Chapter VII : Convergence in Kankoo

Arya peered out from their hotel window at Kankoo's lively streets. It was a far cry from Ilam's quiet streets — this place was always buzzing, always awake. Here, in this urban maze, they were set to meet Femi and the others who had managed to slip away from the Red Fangs.

She glanced at the busy streets, her mind buzzing with thoughts about their mission. The lively city vibe was a stark contrast to the tense situation they were in.

Traveling from Ilam had been a mission in itself. Amina had exhausted herself with her powers, so Arya, pulling some strings, secured a private jet. It was a necessary luxury given the circumstances. Leila's first flight excitement had quickly soured into a battle with air travel's less glamorous side: motion sickness, ear pain, the whole nine yards. They had all sympathetically watched as the flight crew brought Leila back from her queasy state.

Now, they were in a hotel suite, waiting for Winda's return with the girls. It was just Arya, Imani, and Leila — a small team by design, considering the need for stealth.

Imani, ever the mood lifter, rolled in with a cart full of food, giving Leila a once-over. "How fares our brave warrior after her duel with the great steel bird?"

Leila's voice, muffled by her fabric fortress, carried a note of embarrassment. "I'll live. Sorry for the fuss."

Arya, offered a comforting smile. "No apologies needed. Even the mightiest warriors have their Achilles heel."

Leila's eyes, beseeching and slightly watery, met Arya's. "Let's just forget the flying metal beast, shall we?"

Arya chuckled from her spot by the window. "Agreed. We've got bigger things to think about." She turned her attention back to the room, her expression shifting to one of focus. "Once Winda's here with the others, we'll need to move quickly. The Red Fangs won't be idly waiting for us."

Leila, feeling more herself, joined the conversation. She glanced at Arya, a question forming in her mind. "Hey Arya, I was wondering about something. Maybe this is stupid question since you're a princess but is the jet yours?"

Arya laughed, "No, it's not mine. One of my... Business associates lent it to us."

"Business associate? You have a business?"

"Of course. Even princesses have to work to pay the bills these days, you know?"

"Right." Leila replied, rolling her eyes at Arya's teasing.

Arya smiled but didn't pursue the conversation. Her business was of course, related to technology. Information is and has always been priceless. With the mysterious gift to control electron movement and especially trained teams in digital data manipulation, they could encrypt, program and hack their way into money. She and her people were duty bound to become rich in this day and age. Otherwise, it would be too embarrassing.

Although, Leila was an ally, she was not an Amoja. She didn't need to know everything about their activities. It was part of the job, she mused, to know just how much to share.

She took her lunch from Imani and sat up in her seat, waiting. She could sense Winda's distinctive bio-electric signature growing nearer, a subtle indication of their impending approach.

Imani flopped down on the carpet and started eating without waiting for anyone. Arya shot her a glance but didn't say anything.

"By the way, is it really a good idea to meet in a hotel? Won't we be conspicuous? I thought we were going for a secret underground hideout or something." Imani continued around a mouthful.

Arya rolled her eyes. "You've been watching too many cloak & dagger movies. Relax, we're safe. some of the girls with Femi are Data Control students."

"Thank Nyara! No offense, Princess, but I was dreading relying solely on your EMI shielding abilities."

Arya's retort was sharp, yet playful. "And you're any better? You can't even block a simple signal without frying it."

Before their banter could escalate, the door burst open, and Winda strode in, followed by seven young girls. They were tall and graceful with varying styles of dress but all wore the same black and white beaded bracelets on both wrists.

The girls hesitated upon seeing Arya, who sat with an air of casual authority by the window, and then bowed in a practiced motion.

"Rise. Don't mind these suffocating formalities." Arya waved her hand. "Come and sit. We'll start the meeting after eating."

After she said this, Arya actually started to eat. The girls stared at her wide-eyed, their expressions varying from awe to confusion clear on their faces. Weren't they supposed to be planning an infiltration strategy with the princess to go save their friends? Was the princess really so unbothered by the gravity of their situation, that she would choose to focus on a meal instead?

Leila sat up, pushing aside the blankets. She was new to all of this, but the seriousness of their situation wasn't lost on her. They had a job to do, and people were depending on them. She also felt that Arya was being a little inappropriate.

Winda, sensing their hesitation, nudged them gently. "Eat. The princess doesn't think well on an empty stomach. Quicker we eat, quicker we plan."

The girls, led by one with a confident bob cut - probably Femi - hesitantly approached the food.

Leila marveled at how quickly everyone accepted that explanation. Perhaps they were afraid of her? She couldn't help but furtively glance at Arya, who seemed to now be oblivious to anything but her food. Then she looked around the room and noticed something.

"Do all Amoja women have pink hair?" Leila asked Imani in a whisper.

"Well, you're not wrong." Imani whispered back. "Almost all of us have different shades of pink hair."

Leïla hummed thoughtfully, then noticed the fourteen pair of eyes staring at her suspiciously. Of course, they were curious about her, the odd one out in this gathering, but no one asked anything. She waved at them awkwardly, immediately regretted her gesture, then copied Arya in ignoring everyone in the room.

"I see you didn't wait for anyone." Winda said as she sat next to Imani and scrutinized her meal.

"No, my stomach doesn't wait for anyone. It has a terrible temper and I can't answer for anything it'll make me do if I don't satisfy it."

"Whatever. Anyway, what is with the food? Is this a hotel or the Vegan Food Court?" Winda scowled at Imani. "Where's the meat?"

"Why are you scowling at me?" Imani blinked innocently.

"This glaring lack of taste in food choices definitely reeks of you, Twiggy."

"Hey, don't call me that!" Imani glaring back.

Sensing the tension, Leila silently scooted away from the two guards. Arya, who had been observing the girls and unknowingly making them more uncomfortable, finally noticed and decided to intervene.

"Alright, guys! This is neither the time nor the place for this so stop it!"

Winda and Imani realized that the seven girls were staring at them resentfully and immediately looked contrite before apologizing. Arya just silently went back to her meal. She didn't like talking while eating.

From the bracelets on wrists, Arya had realized that they were all minors. Arya wasn't used to interacting with girls from her clan that were younger than her and yet close to her age. When she didn't know how to act with someone, she would put on her princess mask and let it do the talking. She started thinking about various ways to start this meeting and ate slowly to give herself more time.

After she was done, she turned to Femi. "Are you all Academy students?"

All of the girls had already stopped eating when Arya did. Now they were giving her their full attention. Femi answered for all of them, "Yes, your highness. Three of us are from the EE branch and the rest are from Data control. I myself am from the data control branch."

Arya nodded at her response, her gaze sweeping across the group of focused faces before her. "Good. ," she said, her voice carrying a weight of authority that seemed to resonate within the confines of their hotel suite. "First, we need to secure this room. No electronic signal comes in or out."

The EE students sprang into action, their faces set with determination. They spread out, forming a circle around the suite, their movements precise and practiced.

"Remember," Arya instructed, her voice tinged with authority, "the flow of electrons must be subtle—enough to distort electronic surveillance but not so much as to cause alarm."

The students, hands against the walls, eyes closed, focused intently. They reached out with their senses, manipulating the invisible streams of electrons. The air thrummed with energy, and Arya watched as the electricity within the room shifted, forming an invisible shield.

A soft glow emanated from the students, casting dancing shadows along the walls. The familiar hum of electricity, usually unnoticed, fell silent, replaced by a different kind of hush—a tangible, almost palpable silence.

Arya watched as the lights dimmed, not from a lack of power, but because the electric current within them were being rerouted. The students' breathing remained even and controlled; their faces serene yet focused. They were the calm at the center of a storm of their own making.

Minutes passed, and the outside world remained oblivious to the change within. Finally, the last student lowered her hands, signaling the completion of their task.

"It's done. We can guarantee that no signal can penetrate this barrier," one of the students announced, her voice barely above a whisper, yet resonant in the charged silence.

Arya nodded approvingly, feeling the invisible protection surrounding them. "Well done," she praised, her eyes reflecting satisfaction and a hint of relief.

Then she leaned forward, her features etched with a mix of anger and worry. "Now, give us your witness account. Start from the beginning."

Femi nodded, taking a moment to gather her thoughts. "We had been out in the world for a week at the time," she began, her voice betraying the tremble of her nerves. "We were cautious and only kept to the zones authorized by the council. We were disguised and did our best to blend in like we were taught at the academy."

A hushed attention settled over the room as everyone listened intently. "One day, during her turn outside, one of the captured girls sensed an unidentified bio signal."

"Unidentified? How can that be?" interjected, her eyebrows raised in confusion.

"The signal didn't match any profile in the Bio-electric Signature Database." One of the Data Control students replied. "It's like she's not in our records at all."

"We tried tracking her, but she was elusive. The next day, we sensed it again but this time, she was trying to communicate – using Ode." Femi continued, "The message was fragmented and raw. It was as if she was still figuring out how to express herself in Ode. It took us a long time to understand what she wanted to say."

"What was the message?" Winda asked impatiently.

"She wanted to meet up somewhere in the city outskirts."

"What the- And you guys thought it was a good idea to do as she wanted?" Winda scolded sternly. "Really?"

The girls exchanged uneasy glances, none of them daring to look at Arya. They were afraid to find censure in her eyes.

Femi, however was not intimidated, "She said that she was in danger. 'While travelling the world, if you ever meet a sister in need, do everything in your power to come to her aid.' Isn't that one of the most important dictates that an Amoja must obey?"

"That was true before Red Fangs appeared! How many times have we warned you about how dangerous they are? "

She turned to a girl that was standing behind all the others, who shrank back when they're eyes met. "Abi, aren't you the little sister of that girl who was captured and killed by them ten years ago? Did you not warn them?"

Abi blanched, seemingly very distressed at being called out like this. She stuttered for a while, her eyes getting teary, "I, I did warn them. But it ended in a vote, and ultimately, everyone went together."

Femi stood in front of Abi, seemingly in defense of her, her expression disapproving. "It's not her fault. It was a group decision. You shouldn't blame her like this."

The two women stood there, with Winda glaring at Femi and Femi standing her ground. Arya was impressed by the latter's daring. Winda was not only intimidating, with her muscular stature and scars, but she was also a royal guard. Not just any common citizen would dare to argue with a royal guard like this.

But this situation couldn't be allowed to go on. She interjected in a firm voice, "Calm down, Winda. We're not here to give them feedback on what the right course of action would have been. In the first place, none of this would have happened if the council hadn't--"

"Cough! Cough!" Imani let out the loudest, fakest cough.

She signaled Arya with her eyes, not caring that everyone was looking at her like she was crazy. By this time, Arya had already realized her mistake. Her feud with the council wasn't known to the public and it was in her best interest that remained that so. She cleared her throat and continued.

"Anyway, we're here to discuss solutions, not problems. Go on, Femi."

Femi gave Arya a grateful look, and Abi a reassuring smile before resuming, "We were on our way to find her when Red Fangs ambushed us."

She paused, her fists clenching as if she could still feel the terror of that moment. "We never stood a chance. They came from everywhere with syringe guns full of Fulminex. And then... then the ground shook."

Arya's eyes sharpened, her mind racing with the implications. "The ground shook?"

"Yes," Femi confirmed. "Stone pillars erupted from the earth, forming barriers between us and our attackers. It was chaotic. The Red Fangs were as surprised as we were. Scared, even."

"Could you see who was controlling the stone?" Arya pressed.

Femi shook her head, a strand of hair falling into her eyes. "No. It was as if the earth itself was protecting us. We didn't stick around to question our luck. We ran.

Her eyes lowered guiltily, "We didn't realize we'd lost four of us until later. I was too focused on running away and I never looked back."

Abi reached out to pat Femi on the back, her eyes warm and comforting.

Arya exchanged a glance with Leila. They were now almost certain that it was the Earth Host that had protected the girls. Arya took a step from the group and stood by the window to gather her thoughts.

They had two objectives, rescuing the girls that were captured and finding the Earth Host. If they were lucky, they could even do both at the same time. Arya's gaze swept across the room, making brief but meaningful eye contact with each person.

They had a lot riding on this mission. She knew what they had to do, and it was time to get everyone on the same page. She spoke with a firm conviction, her voice resonating with authority and encouragement.

"Everyone, our mission has two critical objectives. First, we must rescue our sisters who have fallen into the hands of the Red Fangs. Second, we need to locate and connect with the one responsible for those stone pillars. Success on both counts is non-negotiable. We need a watertight plan, and I am confident that with the minds and talents we have here, we can devise just that. I'm relying on each of you to bring your best. Let's make this happen."

After her little motivational speech, Arya noticed, with some relief, nods and focused looks around her. They were all in this together, and it was clear everyone was ready to do their part.