CoMac Cafe is infamous for it's clients and familiar way of handling business. Part cafe, part library and part code school, it swarmed with upcoming Devs and promising science moguls.
Cassandra was sitted in one of the private rooms typing furiously at her computer and occasionally stopping, tilting her head as if in contemplation before resuming. Her gold rimmed glasses perched on her nose highlighted her brown orbs in a very unique way, dark skin glowing underneath the reflection of sun rays that penetrated the glassy windows.
She stopped once more, reached for her cup and sipped from her espresso, savoring the light bitter taste before dropping it back on the desk and resuming her work.
"This one you're bent over that thing, hope we are not in any trouble?" Came the thick accent.
Cassandra turned to the source of her temporary distraction. At the door, stood a young man a little over five feet with low cut hair; sharing the same melanin tone with Cassandra. He held a back pack over one shoulder while his other hand rested on the door knob.
"Yaro. I thought you weren't coming today." Cassandra asked still half turned on her seat, her fingers on the keyboards.
"I changed my mind. There's literally nothing to do after I managed to finish that NFT project." Yaro walked in, dropping his bag on the couch behind the door before pulling out a chair and joining Cassandra at the computer desk.
"What are you so concentrated on?" Yaro asked taking a peek at the laptop screen.
Cassandra turned back to her screen with a little scowl,
"It's a school project. I've been trying to do something different with the PYTHON and SQL."
"In what sense?"
"A noob approach. Most people interested in Data science these days have zero knowledge. CoMac does a good job at hitting the surface but not enough."
"Ahh. When is it due?"
"About two months." Cassandra resumed typing. The "click click" of the keyboards filling the room.
"You must be joking. And here I thought you'd be calling seven days. Given the way you're so zealous."
Cassandra paused with a raised brow. "Do you mean I should wait till my deadline before getting my project done? I'll have you know that's a recipe for disaster."
"Ah! You've got the power, I'll give you that. But seriously, I don't see the reason why you'd be this serious. It's just school not heaven."
Cassandra chuckled. "Says the man with distinction in both his BSC and Masters."
"Don't remind me. That was one hellish experience and all for what? Nothing! No jobs. I had to work so many odd jobs before finally coming to learn about BlockChain technology and the real world. Sucks." Yaro relaxed against the backrest of his chair. His nose scrunched up as if recalling a distant memory.
"Still you can't throw away the benefit you have with those certificates. You're like a walking magnet." Cassandra said, envious.
Yaro scoffs. "You have no idea. Trust me, don't bend yourself over a damn project. At the end of all this, if you have no skill, you'd be eating dust in Nigeria." Yaro said and bent forward, resting his elbows on both knees.
"I think the reason for school is to harness our skills. Your know... Leverage?" Cassandra adjusts her glasses.
"I disagree." Comes a familiar voice from behind both of them. They turn to find Pelumi, their comrade.
"Didn't mean to eavesdrop but the conversation is hard to ignore." Pelumi strolled into the room and drew out a third chair.
"Which means you support this silly "School is scam" parade?" Cassandra looks intently at him.
"Yes. Heavily. School is a sham. A propaganda used by the colonialists to achieve their silly aim at world domination."
"You can't be serious." Cassandra says in disbelief. Now, she was fully tuned into the conversation. Project forgotten.
"I am. If you study history, a lot changed for the worse since the arrival of western culture."
"I tell you man," Yaro pipes, "I remember the story of the Benin people. Their culture, their ways and even their Spirituality."
"Yes. Spirituality was placed in high regards in those days. So much so that people trusted one another to not cross territories. Or rather, they had amulets that ward off people with evil intentions." Pelumi said
"There was so much trust. The people were so good. Infact, I think our trusting nature is what led us straight to them." Yaro mentioned, his lips downturned.
"You mean our naivety. We'd be living in total darkness hadn't it been for the birth of knowledge. I'm not saying they went about it the right way, just that we are who we are today thanks to civilization." Cassandra said
"Civilization immobilized us. You once asked me why I was an atheist. Have you read the letter of King Leopold II to the missionaries?" Pelumi asked
Cassandra grimaced. "You know I'm not one for history. All these things you guys are spouting are just plain falsehood to back up silly notions."
Yaro laughed outloud while Pelumi shook his head and reached for her laptop.
"You really need to go back to your roots Cass. Your years in the U.K is clearly messing with your head." Yaro continued shaking his head. Cassandra opened her mouth to reply when Pelumi sets her laptop right infront of her, a page exposed.
"That's Leopold's letter. Read." Pelumi relaxed and observed his friends as they perused the letter occasionally gasping and hissing.
Cassandra looked visibly shocked at what she's seen, her mouth gaping wide. She'd never been a master at masking her emotions like the other two.
"Is this even real?" Her voice trembles a bit as all she'd known comes tumbling.
"Well it is. During the colonial rule, a black man went to borrow a Bible from a dear missionary and found that letter."
"My goodness... I've never seen such a content. I'm beginning to question my sanity now and belief in God." Yaro blurted to which Cassandra found herself nodding.
"The implication of that letter I'm sure, is not difficult to decipher. They themselves already acknowledged that we were good people and too trusting. They used that as an advantage coming with the pretext of the gospel. As Yaro said, we trusted blindly which they used to inflicit the superior-inferior mentality. Seriously, the western education and culture just made us depend on them more to the point that we practically give them our resources." Pelumi says, a tinge of bitterness in his voice.
"Wow. If I'd known about this letter a few months ago, I could have solidly won that controversial debate regarding education and the Nigerian govermental system. This is an evidence of pure brainwash 101. Wow!" Yaro said and collected the laptop from Cassandra –who sat still on her chair– eagerly reading.
Cassandra felt like she'd been slapped. Yes she knew of the History of her country Nigeria but only what was taught in Highschool. She'd never taken time to really find out for herself and reckoned it was time to change that. Yet, her mind wheezed with possibilities of the world not being what she knew it. Multiple question marks formed in her mind, a slight cloud forming about all the information she'd accumulated.
She was pulled away from her thoughts when a hand clasped her shoulder.
"Don't busy your mind", Pelumi started, his intense and abnormally huge orbs stared at her. Pelumi had unusually large pupils and from her research, Cassandra found it to be a sign of high intelligence.
"This is why I said you should stay away from philosophy which you're so curious about. You'd run mad." Pelumi continued, concern cum amusement etched on his boyish face, betraying his thirty years of age. He'd never seen his friend get so lost in her head before. Clearly, this was too much for her to handle despite her scholastic achievements. Perhaps it was her young age. Still, she was a curious little thing for twenty-two who wanted to taste a little bit of everything. Yet, she too had a limit and this might just be it.
"True." Yaro concurred absentmindedly still engrossed in the letter.
Cassandra agreed in her mind. She's definitely not going anywhere close to Philosophy. This was already as maddening as it is.