Separated By a Wall

Doing Something Drastic

The wall is made of old fashioned stone, stacked neatly in rows on top of one another. It's the wall that splits the Anoch from the humans. The only sounds are the ticking clock and white noise. I've been sitting in the same wooden chair I've been sitting in since I was ten. I sit motionless staring at the wall.

Most people would find me strange or crazy. Others would find it rather boring. But for me, when I sit there, I explore a new world, falling into the depths of my mind. I imagine what's behind it. I have fantasies of personally meeting an Anoch. I imagined their faces and their culture. I pictured Anoch holidays if they had any. I made up a language I thought they spoke. I get so excited when I see the door exactly three feet to the right of my window, only to see a human soldier emerge alone. 

People call me obsessed. I didn't know curiosity was obsession. When has curiosity become negative obsession? Why shouldn't I be curious of a species I've never seen before? What do they look look like? What kind of food do they eat? Are they accustomed to our temperatures?

I thought of sneaking out and opening the door just to see what it looked like. The aching feeling that you can do something it's inches away but you're hesitating and you hate yourself for it. You want to reach forward and make a difference in your life, but there are always risks. 

Besides I didn't know what to expect. I knew there had to be at least twenty human soldiers on the other side, making sure the humans were safe. I didn't know who I would encounter. And crossing the wall with no form of identification or permission was a major offense. 

I looked at the small circular device locked around my wrist. "Transport me to the Black Mercy gardens." The device scanned half of my face before it responded. "Black Mercy gardens." It said. And the wall in front of me was gone. 

Instead I was standing in front of a garden of green and blue. Vibrant green leaves sprouting out, extending to their full length. Royal blue petals opened up, small blue dots emerged lighting up in the shape of a heart and falling back to the center and the flower closed once more. Anoch flowers were given to us as a "thank you" for letting them land on our planet. That's what our leader told us anyway. 

The blue dots were energy connecting to your emotions and shaping into something that symbolizes a mix of all of them. The heart in this case represents my understanding for these plants. I always felt at peace here. They were called Black Mercy because that's where they were found. The darkest pits of the Anoch's dying planet. Basically, anything the government knew about Anoch, I was eager to learn as well. 

"Prepared for teleportation." I touched my my sleeve watching the holograms emerge. Scanning through my previous photos and libraries, I opened a notes section. "Record." 

"Recording." The device replied. "Black Mercy has defined emotions at exactly twelve hundred hours. Has not been watered of given any sort of treatment for the last 72 hours. One of the flowers seems to be wilting in direct sunlight. Transfer information to 24351." The device made a click. "Sent." It said. I teleported back to the house right in front of the chair again. 

Since the Anoch landed, it has been suspected that they have amplified hearing. Therefore, the government created a law that stated never to refer to yourself by your first name. Only in typing. They gave everyone numbers. 24351 is my best friend who also wants to know as much about the Anoch as I did. That's probably why we were such good friends. She didn't think I was crazy and she was someone who was more scientific. I created a balance.

Not a moment later, a voice rang through the house. "24351 has asked for permission of teleportation." I put the chair back in its place. "Permission granted." Caitlin appeared in the doorway seconds later. "Listened to the recording. We have a new lead in the herb department. Anything on medicines?" I glared at her. 

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to get plants from a gardening house and not be suspected? We have what we have. Let's add it to the list." We went upstairs to my room looking around to make sure it was just us. I took the little key from under the mattress unlocking the drawer where we kept all of our overflowing notebooks of research on the Anoch. We did history, culture, tried language and visuals. Mixed plants and herbs together to see if any medicines could be created. We collected everything we could find on the other species. 

We learned to type at five years old. But I learned how to write. Something that hasn't been used since 2999 but I learned anyway. Copying down what I learned, I could feel Caitlin's intense gaze on me. "62319?" She asked. I looked up at her. "Let's go." I raised an eyebrow. 

"Where?" She rolled her eyes. "Let's open the door. We have to see the Anoch. It's for our own good!" I stared at her dumbfounded. "You're not serious?" She nodded excitedly. "We won't make it past the doorway! The last person who tried ended up injected with speriat and died in a matter of minutes!"
Speriat is a chemical that we discovered in 3027. It brings out your worst fears and usually end up killing the victim. "We won't get caught. We have to come up with a well thought out plan. It's not impossible." 

"We could get in serious trouble for this." I countered. Caitlin tsked in annoyance. "Do you want to meet an Anoch or not? Do you not want to die still wondering what's on the other side of the wall?" I bit my lip and screwed my eyes shut trying to reprimand myself from agreeing until I tasted my blood.

The CareBot snapped into action. A metallic claw emerged from my wrist and tended the wound. You would think such an advanced piece of equipment would be tentative. "You know you wanna." Caitlin teased. 

"You really really wanna know." 

"You would discover their language and we could speak out together like when we went through that spy phase."

 She was practically begging now. Her hands were clasped together, her knees slightly bent as if she were going to drop on the floor and shake her fists.

"You're so..." I faltered. There wasn't a word for it. What  wasn't there a word for it? It was a word I never learned before but it seemed like it was coded into my brain like common sense. I brushed it off as the CareBot's claw moved away from my face and retracted into the bracelet. 

"Please?" Caitlin tried again. She seemed so genuine and more curious than I've ever seen her before. "What kind of friend would you be if you didn't do this for me?" It took all of my willpower to resist. She made a good point and I couldn't lie to myself. The knowledge that I was so close yet so far the freedom was unbearable. So instead of resisting, I decided to take a leap of faith. "Okay."

I know this is a little boring and it isn't action packed. But I had to give you guys a feel to the technology they had then since its 3054 and another character which I felt like including. Plus, it may seem boring but it has vital information to the rest of the plot. Anyways, thanks for reading even if you found it boring. Still appreciate that you gave your time to this. So I'll see you next chapter.