The journey from Abuja to Lagos was a twelve-hour descent through the jagged geography of a nation in transition. The death of Abacha had created a frantic power vacuum, leaving the highways of the interior populated by confused soldiers and opportunistic bandits. Silas, Amaka, and a brooding Major Hamza traveled in a battered Peugeot 504, the heavy iron chest of the Tredex Ledger hidden beneath a pile of dusty yams in the trunk. They were no longer the elite enforcers of the state; they were smugglers of the truth.
The atmosphere inside the car was thick with a silence that was more exhausting than the humidity. Hamza sat in the front passenger seat, his hand never straying far from the sidearm tucked into his belt. He was a man who had spent his entire career looking for threats from the outside, only to realize the call was coming from inside the house. Silas drove with a focused intensity, his eyes constantly checking the rearview mirror for the telltale dust clouds of NSDI pursuit.
[SCENE START]
INTERIOR: PEUGEOT 504 - ON THE LOKOJA HIGHWAY - DAY
The landscape outside is a blur of savanna and occasional baobab trees. The heat is oppressive. AMKAKA is in the backseat, her laptop a rare, bulky piece of 90s tech connected to a satellite phone.
AMAKA
The NSDI Broad Forces have fractured. Section Four in the East is claiming autonomy, and the Lagos Division has declared a state of emergency. They're looking for the 'Abuja Fugitives.' That's us, by the way.
HAMZA: (Bitterly)
I spent fifteen years building those divisions. I taught them that loyalty to the chain of command was the only thing standing between Nigeria and the abyss.
SILAS: You taught them loyalty to a man, Hamza. Not the mandate. When the man died, the chain didn't just break; it became a noose.
HAMZA: And what is your mandate doing now? We're running like thieves with a box of paper. If the Section Defense Intelligence catches us before we hit the Lagos outskirts, the Ledger becomes their bargaining chip for a new military junta.
SILAS
That's why we aren't going to the Government House. We're going to the Botanical Gardens. The Iroko Protocol was Lugard's fail-safe. In the event of a total systemic collapse, the Watchmen were to return the Ledger to the root.
AMAKA: (Looking up from the screen)
Silas, we have a problem. A signal just pinged from the Tredex Enigma. Someone in Lagos just accessed the 1914 encryption key.
SILAS: (Gripping the wheel)
Tunde. He didn't just want the drive; he had a backup. He's already at the gardens. He's trying to intercept the physical Ledger to complete the digital set.
[SCENE END]
As they neared the outskirts of Lagos, the chaos intensified. The June 12 spirit had returned to the streets, but this time it was fueled by the rumors of Abacha's end. Burning tires sent plumes of black smoke into the afternoon sky, and the Broad Forces of the NSDI were using the confusion to set up illegal tolls and checkpoints.
To bypass the main artery into the city, Silas took the car off-road, navigating the swampy periphery of the Lagos lagoon. The Peugeot groaned under the weight of the iron chest, its tires churning through the thick mud. They arrived at the historic Botanical Gardens in the fading light of the evening. The gardens, once a pristine symbol of colonial order, were now overgrown and eerie, a tangled graveyard of exotic plants and crumbling stone fountains.
At the center of the gardens stood the Iroko tree, a towering giant with silver-grey bark that seemed to hum with the weight of its century-long vigil. Planted in 1914 to commemorate the amalgamation, it was the Nexus Silas had mentioned in the vault.
[SCENE START]
EXTERIOR: BOTANICAL GARDENS - DUSK
The air is heavy with the scent of damp earth and decaying leaves. The three operatives exit the car, hauling the iron chest toward the base of the Iroko. From the shadows of the massive roots, COLONEL TUNDE emerges, backed by six NSDI tactical officers.
TUNDE: (Applauding slowly)
The prodigal son returns to the soil. I must admit, Silas, your commitment to the theatrical is impressive. Bringing the Major along? That's a nice touch of irony.
HAMZA: (Stepping forward, hand on his gun)
You're a traitor to the service, Tunde. You're selling the national security to the highest bidder.
TUNDE: The service died the moment Abacha's heart stopped. The highest bidder is the only one who can ensure stability now. I have the digital keys. I just need the physical Ledger to unlock the offshore vaults. Do you have any idea how much is in those 1914 accounts? It's enough to buy a new country.
SILAS: It's not for sale, Tunde. It was never meant to be a bank. It's a trust fund for the people's survival, held in check by the Watchmen.
TUNDE: (Gesturing to his men)
Look around you, Silas. There are no Watchmen left. Only those with guns and those without. Give me the chest, and I might let the girl and the Major walk away. You, however... you've been a ghost for too long. It's time you became a memory.
SILAS: (Calmly)
You forgot the most important part of the 1914 mandate, Tunde. The Watchmen don't just watch the people. We watch the time.
[SCENE END]
As Silas spoke, the ground beneath the Iroko tree began to vibrate. It wasn't an earthquake, but the sound of hydraulic machinery deep below. The Iroko Protocol wasn't just about burial; it was a trap. Lugard had designed the garden's central plaza as a kill zone for anyone attempting to seize the Ledger without the proper authorization codes.
Silas reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, antique whistle a silver relic of the 1914 guard. He blew a sharp, high-pitched note. The sound triggered a series of concealed pressure plates.
Suddenly, the crumbling stone walls of the surrounding fountains collapsed, revealing high-pressure steam pipes and ancient, spring-loaded traps. The NSDI officers, trained for modern urban warfare, were completely unprepared for the mechanical brutality of the Victorian era.
[SCENE START]
EXTERIOR: THE IROKO TREE - CONTINUOUS
Chaos erupts. Two of Tunde's men are neutralized by the steam vents. HAMZA dives for cover, drawing his weapon and engaging the remaining officers. SILAS and TUNDE are left standing face-to-face in the center of the clearing.
TUNDE: (Drawing a combat knife)
You think these old tricks will save you? I'll cut the heart out of the mandate myself!
SILAS: (Dropping into a low combat stance)
You never learned, Tunde. The mandate isn't in the book. It's in the man who holds the blade.
They clash. It is a brutal, silent exchange of strikes. Tunde is younger and faster, but Silas moves with the economy of a man who has spent thirty years perfecting the art of the silent kill. They trade blows in the mud beneath the Iroko, the heavy rain beginning to fall, washing the blood from their faces.
HAMZA: (Shouting over the gunfire)
Silas! The chest! The NSDI reinforcements are coming through the main gate!
SILAS: (Pinning Tunde's arm)
Amaka! Trigger the purge!
AMAKA: (Frantically typing on her laptop)
If I trigger it now, the 1914 accounts are frozen forever! No one gets the money! Not the Originals, not the State, no one!
SILAS: Do it! Let the money die so the country can live!
[SCENE END]
With a final, desperate keystroke, Amaka activated the Scorched Earth clause of the Lugard Protocol. In banks across London, Geneva, and New York, the 1914 WATCHMEN accounts billions of dollars in gold and colonial bonds vanished from the digital ledgers, redirected into a permanent, inaccessible dark-pool.
Tunde screamed in rage, realizing his leverage had evaporated. In that moment of distraction, Silas delivered a crushing blow to his temple, knocking him unconscious.
The NSDI reinforcements arrived just as the Iroko tree's base opened, a hidden elevator shaft descending into the deep bedrock. Silas, Amaka, and a wounded Hamza dragged the iron chest into the shaft as the garden was swarmed by Section Defense Intelligence troops.
"Where does this lead?" Hamza gasped, clutching his side as the elevator plummeted.
"To the beginning," Silas replied, his voice raspy. "To the limestone basement near the docks. The 1914 headquarters. It's time to see if the last honest man can find his way home."