CHAPTER ELEVEN

In the small island of Herri located in an unknown planet in Andromeda, Bonadi has gotten everything ready to proceed with his new experiment. The amount of energy required to perform the experiment was always going to draw unnecessary attention if it was done anywhere within the Muur protectorates. Everything was ready, he assured himself after checking the big machinery equipment's, ultra-advanced machines and all the necessary tools he needed to perform the experiment. The scientist in him urged him to check it one last time just to be sure and satisfy his curiosity. He did again, everything was set.

"Are you sure about this?" a worried Varodi asked him.

"I have no time to entertain your doubts my friend." He retorted.

"Just do what I have instructed you to do." He added.

His purpose was to conduct the elusive ami nri, a Muurian mystical ritual that involved a synergy of magic, science and technology for its full attainment. The magic part was mostly the knowledge of the seventh Alcamara from the Mantacles of Muuragi. This was not his first attempt, but it is his most trusted attempt at it for the moment. He has perfected all there was to perfect, as well as applying a substituted energy form similar to the Unerg. His last probe has yielded fruits, delivering special gems to activate the elusive dark matter materials he needed to finalize the process. He cannot fail now he thought to himself.

The erabil tube he used stood in front of him as he gazed and wondered what the outcome of it all will be. All his future plans needed the experiment to work, and he cannot fail, he thought to himself again. With that in mind, as Varodi looked on, he stepped inside the tube naked and breathed gently before signaling to Varodi to do as instructed.

The whirring started as Varodi pressed 'begin' on the central control unit, followed by the humming and vibrating sounds. While inside the tube, he remained calm and watched as his friend went about executing his instructions.

Everything remained stable across all their computer connected system and the readings in the super display unit of the supercomputer monitor in the large room. Then the liquid contents started pouring into the tube from the ground. They were brownish in color, yet somehow transparent.

He was naked, totally naked as the greenish liquid substance poured all over him inside the erabil glass tube, but he didn't mind. Slowly, the liquid started to crawl into his body. It felt warm at first, then it turned cold, creating a sudden shiver all through his body, but he held on tight; it wasn't the hard part of it yet.

His two hands were both crossed over his chest, and the liquid engulfed them both as it continued its upward trajectory to his shoulders before stopping at the base of his scruff, just a few inches above his jaws. He nodded to Varodi, a sign to continue with the instructions he left him. At this, Varodi switched up some buttons on the machine to his right which discharged direct photographic beams on him. He brought out his anani, pressed a key and placed it inside the space on the machine specifically designed for it by Bonadi. As soon as the machine detected the anani after absorbing it, the whirring became louder, causing the machines vibration to increase simultaneously; the brownish liquid started to react. Varodi went on, switched a button here, pressed another there, all the while monitoring his vitals on the monitor; everything operated as it should.

He then moved to the main computer and the machine supporting it called Axib. Once he did that, a pincap structure descended from atop the tube and rested on Bonadi's head. Varodi stepped back from the Axib and continued to monitor things as the process continued. Everything continued as planned until he heard a beep. Bonadi didn't hear the beep sound but saw him turn his head to where the beep came from.

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

All of a sudden, the beeping sound went nuts and beeped without stopping before channeling an electrical charge through the erabil tube which exerted an insurmountable pressure on Bonadi inside the tube. His organs response to the charge increased the beeping sound.

However, it started to exert more excruciating pain on him as the process continued in this manner, rising to the extent that his body couldn't withhold the pain anymore. Varodi wanted to stop the process but Bonadi urged him not to before screaming in pain as the liquid penetrated his skin and his body literally lit up in light rays, one that Varodi has not seen before. Everything in the building that has access to electricity spiked immediately, and the beeping became more deafening. He got totally covered in the tube by the liquids at this point.

Varodi barely saw any part of him from where he stood, totally worried and concerned about the whole process and considered whether or not to stop it before it was too late to do anything about it. This was mostly because Bonadi warned him to never disrupt the process once it begins.

He was still considering it when the sparks started, and before he could do anything about it, some of the machines blew up in the process and electrical surges rippled throughout the electronic devices in the place. However, the Axib which displayed the rays directly at Bonadi still worked, as if unperturbed by the sparks, machine failures, and computer shutdowns occurring all around it. It was expected; the process itself demanded a lot of energy just like Bonadi has anticipated. But, something unexpected started to occur. The erabil glass tube started to crack, and Varodi was alarmed seeing as Bonadi didn't know what was happening at the moment as the liquid brownish substance has covered him completely.

Erabil is the strongest element known to them, nothing else was stronger. This was a serious source of worry. The cracking didn't disturb the process though, but Varodi was very disturbed and figured something was definitely wrong or that Bonadi has miscalculated.

It was now exactly five minutes since the process began, and it was the time Bonadi instructed him to switch up the Mulager to hundred percent. The Mulager was the machine that modulated the discharge of the rays from the Axib. At hundred percent, it exhibited same heat as the heat from the rays of the sun at a distance not more than 10000km. Varodi didn't know whether to follow through with the instructions now as he debated within himself.

After a brief reasoning, he finally did as instructed and it was followed immediately by a loud shattering sound; it was the erabil glass tube. Just as soon, everything stopped, and the whole place returned to its serene state while Varodi stared in awe and wondered if this was it. He waited patiently to see his friend emerge from the heavy steam that covered the Axib where he once stood, but he didn't see him come out. He waded into the debris and frantically searched through the rubbles, but he didn't see him. He searched around to see if by chance he has fallen over to the side, but Bonadi wasn't there too. There were no remains of him whatsoever despite all his efforts searching and turning over the whole place, as if his eyes were deceiving him and Bonadi was playing a fast one on him.

Everything they knew about the ami nri never included sudden disappearance or destruction from failure to execute the process. Whether or not the experiment failed, the person involved don't just evaporate into thin air and vanish he thought. He began to think he has possibly delayed or interrupted the process somehow with his indecision. He just couldn't stop thinking as he aimlessly walked around the mildly fitted hatch, wondering. Bonadi himself has assured that everything was perfect this time. What went wrong?

*

Bonadi landed naked on an empty floor with his eyes closed. He opened his eyes immediately and didn't recognize where he was. Everything was new and out of place as he looked around still naked. He was the most travelled Muurian king, and he continued after his exile. But, none of the things he saw in his immediate environment struck a chord in him. He didn't know where he was for the first time in his life. As he looked on, he realized he was in an open garden surrounded by flowers and structures he has never seen or known before. The light that shined bright above him from a lamp design he didn't recognize revealed to him that he was still naked. But, just as soon as he realized this, and tried to organize his thoughts properly and plan his next step, he heard heavy footsteps approaching. He tried to run but couldn't as the light was blinding and he was pinned.

The heavy footsteps turned to opaque figures as they drew closer to him continuously without stopping while he wondered what was happening. He couldn't see their face as the light was blinding. Then he felt nothing, but knew something was done to him. He lost consciousness slowly and fell down moments before the figures finally came in close contact with him. They took him inside their sleek advanced transport vehicle to Badiili. Badiili is the state-of-the-art prison facility in Rargdam where high-value prisoners are kept for onward processing and decommissioning, followed by profiling and cataloguing. Each prisoner is put into a separate cell facility inside the place according to individual data and for what purpose the person was brought to the place. Rargdam is the capital of the Ramodian Empire. Bonadi had landed about 5 km away from the most secured prison facility in all of Ramod.

The Ramodians are a race of atavistic humanoid species that have being in existence for more than nine hundred thousand years, with high inclinations towards war. This resulted in the growth of their military technology, exploratory capacity and advancements. No one actually knows where they came or evolved from. Under the leadership of emperor Malgamohd, they set about on a conquering spree across their known universe and reach. The current emperor, Jimohd, is the only son of emperor Malgamohd whose wife died after suffering from a strange disease she contacted on one of their exploratory expedition. However, even with the Empire so vast and rich in many minerals, elements and other huge natural deposits, their resources started dwindling after being stretched too far. This secret is only known to the ruling class and a few elite in the empire. Because of this, they embarked on lots of exploratory expeditions with their spaceships further deep outside of their known safe galaxies within their control. In one of these expeditions, they discovered a very great cosmic barrier which they called The Veil. After further probes, study and analysis by their top astronauts, scientists and engineers, they discovered that the veil is in fact creating a form of cosmic inhibition in a shield invisible to the eye but observable with their special mega scope. The scientists also theorized there may possibly be other galaxies on the other side but blocked off by the veil, and therefore out of their reach.

Jimohd was with his best scientist, Abarmad, at the science institute headquarters at Rargdam when a top security guard led in an official from Badiili. The official disclosed to them that they just captured something, and that it doesn't look like one of them nor does it fit into any specie category in any of the Ramodian archives as well as their alien profiling database. Jimohd directed that more studies be done on this new specie to determine and classify its biology from scratch. Bonadi was finally transferred to another facility inside Badiili to be secretly studied. Once inside the inner facility, two guards dragged him down in cuffs to a secret base where he was locked up in a transparent cell still naked alongside many other unidentified species different from him.

All around the facility and illuminated by white lights are thousands of species of life-forms. Some were tagged, some were unconfirmed and the rest were simply written off as unknown life-forms after years of unyielding studies on them. Bonadi didn't know what to think at this point nor knew where he was but he remained calm, waiting for what comes next. Sooner or later he is going to figure out what exactly is happening, and then he will know what to do.

*

Days passed as he stayed locked up in the cell with little or no contact with any of the people that locked him up. But, he was fed everyday with water and a liquid drink which nourished his health to his own amazement.

On the 24th day, some scientists who were accompanied by prison guards came to his cell. While staring at him, they opened the cell, shot him with a suppressant drug and carried him away. When he finally opened his eyes, he was in a holding glass tube, surrounded by Ramodian top scientists who spoke in a language he didn't comprehend. He stared back at them and then tried to communicate with them. The moment he did this, some of the scientists took notes as others pointed to the monitors on the screen with a speech configuration sound machine. Observing their body language, he decided that they were trying to understand his spoken words.

They were using the sound machines to calibrate his spoken words into a decoded form of communication so as to understand it. After that, they wished to use it to establish a communication channel between them. Even though he didn't know it, the scientists have been watching him for the past twenty-four days, monitoring everything he did inside the cell.

They repeated the voice calibration process for thirty days after that day, using different stimuli to stimulate Bonadi into making speech sounds while they continued calibrating the sounds. On the 30th day, they had succeeded in calibrating enough sounds to create a common communication channel between themselves and him. The next day, they began interrogating him. After a series of interrogations and enquiry, he explained to them how he found himself in their planet. His story proved that the theory as proposed by their scientists were right. When they asked if he could recreate the experiment that brought him there again, he answered affirmatively but added that he will need time to study his new environment as well as their resources, elements, science, technology, and every other relevant aspect generally. On the 70th day, they provided him with everything he needed to facilitate his learning process in the Ramodian Empire, and gave him his own lush facility which also had living quarters.

Bonadi spent twenty years in Rargdam and used the opportunity to learn the people's culture, traditions and a lot of other peculiarities that made up the Ramodian people. He also learnt some of their dark arts held especially at certain libraries in the capital city. He was able to convince them to release it to him after he convinced them that it is important he understood certain aspects of their mystic arts, to learn the various laws of nature guiding their basic knowledge of their entire world and how it worked.

He started from the rudiments to learn it all while also gathering and developing the machines and other equipment's he will need to recreate the experiment. He also got to know and learn how vicious the Ramodians are, how their military worked and how they dealt with a lot of issues that concerned citizens.

*

In the 20th year, the emperor demanded that he be brought before him. Nothing seemed to have improved on their plan to break the veil, and their resources were depleting badly.

"I'm told you have finished building the machine." The emperor said to him before he could bow as he sat on his throne coated with a rare type of diamond.

"Yes. I was actually expelled for trying to perform the same experiment while I was a king." He lied.

"The one that brought you here?" Jimohd inquired.

"Yes!"

"So, it is ready then and you can perform this experiment again?" The emperor inquired.

"Yes, it is complete now. The machine that will create the right modulation to moderate the frequencies will be ready before the end of the day." Bonadi answered.

At this, Jimohd conversed with some of his top officials including Abarmad and he was excused while they discussed.

"What do you think Abarmad?" The emperor questioned him as he stood next to a zirconium made seat not far from emperor.

"We stick to the strategy with him. Already we have inserted the blood chip into his heart which is programmed to induce immediate septicemia. Tests from his blood sample revealed that his body is impervious to a lot of diseases and environmental degradation but not blood poisoning." He replied.

"Then we cannot wait anymore. Tomorrow it will be." Jimohd said.

Abarmad bowed in acknowledgement and respect before leaving the palace hall.

The next day, they all gathered at the site of the machine built by Bonadi not too far from the science institute. The emperor with most of the scientists and engineers who helped him recreate the machine was also there. He was given final instructions before being surprised by Abarmad who brought three of their best trained fighters alongside two scientists who are going to accompany him if the experiment proves successful.

Despite his warning as to expectations if the experiment actually works, he was ignored. He warned them that sending those people with him is a big mistake.

"You are going to risk exposing your identity, which is not good for anyone trust me. You don't know the other side of this veil like I do. You have to trust me on this." He said.

"We do trust you. However, our trust has nothing to do with their mission." Abarmad replied him as he goes about getting the machine and every other digital and telemetric appliance support in the room ready.

"Here, we will keep in contact while you go about the plan." Abarmad said, giving him a communication device in the process.

He clicked a button, and the machine came alive, followed by the whirring and whizzing sound, and finally the vibrating which overtook the whole place.

"Remember we will be watching you." Abarmad said to him as he finally got everything ready.

"All through your stay in our empire, despite the early maltreatment, I have treated you with respect as a fellow king and as one of my own. You haven't given us any reason to distrust you, if anything you've been helpful and we appreciate that. But, don't think we will hesitate to kill you if you cross us in any way. We have an agreement, please stick to it." Jimohd calmly told him.

"You have nothing to fear from me, you can trust me on that." Bonadi replied in assurance.

"This is why you will have only two years to actualize this mission." Jimohd added.

"Two years?" He said out loud almost in a concealed scream as his attention was redirected to the emperor.

"That's not possible, at least not on the scale at which I must pull off what you are intending."

"Well, there is the little chip in your blood cells that will poison your blood and kill you within seconds. Our scientist and engineers mention that they programmed it to expire after two years unless it is deactivated. I hope that is enough motivation for you to get the task done within two years."

the emperor said and left with some other officials, stunning him in the

process. The emperor just gave him a head start indirectly, Bonadi thought to himself still unmoved where he stood.

"You better get to it then." Abarmad told him.

With that in mind, he activated the Axib he built and everyone stepped back from it. Slowly, he removed all he was wearing and became stark naked in front of everyone. After that, he stepped into the machine and directed an engineer in the room to switch on something, just like he instructed Varodi previously. He concealed his anger, rage and betrayal while inside the glass tube he entered into on the Axib.

He has done everything they requested of him; including helping them develop weapons capable of unleashing mayhems and unparalleled destruction. He helped their weapons production in great ways, including developing crop species that turned to be game changers for them. He actually felt among, like he belonged despite being different. He felt betrayed as he stood inside the glass tube, observing as the whirring started.

The engineer did as instructed while he stood inside the glass tube, his eyes wide with zillions of unspoken words secretly concealed within while his betrayal rage boiled inside. Everything remained stable, indicated by the telemetric monitor of the supercomputer in the room. The glass tube wasn't made with erabil, but Bonadi believed the material he used to create it is equally fit for the purpose at hand. The whirring increased and light beamed on him while the liquid contents in one of the tubes adjoined to the Axib started pouring into the tube, swallowing him up in the process but stopped at his scruff just before his head. He remained calm, still guessing as if he is lost while his two hands faced downwards, his fingers pointing to the ground in the process. The Ramodian officials in the room continued to monitor and observe him while also monitoring the computer readings displaying on five different monitor screens in the room, each manned by a different scientist or engineer. He nodded his head, a sign to them to switch up some buttons at the mention to his right which discharged photographic rays directly at him.

At this point, he brought out an anani from under the skin in his left hand and smiled as soon as one of the scientists in the room pressed the final button. Cuplike cryogenic magnetic wave equipment descended from above and rested on his head inside the glass tube.

"What is he doing?" A scientist inquired from no one in particular.

However, as Abarmad and the other scientists tried to go closer to see what was happening, the beeping sound started immediately, dividing their attention instantly. Abarmad tried to stop the process but was knocked off by Bonadi with the flip of his anani in his constricted state. Bonadi screamed in pain almost instantly as the liquid penetrated his skin and his body lit up, one that none of the Ramodians there have ever seen before.

They tried to stop the process while the guards in the corridor rushed in as the beeping continued to heighten. Everything in the entire building that has access to the power source spiked continuously in the resultant vibration generated by the Axib. Nothing they did worked as he was totally clicked into the process and their vibration maddening at this point. He was totally covered with the dark growing green liquid in the tube. The sparks started and some of the equipment in the place began to blow up in the process; but not the Axib and the machine displaying the rays which has turned into a more colorless form now, as if displaying a burning vapor with a bright flame.

Because he didn't trust them from the beginning, he had built the Mulager to respond only to his command from his hidden anani which activates the modulator a few seconds after the process has started. The Mulager displayed the rays and has been steady at 45F until he increased the tempo to hundred percent like he intended. Using the inbuilt mapping system of his anani, he was able to key in specific coordinates this time after finding out what caused the transmigration from the error of his first experiment.

Just as soon, a blinding light occurred, everything stopped beeping and the vibration as well as all the emissions from every machine in the whole building stopped instantly. At this point, many guards were already inside the place, and the emperor has been informed of what was going on.

Many of the scientists and engineers in the room had sustained serious injuries from the shattering of the glass that followed the blinding light. They were helped up by the guards, oblivious of what happened, including Abarmad who was furious and angry at himself because Bonadi was nowhere to be found afterwards despite all their searches.

"It definitely worked then." Jimohd uttered after taking a look of the place.

"Not in the way we wanted, he had his own plans all along." Abarmad responded angrily. "I should have known better!"

"Turns out all this while, he had one over us" He added.

"What does that mean?" Jimohd asked him.

"He had a device on him this whole time. I saw him use it and that device is very powerful." He replied.

"What device?" Jimohd probed further.

"I don't know much about the device, but, I saw him with something which he brought out from under his arm right before the machines started misbehaving." He replied.

"Unless he lied to us, then this isn't how they process should have gone. He said he learnt from his first error and course-corrected the process, making it steady and safe." He added.

"The chip?" an angry Jimohd inquired. Abarmad's colleague brought a telemetric electronic device to the emperor showing that the chip is intact and has started reading.

"Good. What about the communication device?" Jimohd asked him.

"Took it with him too"

"Great. He knows about our capability. We'll communicate as soon as he figures out that he cannot remove the chip without killing himself in the process." Jimohd said and directed that they proceed with the next phase of the plan.

"What are you worried about Abarmad?" He asked as soon as they left the place.

"He said he is a king of a very big Empire just like our own, but was dethroned and exiled because of his people's culture of resenting killing their own right?" Abarmad asked.

"That's what he said." Jimohd replied.

"And now he knows our capability."

"What are you implying then?" Jimohd questioned.

"Don't all of these look too convenient?"

"You have a point." Jimohd simply replied him.

"Plus that device he had on him, it is a very powerful device which we need to look into."

"I have taken note of your concerns. In the meantime, we will fortify more, put more security forces in strategic entries into the Empire and keep everyone on alert." Jimohd stated.

"We will see what we will make of the experiment he did. We have everything he used to create it. We also have video footages which recorded all his indoor and outdoor moments."

"Get on with it then!" Jimohd commended and commanded him at the same time as they both parted ways and left, each to their function.

***

Bonadi has set the asportation course coordinates on the Mulager to Zabiul, a quiet planet off the Andromeda galaxy. However, it didn't go as he thought, and he found himself in a remote area in Kontagora, a place north of the Sahara desert in Duria. Apparently, he still couldn't fix the coordinate issue of the process which trans-teleported him to Ramod. He had agreed to help the Ramodians break the veil, and told them of the unlimited resources spread across the thousands of hospitable planets and millions of uninhabited galaxies across their side of the veil. However, he didn't tell them anything about the unerg or the fact that they betrayed him. By implanting the chip on him, he felt betrayed and in that instant as the emperor said those words, something changed in him.

He was still naked at this time, standing tall at six feet, three inches. His eyes were dark brown and his complexion relatively fair. His long winsome gray dark hair parted to the right, with a nice curly mustache and an unusual athletic body. Using the map on his anani, he decoded his exact location by hacking into the Muurian Universal Mapping System, which has been acclaimed as the best and not even the highly advanced Ramodian mapping system could match. This is thanks mostly to their dendrochronology department, which is a big arm of the UAA.

He used his anani to search for the nearest shopping centre, then asported off. After getting proper clothing, he set out to track down his friend Varodi. His first place of call was the last place he saw him, the place where he had built his machines and performed the failed experiments which teleported him off to Ramod. However he didn't see him there after searching frantically for him for days. Varodi left the planet some years ago after he got a contract with the Nolnadian Government to secretly train some top military personnel from their armed forces. This was mostly because of his capacity as a formidable agent during his days in service at the Amarandubi.

It was on the third week of his stay at the planet that he got information from a close contact who also was Varodi's colleague at the agency at the time. The contact told him how he will help him meet his friend and that he is going to facilitate the meet because of Varodi's schedule which stipulated that his works will be done in secret government facilities inside Nolnad. Varodi has grown into a very valuable to the Nolnadians, which made him a high-profile personnel in their employ.

*

Varodi was relaxing at a garden in his residence in an urban compound in Nolnad when Bonadi asported into the place unnoticed just a few feet from him.

"Rodiañia" He called casually, stunning Varodi who thought he was in a trance. Only one person he knew always called him that name. He stood up slowly, turned and couldn't believe what he was seeing as he stared at him for a while, before asking who he was to be certain.

"Have I changed so much that you no longer recognize me?" Bonadi said with a smile.

"Oh! Nadi" He exclaimed, and went closer to him.

"I thought you were dead, I searched everywhere, I did everything I could after that experiment to find you but I couldn't find you. What happened?" He asked as they greeted casually, just like old times.

"We have a lot of catching up to do my friend." Bonadi said to him smiling while Varodi led him into his house provided by Izemoru.

They went to the secluded part in a central area of his house free from broadcast monitoring of any kind. That night, they ate and drank heavily while retelling old time stories as they cracked Muurian jokes. The next day, Varodi introduced him to Izemoru who for some unknown reason registered a mark of suspicion on him. Izemoru paid obeisance to him and offered to use his expertise, but he respectfully declined the offer. That same day too, they partied, got drunk and had fun. On the third day, he told his friend everything that happened and his current predicament before soliciting for his help to actualize a plan he devised.

"I can't just up and leave because you came back after twenty distant years. This is my life now you know?" Varodi said to him.

"I know. How about access to my resources, and a private planet called Exionar which is five thousand nautical miles off the Hadden's Colony?"

"Come on man, you can't give me that. But, I will do it anyway. I am already bored with the work in here. Though their security forces are coming up, they really have a lot to learn to catch up. I fear it's going to take a lot of cycles." Bonadi became happy when he said this.

"I can give you more than i just mentioned actually, but first, I need to do something." Bonadi said.

"Which is?"

"Access to my money and resources" He said, but Varodi wasn't moved.

"When do we begin?" He simply asked.

"Any time of your choosing from now"

"Alright, I will round up the current drills with them by daylight. We will start preparations afterwards."

"Thank you!"

"You still didn't marry?" Bonadi asked him as a jibe.

"Never my thing"

"If your father had said the same thing, this conversation wouldn't be happening!"

"That's funny."

"Yes, it is. Procreation, very important my friend"

"Don't start with your philosophical whatever now." Varodi uttered with a smile.

"Philosophical truth you mean?"

"Okay, you got me. Uhmmm, Anurami was captured and locked up after you left. I got information that Zanak engineered his capture, and that only him knows the whereabouts of the particular Muurian prison facility where he is being held. They say its fifty cycles!" Varodi informed him, changing the topic.

"Do you know the particular one?" Bonadi asked him.

"No, I don't."

"I actually need him for something. But, I guess it will be delayed till an opportune time."

"You have to secure his release one way or the other; he was very loyal to you till the end and doesn't deserve being locked away like that in a secret prison facility devoid of contact."

"I know, and I will, but at the right time. However, I am going to do you one more. I will help you and the Nolnadian trainees capture Zanak, and hold him here till we need him. You know, to be in our plain sight!"

"Sounds fair" Varodi replied.

**

Muurians have a banking system that allows for cash withdrawal of money instantly using the anani of the individual customer. It is an asport link supported service system that guarantees instant cash payment withdrawal anywhere in the universe with any banking system of any country and in any currency of the customers choosing. However, it works with current cash holding accounts, meaning that an individual need to actually have money in their account before being eligible for the service; and not just any money, but the Muurian currency called Muura.

Though a very costly service, all Muurians use it. The costly nature of the service is necessitated by the cost of applying and utilizing the asportation links which consume a lot of resources to run and maintain universally. There is also the trans-minting process to generate the cash itself. For all Muurian agencies and government personnel, it is offered mostly at a discounted rate due to the nature of their works, and free for personnel of the Universal Asportation Agency. As a Muurian king, Bonadi had access to all this services for free. Despite being banished and exiled, all his legitimately earned resources are untouched.

As a king though, he had a lot of secret accounts and lairs full of hidden resources, his works and inventions scattered all over some planets and has continued to accumulate in his absence. As he has been away for so long, he needed access to them again; they were now dormant from lack of usage and inactivity for twenty years. Varodi helped him regain access to them through one of his contacts who worked at the Central Currency Operations of the Muurian Central Bank. After getting hold of his account, Bonadi devised his own system to avoid using the one he was used to in the past because his activities henceforth were going to be discreet.

*

One full week passed as he made a new home in Gidan Maraba, a lonely enclave in Kontagora Jatun Torfa, where he operated from after telling Varodi everything that happened to him. In the week that followed, he formulated a plan after the surveillance he put on Zanak came through. The strategy was to neutralize and capture Zanak, a very prominent Muurian commander who served as the Head of Security during his reign. Like him, Zanak was also exiled for being complicit in his duties which put lives of Muurians in mortal danger. He passed the tactical plan to Varodi, including a specifically made nergen to handcuff and restrain him when captured.

"And what will you be doing in the mean time?" Varodi asked.

"Schedule a meet with my wife." He replied.

"What? You are joking, right?"

"Not at the moment, no" Bonadi replied.

"She will arrest you or probably have you killed instantly. Hope you didn't develop amnesia overnight?"

"She won't. Trust me on this one. She is still very much the most honorable woman I know of."

"I strongly advise against this."

"Why is that?"

"She almost wiped out Nol for getting involved in a dispute they didn't start."

"I would expect nothing less from her." Bonadi said with a wry smile.

"I see you are bent on seeing her. Good luck to you. What's the meet about?" At this point, he told Varodi the part of the story he deliberately left out.

"And the chip is still in your blood stream?"

"Yes, right here in my heart." He said, pointing with his fingers.

"I didn't think there would be something you didn't quite figure out just as soon."

"They are a highly advanced race Rodiañia; a very beautiful and unique civilization."

"I guess one day, I will visit then, who knows." Varodi joked.

"What exactly do you intend to do when you meet her? Ask for help?"

"That is exactly what I intend to do."

"Good luck with that then. I will inform you about the success of the mission by sunlight tomorrow."

"Same thing here" He said, patting Varodi on the shoulder before asporting off.

Like he said, he went and arranged a meet with the Queen, Nee Buamada, using a secret communication channel known to only a select few in Muurland. She reluctantly agreed to meet him at a secret location near Orion-66, a neutral planet in the Andromeda galaxy.

"You do have nerves, I give you that" She said when they finally met in a familiar abandoned old Muurian Warship decommissioned at a closed weapons production company. He smiled and complemented her looks; she didn't seem interested in them.

"What's this about?" Nee Buamada demanded as she took casual strolls around the place they were meeting, walking majestically with an air of authority that followed her elegance and beauty.

"Heard you almost wiped Nol off?"

"Heard?"

"Yes."

"And where have you been all this while?"

"That's the main reason why i deemed it necessary to arrange the meet."

"You requested for this meeting to know if I almost wiped out Nolnad?" She inquired.

"No, not that"

"I got the report of your financial activities." She told him, not minding what he said last.

"Obviously; are you here to sequestrate it all back? Is the Bladark around? Have you surrounded the whole place with your palace royal guards to capture and nerg me after the meet?"

"Why will I do that? I will kill you myself if I wanted to!"

"Then, hear what I have to say... please!"

"Okay. Go on!"

"But, you have to make me a promise."

"I haven't heard the offer yet."

"I need a full pardon and a reversal of my banishment."

"Is that all?"

"And a removal of a chip infused into my blood stream."

"Let's hear it then."

"Twenty years ago, somewhere off the out-station in Berrian-B29, i was performing a scientifically programmed Ami nri on myself." She scoffed.

"But, something went wrong and I was asported off to a new place, like a whole new universe. I stayed there for twenty years, and used the time to immerse myself deep in my new environment. I'm talking about new species of highly advanced races with humanoid features.

"Early years were difficult, but i later got abreast of things, and saw that they're an intergalactic warring race. Before my coming, their astrologers and scientists discovered a cosmic veil that made it impossible for them to know about our existence. But, they knew that it is a possibility that there were galaxies on the other side, and my arrival confirmed it for them. I convinced them I could help break the veil if only I could recreate the experiment that brought me there, citing that the knowledge and everything i needed to pull it off is on our side of the divide.

"And they left you with a parting gift!"

"Yes."

"And somehow you think this entitles you to full pardon and reversal of banishment?"

"I had to ask."

"What you did is unforgivable, and I'm afraid that full pardon and reversal of your banishment is out of the picture. Moreover, I don't have the power to do so to begin with."

"Yes, but you can convince those who can."

"You really expect me to campaign for your pardon and reversal of your banishment?"

"You are still unmarried. By Muurian Marriage Laws, our marriage is still subsisting."

"The arrogance...Still ever fresh"

"Sorry if I am sounding untowardly."

"It doesn't matter. We will only help with the chip extraction and nothing else." When he heard her, his mood changed, as if the meeting was a mistake.

"Never mind then, I will do it myself! You don't know what I found; you can't even begin to imagine it I promise you."

"If such a place exists, I'm sure the UAA will discover it eventually, it's what they do. However, should you change your mind instead of allowing your ego cloak your entitlement plea; you know how to reach me."

"Thank you." He replied and watched her asport off the royal asport link.

**

"It didn't go well then?" Varodi asked after Bonadi narrated his meeting with the Queen to him.

"It doesn't matter; I know what I must now do." He replied.

"Well, you could always ask Izemoru for help. Time is running out, and you are not changing your mind as it turns out."

"Like I said, I know what I must now do." They both remained calm and mute for a while.

"You know, I don't understand our people sometimes. No, not just our people you know. It's like there is this core drive of distrust embedded into every being that can think and act." He said but not really to his friend who was helping himself to some quality wine stored by Bonadi.

"For everything I did for them, I mean I married one of them and even had three lovely children with her. They have Muurian and Ramodian blood running through their veins." He lamented.

"Ramodians? That's the people you have been talking about?" Varodi asked him.

"You have seen them too?" Bonadi inquired.

"No. You never mentioned the name."

"Deliberately, yes, I never did mention the name, but I just did."

"Okay. Now what?" Varodi answered.

"I have a ring to steal. I'm sure a lot of people will be tracking my movements now. I have to cease using the general travel links."

"What?"

"You heard me. But before then, I have written a list of supplies which you will get me from Dro-Bidders. Meet me at this location when you are through." He said, pointing at a map on his anani before interlocking it to Varodi's anani for easy access. Varodi took the list and commented on how big his choices of objects to be procured are.

"You want to steal the ring of ascendance? Were you, you know..." He didn't complete the sentence but used his hand to demonstrate if they touched his brain or reprogrammed it somehow.

"I'm saying because you seem to be very daring, like really dangerously daring right now."

"Really? I'm daring? Do I amuse you?" He countered sarcastically as he walked up to Varodi, looking straight at him and their faces just few feet apart. Not a standoff though.

"Come on, you can't take what I said too hard. I mean, you just came out of nowhere and I understand your hurry, but come on."

"I see what this is about then." Bonadi said, withdrawing back to his previous position.

"Exactly"

"I will steal the ring of ascendance, and i will...no, we will continue this conversation. Maybe it's been long, and you are beginning to doubt my capabilities too."

"I didn't say that."

"Get me those items." He said to him and asported off. He asported in few seconds back in, smiling at Varodi.

"I was messing with you my friend. I know you always believed in me even when you have no reason to. We are good, always." He said and asported off before Varodi could utter a reply. He simply smiled and left too.

After Varodi bought all he requested, he made his plan and used a secret pass to enter Barialu, the second Muurdom. From Barialu, he secured a secret entrance to Kalialu. There, he used his knowledge of the place to track the ring of ascendance to where it is being kept at the Habima Sanctuary. As a distraction, he partially started disrupting the asportation links in Kalialu while he planned the stealing. The disturbance in the area was reported by the UAA to the head of security who ordered more reinforcements and complete diagnostics to detect the particular point of origin of what was causing the disturbances.

People complained of sudden drifting inside the links leading to off landings at unwanted destinations. There were also people who complained of getting the wrong currency when they used the instant cash service facilitated by the UAA through their anani. Other complaints included sudden appearances at wrong offices, buildings, houses, rooms, far away planets and so many other complaints related to asport travels.

In the middle of this issue, Bonadi pulled off the heist he promised Varodi. Despite arriving just a few seconds after he stole the ring of ascendance, Linagu was unable to stop him and watched him escape after reaching the vinting point in a tough pursuit. Linagu didn't quite see his face as he asported off and rushed back immediately to the security headquarters in Kalialu, and ordered them to block off and abort all asport travels at that moment within their jurisdiction.

The measures didn't stop Bonadi from escaping, having now gotten the ring of ascendance which is an asportation master key used to bypass asportation link protocols. The bypass allows the user create new untraceable travel links to anywhere in the universe at the hands of an expert user. However, the main function of the ring is mainly to serve as a fail-safe in case anything happened that threatens the asportation links. It is currently an old relic because better technology exists for everything the ring can do now.

Yet, it is a very handy possession to have in your arsenal. Bonadi took the ring and asported off back to Kontagora. There, Varodi informed him that Izemoru himself led the mission and that they now have Zanak in their custody. He felt pleased with the information, but his mind still felt distressed.

*

A year and six months passed while he tried to figure out a way to extract the chips using simulated artificial intelligence machines he designed and built for the purpose. After exhausting time, energy, manpower and resources trying to rid himself of what is now a curse with imminent death, Varodi urged him to take the Queen's offer. He refused, citing that both Muur and Ramod will soon get their respective rewards from him in ways they cannot imagine.

"I know this attitude." Varodi said, concerned.

"Of course you do. Everybody does, right?"

"All I am saying is, you have a choice here to make my friend. Don't let your ego kill you in about what? Five, six months from now; or, you ask for her help. You've done it before against my advice."

"When I need her help, I will do what I have to do."

The next month, Bonadi started noticing that the chip has begun to slowly poison his blood when he vomited out sickening blood platelets after a rough cough. He took the blood sample and went to his personal lab where he ran tests on the blood particles. However, he didn't observe anything new that he didn't know and already noticed before. When the coughs started to come more frequently as the days went by with more blood vomits, he heeded Varodi's advice and contacted the Queen who was surprised his ego and arrogance allowed him to reconsider her offer.

"I have had a lot of time to think things through. As you said, sooner or later the UAA will still discover it anyway." He said and coughed heavily, spitting out blood as he did so. Nee Buamada wasn't moved.

"So?" She probed.

He went ahead and told her about the veil and its exact coordinates, as well as about the Ramodians.

"We will confirm and i will get across to you. Meanwhile, you really don't look well." she said after he finished, took the sample from him and asported off. A week later, he was informed by her through an emissary that all she could do for him is douse the poisoning in order to restore his immune system. This will at least keep the spread restricted for the meantime till they find a better solution. He agreed to it and the process was done on him using special medical equipment called Septia. However, when they were through with the operation, he broke free and stole the drugs which were designed to keep the poisoning at bay for the main time, and asported off the secret facility Nee Buamada procured for the purpose. He didn't trust them to actually give him the drugs without putting conditions on it. That was the last time Nee Buamada heard from him.

He landed on Berrian-B29, and went straight to one of his most secured hatch in Erion Provincial District, a very small town just outside of the popular state-of-the-art Megascope tower built by the Muurs. After electronically opening the hatch with his Anani's recognized password pattern, he was met by shootings from the left side of the round heavy erabil fitted door. The door protected him from the full Force of the shootings. More heavy blasts followed afterwards, making him to quickly dive into the hatch in a flash, locking it up from the inside instantly. He rushed to the CCTV feeds in one of the rooms inside the heavily fortified hatch just as soon. At first, he thought it was his people, but was surprised by what he saw.

Turns out Izemoru put a surveillance team on him since Varodi introduced them both. His surveillance team in the process of doing their job intercepted a group of beings who were also tracking his movements. They subdued them and took them to Izemoru who developed a cordial relationship with them after they established a means of communication. They also told him about why they were following Bonadi and what they're after. He gladly offered to be their ally.

A year after Bonadi left Ramod, their engineers designed and built better versions of the machines built by Bonadi, but failed to incorporate Intergalactic travels because of the amount of energy it consumes, something they were desperately in search of at the moment.

Ultimately, they had to spare resources and resort to espionage instead. However, it wasn't all of them that Izemoru's men intercepted. They started tracking Bonadi using the chip they inserted into him. All three were intelligence officers of Verdah, the Intelligence Unit of the Ramodian Special Forces.

The Ramodians approached the hatch heavily armed while he watched from inside and wondered how they were able to crack his work and track him down so quickly. Though he knew they wouldn't stop tracking him, he decided against engaging them and asported off the hatch back to Kontagora.

*

That was a long time ago now for Bonadi who managed to pull through the Ramodian curse and plotted his double-edged gift for both empires from that moment. As it stands, he knows Steve is now a major part of that plan.