Stories that are part of the Applied African Speculative Fiction toolkit
"She smiles. It never gets old to her, the act of growing something for the first time. She remembers sprinkling the tiny dry seeds onto moist soil and leaving the planter, a rose-gold tin out in the sun. She wonders what the tin used to be, in its past life, a hundred years ago. What it was first filled with, all the things it’s carried and will carry in the future. For now, it carries fragile life."
"The campaign was slowly yielding fruits, with the whole village collectively involved in fighting the epidemic. Then, a company calling itself Pest and Germ Control Corporation came up with a new method. It had modified the genes of the anopheles and created a new species that does not carry malaria parasites. It called this breed Miss Doe. It asked the government for a trial site. A powerful politician influenced the Ministry of Health to choose Abedo. He thought the project would bring employment to his people, and thus increase his popularity. Genetic scientists from PGCC then camped in the area, and introduced Miss Doe. Their plan was to out populate and replace the naturals with the disease free bugs. A simple plan. A great plan."
"When Oga Dayo convinced Fidelis to be his delivery driver for his No Place Like a Hobox project—an initiative aimed at “giving the homeless, low-income communities, and rural areas compact smart houses with built-in AIs”—Fidelis was sure Oga Dayo had thrown around the words revolutionise and housing policies in his pitch. Fidelis had witnessed the fallout of the project, with the houses resold by the recipients, the high cost of maintenance, which equalled an increased standard of living for said recipients, two lawsuits, and several robberies—of the recipients, the houses, and him, the unfortunate driver-guy. Oga Dayo was still dealing with the rehousing and settlement payments from that project. And that was two years ago. When Oga Dayo’s pet projects fell through, they fell through hard. Between his philanthropy and charity initiatives, he was always looking for the next big thing to put all that generational oil money into."
"With the backing of well-funded lobbyists, Pastor Usen and the Quintessence Foundation pushed for the Nigerian government to relax the legislation around the incorporation of new technology required to sustain soul chains nationwide. Quintessence and Nigeria entered Public-Private Partnership that started with developing vast energy infrastructure, and this collaboration heralded a quantum leap in tech, unlike anything a country has ever experienced. Many called him a visionary, and with his leadership, the Quintessence Foundation commissioned QTSSMN1, the first of what we now call soul mines."
'The whispers picked up, then receded, a cascade in the air. You already forgot us. Like every other human. Cut us down, betrayed us, forgot us. Leave what is ours and go. “Peace,” Muta pleaded. “I have not forgotten you.”'
‘"Apologies for disrupting your top twenty countdown.’ The DJ’s smooth, deep voice was more suited to dropping sweet nothings than issuing fake apologies. ‘Our friends at the Zambia Meteorological Centre have sent out an amber warning for an incoming dust storm. All areas of Lusaka are affected. That’s a dust storm, bantu banga. Stay in, stay safe."’
'She pulls a face. “Language and hidden histories matter. It’s from Kora, the tongue of the First People of the Cape, the now extinct Khoe. It means sweet water for all. The First Name for this place.”'
‘“Trees dey talk o,” she would say. “Dem dey talk about bad-bad things wey go happen for future.”’
"Our way of life is no longer sustainable, if we want to survive we have to adjust to the world, adapt and embrace it. For thousands of years humanity has tried to shape the world in its image. We failed and did so much damage to the world in the process. Now, we pay it back."'
After a disaster, technology protects some people and some places but not others: '“Do you think the people on the outside are okay?” “Seeing as they’re always trying to get in here, I take it they’re not.”.“We should just let them in.” “We— We can’t.” “Why?”'