Empyrean

Chapter 4

Chapter 4- The Boy

Sector Orange Five

Midmorning, 25th of Diversa, Year 611

            “Ooh, ooh! I know that one! Don't tell me…” Echo jumps up and down clasping her hands together trying to decipher the word on the shop window. “O. P. E. N…open! It says open!”

            “Wow, you’re learning pretty fast.” I say encouraging her. They say children learn easier than adults so better she learns now while she is young. After all there is little more important than human pursuits of knowledge. “Is this all we need do you think?” I hold up the bag with the scraps of bread and fruit that we bartered in the back of the shops for.

            “Why do you even ask? It’s all we can afford!” She is extremely down to earth for a ten year old. At least that is what I guess her age is.

            “Let’s head home then.”

            “Ok,” she says in that singsong way of hers when she is happy. We’ve only known each other a few days, but have already developed a daily routine. A lesson in the morning, then we go shopping and take a walk. Then in the afternoons we either read a book, workout, or play with some other kids in Zenith One. She is pretty popular with the other kids and is always picked first for whatever game. It is a simple routine, but more and more I keep tricking myself into believing that Echo is my sister. But then again what kind of brother doesn’t know where his sister used to live, or what her real name is? Sometimes I think that Echo might be her real name and sometimes I don’t. I don't know.

            Ever since that day I have hated going to the Yellow sectors and Echo noticed that. We always avoid staying there for too long but we do have to pass through it to get back home from here. “Left up ahead.” I say reminding her of the path.

            “I know.” She seems appalled at my lack of trust in her navigational skills.

            We walk pretty fast as soon as we hit the Yellow-Orange Alexandros Headquarters marking the border between Orange and Yellow. It is a fine line but you can see the slow change in the quality of life.

            Our speed doesn’t go unrequited and we reach the center of the marketplace where I killed the man after just ten minutes of walking. Echo, who had been asking me questions and talking up a storm, is silenced by the area, as if she had just been taken back to that day and situation, back to that old life.

            “You there, Zenith! Halt.” A Yellow sector Alexandros notices us. Zeniths are allowed to go to all of the sectors except for the top three. Why he stops us is beyond me at the moment. I guess he is just having a slow day.

            The man walks over in his government issued clothing that looks more comfortable than anything I’ve ever worn. The yellow base and the decorative dragons on his clothing used to intimidate me when I was a child. But that was when I was a child. “What is your business in the Yellow?” His voice, unlike his clothing, is unbearable. His breath smells of radishes and he himself smells like he hasn't washed, ever.   

            When I was younger I taught myself many martial arts through books. I have always found Kung Fu of the Monkey variation to be one of the most effective, especially for someone of my stature. The basic tenet is to always make yourself seem less important or powerful than you are. And now I will do that with my speech. “Y’see sahh. We buy’ed the food for us. We’s r‘turnin to Zenith One’a right now!” I have actually practiced talking like this. If there is one thing that the Alexandros might hate more than death itself, it is a Zenith more eloquent than themselves.