"Heart rate is stable sir, should I begin animation process?"
"Indeed Carol, begin animation process, keep an eye on his vitals, he's the last of the seven and his constitution is much weaker than the first six, so be careful."
"Yes sir."
I heard their voices, but it was muffled, weak. Like I was listening through a wall as opposed to being in the same room with them. their voices sounded far and near at the same time, and there was a vibration to them that I couldn't put my finger on. But never the less I was alive, and that was what I couldn't understand. I felt myself die, or at least that was what I expected death to feel like, but now I was alive, or maybe I was still dead and I was just hearing voices from the afterlife, regardless; if this was heaven, it absolutely sucked.
"Umm sir?"
"What is it Carol?"
"He's awake sir, and the scanners says he's listening to us."
Now this is when things get weird, I don't understand how I could be alive, and even more so that there would be people around talking about me. I forced my eyes open, but I had to shut them again from the sting they received by the liquid I now found myself in. but panic didn't let me leave them close as I opened my eyes and found myself in a pod filled to the brim with water that was bubbling. I could see the people whose voices I've been hearing from the other side of this cage; it was an older man and a young woman who looked to be in her mid to late 20s.
As dark skinned as they came, with both their hair being a startling shade of silver, they looked at me with teeth the brightest of white and eyes filled with pride. I couldn't understand what made them so happy, but I was awake none the less. I raised my hands up to my face, feeling the breathing apparatus that helped me breathe, it was extremely unconfutable as I felt it snake its way deep into my stomach, and then that's when I saw my reflection.
The person I saw was definitely me, but my eyes were just an infinite pool of blackness. They were there, but they were just black orbs within my eye sockets. And on my dark skin, I could see swirls that actually reminded me of speakers glowing green like some sort luminescent tattoo. My heart rate sped up as I became overcame with fear, I looked at the people beyond the tiny confinement of my pod and finally noticed one very obvious and scary fact, I was small, really small. And with that the darkness took me.
<<<<+>>>>
3 WEEKS LATER
This wasn't home, this wasn't The Kogi State federal university of Nigeria, this was still earth, it was still Nigeria….it was just not the world I remembered. The last three weeks have been a roller coaster ride for me, for one I was six years old and I had to learn how to crawl, walk and then run from the ground up again. And then I've been stuck in what these people called orientation and induction ever since.
I was isolated for most of it with only the woman Carol taking care of my needs and looking after me. For some reason I couldn't speak, no matter how hard I tried the words just wouldn't come out, so I couldn't tell them that I remembered a world much different from what I just woke up in. maybe it was for the best, but not having a voice and having eyes that my father would have called a sign of the devil did not sit well with me. It wasn't just my father that was religious, but honestly I don't understand what was going on here, this was not heaven or hell, so right now religion is being called into question.
This earth was very advanced, so much that even a place like Africa had flying cars, spaceship, underground rail lines that literally ran all the way south to the Atlantic, connecting the continent with the rest of the world. There were space stations and colonies, and new planets and aliens and demons and monsters from other dimensions and planets.
The earth wasn't any larger, but its government has experienced a severe change, the major powers had different names and different borders. There were empires, kingdoms, theocracies and parliaments. But the world was just too big for my mind to handle right now, the biggest change for me was what came to my home. Nigeria was now divided into four zones; the north that belongs the Free Caliphates, consisting of sultans and emirs who led what was now a predominantly Islam country, and the place I now find myself in.
To the southwest and much of the south is the Oduduwas, a collective of villages, cities and states and kingdoms led by the Obas and chiefs of the holy city of Ile-Ife. And to the east, south east and south-south are the True sons of Biafra. A collective of tribes all answering to one king, making the whole of Biafra. And the fourth and final zone is central Nigeria, a place that's contested amongst many as it is the core of the country and a place that rich in resources….it used to be my home….and now it's a fucking warzone.
"Number Seven, I'm pretty sure you must have been bored and lonely by yourself these three weeks, but don't worry. Today we'll have you bonded to your very own system terminal, and then we can begin your training. Isn't it exciting?" Nurse Carol asked as she came into the room, a now very obvious Hijab on her head. I couldn't say anything to her, so all I could give was a small nod of agreement.
And then she devolved into a tirade about all of the awesome things I'll be able to do and achieve once I have the system, it seems she was very excited about this. But to me it was just one other thing to be really scared about, after all… this system that they're talking about, is the reason why the earth I'm in, is so damn different from what I remember, and the thought of somehow becoming one with it, has filled me with trepidation, I really couldn't explain it, but there was a kind of horror and chill in my bones. It made me want to curl up into myself and hide, the system seems much worse than the devil himself.