"In the end, the world didn't whisper goodbye. It uploaded a warning."
The rain had started falling again—soft and senseless, the kind that drizzled without dark clouds or warning. It smeared the edges of Nairobi's Eastlands like a watercolor artist losing patience.
Eric Tendo sat up from the creaking mattress, wincing as a sharp pain stabbed the back of his skull. The room was cold. Damp. His breath came out as a faint mist.
He blinked.
"Cold? In November?"
The calendar on the wall—still showing September—wobbled on its pin. He hadn't updated it in weeks. Or maybe months. Time had gotten blurry since the accident. Or was it the rejection letter? Hard to tell.
A message fogged across his cracked mirror.
"RUN SYSTEM CHECK."
He frowned.
"Who would care to leave me a message on this strange cold morning?"
He stepped closer and examined the message. The letters were messy, jagged, and written by a finger in condensation.
"What system should I run?" he casually asked himself before reaching out and rubbing the message away.
"Stupid graffiti," he muttered, scratching the back of his neck.
He checked his phone. Battery 3%. No new messages. Of course. Not even from his boss, which was unusual. That man was always barking by 6:30 a.m.
Eric dressed in silence. Same navy-blue rider jacket. Same faded jeans. Same shoes that whistled with water through the left sole.
In the hallway, the landlord glared from the stairwell.
"Rent's overdue, Tendo."
"Good morning to you too," Eric said flatly.
"I want it by tomorrow. Or I'm locking that door."
Eric didn't answer. He descended the stairs two at a time, the landlord's muttering fading behind him.
Nothing new or strange clicked in his mind. However, soon Eric began noticing things.
First he noted that the morning shift was quiet. Too quiet.
It felt like that great silence before something huge happens.
Eric pushed the thought away and zipped through traffic, weaving between matatus and stalled sedans. His delivery bag bounced behind him.
Then, he saw something more strange.
He saw a white flash tearing across the sky. No thunder, no lightning. Just a blank wash of light. And it happened so fast, hardly noticeable to others. But Eric had seen it.
Everything around him froze for a fraction of a second. He braked hard, heart thudding. The traffic lights had reset, all showed red!
Absolutely everything had come to a perfect standstill.
Animals and people alike!
A street dog stood motionless by the corner, growling upward.
The sky above was cloudless—but pulsing, like a heartbeat in reverse.
Eric's phone buzzed.
GPS ERROR.
RECALIBRATING.
RECALIBRATING.
*****
His screen pixelated, then briefly showed symbols he couldn't understand—like numbers half-formed, layered over themselves. Then the screen went black.
"Damn phone," he muttered, shaking it.
He began cycling once again and soon reached a mall entrance. Here, confusion reigned. People streamed out of the mall all looking confused. They bizarrely kept muttering to themselves as they walked away.
Feeling the urge to know more, out of curiosity, Eric entered the mall.
Inside, everything was dimmed. Fluorescent lights flickered like they were afraid.
"What's happening?" he wondered.
Just then, it happened.
Every screen froze.
Every clock stopped at 11:11 AM and stayed there. No ticking, no sound, no movement.
It was a whole eleven seconds of total silence. A mysterious silence engulfing the entire world.
Everyone stood still. Not one person moved, not even the baby crying in the stroller.
Except Eric.
"Hello?" he whispered waving at a guard. He got nothing. It seemed like the guards soul had left his body.
Eric then tapped a lady's shoulder. She didn't even blink.
"This!" Eric was utterly stunned.
The air felt thick—like swimming in syrup. His skin prickled with pressure.
"What's this weight pressing on me? Why am I the only one moving?"
Then the whisper came.
[SYSTEM INITIALIZING...]
User Identified: Eric Tendo.
Cognitive Alignment: 83%.
Vital Status: Compatible.
Catalyst Activation In: 00:11:00
The numbers hovered in the air in front of his vision—only he could see them.
"Who's there?" Eric shouted.
Nobody answered.
Then, just like that, the world snapped back.
Clocks ticked. A baby wailed. People screamed, grasping for loved ones. Lights flared back on. And a real turmoil ensued from the people who didn't understand what had just happened.
Eric stood alone in the chaos, mouth dry, heart thudding. He himself trying to grasp a hold of himself.
"So I actually have a system within me, and I am Compatible?" he processed.
"I must find out all I can. What is this all about? Why do I feel a certain urgency?"
He locked himself in the building's rooftop tank enclosure, away from the ensuing chaos, and where nobody would look.
Once inside, the voice returned, no longer whispering. It was clear, robotic and inside his head.
"[Countdown is beginning right now]"
"[Catalyst Protocol Activated.]"
"This user has been selected as a Candidate."
"You have 72 hours until World Integrity reaches 0%."
"Choose your Integration Class:..."
A glowing screen appeared in his vision, floating like augmented reality. Five strands appeared listing the Integration Classes he was to choose from.
Vanguard (Combat-Oriented)
Seeker (Information/Data Manipulation)
Warden (Survivability/Support)
Arbiter (Chance/Probability Control)
UNKNOWN ????(CLASS LOCKED – Requires Ascension)
Eric's hands trembled. "Is this a joke?"
A whisper behind him:
"Choose wisely. It's not just your life at stake."
He spun around, no one was there.
He looked at the floating screen again. Combat? Support? Luck? None of it made sense. But he knew he had to choose. The Countdown of the last 72 hours was just beginning.
These classes are all strange, he thought. But something about Seeker drew him in. Something quiet, something strategic.
"I choose... Seeker.
The system quickly responded.
"[Seeker Class Integration In Progress.]"
"Skills will unlock as data nodes awaken. Others have been chosen. Beware the False Candidates."
He shivered. "What others?"
The air was colder now. His breath fogged in the sunlight.
"And this issue of False Candidates!?" his head spun.
He climbed down from the rooftop, hoping to find normalcy, only to find the street in more chaos.
Every car on the road was stalled, phones no longer worked. TVs, radios, even backup generators failed.
And above, the sky darkened, not with clouds—but with something unseen. It clearly looked like a blanket pulling shut.
People screamed, some ran, others collapsed in despair.
But Eric didn't run. He couldn't even if he wanted to.
This was so because, right at that moment his system map opened automatically—and showed a blinking red zone directly below him.
Then the system warned him.
"Anomaly Detected."
"Organic Entity – Hostile."
From the alley below, a shape stirred. It appeared human-like, but it was not.
It had no face; just smooth, pale skin where features should be. And a mouth—too wide—opened where its chest should be.
Eric's breath caught. The entity turned. Tilted.
"Engage?" the system asked.
He whispered, "No."
The creature stared. Then walked away.
Eric's thoughts turned to one person who cared for him. Her name was Kemi. She was the only one who ever smiled at him, shared ugali with him when he had nothing.
"Where could she be in all this turmoil?" he asked, setting off to look for her.
He found her near the stairwell.
She was shaking violently, eyes rolled back. Blood leaked from her ears—black and thick. Her phone sizzled in her hand, screen bursting into shards.
Eric dropped beside her, cradling her head.
"Kemi! Kemi!"
She gasped once. Then whispered:
"You were chosen… but not for salvation."
Her body convulsed one last time—and went limp.
Ding! He got a notification in his system.
"[System Alert: Neural Rejection Detected.]"
"Non-Compatible Subject. Eliminated."
"First Wave Casualty Logged."
Eric's heart shattered, he realized how lucky he was to be a Compatible subject, unlike Kemi. And this was just the first wave of the 72nd hour.
Eric sat in stunned silence, his heart roaring in his ears. Then in that silence he heard something breaking. Something coming out forcefully.
The sky flickered.
Something was happening outside.
As he stepped out of the building, dazed, a crimson hue suddenly flushed across the sky.
A tone echoed. It sounded low, mechanical and not of this Earth.
And then—only for a moment—Eric saw it. He couldn't have missed it.
The eye! A massive eye opened in the clouds, and it looked down.
Only Eric—and perhaps a few others—could see it.
The system confirmed his unasked question.
"[WARNING: YOU ARE NOW BEING OBSERVED.]"
Eric collapsed to his knees.