Library
Maghanap
Home / Sci-Fi / CITADEL / ENTRY 4

Share

ENTRY 4

Author: DEKU
last update Huling Na-update: 2025-07-20 16:07:24

ENTRY 4

The night was thick with smoke and heat. From their vantage point on a sagging rooftop near Sector 9, Abigail crouched low, eyes fixed on the distant glow of the Adrium vault entrance. Her hands gripped a battered pair of binocs, one lens slightly cracked.

Next to her, Samuel was lying flat on his stomach, fingers drumming nervously against the corrugated metal.

“You’re sure he’s in?” he whispered.

She nodded without looking. “Slipped past the checkpoint like he belonged there. He’s either brave… or stupid.”

Samuel sighed. “Can’t be both?”

A pause. Then a dry smile tugged at her lips. “Tunde? He’s definitely both.”

They watched in silence as the vault lights flickered once, a barely visible red pulse across the ridge.

Silent perimeter trip. Right on schedule.

Samuel tensed. “That’s it. It started.”

Abigail lowered the binocs and scanned the skies. Nothing yet. No hum. No searchlights. But it was only a matter of time.

“You think they’ll really follow the signal all the way back to the refinery?” he asked.

“They will if they believe someone’s stealing untagged Adrium,” she replied. “The Citadel doesn’t care about justice. They care about control. That shard’s glow is like a flare in their sky.”

Samuel shifted. “Still feels like we’re lighting a match in a fuel dump.”

She looked at him. “You don’t have to stay. I told you that.”

He snorted. “I’m not going anywhere. You’re crazy, Tunde’s reckless… someone’s gotta make sure you two don’t die.”

She smirked, but it didn’t reach her eyes.

The sky remained eerily still. Distant sounds echoed, the grind of loaders, the occasional cry of a baby from one of the shelters below. Life in the Ruins kept breathing, unaware that tonight, three nobodies had picked a fight with giants.

Abigail’s mind was racing.

Not just with the plan, but with what came after. If this worked, if the Citadel cracked down on the Brass Fangs , , they’d lose a powerful enemy, but they’d also put a spotlight on themselves. That kind of light could burn.

Her fingers tightened around the binocs again.

“You think he’ll get out?” Samuel asked suddenly.

She didn’t answer right away.

Instead, she whispered: “He better. He promised his mum.”

Then, finally, a sound.

A drone.

Low hum. Getting closer. Not on patrol this time. This one was hunting.

Samuel heard it too. He turned toward the sound. “That’s not routine…”

“Nope,” she said. She stood slowly, slinging her satchel over one shoulder. “The sky just woke up.”

Samuel looked at her. “Now what?”

“Now,” she said, voice calm but electric, “we get into position and pray Tunde doesn’t try to improvise.”

…………….

INT. CITADEL MINERAL OPERATIONS HQ – SURVEILLANCE BAY – NIGHT

Rows of holographic monitors flicker in a cold, sterile room lit by harsh white LEDs. The Citadel emblem rotates slowly on the wall. The air buzzes with the hum of servers and data streams. A woman in a sleek dark uniform, OFFICER ADETAYO, leans over a projection table. Her eyes glow faintly with HUD overlays.

She sips from a metallic flask, clearly bored.

ADETAYO

"Another false trip?"

A nearby tech, scrolls through a feed.

TECH

"Perimeter node 4-C. Someone walked right through. Didn’t even flinch."

ADETAYO

"Name?"

The tech types quickly. A holographic profile flickers up: TUNDE ALAO, Miner ID: RU-Q3A-1120.

TECH

"Tunde Alao. Low-risk. Clean record. Works Quarry 3A. Sings while digging, apparently."

ADETAYO

"Playback. Ten seconds before and after the trigger."

They watch the footage: Tunde walks into the sensor field, looks straight at the camera, holds up a glowing shard of Adrium, then drops it into his bag.

TECH

"...That’s not a panic move."

ADETAYO

"No. That’s a message."

She taps her earpiece.

ADETAYO

"Patch me to Enforcement Command."

A voice responds through the comms.

ENFORCEMENT COMMAND (V.O.)

"Go ahead, Officer Adetayo."

ADETAYO

"Flag RU-Q3A-1120. I want real-time tracking. Authorize a passive drone tail. If he steps off his normal route, escalate to Protocol Theta."

ENFORCEMENT COMMAND (V.O.)

"Confirmed. Theta protocol authorized."

She turns back to the tech.

ADETAYO

"Find out where he’s going. And alert Central Watch."

She walks away. The hologram of Tunde stays on-screen, mid-step. The raw Adrium in his bag pulses faintly.

Patuloy na basahin ang aklat na ito nang libre
I-scan ang code upang i-download ang App
Nakaraang Kabanata Susunod na kabanata

Pinakabagong kabanata

  • CITADEL   ENTRY 10

    The final note still hung in the air when the lights shifted, flooding the stage in gold. The applause came like a wave, polite at first, then rising into something almost reverent. Tunde bowed, but his eyes were already searching the shadows beyond the glow.As the platform lowered into the backstage bay, drones swooped in to capture close-up shots of his face. He smiled for them, the smile Makan had taught him, then turned toward the dressing corridor.And stopped.Abigail stood there. Dust still clung to her boots, her jacket zipped to the throat. Samuel was just behind her, scanning every shadow like he expected an ambush.For a heartbeat, no one spoke.Then Tunde exhaled, his voice low. “What are you doing here?”“You think we’d just leave you here?” Abigail said, stepping forward. “This isn’t you, Tunde. You’re singing their songs, wearing their chains. You’ve let Makan into your head.”“I’m fine,” he said, but it came out too sharp, too fast. “You don’t know what you’re talking

  • CITADEL   ENTRY 9

    Eko Citadel, Concert Hall, NightTunde stood in the center of a stage that wasn’t a stage but a floating platform of light, suspended above a sea of glowing faces.The concert hall was shaped like a blooming flower, glass petals arching high above the audience. Holographic birds wheeled across the ceiling. A choir of projected voices harmonized softly, waiting for him to begin.His robe shimmered white and gold under the lights. A crown of soft holographic rays circled his head.“Are you ready?” a voice said in his earpiece.Tunde swallowed. “No.”“Good,” came the reply. “Only the ready ones sound dead.”The lights dimmed. The crowd hushed.And he began to sing.---Citadel Border, Scan ZoneThe hauler slowed.Abigail tensed, peering through the vent. Checkpoint.Guards in black Citadel armor circled the hauler. One held a glowing scanner that swept the sides of the vehicle.Samuel’s breathing quickened.“Stay still,” she hissed.A beam of blue light washed over the compartment. She h

  • CITADEL   ENTRY 8

    Eko Citadel, Celestia StudiosThe studio……, oh the studio, it was a chatedral; not to God, to perfection.Light bled through glass walls etched with shifting patterns, like the room itself was alive. The air hummed with faint harmonics from sound-dampening fields. A choir of holograms floated around him, reacting to his breath, filling in harmonies he didn’t have to ask for.Tunde stood in the booth barefoot, the floor beneath him glowing faintly with each step. A single note in his throat could make the room respond, the panels tuning themselves to his range, the orchestra adjusting to his rhythm.The track began: a slow swell of strings, a drum that sounded like a heartbeat under rubble, a haunting synth line that reminded him of wind through a broken window.He closed his eyes.And sang.It came out raw at first, gravel on silk, then steadied into something deeper, smooth, mournful, alive. The Citadel tech could scrub every imperfection, polish every line, but it couldn’t fake the

  • CITADEL   ENTRY 7

    EKO CITADELThe cuffs came off with a sharp click, leaving red rings on Tunde’s wrists. He rubbed them absently as the heavy doors slid open, flooding the corridor with warm, golden light.“Welcome to the Citadel, Tunde,” Makan said, his voice calm, almost fatherly.If the interrogation room had been a cage, this place was an illusion of freedom. The floor beneath his feet glowed faintly with embedded light strips, the walls curved and alive with soft-moving displays of distant forests, oceans, and skies that didn’t exist anymore. The air smelled of jasmine and something sweeter, synthetic but clean.Tunde didn’t answer. His ribs still ached from the Fangs, and now his mind buzzed with the weight of being here, inside the dream, walking on its polished bones.Makan glanced back at him. “I had you brought to me for a reason. You’ve been playing a dangerous game. But you’re useful. And I value usefulness.”He gestured for Tunde to follow.They walked through a wide atrium lined with lev

  • CITADEL   ENTRY 6

    EKO. CITADEL – INTERROGATION ROOM – NIGHTCold light. Cold table. Cold stares.Tunde sat still, arms resting on a smooth, white-metal surface. His wrists were red from the cuffs that had only just been removed. The room was spotless. No vents, no windows. Only the buzz of invisible tech and the soft hum of surveillance.Across from him stood Officer Adetayo — tall, composed, unblinking. A steel pen in her hand clicked rhythmically."You knew what the scanner field was. You looked directly at the camera. Why?" Adetayo said.Tunde didn’t answer. Not at first.She walked around the table, voice even, without emotion."Was it a message? A dare? Or are you just stupid?" EARLIER THAT DAYThe transport hissed open.Tunde stepped into the Citadel proper, and for a heartbeat, he forgot how to breathe.It wasn’t just the light. It was everything.Skylights poured soft, golden sun over glass towers that spiraled like frozen waterfalls. Levitating trams glided silently overhead, leaving trails o

  • CITADEL   ENTRY 5

    Ten Years Ago – Sector 12, Grey ZoneIt was raining again. Not the kind of rain that nourished, but the kind that felt like regret, thin, acidic, and cold.Tunde sat huddled under a frayed blanket, watching his mother crouch in front of the stove, coaxing a flickering flame from a rusted burner. Her fingers moved carefully, deliberately, like every matchstick had a prayer attached to it.He was eight. Hungry. But not just for food.“Mama?” he asked. “Is it soup day… or just steam?”She glanced back at him, her eyes ringed with fatigue but still holding that gentle fire. “Soup,” she said softly. “A new recipe. Ash and honey.”He gave her a look, somewhere between amusement and confusion.“It’s an old Ruins special,” she said, dropping a sliver of moldy root into boiling water. “A pinch of ash to remind us of where we are. A hint of honey to remind us not to stay here forever.”“But we don’t have honey.”She smiled. “Exactly.”Later, they sat shoulder to shoulder beneath the leaking roo

Higit pang Kabanata

Maaari mong magustuhan

Galugarin at basahin ang magagandang nobela
Libreng basahin ang magagandang nobela sa GoodNovel app. I-download ang mga librong gusto mo at basahin kahit saan at anumang oras.
Libreng basahin ang mga aklat sa app
I-scan ang code para mabasa sa App
DMCA.com Protection Status