"Being offline from Orisis, my artificial intelligence mother governing Pinaa, the inhabited moon of Mahwé, means I am unable to find a solution or explanation for this scenario. I cycle through microseconds of data, yet even with a world of knowledge built into my system, along with a billion iterations of an action, I cannot find a reason for my abduction mere hours ago."
‘“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?”'
Set in New Delta, a city rebuilt on drained swampland in former oilfields, the protagonist, Chioma, is expectant and is caught up in labor during a violent, unpredicted storm linked to bioengineered periwinkle grass.
The futuristic city becomes a utopian gaze, setting the stage for us to rethink and see urban planning as an intrinsic aspect of climate justice.
This story is centred on Eketi, whose career as a journalist hit a dead end, forcing her to take a fellowship she earlier won as her only alternative for immediate survival, as she ponders her way forward in life.