Spectrum

6.4: Green

"Your father is dead." The voice before the small child was stern, final, and had no tone of remorse; this was such in all the homes where a soldier had died, for the army believed that if you went soft on the families, they would then start asking for things. Rations, exemption from taxes, a government paid funeral, the list was endless. The small child was merely asking when his daddy was coming home, and did not deserve such an abrupt confession of his father's passing, but it was what he got. Tears prickled in the corners of his eyes, salty brines that caused him to blink repetitively, looking out the window behind the elderly gentleman that stood before him. Outside, a rainstorm was beating down relentlessly, its drops catching on every light and staining the sky an eerie reddish color. This, of course, was back when everyone could see the leafy green coloring that Micah had stained his hair, back when everyone could see every color imaginable. 

The color green tantalized the boy, for it reminded him of the other colors that had been lost to humanity forever. 

"No! No… my Daddy isn't dead!" The small child was sobbing now, pounding small fists against the general's coat, which was wet with rain.  "He can't be dead!" Promises that his  father had given him flew through his mind, back when he never even considered that his dad could die; promises that they would build one more model airplane together, race another car together, build another fort together, and go out to the parlor together to eat ice cream, which got more on their faces than in their mouths. 

"Well, Mister Purdy, I am afraid that is the case." No guilt was lingering in the general's voice for not even apologizing, not even showing his sadness for the passing of someone who he knew personally. "Good day, Miss Purdy, Mister Purdy." He addressed her as Miss, not Ms. or Mrs. This meant, at least to her, that he had now declared her a widow, someone who's spouse was now six feet under the earth, or scattered in pieces across a military field. 

As the footsteps receded from the doorway, the elderly woman broke down sobbing, and the boy didn't know what to do, so he ran to his room, determined to do something to make his mother happier. Out from underneath his bed he brought one of his robotics kits; his mum always smiled whenever she saw one of his robots. 

A small wrench was soon in his hand, and he set to work making a small robotic dog for his mother; she had always wanted a dog, but they were never able to afford one, and even if they could, their apartment building didn't allow pets aside from service animals. Soon, the small animal was taking shape, its exoskeleton a bright white and its eyes glowing. Smiling slightly, the boy spoke. 

"Speak!" The small robotic animal complied to this command, but instead of barking like a dog would, it let out a small 'meow', which made the young child laugh, and decide to give it to his mum anyways, calling it a 'Dat'. "Mummy!" He called out, and heard a sniffle in response. "Mummy, I made you something!" 

"I… I'm in here, sweetheart!" The call was weak, but the boy still heard it, and rushed to give the animal to his mother. "I love it…" she whispered, and held it close to herself as Micah climbed on her lap, curling up in his mother's arms and falling asleep. 

-

"What do you want?" Micah called out as the helicopter blades hushed to a cease, allowing him to be heard easier. The man across from him took this as an opportunity to walk towards the boy, who couldn't back up without backing into GreEN. 

"That's easy, Mister Purdy. I want you to come with me, for you have part of the key to returning colors to this damned planet." Those words could have been lies, for all Micah knew, but as soon as the word 'colors' leapt from that man's mouth, he was about ready to jump on to that helicopter himself. 

"I'll do it." He said, and the man let out a slight 'humph' noise, a slightly surprised tone to his voice. 

"Thought it would take more convincin' to get you to do it. Guess you youth really are leaping to things blindly these days…" he muttered, and turned towards the helicopter again. "Come with me." 

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