Chefe

“How can you ask if I'm human?! Of course I'm human...” I replied, still puzzled by her question.

The girl gave me a suspicious, confused look as she continued to press me against the wall with her left arm.

“Hey! Dom, wake up!” she said, more urgently.

She tried to kick the top bunk, but since the bed was still connected to my room, her leg ended up crossing into my space. She glanced at the door, then at me, and immediately got out of bed.

“Hey, wake up!” she said as she pulled a young man down from the top bunk and reached into the closet to grab a weapon that looked far more deadly.

He fell out of bed and asked what was happening.

Holding the gun with both hands, the girl aimed it at me without saying a word.

“What’s with all the violence, Alba? She’s just a girl,” he said.

“She’s not just a girl. Turn on your sensor… she’s human,” she replied, still pointing the weapon at me.

“Hahaha, are you crazy? That’s impossible!” he said, laughing.

“Turn on your sensor, now!” she snapped angrily.

“What do you mean it’s impossible for me to be human? I don’t understand,” I replied to both of them. I looked at them in disbelief, still sitting on the bed with my hands raised.

Being trapped in a room in another dimension was bad enough. And now this?

“This can’t be— this is bad! Using the sensor, I can see her entire body in infrared thermal colors,” he said, looking at the girl after scanning me. Then he put his hands on his head, clearly outraged.

What does “bad” mean?

“Who are you? How did you end up here?” she asked, still pointing the weapon at me. But the other boy interrupted before I could respond.

“I'll call Chefe,” he said, looking more concerned than before.

“Not yet! I don’t know what she wants. Two are stronger than one — you stay here,” she said, cutting him off.

The girl seemed more imposing than the boy, even though she was smaller... Was his name Dom? And hers, Alba?

I should’ve known they weren’t normal. Unlike her, he had blue hair and eyes that looked naturally that way, not artificial. He wore shoulder-length braids with the sides of his head shaved. The contrast with his black skin made the blue stand out even more.

Then she asked again, “Who are you? How did you end up here?”

“I’m Inertia... I have no idea how I got here. There’s no need to point that weapon at me. I’m defenseless and don’t intend to harm you!”

“Where did you come from?” she asked, her eyes full of distrust.

“From my room?! I was trapped there, but I opened the door and ended up here.” I pointed to the door above me just as Dom interrupted our conversation with a question.

“Out of nowhere?”

“Yes!”

Dom seemed calmer than she was. He stood with his arms crossed, no weapon in hand. I tried to defend myself by making eye contact with him.

Alba continued, “What world are you from?”

“World? I’m from Earth?!”

“We are too! Wait, human and from Earth... Could you have come from the past?” he said, looking at me excitedly, while Alba remained unconvinced.

“That doesn't make sense... What year are you from?” she asked.

“2025.”

“Uwaa!! You came from the past! Alba, this is amazing!” he said, shaking her by the shoulders.

She then walked toward me, extending her left arm while still aiming the weapon at me with her right hand. Instinctively, I backed away, pressing myself against the wall.

If I’m human, then what are they? I had no idea.

“Inertia... right? I need you to cooperate with us. There's no need to be afraid,” she said, crouching on the bed with the weapon still aimed at me.

“Then why don’t you lower the weapon? If I’m human, what does that make you? Aliens?” I asked, backing away slightly.

Dom started laughing as he crouched beside the bed, took the weapon from Alba’s hand, set it on the floor, and began to explain.

“We’re humans too, maybe a little different.”

“We used to be human, but there’s no trace of humanity left in us,” she said, interrupting him to correct what he had said.

“Of course we have! It’s right here!” he said, pointing and touching the back of her neck.

She slapped his hand away and looked at me.

“Can you show me?” she asked, pointing to the back of her neck, but I didn’t understand.

“Show you what?”

“I don’t think she has any identification. Alba is asking you to show your neck, where we have this purple crystal,” he said, pointing to his own neck.

I gathered my hair, stood up, and turned my neck to show there was obviously nothing there.

“Indeed, you’re still human. Dom, you can call Chefe,” she said, no longer seeming to have any doubts.

“Right away!”

He left the room, and somehow I felt more apprehensive than before. She didn't take her eyes off me; they seemed to have turned red. I even thought about going back to my room through the “portal.”

“Sorry, you must be terrified... it wasn’t my intention,” she said, sitting back down on the bed.

I quickly recoiled, but my fear was matched by curiosity. Who was Chefe? Where am I? Should I go back to my room? The only way to get answers was to ask.

“Were you humans? Where are we now?”

“We’re on Earth too, but in the year 6025,” she replied.

“Is that really true? If so... that’s a 4000-year difference!”

“Well... a lot has happened since your time until now. There are no more humans like you, with flesh and blood. For us, only our DNA remains, now linked to this crystal and this humanoid body.” As she spoke, she pointed to the back of her neck, then looked at her hand as she opened and closed it, smiling.

“Didn’t you notice anything different? It’s hard to believe we’ve really become so similar to what we used to be...”

“If you hadn’t told me, I’d think you were human. I still can’t believe you’re not.”

She smiled slightly, and for a moment, I felt a sense of safety and sincerity in her.

“Do you think I should go back to my room? The door's still open, and I’m not sure it’s safe for me to stay here.”

“You're right, this place isn't safe for you,” she said, her voice soft but firm.

“Really?!” I asked, shocked.

“But I think you can help us somehow. I don’t believe it’s by chance that you ended up here. Don’t worry, when I say it’s not safe here, I mean the environment outside. By some accident, you ended up in the most protected place in the area.”

Her speech was interrupted when a man much older than both of them entered.

As soon as he entered the room, Alba stood up.

He definitely wasn’t human. It’s impossible for us to have a lava-like liquid flowing inside our bodies instead of blood, right? Through his body, which was translucent in some areas, I could see numerous blood vessels. His eyes glowed like fire, and surprisingly, he was still alive. He was a tall, strong Black man, with black hair braided and tied back.

“It’s her, Chefe!” Dom pointed at me.

The man looked at me with his incandescent eyes and said: “Incredible! In flesh and blood!”

I felt devoured, consumed by his gaze. I think if he touched me, I’d fry right there.

“I'm sorry, Dom, I didn't believe you,” he said.

“Even I didn’t believe it when I saw her. That’s why you had to see her with your own eyes, Chefe!” Dom replied.

Theoretically, he didn’t have human eyes, so what did he mean by “see with your own eyes”? I looked at Alba in desperation. She had promised me it was safe here, but now I felt like a steak. I just wanted to go back.

Alba looked at me and laughed. “Chefe, I think she’s scared,” she said.

“Sorry! I just felt alive again! You’re from 2025, right? You must be confused and scared by my body,” he said.

“Yes... I a—”

Suddenly, the door to my room slammed shut against me. I instinctively grabbed the handle and tried to open it, but it was stuck fast. Now I was trapped in 6025.

End of Report 03.