White Noise

Chapter 2 | Old School

The wind was cooler than usual, it picked up the tail of her lilac hijab as the woman strutted along the sidewalk- arms crossed and neck stuffed to her chest, the heat emanating from a brown paper bag hugging her chest was soothing. It was home to a dozen freshly baked croissants she brought back from her job, one-if not the only- highlight of her day.

At times her eyes would glance up to make sure of her surroundings, her cheeks dimpled as they caught a familiar sight. A hip roof that her little brother insisted on painting red. It stood out like an obnoxious sore thumb but to his credit, she got lost less. Her brother was a joker among kings, it helps keep a sense of hilarity and her sane. Absent-mindedly, she continued the journey back home.

Still in her trance-like state, she entered her home, unlocking the door before entering and heading inside the living room. Even though there were number locks then, she had always preferred old school methods, and that included her choice of housing. Her neighborhood wasn't rich enough, so it was filled with such houses, but she was content with it. Her choice was always discriminated against by many, but who cared? She did, but she never let it show. It would just give them the satisfaction they wanted.

Her presence was greeted by the warm air, provided by a new heater there. They didn't have much furniture, but what they did have was...unique to say the least. Persian style carpets were sprawled across the floor, all clashing in colours. Neon orange couches lay atop the array of carpets, and a coffee table sat in the center. Due to her brother's major, a line of clay replicas of small things from old and historical cities laid atop a floating shelf, such as from Mohenjo Daro, there was a bangle made for royals. Her little brother was to blame for the dissimilarity of their home and she knew it.

She closed the door behind her, still clutching the bag to her chest, as she sighed in relief. Loud thuds came from the corridor on her right, as she was snapped out of her trance. Her 22 year old brother showed up from the corridor, and zoomed up to her and snatched her heatsource out of her hands, followed by a inaudible

"Hey, sis''

and leaving her chest to cry for the warmth it had felt only moments before.

"Asim! A thank you would be nice, you know?" She called. Her brother only poked his head out of the corridor he had receded into seconds prior, and then proceeded to nod his head and go back into the corridor, where his room was located. She sighed and headed towards their open kitchen flung open the fridge door to be welcomed by a wide range of...nothingness. With a groan, she shut the door, the fridge magnets shaking. "I should have fought for thoses croissants" complaining to no one in particular.

In the end, she ended up with a chai and her notebooks scattered on the table, one reading out "Aliya Akbar", it was her sketchbook, decorated with a range of stickers. Some were depictions of paint brushes, canvas and world famous paintings, ranging from the Mona Lisa to The Girl with the Pearl Earring. a very uncommon and unnatural cover for a sketchbook. Heck the entire book was uncommon.

It wasn't like production had stopped, it was just that the world ' moved on' and now used technology as a variant for everything. Aliya, though, had found a wonderful little corner shop, where these things weren't lacking. They used an old cash register, old bookshelves, and had hard copies for almost every book. Of course there were digital copies of books, but Aliya just couldn't get used to them, which was why that little corner shop had become her little sanctuary.

She opened her sketchbook, revealing a wonderful painting of a random person she found on the way home. It was completely monotone and most likely would be considered an ink painting. The tones changed with the lighting, and the shadows got darker every step of the way. It was amazing, but not as widely appreciated as it was roughly 1700 years ago, in the 21st century. 

She sighed. This was her only escape. Escape from the world and its new, varied ways. She read the world wasn't always this way, but she could never find herself in that old place, with its old ways, where she saw other people with so much more freedom and creativity. I mean, cavemen created fire just because they were bored! Now they were confined in this round wall, with small houses, small roads and everything was electrical. 

She took out her water colors and got lost in painting. So lost that she didn't hear the knock on the door the first time. When it came the second, it was more of a loud bang. She jumped and headed to the door of her room, and opened it to find Asim.

"Hey, sis, you know how I want to get into the Council of Chronicler, and basically have to ace everything?" He asked, though he knew she knew damn well.

"Yeah.." she replied, dragging it out with a suspicious look on her face.

"Well, uh, I got this project from Robotics, and uhh, I need a couple parts. Could you please, please, please , pleeaase go down town to get them for me?" He asked, giving his best 'puppy dog' look.

Aliya sighed, and for the second time that day, left the house to the subtle breeze. She couldn't take the Avtobus, not if she wanted to walk back home, and she probably couldn't with all the stuff she had to buy  and carry home. So she walked through the wind to her destination, Starlight Motor-Part Shull. It was run by FinStar.Co, and it was al where everything was available and it was open 24/7. 

Aliya went on inside and as soon as she entered, she saw a counter on her far right. The counter was bombarded with things and a woman and the man were arguing over the price, but she just kept walking. She got all the things Asim needed, and instead, went to the other counter on the opposite side  of the shop.  She chose all the things in the list he gave her, and weirdly, it was really specific. She purchased the things and she headed home. Unknowingly, the list fell out of her pocket. 

Who knew it would be the thing that lead her to her demise?

o(*°▽°*)o

Asim Akbar wasn't a bigshot in his university. He wasn't a spectacular perfect straight A student, no, that was Humd Khan, but he wanted to be. He wanted to join the Council of Chronicler, and for that, these measures were necessary.

The Council Of Chronicler; a council made up of only the best astronomers, where only the latest technology is used to predict the future using the stars. They are paid only the  highest salaries in the entire Elysian Tower. This is due to the off and on trips required for them to take to the Tartarus Tower, and Asim wanted to join this council for the same reason as many others; the money. 

It was not due to greed, but due to gratefulness. Ever since 10 years ago, his sister had been paying bills, his school fees, putting food on the table and so she barely made time for herself. She hadn't bought new clothes just for the sake of it like other women her age,  she wasn't out partying and looking for one-night-stands like other women her age, no, she was collecting money to pay bills, just like she had been since she was 15.

 It made Asim upset that due to their financial struggles, she couldn't live. They both knew damn well that surviving and living were two different things completely, and the two knew only one of them was doing the latter. 

So to give his sister the chance to live  to be free  for once in her life, he had decided to work for a high paying job, and what better goal than the highest paying job in existence? But his sister didn't know that. He'll go to hell before he admits he cares for her.

But who knew, that soon enough, a simple 'I love you' was all he wished he would have said to her.

~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 2 is out my loves! We (me) had major trouble in remembering what the Council of Chronicler was, but cuz the concept was necessary, I had to call up A to ask what the hell we have to write. We're (me) already working on the next chapter. I know it's shorter than what you might've expected, but the POVs have suddenly changed! Does this mean this book has 2 main characters? Or is it just a story showing the formation of a soon-to-be villain? What is the background of this era? How did the entire human species manage to fit into a tower? Is it even a tower? Which is the bad tower? I guess we'll find out.

See ya soon, loves <3

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