Pondichery, South East India, 2030.

Life had returned to normal after the cataclysm and everyone had work to do either rebuilding or exploiting the meteor fragments and the precious metals they contained.

It was a real gold mine for the electronics companies. But all this work was also attracting immigrants from nearby Sri Lanka, and this soon led to ethnic conflicts between Muslims and Hindus. The most active were from the Matoule ethnic group. The worst were those who had pledged allegiance to Boko Haram.

Their main sources of income were mass kidnapping and security racketeering.

Once village did not "pay" its tribe, so massacres ensued.

Until now this whole region of India was spared, minor conflicts were on islands and did not even make the headlines in the local newspapers.

India is the country of all possible for better or worse.

Most often there was talk of witchcraft crimes in remote villages where poor midwives or herbal healers had been lynched and burned as a result of water contamination and attacks by tigers or elephants that had suddenly gone mad.

But India was evolving into a superpower capable of competing with its terrible neighbor, China.

Sylvia arrived with Brahma, Surish's sister and her two children Ankur and Choudari.

Sylvia thought: "What a beautiful house!".

Her husband was waiting for us on the doorstep. Mr. Shaikh, wearing a turban, lowered his head and the house staff took our luggage away.

Sylvia received another wreath of flowers and it was traditional to hang it at the entrance of her room.

We were greeted with tea and I was shown around the interior.

The house was a family home like many families in India.

There was the patriarch, the elder who managed the finances. All the members of the family had to give half of their salary to the elder father or mother and the money collected was redistributed equitably. This made it possible to develop a family project such as starting a business or paying for education, repairing the family home or saving those who had fallen into misfortune due to illness or loss of income.

This semi-communist system allowed many generations to get by and clans to be created. Some became powerful and even influenced politics.

"Wow, how beautiful my room is," Sylvia exclaimed.

"Wow, how beautiful my room is," Sylvia exclaimed [https://img.wattpad.com/42fb9ace9a974808e2e30739002596a4ae3b3409/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f5f497768726b41446a724c4168413d3d2d313030383835393635372e313635386639663338663965396562383437363839313238313635362e6a7067?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]

The Bengali family was relatively wealthy and this translated into a rather comfortable lifestyle.

Brahma then told me (POV Sylvia) "Your bed is double but it can fold in two and make room for your desk.

All your school stuff is stored in the sliding cupboards and in the garage, your stuff is always in the boxes. We didn't dare to open them to put them away so if you want Ankur and Choudari, your cousins can help you to settle down.

This is your mother's room and Surish, your stepfather's room, but it is traditional here to call your elder brothers and sisters and your older brothers and sisters, even if they are your cousins.

This serves to unite us to make a block. In spite of appearances, we are still a little bit in the country and people still live with the notion of caste and you always have to be careful who you talk to and how you talk to them. Otherwise, life is good here and since you are a European, if you make mistakes, many will be forgiven.

We will help you to integrate here so that you will be the happiest."

"Thank you, Mother Brahma..."

Satisfying the compliment, she smiles at Sylvia.

Then came the pleasant smell of fragrant food.

Brahma knew how to cook, but since we had housekeepers living with us in a separate, private wing of the house, the kitchen was entrusted to them.

I enjoyed the welcome meal but was surprised not to see any meat.

My usual diet was 90% meat and the rest was side dishes. I was considered the "carnivore" of the family. "

And I loved the rare steak! The blood, the sauce...Mhh".

I was quickly stalled with the starchy foods and they soon saw that I had tasted everything, that I enjoyed cooking but that I was stalling.

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I invited myself into the kitchen and got to know the staff. They lived during the week but returned to their families on the weekends. Sometimes their children would come during school vacations and play with Ankur and Choudari.

Girls and boys played but did not have too many illusions about their future. The parents had already chosen who they would marry. Some had less retrograde parents, but in a nation where money builds walls to protect itself from misery, marriages were bridges of money to ensure mutual security between families.

The elders would tell their children: "They will learn to love each other...".

For me, Christian, it was a clash of cultures and I was immersed in another world.

I felt very small there.

I can't wait for Mommy to come back. They are nice to me but I am homesick for France, chops and beef bourguignon!

During the night, I continued my awful nightmares but I tried not to scream.

Then I was hungry, horribly hungry and went downstairs to attack the fridge. I couldn't take it anymore!

What a disappointment... I only found a few cubes of chicken broth...

In my opinion, the cook couldn't read and had never thought that chicken broth cubes were made from meat...

Then I thought of some programs about vegans. I felt as if I was in front of prosecutors accusing you of being "meat eaters". As if meat eaters were criminals who should be punished or forcibly converted.

It was their choice, I was the game! I used to love it when my dad brought back game. And I often went hunting with him. But now he is no longer there and I missed our hunting trips terribly.

He makes me talk about it to my mom, that I loved hunting and especially eating the "fruits of the forest".

Each time it was the rotisserie, blood and butter potatoes in the hearth.

I was losing weight and for the first time I saw my ribs in the mirror.

The next morning, I felt the burning in my nose and when I stuck out my tongue, I saw a crack in the middle that was deepening and like a white sheath at the bottom. Strangely enough, my tongue could fit a little into this sheath. My sense of smell was getting stronger every day.

I played every day with my 2 cousins and slowly, the beginning of the school year was getting closer. I still had 3 more years to do for my certificate and the refresher tests had been sent to me in advance.

I had to catch up in Indian history and Asian geography and there were interesting courses such as home economics and administration that would allow any child to be able to take over a household in case of disaster. Otherwise, the subject matter was about the same but the level was higher. I was amazed. In Europe, we had a lot of prejudices but the reality here was quite different.

Brahma had also warned me of the danger of the fauna here. The insects were bigger and especially the hunting bugs. They devour everything and are dangerous and carry horrible diseases such as dengue fever and malaria.

For the mosquitoes, it was still okay although you needed a mosquito net to sleep if you didn't want to scratch yourself in the morning.

Strangely, I was immune to insect attacks.

The sea too, we had to be careful but I loved to swim. It relieved the stifling heat for the others but I enjoyed it.

Ankur and his brother wondered why I was not suffering from the heat unlike the other Europeans living in the city center.

Today was shopping day in the city and I accompanied Brahma to visit the shopping malls.

She knew that I was going to throw myself on meat and, despite all her efforts, I didn't know how to be vegan.

Then at the fish market, I went crazy with the smell of fresh fish.

With my pocket money I had bought myself a whole bag of fresh herring and Brahma had to turn his head when I swallowed the raw herring whole without even chewing.

The bag was emptied before we even left the store.

I was embarrassed for Brahma and apologized for that.

Brahma: "You are you and it would be mean of us to force you to change. You respect our beliefs and customs and that's the main thing.

I jumped on her neck but she refused to kiss me. It wasn't the first time, it was intimate, and I had fish breath.

Then I saw a gun store and a hunting and fishing course. The store was called Masquelier, a brand of French origin, and here in Pondicherry, there was this kind of store because there was a lot of French people and French origin.

To hunt, you needed a license and Brahma categorically refused to have a gun in the house . Only Surish and Shaikh could have one and she didn't even know if they had one.

However, she agreed that I should buy a fishing rod and pots.

Two smaller ones were bought for my cousins but Brahma was against them killing animals.

I ended up convincing her that fish ate each other and birds also fished.

The following week, Mom would be here and I hoped that with her visit, everything would be better. We would be a block between Europeans, I thought to myself.

Then, in the morning, instead of crushed flat bread and fried onions, I would go to the creek to see if there was something in my crib, but I would always come back home with my head down, the crib empty. Of course, the fish would swim in my stomach.

Brahma would smile a little, seeing me stuttering and I would end up eating their unleavened bread like jam or Nutella pancakes.

But what sometimes betrayed me was my breath and I often had to munch on mint candies.

Every day in the morning, I would see my tongue lengthen and my pupils would sometimes contract like felines.

My rash had calmed down a bit with the heat and humidity and at the base of my coccyx, a big pimple was pushing down.

As it was not painful, I was not worried.

But I often looked at my belly, towards an imaginary wound.

Then, like a flash, I saw my green belly with a lot of blood and the pain tetanized me on the floor.

I had convulsions in the bathroom and no sound came out of my mouth.

Ahhh... Ahhh. Everything was spinning and as if apocalyptic trumpets were sounding in my head, under my eardrums, a pain.

The vision, my dreams, everything was beginning to take shape and make sense.

The Doomsday Rocket... no... It was THE AEGIS 2...!

I had to open the hatch to release the rocket... NO...

What's happening to me?

It wasn't an atomic bomb that was going to take off from his silo, but a rocket to save the dragons... my family?? from the dragons????

I stood up in a sweat and entered the shower stall.

Without realizing it, the water was hot and a lot of steam condensed on the mirrors.

And I saw a name drawn with my finger without realizing it.

It said "Poisse!"

Reading its name, like a tape cassette that you rewind at high speed, the memories overwhelmed me...

Brahma heard a boom and rushed into my room.

I was knocked out and she burned herself by turning off the hot water that was running over me.

I was in a bed in a medical antenna near the village and an infusion had been given to me with moisturizing solutions. I had also been given pain killers to bring down the fever.

Dr. Parish: "The fever should have killed her but she is heat resistant. Do you have any idea what happened?"

After a few moments he lowered his eyes and then: "She needs rest.... The food here lacks protein and since she is of European ethnicity, her body must adapt to the climate. The bacteria here and in France are different and this happens sometimes. It's nothing serious, just a weakness. Tomorrow everything will be better. Call me if it happens again".

The next day, I woke up. But in me, I felt like I was 2. A fantastic "Poisse", a dragon heroine of a fantastic medieval fantasy world and Sylvia.

But it was too intense, too real. I had doubts. Who was I in the end. Poisse or Sylvia?

Brahma helped me out of bed, which I did without any problem, but I immediately saw the bandages on her forearms.

"Mother?? did you hurt yourself?"

"No, it's nothing," she said to me in English.

Then I looked at the doctor, "You are taking hot showers and that is not good. Fortunately, she burned herself not too badly to turn off the shower water. You're lucky you didn't get burned. You could have died scalded from passing out under such hot water. You have Brahma to thank for saving your life..."

I then jumped on Mother Brahma's neck and... surprise, MOTHER was there with Surish!

They all hugged me. I had scared them, but I was so happy to see them again. I missed them so much, especially Mama.