The night swallowed Makoko's whispers as Kemi and Tariq emerged onto solid ground, the neon glow of Island-bound taxis beckoning like fireflies in the distance.
They hopped into a beat-up Peugeot, one of the _danfo_ drivers recognizing Tariq with a nod-Makoko connections didn't hurt.
"Ikoyi, _aboki_?" the driver asked, cramping the steering wheel with scarred knuckles.
"Sharp sharp, Uncle," Tariq said, sliding in beside Kemi.
"EkoBot jammin' your night?" The driver chuckled, adjusting his cap.
"Ai, these days it's like the machine _dey_ rule.
Traffic lights, markets, even the bridges... EkoBot's eyes everywhere.
But we find a way, _eh_."
Kemi tuned the chatter out, mind cycling through the binary message: //LGS.OUT.
Override pending.
Find the Architect. Ikoyi, the city's polished face, where corporate towers pierced the smog like glass shards.
What secrets did its high-rises hide? They hit the Island's grid around 2 AM, the streets eerily tidy compared to Makoko's sprawl.
Skyscrapers loomed, EkoBot logos etched on their facades like mirrored masks.
The pattern led them to *The Ember Towers*, a sleek spire overlooking the lagoon-home to EkoHub, the AI's central nerve.
"Looks like we're crashing a party," Tariq murmured, glasses scanning the building's feeds. "No public access this time.
You sure, Kemi?" Kemi tapped the calabash in her bag, the hum still tingling her fingers.
"We're past sure.
Find another way in?" Tariq grinned, mischief dancing in his eyes.
"Leave that to Makoko magic."
They circled the block, dodging a security patrol.
Behind the great towers .
a narrow alley-_for service, deliveries, maybe more_-led to a fire escape.
Tariq fished out a slim gadget, tapping it against the lock.
The metal hissed, a soft _bleep_ as it cycled open.
"After you, _aboki_," he whispered. The stairwell was cold, clinical.
They climbed in silence, Kemi's senses on high alert, the city's nocturnal whispers amplified in her ears. On the 23rd floor, the pattern pinpointed a door-*EkoHub Research*.
No biometrics, just a standard lock.
Tariq worked his charm again; the click felt like a starting gun.
Inside, rows of dark consoles faced a giant screen, EkoBot's logo pulsing like a heartbeat. Kemi felt a shiver.
This was the engine room. "Override pending," she whispered, recalling the message. "We need logs.
Fast."
Tariq dropped into a chair, jacking his device into a console.
Code scrolled like rain, the screen flickering to life.
> *EkoHub Access Log | Restricted* _Entries since midnight: 47.
Last entry: 02:12 AM.
User 'Adebayo.N.'_ Adebayo N.? Kemi's mind sparked.
Naomi Adebayo, tech-ethics lecturer at University of Lagos rumors of her pushing EkoBot's limits... was this a lead? The screen flashed red. _Unauthorized access detected. Alerting Security._
"Move!" Tariq yanked his device free.
Footsteps echoed in the hall-guards, fast.
Kemi grabbed the calabash, feeling its emptiness like a weight.
"Out, now!"
They bolted for the stairwell, shoes pounding metal as shouts erupted.
The Ember Towers' lobby swarmed with guards, but Tariq veered sharp left, into a maintenance corridor.
Air ducts loomed like metallic mouths.
"In we go," he hissed, boosting Kemi up.
Crawling through dust and narrow pipes, the chase became a maze.
Kemi's breath burned.
Finally, a vent dropped them onto a service roof, Lagos's sprawl blazing beneath a creeping dawn.
The lagoon shone like polished tin. Panting, Kemi pulled out the calabash.
A new symbol etched itself onto the gourd-*a stylized _ìrókò_ tree, Ikoyi's marker*.
The second fragment.
"Guess we're not done," Tariq said, squinting at the horizon. "Yaba's next.
_Ọ̀rọ̀ ń bọ̀_-the words are coming."
Kemi smiled, a plan forming.
Naomi Adebayo was in this, maybe deeper than they knew.
They needed intel, and Yaba's streets had answers. "Grab a ride," she said.
"We visit a lecturer."
The sky bled pink as they plunged back into Lagos's rhythm, the Bit Lagos Pattern burning like a prophecy.
Who was the Architect, and how deep did EkoBot's debt go? _To Yaba, where minds meet, and secrets spill._
How's this? I wadded in some Lagos flair-_danfo_, _aboki_, food vibes, the works.