Chapter 67: Return to the company
The Lagos skyline shimmered in the afternoon heat as Philip approached the glass-front building that bore the name — Omnitech Innovations. It had been over three years since he walked its halls. Three years since the world changed. Three years since he vanished. The goal of the company was to help young people by investing in their startups and remaining a silent investor while providing the necessary help for the growth of the company.
From the outside, the company looked the same — busy lobby, crisp signage, stylish employees walking in and out. But Philip had learned long ago not to trust appearances. He wore a plain shirt, jeans, and a cap. With his aura dampened and his face subtly obscured by illusion, no one recognized him as the founder.
He walked in, gave a fake name at the front desk, and waited. Within minutes, a young assistant escorted him upstairs to the executive floor, where Maya Adedayo — the woman he had trusted to lead in his absence — still ran things.
The doors to her office opened, and she rose slowly from behind the desk.
"Can I help—" she froze, eyes widening as recognition settled. "Philip?"
He gave a small smile. "Miss me?"
She stepped around the desk and embraced him. "They said you were dead."
"I was just… off the grid."
She stepped back and studied him. "You look the same. But older somehow."
He glanced around the room. The energy here was calm, efficient. "You've done well."
Maya chuckled. "I did what I could with what you left behind. It wasn't easy—investors panicked, clients pulled back. But I followed your last instructions."
"Invest in promising startups," Philip recalled.
"And cut out dead weight," Maya added. "We did. And it paid off. We're stable now. Even expanding again."
They talked for a few minutes — updates, headlines, company gossip. Eventually, Maya handed him access to the financial records. "If you want to look at everything yourself, go ahead. I kept your login active… just in case."
He nodded and retreated to a private meeting room with a company laptop. He skimmed through familiar systems — revenue lines, quarterly projections, partnership notes. Everything looked clean at first. Profits were up. Strategic investments had blossomed.
But then something caught his eye.
Personnel changes.
Over the last two years, there'd been a sharp rise in employee turnover. HR logs showed department after department being reorganized. Maya had only approved the big decisions — but the day-to-day hiring, it seemed, had been delegated to Chidozie Kalu, the Vice President.
Philip dug deeper.
There it was.
Eighty percent of the staff hired in the last 24 months showed unusual biometric patterns.
Heart rate anomalies. Reaction speed inconsistencies. Stress response suppressions.
At first, it looked like bad data. But Philip's eyes glowed faintly as he ran a low-level diagnostic spell on the metadata. While scanning the whole building.
It was real.
They're awakened, he thought. And Maya doesn't even know it.
He leaned back in his chair.
Chidozie had done this.
While Maya kept the ship afloat, Chidozie had quietly replaced the workforce with awakened individuals. Not just ordinary employees — many were strategically placed in R&D, finance, security, and senior roles. Most had discreet backgrounds, untraceable pasts, and paper-thin references.
It's not just recruitment, Philip realized. It's a takeover.
He stood up and returned to Maya's office.
She looked up from her tablet. "Everything check out?"
"Mostly," Philip said. "But we need to talk about Chidozie."
Her brow furrowed. "What about him?"
Philip handed her the tablet. "He's been stacking the company with awakened people. You didn't know?"
Unlike three years the rumors of awakened people was more know due to the increased mana on earth by People of Nam people around the world started awakening powers. It was becoming a cliché where they would awaken and have a God complex go on a rampage before being taken out by enforcers of the adebode family or whosoever family is in charge of that area.
Maya stared at the screen, confused. "I… I approved budgets and team expansions, but I didn't dig that deep. Chidozie handles HR approvals. I thought they were just top-tier hires from obscure tech incubators."
"They're not normal," Philip said. "They're awakened. Not all of them, but most."
Her voice dropped. "Why would he do that?"
Philip's eyes hardened. "Because he thought I was dead. And he was preparing to claim the company."
Maya sat down slowly. "You're serious."
"I am. He replaced your team while keeping you in the dark. Efficient, quiet. He didn't need to oust you — just isolate you."
Maya's hands clenched. "I trusted him."
Philip sighed. "I know. I did too."
Silence fell over the room for a long moment.
"Do you want me to fire him?" she asked.
"No. Not yet," Philip said. "We do this smart. I need to know what kind of awakened he brought in… and what they're planning."
He walked to the window. The city below moved like clockwork, unaware of the storm brewing inside its glass towers.
"When I vanished, I thought I was just walking away from a business," he muttered. "Turns out, I left a kingdom."
He turned to Maya.
"I'm taking control back. Quietly. I'll handle Chidozie. But I need your help cleaning this from the inside. No headlines. No alarms."
Maya nodded. "I'll follow your lead."
Philip offered a grim smile. "Let's see how deep the rot goes."