Nipp drew his head backwards on the two-seater couch and gazed upon the white ceiling with brown spots on it. His mind was consumed with one thought; he had finally seen the rebel's face. "He was right, the rebel does look like he was born in Mega Dar," he mumbled to himself, remembering a conversation he had a few weeks ago.

"Thinking about Romeo?" a voice asked him.

Nipp's thoughts escaped his mind and he faced Mercy, the slum doctor. After he watched Romeo fight Dran's men and lose, he took it upon himself to make sure the rebel didn't die by running over the Gang Rat members with the van that had brought clothes to the slums. After that, he walked over to Romeo, who was lying unconscious on the ground, and heard him mumble "Doctor" in his sleep. There was only one qualified doctor he could be talking about, and as it turned out she knew Romeo. 

"Yeah," Nipp replied before chuckling. "When I asked him about his name, he told me he was called Juliette."

Mercy shook her head with a smile spread out on her face, before she pinched the bridge of her nose. "He does that a lot. If you don't know Romeo and Juliette then you'd never be able to interpret it." She took a seat next to Nipp. "Did he tell you he wants to save the world?"

Nipp nodded. "He told me." His eyes moved towards the small flat screen TV that was glued to the wall. "But he can't... Sometimes I wish I could save the world too, but then I realize the world is too corrupt to be saved, so I decide to live in the moment."

Mercy folded her arms. "I feel the same way." This was the first time the two sat down and actually talked. The past week had been all about Romeo. Mercy had found a bullet wound that Romeo never told her about and it was infected, causing him to have a high fever. Luckily, she found it in time and saved his life, again. "Sometimes I ask myself if it's worth it, what he's doing. He could have come with me to Mega Dar and chosen a field to study before coming back to the slums and actually help people... What he's doing now is showing the slum dwellers that the only way to solve a problem is through violence, and that's not true." She buried her face in her palms and let out a sigh. "I don't know... I just..." She shook her head. "I don't want to be the one to receive his dead body."  

Nipp knew what she was going through. He remembered how he felt when he lost his mother, the one person who truly understood him, and he wouldn't want anyone else to experience that pain. "You studied in Mega Dar?" he asked.

"Yeah. Romeo and I used to be in the same orphanage, and you wouldn't believe me, but he got bullied a lot--maybe that's why he chose this life. One day when he was being bullied I stepped in and helped him. From that moment on we became friends. So when Hans came to adopt him, he begged him to take me too. A few years later, Hans offered to take us to school in Mega Dar because he had connections. I said yes, but Romeo declined. He was already too deep into his vigilant life. So I left for school. And when I was done, I came back. Flash forward today, I'm treating all sorts of criminals."

"But haven't they ever figured out you might be the one treating the guy who hurts them in the first place?"

"They did, but what could they do? I'm the only one trained to properly treat their wounds. Plus, I never treat Romeo at the dispensary. I bring him here... at my house."

They heard a loud thump on the floor, which got them scared for a moment as they thought they were alone. But the noise came from Mercy's room, where Romeo was asleep. They got up and rushed to see what had caused the sound and found Romeo on the floor, struggling to stand up.

"I'm fine," Romeo said, groaning as the two helped him to his feet. He took a moment to catch his breath. "Nipp?" Shock consumed his tone as he watched the boy smile at him. He patted his face. "You've seen my face?"

"Since last week," Nipp replied, looking at Romeo's short dark hair, chestnut eyes and dimple chin.

"Last week?" Romeo sounded confused.

"Come with me, we will explain everything to you," Mercy said, holding his arm. She led him to the living room and helped him sit on the couch.

Romeo groaned, holding his ribs. "So," he looked at Nipp, "has it really been a week?"

Nipp sat next to him. "Yes, you died."

"What?"

Nipp laughed out loud. "I'm joking. You should have seen your face. You've only been asleep for a week."

Mercy pulled a chair and sat next to them before she switched on the TV. 

"What has happened since I've been gone?" Romeo asked.

"Well, where should I start?" Nipp asked. "Right. Everyone around the world was infected by this disease called legs-do-not-jumpsis. It's very serious. People lost their ability to jump."

Romeo looked at Mercy with a quivered brow. She shrugged.

Nipp continued, "Apparently the scientist who came up with it was called Mango Lion. His head was the shape of a mango, while his skin had hair like a Lion." He paused. "Lion's have hair, right? No, it's fur," he corrected himself. 

"You're not serious!" Romeo exclaimed.

"No, I am tel--"

"I wasn't talking about your dumb story." Romeo pointed at the TV. "Look." Written in white capital letters were the words Breaking News followed by Tanzania has officially accepted to re-introduce Slavery.

"Is this a joke?" Mercy remarked before increasing the volume.

Angel Benson, Tanzania's number one news reporter stood front and center, holding a mic close her smiling lips. "Hello, Ladies and Gentlemen, we're live from Mega Dar. After months of speculation whether our Mayor would accept the deal or not, we finally have an answer; she said yes." She couldn't help but giggle in joy, before brushing her hair to the side. "As you can see behind me," she pointed with her hand, "Father James and Aisha," the camera zoomed in on the two standing next to each other, smiling and laughing as though they were best of friends, "are about to sign the documents that would enable businessmen and women to start their own slave chains in the country starting today."

The camera moved away from the two supposed friends and showed the other Mayors who were in attendance. All the Europeans and Americans were there, a few from Africa (including Aisha's fellow East African Community members), and the rest from Asia.

He was right about everything, Nipp thought. "This is the end for us."

"What do you mean?" Mercy asked.

"Don't you see," Romeo intervened. "Slavery has officially returned. We were the last nation who gave them a hard time. These other countries needed Aisha's signature before slavery could officially be declared worldwide. " He punched the arm of the couch, and then held his rib, still in pain. 

"Be careful, you aren't completely healed," Mercy warned him.

"This is the end for us," Nipp repeated.

Romeo looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"Don't you see it? It's us who will be slaves, not the people in Mega Dar. They have been trying to get rid of the slums for ages to make all the Mega regions in Tanzania even more larger--especially Dar Es Salaam, and now they have a reason to do it," Nipp replied. How did he know all of this? How did he predict the future? he thought. Everything he said has happened so far, what's next? The war he was talking about? 

Nipp couldn't help but remember all the words the man told him. He was right all along.

"You're right," Romeo replied.

"Listen. Aisha is talking now," Mercy said.

Aisha stood on a large stage, much larger than the one she was on when she introduced the Cyborgs. It was a big occasion and she had to go big, not only to show off to the other Mayors in attendance, but to let the people of Tanzania know this matter was huge. "My fellow Tanzanians," she spoke on the mic, "I am not here to speak to you as your Mayor, but your equal." She cleared her throat. "It's true, I got this offer a while back, even before some of the Mayors here today. But at first, I couldn't accept it. I thought to myself, 'What kind of leader would I be if I allowed my fellow countrymen and women to be subjected to such cruelty and torture?' But after talking to Father James for a couple of years," she directed her hand towards the priest, "he managed to show me the benefit of this deal. There will no longer be men, women or children starving in the streets. There will no longer be homeless people, everyone will have a roof over their head." 

She stared at the faces of the people who believed and trusted her. "I would have not signed this if I knew some of you will be poorly treated. No. I signed it so not only our country, but also you people, could improve. It's the only way we can take this country forward." The crowd clapped for her. "Father James is a man of honor and he assured me the slaves will be treated properly wherever they go, I promise you that. Whether you'll be a slave owner, a slave master or a slave in general, let us make our country great again." She raised her fist in the air and the crowd did the same.

Then they all started reciting Tanzania's new motto. "There shall only be one of us..." They drew their hands from the air and placed them on their chest, closer to their hearts. "Greatness is what we aim for. Strength, power, courage and wisdom is what makes us. In God we trust, he shall save us."

When it ended everyone gave Aisha a standing ovation. No matter how much someone hated her, they couldn't deny how much unity she brought back to the country. Who knew the only way Tanzania could be a powerhouse again was by being dictated by a woman?

Mercy turned off the TV. "You know what this means, right?" she asked them.

"No more freedom," Romeo replied.

"Torture," Nipp chimed.

"No more being... me," Romeo added.

"Death," Nipp said. 

Mercy and Romeo looked at him. 

"What? You know I'm right." He scratched his head. "I can't believe I've never had a girlfriend. Why have I never had a girlfriend?" He placed his hands on his head. "This is a disaster. What kind of stories will I tell my fellow slaves when we're locked up in cages?" He started over thinking things. "Am I going to be the boy who never had a girlfriend? The boy who never had sex? Am I going to lose my virginity as a slave?" He gasped. "What if a sugar daddy sees me and likes me? Am I going to have sex for the first time with a sugar daddy?" He shook his head. "But I don't want a sugar daddy," he whined, making Romeo and Mercy chuckle, even though the situation they found themselves in was very serious.

"Relax, Nipp. Relax." Mercy placed her hand over the boy's shoulder. "Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out," she instructed and Nipp followed. "Good. Are you feeling better now?"

"Much better," he replied. "What are we going to do about this whole mess?"

"Nothing," Mercy said.

"What? We have the rebel here and we're going to do nothing?" Nipp stared at Mercy as if she was crazy.

"He's just a wanna-be hero from the slums. This is bigger than him. We're talking about slavery taking over the whole world. The world. Not some Gang Rat member trying to steal some clothes, which by the way he failed to stop."

"Dran escaped?" Romeo asked.

Nipp nodded. "After I ran over his men with the van, he grabbed most of the clothes and ran away."

"Bummer." Romeo looked at Mercy. "I know you don't believe I can do this, but I have to try. I can't sit here and expect to be a slave and live happily ever after. We know Aisha is lying, there's no such thing as a happy life for a slave. Even though I seem like the last candidate to save this world, I'm the only one trying to do something about it."

"And me," Nipp said.

"Yes, and you," Romeo agreed. "I'm from a relatively small country compared to the western ones, so of course I'll be underestimated, but Hans made sure I was taught almost all the fighting skills the other countries practiced. I will do whatever I can to end this, even if it kills me." Once Romeo had his mind set on something, he wouldn't stop until he achieved his goal. 

"Alright, what's your plan?" Mercy asked him.

"For now all I can say is the only way to end this is to chop off the head controlling this shit."

"Aisha," Nipp said.

"No, Father James," Romeo corrected him.

"Do you mean what I think-"

"Yes," Romeo said before Nipp could finish. "Father James must die."