Sequence 1
Michael reclines on the bed staring at the ceiling. He has been in this strange facility for what feels like two days, his only human contact are the guards who pass by his cell occasionally. All food is brought to him through a chute in the wall, all cleaning is done by small robots which pass through neatly hidden tunnels in the wall.
He stands up and opens a sliding door to the bathroom and stares at his face in the mirror which is starting to grow stubble. He pulls down the collar of his jumpsuit to inspect his scars and sees them mostly fading away.
Suddenly several armed guards gather outside his cell, the woman from before stands among them and presses the microphone button to announce "Please come out of the bathroom".
Michael slowly walks out and asks "What is all this, are you letting me go?". The woman tells him "Well that's up to my boss to decide, with your cooperation". The cell is filled with choking gasses as Michael shouts "Hey wait stop!".
He falls unconscious and two armed men move in to restrain his arms and legs. They blindfold him and drag him through the facility until they get to a dark room. This room is empty aside from a table with two metal chairs between it and is lit by a single bulb in the ceiling giving an unsettling atmosphere.
They sit him down, remove his blindfold and handcuff him to a chair. As they leave the room "Tunji" walks in and they give him a salute as he passes by them.
"Tunji" checks his watch, adjusts his earpiece and says to the microphone "Wake him up".
Michael jumps out of his sleep and thrashes around wildly "Who was that!?".
"Tunji" tells him "Calm down, you're safe now".
Michael stares at him and shouts "Who are you, what is this place!?".
The man calmly responds "I know this is a lot to take in but just listen and I will explain everything. My name is Dele Bankole, I am an agent with the Nigerian branch of the Global Self Defence Forces and we are holding you here for your own protection".
Michael relaxes and stares blankly at Dele as he continues "We are an organisation dedicated to the containment, study and, if necessary, the destruction of anomalous objects or individuals. Now what I want to know is why you were at old Oyo National Park on the 17th of March".
Michael looks up at the light in the ceiling and says "I just wanted to walk again, so I wouldn't be such a burden to my mother,that's all, I didn't want this, I didn't want to kill those people" as tears slowly stream down his face.
Dele asks "Who did you meet there?"
Michael says nothing.
Dele asks "Who told you about him?"
Again Michael refuses to respond but begins mumbling to himself.
Dele speaks into the microphone "Find anything so far?"
The woman on the other side of the line responds "He's fighting me, his mind is fragile, any small mistake could break him".
Dele says impatiently "We don't have much time, any crumb of information will help".
She tells him "Alright, don't say I didn't warn you".
Michael suddenly sits up then violently starts shaking his head screaming, "Get out! Get out! Get out!"
He breaks out of his restraints, throws the table across the room and charges at the wall screaming "Get out, I'll kill you!".
Four guards rush in and grab him, pinning him on the floor and injecting him with a tranquilliser.
Sequence 2
Michael wakes up the next day in the bed of his cell. He runs to the glass shouting "Please please just let me go home, I'll do whatever you want!". No one answers him and he flings his arms out of frustration, accidentally releasing a blast of flames across the room. Fire suppression systems activate as he collapses hopelessly onto the wet floor.
He sits there silently staring at his hand, he tries to spark a flame again but it lasts for half a second. He stares transfixed at his hand until four armed guards and Dele Bankole interrupt his concentration as they move to open his cell.
Micheal runs to the other side of the room begging "Please don't gas me again". Two guards move in, one handcuffs him and the other blindfolds him as Dele says "We are trying a different approach this time".
They take him to the same interrogation room as before, sit him down and remove his blindfolds. Michael is surprised to see an old man seated in front of him. The man is bald with a white beard, his eyes appear grey and glazed over with cataracts, he wears a white tunic and is holding a long staff with a single, flaming, blue eye that would blink occasionally as a headpiece.
The guards leave them as the old man says "Hello Michael, do you care for a small game?". He raises his hands, leaving the staff to stand upright and spawns a chess board from the table.
Michael looks on, numb to what is happening as the man continues "You seem sad my boy, what bothers you?".
Michael murmurs, "I must still be dreaming, this can't be real". The man sighs and explains, "I assure you boy, I am as real as you are, raise your hands and let me show you".
Michael raises his hands and his handcuffs rust and crumble to dust on the table. The old man picks up the dust and moulds it into rose petals which fly all around the room.
The man says, "Now that your hands are free we can play without issue, I go first". He moves his pawn to E4 as Michael replies "I'm not very good at chess but you're blind so this should be easy" as he also moves his pawn to E5.
The old man tells him "You may call me Prophet" as he moves his bishop to C4.
Michael smirks "Prophet eh, then I have lost already" moving his own bishop to B4.
Prophet replies "Not necessarily, I only see what my master allows me to see" moving his pawn to C3 to counter.
Michael asks "Who is your master, the man in the suit?" moving his Knight to C6.
Prophet answers "No man can serve two masters for either he will hate the one, and love the other. The one who sent me is incomprehensible to mere mortals" as he moves his Queen to H5.
Michael asks "Did you come to play chess or give a spiritual lesson?".
Prophet tells him "I came to show you who you really are".
Michael laughs "The last time I heard that I became a monster... ".
Prophet interrupts saying "There are many monsters worse than you are, beings not of this world. Beings who command the heavens to fall, those who control nature and the earth and those who turn men into monsters. They exist and we must fight them".
Michael continues laughing "I don't want to fight, I just want to go home".
Prophet tells him "There will not be a home for anyone if you do not join this fight, especially not for your mother, work with us and you can go home again! If you refuse there are several men behind that door ready to end your life, this I have seen".
Upon hearing this Michael calms down and asks "So what do you want me to do".
Prophet reminds him "First we finish the game, it's your move".
Michael remembers and says "Of course" while thinking about his next move.
He moves his Knight to F6.
Prophet pauses for a moment and tells him this "The battle lines have been drawn, but with one decisive strike we can end this", he moves his Queen to F7, getting a checkmate and winning the game.
Prophet stands, grabs his staff and tells Michael "Come boy, let us go to meet your new colleagues".
They step out to the hallway to see Dele Bankole amidst several armed guards with two women by his side.
One of the women stretches out her hand and welcomes Michael "Hi I'm Amina Usman, deputy head of research, so nice to finally get a proper introduction".
Michael reluctantly accepts saying "Uh, thanks".
Dele, noticing the handshake is getting a bit too long butts in saying "Lieutenant...".
Amina recoils, slightly embarrassed "Oh right, sorry about that".
Dele continues with the introductions "This other lovely lady is Doctor Enotayo Aigbe, she doesn't talk much, but don't worry, she doesn't need to. These men here, you don't need to know them, for now".
Amina asks "So Michael how do you grow out your wings?".
Confused Michael asks, touching his back "What wings!? Wait o, how do you guys even know my name?". He hears a voice in his head say "My God you are slow" and turns around shouting "Who said that, what is going on here!?".
Dele sighs, rubs his eyes and tells him "Look there's a lot to unpack here, but right now we need your skills in this fight, don't worry we will figure things out as we go".
Amina giggles excitedly "Oh I can't wait to show you what I've been working on, come on let's go!" and rushes him down the building escorted by Prophet and several guards.
Dr. Enotayo looks Dele blankly in the eyes and thinks "I hope you won't regret this".
Dele tells her "I hope so too".
Sequence 3
Meanwhile David and Michael's mother are on the road driving towards the forest where he last saw Michael. The atmosphere is tense and neither say a word until David nervously asks "Hey um can we stop soon I have to go pee". Micheal's mother angrily glares at him and he bows his head saying "I guess I'll hold it".
They reach a police checkpoint and the policemen send them to the side of the road shouting "Park well! Park well!".
She winds down the windows and one of the policemen asks "Madam let me see your boot". She opens it and they find it empty so they continue to press on "Madam show me your car particulars".
This gets her angry and she shouts "Please I am in a hurry so don't waste time!".
One of the policemen runs to her window cocking, his gun and shouting "Ess madam who do you think you are!?".
She brings out a card and shows him, when he sees it he immediately apologizes "Ah Miss Peace we are sorry ma please don't be offended" and signals for his men to let her pass.
They get to Igbeti and park in the bush, David quickly relieves himself and they proceed down the forest looking for answers.
David sees Micheal's old wheelchair and tells her "This is where I last saw him, maybe that boy must have moved him...".
Peace grabs his throat and tells him "He better be alive, for your sake!" then throws him aside and continues walking.
He quickly picks himself up and follows her through the forest reserve, noticing increasing numbers of burnt trees and ash.
They see an empty hut in a clearing but find no one there. Peace directs David to follow her and they move deeper into the forest to find the remnants of Akin's village full of burnt corpses.
David vomits upon seeing it but Peace walks through unfazed, scanning the area, piecing together what happened in her mind. She stumbles upon a single red feather and assumes the worst.
Their investigation is cut short by the flash of police lights and sirens.
Peace quickly drags David into the bush and tells him "Keep your head down and keep quiet".
The policemen survey the area and discuss among themselves as they pack the corpses into bags. One of them says "Na wah oh so ritualists did this one yesterday?". Another policeman says "No Inspector told us it's herdsmen that burnt down this whole village, not even the children were spared, God help us!".
Peace tells David "We have to go now!" and they start moving quickly and quietly back to where they came from.
David sees a small boy crying among the trees and calls out to him but he runs away out of fear. Peace knocks David hard on the head and pushes him to keep moving.
They get to the car and quickly drive off before the police can spot them. Once on the road she pounds the steering wheel of her car out of frustration, fearing that she might never see her son again.
The End?