《Voices from the Distance》


 Prologue: A Rainy Anniversary

    Prologue: A Rainy Anniversary


    The sound of the rain falling on top of the roof made the outside view through the window as serene as it could possibly get. Lightning would sometimes appear on the horizon, and only the echo of the thunder could temporarily relieve me of my somber mood. The glass pane of the window was painted with numerous colours by the lights of the streets and the droplets of the rain. The antique grandfather clock echoed through the hallway each tick of time that passes by as I sit here alone¡­ just watching.


    It¡¯s October 3 of 2072. A day that I could only feel loathsome about my own life. A day that I remember so clearly in my mind.


    2 years ago on this very day, my twin brother died from a shooting. Some would call it a hate crime, some call it an unfortunate occurrence. It was all the same; it was murder.


    The sky was overcast past 3pm while I was walking down the street. Turning around the corner, I noticed a huge crowd gathered on the sidewalk. The crowd extended all the way into the roads, which left me to wonder what could it possibly be.


    During that time, I was stupid, naive, or ignorant. I assumed it was a performance, and I should leave it alone. I almost walked past the crowd, only thinking about getting home, and eating whatever is available in the fridge.


    Only when the muddled sirens a few blocks away from where I was did I notice something was strange. People were whispering to each other and looking at me oddly as if they¡¯ve seen a ghost. Unfortunately, the bus stop I took was in plain sight of where the crowd was..


    As far as I could remember, it was then the ambulanced sped in the direction of the crowd. The crowd moved aside for the man when he came out of the ambulance. They parted like when Moses divided the Red Sea to cross it.


    I then noticed a familiar silhouette. The figure looked similar to my own. That¡¯s when I thought ¡®there¡¯s no way¡¯. As I squinted my eyes to see further ahead, my heart dropped when my mind confirmed who was on the stretcher of the ambulance.


    I started running my fastest. A few things from my loose pockets fell off, but I couldn¡¯t care less at the time. I only looked at the objective in front of me. As soon as I got near, people tried to stop me. They quickly let go once they saw my face as if they understood the situation.


    They let me in the ambulance all the way to the hospital. The ride to hospital seemed to go on and on forever. The murky sounds of the siren. The muddled voices of the arguing crew of the ambulance. And of course, the weakening heart rate of my brother on the stretcher.


    To me, he was someone that¡¯s always there. Not really thinking about losing him or ever having a falling out with him, we knew each other the best. We didn¡¯t need to verbally communicate when we want the other to do something. It was just something like a snap, and ¡®oh ok¡¯ happens. Even if our interests are totally different from each other, we understood why the other is interested in the specific subject.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    It was an understanding of a deeper level. So deep that one could almost call it a second nature for us to know what each other is thinking.


    A lot of the times during high school, they wouldn¡¯t let us be in the same team just because we would wreck the other team single handedly. Our classmates deep rooted hatred for us. being together in the same team. extends all the way to signing a petition to never let us be in the same team for P.E class ever again. Of course, that¡¯s also the reason why our school, during our years, placed top 3 in every team sports we participated in.


    The ambulance stopped right in front of the ER reception door. The gusty wind blew into the interiors as soon as the doors opened. At this point, everyone that could hear, heard something that didn¡¯t make anyone believe what they were hearing.


    ¡ªThe heart rate monitor flatlined a few seconds after the door was opened.


    Out of the 7 present in the vicinity, only one person did the action of signing the cross. It was meant to be of respect, yet all it did was put my emotions into a stir. It was a state of disbelief which had gotten me into a swirl. A disbelief that the one whom I cherish the most is now gone. Something or someone that should never leave my side. The person who should always be there in my time happiness and sadness.


    During the night I went to bed, my eyes stayed open until 5 in the morning. At that time, I heard a mild whisper that came from inside me.


    "Live for my sake."


    Immediately after that, I lost consciousness. The scenes of that night were burned in my memories.


    ¡°Andrew, are you going to stay at that spot for the rest of the day? Hurry downstairs. We¡¯re all ready to go to the memorial.¡±


    Her blank detail-less face made me wonder what her expression was during that dialogue. However, the colour of her words answered my question. Her expression was a slightly unsaturated dark blue green.


    That night, not only burned my memories, but also changed me. People¡¯s faces were now a clean blank, and most importantly, I saw the colour in people¡¯s voices.


    Chapter 1 ></a>


    ###########


    Hi everyone! This one is a short chapter :)


    This is going to be my new story. This one is set on Earth in the near future.


    Most likely, this will be a side project while Hero¡¯s Ballad will be my main. On the side note, this will take on a more serious tone compared to Hero¡¯s ballad.


    I hope people like this one. Though, the demographic in RRL isn¡¯t really catered towards these kinds of stories. Oh well, it¡¯s for fun!


    As always, comments, feedback, and proofreading are appreciated!


    And please, check out Hero''s Ballad in my signature if you haven''t yet!

 Chapter 1: Colorful Voices

    Chapter 1: Colorful Voices


    [With the latest emerging technologies these days, growing concerns have been voiced about whether these new bipedal mechanoids are too dangerous to use for actual warfare. The UN propo-]


    *click*


    [With that said, we announce to you the development of the Mind Integrated VR Platform. At Macrosoft, we strive to make Virtual Reality be actual Virtual Reality-]


    *click*


    [Images from the Hubble telescope appears to have caught some life forms moving at high velocities that exceed light speed only 2 light years away. Astronomers sugge-]


    *power off*


    ¡°Will you stop changing the channel already! Watch one goddamn channel, is it that hard?!¡±


    The voice was my mom yelling at me after she slams the door that connects the kitchen from the living room. Her voice was dark blue with smudges of light blue. Dark blue meant despair and the light blue meant inner pain. After that, I noticed the bottle of wine on her hand. From the outline the light makes of the bottle, it was almost empty.


    Almost everyday, she would drink at noon. She didn¡¯t have a job. The man of the household did all the work. My mom lost her job a couple of months after my brother died. And soon, my dad came home later and later. Sometimes, he wouldn¡¯t even come home.


    She went back into the kitchen, but didn¡¯t close the door. There were a few noises of bottles beating each other, and then a loud thud that came from the table being hit by the new bottle. She started crying pathetically in the kitchen while the curtains were closed. It made it look darker than it should be, darker than what it should be.


    Her weeping were especially loud days after the death anniversary of my brother. The streets were still dripping from the rain yesterday. The rain lasted for the whole day that day. Some say its because of the radical climate change, some say it''s God¡¯s way of saying that we need to clean up our act. Although the people saying the last one are slowly dying out over the decades.


    I say rain is rain.


    Would I say it¡¯s because of the my brother¡¯s death that the Earth is weeping? No. It¡¯s actually amusing. There¡¯s always something in us that makes us always want to blame something, or look for a logical explanation.


    A broadcast earlier tried to explain what was going on in the mind of a criminal. The criminal in question brutally raped and killed his victim with a jackhammer. The broadcast tried to explain the killer¡¯s motives, what he did, why he did it, why he chose that certain girl. All of it was bullshit from what I seen.


    A couple of weeks before this broadcast, the killer appeared in court. He managed to sneak in some words into the jury. His voice came off as gray with lines of dark purplish red. Most documentaries I¡¯ve seen of sociopaths have almost the same colours when they speak. Basically, those mix of colours means apathy. They do not care at all who they victimize, rape, kill, or any atrocious acts they commit against a person.


    Sociopaths are sociopaths for a reason. They lack empathy.


    So why is it people always try to come up with a rationalization of their behaviour? It is indeed true that it¡¯s hard to understand a sociopath. Not being one is the first step to try and not understand what they¡¯re thinking. Of course, most, if not all, don¡¯t get this. They are what they are. There¡¯s no need to even think about what¡¯s happening inside their minds.


    My mom understood this perfectly. Blaming anyone for my brother¡¯s death won¡¯t really bring him back from the dead. However, hidden intentions in her colours creep up now and then when she¡¯s drunk.


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    At this point, the mom whom I used to admire was now crying so loud that I couldn¡¯t concentrate on my thoughts. The darkest of the blue filled the whole house. The colour made me feel nauseous, so I decided to head out to a nearby park to wait it out.


    It actually took me several months to learn what most of the colour means. At first, I was confused about the colours. But then I realized they actually meant something.


    ¡°I love you, bye¡± The lady put her phone back in her purse. The jittering light purple in her voice signifies the lie of her relationship with whoever was on the other end of the line. Her phone rang again, she immediately picked it up.


    ¡°Hey, the same hotel is it?¡± the colour of her voice this time was a vivid pink. The colour floated upwards with excitement. This vivid pink was the colour of lust. Her tone suggests that she¡¯s not emotionally invested in whoever was on the line this time.


    Now, I can clearly see her situation. The jittering in the light purple was caused by the dissonance in her mind. The jittering could also be interpreted as a lie. In this case, it was dissonance.


    The first phone call was most likely her husband. That fact is easy from wedding ring she has in her left hand¡ªthe same hand she uses to answer her phone. From the way she dresses, she would be around late 20s or early 30s. No middle aged woman would dress that provocatively


    I turned my attention away from her. I¡¯m no marriage counselor, there was no point in getting involved.


    Walking for several more minutes, I sat down on a bench. A couple walked past me as I sat down the bench. This time, it was the man.


    ¡°Aw c''mon, you know I don¡¯t mean it.¡±


    The man kept spewing out colours of solid jittering light purple. Only this time, they were definitely lies. Just as I thought this, I heard a loud slap that came from their direction. The woman beside him had slapped him so hard, he fell to the ground. Traces of light reflected off her face, then fell down. She wiped her tears off of her eyes before getting on the bus that had just arrived.


    I admired her for her perfect timing of when the bus would come.


    I would pass time like this, examining the stories of the people around me. For several hours at a time, I do this whenever I couldn¡¯t stand my own mom¡¯s grief. The juiciest stories would be like the last one, where it actually causes a commotion.


    But this time, I felt tired.


    .


    .


    .


    I tried staying awake. It wouldn¡¯t be a good idea to sleep in a place like this. The neighbourhood was good, but that doesn¡¯t mean I should sleep on the bench. Still, I couldn¡¯t get rid of the drowsiness, and my eyes soon shut themselves without my permission.


    ***


    ¡°...Uuuu... sniff¡­ Uuuuu¡±


    I heard the sound of crying beside me. I didn¡¯t open my eyes just yet to see who it was. Not that it matters, I wouldn¡¯t know who they were unless they¡¯ve introduced themselves to me with their own voice.


    ¡°Why are you crying¡± My eyes were still closed while I let out a low groan. It was enough to catch her attention.


    ¡°Uuuu¡­ my cat¡­ just died.¡± She stumbled on her words. Inhaling rapidly and then letting out more moans of grief. This was when I opened my eyes. I opened my eyes to the colours of white beautifully dancing.


    It was my first encounter with this colour. At that time, I knew that white definitely symbolized purity.


    ############


    I think I¡¯ll keep chapters short for this series since this is a side project.


    Thanks for reading. Comment, edit, proofreading are all welcome!

 Chapter 2

    Chapter 2:


    White, it is the colour of purity. It¡¯s the colour that shows as the base of your intentions when you are 100% pure hearted. Babies have this colour when they cry, but Andrew doesn¡¯t count them. Babies are not counted as people, not yet anyways. They are catalysts of what people will be in the future, and the future might change them in a significant way. By the time they reach age 6, they are no longer pure. Their colours start to mix in with other colours, and the white foreground no longer appears as white.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, did my crying wake you up?¡±


    Andrew¡¯s inevitable surprise was caused by the untainted nature of the woman¡¯s colour. Even though he could not look at her face, she would be about the age of a young adult. Her figure was slimmer than average, but could not pass off as a model. To Andrew however, this is the sign of a healthy woman. The women in magazines are only fiction and if they were real, they would not be considered healthy. Her unblemished skin was also proof of that healthiness.


    ¡°Is there something on my clothes?¡±


    What Andrew wondered was whether she was speaking her mind, or her mind was empty. Or even the third choice, she¡¯s an expert in hiding her feelings.


    He got up and walked back to his house while ignoring what she asked. A mixture of white and yellow flew past Andrew. The yellow was confusion¡ªhe grinned wryly. The mixture disappeared after a couple of more seconds floating mildly in the air.


    Soon, he was near my house. He couldn¡¯t see anymore dark blue colours seeping out of the house which means only one thing. When he entered the house, he saw his mom unconscious on the dining table with 3 empty bottles of wine.


    Andrew lifted her up to carry her to her bedroom. Her weight made it easy, but that wasn¡¯t a good sign. The way she looks now differs from 2 years ago. Now, her body looks as if it could break anytime. Her pale skin, skinny figure, and messed up hair. The feeling of her bony figure gave Andrew more pain. They were all contributing factors of how much of a mess she was. Since when did this begin, Andrew wondered. However, he already knows when. It was a dumb question to ask.


    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t leave me too, right Andrew?¡±


    The dark orange in her voice carries out the fear in her words and instills them into the back of Andrew¡¯s mind. She¡¯s the only one left he cares about. His dad? If he came back, Andrew would most likely try to kill him with his own golf club.


    His mother¡¯s breathing once again becomes smooth. Only for that single moment, her consciousness rose. That single line she wanted to say, and the fear of losing another loved one. Andrew gritted his teeth. The lost of another beloved, he knows it too well.


    ***


    ¡°Found Andrew!¡± Her loud husky voice echoed throughout the lecture hall. Everyone in the hall seemed to not care, only a few younger looking students looked surprised. She ran to where Andrew was, sitting on his signature seat at the back of the hall. He had his head down on the table pretending to sleep.


    She ran a full sprint and arrived much earlier than Andrew had hoped for. A girl and a man also arrived a few moments after the bright girl.


    ¡°No one¡¯s here. Go away. I¡¯m not Andrew.¡±


    ¡°Haha, of course you are!¡± She smacked Andrew¡¯s back causing a loud echo in the lecture hall. Andrew groaned in pain, but not making any movements. This day became a lot worse now that she¡¯s here, Andrew thought. In a swift movement, she sat down beside him with a bright smile, then looked at the 2 who followed her.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you two going to sit down?¡± bobbing her head, she asked curiously like it was something she expected of them.


    ¡°Come on Joan, I don¡¯t think he wants to be disturbed.¡± Andrew indeed does not want to be disturbed. Bobbing her head the other way, she thought about it for a moment. Joan carefully examined Andrew¡¯s posture. Although she wanted to lift his head, it would only make him grouchier than he is right now. Instead, she opted to poke him multiple times. Every poke resounded a groan from Andrew.


    Then, as if she understood something, she turned her head back at her friends. Andrew would not call the two his friends; specifically, the man standing is definitely not his friend. At least that¡¯s what he believes. However, to Joan, these are her closest friends.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be stupid. Of course he wants us! Chris and Risa, sit down sit down! Class will start soon.¡± She looked back at them brightly with a confident tone in her voice. She did not stutter and truly believes Andrew also wants them sitting down beside him.


    They sat down to the right of Andrew. They were right at the end of the row, and Joan took the spot left of Andrew¡ªthe end seat. Chris sat one seat away from Andrew while Risa sat between Andrew and Chris. He still felt some awkwardness being ¡®instantly friends¡¯ with a guy he only met last week. It was their first semester together due to Joan¡¯s nagging about making the same schedules.


    However, Risa was different. She didn¡¯t mind him. His silence and lack of presence was delightful, she thought. It was like he wasn¡¯t even there, so there was no problem at all in Risa and Andrew¡¯s friend-relationship.


    The class began after a bit of awkward silence between the group. Although there was silence, only Chris thought it was awkward. Andrew¡¯s deliberate attempt at making things awkward for Chris almost caused himself to laugh. It was too bad he couldn¡¯t see the colours radiating from Chris by pretending to be asleep.


    ¡°Welcome again to my class Mr. Andrew.¡±


    Chris chuckled at the professor¡¯s comment. ¡®Is Andrew repeating this class?¡¯ he thought. It caused a couple of curious stares among the people in the lecture hall too. A bit of murmur could be heard at this point.


    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Oh, no. Mr. Andrew here is one of the best students I¡¯ve had. Everyone, don¡¯t underestimate Mr. Andrew just because he sleeps a lot! But it does make me curious whether its a medical condition¡­¡±  The professor stared down on the floor before moving onto to the computer controlling the projectors. He scratched his head still thinking about whether it was a medical condition while he operated the console.


    The comment of the professor garnered an even louder murmur among the students. Chris, at this point, noticed Joan with a proud look on her face. Why was she proud of that, Chris wondered about this in his mind for the rest of the class.


    On the other hand, Risa was whispering a bit to Andrew. It was about the game they play together. Thanks to Joan, they found a common interest¡ªonline games. To Andrew, these games are his escape from reality. He can see the faces of the 3d characters, and no colours sprung up each time someone spoke. To his brain, these 3d character¡¯s faces didn¡¯t count as ¡®real¡¯ human being faces. It was the only place where he could gain back his sanity during the downtime from reality.


    Andrew had done many various tests in order to see a face soon after he saw a comic with a distorted but detailed face. However, some comics still register as blurs. Another test was a manga where the characters were much too beautiful to be human, but it turns out the same as comics¡ªdistortion is needed.


    Faces in magazines, illustrations, advertisements, TV, everything were blurs. One thing lead to another and a moment in the TV showcasing a game was when Andrew hit the jackpot. No matter where he searched, all CG faces were not blurred.


    Through the interest of games, he and Risa had a mutual understanding of each other. At least that¡¯s what Andrew thought.


    ***


    The lecture ended and the group moved to the cafeteria. When they found a free table, Andrew immediately sat down and rested his head.


    ¡°Hey Andrew¡± Chris called out, ¡°Why are you always sleeping? Don¡¯t you get enough sleep at home?¡±


    For once, Andrew lifted his head up. His stern expression gave off a strong impression to Chris.


    ¡°The troubles of my past weighs down my eyes, shoulders, and feet. It leaves me in a neverending chase. I, too, wish for it to stop.¡± He gave a deep sigh before answering.


    The two girls beside them let out a ¡®pfft¡¯ and then started laughing. His deadpan voice made it even funnier since they already know what Andrew is like. For Chris however, he wasn¡¯t in the loop with it. All he could do was look on as Andrew slams his head back into the table and starts ¡®resting¡¯.


    ¡°What¡¯s funny?¡±


    ¡°Nothing.¡± Joan said stuttering on her words. Risa as always just looked away while still chuckling.


    After their little laugh, everyone soon left to order food on their own. Andrew was left behind on the table.


    Its too bad this isn¡¯t going to last long


    At that thought, the first one that came back was Joan.


    ¡°Grmmrmrmr¡± He grumbled in distaste at her quick arrival.


    ¡°Burger.¡± Joan said.


    Andrew instantly lift his head up to catch the burger being fed to him. Something like became normal after a while. Since he wouldn¡¯t even try to eat by himself, Joan started feeding him whenever the situation turns out like that. At times however¡ªalthough very rarely¡ªAndrew would eat by himself which causes shock to Joan. Is the world ending? She would yell. Eventually, she also started eating the same burger that Andrew eats since most of the burgers she fed before never finished.


    Risa came back after the second bite Joan fed Andrew. To her, this was still unusual. Joan and Andrew were not lovers. With her strict, rigid, way of thinking, something like this was unthinkable. So, she ignored all of it.


    ¡°W-w-what¡¯s happening here?¡± At the third bite, Chris came back, shocked at what he was watching leading him to utter a stuttering question.


    ¡°Feeding Andrew, what¡¯s it look like?¡± Joan answered.


    ¡°Are you two...like¡­ lovers?¡±


    ¡°No. Just friends. What? I can¡¯t do this just because we¡¯re friends?¡± Joan started raising her voice. ¡°Have you seen how helpless Andrew is? Look at him. He can¡¯t even eat by himself!¡±


    Everyone, including Joan, now considered the possibility of his condition being a medical one.


    ¡°No, its laziness. You can¡¯t call that a medical condition. Jeeze.¡± Their thoughts were quickly interrupted by Andrew¡¯s quick thinking, ironically. ¡°Oh, heey, you got my favourite. Bourbon chicken. Feed me, feed me pleassee¡±


    ¡°Tch, get your own.¡±


    ¡°Ah, ok.¡± He slammed his head back to the table causing Risa¡¯s plate to shake a bit.


    ¡°Burger.¡± His head lifted up again to catch the burger coming at his direction with his mouth.


    ¡°Aaah, aren¡¯t you from the park? Good afternoon.¡± A girl from a few steps away commented out loud. Her beauty was exquisitely drawn out by her wavy dark brown hair. Although she was blank, Andrew could and wanted to imagine the beauty of the girl in front of the table the group sat on. Her loosely fitting sweater and tight jeans contrasted by the high ankle boots gave her figure a cute look.


    But most important of all, the colour of her pure white voice instantly drew Andrew¡¯s attention.


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    Don¡¯t want to put chapter titles anymore. :| They¡¯re pointless anyways.


    Comments, proofreading, editting, are appreciated! Thanks for reading :>