Year: 1885
The rifle felt wrong in Taiwo's hands.
Six months since he had joined the weapons program. Six months of learning the forge, the barrel-making, the delicate art of rifling. Now his first completed weapon waited for testing.
The testing range occupied a natural depression in the forest, surrounded by earthen berms. Targets stood at measured distances--wooden frames shaped like men.
"Check your work." Master Igue stood at a safe distance, the scars from the furnace explosion vivid on his forearms. "Every barrel. Every time."
Taiwo ran the gauge through the bore. The tool slid smoothly, finding no imperfection in the spiral grooves he had cut by hand over weeks of painstaking labor.
"It's good."
"Then mount it on the test frame. We fire remotely first."
The remote firing protocol had become sacred law since the explosion. A rope-and-pulley system allowed triggering from behind an earthen barrier, fifty yards from the weapon.
Taiwo mounted the rifle, loaded it with standard powder measured exactly as Igue had taught him.
"The rifle doesn't know you made it," Igue said. "It only knows physics. It will perform exactly as well as your craftsmanship allows."
The rope felt rough in Taiwo's hands.
"On your command."
Taiwo pulled.
CRACK.
The sound was clean. Sharp. The target sprouted a hole near center.
---
Taiwo ran to the rifle, his heart pounding.
He checked the barrel first--no cracks, no warping, no signs of stress. He cycled the breach mechanism. It moved smoothly.
"It works."
"Your first." Igue allowed himself a small smile. "Mark it with your stamp."
Taiwo applied his stamp to the stock, leaving his mark on the weapon.
"When I started, I thought I was just learning a trade."
"And now?"
"Now I understand. We're not just building weapons. We're building choices. Someone standing between their family and an enemy will have a choice because of what we make."
"Not everyone sees that. But seeing costs something. Once you understand that every trigger pull might save a life or take one, the work becomes heavier."
---
The testing continued through the morning.
More rifles from other apprentices. Some passed, their reports clean. Some failed, their weaknesses revealed. Each failure became a lesson.
"Why did that one break?" a young apprentice asked.
Igue picked up a fragment. "The carbon content wasn't even. When the stress of firing found the weak point, the structure failed."
"How do we make it even?"
"Practice. Patience. Attention to every detail. The British have had centuries to develop their techniques. We have years. That means we must be more careful than they ever needed to be."
---
That evening, Taiwo returned to the workshop floor.
He found his station and began working on his next barrel. The steel rod felt different now. Not just raw material, but the beginning of something that would matter.
Obi, one of the senior workers, paused by his station.
"I heard your first one passed. That's good work."
"I just followed what Igue taught."
"Following is easy. Understanding why is hard. You understand why." He paused. "In this work, fewer mistakes means fewer men dead."
---
The night shift arrived. Taiwo should have left with the others. Instead, he stayed at his station.
Igue found him there after midnight.
"You should rest."
"I need to know it wasn't luck. I need to prove I can do it again."
"It wasn't luck." Igue sat on a nearby stool. "But I understand the need. After my first success, I stayed at the forge for three days."
They sat in silence, the sounds of the forge surrounding them.
"Master Igue," Taiwo said. "The men who died in the explosion. Did you know them well?"
Igue's expression shifted. "Okonkwo was my best friend. We grew up in the same village. He was supposed to be at the other end of the workshop when the explosion happened."
"I'm sorry."
"So am I. Every day, I think about what I could have done differently."
"It wasn't your fault."
"Maybe not. But it was my responsibility. That's what leadership costs. When things go right, you share the credit. When things go wrong, you carry the blame."
---
Taiwo finished his second rifle three days later.
It passed the testing protocol without hesitation. He marked it with his stamp and carried it to the storage racks.
Row upon row of rifles. Hundreds now, with more added every week.
"Impressive, isn't it?"
Taiwo spun. Oba Akenzua stood behind him.
Taiwo dropped to one knee. "My lord."
"Your second rifle, I understand. Igue says you have talent. That you understand the purpose, not just the process."
"I try to, my lord."
Akenzua walked along the storage racks. "Do you know what these represent?"
"Weapons for the army, my lord."
"More than that. Choices. Every rifle here is a choice some man will make. To fight instead of flee. To resist instead of surrender."
"I've thought about that, my lord."
"Good. The men who make these weapons carry the same burden as the men who use them." Akenzua paused. "These rifles will go to soldiers defending Benin's walls. But they'll also go to soldiers expanding Benin's borders. Warri. The Ijaw delta. The Igala territories. Your work doesn't just protect--it conquers."
"I understand, my lord."
"Do you? When a rifle built by your hands helps take Warri for our naval facilities, when it secures an Ijaw channel for our trade routes, when it persuades an Igala chief that alliance is wiser than resistance--you share in that. The empire we're building is built on steel and powder. Your steel. Your powder."
Taiwo met the king's eyes. "Then I'll make sure every rifle is worthy of that purpose."
"That's all any of us can do." Akenzua moved toward the exit. "What's your name?"
"Taiwo, my lord."
"Taiwo." The king nodded. "Keep working. Keep learning. And when the time comes to use what you've built, be ready."
---
That night, Taiwo walked home through the forest paths.
He thought about what the king had said. About choices. About burden. About the empire being built on the work of his hands.
He thought about the rifle he had made. Where it might end up. Whose hands it might pass through. Whether it would defend a wall or take one.
Tomorrow, he would return to the forge. Begin his third rifle. Then his fourth.
Until the arsenal was complete. Until the kingdom was ready. Until the naval facilities at Warri were defended by weapons he had built. Until the Ijaw channels were secured. Until the Igala territories were integrated.
One rifle at a time.
One choice at a time.
Until the counting was done.