The Aso rock penitentiary service officially did not exist. There was no steel protected state-of- the-art bunker twenty feet below the home of the Nigerian president that catered to ‘prisoners of the state’. It was not documented anywhere and if it was ever brought up would be quickly denied and brushed aside as the ranting of a science fiction fanatic. However, it in fact existed and was known to only a privileged few. The closely guarded secret was passed on to newly sworn in presidents and came to be known as ‘the will’. Buried underneath the renowned Aso rock edifice, the penitentiary service housed the most politically sensitive and notorious offenders of the state. Men and women who carried sensitive Intel in their heads that if ever released would topple governments and crumble political dynasties. They consisted of a consortium of ex-statesmen, elite politicians and other choice individuals previously loyal to the state but by the communal instinct of self-preservation had been caught with their hands in the pie. Releasing them to regular confinement would entail two things; a loss of their expertise and relevance which was yet in demand and their inevitable exposure to both rival and ally nations who would be willing to pay a substantial sum for what the ‘patriots’ knew. The solution was to extract the state offenders from regular life and isolate them under the nose of the authorities to serve their time and their country in relative peace. It was in this isolated high profile detention facility that Kome Ogene, state offender and Hacker extraordinaire was accommodated, after he was relieved of the pleasures of regular living. The entrance requirement was a 15-minute surprisingly friendly prison orientation followed by a 30-minute medical examination that included a series of injections and a final orientation that doubled as a warning.
Kome remembered clearly the warning because it was given by a mouse-like man with badly crossed eyes and a weird smile yet it carried enough menace to put the fear of God in any man.
“You have been injected with a rare amalgam of lithium and uranium deposits known as cretin that latched onto your central nervous system after only five minutes. The beauty of the mixture is that it intercepts and relays minute pulses of information that co-ordinates your every day reflexes. What I am trying to say is that we now have control of your bodily impulses and anatomic responses and can transmit it when and how we feel”. The man paused for effect and smiled when he got none.
“You have been accorded the rights to the pleasures that you are used to in the outside world and any other comfort that you so desire but if you ever attempt to escape this facility, we will not hesitate to shut you down.” The smile this time was laced with a hint of a sneer.
“There are a number of things we can do to you with this wonder drug. We can shut the use of your diaphragm, suffocating and killing you in seconds, maybe stop the flow of blood to your heart or do any of a thousand things”. This time he chuckled silently then stopped suddenly and frowned theatrically.
“My candid advice to you my Guests?” the irritating chuckle resumed accompanied by a mock bow.
“Please, give us a chance to use it.”
The Orientation was over.
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