Novels by Ayomide Ima

The roar inside my head is so loud that I think my skull is going to crack open.Millions of voices scream, laugh, and cry all at once, pressing against my brain like a heavy weight. The silver plugs behind my ears burn like fire, sending hot pain shooting down my neck and spine. Through the haze of white light blinding my eyes, I see the glass pillar in front of me flare up with a harsh purple glow. The magnetic tapes spin faster and faster, pulling the memories right out of my mind."Increase the voltage," the man in the gray suit commands, his voice sounding far away through the roaring storm inside my head. "The synchronization process is only at fifty percent.""Stop it!" Chidi shouts across the room.I hear the sound of a scuffle, followed by a heavy thud against the floor. I want to look over, but the metal straps lock my neck in place. I cannot move a muscle.Uncle Emeka stands near the edge of the control console, his hands resting on the edge of the metal desk. He watches me

The betrayal hits me harder than any physical blow ever could.I stare at Uncle Emeka as he walks away from our group, his boots clicking softly against the metal floor of the control room. He does not look back at me. He stands next to the man in the clean gray suit, his face completely flat and empty of any warmth."Uncle Emeka..." I say, my voice sounding small and broken in the large, quiet room. "You said you were trying to protect us. You said the Syndicate killed our parents.""They did," Uncle Emeka replies, his voice steady as he looks straight into my eyes. "And they would have killed you too, Kelechi, if you had stayed in the upper blocks. Survival requires choices. I chose to keep the city from tearing itself apart.""By helping them trap us?" Chidi steps forward, his hands clenched so tight his knuckles turn white. He points a shaking finger at his uncle. "We trusted you! I thought you were fighting for our family all these years!""Family is just another word for weaknes

The blue energy blast melts the metal walkway right where I was standing a second before.Sparks fly in all directions as Uncle Emeka pulls me down through the open maintenance hatch. We drop hard onto a concrete floor, tumbling into a narrow, dark tunnel just as the heavy metal door above us slams shut.Bang.The sound of the silver-haired woman's weapon hitting the outside of the hatch echoes through the small space. Dust falls from the ceiling, getting into my eyes and making me cough."Keep moving!" Uncle Emeka says, grabbing my arm and pulling me up to my feet.Chidi and Zainab are already running ahead down the narrow corridor. The only light comes from the small, glowing buttons on the wall panels and the distant red emergency lamps flashing further ahead. My heart is pounding against my ribs, but the heavy ache in my head is gone. Letting go of Adaora's echo changed something inside me. The noise of the city above feels quiet now, like it is far away instead of pressing right

A wall of pure sound blocks our path, vibrating so violently that the metal walkway beneath our boots starts to twist and groan under the pressure.I throw my hands up over my ears, but the noise ignores my fingers, pressing straight into my skull with a weight that makes my knees buckle. I drop down onto the steel grating, gasping for air as dizziness rolls over me. Across the shimmering barrier of sound, Adaora stands motionless on the central platform of the massive machine, her yellow jacket bright against the pulsing purple glow of the glass tubes."Kelechi! Stay down!" Uncle Emeka shouts over the roar.He grabs the back of my jacket, dragging me backward just as a sharp bolt of acoustic energy arcs off the sound wall and burns a black scar straight across the metal grating where I was kneeling a second before.Zainab ducks behind a thick control pillar, her glasses sliding down her nose as she presses her back against the cool steel. She opens her notebook with shaking hands, he

The cold metal barrel presses hard against my ribs.I stop breathing. The air in the clock shop feels heavy, tasting of dust and old copper. My eyes lock onto the man holding the gun. His hair is streaked with gray, and a deep scar cuts across his left cheek. It is Uncle Emeka. Everyone in our family thought he died in the great subway collapse five years ago, the exact same night our parents vanished into thin air."Uncle Emeka?" I manage to say, my voice trembling against the cold steel of the weapon."Quiet, Kelechi," Uncle Emeka says. His eyes dart toward the broken doorway where the Syndicate guards are starting to stand back up. "If those people hear your voice, they will not just take your memories. They will burn this entire junction down to ash.""Let him go!"Chidi steps out from behind the workbench, his face red with fury. He takes a hard step forward, his hands clenched into tight fists. "Are you out of your mind, Emeka? You left us! We spent years thinking you were dead

The front door of the shop shatters into a million pieces, sending flying wood and broken glass raining down all over the room.I throw my hands up to protect my face, dropping to the floor as a cloud of thick, gray smoke rolls through the ruined entryway. The hundreds of clocks on the walls stop ticking all at once, replaced by a harsh, mechanical whine that drills straight into my temples."Get down!" Chidi shouts, lunging across the room to push me behind Baba Tunde’s heavy oak workbench.Zainab is already there, pulling her knees up to her chest and coughing from the dust. Through the haze of smoke, tall figures step past the broken door frame. They wear the dark gray coats and silver reel patches of the Syndicate guards. But they are not carrying standard rods this time. Each guard holds a heavy acoustic rifle that sparks with bright blue electricity."Kelechi Nnamdi," a cold, robotic voice echoes from the doorway.The silver-haired woman we saw earlier steps into the shop. Her f