“That sounds ridiculous.” She laughed. “Besides, I like you as you are.”
“I do have nice hair.”
I ran my fingers through my unruly mop. That made her laugh even harder.
“It’s my parents,” Painted Wolf said. “What I do back home is so dangerous. It puts my family at risk. If the authorities or the people behind the people that I expose ever found out who I really was, I would disappear. My parents would disappear as well.”
“By disappear, you mean…?”
“There would be no public trial, no jail time. We would be whisked away in the middle of the night, shoved into the back of a car, and driven off into oblivion. It has happened before, far too many times. I can’t take the risk. You understand, right? Any image of me that appears outside of my school pictures or family photos could doom me. There are people like you, people looking to find others, who would use the technology like what you created to track me down. I used to think I was paranoid, but…”
“I can’t even imagine,” I said, leaning in.
“And now with my father … It’s only getting worse.…”
This was the first time Painted Wolf had really opened up about her life, about her life outside of the videos and the subterfuge. I was fascinated and wanted to know more. I prayed she wouldn’t clam up.
Instead, she cleared her throat and continued, “It is what it is. I made the choice to live this way, to transform myself. What I do is more important than a social life or anything like that.”
“Heavy. But, you have fun, too, right?”
An uncomfortable laugh escaped her lips. “Yes. Of course I do.”
“Like what?”
“I … I go out with friends. My cousin. We go to movies. Dinner. This…”
“So you’re having fun here?”
“Yeah,” she said. “Despite the insanity. Aren’t you?”
“The time of my life.”
I wasn’t lying. Despite my exhaustion headache and the craziness of the preceding days, I felt better, happier, than I’d felt in years. Part of that was Tunde; it was hard not to be happy around him. But mostly, it was Painted Wolf.
I reached across the table and touched her hand.
It was instinctual. Felt natural. Felt needed.
And as I did, a warm shiver ran up my arm to my scalp.
“I think what you do is amazing and unbelievably important,” I said, the words slipping out before I could even think about them. “More important than anything Kiran’s stupid prodigy squad will ever do. You’re incredible. I think you should know that. And I think you should know that the time we’ve spent together, here, has meant a lot. You’ve given me something that I never really expected to find.”
“What’s that?” she asked.
“Hope.”
I couldn’t help but lean in toward her, pulled closer and closer by some strange gravity. Even though she was wearing sunglasses, as I got closer, I could see she’d closed her eyes. I could feel the warmth of her skin and hear her breathing.
“What’s taking so long?”
It was Rosa. She ran up to the table. “Guys,” she said, “we’ve been waiting so long. I’m starving and we only have like six more hours.”
“Six hours is a long time,” I groaned. “Besides, we’re good.”
Ambrose walked up to the table. “Sorry. She’s been going a little crazy.”
“Hang on, were you two about to kiss?” Rosa asked.
Painted Wolf and I both shook our heads.
“Aw, really?” Rosa groaned. “That would have been so awesome!”
PART FOUR
ZERO HOUR
26. TUNDE
08 MINUTES UNTIL ZERO HOUR
It was here.
The moment was finally upon us. I walked with Team Mitra into the hallway outside the safe room with a feeling of great weight upon my shoulders.
It was as though I held a calf about my neck.
While I was confident of my team and I was confident of Efiko, I also felt I do skelewu myself. Troubles had been eating away at my stomach the whole night before. Rex, Kiran, General Iyabo, my family, Akika Village: All of them were depending on me to be successful.
There was simply no other option.
Still, I am not Tunde Oni if I am not optimistic!
And that day, it took only seeing Rex and Painted Wolf at the starting line to rekindle the hope in me. I was not certain that we would succeed, but when Rex waved to me, I did know that our friendship would survive even the most tumultuous trials and tribulations.
Life is a magnificent and incredible journey. One filled with endless challenges. It is a trek across the Arctic! A quest through the Sahara! An interstellar journey! It is true, as Eldon said, that the journey is the destination.
Halil and I rolled Efiko into the hallway, and the appearance of the machine gave the small crowd that had gathered a great surprise. This crowd of a few professors, a few reporters, and a few select members of OndScan was absolutely delighted by the machine.
It was an articulated bot with a single, highly maneuverable arm. I had liberated it: I gave it a brain. Norbert and I programmed Efiko using a refurbished “teach pendant” we acquired from a visit to the engineering lab. Efiko could open a door and pick a safe with merely a few keystrokes!
What a beautiful thing!
We had painted it the brilliant sea-green color of the Nigerian flag.
Efiko was go!
I took a moment to glance over at what Team Pushan had created and was momentarily taken aback. Ambrose held a new insect, a millipede like those I have seen at home, and this “Charlie 2” was quite impressive. I looked forward to seeing him in action.
Kenny and Team Indra arrived last.
They came in as loud and rambunctious as I imagine Kenny was at all times at home. Ezra was bellowing, Leleti jumping around, and Fiona spinning about. The machine they had created was a spinning gyro of metal and fury. I have seen honey badgers that appeared less threatening than this monster.
Kenny called his creation DESTROYER and this was painted in capital letters on the side of the machine. Looking it over, I guessed it had started life as a bomb disposal robot. Now it was modified with many spinning blades and many claws. Kenny did not plan to break into the safe but to break into Efiko and the other machines!
Dis boy bad gan!
A schematic of DESTROYER
With all the teams assembled in the hallway before the safe room, Kiran arrived in a suit and blocked the door. Edith stood beside him and eyed her tablet computer until Kiran gave her a signal. She motioned to everyone and made a shushing sound. No one was talking at the time, however, so the effort appeared a bit silly. Regardless, Kiran straightened his tie before he began his introduction to the final stage of the Game.
“Welcome, contestants!” Kiran shouted. “There are three teams gathered before me, twelve of the brightest and best minds in the world. We will see in just a few moments how you have put that brilliance to work. As you know, you are not allowed to enter the room itself. Your machine must do that for you. When I sound the buzzer, there are no holds barred. Your machine can do whatever it takes to gain access to the laptop. From there, your software has free rein.”
Kiran added, “I wish you all luck and may the best team win!”
With that final proclamation, the buzzer was pressed.
Halil gave a cheer of “woo-hoo!”
Kenny screamed with a wild joy that was frankly frightening.
Then, the door to the room was opened.
26.1
What followed was best described as a death match.
Those machines make like dey wan throw blows at each other!
DESTROYER crashed forward as soon as Kiran stepped aside, and nearly took the door off. Certainly it scraped long slivers of wood from the frame. What a disastrous piece of machinery. Surely Kenny should be designing machines for General Iyabo, not me!
We had Efiko follow D
ESTROYER into the room and I was delighted to see that Efiko was much faster than the war machine that Kenny had created. Efiko maneuvered right around this fierce opponent and was first to reach the safe!
“We have an intruder,” Anj said, pointing to Efiko.
“An intruder? What do you mean?” I asked.
Ah, but imagine my surprise to see that Efiko had a stowaway!
Secreted on one of the stanchions supporting the arm of our beloved Efiko was Charlie 2 from Team Pushan! With Rosa at the controls, the creature must have scrambled up onto our robot while Kiran was speaking. Clever.
As Efiko had reached the safe, it was now time for me to hand the controls over to Anj. She was thrilled to take them and smiled the whole time. She was our expert at picking the lock on the safe.
“It’s like cellular metabolism,” Anj said as she worked the controls. “A lock can be picked with different tools. Either you have the key or you have an agonist, something that will act like a key.”
Anj had Efiko pick up a pin that we had magnetically attached to its side. She then had Efiko use the pin to pick the lock to the Plexiglas safe with an assuredness that was surprising. As Anj worked, fully absorbed in maneuvering the machine, I found my eyes wandering. She had her hair in braids and wore a nicely patterned dress. I must say that I noticed how it moved on her. But the light in her eyes I noticed much more.
As soon as Efiko got the safe open, there was a cheer from the crowd.
I assumed it was because we had breached the obstacle, but it was more for the fact that DESTROYER came charging in behind us and cut a tread from the back of Efiko! Leleti, the South African with long braids, gave a battle cry and high-fived Kenny.
Efiko was damaged and unable to move!
Halil seemed the most affected. He almost crumbled into tears.
With Leleti at the controls, DESTROYER reached the laptop and steadied its USB, ready to plug it in and begin hacking the system. But Team Indra had not anticipated the swiftness with which Charlie 2 could travel and the depth of the hatred Rosa had for Kenny. The insect scrambled down from atop Efiko and crawled in front of the USB port that DESTROYER was attempting to angle into, effectively blocking the advance of Kenny and Team Indra.
This was met with much celebration from those assembled.
Anj handed me the controls and then, very firmly, said, “I know you can do this, Tunde. You can win this. You can win this for all of us!”
As DESTROYER and Charlie 2 fought, I glanced over at Rex, my eyes wild with emotion. He nodded to me very calmly and mouthed these words:
You. Can. Do. It.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes and focused. The sound of the crowd soon vanished and when I opened my eyes I was as clearly focused as I had ever been in my entire life. It was as though I was atop the Okeke Solar Power Tower, gazing off into the distance, in total peace.
Then, I did the impossible.
I was able to move Efiko! Halil clapped wildly as our beautiful machine pulled itself forward with its arm as though it was a runner who had fallen during a race, reaching for the finish line. Efiko had only to move three inches, but it took such a long time that I worried I would destroy its servos.
Locked in a fierce battle, Charlie 2 was blocking every move that DESTROYER made toward the USB ports on the laptop. Several times Kenny jumped up, ready to break the rules and stomp on Charlie 2 himself, but he was held at bay by stern glances from Kiran. Luckily, Efiko was able to struggle past this scene of machine versus insect chaos. Fiona, the girl with bright green hair, noticed our progress and screamed at Kenny and Leleti to do something.
“Anything!” she shouted.
In the most agonizing minute of my life, I guided Efiko and its arm, with the built-in USB extended, toward the slot on the side of the laptop. In my mind I heard my people cheering me on and saw the faces of my parents. In my heart I felt the strength that had been waiting to explode since the day I had arrived.
With a final flick of keys on the teach pendant, Efiko inserted the USB.
Once the USB was introduced, the screens beside the safe flashed to life and a computer program began to run. This first portion of the program on the USB was designed to function automatically. It took only seconds to spring into action.
Rex and his team were so close!
At the controls, Rosa fought as best she could, but DESTROYER flipped Charlie 2 onto his back (the tech on him was heavy) and was able to insert the USB. Defeated, Rosa handed the controls back to Ambrose.
Regardless, Kenny and Team Indra were inside as well!
27. CAI
We were caught in the eye of a cyclone.
There’s a common misperception that the eye of a cyclone is calm, serene even. This is true if you’re inside a building or a house and the howling winds appear to have stopped and a glance out the window shows only open sky.
But if you’re outside, in the midst of it, you can see a raging wall of chaos, the violence of these subcritical vortices, all around you.
It is like being at the very center of explosive creation.
That is what it felt like in the room that day.
We were, in many more ways than one, at the center of everything.
Team Mitra and Team Indra had just gotten their USBs activated, and while it took Ambrose a few moments to finally flip Charlie 2 back over, we eventually joined the others at the laptop. With a few quick motions, Charlie 2 was able to insert the USB. Honestly, the insect looked exhausted.
Well, as exhausted as an insect can look.
We watched the monitors on either side of the safe to see the progress.
Rex was running the hacking programs from his cell.
“The programs are working on the firewalls,” he explained. “They’re tough.”
“And who’s ahead?” I asked, staring at the quickly flashing screens.
“Tunde is,” Rex answered. “Norbert’s an excellent coder. Kenny’s team is getting in with brute force, just smashing away. Norbert, however, is playing smart. His program is all about subtlety. Why bust down the door when you can climb in the window? Hey, there’s something I need you to see.”
Rex held his cell phone up. A new program had been opened, and in the second window was the WALKABOUT loading bar. It showed the program’s progress on the quantum computer just over our heads.
It was at ninety-five percent.
I lit up. “So close,” I whispered.
“Look!” Rosa interrupted, suddenly panicked.
Rex and I both turned toward the screen to see Kenny had unexpectedly taken the lead in a matter of seconds. He was far outpacing us and quickly getting even farther ahead of Team Mitra. I looked across the room at Tunde and Norbert. Tunde looked very concerned and Norbert was sweating heavily.
Rosa snatched Ambrose’s cell and pushed it into my hands.
“Kenny’s winning!” she screamed. “Do something!”
Ambrose shook his head. “Way too risky…”
“Painted Wolf can do it,” Rosa said. “She can think strategically better than both of us combined.” I closed my eyes and let my mind play out all the possible moves. There had to be a way to either boost Tunde or slow Kenny. The solution came to me in a blast of bright light, but it would mean sacrificing our progress.
“I have an idea,” I said, opening my eyes. “But it means disengaging.”
Rosa grimaced. “Isn’t that risky?”
“Just do it,” Rex said. “The program’s mostly automatic.”
“What if there’s a problem?” Rosa asked. “A hiccup?”
“Like I said,” Rex clarified. “Mostly.”
I looked to Ambrose. “It means possibly falling even farther behind.”
He nodded, and then I did something radical.
With a slide of a finger across the cell phone screen, I released the USB stick from the front of Charlie 2’s carapace.
Charlie 2 was now free to maneuver.
I glanced
up briefly to see Kenny’s eyes widening. He knew what was going to happen. He started shaking his head. “Oh no!” he shouted to Leleti. “Oh no!”
Rosa clapped with joy. “Get him!”
I moved Charlie 2 over to the port where DESTROYER had its USB. Leleti had DESTROYER whir back to life, its metal blades spinning furiously, but they could not reach the small, more mobile insect at its wheels. Ezra appeared ready to run onto the floor and physically stop Charlie 2, but he held himself in check. Barely.
I carefully positioned Charlie 2 so his pincers were set against Team Indra’s USB and then I started moving Charlie 2 back and forth. Millipedes, I had learned from Ambrose, are capable of lifting more than eight hundred times their own weight. Getting the USB loose was no problem.
When it fell out and clattered to the floor seconds later, I wanted to kiss that insect. Team Indra’s program went down, part of the screen to the left of the safe flickered before going blank.
Kenny screamed as though he’d been stuck with a hot poker and ripped the controls from Leleti.
“I have to do everything myself,” he spat.
As I handed the cell back to Ambrose, I noticed Kiran eyeing me.
He nodded slowly, very impressed.
With Team Indra out of the way, Rex’s program surged ahead.
“We’ve got a problem,” I whispered to Rex.
“I know,” he said, eyes on the monitors. “I’ve got it under control.”
Rex surreptitiously slowed his program’s progress and Team Mitra soon took the lead. While Tunde was overjoyed, Rosa and Ambrose looked like they might faint. Rosa was shaking with anticipation, the fingers of her left hand digging into her palm. Ambrose was sweating profusely, and he tightened and untightened his jaw in a rhythmic motion. Both had their eyes locked on the screens overhead.
While they were distracted, Rex handed me his cell.
“It’ll run automatically,” he said. “Just make it look like you’re controlling it.”
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