.I trust you.
The previous day, before they left the shelter for the dark forest, the new commander had summoned two members of the E-rank in person of Lakan and Ọse; he had them in his office to give them a special mission. The previous commander was a fool; he didn't care about the psychological welfare of his recruits, interested only in the financial gain the job had to offer. The previous commander didn't keep a record of any student and failed to give a financial account of everything going on in the institution; now, the new commander was tasked with cleaning it all up. "Curse him," the new commander grumbled.
In walks the two boys he had summoned; Lakan was a little uncomfortable, but Ọsẹ was more confident from the look in his eyes.
"Good! You are here," he said as he sorted the files on the table.
"Sir!" the two boys greeted.
"Come closer and sit down," he commanded; he pointed towards the two chairs in front of his table.
"Sir," Lakan protested, "I believe we are not the ones you need to talk to, Adewale is the genius let me call him,"
"No!" the commander countered, "It's definitely you because it concerns Adewale as well"
"What do you mean?" Lakan asked,
"Adewale has proven himself to be capable and strong, his leadership potential is up to the next level." the commander said
"This is true," Ọsẹ said as he nodded in agreement,
"It is also true that Adewale cares for the people of Suru-Lere; this means that he is far more important than anyone else in this institute. This is why I have summoned you here"
"I don't understand," Lakan said with a puzzled look on his face.
"I think I do," Ọsẹ said with a glimmer in his eyes, "You want us to protect Adewale with our lives."
"Nothing as dramatic as that," The new commander pointed, "Adewale has the knowledge and intelligence far beyond his age but his experience in leadership is lacking. A time will come when he suffers a psychological blow, a blow so devastating that it might damage his spirit."
"That is impossible!" Lakan protested,
"It happens to all good men; I've experienced it myself, so don't underestimate the damage that fate inflicts."
"So what should we do when it happens?" Ọsẹ inquired,
"The moment his resolve begins to falter you must become his strength," the commander said with a stern look on his face, "He still needs experience in leadership and pillars to ensure he remains steadfast in his time of weakness. Can I trust you to be the pillars on which he stands?"
"Yes sir," the two boys replied,
"Good" the commander smiled, "I'm trusting you, become his strength the moment he begins to waver"
"Yes sir!" they replied. The only thing they didn't realise was how soon Adewale would need them to become his strength.
***************
"Attaaaaaaah!!" Adewale cried as he charged into the forest to save his friend. He would have continued, but Ọsẹ stopped him and dragged him towards the hill that they were heading for earlier. "Attah" Adewale cried in pain as he gazed longingly into the darkness for his childhood friend.
Adewale was powerless to resist Ọsẹ's restraints, he was dragged along with the rest as Ọsẹ released another stream of fire from the palm of his hands. The fire might not have affected the Galagoes but the Arachnoids were set ablaze the moment they got hit.
"Finally!" Tunde cried, "Something that works"
"I can see the cave!!" Ọrẹoluwa cried as they drew closer towards the hill
"Move faster!!" Ronke cried as she used her shield to block another attack, Lakan quickly handed over the unconscious Kehinde to Tunde, who accepted without question as they approached the cave, and then he scouted with his eyes for a suitable rock to help seal the entrance of the cave.
"I need you to use your fire to cover me" Lakan cried to Ọsẹ as he ran towards a large rock perfect for his purpose,
"Understood!" Ọsẹ replied,
Lakan grabbed the large bolder and began moving it slowly towards the mouth of the cave, every muscle in his body screamed in pain as he tried to do something too much for his body to handle while Ọsẹ kept the Arachnoids at bay.
"Adewale we need you." Ọrẹoluwa pleaded to their broken leader, "I promise you can rest as soon as you boost Lakan and my brother!"
Adewale briefly recovered from his depression and boosted the two members of his party who were keeping them safe and then bowed his head in defeat. The boost was enough to strengthen Laken and with the help of Ọsẹ they were able to seal the mouth of the cave with all members safely hidden inside, they finally had a safe heaven.
**********
Back at the Lagos shelter, Abacha once again gazed at his accomplishment; he was pleased that he had managed to eliminate the cockroach that dared to challenge him. Then he had a singular moment of doubt, and that doubt told him that stubborn cockroaches like this one always find a way to survive; no matter how many times he tried to get rid of such cockroaches, they always returned and sometimes stronger, more motivated others with a greater number and far more dangerous. Nnamdi Azikwe was one of them; at first, he was harmless and weak, a little bug that could be easily crushed underfoot. That was where he was wrong; should the seed of malice be planted, wisdom demands that the cautious uproot the seed before it develops into a mature tree.
There was a sudden knock on the door, and then his daughter walked into the room; she had a small tray of Palm-alu in her hands with a calabash cup and under her armpit, she held a document firmly.
"Good to see you Rukayat," Sani greeted,
"Greetings Father!" the secretary replied,
"Is that the daily report?" he inquired,
"Yes sir"
"Let us hear it," he commanded as he poured himself a cup of the beverage.
"The trial of the recruits has begun," she started as she began to read from the folder she had under her armpit. "The E-ranks were sent to the dark forest and the other recruits were sent to the Marsh grassy lands"
"Good," Abacha acknowledged; he was pleased because he knew that no one could survive the dark forest. But then the sensation of doubt washed through his mind once again.
"There was an anomaly," Rukayat continued, "The S-rank rising star, Kehinde Akinbode from the Akinbode family followed the E-ranks to the dark forest"
"What!" Abacha exclaimed he had not expected this turn of events.
"According to the report, they had him join the E-ranks to use them as meat shields for a secret mission," Rukayat replied,
"Damn!" Abacha exclaimed. That seems to be the one variable that would ensure Adewale's survival, he trembled with suppressed rage. "This cannot happen, I must do something," he thought. "Summon the gate guards!" he yelled.
"But fat… sir I have not finished given the report," Rukayat suggested.
"Continue," Abacha scowled. He desperately wanted to issue new orders to the gate guards, but the daily reports were also important.
"Two of the lords are planning a rebellion," she continued,
"Assign Kaduna to slay the leaders of the rebels," he ordered and watched as his daughter wrote down this response.
"Food supply has dropped in Suru-lere by 20%, the people are seriously in need of food," she said as she continued to read,
"Those cockroaches are getting for more than they deserve, they should just die," he grumbled.
"The is also a problem with the plantation," she said as she continued to read, "Production has dropped by 8%, except for the farmlands in the province controlled by Nnamdi Azikwe"
"Send a spy, find out how he's enhancing production and increasing the amount taxed from his region" Abacha ordered,
"He might refuse," Rukayat countered,
"I'm counting on it; I need an excuse to exterminate that fool and his entire family," Abacha responded with a slight sneer on his expression.
Rukayat was silent for a moment, then continued to read; from the tone of her voice, Abacha could tell that she didn't approve of him steering up trouble with one of the warlords of the shelter, but she kept her opinion to herself. She continued to give the report, and as soon as she finished, she made a bow and left the room.
Abacha had instructed his daughter to summon someone as soon as she left, and in less than five minutes, there was a knock on the door, "Enter!" He commanded. In walks, a man poorly dressed with three scars disfiguring his face, poorly maintained African traditional armour, and a long blade strapped to his side.
"I came, Mo ti da (I have arrived)" the stranger greeted as he gave a crooked smile flashing his mouth with five missing teeth. He was a man not to be trusted, a man of ill intent ready to break every rule in the book to get whatever he wanted. He was Cecilia'n Ibru; his western name was given to him by his parents to make others trust him, and Ibru was the name given to him to represent the tribe they originated from when they were once on earth. Abacha used him to carry out operations that he didn't want to be traced back to his office.
"You are here, good!" Abacha said with an air of urgency, "I have a new set of orders,"
"Alright, boss," Ibru said with a sinister smile on his face. This is going to be interesting; Abacha had a look that told him that his mind was ripe with mischief. Ibru felt a tingling sensation of excitement explode from within. He could hardly contain himself.
"For now, the first order is to tell the gate guards at the walls of the shelter to kill anyone coming from the dark forest; none should come back alive!"
Ibru chuckled with mysterious delight.
****************
Back in the dark forest, the E-ranks were still in the cave they had found, with the entrance guarded by the Arachnoids patiently waiting for the food to come out; Adewale was still in mourning while Lakan and Ọsẹ stood guard at the entrance of the cave should the beasts outside attack.
"How long are we going to wait for him to recover?" Lakan inquired impatiently,
"As long as it takes," Ọsẹ replied, "He just lost both his best friend and his childhood friend at the same time."
"If we remain here any longer we might die" Lakan countered,
Ọsẹ signed in reaction and then focused on Adewale, who was crouched in the corner of the cave with his head between his knees; he could tell that their leader was still being tormented by the memory of his deceased friend. He wrestled with himself if it would be wise to disturb Adewale now or give him a few more hours to collect himself, but then he slapped himself.
"You are right Lakan, we don't have time to waste on mourning," he responded in a defeated tone.
"Then let me go and talk to him…" Lakan suggested.
"No, let my sister do it," Ọsẹ countered, as he gestured towards Ọrẹoluwa, who was busy distributing rations of food to the rest of the party. He gestured for his sister and then nodded his head indicating that it was time. Ọrẹoluwa responded to her brother's command and walked towards the broken form of Adewale.
Ọrẹoluwa walked over and sat down in this manner she got his attention, "I'm sorry about your friend," she said in a way to break the ice.
"He was going to face his father; he was going to prove his worth," Adewale stressed, "But now he is gone." there was silence for a while, and then she spoke again.
"Do you remember what I said about my skill?" she inquired.
"You predicted that only three of us would make it to this cave alive and that we should avoid the cave at all costs," Adewale responded,
"Do you remember your response to that?" she pressed,
"I said all predictions are nothing but nexus points in time that can be altered by choice," Adewale responded with a sudden change in his expression, he had come to that conclusion after watching a certain movie about a time-travelling robot sent back to kill a helpless child in his previous life, The nexus point he thought. He was the one who challenged fate and won, more than three had survived to reach the cave. He remembered from the VR movie he had watched that all nexus points in time are usually blocked by choices that one does not fully comprehend, "We're still in this" he finally said "We can survive!" he smiled and thought with gratitude, thank you Arnold Schwarzenegger and Keanu Reeves your movies will forever remain in my heart as I live in this new world.
"Good to have you back," Ọrẹoluwa said with a smile on her face.
"Thank you for reminding me that I have potential" Adewale responded,
"You do know Attah is still alive right!" Ọrẹoluwa continued
"What!" Adewale cried out surprised,
"Arachnoids always take all their prey cocooned in their web to the queen who decides to either store the food or feed on it immediately," She said sounding important "And I saw another vision"
"Then we can save him," he said with bright-eyed excitement but then his countenance changed, "We can't save him, not with what we have now"
"I know you will figure out a way; you are our leader, and I trust you with my life," Ọrẹoluwa said in an encouraging tone.
It was at that moment that the prompt sounded once again, "Hidden requirements met, Unlock secret skill (3/5)"
"What did you just say!" Adewale said with a hint of excitement,
"I said I trust you," She replied, and Adewale responded with an excited smile "Yes!" he cried. Then he faced Ọsẹ who was approaching him and asked.
"Do you trust me?"
"With my life, I trust you with my life" Ọsẹ responded,
"Hidden requirements met, Unlock secret skill (4/5)," so that was the requirement for unlocking his hidden skill, Trust!
"I trust you too," Tunde said,
"And I trust you as well," Ronke said.
"You have my trust as well, friend," Seyi Olaitan declared.
"Hidden requirements met, Unlock secret skill (7/5)… processing … processing. Requirements for unlocking hidden skills met
Suddenly, a status screen appeared in front of Adewale, with the words Do you accept the system? Indicate by clicking Yes or No. Adewale immediately responded by clicking Yes!
Hidden skill unlocked
Synchronizing with host
Processing …
Processing complete…
Greetings, Master Adewale. My name is Symbiot."