2034

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ZACHARIAH ORJI

7.00pm

Hydra Headquarters.

Lagos, Nigeria.

"Good day Mr Zachariah Orji" I hear a deep voice greet me.

A tall black clergy man stands before me as a yellow bulb above me comes alive with a very low voltage electricity so that I can vaguely make out the characteristics of the room.

I look around me sensing that I am in a dark underground location where I have been taken to after I was kidnapped during the chaos at St Luke's Hospital — a few men in black had appeared from the black cars and covered my nose with a handkerchief dipped in some minty chemical which instantly put me to deep sleep.

Now I open my eyes after many hours to find myself lying on a mat in a dark room with no windows. The smell of rusted iron and cockroaches are pronounced in my auditory areas. However, I observed that I have not been tied or wrapped like kidnappers and serial killers usually do, and the man who stands before me is a reverend father of a catholic church so I exhale deeply in relief.

For these people might not be terrorists.

I gaze at him, trying to make out the contours of his image in the low light. Studying him from head to toe, I can see that he wears small round glasses on his nose and his black raiment has a white holy cross drawing on his chest. His fingers are crossed before him to exude a certain spirituality perculiar with clergy men.

"Where am I?" I ask with a hoarse voice.

"Hydra. Welcome to Hydra Mr Zach Orji."

"What is Hydra?" I ask again.

"Too many questions, too soon." He replies and begins to walk away.

"Follow me." He instructs me.

My bones creak and complain as I try to stand to my feet — a side effect of the drugs that put me to sleep. Nonetheless, a strong curiosity pushes me onto my feet and sends me staggering towards the Reverend Father who makes his way to a door.

The thought of my beautiful Annaliese and Fil worries me. I had a hunch that going to a hospital was a wrong call at that point in time but I doubted my guts as usual. I have always doubted myself in crucial moments since my high school days and I hate myself for that.

I regret taking them to the hospital, it is my fault they are missing.

I feel a hurt in my heart, a sorrow that I cannot explain — like a large part of my essence and existence has been torn away from me.

My beloved father is dead, now Ann and Fil are missing. All on the same day.

What will I say to Ann's father? How do I even explain it to him?

He already despises me as it is so this would only add more salt to the wound especially considering the fact that he had specifically sent a plane to pick Ann up but she would not still leave me behind.

I must find them, I must.

I defy my aching bones to follow the Reverend father, staggering on behind him until the darkness gives way to white light as he opens a door leading me into a large hall.

The hall is completely digitalized with several men seated in front of high power digital monitors, their hands are moving like machines on the keyboards. And at the very center of this hall is a large digital screen which receives input from the rest of the monitors.

They are hackers!

The site is just awesome and an air conditioning system makes the hall cozy and comfortable as well.

"Wow..." I exclaim and the clergy man turns to me so that I can see his face clearly.

He is a fine middle aged man with pink lips against a dark skin. His hair and beards are absent because he is bald and his small round glasses hang on his nose.

"Once again, welcome to Hydra Mr Zach Orji. I am Father Gerald Koby." He extends his for a handshake but I keep it hanging because I do not trust him. He simply clears his throat , swallowing the rejection.

I do not trust anything that is going on around me.

"Where is my wife and my daughter...?" I snare at him.

"We are currently working on that as you can see." He points at all the people around us who are working tirelessly on their various computers.

He sees a puzzled look on my face because I have several questions about this place.

"Yes, you may ask me your questions." He assures me.

My arms are akimbo in righteous displeasure;

"Well first question; what is a clergy man doing in the midst of criminals?"

"No no no, they are not criminals Mr Zach. They are employees. This is a high-tech organization, Hydra, and these people are good people who have been forgiven of their sins and given a second chance to make positive impact in the world with this employment."

I scoff, shaking my head in disbelief. His words sound like that of a crazy fanatic to me.

"... It took me an eternity to bring together the smartest coders of African origin and to set this up."

"Yeah, took a lot of stolen money as well — " I cut in.

"Are you accusing me of something?"

"I don't know, am I?"

He scoffs; "Mr Zach, it might surprise you to know that some clergy men are actually legitimate billionaires ."

"You can sing your praises after you have found my wife and daughter."

He smiles. "I like you."

"I don't like you."

"I see the fire in your eyes young man, but then only knowledge can give you the power you desire."

"I do not desire power Father Koby."

"At least you know my name, we are surely making progress." He smiles again, reveling his gap teeth this time.

"You see Mr Zach Orji, the world is coming to an end as you see it..."

"They said the same thing in 2020 during the COVID pandemic. A man of your status should be dishing out encouraging words in these times and not display pessimism because even this too shall pass."

"No Mr Zach, because unlike the COVID crisis which was an accident, this one is a well planned strategy by the rulers of the world to institute a new world order and carry out effective population control."

"We heard these same things in 2020 Father Koby, all lies."

"Why would I bring you here then? Why would I spend years of my life assembling these people from different parts of the world? And why would I sink billions into Hydra huh? Do I look like a joke to you Mr Zach?"

"You tell me..."

"I am saying that this Virus is the end of world as we see it. A dark age is about to set in as prophesied in the Bible." He faces me squarely and from the look in his eyes I see that he is dead serious.

I feel a fear begin to grow inside my heart. For a clearly man will surely not lie especially if it is related with the holy book. My father taught me to give respect to all spiritualities and prophesies because for some reason he believed in the world beyond. He says all sciences only confirm the old prophesies in the holy books and in the Christian Bible.

If the world is truly ending, then I must find Ann and Fil.

"Oh this has been carefully planned for many years Mr Zachariah. Have you ever heard about the Area 51 ?"

"What is that?"

"The Area 51 is a location on earth where alien sightings have severally been reported. A few years ago, there was a popular news about an asteroid which nearly escaped a collision with earth, remember that?"

My eyes begin to clear up in realization. When I was still in high school this news was all over the place; that an asteroid was on it's way to earth. A tension brewed because of the fact that the last time an asteroid hit earth, it lead to the extinction of many animal species like Dragons and Dinosaurs. My Geography teacher kept emphasizing on this. He seemed to take a special liking to that topic, hence, he made all his students afraid — including me.

However, the news slowly died a natural death and since no asteroid hit earth anyways, everyone debunked it as fake news.

"Yes I remember."

"Good. I want to let you know that the asteroid actually hit earth at Area 51. However, the government of the world sealed that location since the asteroid was marely the size of  a three storey building."

"Many scientific experiments began to occur as scientist began to study the chemical composition of the rock to see if a discovery could be made — one which would improve the world. After a few years of research an incubating virus was discovered, one that could not be destroyed or disposed."

"Many top scientists and researchers were invited and given samples to decipher a solution to this pending doom — to find a way to destroy this inevitable as it was found to be present in large quantity on the asteroid. Non could find a way to combact or contain this virus in area 51, especially when it's incubation period is complete. You know why?"

"Why?"

Father Koby takes a deep breath before he says; "Because it is a radioactive virus..."

My heart jumps into my mouth. If this is what I am thinking than it means there is no way to contain or curb the spread of this virus because unlike infectious diseases that require mediums to be propagated, this virus is neither airborne nor water borne. It does not require any medium to travel or exist, it moves like light through a vacuum, penetrating even into the skin and into water.

"Father Koby, don't scare me please."

"Does it look like I am trying to?" He asks me with a mean face which intensifies my fears.

"Look Zach, you have to get these protesters off the streets because we received Intel that Virus Z has arrived the country. If it is released during this kind of protest then you know what would happen."

"What do you mean by 'released'? Who is releasing it?"

"The new world order Zach. When the international government saw that this incubating virus cannot be contained or destroyed, they began to make plans and form Alliances for the survival of their nations and the human race."

Just then, a tall girl in red trouser and black hoodie walks up to us. On her hoodie is the drawing of the Egyptian flag. She is Caucasian with a black short hair, slender body, and pink lips. Her face is oval and her eyes are light brown and bold.

"Father Koby." She calls with a heavy accent.

"Yes Zainab, what is it?"

Immediately she arrives she sharply runs her eyes from my head to my toes before ignoring me and focusing on father Koby.

"The team has traced it to The Eagle."

"My goodness!" I hear father koby exclaim. It unnerves me.

"What is it?" I ask both of them with my eyes wide in wonder.

Father Koby turns his face to me and sighs in an attempt to calm himself before speaking to me so that I do not get hysterical. He places his two hands on my shoulders so that I face him squarely.

"The American superpowers have your family." He reports to me.

I do not understand what this means but for some reason I am afraid of this report. My face is wrinkled in puzzle as I do not know what to feel in this moment — fear, anger, or regret.

"I need to to calm down okay? We shall surely get them back Zach, but right now we need you to go to the protests and send the people home okay? "

I try to speak but I cannot. I do not even know what to say because I am overwhelmed and father Koby notices. If the American government has my Ann and Fil, then who can fight them?

And why would the U.S.A want my Ann and Fil in the first place?

"Why me?" I finally manage to mutter, wondering why all these troubles revolve around me.

"Because you are the one the Nigerian people know and trust. You are the one who speaks the truth to them. Surely they will believe whatever you tell them, therefore, you must tell them the truth about this virus. Zach, you must save lives..."

Honestly, I barely care about these people at the moment. I am mostly in dilemma because by my missing lover and child.

"Where is my daughter? Why were they taken?"

Father Koby does not seem to have answer to this particular question, his shakes his head in ignorance.

"The Eagle does not come for something worthless. The team is working on finding the answers to this as well..." The young Caucasian teenager replies to my question turning her beautiful face towards me.

"The protests are currently underway this evening and more people are turning up, including celebrities. There is a multitude of people at the Lekki Toll Gate right now, we must make an appearance while the attention is keenest." She adds and father Koby nods in agreement.

"I will tell you about the Eagle and the Schengen Alliance later Mr Zach, but right now the Nigerian people need to hear from you."