Muur Chronicles

EPISODE -- 2

As Bonadi walked off, Elvis kept shouting at him until "all you have to do is break free!" rang in his head like a huge church bell. He went closer to the glass and hit it with his fist. Nothing happened but he realized that he felt no pain during the hit. The sound of the hit made Bonadi stop in his tracks. He hit the glass again, and nothing happened but he was beginning to feel a surge rush through him and he felt it.  He started unleashing successive hits on the glass until he made an insanely huge powerful hit on the glass. This made Bonadi to turn and observe that the hold has cracked and his anani lit up. Realising what has happened; Elvis quickly summoned strength within him and unleashed another powerful hit with his right fist with great effort, shattering the glass in the process. Bonadi smiled as he looked on while Elvis could not know what to make of the situation.

"What is this?  Who am I and what did you do to me?" an enraged Elvis asked and started approaching Bonadi. "It worked..." he said, though defensively alert just in case. "I'm seriously going to lose it if you keep speaking in parables." Elvis warned.

"That would be a very big mistake, trust me."

"Right now, we have to leave here!" Bonadi told him as a matter of fact.

"And go where?  Who are you self?"

"Right now, I am someone that cares about you." he answered and then quickly brought out his anani, did some configurations and sent a message to Varodi to meet him at their base immediately.

"Alright, we will go now!" Bonadi told him.

"To...?" he didn't finish before he got asported off and appeared at the base, where Elvis was previously at the first time. He later came to know that the name of the place is Leriade. Varodi was already waiting when they arrived.

"What is the emergency?" he asked, but Bonadi took him aside as Elvis watched keenly.

"It worked!" Bonadi told him.

"How?" he asked.

"I altered the solution a bit, and added some particles you shouldn't concern yourself with to the brew. The result is standing right in your presence." Bonadi told him.

"So why am I here then?"

"He does not remember anything!"

"Well, that's a good thing, right?" Varodi replied rhetorically.

"No, it's not! And you are going to make sure he remembers. It's important that he remembers."

"You seem to care much about this one." Varodi remarked.

"Are you getting jealous now?"

"Why should i?"

"Good. Let's get to it then!" Bonadi quipped.

"I will see what I can do!"

"His strength level how is it?" Varodi asked as they turned to face Elvis.

"He shattered an ebamel steel laced with erabil." Bonadi replied which surprised Varodi. "You might be right about him after all." he cheered Bonadi. They went closer to where Elvis stood near a window facing the outer surroundings. He was smiling at the wonderful view of the place despite it being a sparsely populated area.

"What is this place?" he asked them.

"The name is Leriade, but it is the least of your concerns right now!" Varodi answered.

"And you are?" Elvis asked.

"The person that will help you remember who you are, among other things!”

"How are you going to do that?" he asked Varodi.

"It's a science far beyond your comprehension. However, I want you to trust that i am going to help you remember everything until this very moment. So, if you are ready, I am ready to begin."

"I am ready!"

Varodi brought out an advanced magnetic quantum resonance box and gave the handheld extension to Elvis to hold onto it after making him sit down on a well cushioned sit just across the room.

"We might be better off restraining you, for everyone's good!" Varodi advised. Elvis looked at Bonadi who gave him an assurance look, telling him he has nothing to worry about. Soon after they restrained him, Varodi got to work with his anani. From it, he flipped out a projected screen where he entered a few key logs and pushed the projection towards Elvis. The flash from the projection which hit him lit up the magnetic quantum device box and the handheld extension of it he was holding began to vibrate as he held it tightly. A few seconds later, a shiny erabil laced fluid started creeping out from the device he was holding and covered his entire body within seconds; he got knocked out immediately.

"We have to wait now!" Varodi told Bonadi.

"You seem to be busy before I interrupted?" Bonadi asked, as they walked away from where Elvis sat like a statue.

"Yes. Their top ranking law enforcer sent their best men to the location of the surge. I am going to commandeer them!" he stated.

"What about our secrecy rules?" Bonadi asked.

"They have changed the game and we have to move fast. You said so yourself. The rule still remains intact, and caution will not be thrown to the winds I assure you."

"Do what you must!" Bonadi said, patting him on the back as he left.

 Watching him calmly sedated and almost motionless as the fluid remained static on his body, Bonadi wondered what could have led to the developing soft spot for Elvis within him. It is unlike him at the very least, not for a while.

*

      Varodi went back to the convenience store he was at previously. He had tagged along the special force men sent by the IGP to Owerri after coming to an indirect contact with them. They stayed at a place not far from the convenience store which also doubled as a liquor house. It was along but not too far from Ozara-Egbeli road by the popular and ever busy F1 road.

There were few customers at the liquor part of the store, so the attendant had to stock the cold cases, sweep and mop certain parts of the store to fill up the time at intervals. He had just finished mopping around 10pm when a car pulled up in front of the store and two men around their 50's came out from the car. They were both dressed differently, and one of them didn't seem to belong. Seeing them, Varodi left the store immediately but didn't leave the environment. He recognized one of the men from the car because he was a Muurian and an agent of the Amarandubi. He was not surprised because he knew such alliance is the direct result of Muur prints released from Steve's destruction. It's safe to say his plan just became tougher to accomplish now, he reasoned.

Inside the store, the attendant was excused while the two men that just walked in addressed the special operatives sent by the Inspector-General of the Nigerian Police.

"We are really sorry for keeping you all waiting. However, something very important came up which we had to resolve." They all gave an approval that the apology was accepted even though there was nothing they could actually do about it. After all, it was an Assistant Inspector-General that was talking to them. "Where are we with investigations and everything?" he asked. One of the operatives who seemed to be their leader began to speak as the A-I-G finished.

"We locked down the crime scene, set up the crime scene perimeters, established a contamination path and secured the area. But, i have one question to clear up before we commence." he said.

"Go on!" the A-I-G replied.

"Why are we meeting in this place? There are many other better locations we could have met and had this meeting, why here?" he queried, looking at the A-I-G.

"Any other question from anyone else?" the A-I-G asked afterwards but none of them said anything. All this while, the Muurian had been silent, observing each and every one of them.

"Let me introduce agent Edurol. I know you all have been curious to know. He is a very powerful special agent, and I don't mean that literally. He is going to help you successfully complete your task." he stated.

"With due respect, we are more than capable of completing the mission ourselves." the leader of the group spoke immediately.

"And nobody is disputing that ACP Abaz; no-one is disputing that. Your records and accomplishments with your brothers speak for itself. But, this is no time to whine about leadership issues. If the Intel we currently have about the individual responsible for the destruction is as it is described, which we believe it to be so by the way, and then we are massively ill equipped. I'm very sure the Commissioner has updated you on everything and sincerely speaking, we don't know what or who we are dealing with here. However, and luckily for us, we had special visitors whose identity should never escape this room. This is why agent Edurol is with us here this moment." the AIG stated.

"So, what's so special about them or him?" ACP Abaz asked, looking in the direction of Edurol.

"Allow me!"  Edurol told the AIG with a deep tone that sounded heavy yet mild.

"What do you think you are dealing with here?" he asked ACP Abaz, taking him unexpectedly, but he replied nonetheless.

"Our forensic experts have not yet concluded on what could be the cause of the explosion, but they all agree that it is an uncommon device that could have created such destruction since it is clearly not a bomb explosion." he answered.

"So you, what do you think?" Edurol asked.

"They are experts. What I think is irrelevant and doesn't matter!" he answered.

"Exactly; what you think doesn't matter because what you are about to face is far beyond your imagination. This is not your usual area of expertise that involves intelligence gatherings and reports on syndicates, drug lords or other individual rogue elements; and then plan your full assault, arrest or kill. No, this is far more powerful and dangerous that even your brain cannot begin to comprehend. We are talking about a cosmic scale danger here." Edurol told them all with seriousness, capturing the full attention of everyone in the room.

"Now, my role here is to educate you as well as lead you in this mission because truth be told, this is out of your league. But, this providential intervention gives rise to a covenant of trust that now binds us, you and me including your rulers." he told them.

"So this stuff you are talking about, what are we facing and on what scale are we actually talking about here?" A member of the group asked.

Gently, Edurol brought out his anani fused with the logo of the Amarandubi.

"Know what this is?" he asked to no-one in particular to which they all answered negatively. He walked closer to them and then did a little configuration on the visible screen projections which displayed as soon as he tapped on a tiny button on the anani.

"I have been able to reconstruct the destruction with imagery from a hidden CCTV and from the stories and depictions which one of you gave to the media." he said, making them look at themselves in surprise.

"Not one of you here, the one who was arrested and who's now currently missing." he added almost instantly.

"Now, I want you all to watch this scene with keen attention." he stated and tapped on the visible screen projection from his anani which started to display the events as it may have happened. A few seconds later, the display stopped.

"From what you saw, what do you think happened?" he asked. Everyone gave an opinion from their own personal analysis of the event, but none of them gave him what he wanted to know. When most of the operatives were through, ACP Abaz stood up and walked to the projection. He told Edurol to play back and stop at a particular scene. Everyone stared at him in silence as he did this, then he faced Edurol.

"Something seemed odd about the massive surge that unleashed from his body if this projection is the best we can make a calculated guess from. If you ask me, I will say the surge that led to the destruction escaped from him." he said, asking Edurol to play it back. Pointing at the screen, he added, "this was definitely unintentional!" he concluded and went back to his seat.

"And you are right ACP!" Edurol said.

"Now what I'm about to tell you may cost you your life, that's the price of the secrecy." he said, getting them all focused and attentive.

"A forbidden dangerous dark magic has been performed on the person who wrought the destruction. It's unsteady and very powerful but the price is very costly. Whoever did this is from where i come from and the purpose for which it was done we don't know. But, we will find out one way or another. Whoever performed the act didn't know the danger he has created to the entire universe or the person knows and plans to use him as a puppet for their selfish gains. Wherever this person is at the moment, he may be feeling almighty and all-powerful but he will be cautious onward and that is why we need to act now. This, this magical performance is an abomination and aberration and the person in possession of its powers it's basically a ticking time bomb. He wields something he may not be able to control, and is unintentionally endangering everyone around him, putting them all in harm’s way. The more the days go by, the more the powers grow." he finished.

"Did he just say dark magic?" an operative asked rhetorically, as if he was just waiting for Edurol to finish asking the funny question and making fun of him. "Did you hear differently?" Edurol asked.

"So, what, we are now dealing with fairy tales?  Come on guys!" the operative chided.

"How about this?" Edurol's anani fired up and hurled a dazzling flash of light at the operative which instantly jacked him up from his seat and drew him straight up to Edurol with a huge force. His face was just few inches apart from that of Edurol as he looked him in the eyes directly, with the officer standing on the air, flabbergasted by what was happening to him, as well as pleading for Edurol to let him down.

"That’s enough!" the AIG said to Edurol who released the operative as he struggled to regain his composure after being let off.

"Let's not make this a habit, shall we?" Edurol advised the horrified operative.

"You have nothing to fear from me. I come from a very peaceful loving nation, and even though I would rather be at the Cirquirena or at the Parissa at Kalialu enjoying myself, I still have a situation that must be resolved.

"For the record, I have other agents working with me. You may eventually meet them or not. I am not with them because they can perfectly handle themselves, but i can't say the same for you all. So after a lot of pleadings from your rulers, we decided that we are going to provide you with adequate gears, equipment and weapons. We have a mission, a very dangerous task to execute, and it may cost some of you your lives." Edurol warned.

"Seeing how dangerous this person probably is, what is the plan here?  What do you intend to do with him!" an operative asked.

"We will have to reverse the process and then our ruler and the people will decide. But, ultimately we are taking him home." Edurol answered.

"Home? You mean your country? There are jurisdictional issues which abound in this providential intervention." another stated.

"Let's not get into that now. I'm sure your leaders will clear up what they need to clear up with you as at when due if they deem it necessary."

"So, what's next?" ACP Abaz asked.

"We prepare. The timeline is very thin because the more days go by, the more powerful this person becomes and the less chances of reversing the process."

**

From his end, Varodi was infuriated and wanted to attack them there and then, but could not quite make up his mind if it was the right move, so he asported off and went back to the lair in Leriade.

"I take it your plan is already cut short?" Bonadi asked him as he asported in.

"They are involved now, the Amarandubi." he stated.

"They were always going to at some point."

"I should have attacked Edurol." he said.

"He was there?"

"Yes!"

"Who else?" Bonadi inquired.

"He was alone, but met with the operatives."

"And you did nothing!" Bonadi retorted.

"Says the agent of discreet moves" Varodi quipped.

"Yes I did advise it, but look at who you just lost; the wealth of information!"

"Nothing's changed." He replied.

"This is something we can use to our advantage anyway." Bonadi said after a while.

"How?" Varodi asked.

"You have a new task. You are going to tag one of the operatives, warp him and make him work for us within their midst. He will feed us information and keep us posted with everything they do. They are going to lead us to him eventually." Bonadi stated.

"And what will you do when you get to him?" Varodi asked.

"Convince him to join me or kill him."

"Are you sure you are particularly capable of doing that, i mean, we know the entity we are talking about here." Varodi questioned.

"Don't underestimate me Varodi."

"Kill who?" Elvis asked, shocking them as to when he woke up.

"The boy you said caused the destruction." Bonadi said, trying to see if at all his memory is back.

"Oh that. I remember everything now, and i do remember him, but i want him to feel my humiliation first before you kill him!" Elvis stated.

"As you wish" Bonadi replied. "Now about the mission we talked about."

"When do we begin?" Elvis asked.

"As soon as you are ready"

"I am ready!"

"No, you are not. But, you will soon be!" Varodi imputed.

"That's right. And that's why he is going to help you understand the responsibilities and the powers which you now possess." Bonadi added.

"I am ready for whatever comes next!" Elvis simply told them both.

"Good!"

"Get to it then, we have no time to waste!" Bonadi added, making reference to both Varodi and Elvis before he started retreating to his chambers to perfect some more details of his grand plan. He was almost out of the way when Elvis nonchalantly asked "what exactly is your end game here? All this things, me and everything happening, something is definitely in the middle of it. I will like to know!"

He stopped, looked at him and smiled then continued retreating. "You will know in due time!" Varodi told Elvis, tapping him on the shoulder in a reassuring manner, but he could still feel the disappointment on Elvis' demeanor which fully displayed the obvious; that he didn't get an answer to the question he asked.