Hues of the Beyond

Transformation

On the last day that Navin and the others were alive, it was partially cloudy, warm, but not too humid. A football game between what was once Barcelona and Madrid—who had both become numbered districts of what was lumped together as "Liberated Spain"—was the talk of the day. There was nothing important on the news, just fluff piece after fluff piece, and just like every other day in this utopia, nothing seemed amiss. It was like the world was egging us on to go through with our plan, daring us to see if our deaths would be as impactful as we hoped they'd be.
            Admittedly, that was the kind of day we wished for. We wanted it to appear as if nothing was wrong. To the world around us, we would simply go to school, gather to watch the game afterwards, and would return home before the sun fully set. In actuality, we were never supposed to be seen alive again after school let out.
            Though that meant any time for vague goodbyes or settling affairs was nonexistent, but Navin—being as stubborn as always—wanted to shove in one final moment with just the two of us regardless of the time crunch we were under. As my best friend, I could never deny him this wish, but we could only achieve what he wanted during lunch. However, since life expectancy was longer than the bank account of a third world country, people had been having children left and right at ages those in the past would've never dreamed of, causing a boom in the human population, and packing schools to the brim with students. There wasn't anywhere to go on the premises where it could just be he and I except the roof, which had been archaically restricted with a padlock.
            Though I refused to fail my friend's final request, so after some time—and some incriminating browser searches—I picked the simple lock, and we were finally alone together.
            "Woah," escaped my lips the moment I opened the door to the roof—the chilly high altitude air rushed past our cheeks and tousled our hair.
            Our temporary little bubble high up and away from the world was magnificent. Our school building was fifty-three stories tall in order to accommodate each child in our district, but the floors on all buildings after the second lacked windows to prevent suicide attempts or triggering anyone's fear of heights, so we had never looked at our despised utopia from so high up.
            "Look," Navin said in pink, also awestruck by the seemingly never ending rows of sleek, glittering white and gold architecture, "this is what humans can achieve in less than two hundred years."
            As we continued to stand in the doorway, I said, "This place used to just be rubble from a war torn country back then... but now-"
            "-one could say it's perfect," Navin finished for me. "However... there's more to the real world than perfection."
            Perhaps because we were soon to die anyway, Navin boldly stepped forward, and I followed his lead, closing the door behind us. We both walked right up to the edge, then sat down next to each other with our legs dangling between the roof's railings.
            We continued staring at the view for a while, just being in each other's presence for what would be the last time until Navin asked in a cool grey, "What do you think happens after death?"
            I shrugged. "I never thought about it, but I like the idea of Heaven. What about you?"
            "I don't know either," he admitted. "I don't think Heaven is all that pleasant of a concept, though."
            "Why not?"
            "After I die, I don't want to look down one day and see my parents get all handsy with each other."
            I laughed, though honestly, I started to feel a knot growing in my stomach for what was to come that day.
            "I think..." he began, his color now shifting to a desaturated blue, "I'd prefer there to be nothing after death. No more need to think, or feel..."
            "Isn't that what you hate about this place?"
            Navin scoffed and lightly jabbed me in the side with his elbow. "This nation and eternal rest are two completely different things."
            I jabbed him back. "Well, whatever it's like on the other side, I'm sure we'll be hanging out again in no time."
            Navin didn't respond. I watched him as his gaze fell to the ground below, and his expression soured. After a moment, I could see tears falling from his eyes, and the knot in my stomach tightened.
            "I'm scared, Altan," he said shakily in a green-ish brown. "What if after this nothing changes? We might not ever see each other again after we die, and it'd all be for nothing."
            For a moment, I just watched him cry as I thought of something I could say to console him, biting my lip. Though nothing came to mind as his fear slowly permeated into me as well. I could only lay my head on his shoulder as tears also began to race from my eyes.
            A few moments later I said, "We... we don't have to die, Navin. We can always find another way."
            "There is no other way," he said in black with a sniffle. "Anything that goes against the core concepts of our society just gets swept away where no one will notice it. Post a disgruntled comment online? It gets deleted, and your account gets suspended. Even trying to orally spread our disdain for this place would just result in us being locked up in mental care, but-"
            "-if five seemingly normal teens commit suicide for no apparent reason, society can't ignore it," I finished for him.
            "Exactly. Though... one would be enough. There hasn't been a single suicide in our society in the last ninety-four years, so... even if the four of you backed out, no matter how scared I am, I'm going to die."
           "No, Navin!" I cried as I lifted my head, and looked him in his watery eyes. "I won't let you be the only sacrifice."