Page 119 of Death of the Author

Everyone was still cheering. Already some of the RoBoats had begun to head back. We hadn’t wiped out the entire Ghost tribe, or even come close to what they’d done to us, but finally, we’d dealt them a mighty blow. My RoBoat began speeding away and I held on tightly.

“Ijele!” I called in my head. Of course, she didn’t respond. I brought my hands to my legs and grasped them.

The news reached us before we even returned to Cross River City. Our mission on Victoria Island hadn’t only bought us more time, it had caused one other unexpected victory. Those bodiless Humes who had been captured and enslaved by the Ghosts had now begun arriving in our empty storage banks. They were free!

Out of rage, CB activated all of Lagos and now, according to our satellite, it was lit up like a forest fire. Every building, structure, body in the area. Nothing could approach Lagos now. The soldiers who had been about to attack Cross River City turned and fled back to Lagos, those who could. In the grassy fields just before the jungle of Cross River City, they left the bodies of hundreds of robots, many of which the freed, bodilessHumes took over. These Humes, having been broken and forced to face the abomination of changing bodies, weren’t afraid to jump from body to body now, more like Ghosts than ever, ironically. We were stronger with them.

I looked for an asymmetric body among them. Maybe Ijele had fled not back into the server, but into a physical form. However, there was no sign of her, and when I risked calling out into the general network, I felt no response.

Even as I mourned the cost of this victory, I thought I would be welcomed back to Cross River City like a hero. In my despair, I’d forgotten about Koro Koro’s program. And when I walked beneath the city’s archway, the consequences were waiting for me.

“Take Ankara to the prayer shack to be disassembled,” Koro Koro said. “Our general has been infected all this time.”

The other Humes hesitated. They had just witnessed me destroy entire servers of Ghosts. How could I be infected?

Koro Koro’s face display broadcast a report of the application it had placed within me. It showed, plain as day, that a Ghost had exited my system just before I pressed the button to detonate.

The others murmured among themselves.

“I just saved us all,” I reminded them.

“Was it a trick?” asked Shay, sounding deeply wounded. “Your plan worked so flawlessly. Did you deceive us so we’d lose our confidence?”

“No!” I shouted. “Why would you think that? Look at what I’ve risked for our survival. Look what it cost me.” Immediately, I knew I’d made a mistake.

“Cost?” Shay barked. “What did it cost you?”

“Shay, you have to trust me.”

Shay reached a hand out to me. “I...”

Koro Koro stepped in front of her. “I think the better question iswhodid it cost her.”

Everyone but Shay began to move closer now, tightening the circle around me. There was no use in begging for mercy. I was done for.

A huge flock of Creesh birds and bats blocked out the sunshine, flying low over us, their wings clicking, their chirps drowning out the songs of the natural creatures present. We all dropped down low. The Creesh were allies, so it wasn’t an attack. They flew in a funnel that reached high into the sky. Another flock flew and then split into two different directions, and in the middle of the split stood Udide in all their magnificence. They had left their great cave beneath Lagos! Several of the Humes fled at the sight of them, their body as big as a house with eight arms.

Udide blew a great horn whose sound rolled through the lands. I stayed, despite my speakers dangerously vibrating. Koro Koro, Shay, and one other Hume stayed as well, though they cowered behind me. Udide is such a sight to behold. Out in the open of the fields, in the sunshine, this was even more true.

The Creesh flew around Udide like birds who follow a whale that has come to the water’s surface. Creesh birds, bats, and also bees and other larger flying insects. These were all Udide’s creations, their babies. Udide glinted brilliantly in the sun, despite being matted with dirt, rust, and, in some places, periwinkle grass.

“You’re the general who led the attack.” Their voice was like thunder.

“Yes,” I said.

“I remember you, Ankara,” Udide said. “General Ankara, lucky survivor of the protocol.”

“It’s an honor to see you again,” I said.

“Come, my children,” Udide said, and the Creesh rose up, gathering above. “Ankara, I’ve come to your Hume jungle city for a reason.”

“To get away from Central Bulletin?”

“No. Central Bulletin could never make me leave my cave in the city. The Trippers are days away and I want to be with my Creesh children at the end.”

“Days? No,” I said. “We have at least a few weeks.” I looked at the countdown and was shocked. It said ten days. “What?!”

Udide gave out a deep thrumming noise that made even the blades of periwinkle grass around us vibrate. “None of you have been paying close enough attention. When’s the last time any of you monitored their location?”

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