Time-space...where am I?

Christian opened the 101st door and as he peered inside he saw what looked like modern day Lagos, CAU. CAU stood for central African Union.

All the African states had combined resources and technology to develop the country so it looked like a modern metropolis. The entire country of Nigeria and some of it's surrounding countries had been renamed Lagos.

Christian quickly recognised the famous China route to the industrial estate. That was where Mike's sister worked. He saw her walk by the sushi shop and walk into the fabric company she worked in. Christian tried to step out but couldn't. He simply watched. It was as though there was an invincible barrier blocking him from getting past the door.

Few seconds after Ming, Mike's sister entered he heard a large boom and the entire building collapsed. It felt so real that Mike could feel the heat of the flames. Just then he saw a familiar face walking out of the building. Half of it completely burnt as she screamed in agony to extinguish the fire. She writhed in pain as she tried to escape.

Christian was in tears as he pulled out his spaghetti dinner and yelled while crying

" Where am i? Why are you showing me this??"

He rolled and cried because this felt so real, he had no doubt that it was reality. He punched himself over and over again just so he could escape but he just bled. He was still in shock when he felt a sharp pain on his right hand.

Very close to the wrist a clock tattoo had formed. It looked like a vintage clock with Roman numerals forming the 12, 3, 6 and 9. He didn't understand why he had this on his arm and he was growing fearful of this strange place. The pain disappeared as fast as it had come. Immediately Christian began to wonder if Mike was going through the same feat or even worse. He knew he had no other option but to wait in that lobby because there was nothing else he could do. He dreaded opening the doors so he sat down and began to rethink the events of his life.

Today was August 8, 2024. He would be 17 in a few months. He just graduated from grade 12 and was preparing for college. The school was scheduled to resume in February. He was going to east gorteau which was at the other side of the continent. That was the best school in medical bionics. He'd made the decision to go there while his father was alive but since then a lot had changed and at this stage he didn't know what he wanted. Did he really want to go to college? Make new friends? Did he really even care about med bionics? These questions roamed his mind. Subconsciously he thought of Mike. Mike decided to stay in the Lagos zone and attend the prestigious university of Lagos. He wanted to study business administration so he could inherit his dad's business. Mike's dad was among the richest and most influential people in the entirety of Lagos. He owned 35% of the fabric industry which was where his daughter worked. He had a majority stake in the industry.

Mike's Mom died of brain cancer when he was 7. His sister was 14 and she immediately assumed the role of a mother in the family but Mike knew that noone could replace his Mom and he didn't appreciate anyone trying so he got into constant arguments with his sister. They were the only kids that she had before she died.

Chris wondered if the same questions roamed Mike's mind too. All the while he was thinking he was still counting his heartbeat. By now 35 minutes had passed in the real world which meant that only a minute had passed in this world. He was correct. Meanwhile, someone else had looked in the first door Chris opened and stepped Inside.

Mike had assumed that this was an effect of the drug and opted to stay still but realised that an hour and fourteen minutes had passed. He had not experienced the same sensation that Chris had felt. He was also surprised when he realised that 10 of the doors in front of him had been opened simultaneously. He peered into the first one and saw himself looking outside.

He jumped back in surprise. The clone also jumped back. It was almost as if he was staring at a mirror. He deduced that quickly and calmed himself down. Then he walked into the room. All the rooms had identical colour, shape and handles. The only thing he noticed was that each of them had a Roman numeral in front of them. And the one he stepped in was labelled MMM which meant 3,000. They were labelled in descending order. Mike caught all these details in less than a second meanwhile Chris did not notice this.

Mike walked inside the room and then began to fall. But he wasn't falling downward, he was falling upward. This scared him a lot but as soon as he stood up he felt perfectly balanced and what he thought was the floor was infact the roof.

"This place doesn't respect the sensation of space" he said

"It does, it just doesn't respect YOUR sensation of space". Mike was transfixed to his spot in fear. Whoever said that had his exact voice and he turned around slowly with goosebumps forming round his entire body.

He saw a reflection of himself. No, it wasn't a reflection. He saw a clone of himself. There was no plain surface behind it. It had a two dimensional shadow and it looked 3D.

Instantly Mike punched the clone, with as much power as his adrenaline would let him.

"Ow" the clone said as blood gushed out of it's nose "why the hell would you do that, I was just answering your question you dumb fool"

By now Mike was utterly surprised and asked "what are you?"

By now the bleeding had completely stopped and there was no trace of blood. The clone had completely healed it's nose but there was still a blood stain on his shirt. Mike quickly verified that it was real.

"Have a seat" the clone said as it extended it's shadow to form two chairs and a table "this might be a bit tricky to explain" it said as it let out a chuckle. Mike's chuckle

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