Blood on the Marina

The Man in White

The white coat caught the harsh light of the elevator shaft, bright and clean against the dark metal walls.

The man holding the silver remote did not look like a monster. He looked like a doctor from a local Lagos clinic, neat and calm, with short hair and thin wire glasses resting on his nose. But the smile on his face was entirely cold.

"You look confused, Kelechi," the man said, his voice echoing off the concrete walls. "Did you really think you could walk out of the facility just because you broke a glass wall?"

I gripped my hands into fists. The black ink beneath my skin began to pulse again, reacting to the heavy anger rising in my chest.

"Who are you?" I demanded, taking a step forward. "Where is Yetunde?"

"My name is Doctor Alade," the man replied smoothly, tapping a button on the silver remote in his hand. "And as for your little friend... well, she is already upstairs. She finished her job the moment she handed you over to us."

The words hit me like a physical blow.

She finished her job.

Images of Yetunde flashing blue lights through her glasses, helping me pay my rent, warning me about the database files, it all rushed through my mind in a sharp, painful wave. Was any of it real? Or was she just a guard watching over her cage?

"You are lying," I said, my voice shaking.

"Ask her yourself," Doctor Alade said.

He lifted his hand and pressed a large red button on the wall beside him. A speaker crackled overhead, and a moment later, a familiar voice filled the elevator shaft.

"Kelechi? Are you listening?"

It was Yetunde. Her voice sounded clear, without any static or fear.

"Yetunde!" I shouted toward the speaker. "Where are you? Are they hurting you?"

"No one is hurting me, Kelechi," she replied, her tone completely calm, completely flat. Gone was the warmth I had known for years. "I am sorry I had to lie to you. But the Council needed to test the vessel's sync rate. You were never just a cleaner. You were the project."

The silence that followed was heavier than any physical weight. My chest felt hollow, as if someone had reached inside and pulled out a piece of my heart. All this time, I thought we were a team against the world. But I was just the experiment, and she was the scientist watching the test.

"You lied to me," I whispered, the words tasting like ash in my mouth.

"It was my job," Yetunde said through the speaker before the line clicked shut.

Rage flared up, burning away every bit of pain and replacing it with a cold, sharp focus. I did not want to hide anymore. I did not care about their rules, their council, or their experiments.

Tari stepped up beside me, his black blade resting casually in his hand. He looked sideways at me, a dark smirk on his face. "First time betrayal hurts, does it? Welcome to our world."

Amina did not look at me at all. Her eyes were fixed entirely on Doctor Alade, her glowing spear held tight in her grip.

"Do not waste your breath on him, Kelechi," Amina said, her voice like ice. "Alade is just a middle manager. He follows orders from the upper board. If you want payback, you take it from the people who actually built the cage."

Doctor Alade laughed softly, adjusting his glasses. "You think you have a choice, Amina? You think your little rebellion can stop what is coming to Lagos tonight? The vessel is active. The extraction is ready."

He pressed another button on his remote.

Behind Doctor Alade, the massive steel doors of the upper elevator shaft did not open. Instead, the walls on both sides of the corridor split apart with a loud groan of gears. Heavy iron bars slammed down from the ceiling, blocking our way back and trapping us in the open shaft.

At the same time, the floor beneath Doctor Alade's feet slid away, and he stepped backward into a hidden control room behind the glass, leaving us standing alone on the metal platform.

"Have fun in the test chamber," Doctor Alade's voice echoed through the speakers as the lights overhead flickered and turned a deep, warning red.

The sound of heavy machinery filled the air. From the dark walls surrounding the platform, dozens of metal panels slid open, revealing long, black weapon barrels pointed straight at us.

"Trap!" Tari shouted, spinning his black blade in a fast circle.

Before we could move, the automated turrets opened fire, sending a blinding storm of blue energy bolts straight toward the platform.

Amina moved like lightning, swinging her glowing spear in a wide arc to deflect the incoming fire, but the sheer volume of the attack pushed us back toward the edge of the drop.

"Kelechi!" Amina yelled over the roaring sound of the weapons. "The ink! Let it out! If we do not break through that back wall right now, we are going to be vaporized!"

I looked down at my hands. The black blood was boiling under my skin, hot and violent, screaming to be released. I did not think about Yetunde anymore. I did not think about the lies or the fake life in Lagos.

I clenched my fists, closed my eyes, and let the darkness take over.

A shockwave of pure energy burst from my body, shattering the metal platform beneath our feet and sending a deafening roar echoing through the entire underground facility.