This isn't real.
How could it be real.
After spending two days exploring the city of Kemet with the dog-like creature that refused to give her a name or anything to address it by Ramuna was starting to realize that there was indeed no way for her to be dreaming of all this. The Jackal as Ramuna started to call it for her own sake gave her an hourglass and each way was exactly twenty-four hours. It was so Ramuna could know when a day went by considering it never was daytime in Kemet.
Another awful thing Ramuna soon learned in her two days of being in Kemet was that everyone who had perished from her atomic bomb resided now on this lunar world but not only them. Their ancestors as well. They all lived inside the colossal pyramids, enormous cities were built inside the pyramids, everything the people needed was there. There was no need to go outside the pyramids and that explained why when Ramuna ran out onto the vast land for the first time it almost looked abandoned from incoming meteorites. She also learned that underground tunnels connected all the pyramids together.
Most of the two days her and the Jackal traveled within the pyramids he barely spoke to her but Ramuna knew well by now that her thoughts were not private. For once in her life she felt like the test subject. Not only to the Jackal but to everyone on this planet that watched them as they went through each hidden city.
Did everyone know who she was?
The past two days had been lonely. If the Jackal had not been leading the way she might have admitted that she would have gone insane. No one in the cities ever approached them, nor did they wave. Most of them usually would just quickly look away if they had never noticed the two walking the paths.
What Ramuna would have presumed to be evening time on the third day the Jackal led her into a small pub, just like the rest of the structures they visited since her time on the planet this pub was made of sun hardened brick. Which Ramuna found quite ironic considering they were on a lunar world.
As they entered, the strong smell of alluring spices hit them. Ramuna took in a deep breath, actually enjoying the smells that the pub offered. Not only was the smell lovely but in the corner of the pub there was a musician playing on a small guitar. His music attracted Ramuna's attention. She was quite impressed and almost found herself lost in the music.
"That is an Oud. Not a small guitar."
The Jackal's voice snapped her from her trance and she looked over to see his arm extended pointing to a table against the wall in a corner away from most of the guests in the pub. A large candelabra was at the center of the table with six candles lit upon it and another odd device was on the table. It looked like an oval shaped vase with hoses coming out of it from two sides.
Ramuna sat down at the same time the Jackal sat across from her. Not once had they stopped in the two days of their journey. She had learned sleep and hunger was non-existent to her and so for the Jackal. Everyone else, though she had noticed, went into their homes to sleep and people went to marketplaces to buy food. Did they do it because they were so used to their human lives before Ramuna stole that away from them? Or was there something different happening to her and this man on this odd planet?
"Do you know who I am, Ramuna?"
Was that a trick question? Ramuna had not a clue. She assumed he must have been a deity of Atann. Ramuna never had the time to dabble in Atann history or customs. Her whole life since she was twelve years old was destined to become the world's smartest chemist.
The Jackal let out a small laugh under his breath. "I am not a God. Nor am I mortal. Now for both our sakes how about you start talking. I am getting tired of reading your mind. The past two days I have felt like a father taking his child out into the city for the first time dragging you all over."
"Why did you make me travel all throughout the pyramids?" Ramuna asked curiously wondering why now was the time he decided to stop their journey to talk.
"To experience what you took away from the world. Since you never took the time to go visit and see what you were about to destroy before making a rational decision."
Ramuna was stunned. Sure the Jackal was right but… "I-"
"So this 'oval shaped thing with hoses' as you weirdly described it to yourself," he said, speaking softly interrupting the objection she was about to have against his words, "is a Hookah. Non-tobacco, even though if you prefer there are tobacco flavors. That isn't my style though. Have you ever smoked flavors before, Ramuna? It's one of the only leisures I have time to enjoy. Try it."
Ramuna sat there in shock as he held out the hose lighting the center of the Hookah, her mouth slightly open in astonishment. Not only shocked but mortified. She had never been interrupted and so calmly at that in her life! It was like the Jackal saw her decision as a joke!
"For the record Ramuna. Your decision clearly wasn't a joke. It killed over a billion people and took away my home-"
"Tobacco please. I am going to need it." Ramuna decided to cut him off as well. Two could play the game. He was lucky she did not risk finding out what would happen if she punched him in his ugly dog-like face.
"By the way, it's a mask. A very realistic looking one but one can do that when they are in touch with Heka." The Jackal said, dropping a few tobacco leaves into the Hookah and handing her the hose.
"What is Heka?" Ramuna asked, raising the hose to her lips.
"Draw it in like you would a cigarette." Ignoring her question.
Ramuna inhaled the sweet smoke and was shocked to find it tasted like cherries. The moment of enjoyment did not last quickly as she immediately felt the blood drain from her face. Wasn't she in a situation like this before? Her mind waivered to Seth Phisler and what he had done to render her unconscious.
"If I wanted to knock you out I would just smack you upside the head. It would be well deserved."
Ramuna glared at him but took another hit of the hookah. "I do not find you funny."
"Nor do I find you… funny. I would like to learn some things about you though. Things I do not need to read your thoughts for. Tell me how you became such a great chemist and what led you to the decision to do what you did."
Ramuna was taken aback by his questions. Where did she even start?
"Start from the beginning. Time is of the essence and I need answers."
"Why in a hurry? Aren't I dead? Aren't we?"
The Jackal laughed once again quietly to himself. "Ramuna you and I are the only things living on this planet right now and we only have so much time to figure out how to fix things and before you ask more questions the answer is, yes, things can be fixed. I would like to know what made you do what you did though."
"Nothing made me do it. Well nothing of hatred. I just did what I needed to do to get out of the life I was in as a child. I lived in poverty, my parents were both alcoholics with no jobs, they robbed people to pay for our food and bills. I took an exam to show my IQ and eventually the government saw my potential and I was entered into a program at Ah Mait University. I never had a desire to make nuclear weapons, it just happened to be what I was best qualified for and excelled in the most." Ramuna explained as simply as she could. In fact everything she said was the honest truth. She had no ill will. No hidden agenda. In her eyes she simply was just doing a job she was designed to do.
"So," the Jackal said slowly. "That's it. You just blew up a whole civilization because you were told to do so? That's what you were hired for and you just thought it was okay? No remorse of knowing the thing you were creating was going to kill people?"
"The best way to keep going and to survive in life is to not think of how your success is going to affect others."
The Jackal only responded with silence. For the first time Ramuna could see human-like emotions on the creature's face. It almost looked like sorrow but was hard to tell. Matter of fact not only did she notice the Jackal's sorrow but she felt the atmosphere in the pub change around them. The music had gotten quiet almost as if the musician was only playing for himself. It was almost as if everyone in the pub went from vibrant and cheerful to complete despair and turmoil. Everyone around her looked like they had lost hope in their lives. As if the afterlife was meaningless too.
Spoken like a true selfish New Worlder.
It wasn't just the Jackal's voice she heard, it was everyone in the pub speaking in unison inside her mind.