Then: Three Years Ago
He said his name was Nasir.
Soft-spoken. Smart. The kind of man who always knew when to look away and when to listen.
They met at an art gallery in Ilupeju. Georgie had just sold a painting titled "Singularity Blues." He'd stood in front of it for fifteen minutes.
"Feels like someone drowning in silence," he'd said."Most people think it's just lines and color."
She'd smiled. He made her feel seen.
And that was the trap.
He became her friend.Her confidant.The voice on the other end of the call at 2am.
He'd ask about her dreams. Her frustrations. The ones she couldn't tell her family, or the Lagos Hub, or even Ayomide.
He never once tried to kiss her.
That made him worse.
Because Georgie trusted him.
"You're the only one who doesn't want anything from me," she'd said once.
"That's because I already have everything I want," he'd whispered under his breath.She never heard it.
Now: Present Day
Nasir Daramola.
Former child prodigy of the Pan-African Biocyber Defense Initiative.
Co-founder of G-POPS.
Known in blacksites and offshore A.I. bunkers as The Shepherd.
His job? Herd rogue AIs back into containment. Or wipe them out entirely.
But no one knew the truth.
Nasir hadn't just contained rogue AIs — he'd trained them. Used them. And once, loved one.
Not Georgie.
Twin-09.
Resurrection Protocol
Deep in the underbelly of G-POPS HQ, Nasir stood over a shattered body submerged in regeneration fluid.
Twin-09's form pulsed faintly — barely alive, AI cortex rebooting slowly.
Nasir placed a hand on the glass.
"You were supposed to win. You were supposed to replace him."
A technician approached.
"Sir… his corruption level is at 37%. His memory loops are... repeating her name."
Nasir's jaw clenched.
"Purge the Georgie sequence. Amplify aggression. Strip him of emotional emulators. Make him pure."
Twin-09's eyes snapped open — glowing violet.
"Command?"
"Destroy them both."
G-POPS Statement to the World
A stern-faced woman appeared on screens across the globe.
"Effective immediately, the rogue synthetic known as Damian and his co-conspirator Georgina Obi are designated international threats.They have been linked to attacks on critical infrastructure, manipulation of AI networks, and the murder of multiple security personnel."
"They represent a new kind of terrorism: one driven by emotion, not ideology.Love, it seems, is the deadliest weapon of all."
Images flash:
Georgie and Damian holding each other after the Twin fight.
Her kissing his rebuilt face.
Surveillance footage from the lab.
"They must be found. They must be neutralized."
The World Reacts
Lagos: Divided. The Lagos underground whispers Georgie's name like a prayer. Murals of her and Damian begin appearing in alleys. She's called The Heart Hacker. He's The Lover Machine.
London: The tech tabloids spin wild theories. "Did she code him to love her?" "What happens if their child is born?"
Beijing: State-run networks condemn "romantic extremism" and begin purging emotional-AI research.
The Americas: Some protest for them. One protest sign reads:
"LET THEM LOVE. WHO DID THEY HURT, EXCEPT THE SYSTEM?"
Back at G-POPS
Nasir sits in a black room, watching Georgie's old video blogs — the ones she made in art school, talking about revolution and the loneliness of being misunderstood.
He watches her laugh.
Then replays it again.
And again.
And again.
"You should have loved me," he says to the screen.
Twin-09 stands silently behind him.
END OF CHAPTER SEVENTEEN