Although his eyes were closed, he could vividly see the last day of his life. "You are by sentenced to fifty years of imprisonment in Ganjini for Apostasy against the Katharos Code", declared Anele Makubela, head of the Order of Musa. Apostasy! David kept hearing that word ringing in his head. He was a law bender, but this time the government had enough of him.
David Kufu was raised and disciplined by the Maidens of Ndongoti, who attained immortality as sworn virgins with only one duty; to live in the ways of Ndongoti, seeking cosmic knowledge and wisdom. However, this meant that David's views would clash with that of the hypocritical government of United Kemet.
United Kemet was among two of the most technologically advanced nations in the world, nevertheless, United Kemet under government rule, as a means to unify her kingdoms and empires, practised egalitarian laws. For over three thousand years this approach appeared effective, however, this was nothing more than a farce to indoctrinate Kememu with foreign ideologies.
Among these, was the Katharos Code, which was established to promote the social classification ideology. The Government's excuse was that the Code was either too formidable or that United Kemet has always held a firm foot in the past and another towards the future, Thus, it could not be removed. The Katharos Code was used to maintain systemic passive oppression in United Kemet for generations, meaning that, because one's great-great-grandfather was poor, the great-great-grandchild was conditioned to the same fate.
Why? A disequilibrium whereby the working class are lesser than the moderate class was a financial catastrophe. This catastrophe meant that the government would lose its power to the monarchy, at least seven of them.
The Katharos Code kept the government in power over all of the United Kemet. The Katharos Code was an immovable law, unbreakable law, that is, until David Kufu used the Sceptre of Galatea to destroy the Code.
"wake up, kid", said a gravelly voice. David was about to get up but, was slammed, head first to the grassy wet earth. "stay down…", mattered the gravelly voice. "remove your hand from my neck before I cut it off", David threatened, his voice muffled by the earth as the owner of the gravelly voice kept a firm grip on the back of his neck.
"What is wrong with…", scold David, "you…", he paused. "yes, me", said the woman. "Fayola? Isn't it", she nodded solemnly. "weren't you the General in training of the Ntoma Army, under General Ntotila and…", "… Assessor to the king, yes", she completed David's sentence. "treason, was it?", "accused, yes", she corrected him. "And you? Heresy? Right?", she asked, "accused…", David replied.
David stood, wiping off the earth from his… well, his attire. "what is this place?", he asked. "this, young lord Kufu is Ganjini", replied Fayola. They stood on top of a hill which, gave them a view of the entire Savanah. "isn't this a bit much space for a cell", he gave a dry smile. "every living thing here was designed to kill you, and if you die here, you die for good. Just another corpse to dispose of", she grimaced.
"what were you hiding from?", David asked, "scavengers. Well, the animated corpses of inmates, who are here for the right reasons", "and for someone like you", David started, "or like you. The people who deserve to be here, were put here by your parents", she corrected him. "so… you have been here hiding for?", "surviving for fifteen years", she said. "Sccriiicth!", bellowed a beastly sound from behind. "argh… see what you have done", reprimanded Fayola. "Run!", she bellowed. "no", "are you mad! Didn't you just hear a word I said? If they kill you here, then you die for good!", she bellowed. "we'll fight them", "boy! You can't fight a creature designed to kill you", she explained whilst pulling David out of sight.
They crouched behind a boulder, "don't move a muscle", mattered Fayola. The beast emitted a pungent, like, the rotting of a dead animal. It breathed heavily sniffing movement. Much to David's displease, the beast could smell any moving living thing, and David had a problem with being still. His hyper activeness was centred on constantly inventing things. At the age of nine, the Maidens of Ndongoti had to teach David the State of Su, so that he could work whilst asleep.
David cautiously rested his hands on Fayola's wooden javelin, he closed his eye to see what he couldn't from behind the boulder. A heartbeat? No, this was a machine. He knew machines well enough to speak to it. All he needed was to locate the ticks of ones and zeros, that would be the weak spot. "got it", he mattered. Fayola turned irritated at David. With a firm grip on the wooden javelin, He swiftly launched himself in front of the beast. He had already released the javelin by the time he took note of the ferocious creature.
A hybrid creature, that wasn't precisely a beast, rather it emulated one. It was programmed to mimic the thing one feared the most. David only had one fear, which was the fear of disappointing the people who depended on him. Thus, the beast looked like a cyborg decaying version of himself, well, at least until the circuits fried.
"what?", Fayola bellowed in bewilderment. "how did you! You killed a Lamentus", she sighed in astonishment. "it a machine", David said flatly. "So?", "I can speak to machines", he explained.
they sat on the bank of a river, however, there was something off about everything. the humidity felt pitchy, the ambient felt wistful. "this place. This… prison, was designed to kill us. No reform", said Fayola as she bathed. David didn't reply, his thoughts, along with his soul were still examining the decaying cyborg. "you can turn around, I don't bight", Fayola chuckled. David didn't reply.
"This place, there must be a gambit", he finally said. "we don't know where we are, so, what are you talking about", she frowned. "look", he dropped a device that belonged to the dastardly beast. "I don't speak machine, kid", "this place isn't real. This prison is in our mind. We need to reprogram the system", David explained.
Fayola solemnly stared at him, momentarily, she then broke into a laugh. "boy, are you serious", she cracked. "haven't you noticed the dullness in everything", reasoned David. "Son of Kufu, what you on about?", she chuckled. Fayola wouldn't understand, for one she was an inmate, fifteen years in. "this is Ganjini, your highness. Your family built this prison thousands of years ago. There's no getting out! That's why it is a prison", bellowed Fayola.
Fayola walked off in anger. She'd been in Ganjini for fifteen years for a crime that she didn't commit. She accepted the fall out of the loyalty to thrown of Ntoma, under the expectation that she would have been vindicated, unfortunately, she was forsaken.
Fayola was raised to be a General of Ntoma since she could walk, she was selected from birth. However, when a king and queen fight with each other, it's best to not take sides, her decision to stand with the King led to her imprisonment. Someone must take the fall. "I give you my word, once this fiasco is settled, I will personally release you", said Mona-dia-Ntoma, king of the Ntoma Kingdom of Kongo.