The City of Compliance wasn't built for sights or sounds. It was built for monotony.
A wide, sterile street stretched out before us, endless shades of gray under a flat, colorless sky. Every building was angular, identical, and suffocatingly quiet. The only sound was the low, monotonous hum—the sound of millions of people breathing in controlled unison.
Kira, dressed in her simple, compulsory black shift, walked with her head bowed, her shoulders stooped.
Perched on her left shoulder, Benny, a perfectly yellow and aggressively cheerful talking banana, looked around with a scowl.
Another beautiful day in this dump, Benny's thought echoed in my head. The air smells like wet cement and compliance. You can almost feel the joy, right, Kira?
Don't respond, Kira, I coached myself internally. The walls have ears, and he has a big mouth.
We passed a propaganda poster plastered on a wall. It was a grayscale depiction of the NWCO leader, the words "Uniformity is Purity. Unholy is Color" printed underneath.
"Look at this propaganda!" Benny said, his voice a buzzing irritant. " 'Uniformity is purity.' Yeah, right. Says the guys in flowing white robes, livin' it up like they're in a fancy milk commercial."
I pressed my lips together. "Benny, quiet down. Someone will hear you," I whispered urgently.
It was already too late.
Two NWCO Members, dressed in their pristine, flowing white robes, had stopped a Noblewoman near the corner. The monolithic headquarters loomed large and cold behind them.
The Power Stones—the obsidian rocks embedded in the back of the NWCO Members' hands—were glowing faintly, a pale, ominous white light.
"Citizen, you have been seen in close proximity to a black-market merchant," NWCO Member 1 stated, his voice flat and judicial. "This is a violation of the Uniformity Code."
The Noblewoman, swathed in expensive gray fabric, clutched her white pearl necklace. "But... I was only purchasing a colorless-tasting nutrient paste!"
A colorless scanner materialized in NWCO Member 2's hand as he reached toward her. He gave a cold, dry laugh. "We know what you were really looking at, noble. You wanted a glimpse of the unholy. Have you been seeing things you shouldn't?"
The Noblewoman's eyes widened with pure terror. "N-no! Of course not! I've taken my drops, just like everyone else!"
I ducked behind a massive, rusted trash receptacle in the alley, pulling Benny close to my neck.
"They're going to take her stone!" I whispered, my voice tight. "She'll be like us."
Benny scoffed. "Yeah! A commonfolk! What's so bad about that? She won't have to wear that ridiculous white necklace anymore."
I ignored his commentary. He never gets it. He never understands the real price of non-compliance.
Reaching into a small, hidden pocket on my dress, I pulled out a small, worn leather pouch. My expression settled into a grim mask of determination.
"You don't understand, Benny. My mother gave me this. It's time."
Benny's bright yellow eyes went wide with genuine shock. His voice, usually dripping with sarcasm, was suddenly rare and serious. "Don't tell me... Kira, you can't be serious. You're gonna use the stone?"
Ignoring his panic, I threw the pouch.
It flew in a gentle arc, landing right in the middle of the street near the NWCO guards.
CLATTER!
The pouch burst open, and a single, tiny stone rolled out.
It was vivid green. It pulsed with a sickening, shocking color that had been banned, beaten, and scrubbed from existence for generations.
NWCO Member 1 stared, momentarily frozen. "What in the unholy...?"
The two members stared, their faces blank with incomprehension, mesmerized by the intense, forbidden light. The few nearby commonfolk stopped, their colorless eyes squinting at the unfamiliar hue.
The Noblewoman didn't hesitate. She ran.
"You did it!" Benny whispered, panicked. "You're a madwoman! A fruit-loop, even for me!"
A small grin touched my lips. "She's safe. Let's go."
The blare of emergency sirens, growing rapidly louder, cut through the alley's quiet hum.
WHOOP WHOOP WHOOP
We ran, deeper into the darker, winding alleyways of Sector 7.
"So... you got any more of those things?" Benny panted, bouncing slightly on my shoulder. "Or was that your grand finale?"
We finally stopped, leaning against a cold wall until the sirens faded into the distance. I looked down at my hand.
It was glowing faintly with a residual green light.
"That was the only one I had... for now," I admitted, meeting Benny's wide gaze. "But my mother told me where they come from. It's time to find the Garden of Eden."
"You're tellin' me... we're goin' on a treasure hunt?" Benny groaned. "Ugh. This is gonna be a long ride."