Ex Vivo (#2 EX TRILOGY)

Chapter 30

Poku's voice continued, "All right. Now listen. Put your hand down my throat and find the item hidden there. You will need it. Do it now before I tell you what to do next."

Akoma took a deep breath and crawled closer to the head. She slowly pulled the lips apart and pushed down the jaw to open the mouth, and then she inserted her hand slowly into it. It felt awkward, and so she shut her eyes and tried not to vomit. As she moved her fingers about inside the throat, she touched something hard that felt like plastic and started to pull it out slowly to reveal a small black object that looked like a cartridge with the Ex Vivo symbol on it. She wiped saliva off the surface with her shirt and peered at it closely. It looked like a storage device, but it was larger than an SD card reader. Instantly, the sound of beeping set off from the head and Akoma turned to look at it quickly. The amber glow suddenly changed to red. Akoma did not need to be told that something had gone wrong. Obviously, someone did not want that cartridge removed.

"What is this?" Akoma asked without taking her eyes off Poku's eyes. "What did I do wrong?"

"Felix knows," Poku's voice whispered. "Felix knows. He will come for you. Leave. Now! He will come looking for you. They are already on their way."

"Who?"

"Any Boo or Bae that's within your vicinity. Allow me to finish delivering my message before I – ". The voice started to trail off, and Akoma felt she had made a mistake by asking unnecessary questions to interrupt the message. The beeping was now growing louder and the rhythm was increasing its pace. Akoma started to tremble and looked around her, wondering what form the self-destruct would take. "There is only one person who can help you open the information on that storage device. Information about his whereabouts is hidden at a location only you can find because it is more relevant to you, and I made sure it would be that way. It's got something to do with your mother."

"Mama? Where is it? Who is this person?"

"You will find out if you do as I say. First of all, go back to Kumasi."

Akoma shook her head angrily. "No, I will not!"

"Akoma! Don't be silly! Trust me!"

"No! I trusted you and I lost you in the end, and now – I don't know if you are deceiving me or telling me what I need to hear. Are you sure Felix is not using your voice to lead me into his trap?"

"He doesn't need you anymore because you are not a threat to him yet. The only thing that stood in his way is now on his side. You will be his problem only if you use the information I have given you properly."

"So you are setting me up to get killed by him?"

"Ugh! No! I have always wanted to end Ex Vivo. Allowing him to turn me into a cyborg was a sacrifice we had to make in order to give the mandate to destroy the syndicate to the right person. I don't only love you. I believe in you. You can end it all. You can save many lives."

"Ei! What is all this? And who is 'we'? You and who? Look - all I wanted was peace. I am free from Ender's mind spell now. What else? Why are you - ?"

The beeping began to increase in tempo so rapidly that it almost sounded like a sustained sound instead of a rhythmic one. The lights in the eyes started to flash, and smoke puffed out of its ears. Akoma caught the scent of burning copper and rose to her feet. Instantly, someone knocked at the door and Akoma's heart jolted.

"I can't – no – he's – he's – ", Poku's voice got worse. Akoma noticed that the rest of the skin that was intact was now beginning to blacken too, and that was all Akoma needed to confirm what kind of self-destruct she was expecting. She rushed to the door, unlocked it and seized the collar of whoever it was without looking at the person. She dragged the person away from the door and pushed them away before running down the hallway towards the fire exit. There was a loud explosion behind her that shook the ground beneath, making her stumble. She picked herself up and glanced behind her to see fire and smoke emitting from the door of the room she had occupied moments earlier. She heard the sound of screaming from the other room users as she broke through the fire exit to leave the guesthouse. She stopped running when she got to the street outside the gate to bend over and catch her breath. She finally straightened up after a minute and hid the storage device safely inside her bras, but as she turned to leave, she bumped into someone and fell backwards. She sat up quickly and looked up to see a tall man dressed in security uniform staring down at her with an unfriendly look in his eyes. She gasped and crawled backwards, looking around her in search of something on the ground to defend herself. The guard closed in on her and cracked his knuckles as he clenched a fist.