru wants to make a statement. He is planning an attack."
"Are you sure about this?" Linagu asked him.
"I'm very certain. I have verified this information myself and i can confirm it."
"Why will Izemoru want to do something silly like this?"
"Something about being betrayed and not honoring agreement"
"I don't remember us entering into any bilateral agreement with Nolnad in years now, in fact since I was born" Linagu said, acting surprised.
"We will keep digging to see what we can find." Eledu told him.
"I have to meet Zali." Linagu said.
"The Governor of Aldon?"
"Yes. We have always had our relationship with the people of Aldon." Linagu told him.
"Keep that to yourself." He added.
"I will."
"You are going to arrange a meeting with him. I want you to meet some of our allies so that you will start handling some things on your own. I have a lot to focus on right now, top of which is the mission with the VIAM." Linagu told him.
"I will be honored"
"Good then." He stated.
"Is she still participating in the Dare Runs this cycle?" Eledu asked in reference to Neerudi. He smiled.
"Very stubborn, and is still insisting." He replied.
"You don't think she will win?"
"We don't want everyone knowing how extraordinary she is just yet."
"Well, I'm guessing it's not going to work out well for my hopes and that of her majesty. Neerudi gets what she wants anyway all the time." He casually replied.
"I envy her!" Eledu said. They discussed about some other matters and had some other casual talks about a lot of things going on, as well as the whole Muurdom at large before they both left.
*
The next day, Linagu travelled to Aldon unofficially to meet with Zali. The meeting was set up by Eledu as soon as he left the other day.
"It's been a while." Linagu said to him when they met as he was welcomed to the governor's secret meet location not far from Acim, a semi-urban suburb of Bamag in Aldon. After he shared pleasantries with Zali and some of Zali's trusted officials, they both had a chat.
"We love your district a lot. Do you know why?" Linagu asked him.
"Sure, we both do." Zali replied.
"Great...it is what necessitated this sudden meeting which i apologize for its impromptu set up." Linagu said.
"Glad we could be of help." The governor replied him with enthusiasm
"Which is why I have chosen you to be the voice of reason for your people, and I know you already know why."
"I know my history!" Zali replied.
"The information we have on your king do not spell good for the rest of Nolnad. Whatever it is your king is doing, tell him to stop. This is a onetime warning. Let's not keep repeating the cycle of unnecessary destruction when we should be looking towards progress, peace and development." Linagu said to his surprise.
"Remind me again why I'm hearing this for the second time in a row, but never heard anything from you governor. I thought we had an agreement?" Linagu questioned.
"I've categorically told him of my displeasure and total dissatisfaction with his campaign of calumny." Zali replied.
"The king tried his best to block off the feeds and actually succeeded. What happened between him and Neddina is totally out of the public cyberspace. But, I am an elected governor, and there are privileges to that too. What information you got is because i personally devised the best means to get it across to you so that it cannot be traced to me in any way you know. There are eyes everywhere, especially after the Neddina incident and my part in it!" Zali concluded. Linagu was not impressed with his reply.
"The survival of your people may well rest in your hands Zali. You have to show them that your king is getting involved with something that will not end well for Nolnad. Let's not keep repeating the violent cycle; I really don't understand your people." Linagu uttered, refusing to specifically imply anything with regards to the consequences of whatever Izemoru was planning.
"I will do what i must." Zali replied him.
"I hope so. The fate of your people depends on it. This time around, there will be no Nol anymore...and that includes your precious Aldon." Linagu concluded but more as a warning of what the consequences of his own decisions henceforth will lead to. After that, they exchanged pleasantries before everyone went their way.
Linagu left, but didn't go back to their home immediately. Instead, he went to the place he already scheduled to meet Neerudi located in Jarialu, the furthest Muurdom from the capital. This is where the VIAM which they contracted Riatech to develop is being assembled. The VIAM is a huge Intergalactic spacecraft being built for expeditions and further travels deep into the unexplored part of the deep universe. The need to build the VIAM arose after they discovered the super-structure called Laniakea, swimming with beehives of unexplored galaxies and other orbital bodies.
Some other high ranking engineers and scientists who didn't work for Riatech were also drafted in to help build the spacecraft alongside the Universal Asportation Agency.
The VIAM will house more than two hundred Bladark's amongst other military weapons, full Muurian defense systems and offensive carriers with more than twenty-thousand smaller battle spacecrafts. It is also built with full asportation stations, Royal suite, Full Defense Stations and Bio-mechanics with full processing abilities. It is designed to be a little Muurdom in space, with its own complete operational organization, manned by only the best of the best in the various Muurian security outfits. An Orbital Laser control unit was also built into the VIAM; a weapon more dangerous than even the 'Angel from God' due to its orbital structure and deploy ability using internal satellite.
The need to build the spacecraft was conceived after the Asportation Agency made a new discovery during their exploratory travels across the end of the Andromeda from their out-station off the planet Zeria. The voyage that led to the discovery was a special request from the Queen for the UAA to confirm a coordinate one of her Guards got off an unknown assailant.
On the voyage, they came across the superfluous structure called Laniakea. The exploration yielded certain details, albeit a small one. They were able to note, using the available equipments and super gadgets, that Laniakea is a huge and wide three dimensional clusters flowing with millions of unknown galaxies and star systems. All this while, it was blocked by an unseen magnetic cosmic force which has diminished a little after eons of expansion of which the universe itself is constantly on.
The distance from the outpost in Andromeda to the nearest star system in this cluster ranged from about sixteen billion parsecs in light years to twenty-billion parsecs using UAA speed and distance readers on the space vessel they embarked the expedition with. However, the VIAM is designed to travel one thousand parsecs in light years from the same distance.
*
Once Linagu arrived, he started his usual stroll, greeting and getting updates about the craft along the line the minute he arrived. Neerudi showed up afterwards with a cousin of theirs who is part of the project and works at the Asportation Agency. "Hello Miran." He greeted as he hugged them both.
"Neerie seem to be involved in adventures that include biped species." Miran uttered as soon as she was free from the familial embrace. "Yes, I can see that too. She is all beamed up." He joked even though he knew all about it. Having had enough of their jokes, she urged Miran to tell Linagu the good news as they started taking further walk to other parts of the facility, observing it along the process with keen interest. "Well, my brickbat software has been approved by the Agency and will be included in the next update to the asport links, including the VIAM" she stated with a very happy smile on her face.
"Wow. That's incredible!" Linagu said smiling, congratulated her and hugged her again in appreciation of the huge accomplishment.
The brickbat software is more or less a defensive and offensive system which is deployed together with the mapping system of the asportation links which helps to detect bugs and threats along the path of the links accurately in high definition visuals. It totally merges the task of first observers; an automated elite asportation links group of AI's responsible for assessing threat levels along and around the asport links once it is initiated. A person travelling through the asport links can now be rest assured of hundred percent visuals.
"She is also scheduled to receive an honor at the Dare Runs." Neerudi added.
"What more can i say than to congratulate you Miran. Well done dear cousin." Linagu said again.
"Thank you!" She replied and they continued with the tour.
"You will still participate?" He asked Neerudi when she raised the topic.
"Of course, I have been preparing remember?" She said rhetorically.
"Why isn't anybody on our side enthused Neerie is participating? I mean, it's a good thing right?" Miran said out loud.
"I'm enthused, I just...she doesn't have to prove herself to anybody. We already know what she is capable of." He simply stated.
"Mother doesn't think the same. But, I'm not doing it to prove a point Ania, I just want to participate in the Runs. What is wrong with that?" She questioned.
"Nothing little sis okay... nothing, so don't mind them. I support you hundred percent Neerie. Don't mind Linagu and her majesty." Miran encouraged, making Neerudi smile and hold her closely in appreciation.
"I will always support you no matter what Neerudi."Linagu added.
"Us both!" Miran added, showing more support for her cousin.
"And you will win it too!" She finished. On her part, she was appreciative of the kind gestures and show of affection from her family. They left the out-station after getting the latest updates on the construction of the spacecraft. A few upgrades and improvements are what we need to get the VIAM up in space and exploring they concluded before leaving the facility in Jarialu.
***
Back at their new lair, Elvis convinced Varodi to allow him use the system he was trained with to track down Steve after Bonadi left them. As a former investigative officer, he knew the standard police procedures for tracking elusive criminals, especially now that he has access to better technology for the work.
Varodi used a facial description and recognition software run by one of Bonadi's supercomputers in the lair to graphically reconstruct and display Steve's face after a long process that involved detailed description from Elvis. They went on to triangulate Steve's point of appearances before heading out in disguise to physically track him down in the most possible stealth manner using the current knowledge they have of him. After confirmation that he was locked onto the asport links Bonadi created for their easy manipulation, they both asported off and arrived at Owerri.
They tracked the taxi companies registered in the area to know if any of the drivers had picked someone that looked like the illustration they made of Steve. They were unsuccessful. They revisited the crime scene which was still on lockdown to see if any CCTV was attached to any close-by building, and to check if it also picked up anything. It was unsuccessful again, mostly because the surge from Steve knocked out everything within radius of its blast.
They left there, and while passing through an adjoining crescent off Allen Avenue, they noticed someone was following them. After letting Elvis in on this, they both continued as if nothing was happening. When they came to the intersection behind Allen Avenue that joins Carriage Way, they maneuvered the person following them, and held him down as a hostage temporarily.
"Who are you? Why are you following us?" Elvis asked him in a hateful manner, showing a new form of contempt, totally uncalled for. The act visibly shook the person they accosted, who found it hard to breathe properly while being held tightly in his neck by Elvis.
"I recognized you." The fellow said in-between stressed speeches.
"What do you mean you recognized me? My face is all over the newspapers and television and the whole media. Why are you following us I ask you again?" Elvis barked, tightening his grip, making the fellow gasp for air. It took the intervention of Varodi to lessen and loosen the grip.
"I meant i recognized you from the other night." The fellow said as he regained his breathing and neck, though still very much afraid from his demeanor.
"What night?"
"The night that other person embarrassed you... I saw everything." The fellow stated, avoiding his look and sudden inner felt shame.
"You saw him too?"
"Yes. I also saw when he left after causing that destruction." He added.
This revelation heightened their interest, causing them to take him with them to a safer place to continue the discussion.
"Why didn't you go to the police?" Elvis inquired afterwards.
"The Police? Everyone read about what happened when you reported. We also heard about the attack at the police headquarters..." the fellow told him, finishing the last sentence slowly after taking another view of Varodi and realised he looked off with his weird dressing style.
"Anything wrong?" Elvis asked.
"Who is he?" the fellow inquired.
"Someone you don't want to be messing with." Elvis advised.
"Okay...noted."
"So, go on then!" Elvis uttered.
"It was obvious the police headquarters was not a safe place so i kept the information to myself and decided i will visit the crime scene regularly, everyday. Read something somewhere about the high connection between suspects and victims alike... something about being drawn to the crime scene. Guess its true then seeing as you are here." the fellow joked.
"How did he leave?"
"A taxi came and picked him up afterwards."
"Can you describe the car or give us anything to help track it down?"
"Track it down?"
"Yes."
"Well, I have something even better, the plate number. I crammed it." He replied. On hearing this, Elvis brought out a piece of paper and passed it to him to write it down, but he bargained that he will only give out the information for a price.
"What do you want?" Varodi inquired with a deep voice, his first utterance since they met the fellow.
"What do you plan to do when you finally meet him again?" the fellow asked instead, rather than replying his question.
"You need not worry about that, we will take care of him." Varodi simply told him.
The fellow, named Segun, was worried about the reply he got, but he gave them the plate number nonetheless, and left without collecting anything in return. Varodi hacked into the plate number database of the Road Safety Service in the state, and got the details of the driver's car. Unfortunately, when they asported off to the address, they discovered that the driver has ran away. The driver abandoned his place and went into hiding when he figured out that he has been conveying the person of interest in question all this while.
They ransacked everywhere when they broke into his apartment, searching everywhere in a hurry until they came across a valuable information. They saw the leftover of a loaf of bread which the driver bought from the hotel Steve stayed. Though they didn't know how that is of any use, they figured it might lead them to something. They asported back to the hotel. When they came to the reception, they inquired if the attendant had seen Steve, telling her that he is a person of interest, and that they are police operatives on secret investigation. They cited that they are tracking him, and have been tracking him before the recent incident involving him and the police. They also warned her of the dangers in hiding a known criminal, stating that if she obstructs them, she may be cited as accessory after the fact during the cause of the ongoing investigation.
Having been convinced of their intentions as well as seeing a real police barge, the receptionist directed them appropriately to their IT guy who showed them the CCTV footages from the requested dates.
It matched exactly the description they had with them. Then, they saw Nora and Tracy in the footage too. Using his anani, Varodi was able to transfer the footage to his anani's file holder and they left. They went back to the lair and ran all three still images of Steve, Nora and Tracy in the facial description and recognition software to get the best image from it, which they got. However, when they ran the images against various backlinks from all the citizens' database in the state, nothing came up for Steve. On the other hand, Nora and Tracy's address was revealed, including some key personal details and information, making them smile.
The next day, they set off to Nora's place dressed as policemen. When they reached, they met only the gateman who informed them that Nora and Tracy left some days ago to Abia State University, and are not yet back since then.
"Are you sure you don't want us to do this in my own way?" Varodi asked Elvis as they met another futile end.
"No...Your ways involve too much violence." Elvis replied.
"At least we now know where he is."
"What good does that do us now?" Varodi inquired.
"He is with people; he is there with the girls probably. We just need to track the girls, and we will have him in no time." Elvis assured.
"And if the girls happened to just bump into him at the hotel hence the footage?" Varodi questioned.
"We try it your way!"
"Let's hope you are right then." He told Elvis.
"I am, most of the time!" Elvis responded, though not sourced for.
***
"The universe is not different to life, and it probably doesn't care much about it either. It will destroy, annihilate, obliterate, consume and freeze life the moment it gets the chance. So much for the sacredness of life right?" was the last sentence Steve heard and remembered as he woke up. He knew he probably remembered that from his dream, but he just didn't know if it was the present one he woke up from as he rolled slightly on the bed.
"Hey!" Christie called immediately their eyes met, causing him to smile sheepishly. She cuddled up to him, crossed her right leg in-between his left and right legs. It was still the early hours of the morning, which made it possible for tiny fragments of electric lights outside the room to penetrate into some corners of the room. That aside, the room remained dim all throughout.
"What's up for today?" He asked.
"You will take me out...and we will swim, and binge watch Westworld together when we are back. Then, you will take me in...And we will talk about ourselves, and probably... you know!" she said with huge smiles on her face.
"And this your plan doesn't have space for meals and..."
"It has. I want you all to myself today Steve." She interjected because somehow she figured he wanted to also add Tracy and Nora in the sentence.
"Alright ma'am" He said while she chuckled, smooching him playfully.
"Where are we going to?"
"Mmmm...Annie talks highly of De STARZ Foods and Grills."
"Yeah, I heard it's great. It was opened after i graduated though."
"It's not just the food Steve..." she retorted.
"Okay." he said, expecting her to continue.
"Don't worry, you will see it for yourself when we go." she reassured.
"Ookaaaay!" he responded, stressing the starting and ending vowel sounds of the word.
Around ten o'clock that morning, they set off to De Starz. Surprisingly, they met Tracy and Nora at the same place. They waved at them to come join them in their table that had three extra seats with requisite spaces on the table.
"My sister right?" Steve asked immediately they exchanged pleasantries.
"Yup" Tracy replied.
"We didn't want to disturb you guys. We even planned on getting a takeout for you two while coming back, but you is here." she ended.
"Thank you." Christie said in appreciation.
"You just arrived?" She added.
"A few minutes before you came in anyway" Tracy replied.
"Serve yourself or menu order?" He inquired, smiling at Nora who smiled back at him, and they both know the smile was because of yesterday's outing from Steve.
"They're both on the menu!" Nora replied him.
"You've ordered?"
"Sure...she is coming!" Nora replied as one of the waitresses brought their order and served her together with Tracy. She inquired what Steve and Christie wanted, and was told. Few seconds later, their order was brought to them.
They conversed between mouthfuls of food particles, mostly about Steve. Tracy and Nora also talked about their experiences so far, which they termed as being really wonderful.
"There are still other wonderful places you can see too if you want." Steve told them.
"Are you serious?" Nora inquired.
"Sure. There is the Mbara Caves, the Quarry and Waterfalls near the school from the northern axis adjacent to the small stone processing factory in Umunnewi here. They are all just within distances of each other. Plus, there is also the city's stadium. We passed it though while we were coming, and i didn't even remember it." He ended.
"Wow! We should go...please!" Nora begged with a child's innocence to no one in particular, but with her eyes mostly fixed on Steve.
"Well, wifey says she wants me all to herself today. So, unless you can make her change her mind..."
At this, Christie didn't know whether to be angry or feel betrayed. Steve intentionally put her on the spot and she didn't like it despite not showing it though as both Tracy and Nora turned their attention to her, begging her to allow them share the day with her.
"Sure... I can share." she replied afterwards with a forced smile, and didn't bother to look at Steve who smiled at them.
"We are really sorry about all the inconvenience we are causing you Christie. We know it's not fair." Tracy pleaded with her.
"It's nothing...he is your friend too after all!" She replied knowing that sometimes, it's best not to hold on to things that are really unnecessary.
"You should come too!" Nora added.
"Me? I wouldn't miss it for anything else right now." Christie replied. She couldn't possibly leave her man running around town with two beautiful devils, at least now that she is aware of them in his life.
At a corner of the hall where they sat and continued their discussion, was Neerudi. She disguised herself and sat alone, observing them silently while listening in on their conversation. Since she didn't want to spoil whatever they had going on, she didn't bother him. However, knowing that time was of the essence, she sought for the best way to find a way to get across to him as soon as possible. While still thinking about it, they stood up to take their leave, causing her to actively disguise herself more so that he will not recognize her.
But, Steve turned back and went into the eatery as soon as they stepped outside, telling them that he needed to ease himself. While passing her, he told her to meet him at the bathroom hall. He had spotted her immediately they wanted to leave, even though he didn't quite know if he was certain it was her. She didn't really blend in that much for a discerning mind who has come across someone like her.
"You can't meet me like this." He said to her immediately she entered the bathroom, holding her hand with care.
"We agreed you will alert me through this." He added, pointing to the anani.
"But, I haven't contacted you, and we have not yet met." she said smiling, and withdrew her hands from his grasp, making him smile at his own jumpy conclusion.
"Yeah, yeah; you are right!" He conceded.
"Now what?" He asked.
"Let me show you something." She said, and took the anani from him. After activating it, she taught him how to activate the anani and how to contact her with it, especially when he is free starting from that moment.
She also taught him how to deactivate it after use to avoid getting unwanted visits from strange looking people till he learns how to fully utilize the anani. It's her way of seeing if he will follow instructions, because Neerudi already made sure no such visits can happen no matter how exposed the anani becomes, making its signature totally untraceable.
"You better start going before they think you have disappeared on them!" she said after the brief tutorial.
"Yeah, that's right! Be rest assured that I will ping you as soon as I can!" He said.
"What's ping?" She asked.
"The beeping thing you just showed me" he replied, smiling.
"Oh!" She exclaimed softly. "Yeah...i will see you later then." He told her before taking his leave, after she restricted him from hugging her with a casual glance.
"We were beginning to think some aliens have kidnapped you in there." Tracy said as soon as he joined them, causing everyone to laugh jovially.
"And miss this adventure? That alien picked the wrong time to meet me be that Madaalah!" He joked while they cackled loudly, telling him to keep his northern accent to himself.
"You are driving!" Tracy added.
"Yes ma'am!" He replied before entering the driver's seat and turned to stare at Neerudi's seat, but she wasn't there anymore. He took it she has gone or probably still inside the bathroom waiting for them to leave.
***
"I thought you wanted to catch him immediately?" Elvis asked Varodi, surprised at why their next plan was taking so long.
"Don't be in a hurry, that's how you get killed. You can't really begin to comprehend what you are involved in, and I'm not sure you even get it at base level." Varodi remarked calmly while engaged with his anani purposefully.
"I know exactly what I'm involved in. I was there at the attack which you caused, remember?" Elvis asked angrily. Varodi stayed quiet and didn't reply, before Elvis stormed out of the room, frustrated.
After a few minutes, he left the room to meet Elvis at his makeshift quarters at the moment in the new lair.
"Come!" He simply said to him.
Hesitantly, Elvis followed him to a special room used mostly for simulations.
"What is this place?"
"You will begin your simulated training now! You have to channel the anger you are feeling right now to this training."
"What training?"
"For your newly acquired strength; you have to learn how to use it effectively and efficiently, especially if you want to stand a chance."
"I don't need this, I can defend myself!" He insisted.
"Are you sure about that?" Varodi asked, before hurling a low powered energy beam at him with a swift tactical turn, taking Elvis unaware. The force from the beam sent Elvis flying backward and crashing hard against the wall. He managed to stand up, reeling in pain.
"So what you launched an unexpected attack?" He yelled, totally embarrassed by it.
"How about this?" Varodi said, hurling triple successive energy beams at him. Again, he didn't successfully defend any of the blasts.
At this, Varodi came out from where he stood and switched off the simulation. All this while, Elvis did not recognize it was the simulation he was dealing with.
"Like I said, you don't understand the magnitude of what you are involved in. Quit while you have the chance or train and have a better chance of surviving what is to come!" he advised.
"I must get my justice!" He angrily said and left the simulation room. Varodi didn't bother to stop him again.
After a while, when he stopped being full of himself, he figured that sound reasoning supposed that he is better off following Varodi's counsel and train if he must discover who he really is in all the fiasco happening to and around him. He needed to understand their angle and how he fits into it all. He needed to figure out what will be of him at the end of it all, and what happens next if he makes it out alive. He wasn't blind to not realise that this is serious stuff, stuffs that people cannot begin to conceptualize its realness. He has a family too, a wife and two wonderful kids. Heck, he should be enjoying his annual leave, but here he is, running around with aliens. After this long and hard thoughts, he went back to Varodi, told him he is ready to start the training proper. Varodi obliged his request immediately, happy he has finally come to his senses.
***
Bonadi finally got the meeting he was looking for with Izemoru after waiting far longer than he anticipated. On his end, Izemoru believed it to be perfect timing, especially with the events of the past few days.
"Had to be the king's court?" Bonadi asked, surprised that this current visit wasn't done in secrecy as was their previous norm.
"Love what you did with the place by the way!" He remarked, but more as a mockery because the king's court was destroyed by the Muurians previously. Izemoru gave the sign for the guards and any other person around him to leave the palace court.
"Had to be the mistrust I guess." He replied Bonadi in response to why they are not meeting in secret like before.
"Totally misplaced I'm sorry to say!" He retorted immediately.
"Why are you here after all this while? Is it because we lost the refined energy to Neddina?" He questioned.
"You owe me a favour, and I have come to collect!" Bonadi said bluntly as a matter of fact.
"I owe you nothing!" Izemoru replied him.
"You know how it is with debts everywhere your Highness? It always gets paid." he said with a casual face contortion but Izemoru ignored him.
"By the way, that ship of yours cannot work to capacity as intended. You will be shot down to pieces before the ship could even begin to make any meaningful register on their radar systems." Bonadi chipped in.
"And I'm guessing you have the tech to help us finish those crafty schematics?" Izemoru questioned.
"I need six high trained members of your Midlighters Infiltration Unit with proven records from Muur-like prisons. Can you provide me with that?" Bonadi made his demand.
"Shouldn't be hard. What do you need them for?" Izemoru asked.
"What do you mean?" Bonadi inquired from him, surprised at the question.
"You can literally do anything you want by yourself. So, what exactly do you need them for?"
"Distractions; or maybe I'm talking to the wrong person for this." Bonadi stated categorically. He wanted to intentionally elicit a certain reaction from him, and succeeded.
"You know what?" Izemoru said.
"What?"
"I have you pinned, and I will advise you to not reach for any weapon or react in any way that will give us reason to kill you...and your precious asport fields are blocked too." Izemoru told him as he smiled, basking in the euphoria of the surprised expression on Bonadi's face; one of unexpectedness. "Your game is over!" He told Bonadi to his face.
"What are you doing?" a more surprised Bonadi calmly asked as Izemoru's palace guards circled in on him, and stripped him of everything he had on him, including his anani.
"We know you orchestrated the stealing executed by Neddina, and we know how you are sabotaging our efforts to make our go at the Muurians until it fits your selfish plans." Izemoru told him as a matter of fact in a condescending tone of disgust.
"Okay, okay you got me!" He confessed, raised his hands up and was cuffed immediately by one of the guards. The cuff was similar to the nergen, a lesser version produced for other markets by Riatech.
"You are making a mistake though!" He said while being led away to one of their most secured prison cells, same as the one Zanak was being kept.
What Izemoru didn't know was that this is all going according to Bonadi's own plan, albeit the second plan. His main aim was to aid Zanak's escape, knowing full well that he will lead him to Anurami, his friend. But, Izemoru was wrong. The incident at Aldon was all Zali's doing, not Bonadi.
***
"Where are we going to first?" Steve asked as soon as he started the ignition. Tracy and Nora focused their stare at Christie, urging her to say with their looks, while making her laugh at the glance childishly.
"The cave" She uttered.
"She meant Mbara Caves. You may not be popular yet with the second name she used." He explained.
"Okay...cool!"
They arrived after a twenty minutes drive from the eatery, and left after spending more than one hour there before moving straight for the waterfalls. It has been rebuilt and turned into a bigger tourist attraction centre since the last time he visited the place. By its corner are two well sized pools constructed along the line of the waterfalls flow as it touches the ground; each pool not more than twenty-two feet long. The new scenery depicted a cool relaxation spot with all sorts of wonderful flowers planted all around it to make the place look more beautiful and cinematic. All the surroundings were carefully trimmed and beautified, including some of the huge trees with hard roots and overstretched branches.
Apart from him, all three were lost for speech with the beauty they were beholding. Apparently, such a place is really blessed with beautiful nature attractions, and yet not many people knew of it.
"I'm sure you will all love to spend the rest of your day here?" He cajoled them as they left the car and started strolling in; they had no place in mind yet to pitch their tent.
"There's also a special All purpose bar and grills by the corner." He added.
"This is wonderful." Tracy remarked.
"Very very wonderful and a beautiful scenery" Nora added.
"It's what he's been enjoying throughout his time here." Christie added, hitting him gently while holding his arm close to her.
When they were through strolling around, they secured a vault, undressed and wore swimsuits they bought. After that, they joined in on the action at one of the pools by the waterfall. While still at it, they snapped a lot of pictures together as they played in the pool. When they got their fill, they left for the bar to have vodka and some other quality alcoholic blend offered at the place. Once they secured a position, they made their order. They all drank a lot of wine mostly including some Martini's, a bottle of Budweiser each alongside other edibles and lots of yoghurt.
They enjoyed themselves in the place and stayed there till evening.
"We can't go back like this Steve." Christie recommended after he paid the bill.
"Yeah, I totally agree with you. I can't even drive long distance right now even if I wanted to." He stated.
"There is a hotel here somewhere right?" Christie asked.
"Sure!"
"Good...we will lodge there then." She added.
"Thank God!" Tracy and Nora both chorused together.
"I'm totally wasted." Tracy added instantly.
"Same here; I think we can all agree it's been a wonderful day already." Nora added, with her eyes totally unhealthy.
"You can say that again" Steve replied.
"Alright, I will take us there now!" He added in conclusion.
"Hey man, can I join in on the action? Like, I totally feel you man, I really do!" someone said from nearby as soon as he finished his last comment.
"Join in on what?" He asked as he turned to look at the direction of the voice while the girls joined him.
"Make it five aside man." the person uttered again while looking at him this time around with a serious face, revealing himself.
"They wouldn't even know!" another voice added.
"Yeah...i can clearly see they're totally wasted right now to even bother." another voice from their table added yet again.
"Alright, look we just came here to drink, that's all. We don't want any trouble from anyone." Steve calmly told them.
"He still doesn't get it Cap!" one of them said out loud. He was putting on a blue polo, a cool red face cap and black Jean trouser with Nike sneakers.
"We are not asking bro. We are telling you." The alleged Cap told Steve plainly.
"Hey, hey take whatever this is outside of this place now." The barman warned, signaling that he is going to call in security if they don't keep it cool.
"What's the holdup Steve? Let's go, leave them." Christie said almost instantly.
"Nothing Love...nothing." he replied and turned away from the guys taunting him. Feeling berated, the Cap drew a .45 Dodger local made pistol behind Steve's back and cocked it. Almost instantly, he was stunned by Neerudi who has been observing from a distance. Shabbily, he fell down, smashing his head on the table as he did, surprising everyone.
His fall made everyone turn immediately to see the other three men simultaneously draw their weapons on Steve too, not knowing what happened to their boss. But, they like their boss fell down almost as soon, raising more surprise in everyone, including the barman. They hurriedly left there like every other guest who witnessed the incident, wondering if they were imagining it as a result of the too much alcohol they took already.
They entered the car they came with and left the place in a hurry. The last thing anyone wanted was questions from the security personnel when they arrive at the scene, if they arrive. But, they have been seen, the barman saw them, other customers did too, and even though no one knew what happened, they knew it had something to do with them. These thoughts occupied his mind as he drove out of the place, wondering if it was wise to still go ahead and lodge at a nearby suite not too far from the scene the act took place. It didn't seem like the right thing to do. The girls kept asking questions he couldn't answer, he was as perplexed as they were because he didn't do anything, it had nothing to do with him, he knew this fact very well, but yet he couldn't dismiss what happened. They drew their weapons on him, and then they felled down instantly, probably dead he thought.
Flash!
It was like a sting in his brain. He remembered it like it was before him, like a screen replay. It was the incident that leveled the area around Ledding Street and Energy Avenue.
"No!" He screamed out.
"No what?" asked Christie, though drunk with a tiny grasp of his cognition nonetheless.
"Nothing... probably the drink" He said with a forced smile.
"You look very worried Steve... I can see that." She said worriedly.
"I'm surprised you are not though. I mean, we saw the same thing right?" He asked her.
"I don't actually know what I saw there Steve, but I'm glad we left the place." She said, taking a look at Tracy and her friend who both fell asleep the moment they entered the car.
"Something is happening to me Christie."
"You want to vomit?" She queried.
"I don't know, I can't really explain it, but I feel it."
"How far are we to the place?"
"We are almost there." He replied.
"What you need is some sleep, you will be fine okay." She said. Almost instantly, he entered the suite and parked at the garage the gateman directed him to.
"I hope so." He said resignedly, but mostly to deviate from the discussion as she still wasn't getting it and didn't know what he was talking about.
It was already very dark when they left the bar, and it was even darker when they reached the Suite. They entered the reception, leaving Tracy and Nora in the car. After they paid for two rooms however, they came back and took them both to one of the rooms they paid for before going to theirs.
They took their bath together, and went straight for the bed afterwards. They didn't sleep off, while he continued to think about the incident. That was the moment he saw the beep and flash display from the anani in one of his trousers pocket. Christie saw it too but thought it was his phone since he wasn't with it on the bed.
"Will you eat anything before you sleep?" He asked her just as soon.
"Sure... probably when i wake up. I'm too drowsy right now, I just need to sleep." She said in a faint voice and closed her eyes. He gently moved her into the centre of the well cushioned fifteen feet wide bed and covered her with the white soft polyester bed linen provided by management. After that, he stood up and admired her from a distance as the light in the room shined brightly on her on the bed wearing a loose purple nightgown.
He admired her dark lightly weaved and straight long hair with natural curls she achieved from her personal coconut hair oil brew. He has been engulfed with his personal problems, he hasn't really noticed just how beautiful she is, and appreciated her as he should have. Even though he tried to deny it, he knew he has been far from her and she knew it. Sweet adorable lips defined the length and width of her mouth; and the bright red fingernails matched her astonishing eyebrows which expressed delight even as she lay there, probably having the best times alone in her dreams.
Beep!
The anani flashed again violently this time, snapping him out of his thoughts and back to the present. He stared at Christie, and she didn't move, he concluded she was fast asleep. He rushed to his trouser, grabbed the anani and did as Neerudi has instructed him on its activation and usage. She told him to meet her by the garage where he parked their car. It was obvious she was following them, he reasoned.
Calmly, he wore his clothes and left the room, walked straight out through the corridor and headed straight for the garage. He didn't see her from afar, but he knew she was there somewhere. As soon as he reached the car though, he saw her inside calmly sited in the back. She motioned for him to join her inside. He did as directed, not bothering to ask how she gained entrance to the car in the first instance.
"You came!" She said as she adjusted a bit.
"We agreed!" He replied.
"Had fun?" She asked.
"I guess."
"Are you ready now?" She inquired.
"I don't really know to be honest."
"I know. I have not done this before myself, so it's a little awkward for me too."
"Really?"
"Yes. I know you have a lot of questions on your mind right now to ask me, and I promise to answer them all. But, not here."
"Where?"
"Well, I know just a place somewhere."
"You know I can't just up and vanish leaving the people i came with."
"They will be fine."
"You seem so sure?"
"I am!"
"I didn't come down with the car key, so i will need to..."
"It won't be necessary." She replied, not allowing him to finish.
"Okay...so?"
Neerudi brought up her anani, did a little configurations with it, held his hand and they both vanished from the car and asported off to the place Neerudi talked about.
They arrived instantly with a sudden jolt, which made her hold his hand as if anticipating he might fall from the jolt. It was a place he has never seen before, an island surrounded by an endless vast amount of water. The water displayed bright light blue colors, and the only visible building which they were inside, was surrounded by lush greenery with corpucan trees lined up around it, giving it a certain form of beach serenity, yet so strange with a very bright clandestine atmosphere.
The sky was more bluish than he was used to, with vermilion clouds giving it a dark odd beauty, strands of dark red flowing through the visible clouds at the horizon. There were two other block structures adjacent to the one they stood on, angling like reeds from the water. A narrow road led through and from the none-used part of the building, it's outskirts like a tourist attraction on the upside of a beach. To his left, surrounding a little unknown structure was a certain silhouette which redirected the rays penetrating from the cloud, reflecting a beautiful coloration all around it, covering a vast area stretching to the waters itself. It was a magnificent site to behold he thought, displayed finely by his amazed facial expression.
Neerudi stood by the side and allowed him take it all in, smiling at his bewildered face, the expression on his face clearly showing that of a child who's seen something he hasn't seen before. The air that whizzed through that moment calmed his nerves with its warmth and mild caressing. He focused on nothing in particular afterwards, glancing all around while tilting his head as it demands from his position, totally stultified. The other surrounding island parts were lush with a beautiful mixture of green, blue and red vegetation of dates. Everything appeared extravagantly lavish, as if oozing off with huge expression of royal artistic endeavors.
"Come on!" Neerudi said to him afterwards, leading him into the building proper. An unseen light illuminated the hallway. The exterior of the building has a very large structural edifice shuttered and closed off totally with materials he didn't know what they were. To his left, as they stepped in, he was able to see through inside and noticed that they were closed off with metallic bright yellow erabil glass fitted blinds.
The design from inside showed a highly advanced machine work, a solid graded work and painting. Up ahead, a large stairs descended below, with an ibuda transport vessel attached to it too. Signs of expensive remodeling existed with multilane transparent windows stretching along the hallways from ground to ceiling. The floor and the sidewalls were covered totally in a ceramic element called Tracule, giving it a sparkling outlook. He imagined what all the rooms they crossed were for as they passed them, but didn't ask her nonetheless.
She led her to the stairs, but they didn't climb it and used the Ibuda rather to descend through a path of endless cycle of liquid substances he didn't understand what they were. He didn't realize when he grabbed Neerudi's left hand as the Ibuda came to an abrupt halt; she simply smiled at his uneasiness and told him not to worry because it's normal for someone like him. The door of the Ibuda gave way and they stepped off. He couldn't tell the difference between what he saw before above and the current setting since they looked the same to him. As they stepped off and walked straight ahead to the other end of the underground hallway, a door opened when they came within distance, revealing a familiar light.
Flash!
He was thrown back to that blast night again, like he was reliving the moment again uncontrollably this time around as the event continued to flash through his memory, relegating every other thing in his mind to the background. He momentarily lost himself as everything appeared very bright and blinding. No, not everything…him. He was the brightness he thought he was witnessing. Neerudi watched him closely as he clutched at himself, allowing a sudden remorseful scream escapes his mouth as soon as he regained composure of himself.
"I didn't do it... I didn't, it wasn't me. I didn't know how it happened you know, I still don't even know what happened till today, but I keep seeing the incident continuously repeatedly in my head." He kept saying, as if absolving himself of the blame.
"Open your eyes Steve, you are safe now." she said slowly to calm him down, reassuring him that everything will be fine, seeing as she didn't know exactly what he was talking about even though she intends to find out.
"You can trust me." She added.
He opened his eyes, and with it were saddened eyes and a very remorseful outlook that expressed a flickering tortuous image of a grisly nightmare.
"I didn't mean to..." he tried to say as he released his tightened fist, not knowing whether or not to proceed. She placed her hand on the previously tightened fist with the gentlest care, slowly rubbed it and assured him that everything will be fine.
"We are the ones to blame, not you. We are the ones who left you alone with no clue whatsoever, and i really apologize for what you are going through right now." she told him, still reassuring him.
"Come on!" She added afterwards, and led him to the room she had in mind in that gigantic building.
The door opened by itself, reacting to the approaching heat sensors which they gave off. It wasn't different from that of the Ibuda, though bigger and more solid, and definitely much stronger by the sheer size of its width. The room was large, enormous being the word. His eyes caught up with the arboretum in the room almost instantly, and to its left was some secret armory he knew nothing about. Straight ahead, a gigantic Muurian computer system was affixed to the wall together with other electronic devices and machines arrayed in order of attachment to the giant screen that stared at him with symbols and words he didn't understand. The dominant color of the room as he soon realized was ash-like, with Bismanuun and Tracule both offering the decorative elements for the wall and floor work. The ceiling was solid Tracule mixed with erabil and varble ceramics from Nolnad for a tasteful decoration and impenetrable defensive lining; not that it seemed necessary. There were four chairs made from materials he didn't know, and all chairs were mobile. To his right was a gigantic erabil glass tube, its position displaying it's retract ability though its strength was underplayed.
Everything about the place spelled an experiment room without the equipment's visible though. As he turned around to continue his exploration of the room, their eyes met. Unlike before, his face was free now; no guilt whatsoever was hanging anywhere.
His eyes held a cool gaze, conveying inert attributes of pure cuteness. It was the first time she noticed him very closely with her heart actually in it. She realized he looked young, very young. His shoulders were broad, more athletic than muscular as evidenced by his hidden thick chest and brazen biceps from the tightly fitted fabric he wore; a finely tailored expandable denim shirt. His light colored face gave him an outstanding energetic face, yet very assiduous from its basic outlook. With his cute face, she saw he looked very charming even without really expressing a smile. His whole face lit up in a certain boyish pleasure riddled in childish innocence.
They gave a secret smile to themselves, not expressed but relayed through their eyes.
"I guess I'm through with my room tour now. What's the place for, I mean why did you bring me here?" He asked her that minute to wave off her mind and masked his shyness.
"We say Ruama...which would translate to a lair or secret base, whichever best explains it for you." she replied, then moved ahead of him further into the room.
"Is this your home? Are we in your home planet or kingdom or country? Whichever best expresses the inquiry better." he asked her, making her to smile as she noticed the fun with which he imitated her Kenáuin accent.
"Nah... I am very far from home!" she casually responded.
"Okay. So what exactly will I be doing here?" He questioned as he walked across Neerudi and sat on one of the chairs and rotated himself around to take another view of the room, a playful round view observing technique that entered his mind that moment.
"You train!"
"I train?"
"Yes!"
"Just that?"
"You also get re-educated...about us and about yourself, and your new condition."
"Oh, I'm a guinea pig then?"
"What's that?"
"An experimental animal"
"No, you are not."
"Are you guys planning an interplanetary war?" he joked.
"Nothing like that at the moment"
"Oh! So you do engage in such?"
"Sure, when the need arises."
"Tell me more about your people then."
"I will, in due time I guess."
"I must train first and be re-educated right?"
"Yes...that's how you can be able to comprehend it all better."
"Cool. When do I begin then?"
"Now"
"Now?"
"Yes. Do you have somewhere else you need to be?"
"As a matter of fact, I actually do. I have things to..." he didn't finish but gave her that 'I know what you did and what you are doing' look.
"Well, we start now. But first, I will introduce you to the other members of the team." She told him, brought up her wrist, and pressed a button on it. Two other Muurians walked in from the entrance they entered through just as soon. She introduced them to him, Granna and Reema.
Granna is the expert anatomist and has accurate understanding of body anatomy of more than two hundred intelligent species across the universe while Reema handles the computer. After the introduction, they checked his vitals and how his body is coping with the ami nri process performed on him. After confirmation that his body has absorbed and synched with the process, Neerudi decided he was properly ready to start the training immediately. "What type?" he inquired.
"It is the type that teaches you how to align with your new powers for proper utilization. Then, we will move to the Muuragi."
"What's that?"
"Muuragi you mean?" She asked.
"Yes, Muuragi"
"It's a conscious and subconscious use of matter. You tune your mind to attain a certain frequency level which gives you manipulative access and control over matter. We use the anani mostly to enhance, modify and stabilize the process to make it easier, to avoid repetition...like when you execute a program with a single tap of the computer keyboard. It's a marriage of magic and technology." She explained to him in the simplest manner she could think of that moment.
"Can't say I understood all you just said, but I think I get it."
"Good then...didn't think I was explaining it better anyway."
"Well, that's enough lesson for today I guess." She added.
"You are the teacher." he said with a smile, and they all laughed due to the way he framed it.
"One final lesson then" She said.
"Which is?"
"Take us back to where we both came here from...your hotel."
"What? You can't be serious..." He said looking at her but she didn't flinch.
"Wait, are you serious? Thought you said it's dangerous?"
"Of course." she replied him, telling Granna and Reema they were free to leave while Steve makes up his mind.
"Come on...you can't be serious." He said with his plea filled voice.
"Jesus Christ!" He added when she still didn't bulge.
"What's that?" She queried.
"Nothing; alright, show me how it's done then."
"Already did that. Have you forgotten so soon? It works both ways." she replied.
"She is serious." He stated while walking back further into the room, thinking of what to do.
"She doesn't want to be left waiting." she reminded him, walking up to him with a demanding face.
"By the way, drifting off the travel paths is normal. Drifting here meaning bouncing between points, going off course and spending longer periods inside this." she said, pointing to the asportation link's as she continued to casually glance over his face with an enticing and tricky smile.
"Thank you very much. That's really nice, very wonderful of you to give me such warning...at this time." He replied her, accepting the irony in her speech; get the coordinates wrong, and he will be stuck inside the links. The resultant casualty being that his going back to the girls is delayed.
"Good...let's go then." She nudged him on.
He brought out his anani, and activated it. Gently, he observed it, took a quick glance at Neerudi and back at the anani.
"Does it have an artificial intelligence?" He asked.
"Yes...but you can't access it at the moment. It comes later."
"Okay then."
He returned his gaze back to the anani and continued to stare at the wordings on the screen which displayed in English, and flashed his memory back to how Neerudi did the configurations back at the hotel. He smiled, did the same exact thing. Instantly, he held her hand and they both got absorbed into the asport link he created. But, they didn't move anywhere. Instead, the link dropped them exactly back where they were at the moment, and dissolved.
"Try again!"
Again he tried, they got reabsorbed again into the asport links, bounced between asport points in the links and got thrown back again into the room like a rejected disc. He fell this time around unlike the first time.
"You are getting there. Try again!"
He went at it again, they got absorbed into the links, bounced between points amidst shouts from him before they got thrown back into the room, and again he fell. However, unlike the second time try, he could swear that he saw through the points, places that didn't seem like anywhere on earth or the usual space depictions by graphics artists.
"Do you see where you are going when you do this?" He questioned her out of curiosity.
"Of course...even better with the new upgrade." she replied, helping him up.
"Let's go again. You have spent one hour with this already plus the three hours we already exhausted." Neerudi reminded him.
He tried it again, and finally succeeded in asporting them to the garage of the hotel, albeit a few meters off course. The time was around 2:30am when they asported in.
There, she told him why he was delayed, showed him how to quickly navigate his way around the anani using the AI and urged him to see the anani as his mobile device...just like his Smartphone.
"When next do I continue?" An excited Steve asked her when she ended.
"Every time... this time; you have access now to the place, so you are free to go there whenever you wish. Everything is already in place to help your training."
"Yes ma'am!"
"Okay...bye I guess!" She said waving her hand and asported off instantly before he could utter another word.
He walked into the hotel through the vestibule to the reception, and went up straight from there. He checked on Tracy and Nora before going to their own room, hoping that Christie was still asleep. When he entered, she was still very much soundly asleep, almost as he had left her just a few hours ago.
***
Varodi tried to contact Bonadi soon after he finished a simulated training for Elvis, but Bonadi's anani was offline. He reasoned Bonadi had his reasons for going offline, and proceeded to a room full of Muurian electronic devices and equipment's, mostly designed by Bonadi himself, or bought off of Dro-Bidders. Though the place appeared like a laboratory, it is an electronic workshop. From the moment Elvis came into the equation, they have been building a special anani to help him navigate through as well as guide his training. Everything has gone according to plan so far.
The anani was designed to be worn as a wristband with a rectangular six inch screen which responds to touch and voice prompts. It was also synched to run in the MAA V.2 LAC, an advanced operating system used by the Universal Asportation Agency. Varodi was just in time to hear the voice in the computer screen show 'activation complete'. Though the standard anani design usually incorporated radio and EUV optics, semiconductors, robotics, and advanced material engineering, Bonadi has been able to introduce both applied quantum physics and dark matter fusion into all his designs. This was previously something that remained the exclusive of the UAA for ages.
He picked it up and left the room. Moments later, he arrived at the rear of the building, and walked through the vestibule that led to the expanded backyard to meet him. Elvis sat on one of the pavements near a small hill to the right when Varodi approached him.
"Here" He said to Elvis while he handed him the anani they designed for him. He stood up and took the anani from him, examined it carefully and put it on his wrist. Once on his wrist, it strapped itself to his left wrist and flashed a display the moment it came up. Varodi urged him to go on with it. He pressed his right thumb on the prompt requiring the print. A sharp needle-like prick was felt by him, making him remove his thumb just as soon. But, it was already done. He looked at the anani afterwards as it rebooted itself with a myriad of self-generated electronic configurations, and then finally displayed 'your anani is ready!' after it was done.
"Look what it says." He said, trying to show Varodi who simply stepped back a bit.
"I know!"
"Does this mean I'm ready then?" Elvis inquired.
"Not yet...but, its better you begin your familiarization with your own anani. It's a treasure, and it's important that you learn how to use it." Varodi replied him.
"Okay...good!"
At this point, Elvis brought up an asportation link, charted a path through the coordinates already in the link which were pre-installed by Bonadi and Varodi. Before Varodi could realize what he was doing, he asported off instantly, smiling as Varodi tried in vain to stop him. He landed off a building at a wide stretch of tarred road in front of Jason's house at Lantern Street. Jason is the top officer at the Cybercrime Division at the Police Headquarters in Owerri. It was not far from the Anani's indicators. With what the day signified to most of the people in general, you would think that not a lot should be traversing the road at the moment.
He waited a few seconds for the traffic light to turn green. Immediately it did, lots of vehicles drove forward from his left and he used the opportunity to cross to the other side of the road. He walked through a few crisscrossed curbs and entered Jason's house from the backyard. The house itself is a four bedroom bungalow with parlor, a front verandah and a fence from the back, typical of most private houses in the vicinity. Jason wasn't the religious type, though the same thing could not be said of the wife. This explains why he was alone in their parlor watching a TV show when Elvis entered.
"I will be stunned too." Elvis said, urging him to sit back down, relax and not do anything stupid the moment Jason saw him emerge all of a sudden.
"What do you want?" Jason asked him totally frightened from the look of it all and his body language.
"Straight to the point then; I need access to the newly acquired Imaging system of the F3NG Space Orbital Satellite that was secretly launched to avoid people knowing they are actually being spied on." Elvis said.
"What? Are you mad?" Jason said, almost shouting.
"I'm guessing your family should be finishing from service now and probably on their way home as we speak." Elvis said to him, leaving him to do the permutations of events himself.
"Leave my family out of this, or whatever it is you think you are doing. You are collaborating with criminals now?"
"Let's keep the unnecessary delay agitation in the trash for now, shall we? I'm on the clock Jason!" He said and asported off with Jason before he could utter another word. They reappeared at the police headquarters, not far from the CID which was empty except few personnel here and there.
"Move"
They moved through a passage in the Cybercrime Divisions building straight to where their major equipment's, devices, gadgets and gears were kept. Jason used his eyes as the identification to bypass the lock which prompted for it before they gained access to the inside of the room which is a heavily fortified larger vault.
"Bring up the feeds!" Elvis demanded.
Jason did as he was told amidst agitation, typed in some keywords into the keyboard of the main computer at the far wall in front of them that was situated just at the centre. Thousands of feeds came up, including areas marked as 'X' on the digital map to the right of the big monitor.
"I need a very clear view of this area." He said pointing at a pinpointed area giving off a mild beep with a red pointed arrow on his anani. Jason typed in a set of commands using some keywords, and finally used voice prompt to tell the AI to take charge of the rest. A live feed came up instantly, showing all the areas around the hotel Steve was staying as well as the hotel itself. He copied the live feed into a USB stick he was carrying before using his anani to upload it into its system.
While at it, he ignored all the mumbling and repetitive questions Jason asked, including how he is doing what he was doing, who he is helping and working for. He had already traced Nora's phone to that location previously, and wanted to make sure that she was actually with Steve, and that the hotel footage was not just a one-off meeting with Steve.
After he was through with the verification, he urged his Anani's AI to delete every form of trace in the system and thanked Jason for his service before moving away from him. As he was about leaving, Jason called him out in jittery.
"Wait please. You cannot leave me in here. I helped you as you requested didn't I?" He said rushing up to him.
"Why? You got some other place more important that you need to be?" Elvis mocked as he turned to face Jason, stopping him in his track abruptly.
"How am i going to explain why I am inside this place without due process as is the requirements which you are aware of?" Jason asked.
"I don't care!" Elvis replied him and asported off the building, arriving just a few distance away from the hotel Steve and his friends were staying at in Uturu, near her sisters school.
After observing the place from a distance, he disguised himself with the face cap he had with him. He entered the place as a casual guest, walked into the reception area of the suite that was just a few feet from the stairs situated at the right from the entrance. A female receptionist at the desk greeted and welcomed him before inquiring how she may be of service. "I was scheduled to see my friends here, easily recognizable friends...a boy and some girls." He stated.
"Sorry sir, we do not disclose such information about our customers!" She said, making him smile.
"I know, I'm a police officer." He told her and brought out his barge.
"Just wanted to check in on them and know how they're doing. I am among the officers..." he didn't finish before she cut in.
"Sorry sir, I cannot help you. It's the policy! Except you have a warrant!"
Apparently annoyed from her unyielding attitude, he grabbed her head instantly and smashed it on the marble table which formed the countertop and knocked her out in the process.
As she lay there unconscious, he frantically searched for where keys are kept to know occupied rooms and the ones which were not occupied. He was through with his search and wanted to head for the CCTV room he saw nearby when Steve started coming down alone in a casual jeans and a red Winceyette shirt with a pure zircon design fitted to the top of the shirts left. He wore a blue Nike canvass, and as he descended, his eyes were not quick enough to see Elvis who took cover immediately upon sighting him. All the memories Steve gave him in their last encounter came rushing in a myriad of fluctuating flow of disappointment and frustration.
He slowly wriggled around the wall, sneaked from behind the wall near the stairs to the right, and jumped on Steve who was not quick enough to react, and was taken unawares by the sneak attack. He fell back, and felled on the steps as he stumbled to withdraw himself backwards. Elvis followed his first attack with multiple ferocious punches and a kick to the chest which he managed to block off while still trying to get a hold of him. The force from the kick made him lose his balance, forcing him to maneuver his ways through the stairs and land on the floor of the reception area. Elvis did the same and launched successive hits at him while as Steve dodged them all amidst pain; but not the final punch to the face. However, he quickly went around Elvis, grabbed him by his right hand and flipped him away, forcing Elvis to crash through the reception bricks, and was surprised at his own strength as Elvis sustained injuries to his back and left abdomen as a result of the flip.
Elvis got enraged, quickly strapped on Crack guns from its holster in his waist, firing aggressively at Steve who blocked it off without his anani, again surprised he didn't even need the anani for that in the first instance. The final shot, an unexpected short range target crack bomb hit him hard, sending him backward with a swift swoosh. Steve figured the fight wasn't one sided as he thought. Speedily, he rushed Elvis before he could blink, jacked him up by his collar as he endured the flurry of hits coming from Elvis and threw him hard against the receptions marble counter. In his uncontrollable fall from the angry hurling flip, Elvis shattered structures as he crash-landed outside, hitting and damaging an oncoming vehicle driving into the suite; the couple inside didn't get hurt, but the surprise on their face said it all. Filled with pain, he groaned slowly as he turned to face Steve though still on the ground. His back was raised up a bit, his right hand perfectly rested on his right knee with the left hand supporting his slouched frame on the ground.
Steve rushed at him unlike the first, kicking him furiously, hurling him backwards again. He crashed at a parked car nearby from the entrance. Then he started walking to Elvis and stopped some distance away from him.
"I have no issue with you." He said and urged Elvis to stay down. However, Elvis didn't listen to him but brought out a smoke grenade and popped it before Steve could make a go at it.
Everywhere was instantly covered with smoke, making Steve literally blind with no way of knowing what was happening around him. The moment he got clear of the more smoke filled area, Elvis was standing to his left but out of his view. Smoke was still everywhere, but less.
"You probably don't remember me." He said, catching Steve unawares but quickly turned to face him.
"Oh, I do remember you... I'm good with faces. I mean, in your own case, how can I forget that?"
"Then you know why i have to kill you." Elvis said.
"Kill me?"
"Yes, you are an abomination." Elvis replied him.
"Okay." Steve replied him and continued to observe him consciously with a fixed gaze, staring mostly at his clothes which were bloodied now and very dirty. "Who set you up for this?" He asked shortly afterwards.
"You will know when you are dead!" Elvis whispered out loudly before emerging from the shadows, landing undefended hits at Steve with double powered super punches that sent Steve crashing backwards, landing at the top of a land cruiser vehicle parked along the garage. Quickly, Elvis asported off and landed directly on top of the car, kicking Steve down from the car's windscreen before jumping almost instantly to land on him with his hefty boots. Steve shifted just soon and rolled off six inches in a quick move before Elvis' feet landed on the ground.
As soon as his feet landed on bare ground, Steve quickly put his left hand firmly to the ground and delivered double kicks to Elvis' left thigh and abdomen with his right leg, before hitting him in the chest with both legs in a quick devastating combination Elvis never expected. This made him fall back from the force of the kick, crashing against the car he jumped down from, damaging some parts of it in the process. Steve came at him as soon as he landed, grabbed him by his neck and dragged him up while Elvis struggled to free himself from his grasp in his weakened state to no avail. He punched Elvis on the face with his right fist, and didn't allow it settle as he unleashed flurries of hit after hit anywhere he deemed fit all over Elvis' body as he still held him in his grasp. Elvis sustained serious fractures and damages as blood oozed from his face amidst series of dislocated bones and injuries sustained.
He released Elvis to feel the pains, turned and delivered another powerful kick to his stomach which sent Elvis hurling away, crashing against the wall of the reception, shattering structures along car rows. He landed on an aluminum waste bin by the corner finally and woke up the receptionist he previously smashed her head and knocked unconscious. The moment she woke up and saw Elvis, she scampered. Again, Steve started to approach as Elvis lay on the ground, unable to move and writhing in pain, barely conscious. He was a few feet away from Elvis when Varodi instantly asported in, sent Steve hurling backwards with an ultrasonic beam blast from a device he was holding and asported off instantly with Elvis in the process. As soon as Steve got his balance, he looked up to see a lot of strange people asport in out of nowhere, surrounding him in the process. They were covered in strange clothes.