The world was changing, evolving, improving every year had gone by. Children grew, adults aged, and people died. New technology came out almost every other month. Time passed, and the year of 2900 was the one that everything no longer needed any improvements came.. Of course, the world wasn't what you would have expected it to be. There were no flying cars or robots to care for you. No, in fact, the world had grown to be so much better than that. Although there were no robots, there were cyborgs. You might be asking yourself- "What exactly is a cyborg?" A cyborg is a human who has changed his/her/their own self into a robot.. mostly. Everyone on Earth seemed satisfied when, in the year of 2928, almost every country had declared that everyone must take the actions to be come a cyborg. Nobody disagreed. There was no bad health, no negative emotions, and no death. Only if you consider wearing out to be death, although nobody really felt sad when a cyborg left them. It was just.. empty.
Yet this one story will focus on the life of a human boy, specially created by a team of doctors and scientists who were all gathered by the government who, keep in mind, outlawed human life. Why would the government create this boy? Take a guess.. If the world was no longed able to be improved, what would the cyborgs want? Although cyborgs are considered to be a part of the robot family, they still had some of their human emotions, which connected them to each other. The cyborgs wanted entertainment. They wanted to remember what a human was like, even if they had to create one themselves. This story all starts with a boy being "born" in Nigeria in the Kelina Hospital. It was November 3rd, 3000 when this took place.
"Doctor Exenii, can you tell us who this young boy is? What is his name?" A young interviewer was sitting in a chair talking to the cyborg who had come up with the idea and plans for the young boy. The cyborg smiled.
"Well, we've finally decided on a name. We're calling him Chikelu, meaning "Created by God." He is to be raised here in Nigeria for 18 years, then we will send him away to America." she revealed.
"I see. What do you think he'll be able to accomplish in his life? I mean.. seeing as humans only lived up to around the age of 87 back around in.. oh, 2880s, right?" the interviewer questioned.
Doctor Exenii looked at her hands. "Well.. we're not sure what he's going to do. Humans haven't been around in, well, ages! Us new "cyborgs" haven't had much experience with any of them. Most of the older cyborgs have even forgotten what it was like to be human! But I mean.. that's not to say he'll be unsuccessful! We will provide him with the best education possible! He will definitely have the greatest upbringing we can offer him. We will bring out the life of a successful human being."
"Oh! That's wonderful to hear! Well everyone, you've heard it all from the Doctor herself! This is Jackson on The Tonight Show! Doctor Exenii, thank you so much for being here tonight!"
So Chikelu grew and grew. He was raised by Doctor Exenii, he had the best tutors in the world look after him, and was exposed to nothing but the best for him. Still, none of the cyborgs knew what to expect from him. Chikelu was so unlike a cyborg's way of thinking.. he was just so.. different from them all. But around the age of nine, he had an experience that shaped how Doctor Exenii saw the world. He was lying around in the grass of his home alongside Doctor Exenii. They were watching the clouds until Chikelu broke the silence by asking,
"Ma.. why did you decide to make me?"
Doctor Exenii looked at Chikelu with a smile on her face. "Well, Chikelu. We wanted to know what humans were like, so the government asked us to create you."
Chikelu had a look of confusion. "But today Sarah told me that cyborgs are better than humans! She said that.. um.."
"Go on, what did Sarah say?"
He continued, "She told me that one day I'm going to die and I'll be really old and wrinkly and I'll smell really weird too!"
Doctor Exenii laughed. "Well she's right! One day you will die, but it's nothing to be afraid of. Some of us cyborgs wear out and "die" too! Death is nothing to be sad about. Just keep going, because it's not like it should really bother us."
Chikelu gaped. "Does that mean you're going to die?"
"Well.. you never know for sure. I might be here forever, but I might get into a sort of accident. Do you feel sad about that? It's going to be completely normal, if that helps."
"Oh.. I just.. don't leave soon, okay? I like you. I don't want you to leave. I might.. um.. cry?.. Yeah. I might cry if you do, and I hate crying."
Doctor Exenii tilted her head. "I'll try not to. Say.. what does crying feel like?"
"Uh.. it kinda feels like.. I feel like I'm choking sometimes, and my eyes start to hurt after a little. If I cry hard enough, my stomach also hurts, but it also feels kinda good too. Like I needed to cry or else I'd feel worse."
"Huh.. I see."
-
Chikelu was only 15 when he saw her at the park. She was short and stocky first of all, but he liked that. It made him feel tall. She had short, curly, black hair, the darkest skin he had ever seen, and the most beautiful and deepest eyes he had ever looked into. He was curious to know about her. Every time he tried to approach her though, he always backed down. He noticed how insecure and self-conscious he felt inside whenever that happened. The day he decided to approach her finally was the day he didn't see her. He looked around. Nothing. He sat down for what seemed like an hour until he finally saw her. Swallowing hard and standing straight up, he made his way toward her and asked,
"Can I have your name please?"
She looked at him strangely, then, with recognition in her eyes she exclaimed, "You're that human boy!" Then she caught herself with, "Wait. Sorry. Um.. My name is Aniya."
"Well Aniya, can I have your number?"
Aniya looked at him square in the eye. "You probably don't want mine. I'm going to the junk yard. I decided I don't feel like staying here anymore." She gave a cough, turned on her heel, and started walking away.
"Wha.." Chikelu's mouth formed the shape of an O. He suddenly felt his heart hurt- like it was tearing itself apart. Embarrassment started to follow. Then wonder. The wonder of why. Why would she ever want to leave.. no.. to die? Thoughts started to race through his mind. Thoughts of how the cyborgs seemed so messed up to him. He had a sudden realization. Cyborgs didn't value life at all.. because they had no clue of what real human emotion was like! All at once, Chikelu knew what he was going to do in the future and how he was going to change the world.
"So that's why I want to bring humans back into the world."
Doctor Exenii raised her eyebrows. "So you want my team to create more humans, illegally, and bring them all back into the world once more? I'd like to get government permission first, and if you don't know, my entire work life is tracked by them. I'm not going to commit a crime. Do you think I'm a faulty cyborg? I don't think I am."
Even after hours of pleading, she still wouldn't help him. He gave a groan of frustration. "Fine. Okay. I can work with this. How about I go on national television? Even my tutors suggested that I'd be safe to go out now. I think I'm pretty smart- I could convince the cyborg population to want it enough. It's not like I'll try to outnumber to cyborgs. I just want to bring them back so that they know what they're missing out on!"
Doctor Exenii started with what sounded like a protest, but abruptly stopped. Her body motion suddenly shifted."Well.. it's not impossible.. I mean. Like. Yeah. We can do that, definitely."
Chikelu grinned. "Great! When can we go out? 'cause I'm ready any time you are!"
She gave a chuckle. "Let's go out tomorrow then. I'll call my team and the news station. It'll be cast all over Africa. This story will be spread like, as your people used to say, wildfire."
Chikelu was 67 by the time most countries uplifted their laws of humans. He was most famous for his speech "Everything I Feel" which, even though cyborgs had no personal connection, did change what most cyborgs believed in. Doctor Exenii and her team had created more humans, and they were starting to populate the world once more. It would still take many years for humans to come back completely, but as long as they fought for it, he knew they would gain their rights everywhere in the world. He knew he was worn out. He felt so tired all the time, and he knew that death was right around the corner.
The cyborgs felt something for Chikelu. They didn't know what it was, but it was warm. They felt happy when they helped in the human rights movement, because they knew they were doing the right thing. It was May 4th, 3070 when Chikelu gave his last breath. The world was starting again because of this one man- this young child who was created by the world of cyborgs.
The world didn't know what to feel when he died, but they were empty. It was the day of silence for humans everywhere. They kept moving though, and they did improve themselves. They brought humans back, and they loved them all. The world, the cyborgs understood at last, would never be perfect. But they would try. They would make this world reach its highest potential until everyone could finally say, "I am happy."