POV: Kunle, Dele, Zainab
Peacehaven Cultivation Center looked like a hospital.
White walls. Glass doors. Smiling Pandora's logo.
It was a prison.
"Thermal scans show 200 guards, 30 mechs, and 1 God-Machine prototype in the basement," Zainab said. Gold light traced over the blueprint in the air. "And one cell. B3. That's her."
Kunle flexed his new arm. Still red-hot from the forge. "How do we get in?"
Dele grinned, lightning in his teeth. "We don't sneak.
In the face of absolute power all other plots will be rendered invalid,he had a narcissist grin on his face and i wanted to punch him so bad
The gates opened automatically for Pandora's vehicles.
So we disguised as one
Kunle ripped a wrecked Pandora's truck from the scrapyard 2km away and forged it Added armor. Added guns. Made it look official.
Zainab made an illusion over it: Pandora's emblem, ID codes, prisoner transports.
We drove straight through.
"State your business," the guard at the gate said.
Zainab leaned out the window. Her eyes flashed gold.
"Priority delivery. Subject 03's bloodwork. Director's orders."
The guard blinked. "C-cleared."
The gate opened.
We were 10 meters in before alarms screamed.
"She felt us," Dele said. "She's awake."
*FLOOR 1: THE MECHS.
20 Iron-Wraiths dropped from the ceiling.
"Scatter!" Kunle shouted.
He didn't fight them. He unmade them.
His gauntlet slammed down. Every bolt, every plate in the mechs remembered they used to be scrap. They fell apart mid-step.
Dele didn't wait. He went up.
Lightning from his hands blew out the cameras, the lights, the PA system.
"Power's out! Now they can't see!"
Zainab walked through the dark. Where she stepped, guards dropped. Not dead. Sleeping. Gold rivers in their minds showing them their homes, their kids. Making them choose to run.
"Stairs to B3 are locked," she said. "But the vents aren't.
The hallway was too quiet.
"Blood," Kunle said. He knelt. Touched it. Metal shavings in it. "Not human."
The floor dropped out.
We fell into a testing chamber. White. Sterile.
And waiting: Aletheia-0. 5 meters tall. One face. Iron.
"Subjects 01, 02, 04,"dentified it said in a flat voice.extermination protocol activated
Oh hell no,Dele said, and threw Oshogbo.
The axe hit. Lightning ran through it. The machine didn't fall. It adapted Its skin turned to rubber. Conductivity: zero.
"It learns," Zainab whispered. "It's copying us."
Kunle looked at his arm. At the scrap on the floor.
Then we change faster.
He grabbed a piece of rebar. Melted it. Not into a weapon. Into dust.
He threw the dust into the air.
"Dele. Now."
Dele understood. He didn't strike the machine. He struck the dust.
The entire room became a lightning storm inside a metal cloud.
Aletheia-0 seized. Overloaded.
Zainab was already at the door. Gold light picked the lock.
"That bought us 2 minutes."
B3: THE CELL
Cold. White. Cameras everywhere.
And there she was.
Iyanu Balogun. Chained to the wall. Àṣẹ-suppressant cuffs. Needle in her arm.
Eyes closed. Breathing, but barely.
"She's drugged," Zainab said, already moving. Gold light went into Iyanu's veins, fighting the chemicals.
"Get the cuffs," Kunle said.
He touched them. UNMAKE
The ice-cold metal cracked. Fell off.
Iyanu's eyes opened. Grey. Storm-grey.
For a second, no one spoke.
Then the ceiling exploded.
Dust. Light. And through it:
Director Kolawole's assistant. White suit. Smiling.
"Thank you for delivering them," she said. "I was getting tired of waiting."
Behind her: 30 guards. 10 mechs. And the floor opening.
Something was rising. 10 meters. 4 faces.
"Meet Aletheia-1," she said. "Your gods. Rebuilt. Obedient."
Iyanu stood. Shaky. But standing.
She looked at Kunle. At Dele. At Zainab.
Then she looked at the machine.
The wind picked up. Just a little.
"They're not gods and wil never be," Iyanu said. Voice hoarse. "They're echoes."
She held out her hand.
To Kunle. To Dele. To Zainab.
"Let's show them what the real ones look like."
The 4 of us stepped forward together.
Alarms screamed. The God-Machine charged.