THE BROKEN DREAMS

Fred crouched there for a long moment.

The black folder was heavier than it looked.

Cold.

As if it contained not just papers, but something much more dangerous.

He looked around — but the man in the suit was truly gone.

No footsteps.

No sound.

Just the moan of the rooftop wind and the distant honking of matatus below.

Fred's hands shook as he opened the folder.

Inside was a single sheet of crisp, white paper.

And a flash drive.

He picked up the paper first.

Typed in neat, formal font:

---

> CONFIDENTIAL CONTRACT

Welcome, Fredrick Otieno.

You have been selected.

By opening this document, you accept the first phase of an opportunity that only comes once in a lifetime.

Instructions:

1. Insert the flash drive into any laptop by 8:00 PM tonight.

2. Follow the directions contained in the file.

3. DO NOT speak about this to anyone.

Failure to comply will result in permanent disqualification.

Good luck.

---

There was no signature.

No letterhead.

Nothing official.

Fred swallowed hard.

His palms were sweating.

He stuffed the paper and flash drive into his hoodie pocket, stood up, and stumbled toward the stairwell like a drunk man.

Everything around him blurred.

Was this real?

Or had he finally cracked under the weight of all the bullying, humiliation, and loneliness?

Maybe he was hallucinating.

Maybe this was one last cruel trick.

He didn't know.

He just knew he had nowhere else to turn.

---

Fred locked the door behind him and pulled the curtains closed until the room was plunged into darkness.

The only light came from the cheap second-hand laptop sitting on the crate he used as a table.

He plugged it in.

Stared at the flash drive.

His heart thudded painfully against his ribs.

He could still throw it away.

Pretend none of this ever happened.

Go back to being invisible.

But... what if this was his one chance?

His only way out?

With a shaking breath, Fred pushed the flash drive into the laptop.

The screen flickered.

A folder popped up automatically.

> "OPEN_ME_NOW"

Fred clicked.

Inside was a single video file.

"Welcome, Fredrick."

The thumbnail showed a dark screen.

No faces.

No names.

Just a voice recording.

He hesitated only a second before pressing play.

---

A voice — distorted, mechanical, impossible to identify — filled the room.

> "Congratulations, Fredrick. You have been chosen for The Ascension Program. You are one of 300 candidates selected from over 50,000. Your background, struggles, and potential have been reviewed."

Fred's blood froze.

They knew.

They knew about his poverty.

His parents abandoning him.

His struggles.

His humiliation at the hands of the rich kids.

Every broken dream he buried deep inside.

The voice continued:

> "This world is not built for the weak. It is built for the ruthless. The cunning. The survivors. You have been deemed worthy of a trial."

Fred leaned closer.

Every fiber of his body was vibrating.

> "Tomorrow morning at 6:00 AM, you will report to Location: Shelter 6, abandoned building on Masinga Street. Bring nothing except yourself and this code: 'I seek to ascend.'"

> "There will be trials. Tests. Betrayals. Pain. You may fail. You may die. But if you succeed... everything you ever dreamed of will be yours."

The screen turned black.

Silence.

Fred sat frozen in the glow of the laptop screen.

Die?

Pain?

Tests?

This wasn't a job interview.

This wasn't some scholarship opportunity.

This was something far more dangerous.

Far more real.

And somehow... a small, broken part of him wanted it.

Needed it.

He closed the laptop slowly, breathing hard.

Tomorrow morning.

6:00 AM.

Shelter 6.

He had less than 12 hours to decide if he wanted to risk everything.

Or stay broken forever.

---

Fred lay on his mattress, staring at the cracked ceiling again.

But this time, he didn't feel helpless.

He felt a fire growing in his chest.

Slowly.

Painfully.

It wasn't hope — he didn't dare call it that.

It was rage.

At the world.

At himself.

At the lies he'd been told about "working hard" and "being patient."

If he wanted to live in this cruel world, he had to become crueler.

Smarter.

Faster.

Stronger.

Nobody was coming to save him.

Nobody was coming to lift him up.

It was him... or nothing.

And so, just before dawn, Fred packed his hoodie pocket with the flash drive.

Tied his worn-out sneakers tight.

Pulled his hoodie over his head.

And walked into the darkness.

Toward whatever Shelter 6 had waiting for him.

Toward the life that might kill him — or finally set him free.

---