There was a buzzing sound above. it was not loud but infact very silent, but at the same time constant like the faint hum of electricity running through the walls. A soft white light glowed overhead. It was a cool and artificial, spreading evenly across the ceiling without casting any shadows. The air smelled sterile. Too clean. Too controlled.
Saurai opened his eyes.
For a moment, everything was blurry just shapes and sound and brightness. He blinked for a few times, his vision slowly sharpening into details. He started to look around him.
He saw rows of desks.There was also screens embedded in the walls and A woman pacing in front of a massive digital board. There were Forty or so students around him, they all dressed in dull blue and grey uniforms, they were either scribbling in notebooks or staring ahead blankly.
Was it a classroom?
His heart thudded once. Then again.
He didn't recognize this place. He doesn't have any memory of this place.
He sat at the far end of the room, in the last row, he was slouched in a chair that felt molded to his back. A screen blinked softly on his desk, displaying a few lines of text:
"Module: Environmental Agriculture"
Topic: Growth Strategies in Closed-System Cultivation"
A woman's voice cut through the static of his mind.
"Saurai lian?"
He looked up.
The teacher stood at the front, arms folded, eyebrows raised. Her hair was jet black, sleek, and tied into a no-nonsense bun. She was beautiful but not warm. Polished features with the sharp jawline. She was dressed in uniform crisp as folded steel.
"If you're awake now, Mr. Lian, perhaps you'd like to answer the question."
Saurai opened his mouth. No sound came.
He stared back at her, the name still echoing in his ears.
Saurai Lian?
She sighed and asked again "Which nutrient element is the most limited in closed-loop cultivation environments, and why?"
Saurai blinked. For some reason, the answer came to him.
"Phosphorus," he said, his voice dry and uncertain. "It binds to surface particles and becomes insoluble over time. Because it is harder to recycle than the nitrogen."
The class was silent.
The teacher tilted her head slightly, her face unreadable. Then she turned back to the board and continued without a word.
Saurai exhaled. He had no idea where that answer came from but it felt… instinctive.
He looked around slowly.
This wasn't any school he remembered. He never attended this kind of school. The furniture, the lighting, the air quality everything felt off because he wasn't familiar with it. The windows weren't windows; they were digital panels. They were Glowing but blank at the same time. There was no sky outside. He can't see any sunlight. It was just a quiet white room which was sealed from the world.
The students around him looked normal, but unfamiliar. It was too clean and too quiet for him.
Was this a dream? He was still not sure about his situation.
He looked down at his hands. Smaller than they should be. Slimmer. Softer. He turned his palm over once, twice. His pulse quickened.
This isn't my body.
He could remember… something. No, someone.
A man.
A lab. Books. Fields of grain. Dry heat. The smell of old paper and fertilizer. Scientific journals spread across a desk. He had been
An agricultural scientist.
He was a researcher. A quiet one. Someone who stayed out of the spotlight. Someone who-
He pressed his hands to his head. He couldn't remember more.
His name… wasn't Saurai.
This wasn't his past.
"Hey. You okay?" a voice whispered beside him.
Saurai turned his head slightly. A round-faced boy was slumped next to him, arms crossed on the desk, chin half-resting on his forearm and he looked little bit plump boy.
His eyes were wide and curious. And Friendly, even.
"You look like you just had a seizure or something. Are you alright?"
Saurai tried to smile. "No, I… I'm fine." But he wasn't fine or he himself was not sure.
"You sure?" The boy leaned closer and whispered, "You usually just nod and pretend you're invisible.I thought you are a quiet kind of person and didn't expect you speaking up like that."
Saurai stared.
"I'm Bryn," the boy added. "Just in case you've got, like, memory loss or something. Which would be hilarious. And he laughed at his own joke"
Saurai nodded slowly. He filed the name away. Bryn. It suited the boy's gentle, sleepy and plump expression.
He looked around again. Every surface of the room seemed to glow faintly. The hum in the walls hadn't stopped. The floor didn't vibrate or shake so he wasn't in a vehicle. But somehow, the whole place felt... enclosed. It felt like somehow it was a isolated place. There were no proper windows, only air vents but no natural light.
"Where am I?" Saurai whispered to himself.
"What?" Bryn looked over.
"Nothing."
He closed his eyes briefly. This wasn't his world. It wasn't a dream. And it wasn't the past. If anything, it felt like as if he was in someone else's body. It felt like...
Another civilization.
But how? Why? Had he died?
He couldn't remember.
"Saurai?" Bryn nudged him again.
Saurai blinked.
"What?"
"You're staring into space again."
Saurai looked back to the front. The teacher was still speaking, though he couldn't focus on her words anymore. She was listing something about nutrient cycles, vertical growth trays, and water reclamation tanks.
He remembered those things. Not from this life. From before.
He wasn't just someone named Saurai. He was someone else.his name was Dr. Ved Someone who knew exactly how crops behaved in artificial conditions. Someone who'd published papers on the sustainability of hydroponics in desert zones.
But he was also… a student now. He was a boy.
A stranger in his own skin.
His name was Saurai lian And yet it wasn't.
And something told him this wasn't the last time he'd be answering questions he shouldn't know the answers to.