01: The question (edited)

*Buzz* *buzz* *buzz*

"Urgh, what?" I groan as I lift my head from my pillow looking around in a slight rush with sleep still dragging my eyes down trying to figure out what woke me from my sleep.

"Oh alarm" the sound escapes my mouth as I realise that my startled appearance was caused by the alarm on my phone going off right beside my pillow where I had left it playing music last night.

Checking the time I noticed that it was 7 in the morning right when my first alarm on my phone goes off still sleepy I press the X on my phone turning off the buzzing alarm before falling back onto my pillow hoping for more sleep.

Yet unfortunately, my past self planned for this knowing how I was in mornings lately with my sleep schedule being what it was (3 hours of sleep on a good night is not healthy my friends tell me but I'm still alive so oh well) as no sooner had my head hit the pillow the next alarm went off the problem this time was it was across the room so I had to get up to be able to turn it off.

Groaning I pulled myself from my bed and for the possibly hundredth time wondered why beds and other sleeping locations were so uncomfortable when one falls asleep yet were so comfortable when one woke up?

Up and out of bed I walked over to my alarm clock and turned it off before getting dressed and ready for the day "stretching done, breakfast made and eaten, coffee made and drunk, teeth brushed ready for the day possibly" I muttered as I went about preparing for the day.

"Eden, how are you feeling about the exam today?" I asked my friend and flatmate who I was also sharing a course with, in university at the moment.

"Eh should be okay so long as I can remember the dates for the Lithics and the Lapita pottery" she replied to my question looking up from her breakfast she was eating in a rush, which was understandable seeing as we needed to leave for our final exam in about 5 minutes.

"Yeah same the dates are the hardest part fortunately we only need to get them roughly in the right time period one or two hundred years aren't exactly the most key when dealing with dates in the thousands, fortunately," I replied both dreading the exam and awaiting it eagerly as after it was done our entire group would be able to graduate so long as we all passed our exams.

Three whole years have gone like that it made you wonder where the time had gone it only felt like last week Eden and I were sitting in our first Ancient Greek lecture not knowing anyone in the room of around 9 people unaware of what the year had in store for the world at that point.

If some mind reader was wondering what happened that year let's just say 2020 was one hell of a start to the century.

Anyway, I have an exam to get to hope it isn't that bad oh well only one way to find out I suppose "I'm heading off best of luck with the exam Eden see you back here after it all" I call towards the inside of our flat as I leave to go to the computer room to sit my exam.

---After the exam---

'Well that could have gone worse had to infer answers to some of the questions but knew enough of them that the others should be close to being correct so shouldn't be that bad of a result overall.' I think to myself as I leave campus

"Young man mind if I ask you a question you see I am a social anthropologist conducting a survey at the moment?" I turn to my left as I hear a voice that sounded as though it was from an older gentleman asking a question more so out of curiosity as to what he was researching than anything else.

"Were you talking to me?" I ask as I look at him with confusion visible in my eyes not sure why anyone would ask me something I'm the kind of person who can disappear into a crowd and is easily looked over in most situations.

"Yes, do you see anyone else I might be referring to out here not much foot traffic goes through these parts at this hour with exams and all that" the older gentleman replies to my question with humour apparent in his voice as he looks at me with something that resembles curiosity in his eyes and the eyes of the spirit I could now see behind him.

'Great either Lily is pranking me or I'm more sensitive to this lot today haven't had enough caffeine for them to be visible' I think to myself wondering what I managed to get myself into this time.

"Well, there is the fella behind your shoulder and the one currently in my back you might have been asking" I reply to him kind of hoping to sound insane as not everyone can see these spirits and the only reason I can is because of Lily deciding to attach herself to me at birth which made life interesting, constantly having panic attacks wondering why I was a guy then others wondering why I thought I wasn't a guy life sure has been interesting.

Recently those kinds of events have picked up might be to do with our personalities joining more and more as I got older.

Never could understand those guys who liked the thought of a thousand-year-old woman who looked in her 20s living with them trust me not at all what it is cut out to be.

But I'm digressing as rather than looking at me like I was crazy the gentleman in front of me was instead looking at me with interest and I understood why when he replied to my question "well now not many here with no Maori blood in them can see these guys but no I am more interested in what the living have to say rather than the dead what about you?"

I mull over what he said for a moment knowing what he was referring to by the Maori blood kind of feel sorry for them if they are spiritualists able to see them at least I don't always see them they have very little say in the matter.

"Well, then what was the question you wanted to ask me I don't mind helping your research I have some experience on how annoying it can be to research things as an anthropologist when people are less than willing to answer some questions?" I ask him now wanting to know both how he can see the spirits 'probably family connection if I had to guess' and what his research was about.

"Well, I was wondering if you could tell me what your thoughts on humanity as a whole are? I'm researching the different views and thoughts of people both young and old and from different ethnographic backgrounds on their views of humanity." the gentleman kindly asks me while explaining a little about his research.