Male Voice, calm but intense tone]
[classroom]
"We started with something simple ice, copper wiring, and a high-voltage battery. The goal was to see if we could extract moisture and create a form of dry ice through a homemade dehydration chamber. It didn't work."
"We left the setup coils, circuits, and a recycled inverter — in the shed. But that night… there was a storm."
"Lightning struck. Directly. No surge protector, no insulation. Just raw voltage."
"This morning, I went to check. Just routine. But when I powered the device…"
[Cut to the device whirring, strange flickering noises, humming sound]
"It wasn't just sparking — it was… doing something else. Watch this."
[He points the machine at a pen. The pen floats, vanishes, then appears out another opening across the room.]
"Teleportation. Real teleportation. There are two ends two mouths, that's what I call them. Whatever goes in… comes out the other side."
[Cut to students gasping, the teacher stepping forward, stunned]
The flickering light from the strange machine dies down. A stunned silence fills the room. A pen had just teleported from one end of the table to the other.
TEACHER (in awe):
This… this is groundbreaking. This isn't just science fair material, this is history. Monaki, do you understand what you've done?
Monaki, still catching his breath, glances at his cousin feeling accomplished.
MONAKI: (smirking)
"We know that."
TEACHER (stepping closer):
This could win the Nobel Prize. No exaggeration. You kids may have just discovered practical teleportation! The school will be proud. No — the nation. You'll be famous. We'll present it to the international science board. IELTS, even NASA…
MONAKI (shaking his head):
No sir… I think… I think we should keep it at home for now. We built it. Maybe we just need to understand it more.
TEACHER (surprised):
Monaki… you're passing up an opportunity of a lifetime.
MONAKI:
Maybe. But it's ours. At least for now.
---
[INT. SMALL LIVING ROOM – NIGHT]
Monaki and his cousin arrive home, dusty and tired. Their mother is sitting on the couch watching tv.
COUSIN (excited):
Mama! Our teacher went mad today! The project the teleportation he said it could win the Nobel Prize!
MONAKI:
Yeah, he was even talking about international scholarships and science boards.
MOTHER (laughing, unconvinced):
Ah! From ice and copper? You children will not kill me. What is teleportation? And how will it give you money?
MONAKI: (murmurs in a low tune illiterate)
COUSIN (grinning):
No Mama, seriously! It worked.
She shakes her head and goes back to watching tv.
---
[ BEDROOM – NEXT DAY]
Monaki checks his email. A single unread message sits bold at the top:
"FULL SCHOLARSHIP AWARD — JAPAN SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE."
MONAKI (shouting): Taru! Come, come! Look at what I've just seen in my email. Looks like we've been given a scholarship to study in Japan!
---
[LIVING ROOM – LATER]
Monaki shows his parents the email. The mother squints at the screen. The father adjusts his glasses.
MOTHER:
To study what?
MONAKI:
Science. Technology. To improve our invention.
FATHER:
You know you can study medicine over there too, eh? Not just this copper-and-battery play.
MONAKI: No daddy please this is what I want to do
The parents exchange a glance — part pride, part worry.
[Narration – Monaki's voice, calm but unsure]*
"When we landed in Japan, everything felt… unreal. The lights. The streets. The people. The food. It was like stepping into the anime world I grew up watching. Except this time, I was the main character. I just didn't know what kind of story I was in."
[Arrival at the Academy]
We arrived at Tensai Institute of Science and Technology, a towering modern campus split into five divisions: Junior, High School, Mechanical Engineering, AI & Robotics, and Quantum-Tech Research. students walked around in lab coats, and vacuum AI bots cleaned the pathways. This was the place where minds turned theories into realities.
I and Taru were placed in the Quantum-Tech Research Class — the elite. Our mission: try to replicate the teleportation discovery from Nigeria.
Weeks passed. Then months.
We tried the same setup. Ice. Coils. Batteries. Inverters. Storms came. Storms went. Nothing.
Until one late evening, Monaki muttered:
"What if… we go bigger? Like... way bigger?"*
His team looked at him.
"What do you mean?"
"Two machines. One here in the lab. The other — outside, behind the engineering garage. Same materials, but scaled up. Maybe the energy we need isn't small. Maybe it needs space."
We built it. Two gates. Two "mouths" so we called it.
Then we waited for the storm.
November 16th.
I was in my dormitory, up late. Everyone else was asleep, but I couldn't. I was thinking about Taru's birthday what to get her. I'd already promised her a shopping spree, but I still wanted to give her something special. Something more personal.
That's when I heard the rain begin to fall soft at first, then heavier. The soft drizzle quickly turned into a violent storm. Thunder cracked through the sky, and all I could think about was the copper poles we left mounted on top of the lab roof. If the lightning hit just right, maybe… just maybe it could power the machine.
By morning, I couldn't sit still. I rushed out of the dorm, heart racing. When I got to the lab, I stopped.
All the boarding students were already there, gathered in front of the lab. Eyes wide, voices hushed. Even the teachers stood there, watching. Waiting.
And then I saw her — Taru. Standing in the front row, looking right at me.
We walked into the lab together. I flipped the switch.
It turned on.
I did it. The hummed, The Buzz and the flickering, everything was desame as the first machine.
Then we placed a desk into one of the mouths.
30 seconds.
The desk emerged from the other side.
Success. Slower than before… but success.
Cheers. High-fives. The group was ecstatic.
The students and teachers were in awe of what there had just witnessed.
Later in the afternoon, just after second break, I was called to the principal's office. Or the headmaster, rather. Said it was urgent.
When I walked in, the room wasn't empty. My science teacher was there… but so were three unfamiliar men. Suits, badges, the kind of people who didn't just visit schools. You could tell by the way they spoke calm, calculating, interested.
One of them looked at me and said, "Can you show us the machine?"
So, we walked back to the lab.
Students noticed. They always do. Word spreads fast in boarding schools. By the time we reached the lab, more than half the school was crowded outside, peering through windows, whispering.
Inside, I powered on the device. The familiar humming returned. Lights flickered along the coils. The air got heavy, almost electric.
We put a desk through.
Thirty seconds later, it reappeared on the other end. Same result. Smooth. Clean.
There were astonished.
Then one of the officials asked, "Have you tested it with a living organism?"
I froze. "No, sir… we haven't."
There was a pause. Then someone whispered, "The class hamster…"
And just like that, the small white cage was brought in, wheels still spinning from panic. Everyone was watching. Students pressed up against the glass, teachers standing at the back.
I hesitated… then placed the hamster into the first mouth of the machine.
At first, it was fine.
Then everything changed.
The machine sparked — violently. The lab lights flickered. The floor rumbled beneath us like a tremor. A deep, low hum echoed through the walls. The vibration got worse. It felt like the ground was shaking as if the whole school was caught in a silent earthquake.
Suddenly, the machine sputtered and shut itself off.
Smoke hissed from the coils. Everyone backed away.
Then… silence.
I slowly crept forward. And as I peeked into the second mouth of the machine…
The hamster appeared.
But it wasn't the same.
Its fur had turned a dull, grayish color. It had two small, sharp horns protruding from its head. Its eyes glowed faintly. It was breathing — but it wasn't normal.
A scream pierced from behind.
I turned around and saw someone had fainted. Another student backed away in shock. Panic started to ripple through the hallway.
That was when I knew…
Something had gone wrong. Terribly wrong.
One student was on the floor, pointing.
Taru saw it too. I could tell from the scared look in her eyes
Frost. On the window.
Snowflakes… inside the lab.
I whispered to myself , "That's… impossible."
Then I walked through the door.
And froze.
The school was no longer in Tokyo.
It was sitting atop a vast icy mountain — snow stretching into infinity. Cold air whipped at their faces.
Everyone stared in shock.
Then… a shadow fell over us.
A massive winged shape moved slowly through the sky, darkening the sunlight. It covered the windows, the ground, even the courtyard.
So many of us were too scared to look up.
But I did.
I don't know where the courage came from, but I forced myself to look.
And there it was…
A creature no, a beast flying just above the school. Wings stretching over a hundred feet across, gliding slow.
Its skin shimmered, almost metallic. The air got heavier just by its presence.
None of us could explain what it was.
The only thought that ran through my head:
"Is this… a dragon?"
I wanted to say something wise. Something smart.
But the only word that came out of my mouth was—
"Screw Me."
And that…
That was when everything truly changed.