Death of the Author

Secret is admitted to the hospital after experiencing a serious heart attack. When Zelu arrives, Chinyere gets angry at her, insinuating that Zelu is to blame because she was absent when it happened. Omoshalewa eventually clears the room to get some privacy. Soon after, Secret dies. Zelu stands outside of the room in shock, and when it is clear that no one needs her, she goes home.

Later that night, Tolu summons Zelu to their parents’ house. Secret’s relatives have arrived from Nigeria. Before Zelu leaves, Msizi encourages her not to be cowed by her family. Zelu arrives during an argument between her family and her uncles. Zelu’s uncles want Secret to be buried in Mbaise, Nigeria. Omoshalewa objects because of her royal heritage, indicating that Secret has a place with her in Ondo. Chinyere diplomatically agrees to consider her uncles’ demands but asks for time to discuss what to do with Secret’s remains. 

Chinyere is upset by their uncles’ demands, knowing that they will try to seize Secret’s assets next. Amarachi condemns their demands as patriarchal expectations. When this kicks off an argument between her and Tolu, Zelu tries to get the discussion back on track, reiterating the question of where Secret will be buried. Remembering that her father is dead, Zelu bursts into tears, which brings the family together into an embrace.

A wake is held for Secret in Chicago. Zelu struggles through the day, unsure how she can go through life without her father. Msizi supports her, and eventually, Zelu’s sister Bola brings Zelu into the family’s private room. Omoshalewa urges everyone to take their time, but Amarachi is eager to get the day over with. 

In the viewing room, Omoshalewa and Zelu are distraught by how angry Secret looks, misrepresenting how he was in life. Zelu has a panic attack, which causes her siblings to weep. Msizi talks her through her panic attack, urging her to draw from her identity as a writer to witness her situation and turn it into something creative. This relieves Zelu.

Zelu and Amarachi nearly confront an aunt who encourages Omoshalewa to smile for her visitors but are stopped by Chinyere. Zelu feels for her mother, who has to endure not only the grief of losing her husband but also the knowledge that she will eventually have to be buried with him in Mbaise. Zelu takes Msizi’s advice to bear witness to her surroundings. 

A group of Igbo men initiate a masquerade performance during the wake. Their performance honors Secret as their chief, announcing his passage into the spirit world. Omoshalewa joins her weeping with the masquerade song. The fact that women don’t normally join the masquerade dance inspires Zelu. She and her siblings encourage Omoshalewa to use the dance as an outlet for her feelings, even if it goes against cultural standards. They know that Secret would enjoy the sight.

Zelu’s grief causes her to question her purpose in life. She wishes that she were a robot until Msizi reminds her that robots experience pain, death, and finality, too.

Zelu declines Jack Preston’s invitation to go to the ISS. Chinyere asks Zelu to stay with Omoshalewa for two weeks while the other siblings attend Secret’s funeral in Mbaise. She reluctantly agrees, though she wishes that she could go as well since she hasn’t visited Nigeria in a long time.

Zelu keeps Omoshalewa company through her grief, which she must hide while entertaining society women. While preparing to meet the women, Omoshalewa is frustrated with the way her hair looks and brings up Amanda Parker’s hair. This reminds Zelu of her terrible interview.

Zelu watches Secret’s funeral on a livestream arranged by Tolu. After her siblings return from Nigeria, they celebrate Omoshalewa’s birthday by taking her to the best Black hair salon in the city. Omoshalewa is nervous at first, but Zelu encourages her by reminding her how brave she and Secret were to come to the US to seek better lives. This convinces Omoshalewa, who finds joy in her courage.

Omoshalewa is happy with how her hair turns out, resembling Amanda’s style. After Omoshalewa’s salon appointment, Zelu brings her mother home for a surprise birthday party. The guests are more surprised by Omoshalewa’s new hairstyle than she is by their presence.

A year passes. Everyone in the family goes to Nigeria except for Zelu, whose fame makes it impossible for her to travel throughout the country without being harassed. Zelu pleads with her mother to let her go, but Omoshalewa resists. Zelu is alone on the day of Secret’s death anniversary. She calls Hugo for company, but they keep missing each other’s attempts to connect.

In the novel, Ankara discovers that Cross River City was turned into a silent sanctuary by a Hume named Oga Chukwu, who prevented the Ghosts’ purge protocol from entering the city. Ankara didn’t receive Oga Chukwu’s signal to come because of Ijele’s presence in her system.

The Humes do not detect Ijele upon Ankara’s entry into the city. Ankara informs Oga Chukwu of Udide the Spider’s discovery. Oga Chukwu invites Ankara to speak at the next Hume gathering. 

The gathering brings together all the city’s leaders and intellectuals. Ankara shares Udide’s story and the countdown to the Trippers’ arrival in just over 500 days. The Hume leaders appreciate Ankara’s news but are more preoccupied with the Ghosts’ plot to eradicate them. They ask Ankara to first help in the war against the Ghosts. Ankara tries to argue that the Trippers are the larger threat, but the Hume leaders disagree. She reluctantly accepts the role of general when the Humes promise to focus on the Trippers after the war.

A year passes. Tensions between the Humes and Ghosts approach a breaking point. General Ankara debates with another Hume warrior named Shay, who connects the Purge protocol to Central Bulletin. Shay insists on a preemptive strike, while Ankara wants to maintain their defensive positions. Ankara tries to argue against Shay’s biases toward the Ghosts, but she is also nervous that her connection to Ijele could be discovered. Over the past year, Ankara has heard nothing from Ijele.

Two years after Secret’s passing, Zelu decides to visit Nigeria. Worried that something bad will happen, Msizi doesn’t want Zelu to go. Zelu retorts that she won’t be going alone since she will be accompanied by Hugo, Marcy, and Uchenna.

Zelu is nervous about being seen with her exos in Nigeria, considering how much people had looked down on her when she visited the country using her wheelchair. Hugo wears short pants during the flight to Lagos, showing off his prosthetic legs in solidarity with Zelu. During the flight, Zelu is shocked when a woman asks her to autograph her copy of Rusted Robots. Zelu is annoyed, but she obliges the request.

Zelu and her companions rush through the uncomfortable Lagos airport. Zelu pushes away a young man who offers to help her carry her bags and calls her “robot ma.” The hotel relieves their stress, giving Zelu the space to call her mother. Omoshalewa reminds Zelu to contact her relatives, Uncle Ralph and Auntie Mary.

The next morning, Zelu goes to Tarkwa Bay Beach with Hugo and Uchenna. She gets annoyed when she learns that they need to take another boat to access the beach. Eventually, they hire a man who charges Zelu three times the usual fare because of who she is. This annoys Zelu, but Hugo dismisses it as an extra charge for the exos. Zelu is annoyed further by a group of white British tourists who recognize her.

The captain stops the boat before reaching the shore, requiring the passengers to disembark and wade through the water. Hugo chooses to remain on board. Zelu decides to swim, leaving her exos behind with Hugo. The captain is in awe of Zelu. He cautions her not to get lost since many Nigerians look up to her, including those who claim to hate her.

Zelu finds peace in the water. She meets a doctor who regularly swims during lunch. The doctor is impressed by Zelu. They glimpse dolphins swimming by, reminding Zelu of her father.

In an interview, Bola speaks about what her granduncle referred to as Zelu’s “disease.” Zelu is unlike any of her siblings because she doesn’t try to compete for the elders’ attention. She is watched over by spirits who affect her life in unexpected ways.

Bola recalls Zelu’s challenging experiences in Nigeria. Zelu has a strong personality, but she still loves traveling to Nigeria, even if it doesn’t seem to love her back and refuses to accommodate her disability needs. 

On one occasion, Zelu asked Bola to accompany her outside. They were followed by a group of boys who made fun of them for speaking English and being fascinated with the local flora. Zelu and Bola came across their granduncle, who they refer to as Uncle Pious. Uncle Pious criticized Zelu for failing to visit him on her own. When Zelu cited her disability as a hindrance to a visit, Uncle Pious implied that Zelu gave herself a disability on purpose. Zelu and Bola were furious but held back out of respect for their elder.

After one of the boys following Zelu threw a pebble at her, Uncle Pious spoke to them in Igbo, scaring them away. Uncle Pious called both Zelu and Bola “incomplete” for failing to learn Igbo. He then explained that he spoke a terrifying name to scare the boys away. The name refers to a phantom that appears to one boy at a time to take his head. The story terrified Bola but enchanted Zelu so much that she forgot her annoyance with Uncle Pious.

Bola realizes that Zelu’s enchantment is a sign of her ability to connect invisible things. None of their siblings ever valued this ability until she changed the world with it.

In Nigeria, while Zelu is waiting for Auntie Mary, a group of men harass her, insulting her disability and marital status. Auntie Mary arrives and rebukes the men, threatening to have them incarcerated for offending a princess.

Uncle Ralph and Auntie Mary live in a mansion in a gated neighborhood, thanks to Uncle Ralph’s role as president of a major telecommunications company. Zelu’s relatives react positively to her exos, making her feel impressive. Uncle Ralph observes that Zelu’s family is panicking now that Zelu is trying to rewrite the story of her life and leave home. This pleases Zelu.

Zelu arrives at the Port Harcourt International Airport with her companions and meets Uncle Onyemobi, Secret’s brother. They try to move discreetly through the area, anxious about their outsider status, but they drive out in SUVs flanked by military men. Zelu’s driver navigates the roads recklessly, making her nervous. They reach Onyemobi’s village, where he introduces the group to three soldiers assigned to guard them, Ogo, Yagazi, and James. From the moment they are introduced, the guards ridicule Zelu and her companions as outsiders.

The following day, Zelu is driven to Auntie Udoka’s house. Secret’s younger brother Chinedu is also present. He calls Zelu’s exos “unnatural,” but Auntie Udoka defends it. Over lunch, they discuss Zelu’s fame, though she barely manages to say anything. She is nervous about the people waiting outside the house, but Uncle Chinedu stresses that she needs to greet them out of respect. 

Zelu wanders into the backyard while her relatives get ready. She encounters a man who recognizes her and speaks in Igbo. Zelu does not realize that he is Uncle Pious. He advises her about the cost of her fame, suggesting that she is losing her humanity to become a robot. Zelu forces herself to thank him, even if she doesn’t agree with his advice. She only feels validated when Uncle Pious observes her resemblance to Secret.

Zelu visits her father’s ancestral home with her relatives. She reminisces about her childhood visits to the house but is shocked to see how much it has fallen apart. Now that her father has died, no one maintains it. Zelu resolves to restore the house herself. She finds the ancestral shrine and her father’s simple gravesite. She speaks to Secret, announcing her return home.

In the novel, Shay calls a gathering of the Hume war leaders, headed by Oga Chukwu. Ankara arrives last but is shocked by Ijele’s sudden reappearance in her mind. Ankara tries to send Ijele away, but Ijele is too fascinated by the meeting to obey. 

Ankara fears being labeled a traitor. Sometime earlier, a Hume named Jim had been suspected of harboring a Ghost in his mind when he failed to react to a lightning strike during a gathering. He was immediately dismembered by his peers. 

Shay reports her suspicion that the purge protocol had been initiated by CB. Ijele orders Ankara to stop Shay’s report, but Ankara refuses to hold back the truth. This announcement drives the Humes’ initiative to strike back at CB. 

After the gathering, Ijele threatens to report what happened to CB. She clarifies that CB isn’t the NoBodies’ leader but a repository of shared knowledge. Ankara rejects this claim, citing the hierarchical structure implied in Ijele’s own files. Ankara reminds Ijele of their loyalty to each other, stressing that she held back reporting what intelligence she gleaned from Ijele to the Humes. Ijele leaves.

On the way back to Port Harcourt airport, Zelu’s SUV convoy slows down. Heavily armed men surround the car, breaking through the windows with assault rifles. The driver abandons the car, and Zelu’s group realizes that this is a planned ambush. Zelu recognizes one of her security detail, Ogo, among the attackers. Zelu decides to run for her life and focuses all her effort on her escape.

Once she clears a certain distance, she attempts to call Msizi and Chinyere. Neither one answers. Zelu starts a Facebook Live video and reports what happened to her followers. She keeps running with the video on so that her followers can track her whereabouts. 

At one point, she shows them the stars above and muses on what it would be like to be out in space, floating without the need for her exos. She laments that it is only on Earth that she would be considered “abnormal.” She asks her followers to reach out to her family and commands her Yebo app to help her find her way to the airport.

After an hour, Zelu reaches the airport. She tells her followers that her exos kept her alive and that Msizi’s app showed her the way to safety. As she is received by police, Zelu declares her wish to leave Earth on Facebook Live.

The next morning, she wakes up in the hospital. Uncle Ralph informs her that her companions are safe with Uchenna’s family and that he knows about Ogo’s involvement in the kidnapping plot. He indicates that the community will execute retribution against Ogo for his transgression and tells Zelu not to worry.

When Zelu opens her phone, she sees that the Yebo app has created a “Window of Love,” sharing all the supportive comments she has gotten from her followers since her viral Facebook Live video. She also sees messages from her family and Msizi. When Zelu gets distracted by the online discourse around her foiled kidnapping attempt, her Yebo app reminds her to return to the Window of Love. Zelu is dismayed, feeling that the love is useless “if she [can] only see it through a window” (344).