Wylan
-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈
"Father, I brought some food!" I called out as I entered the cottage. Cleaning the streets was no easy task; it was laborious and time-consuming. However, it was also the only job available to a newly recognized adult until my identification had been approved.
"In here, son. The library," my father's voice boomed as I removed my shoes at the entrance where the sanitation systems took care of them. This was our life now; it was careful and wary. We had no other choice. We knew of nothing else.
My father was a scientist before the Disease. He was researching the origins of the metallic and elemental composition of Veridonian soil before he shifted his research to the Disease. Jackson Cooper used to be a well-renowned name in Veridonia ; and now we were penniless. Our only means of survival was the sweeping job that gave me some food.
I turned eighteen six months ago, and I had to feed the family. That was the job that my father had to do when I was younger. Father believed that he could find a cure for the Disease, but his research was not worth the money for the Government. At least that's what he told me.
Father spent the past five years working in a local grocery store until I reached eighteen.
"Son, you can do great things. I can teach you great things," he used to tell me.
He did teach me great things. He taught me more than the ordinary Veridonian child knew. I was well-versed in mathematics, economics, and all three of the sciences. I did all of that, just to sweep the streets every day. However, it wasn't always like this. My father was a great scientist. He even deciphered the composition of the Disease, something that the Dominion Council suppressed.
I grabbed the butter from the refrigerator. I sighed, staring at the two small milk cartons and a couple of fruits. They wouldn't last longer than two days. Closing the door, I turned to find my father hunched over his workbench in the library, surrounded by books and papers filled with complex equations and diagrams.
"Here, Father," I said, placing the food on the table beside him. "I wish I could get more. Tomorrow's raise day. I'll bring some more."
He looked up, his tired eyes meeting mine with a mix of gratitude and sadness. "Thank you, Wylan. You're doing everything you can, and I appreciate it."
I nodded, feeling the weight of responsibility settling on my shoulders. "I wish there was more I could do to help with your research."
Father smiled weakly, his hands tracing the notes on the paper in front of him. "You're already helping more than you know, son. But sit. I have something to show you."
I watched him for a moment, admiring his dedication and determination. He never gave up his dream of studying what Veridonia consisted of, even when it brought his health to a dangerous low. As much as he wanted to help me, he was too sick to do anything. The Medici told him that he had perhaps, two years to live. I was holding onto him, because, without him, I would have absolutely nothing.
"Son, look at these traces. Can you see the green? And the faint red?" he asked, pointing at the microscope that lay dusty next to his study.
"Yes."
"That's arsenic and cyanide. It's in the soil. But the Disease-"
"It's in the air," I finished, and he nodded. "Yes, the air. Why is it reacting with the oxygen and the nitrogen?"
Father sighed; his brow furrowed in deep concentration. "That's the question, isn't it? Why is the Disease interacting with the air in such a way? And more importantly, can we use that information to find a cure?"
I leaned closer, studying the traces under the microscope with growing fascination. "Do you think there's a connection between the soil and the spread of the Disease through the air?"
"It's possible," Father mused, his voice tinged with excitement. "There could be a correlation between the two. If we can decipher the mechanisms behind the Disease's interaction with the environment, we might be able to develop a treatment or even a cure."
My heart quickened at the prospect, a surge of hope flooding through me. For years, we had been living in the shadow of the Disease, powerless to stop it. But now, with Father's breakthrough discovery, there was a glimmer of hope for the future – a chance to turn the tide against the invisible enemy.
"We have to keep digging," I said firmly, determination burning bright in my eyes. "We can't afford to give up now, not when we're so close to uncovering the truth."
Father smiled; his eyes sparkling. I missed seeing this side of him sometimes. If only it could be like it was before when Mother, Father, and I were happy. After leaving the tray of food with him, I walked back to my room.
Once upon a time, it was my mother and sister's room. However, I didn't know their whereabouts. I was fourteen when my baby sister was born, and she vanished, along with my mother, when she was not even a month old.
Never to be seen again.
I pulled open the chest in the bedroom that once held memories of my mother and my little sister. It was now empty, emotionless, and still. It was mine, but nothing about it felt that way.
As I stared into the chest, memories flooded back—memories of a time when our family was whole when laughter filled the air even when the outside was terrifying. The love bound us together. My mother's laughter and my sister's wails used to keep us up at night...we used to find happiness in the little that we had.
It was wonderful.
Now, the echoes of those moments felt distant, like whispers in the wind, fading into the unknown. I reached out, tracing the edges of the chest with trembling fingers. I took the blanket that lay on top, longing for the warmth of my mother's embrace again and the sound of my sister's nightly cries. I buried my face into the blanket that my mother used to wrap my sister in.
All I felt was emptiness, a void that no amount of warmth could fill.
Tears welled up in my eyes as I realized what had become of me, and my family. It was a gaping hole in our lives that couldn't be mended. There was a small glimmer of hope within me that somewhere, somehow, my mother and my sister were safe. I prayed that they were alright, away from Veridonia.
My father was an optimistic man, but my mother's disappearance crushed him. He had lost the love of his life and a daughter whom he adored overnight. I had lost my mother.
My father tried his best to not show his heartbreak in front of me, but I wasn't naive. I saw everything.
With a heavy heart, I closed the chest, burying the memories deep within its confines. I knew that dwelling on the past would only hinder our progress, and distract us from the task at hand. We had a mission, a mission that could bring hope to those who had lost everything.
Like me.
As I lay down on my bed, exhausted, my mind was preoccupied with what could have been my life in an alternate world. It's not even an alternate world where I would have been happier if my mother hadn't disappeared with my sister."
I wouldn't have to live in uncertainty.
I closed my eyes. I could only sleep for a few hours anyway. I had to begin my work before the rest of the city woke up. Soon, the world outside faded into darkness. I drifted into dreams of a future where Veridonia stood strong once more—a future where my mother's laughter echoed through this room, where my sister would smile, and where my father's brilliance would shine in all of Veridonia.
For in that future, I knew, lay the promise of a new beginning—a chance to rewrite our story, and for that, I needed power. For that power, I needed someone who had power but didn't use it.
And with that thought, I surrendered to sleep. I knew that no matter what trials awaited us on the path ahead, I would be there to fight. For that, I needed a bait.
I also knew exactly who it was.
I drifted off into deep sleep, my mind churning with thoughts of worry. I was responsible for what was left of my family. It was a burden I carried willingly in the pursuit of hope.
In my dreams, Veridonia's sun emerged once again. Streets once stained, now remained clean and changed. My mother's laughter once again was a bittersweet sound that stirred the old memories of her.
The idea of this imagined world filled me with euphoria, and it was not impossible. There had to be those who refused to be silenced. The disappearance of my mother and sister was a long shadow over my dreams, a reminder of the pain that still lingered. There was something wrong about this place.
I just couldn't fathom why the sun cast his warm glow over the walls of Veridonia but refused to glow bright in Veridonia.
It was something anyone could notice when sweeping the fallen skyscraper.
-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈
𝙲𝙷𝙰𝙿𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝚆𝙾𝚁𝙳 𝙲𝙾𝚄𝙽𝚃: 𝟷𝟻𝟹𝟻 𝚆𝙾𝚁𝙳𝚂
𝚃𝙾𝚃𝙰𝙻 𝚆𝙾𝚁𝙳 𝙲𝙾𝚄𝙽𝚃: 𝟺𝟶𝟶𝟻 𝚆𝙾𝚁𝙳𝚂