My System's name is Symbiot

Chapter 7

The unknown and Temptations

The final training regimen was going to be that week, which was also the scouting week; for those with the Evo-cap less than ten, it was considered the most disappointing week of their lives. The major strike teams referenced the evaluation carried out earlier as a requirement for their recruitment, meaning that those with low Evo-caps were at a disadvantage. They watched as the few with S-rank potential were being fought over and bribed with generous rewards, how the A and B ranks were able to negotiate their way into powerful and respectable strike teams and finally, how the less popular strike teams interviewed the C and D rank recruits. The only E-rank candidate that was recruited from the trash heap was Ajani, who bragged that he had Evolved to his max up during the Reptile-king incident as if he was the only one who had reached his Evo-cap. He even bragged that he was the one who took command of the situation because he was the one with the highest level; at first, Lakan wanted to smack some sense into him, but Adewale stopped him.
“But he is…” Laken protested,
“Don’t worry” Adewale said, “Empty barrels always make the loudest noises, the only thing he is thinking about is the financial benefits, he is soon going to learn that being an Ẹṣọ takes more than just a high Evolution limit and a big mouth”
Lakan nodded in agreement but still couldn't shake the disappointment in his heart or the indignation in his mind. “If only we could Evolve to an even higher level, then he would be nothing compared to us.” Adewale chuckled in response. 
By the end of the week, the S-rank dorms were almost empty, but for just one person, the one who remained behind was the one person that Adewale had hoped would be the first to be recruited. Kehinde Akinbode, the potential S-rank from a major family that was based in Olorun-sogo, there must be a reason why he chose to remain behind, but that remains a mystery.
On the 5th day of the week, something unusual happened; Adewale was summoned by the major of the shelter along with the commander. He had hoped that the major would ignore him the same way he would ignore trash but it seems that such wishful thinking was naive on his part.
“Adewale Alaramide,” the commander called, “We have been summoned” he said as he scowled down at the boy.
“Sir?” Adewale inquired “I will prepare myself, when should …”
“The summons is for us to leave immediately.” The commander barked at the boy with disdain in his eyes. “Get dressed now rodent!”
“Yes sir”, Adewale replied, rushing towards the dorms to adorn himself in the official uniform given to all recruits.
A few moments later, Adewale rushed out towards the entrance of the building, the meeting place that the commander had ordered him to rendezvous at the moment he was prepared. He met the commander patiently waiting for him at the meeting point; the man nodded with approval at Adewale’s official uniform and gestured for him to get into the crystal-powered vehicle. Adewale was adorned in the traditional Buba and Sokoto with dominant red colours, while the commander was adorned in his ceremonial crystal-powered armour that, for some reason, gave him the aura of a fearless leader. For the first time, Adewale didn’t think of him as a complete bully; the ride to the capital of the Lagos shelter was a long and painful one. Adewale was infuriated by the things he had seen on the way towards the major’s residence. The things he saw and the truth that was exposed practically shattered his patience; the word hypocrisy could not quantify the amount of lies that the residents of Olorun-sogo had used to oppress the residents of Surulere. Their children had peace and were properly nourished, whereas the ones in Surulere were all underfed and forced to fight and die for the shelter. Food was abundant in the market to the point that most of it was being wasted, but in Suru-lere, the food scarcity affected the price. He was forced to gulp down the lump in his throat. 

*************

Sani Abacha sat in his chair as he mentally prepared to subdue any who would walk into his office, it was in the nature of the rich to put the poor in their place. They enjoy using eye service to intimidate the rodents of Surulere, flashing their wealth and their superiority. His office was wide with a lot of space, well rugged underlaid with a soft material to give a comforting atmosphere; the walls of the office were painted in golden colours, which glittered under the influence of the illuminating crystals, which happened to be of the highest quality. The windows, which happen to be wide and lined with translucent crystals, presented the beautiful scenery of the Lagos shelter, exposing the fact that he sees all and knows all. Abacha spared no expense on his office; he had the sofa made from the highest quality Ẹbọra skin, and the flowers were of the best quality that the planet could offer. The books on his bookshelf were of the highest quality. He even managed to procure an original book published by Johannes Gutenberg from the Old World. The goal of lavishing his wealth on his office was to ensure that those who came into this office would be mentally defeated; such radiance would make them believe that he was the one appointed by God to save them. He intended to make them see him as a divine leader; he had them wait outside his office for an hour to boost their anxiety, and then he broke them by the atmosphere of his office and his domineering personality. The bell rang, alerting him that it was time for his guests to arrive; he made a cynical smile and mentally prepared to suppress his new victims.
“You may come in,” He announced.
In walks, Adewale and the commander, Sani Abacha, observed the two intently, seeking out any weakness that he could exploit; after all, they were just rodents for him to step on. “Very good,” He greeted, with a false smile on his face, “come closer!”. He could see the usual look of surrender on the faces of his two latest victims but there was something a little different in the manner of their entry. The one called Adewale had a suppressed scowl on his face and the commander wore a fake smile which masked his uneasiness, ‘he’s hiding something.’ Sani thought with a half smile; the commander still thought that the truth about the Predator-fly queen was still hidden.
The commander was the first to fall to his knees in respectful greetings; Adewale copied his example; however, his response was mechanical. Sani was prompted by this, he could tell that the boy was not impressed by the glory of his office.
“Well, if it isn’t the heroes who saved this shelter,” he said with a smile, “Welcome!”
“Thank you, sir,” The commander said with an anxious smile. “It is an honour to be in your presence.” Adewale simply smiled in response, he was too furious to give the corrupt leader any form of respect.
“Sit down and have a drink,” Sani said with a smile, “You are my guests, so please accept my hospitality.”
The commander accepted the drink with a smile as he sat on the sofa presented, but Adewale simply poured the drink into his cup without taking a single sip. He had no intention of accepting anything this man was willing to offer. Adewale could tell that the major was probing them for weakness and the commander was practically easy pickings for the cunning leader of the Lagos shelter.
“So tell me, commander,” Major Sani began, “Was it you who killed the Predator-fly queen?”
“It was a difficult battle but I managed to kill it,” The commander responded with a chuckle.
Sani smiled, unimpressed by the blatant lie, “Coincidentally, I had some of my people carry out a background check”, he began; he then sat up and gazed directly into the commander's eyes. “Your uniform and armour were both undamaged and unstained by blood and dirt, your crystal-powered rifle was fully charged and not a single shot was fired.” then he moved in closer this time he had a scowl on his face, “You left the battlefield the same way you came, spotless and clean”
Now the commander was sweating uncomfortably; just before they had walked into the office of the major, he had threatened Adewale to harm his family if he did not help him with the lie. The evidence was too bold for him to conceal; he had to admit that he had lied, so much for receiving a big reward. Sani was not done tormenting the poor, ambitious man; it was like a game for him to play with his little pests before he exterminated them.
“Commander,” he smiled, “You’re sweating, don’t tell me that you’re a coward taking credit for someone’s hard work?” the commander was too scared to speak a single word. Then Sani focused on Adewale, the one face he could not read and said, “Tell me the truth, child, did the commander kill the Fly queen?”
“He did,” Adewale responded, the expression on his face was bleak and free of emotion except for the scowl he hid behind his void expression. “The commander took command from the back of the line using the advantage of one of the cardinal locations, It was his quick thinking and combat knowledge that saved us all, as for the fly queen the moment he noticed that we were all in danger he distracted the beast by leading it into the empty building foolishly forgetting his weapon. The weapon he used to kill the beast was the one he had obtained from one of our fallen comrades.”
Both the commander and the major slacked in their response; Sani had expected Adewale to sell out the commander, and the commander had expected Adewale to at least beg for his family. The boy did the incredible; he gave a detailed account of the battle, painting the commander as the hero without assigning any glory to himself.
“I see”, Sani Abacha commented; he nodded his head in acknowledgement, realising that this boy called Adewale was very cunning and very dangerous. “So, I was wrong about you, please accept my apology. I should not have doubted you, your value is far greater than any of the other cockroaches.”
“It is nothing, sir, just doing my best for the progress of the Lagos shelter.” The commander replied regaining most of his confidence.
“As a reward, you will be promoted,” Sani said with a smile on his face. “You will be transferred from the commander of the recruits to the front lines in the expedition squad.”
“What!?” the commander exclaimed truly worried about the direction of the conversation was heading to. 
“Your wages would be increased of course.” Sani continued, pretending not to notice the commander’s worried exclamation. “And your equipment will be upgraded. Congratulations,” he said with a smile, patting the disgruntled commander on the back. As though prompted, the attendant walked into the office. “Allow my attendant to usher you to the office where you will be reassigned to your new strike team; I am proud of you.”
Thus the reluctant commander was taken out of the office, his fate sealed by the lie he told with his mouth. Adewale was unimpressed, he simply walked towards the windows of the office and looked down into the shelter.
“A beautiful sight sir,” Adewale said as he roiled his fingers.
“Indeed,” Sani gloated, “I wanted an office at the pinnacle of the shelter one that gave me an oversight within this shelter. To see the sunrise and the sunset over the people entrusted to me, cockroaches and nobles alike.”
“Noble words,” Adewale said, as he drank in the view. “You can see everything from here”
“I know you have potential, Adewale,” Sani said, ready to press his preposition. “I can have you moved to Olorun-sogo and give you a big house and a lot of other things. You have potential, don’t let it go to waste.”
“I am nothing but an Evo-cap 1 piece of trash, just another cockroach in your sight,” Adewale said mechanically, he had a cynical smile on his face.
“I didn’t call you a cockroach, I was…” Sani suddenly realised that he had walked into a carefully crafted trap forged from the words of a cunning child.
“You did mention that word more than two times referring to those living in the Suru-lere district of the Lagos shelter.” Adewale said, “The mouth always speaks from the abundance of the heart”
“I love all the people of the shelter!” Sani said, trying to salvage the situation.
“The reptile King attacked from that side of the wall,” Adewale continued as he pointed towards the sight of the attack which was going through repairs, “You saw everything,” Then Adewale focused on the major “Why did it take forever for the S-rank to save us”
“They were all busy defending other parts of the shelter”, Sani replied; now he was quite uncomfortable; this boy was far more formidable than he was led to believe. “You said you loved the people of the shelter, but why are the people of Suru-lere suffering?”
“How do you mean? they are happy, I know it.” Sani said still trying to paint himself as a hero.
“Happy?” Adewale mocked, now his eyes seemed distant. He was seeing nothing but the suffering of the people in the Suru-lere section of the shelter. “The price of meat in Suru-lere goes up by the day, whereas on my journey here I found a large pile of meat enough to feed the entire shelter a thousand times over dumped in the landfill beneath the bridge,” Adewale said trembling, “All that food could have saved lives, yet you threw it away,” his voice was trembling.
“Have you ever managed a shelter boy,” Sani said defensively; he was clearly anointed by the boy's boldness in questioning him. “Every decision made has consequences, Rebellions, Revolts, Protests  you don’t know what it is like to be a leader.”
“So being a leader means deliberately letting your people suffer? Deliberately starving them, pushing them to wage unnecessary wars upon each other for your amusement,” Adewale replied with tears in his eyes, “The day of the Reptile king attack, the only thing I could think about was saving the lives of myself and my family. A true leader sacrifices himself before he sacrifices others.”
Sani Abacha exhaled in exhaustion, realising that his outburst was uncalled for. “That is something you would know; I need someone with a leadership talent like yours.  Work for me and I promise you will be rewarded.”
“And you will spare all my friends and the units?” Adewale inquired.
“I only want you; your skills are useful. Your friends are all trash,” Sani said vehemently, “All trash is thrown away, but you are not trash. You are valuable, and the shelter needs you. Will you answer the call?”
“Attah, Ọse, Lekan and a few others, they are all my friends. I can not abandon them for vanity; I did not forsake myself in the old Nigeria, and I will not forsake myself now.” Sani was confused when Adewale mentioned the word Nigeria; the country did not exist during the era of the slave trade.
“Then you will die with them,” Sani replied, “I had high hopes for you.” he continued shaking his head in disappointment. “The next mission for the recruits was an extermination of my design, there’s no use lying to you now”
“Of course not,” Adewale replied, “There are no lies amongst men of intelligence. The Reptile-king incident was also an extermination procedure; all the recruits were low-ranking nobodies.”
“You truly are intelligent, too intelligent to kill and waste and too intelligent to leave alive less you become an enemy.” then he placed a gentle hand on Adewale’s shoulder, “I truly regret ordering your death but it is done in the interest of the shelter. I hope you will forgive me”
Adewale signed and nodded, “Thank you, sir,” his mind was seriously in a jumble. “What the hell did I just say?” he thought; he was so angry with the state of the shelter that he allowed his rage to cloud his judgment.
“Leave!” the major commanded. “I don’t want to ever see you again.”
“As you wish, sir,” Adewale replied and then turned to walk out of the office.
“You are going to regret rejecting my proposal, boy; you will die along with all the pests of that poverty-stricken Suru-lere district.” then he pressed the button that summons his daughter.
“You called father?” Rukayat Abacha greeted. “I did,” he responded. “I want drapes for this office, the view of the shelter is mine and mine alone,” he growled as he spoke the last words. Adewale, that boy saw through his entire ploy. The boy exposed everything and made him look like the emperor standing in the coliseum without his robes. He felt nothing but hostility towards the boy.

**********

Adewale was full of self-condemnation throughout his journey back to the recruitment camp. “Fool!” he shouted, “Why did you challenge him like that?” Then he roughened his hair as though trying to shake off all the dust after a game of football in the desert sand. “Why didn’t I negotiate with him? Why didn’t I even try to intercede for Suru-lere.” then he remembered how he had asked about the Reptile-king’s meat so brazenly. He buried his head in shame hoping that the day would come to an end.
“Had a bad day with the major?” the driver of the crystal-powered van inquired.
“We both had a bad day with him,” Adewale responded as he buried his head in his hands.
“Then I’m rooting for you, boy,” the other responded,  “Everyone knows that that bastard Abacha only cares about himself and his family; everyone else can go to hell.”
“He offered me a place by his side,” Adewale said, “But I refused like a fool, I was just so angry with him for throwing away the meat that could have fed many,”
“He’s done far worse than that,” The driver said,
“What!?” Adewale said, shocked by the response of the driver “What else could he have done?”
“Let’s just put it like this” The driver continued, “Human beings came to Crystallia to escape the Slave traders in our previous world, but slavery was always in the nature of Man”
Adewale nodded his head in agreement, “The rich are always corrupted by their riches and he with absolute power will be corrupted absolutely. I’m glad I rejected his proposal”
The van suddenly came to an abrupt stop; it happened so suddenly that Adewale almost hit his head on the side of the car. “What happened!?” he cried out, knowing that the Lagos shelter was too organised for there to be a traffic jam, except, in the event of a turf war between the local lords of the shelter.
“I believe someone desires our attention,” The driver responded.
Adewale looked through the window of the van to see four armed men fully equipped in combat crystal-powered armour approach the van; the driver politely let down the side window to speak to the armed thugs.
“Which one of you be Adewale?” The thug inquired,
“That would be me,” Adewale responded,
“Goroso wan see you,” The thug continued, “Shea, you go follow?”
“Do I have a choice?” Adewale inquired, but he knew the answer before it came out of the thug's mouth.
“No!”