Acclerando

verismo

In Cape Dii, vocal communication has been outlawed since 2059. The year is 2204.

With the development of technology at an all-time high, the government doesn't believe in freedom of expression if they cannot monitor it constantly. High school students are no longer given the feeling of raising their hand or shouting out the wrong answer in class, but instead have the lesson plan streamed to their Gibbs and leave school around noontime. Sometimes, a few students stay after to sort out their notes and lesson plans.

Fiona is always one of those students.

Fiona was raised her first years without a father. Enrolled in the Armed Forces of Cape Dii, he completed his first three mandatory years of service, but was sent out his fourth year. 

He never came back. Alive, that is. His ashes were sent to their home address, and an apology IM and $15,000 was transferred to her mother's account. 

Her mother's cries were the first verbal noise Fiona had heard. Back then, she didn't know what the noise meant. People cried, but it was silent and abrupt. Her mother's wails were deep, forlorn, and came from a place only she could find within herself. Although very muffled, Fiona understood that her mother was in a lot of pain.

Four years later she found her mother hanging from the ceiling. 

Since then, Fiona has lived with her grandparents. Still old fashioned, they kept the T.V. that sat in their living room, and turned it on from time to time, but because of their old age, they sometimes forget to turn it off. News broadcasts were told in the form of robotic newsletters rather than using anchors, talk shows ran out of business, and infomercials are run by A.I. invented by business geniuses. 

Back at school, all of Fiona's classmates ask her for her Gibb so that they can transfer her notes into their Gibbs themselves. Fiona, of course, says yes. On her way home, she decides to take the long route through one of the only forest preserves left-- her favorite.

She leaves school precisely at 4:15 P.M., as dinner is at 5:15 and it takes her about 20 minutes to get home. The leaves rustle, a soothing melody of comfort for those passing through the forest. Of course, no one bothered with real plants anymore, but Fiona couldn't get enough of the sounds of nature. The only untouched, uncensored, wholesome sounds left in her broken society, it helped her stay grounded. Helped her realize that the world is bigger than a screen, than a transfer, packet, or robotic voice droning. It was a place where she could relax, hear the current of the stream splash against the banks and be free with her thoughts. Alone.

Until she heard his voice.