Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
Alyssion's nose twitched as a raindrop hit it. She looked up and blinked to protect her eyes from the falling droplets. Light refracted in their tiny bodies as they stood out against the bleak, gray sky. Alyssion knew that somewhere above the gray clouds was a hover pad full of scientists controlling every gust of wind and drop of rain.
"Comrades are reminded that RAIN is a natural occurrence and does not require any sort of emotional reaction."
Alyssion's eyes drifted up to the tiny speaker hanging on the gray wall of the Ration Department. These speakers were all over the black and white city of Conformian, and the blue blinking lights on their sides were the only color Alyssion had ever known.
"Comrades are reminded that SPEAKER is a natural occurrence and does not require any sort of emotional reaction."
Alyssion looked away quickly, knowing it was talking to her. The announcements were designed to keep the residents of Conformia from feeling any sort of fear or wonder at the things around them, and they often reprimanded Alyssion for the emotions they saw in her face.
She walked away from the blue blinking light, her thin gray boots scuffing the pavement. The rain above her had started to fall harder, and the drops splashed against her black hair more frequently.
"Comrades are reminded that WET is a natural occurrence and does not require any sort of emotional reaction. The antidote for WET is UMBRELLA."
Alyssion ducked under a canopy that guarded the entrance of Conformity's Tea House. Outside the wind was picking up, and Alyssion shivered before pulling her rough, gray coat around her. Reaching her hand up, she wiped beads of rain out of her eyelashes and looked out on the dreary street.
The black, paved road was guarded on either side by rows of buildings. People in gray coats scurried to and from these houses like ants. As people heard the announcement, black umbrellas seemed to grow from the street like drooping mushrooms on human stalks.
"Comrades are reminded that RAIN is a natural occurrence and does not require any sort of emotional reaction. It also does not excuse absence from work."
Alyssion pulled her coat tighter around her, breathed out slowly, and her breath froze white in the air. Alyssion knew she had to go to her job at the Comrades Chemical Plant, or the Behavior Police wouldn't be far behind her.
Alyssion sighed as the wind wiped away the frost her breath made. She already had two strikes from the Behavior Police. And she knew what happened to people who got three. Or, more specifically, she didn't know what happened to them. No one did. They just...
Disappear. Like smoke. Like my breath. Like this rain will after all the crops have been watered.
