Ten minutes later, Jay was still standing in the kitchen.
The black case sat open on the counter.
He had already closed it once.
Then he had opened it again.
Then closed it.
Then opened it again.
The device inside had not changed.
It still rested neatly in the molded foam as if it had been waiting there for years, its dark surface reflecting the dim kitchen light. At the center of that smooth black surface was the glowing circle.
The button.
It pulsed softly, brightening and fading in a slow rhythm.
Patient.
Steady.
Certain.
Jay folded his arms and leaned against the counter, staring at it.
"You could stop doing that," he muttered.
The button continued glowing.
He picked up the small note again.
The paper felt strangely heavy for something so simple.
He read the message once more.
DO NOT PRESS.
Jay turned the paper over.
Nothing on the back.
He folded it carefully and slipped it into his pocket.
"Not pressing it," he said out loud.
The apartment did not respond.
Outside, a car drove past. Somewhere in the building above him, someone dragged furniture across the floor with a grinding scrape.
Jay sighed and looked back at the device.
The glow continued.
Slow pulse.
Bright.
Dim.
Bright.
Dim.
He reached forward.
Then stopped himself.
"Nope."
Jay turned away and walked to the window.
The street outside looked exactly the same as it had an hour ago.
People moved along the sidewalk.
A motorcycle rattled past.
A street vendor shouted something unintelligible from the corner.
Normal.
Completely normal.
Jay rested his forehead lightly against the cool glass.
Yesterday he had a job.
Yesterday his biggest problem had been waking up late.
Now he was unemployed, almost broke, and standing in his kitchen arguing with a mysterious device that had arrived in an unmarked package.
He looked back toward the counter.
The button was still glowing.
"Okay," he said quietly.
He walked back to the counter.
"Just holding it."
He reached down and lifted the device from the foam.
It was lighter than he expected.
Almost weightless.
It settled into his palm naturally, like it had been designed to sit there. The surface was warm—comfortably warm—like something alive that carried its own quiet heat.
Jay turned it slightly.
The glowing circle stared up at him.
Close now.
Very close.
Round and Bright.
He could feel the faint warmth spreading through his palm.
Jay frowned.
"That's… weird."
The warmth wasn't fading.
If anything, it was growing stronger.
It was not burning.
Just present.
He looked at the button again.
The note in his pocket felt suddenly heavier.
Do not press it.
Jay laughed quietly.
"Yeah," he said. "Great advice which didnt stir anyones curiosity."
His thumb hovered above the circle.
For a moment he hesitated.
His mind wandered through the last forty-eight hours.
The alarm that never rang.
Chasing a bus that didn't stop.
Mister Chen quietly ending his employment like he was closing a spreadsheet.
Twelve hundred naira in his wallet.
A cracked phone screen.
Seventeen missed calls he still hadn't answered.
Jay stared at the glowing circle.
"Well," he said softly.
"What's one more bad decision?"
He pressed it.
Nothing happened.
For three seconds, absolutely nothing happened.
Jay blinked.
He looked at the device.
Then at his thumb.
"Really?"
Then the surface moved.
It moved like water.
A ripple spread outward from the point where his thumb had touched the button.
The ripple traveled across the entire surface of the device.
Then something stranger happened.
The ripple kept going.
Up his thumb.
Across his palm.
Along his wrist.
Jay gasped as warmth flowed up his arm like liquid heat, sliding beneath the skin. It wasn't painful.
It was Just intense.
The sensation traveled up his forearm, reached his shoulder, and settled deep in his chest just behind his sternum.
Like a coal finding its place in a furnace.
Jay jerked his hand away.
The ripple disappeared instantly.
The device's surface changed.
The black reflection faded .
A dark blue sky filled the screen, the color of early dawn just before sunrise.
White text began appearing.
Letter by letter.
INITIALIZING
USER DETECTED
SCANNING
Jay stared at it.
"Okay."
He slowly lifted the device higher.
Then something even stranger happened.
His hand stopped moving.
The device remained perfectly level in midair.
Jay blinked.
He carefully opened his fingers.
The device did not fall.
It just floated there.
Three centimeters above his palm.
Jay stared at it.
Then at his hand.
Then back at the floating device.
"…That's new."
The text changed.
SCAN COMPLETE
HOST PROFILE IDENTIFIED
NAME: JAY OKAFOR
STATUS: UNASSIGNED
OVERRIDE ACCEPTED
Jay frowned.
"Override what?"
The device did not answer.
More text appeared.
SYNCHRONIZATION COMPLETE
WELCOME, AGENT
Then the device spoke.
The voice was calm, neutral, and perfectly precise.
Nor robotic or any human either.
Somewhere in between.
"Hello, Jay Okafor."
Jay froze.
"You have been selected as a field agent for the Order."
The voice paused briefly.
"Your first mission briefing will begin in sixty seconds."
Jay blinked.
"Please remain calm."
Jay did not remain calm.
He grabbed the floating device and slammed it face-down onto the counter.
Then he stepped backward.
One step.
Two steps.
Three.
He stopped when his back touched the kitchen wall.
From the counter, the voice continued.
"Misson briefing begins in fifty-three seconds."
Jay pointed at the device.
"No."
The device continued calmly.
"Fifty seconds."
Jay dragged a hand down his face.
"Nope. Absolutely not. I didn't sign up for this shit."
"Forty-six seconds."
Jay paced the kitchen.
"I didn't press anything that meant 'join secret organization.'"
The device responded immediately.
"Override accepted constitutes binding agreement under Order Protocol Seven."
Jay stared at it.
"That's not how consent works."
"Thirty seconds."
Jay groaned loudly.
"This is a fucking scam.why did i press that fucking button"
He marched back across the kitchen and grabbed the device again.
The screen was brighter now.
A map had appeared.
Thin white lines formed streets.
Buildings.
Intersections.
Jay leaned closer.
"That's…"
His stomach dropped slightly.
"That's my neighborhood."
A glowing white dot marked one building.
His building.
Another dot blinked into existence.
Red.
Moving.
Jay frowned.
"Twenty seconds," the device announced.
The red dot moved slowly along the street grid.
Closer.
Jay turned toward the window.
"Fifteen seconds."
He stepped closer to the glass and looked down at the street below.
Nothing unusual.
Cars passing.
People walking.
Completely normal.
Jay looked back at the screen.
The red dot moved again.
Closer.
"Ten seconds."
Jay's grip tightened.
"What exactly is this mission?"
The device did not answer.
The countdown continued.
"Five seconds."
Jay glanced between the window and the screen.
"Four."
The red dot stopped moving.
"Three."
It was directly beneath his apartment.
"Two."
Another red dot appeared beside it.
Then another.
"One."
Jay's stomach dropped.
The device spoke again.
"Mission briefing begins now."
At that exact moment, a loud crash echoed from the street below.
The sound of a door being kicked open.
Hard.
Jay rushed to the window.
People were scattering on the sidewalk.
Two men stood beside a van directly below his building.
Both wearing dark jackets.
Both looking up.
Jay slowly looked back down at the screen.
The red dots blinked.
Three of them now.
And all three were directly beneath his window.
The device spoke calmly in his hand.
"Primary mission objective: survive first contact."
Jay blinked.
"...Wait."
Down on the street, one of the men pointed upward.
Directly at him.
Jay swallowed.
"Oh."
The device pulsed softly.
"Good luck, Agent."