The last song of the ancestors

Akachi saw his memory as if it were a movie. He was in a large room. There was an armored door with an electronic lock. A new type of guided missile was being projected into the room. A man in a white coat was holding a grenade launcher. He was pointing at the door that was being punched from the outside. He wasn't going to resist.

Behind the man stood Akachi. It was a strange feeling to see himself in that scene. He tried to communicate, without success. Both the Akachi of the memories and his protector couldn't see the other desperate Akachi. The pair retreated to the armored glass wall in the background. They were trapped.

Try as he might, the boy couldn't see the face of the man in the lab coat. The man holding the boy's hand tightly seemed to be a scientist. Although I couldn't identify him, his name tag read 'Chief Scientist Adisa'. The door was knocked down.

The invaders, half a dozen in number, were nothing more than shapeless figures. The young man could only tell them apart by their size and their voices. The one who seemed to be the leader stepped forward. Akachi's protector pointed his gun at him. The man laughed and his body shook. He pointed his big hand at Akachi of the memories and ordered:

"Don't be silly, Adisa. I'm taking Ilu Nla's power. Give up this pathetic resistance. Give us the Spiritual Key of Faith. We'll find a way to save your dear son. If you resist, I'll have to kill you both."

"The Royal Guard will not allow you to rise to power without a fight. Moreover, the Circle of Sages will not give you peace. I've been blind to you all this time, Minister Ojwang. You even used my son Akachi's illness to your advantage. I've been used by you, but I won't give you the Spiritual Key of Faith."

"There are a few mistakes in that sentence of yours, Adisa. Firstly, the Royal Guard has already been decimated by my Phalanx. Secondly, the Circle of Sages, after a brief resistance, has disappeared from our radar, hohohoho! Gahiji is on their trail. They won't get very far with that cyborg on their tail. Finally, you were never used. On the contrary, you manipulated the budget of Ilu Nla's Ministry of Science and Technology. You hid everything behind security protocols and restricted access to the chief scientist only. I turned a blind eye for you and your son, Adisa. You betrayed me for them."

"You talk about betrayal! You're applying a coup d'état to the nation that welcomed you twenty years ago. You've used your expertise in knowledge to gain positions in the government. You've made deals with the aristocrats to diminish the influence of the Circle of Sages…"

"Enough of this small talk! Give the order, My Sovereign Ojwang, and I will take the key by force from that brat."

The shadow behind Ojwang grew larger. His silhouette was even taller than the scammer's. His voice was guttural. His voice was guttural. Its footsteps echoed heavily around the room. Ojwang tapped his broad shoulder and ordered:

"Take it for me, General Jitujeusi. Show me that the members of the Phalanx don't mess around."

There was no time to react. He advanced with astonishing speed. He grabbed Akachi around the waist with one hand. With the other, he tried to pull the key out of the boy's cybernetic exoskeleton. The Spiritual Key of Faith reacted to the attacker and emitted a pulse of Axe that launched everyone into the distance.

The glass wall behind Akachi shattered into a thousand pieces. He was thrown out. His father still tried to grab his hand in the air. However, the teenager was already too far away. In slow motion, he descended the tower to see Adisa with her hands outstretched towards him. An Axé wrap protected him in the air.

As luck would have it, Akachi landed on an airtight solid waste transportation vehicle. The Akachi of memories collapsed. Kneeling on the edge of the glass wall, Adisa stared in dismay at the situation. He turned his gaze to the Akachi beside him and said:

"Son, come home."

Akachi woke up. He realized that he was no longer in the wilderness. He was in the living room of Spin Bomb's house. Covered in sweat, his jacket and shirt had been removed. He put his hand on the Spirit Key. It was still there, connected to his exoskeleton. He looked around; the hostess was sitting in a chair next to him, her chin resting on her knees.

Okafor was dipping a towel into a brass bucket and wiping the sweat from Akachi's forehead. Yasini was standing next to Zuber. His face showed satisfaction at the result, after all, the boy had survived.

Akachi looked around for Fenyang. His Ori Guardian was worried and happy that his medium had woken up. The spirit already knew from the look in the boy's eyes that part of his memories had been recovered.

Don't tell anyone yet. Yasini seems to be playing a dangerous game. He's not doing all this for free, he wants to use us. Zuber seems to be more honest about this. Worst of all, he knows our strengths and weaknesses.

Do you think so? Science and Technology Minister Ojwang staged a coup d'état in Ilu Nla. My father Adisa contributed to this, Fenyang. He developed secret research to use the power of the Spiritual Key to cure me. Cure me of what? Why do I have to wear this cybernetic exoskeleton?

Don't make hasty judgments, Akachi. Never underestimate a father who loves his son.

I know that. He's still alive. I know he is. But he must be trapped somewhere in Ilu Nla. He was the chief scientist under Ojwang's command.

So, it won't be a reunion between father and son, it will be a rescue. Count on me, Akachi. I no longer have a family, but you still have someone to go back to.

Thank you, Fenyang.

Yasini asked how Akachi was feeling. The boy replied that despite the headache, everything was fine. His master said that his Axe flow had normalized and that he could now control it properly. In the morning, they would make a first attempt to incorporate their Axé Guardian.

The medium took a small leap into the air and disappeared. Spin Bomb was startled by Yasini.

"I hate it when he does that, he looks like a haunting. What the fuck!"

"You gave us quite a scare, Akachi. I even though Yasini had done something bad to you. Don't say that anymore. That old man has a very weak heart."

"Sorry, Okafor. Mr. Okafor, who is the current ruler of Ilu Nla?"

"The former Minister of Science and Technology. He came to power in a recent and victorious coup d'état."

"How does someone come to power without anyone resisting?"

"Well, Spin Bomb, I know little about politics. Ojwang knew how to work his political capital well. The ruler was too enchanted by his little technological toys. Ojwang arrived like someone who wanted nothing. He offered high-tech weapons to the Ilu Nla Armed Forces through his megacorporation."

Okafor continued to give his opinion on the subject. According to the old man, the mediums were gradually replaced by autonomous weapons, drones, bipedal tanks, modular armor, etc. A cyber troop grew up as a paramilitary force within the city. They competed for power directly with the mediums.

By the time the Circle of Sages in the service of the king of Ilu Nla came to notice, it was too late. Caught by surprise in the midst of the coup d'état, they had no chance to fight back. The coup plotter had power over the Armed Forces, the support of the hegemonic media and public opinion. The mediums were painted as the enemies of the nation.

The only ones who had opposed Ojwang's rise since his arrival were the Masters of Suspicion. Three elderly mediums who had once been part of the Circle of Sages and who were unhappy with the direction of the nation. They considered the Sages a passive group because of their failed attempts to negotiate political space. They went into self-exile at the falls in the northeast.

Akachi straightened his wrists. He looked at Fenyang, who nodded and turned to Okafor:

"When this is all over in Chrome Hill, let's pay these old men a little visit."