đ Kudi River Foundation HQâYaba
đ 9:00 AM | Three Months After Geneva
The new headquarters hummed with the energy of a revolution that had outgrown its origins. What began in a dusty Surulere shop now occupied three floors of a refurbished tech incubator in Yaba. Screens covered entire walls, displaying real-time data streams from Lagos to Jakarta.
Maka stood before the main dashboard, her quartz bracelet warm against her wrist. ACTIVE USERS: 25,683,491. The numbers made her breath catch.
"Growth in Southeast Asia is accelerating," Bayo said, brushing her shoulder as he pointed to clusters of light blooming across Vietnam and Indonesia. The casual contact sent a warmth through herâdifferent from the bracelet's warning glow, but just as real. "They're adapting the protocol for micro-manufacturing co-ops."
Layo grinned from her design station, mentoring two young artists from Makoko. "The visual language is evolving too. The Kenyan team added Maasai patterns to their interface."
For one perfect moment, everything felt stable. Then the first alert flashed red:
TRUST ANOMALY DETECTEDâLAGOS NODE
Maka's fingers flew across the keyboard. "What's happening?"
"It's Aunty Bisi's group," Ifeoma called from the monitoring station. "Their transaction history shows... chargebacks? That's impossible with our architecture."
The second alert came from Nairobi. Then Accra. Then Jakarta.
FALSE TRANSACTION PATTERNSâMULTIPLE NODES
The trust metricsâthe delicate ecosystem of confidence that made the system workâbegan plummeting.
"What the hell is this?" Bayo leaned in, face grim.
Maka traced the digital fingerprints. "It's not an attack on the code. It's an attack on trust. They're creating the illusion of fraud where none exists."
Layo's phone buzzed. She answered, face paling. "Aunty Bisi... slow down... Mama... what?"
She looked up, horror in her eyes. "The market women are fighting. They think someone stole two million naira from their shared fund. They're accusing each other."
Maka's bracelet turned ice-cold. She remembered Chioma's warning in Geneva: "The river has many tributaries."
"They're not breaking the dam anymore," Maka whispered. "They're poisoning the water."
---
đ Sura MarketâLagos Island
đ 12:30 PM
The market smelled of tension and spoiled produce. Anger replaced the usual commerce chaos.
"I saw you with new shoes yesterday!" one woman shouted. "Two million naira doesn't just disappear!"
Aunty Bisi stood between them, her usual authority weakened by confusion. "The app says the money is gone! The system we trusted has turned against us!"
Maka pushed through the crowd. "Aunty Bisi, it's not real. Someone is creating fake transactions to make you doubt each other."
"But the moneyâ"
"Still in your account," Maka showed the real ledger. "What you're seeing is a lie designed to break trust."
The market women crowded closer, relief mixed with suspicion. But their eyes held the aftertaste of fearâtrust cracked never fully heals. The seed of doubt had been planted.
Bayo's hand found the small of Maka's back, steadying her. "This is different from anything my father or Chioma tried. This is psychological warfare."
Layo pointed at a graffiti tag on a nearby wallâa single silver phoenix feather. "They're signing their work."
---
đ Foundation HQâWar Room
đ 3:00 PM
The team gathered. Ifeoma's red-rimmed eyes betrayed sleepless nights tracking the attack patterns.
"It's called a 'trust bomb,'" she explained. "Sophisticated AI generates fake transaction records that look real but don't move funds. The system is fine, but user confidence collapses. If the trust metric drops below 40%, the DAN would cannibalize itselfâusers leaving faster than new ones join."
Maka studied the code. "Elegant. Terrible, but elegant."
"Not Chioma's style," Bayo said. "Too artistic for her corporate mindset."
The door opened. A man in his late twenties stepped inâsimple jeans, expensive posture.
"Chinedu," Bayo introduced. "Former Phoenix Group lead architect."
He caught Maka's wary look. "He reached out through my mother's foundation. She vouches for himâhe left after refusing to work on manipulative systems."
Chinedu's eyes scanned the attack. "This is Kamsi's work. Chioma's younger sister. She briefly worked under Alimotu before the fallout and had access to early prototypes. Where Alimotu builds up, Kamsi breaks down. She believes decentralized systems fail because humans are fundamentally untrustworthyâshe wants to burn the DAN to prove her point. This isn't just an attackâit's a philosophical statement."
Layo was already at her station, designing explainer graphics. Some wounds don't fully close, but Layo refused to bleed today. "If we can't stop the lies, we can arm people with the truth."
---
đ CBN HeadquartersâMarina
đ 5:00 PM
Funke Okafor regarded them across a table that cost more than Maka's street. "Your 'revolution' is becoming a regulatory nightmare. False transactions eroded trust. Exactly what we warned about with unregulated systems."
Bayo leaned forward. "This is targeted, not a system failure."
"From where I sit, distinction is academic when small businesses freeze operations and families can't access savings." Funke slid a document across. "The CBN offers protection: official recognition, sandboxing, and funding. In return, integrate oversight protocols."
Maka read it. "You want a backdoor. The same oversight Geneva tried to impose, now wearing Nigerian colors."
"Stability requires visibility," Funke said. "Every financial system has required oversight. Admirable idealism, but real people are hurt."
Bayo looked troubled. "How do we protect people without control?"
Maka's bracelet warmed. Warning. "The moment we build a backdoor, we become what we fought."
---
đ Makoko Floating Community
đ˘ 7:30 PM
The journey from Marina to Makoko felt like crossing worlds. Glittering towers faded to floating homes, both equally Nigerian.
David, seventeen, met them at the digital center. "This looks like 'ghost sale' scams, weaponized. Professional grade. Neighborhood tricks made global."
He built a monitoring system from repurposed phones. "The attack bounces through hundreds of hijacked nodes. Impossible to trace."
Layo studied it. "Built from scraps?"
David shrugged. "When you grow up here, you learn to make something from nothing."
Maka saw the same fierce intelligence that had lived in Alimotu's journals. The next generation was ready.
---
đ Bayo's ApartmentâIkoyi
đ 9:00 PM
"My father called," Bayo said, pouring wine. His fingers lingered on hers.
Maka took the glass. "After everything?"
"He says Kamsi approached him. Wanted him in her 'cleansing fire.'" Bayo shook his head. "He's positioning himself as the moderate choiceâwaiting for us to fail so he can sweep in as the reasonable alternative. He's not protecting us; he's protecting what's left of his legacy."
He traced circles on her wrist. "I'm afraid we're becoming what we fought."
The moment hung until Bayo's emergency phone buzzed. Layo's name flashed: They hit the foundation. Made it look like we stole the money.
---
đ Foundation HQâEmergency Session
đ 11:00 PM
Screens showed the damage. Fake transaction records painted Maka, Bayo, and Layo as embezzlers. #KudiRiverScam trended nationwide.
"If we can't prove this is fake..." Layo trailed off.
Bayo squeezed Maka's hand. "We go from revolutionaries to criminals overnight."
Chinedu worked with David. "The attack uses fragments of Alimotu's code. How?"
David's eyes widened. "She left a trapdoor only family could know."
Maka whispered, "JAGABAN_ALPHAâcure and disease in the same DNA. Not a flaw, but a test. Kamsi found the key."
---
đ RooftopâFoundation HQ
đ 12:00 AM
The city sprawled below, lights hiding secrets.
"Three enemies," Bayo counted, pulling Maka close: "Kamsi poisoning our reputation, CBN 'saving' us, and my father playing his own game."
Layo's voice was steady. "Community teams are countering with real transaction graphics."
Ifeoma added, "Small business loans freezing... student groups dissolving... partners nervous."
Maka's bracelet warmedânot warning, but comfort.
"We built a system that trusts people," she said.
Bayo's phone buzzed. "Kamsi calls it 'The Cleansing.' Burning the forest for new growth."
Layo pointed to falling numbers. "She's winning."
Maka smiled, fingers intertwined with Bayo's. "Every magic trick loses power once you understand the method. Get the team ready. We're not on defense. If she poisons the water, the river fights back."
FINAL LINE: The current was turning, and for the first time, the poison would taste its own medicine. The river would answer at dawn.