Bruised – Chapter 6

BRUISED
(INJUSTICE RULES THE JUNGLE)
CHAPTER 6
By Onyebuenyi Favour

“…as for our prisoner who has refused to talk, his torture starts tomorrow
—
Magma Technologies
4.49am
The environment was quiet serene. One could tell that the interior was quite busy as the exterior was devoid of any human being.
The walls were littered with security cameras and various unidentified gadgets..
Inside, all staff on duty were busy with one thing or the other. The office of the CEO was quiet. and some non-staff could deduce tension and fear.
The Executive Director’s voice was heard over a headphone
“New lead takes us to Abuja-Kaduna expressway. All workers can go on break now!!”
There were sighs of relief and gossip.among some. But the question remained, ‘What was amiss’
“Who knows how he was kidnapped?” a worker asked her friend
“Its unimaginable…Despite years of checks and advances on the security of his office, someone more brainier has gotten hold of him…”
The CEO of Magma had been kidnapped!! and there was no clue as to where he was.
Outside, a fleet of five jets took off, all headed to Abuja-Kaduna highway and its surroundings. Aboard each of these were nineteen soldiers equipped with state of the art combat gear and robots of war!.
What is going on?
—
Anthony awoke noisily from his sleep. Something was definitely amiss. He heard the buzz of his phone. He picked it up and glanced at it.
An application which supplied him with instant headlines had supposedly supplied one. Displayed in the notification tray of the phone, ‘Magma Technologies suffers blow as CEO goes missing ’.
Anthony stood up from his bed. This explained the reasons for the noise he heard in the morning or so… He thought.
He quickly dialled Steve
“Good morning sir. Your call seems awkward by this time of the day”
“F*** the time of the day Steve. Don’t let your success over Ivan eat into you. Haven’t you heard of the kidnap of Magma Tech’s CEO?”
“I haven’t. Give me some time I’ll get back to you.”
“Better” Anthony said and disengaged.
___
Steve sat in front of a desktop computer. The news had brought down his morale, having distracted him from His work at hand and the fact that the abducted man was a reliable friend. He however concluded that whosoever had done must’ve had a critical knowledge of the place.
He shut down the computer and returned to the parlour where other members of the group were waiting. Lewis was already working his hands on his laptop in a bid to discover any information on Magma’s director. All efforts however proved fruitless.
“Today has brought it’s surprise,” Steve began “And we must bring ours too. Lewis and Lorna will focus on the file for a better part of today while Jessie will visit the Security Camera’s Regulatory Commission. I’ll be with the hostage. We should converge by 4pm and change location immediately.”
Everyone left except Jessie.
“Jessie, the SCRN is equipped more than we can handle. But, its necessary we go there. The safest entrance is from the Staff entrance point, which has some sophisticated security measures.
He stood up and continued. “Lewis produced an electronic identification card that can bypass their database which I would prefer though.
“You will go in as a disguised Miss Bose because the main Bose is being held in another facility. You are going into SCRN to get a life footage of what happened to the CEO of Magma Tech, to get me the IP address of Miss Bose and see if you can plant a bug in her system…”
___
He opened his eyes drowsily and absorbed the bright light after hours in darkness. He tried recollecting the past events and it came back…
***Flashback***
He heard the continuous tapping on his door and wondered who that was having already closed his office for the day.
The knock persisted and he had no option but to check the visitor…he thought.
But he suddenly remembered that visitors were not allowed to come to this part of the building except for specified days and time. Fear gripped him and he wondered how the person had gotten there.
Still debating in his mind, he saw the door open and a lady dressed in black walked in. No part of her body was visible as they all had protections of its own.
“Hello, Mr. Leo Edwards”
“Hello, who are you?”
“Someone you’ll get to know soon. Anyway, I have a package for you from President Joe.” she said and dropped a sealed envelope on his desk.
He picked it up lazily and studied it before opening. He took a glance at the lady and saw that she was comfortably seated on a sofa staring at him. He returned his gaze to the parcel and tore it open.
On it was written a very brief note.
“Dear Leo Edwards, I have a very important deal for you. Please do follow my humble servant…” he glanced at her again to find out she was still in the same posture.
“Whatever deal that cannot be discussed in my office isn’t qualified to be called a deal” he told her calmly “Now will you leave before I do something we will both regret?”
“You can’t do anything, Mr Leo. I have disabled the LAN network in this building, disconnected your broadband from that of the outside world and destroyed your companies communication board. Nobody inside this environment can make contact to security agencies.”
“H..How did you do that ?” he asked her
“Simple. I disabled your IP address in a way that your laptop is useless at the moment. Only my IP address and a secret APN can unlock the grid”
“Motherf****r. You can’t get away with this.” he shouted raising his voice
“Of course I will” she said and brought out her gun “But that’ll be when we’re done!!” she said and shot him twice…
BACK TO THE STORY…
He suddenly frowned and felt himself for gunshot wounds but there was none. He now concluded that she used tranquilizers…
The door opened suddenly a lady came inside. The same that abducted him..he thought. She held a tray in her hand which she kept on a small table and shifted it close to him.
She untied him and watched as he ate. She took a chair too and sat down, this time opposite him.
“Mr. Leo , its good to see you look alive again. You’ve been pale since you left your stronghold… ” she said referring to Magma “Thats the disadvantage of coiling oneself in one place. ”
“Won’t you let me finish?”
“You eat and listen…”
“And if I don’t? ” he interjected
“Well,” she said standing up “That goes through your head…” she shouted and a small knife pierced the wall directly above his head.
He looked at hear as she smiled cruelly. She sat down and continued.
“My orders were clear. I don’t have time to waste. Once you’re done with eating, you’re gonna show me how to use a wide range of your products, which I have in my arsenal and you’ll block every direct link to you, using your hands… ”

TBC