Chapter 29: The Vote
The Athenaeum – 24 Hours Remain
The great hall of the library, once a place of quiet contemplation, then a council chamber for a fledgling alliance, had become a courtroom. The entire population of the Athenaeum was packed inside, along with the leaders of the Compact. The air was thick with sweat, fear, and a terrible, simmering tension.
Uche stood before us, his face a mask of grim resolve. Adisa, Ade, Mama, and I sat at a table facing the crowd. There would be no private, quiet decision. The fate of Sade would be decided by everyone, because everyone would have to live with the consequence.
"We all know why we are here," Uche began, his voice echoing in the hushed space. "The Akudama have made an offer. They give us the means to protect ourselves from a threat we cannot fight. In return, they keep a young woman named Sade."
A murmur rippled through the crowd.
"This is not a military decision. It is a moral one. And so, we will vote. Not just the council. All of you. The burden of this choice cannot rest on a few shoulders." He took a deep breath. "The question is this: Do we accept the Akudama's terms?"
Gabriel stood up immediately. "Yes! We must! This is not about one life! It is about all our lives! This 'Sade' is already their prisoner. Our refusal changes nothing for her! But our acceptance changes everything for us! For our children!" He pointed a trembling finger around the room. "Are you willing to die for a stranger? Are you willing to let your son, your daughter, be unmade from existence for a principle?"
His words were fire, feeding on the dry tinder of the crowd's fear.
Then, Ade stood. The hall fell silent. He was a hero here, his charge against Hacker the stuff of legend. His arm was still in a sling, a permanent reminder of the cost of defiance.
"Gabriel asks if we are willing to die for a stranger," Ade's voice was quiet but carried to every corner. "I ask you this: if we do this, what are we living for?" He looked around, his gaze meeting the eyes of friends, neighbors. "We are not just surviving. We are trying to build something worth surviving for. A community. A place where people matter. If we trade Sade for our safety, we are building that community on a foundation of cowardice and betrayal. We become a farm, raising children to be bartered to the first powerful monster that threatens us. That is not a future. That is a slower, more comfortable death."
His words were a cold splash of water. I saw people look down, their faces conflicted.
One of the farmers from the Greenhouse settlement, a woman named Imani, stood. "My settlement voted," she said, her voice clear. "We say no. We have lost much. But we will not lose our humanity. It is all we have left that the monsters do not."
Hassan, the mechanic, stood next, his face heavy with shame. "The Garage… we vote yes. I am sorry. We have too many little ones. I cannot watch them… dissolve. I cannot."
The room erupted again, a cacophony of shouted arguments, pleas, and accusations. It was chaos. The Compact was shattering before our eyes.
Uche called for order, his voice strained. "We will take a count. A show of hands. This is the will of the people."
My heart hammered. I looked at Mama. She had her arms wrapped around Ngozi, her eyes closed. I looked at Adisa, who stared at his hands, the scientist helpless before this human equation.
"All in favor of accepting the offer," Uche called out.
Hands went up. Dozens of them. I saw the fear in their eyes, the desperate need to live. My stomach twisted.
"All opposed."
More hands shot up. Ade's was high and steady. Mine went up, feeling both heavy and right. I saw the resolve, the bitter pride on the faces of those who refused.
The count was agonizingly slow. When it was done, Uche's shoulders slumped. The result was clear, but it was not a victory. It was a schism.
"The nays have it," he announced, his voice hollow.
A wave of relief and fresh terror washed through me. We had chosen to remain human. We had also chosen to face the Unseen with nothing but hope and crumbling walls.
Gabriel let out a cry of pure fury. "You fools! You've killed us all!" He stormed out, a group of his followers trailing him, their loyalty to the Athenaeum broken.
The meeting dispersed, not with unity, but with a fractured, fearful silence. We had preserved our soul, but at what cost?
As the hall emptied, Chiamaka rushed in, her face pale. "Emeka! A new signal from the Comms Tower. It's not Hacker. It's… it's a woman's voice. She's asking for you."
I took the radio from her, my hand trembling slightly.
"Library-Fortress, this is Sade." The voice was calm, eerily so, devoid of the fear I expected. "I am aware of the offer. And I am aware of your decision."
There was a pause, the static hissing like a held breath.
"You made the wrong choice," she said, her words clean and precise, like a surgeon's scalpel. "You are sentimental. Your morality is a luxury you can no longer afford. Tell them… tell them I accept. Of my own free will. The deal is on. I am not your sacrifice. I am my own."
The transmission cut out.
I stood there, the radio dead in my hand. We had voted to save her. And she had just condemned us all. She had chosen the cage, and in doing so, had handed the key to the Akudama. The war for our future had just taken a turn we could never have predicted.