I followed Keziah through the corridor in silence, the hallway stretched farther than it should have, its polished stone floor reflecting faint light from windows that didn't seem to belong to any sun I recognized, somehow the entire institute was illuminated all around but there was not a single trace of the sun to be found. The air inside the Institute felt different from the outside world—not heavier, nor lighter, just… sharper somehow. Like the place existed in another world.
Keziah walked ahead of me with practiced ease. She didn't slow down, and she didn't turn back to check if I was following. And as we continued moving I noticed somethings the students were doing; For sure they weren't doing the kind of things students usually did.
A boy leaned against a wall with his eyes closed while symbols floated slowly around his head like lazy fireflies. Each symbol appeared, flickered, then dissolved into the air. Further ahead, two students argued quietly while a geometric shape hovered between them—something like a spinning crystal cube made entirely of thin lines of light, One of them poked the structure and the entire cube rearranged itself instantly.
Another student walked past us reading a thick book while stepping along the wall instead of the floor. He turned a page casually as if gravity did not apply to him.
All of these things fascinated me as I continued to watch and soon my steps began slowing down slightly.
Keziah spoke without turning around.
"Try not to stare too much."
I looked away from the wall-walking student.
"You brought me here," I said nonchalantly. "What do you expect me to do?". She gave a small laugh "Fair point."
We kept walking and soon the corridor opened into a wider area, and the sound of quiet conversation drifted through the air. Some students noticed me as I passed. A few gave curious glances. Most didn't care,
Which was fine by me; I preferred it that way.
Suddenly the hallway opened into a courtyard, and that was when I saw it properly, the tree I had seen from a distance previously. Earlier I had only caught a glimpse of it through the elevator doors and through the hallway. Now it stood directly in front of me, towering above the Institute like it had always been there—long before the buildings, long before the people.
The Akashic Tree.
Its trunk was massive, wide enough that twenty people probably couldn't circle it with their arms. The bark shimmered faintly, and thin streams of light moved through it like flowing veins.
The branches stretched high into the sky, spreading outward like a canopy over the courtyard, Leaves rustled softly even though there was no wind.
Students sat beneath it, Some read books, Some simply sat with their eyes closed and their legs crossed as if they were meditating.
One girl rested her hand against one of the roots and stared quietly into space as if listening to something only she could hear.
As I kept watching i didn't realize the moment I had stopped walking.
Keziah noticed and paused a few steps ahead
"How do you like the full view of the Akashic Tree?" she asked. Without answering back I kept staring at it, "Is it Just a tree?" I asked.
"You didn't answer my own question," she retorted back feeling irritated by my sudden behavior towards her, I looked at her from the side and focused my attention back at the Akashic tree. Seeing that I had no intentions of answering her, She stepped closer to one of the enormous roots that had pushed up through the courtyard stone.
"Sigh"
"Hardly, It marks the entrance like I told you earlier." She said.
"Entrance?....To what?" I asked.
She glanced at me and started to get irritated again
"Sigh"
"I told you earlier already....The Akashic Records."
I frowned slightly.
"And this is the entrance?"
"No," she retorted feeling irritated by my lack of attention since. "I can't believe you, have you not been listening to any word I've been saying....."
"Sigh"
"Like I said earlier this is the front yard."
I looked back at the tree.
Something about it felt off, I could sense a feeling of vastness from it, Like trying to understand the ocean by staring at a single wave.
"Mortals can't enter the Records," Keziah added.
"Then why is the tree here?" I asked,
A faint smile appeared on her face.
"Because even the front yard contains more knowledge than most mortals can survive."
That answer didn't explain anything.
Which I suspected was the point.
"Mortals?" I thought inwardly..
I remember JC also using that word earlier, or aren't they mortals as well?.
We left the courtyard and entered another section of the Institute. At first I thought it was a training ground, but the closer I looked, the stranger it became. Students stood in different places, interacting with objects that didn't belong to any classroom I had ever seen; One student knelt beside a shallow pool of water. His fingers touched the surface, The water rippled, then the surface changed, Images appeared in the pool—moving scenes like memories playing across the water. Another student stood in front of a tall mirror and Instead of a reflection, the glass showed what looked like an ancient battlefield.
Further away, a girl placed her hand inside a floating cube made of thin glowing lines. The cube expanded slightly as soon as her fingers touched it. And near the far end of the field, someone stared into a ring of pale light hovering in midair.
"What is this place?" I asked.
Keziah glanced over her shoulder.
"Memory interfaces or pools if you must know."
"They don't look the same." I asked
"Thats because they aren't."
She gestured toward the field.
"The form changes depending on the student's path."
"Path?"
She nodded.
"Different minds comprehend knowledge differently. Some read it. Some experience it. Some define it."
I watched the student at the water pool.
The images in the water changed rapidly,
Cities.
Wars.
Crowds of people.
"So they're watching memories?" I asked.
"Experiencing them,so that they may define them to suit themselves. You see we awakened read ILIMI, experience ILIMI, and define ILIMI; most stop at experiencing and only a few elite define the path of ILIMI they walk" Keziah corrected.
She continued walking,
"Knowledge here isn't always read."
She paused briefly.
"Sometimes it's lived."
Still following her behind I muttered silently
"Awakened? Path? ILIMI?"
"....wait why does that word sound very familiar?"
Eventually the strange training areas gave way to something that looked more normal.
The Dormitories.
Several buildings stood arranged around a small courtyard. The architecture was simpler here—clean walls, narrow balconies, wooden doors. For the first time since arriving, the place almost felt like a school, Almost.
A student walked past us, He had three shadows they were all moving slightly differently. Another door opened nearby, and I caught a glimpse inside. The room looked far larger than the space the building should have allowed.
Keziah stopped in front of a door.
"This is yours."
She pulled a small key from her pocket on her skirt and unlocked it.
"Every dorm has two occupants," she added.
"Two?"
And as soon as she opened the door.
"You already have a roommate."
She immediately said.
A voice greeted me immediately.
"Oh—hey!"
The boy inside jumped up from his chair like he had been waiting for hours.
He was tall, with messy brown hair and the kind of energy that filled the entire room.
"You must be the new guy!"
I stepped inside.
Keziah handed me the key.
"I'll leave you two to settle in."
Walking out she closed the door behind her.
The boy stuck out his hand.
"Alex Griffin. Exchange student. New York Region."
I looked at his hand for a moment before shaking it.
"Chiroma."
His face lit up.
"Nice! Finally someone new."
He leaned back slightly and tried speaking again.
But this time in Pidgin English.
"My guy how far… welcome… abeg sit down…"
He paused halfway through.
"I mean—uh… welcome bro."
As I stared at him, he scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"Still working on the language." He said
"Hmm, You don't say." I replied
Alex laughed.
"I figured since I'm in Africa I should at least try, you know?"
He pointed at an empty room within the room, on a bed on the other side of the room.
"That one's yours."
I sat down on it while surveying the room, definitely the room was bigger than it looked from outside. The room had a living room, a mini-kitchen and fridge, two bedrooms and a toilet for the both of us to share. The living room was furnished as well as the kitchen.
He continued talking.
"I've been here three months already. Still the only American around."
"Must be difficult," I said.
He grinned, smiling slightly
"Nah. Just lonely sometimes."
------------
Elsewhere in the Institute, the Dean sat quietly behind his desk. JC leaned against the wall, cigarette between his fingers.
"So," the Dean said slowly, "tell me everything."
JC exhaled smoke.
"I was on a mission in Birnin Kebbi."
The Dean listened attentively,
"I noticed an anomaly," JC continued. "Didn't know what it was yet."
"So you observed?" The Dean asked
"For a few days." JC replied,
The Dean laid back on his chair and folded his hands, still focusing his attention on JC.
"Why didn't you intervene earlier?"
JC shrugged.
"I was going too at first, but, Mission protocol, you know what I mean"
He looked directly at the Dean when he said those words.
"If I had exposed myself too soon the entire operation would've collapsed."
The Dean remained silent.
"And the attacker?" he asked.
JC's expression darkened slightly before saying.
"A Leecher."
The Dean didn't react immediately.
But then JC added one more thing which surprised even the Dean
"A High Leecher."
The room went quiet, while the Dean slowly leaned back on his chair.
"A High Leecher… in Kebbi?" He asked.
JC nodded.
"Yeah."
The Dean rubbed his forehead as if feeling a slight headache.
"Kebbi State is under my jurisdiction. Those old foggies are going to have a field day with these"
"Apparently," JC replied as if not caring about the old foggies.
A moment soon passed, Then the Dean sighed to break the tension of the situation
"Regardless… thank you for saving the boy. I'll forward the contribution points to Port-Harcourt"
"No, give to me instead" JC said
"As you wish" The Dean replied.
-------------
"Chiroma! Chiroma!"
Something shook my shoulder.
"Chiroma! Wake up!"
I opened my eyes slowly to Alex standing over me, Panicking.
"We're late!"
I looked at the clock, 8:30.
"There's still thirty minutes." Alex had already told me the night before that the institute activities begins at 9am .
Alex paced my room anxiously saying
"You don't understand!"
"For what?" I asked feeling irritated by the disturbance..
"The assembly!"
I sat up while feeling prepared to smack Alex in the face.
"You woke me thirty minutes early."
Alex froze.
"Yeah which means we're late."
Then I muttered quietly to myself.
"It seems he doesn't still comprehend the meaning of African time."
I stood up calmly.
Alex was already halfway to the door at these point.
We arrived two minutes later, Alex pushed the doors open dramatically, then stopped, the hall was almost empty; Only three people were inside, a tall boy sat near the front row, he had dark hair and was light skinned, he was quite good looking as well for a guy which made girls to fawn and daydream about him, He glanced at us briefly, then looked away as if we were not worth his time or attention
Alex began introducing them, even though I never asked him to.
"That person my friend is Von, King Von, the number one genius student of the institute. That lady ..." Alex said while fawning over the lady.
I wanted to stop him from introducing any further but It was too late...and soon I saw the lady as well
A girl sat nearby.
She was Beautiful, Calm, focused, her light skin complexion complimented her figure. She could even be said to be more beautiful than Keziah, her lips were beautifully carved and had a huge of redness to them, her hair was dark as well and long up to her waistline.
Still Fawning over her Alex continued,
"That is Zara Jega the most beautiful lady in the institute and she's the number 2 in the school. I think they say she's a Fulani tribe, whatever that is".
Having no other choice but listening to Alex yapping I said
"Oh, a Fulani you say"
"Hm, yes, well I don't know what kind of tribe that is" Alex replied.
Near the stage, a teacher paced impatiently, his name was Derrick Kayode as Alex introduced again, he checked his watch repeatedly.
"Students these days…" he muttered.
Alex leaned toward me,
"I told you we were late." I looked around the empty hall.
"There are five of us here." I said while Alex and I slowly sat down.
Soon, Twenty minutes later the hall was full.
There were Students, Staff, Voices everywhere; Then a bell rang and immediately silence, the entire hall was so silent one could hear their own breathing and in that silence the Student President stepped onto the stage.
"Good morning everyone."
A few announcements followed.
Then without further ado:
"Please welcome the Dean."
Silence again.
Then—
Footsteps.
From the back of the hall.
Step.
The sound echoed clearly.
Step.
No one moved.
Step.
Every student watched the aisle.
Step.
The Dean walked slowly toward the stage.
Each step echoed through the hall.
When he reached the podium—
The Institute held its breath.
And the assembly truly began.