The doctor frowns at her, then opens his face again for the both of them. “Some will look at these children and see the future best and brightest of Nigeria, able to attend and succeed at the best schools anywhere. Some will see future scientists able to accumulate data at hitherto unknown rates and assimilate them and conduct incredible analyses. And in a way, we are breeding future environmentalists. I’m sure the government is trying to get all the help it can in its efforts to combat climate change. But we are also building people more able to survive in this world. Their organs don’t deteriorate at the same rate. They have automatic immunity from any number of diseases that may have devastated previous populations. Can you believe there was a time when a thing like malaria could kill you?” He chuckles softly.

Grace pauses in her note-taking. “Doctor, you said earlier that the government’s goal was widespread cyberization?”

“Yes. For a number of reasons. The health of the population, but also increased productivity. It opens the space for remote workers. We have high-speed rail from Borno State to Enugu, but for some, the trip is still not feasible. That shouldn’t keep them from having the good job they qualify for.”

“Aren’t there security concerns?” Something is niggling at the back of Ify’s mind, but she can’t quite pin down her worry. “Mass connectivity. The government can watch everything you do.”

Grace stiffens in her seat, as though a thought has just occurred to her.

Dr. Ezirike shrugs. “Would you rather the government carry your data or a private corporation? At least this way, your wallet is safer. The Ministry of Health certainly isn’t trying to bully you into buying that sweater.” He chuckles.

“No, it isn’t,” Ify says quietly to herself.

“After the cataclysm that ended five years ago, the people have been more than eager to protect against such widespread catastrophe.”

Ify’s eyes spring open. “Cataclysm?”

“Yes. The Climate Cataclysm, the Nine-Year Storm that ravaged the country for nearly a decade. It set fire to almost everything, devastated the southeast. The Igbo were hit hardest. It saw the expansion of the Redlands, rising sea levels. Almost every imaginable horror.” He doesn’t speak like someone affected by the calamity. He speaks as though this were a thing that happened somewhere far away, that killed people he can only barely bring himself to care about.

“Is that what happened?” Ify asks, trying to keep the edge out of her voice. Grace has stopped taking notes and now stares intently at the both of them.

“What? Of course that’s what happened.” The doctor laughs. “Millions died and millions more were displaced by the Nine-Year Storm. It wasn’t until 2176 that the worst was over. And that’s when the mass cyberization initiative got under way in earnest.”

“But the war—”