Finding Melody

“All graduates report in an orderly fashion to the lobby for your assignments and new locations.” the intercom announces loudly. I get up from my table and make my way to the lobby with the rest of my peers. We all orderly line up in our black and white uniforms. As I get closer and closer to the desk in the lobby, I get more excited. Soon, I am at the desk with a woman seated in front of me. She smiles softly with pearly white teeth. She wears white and black like the rest of us and her brown hair pulled back to appear clean and professional. The blue armband with the letter “G” on her left arm shows that she is a government representative for Sector G, the sector that I live in.

“Your ID and number please.” The woman says, still smiling. I pull out my ID and hand it to her.

“My number is 6,505,128, age 18, Sector G.” I say with a smile. The woman scans my ID and types a few things on her holographic screen in an almost robotic manner.

“It looks like you will be stationed in Sector C, and your assignment is going to be teaching children at the Growth Center in Sector C.”

“That’s wonderful!” I exclaimed. The woman hands me my ID, a booklet, and a train pass.

“Do keep in mind that your assignment is subject to change based on your performance. If you are interested in applying for a government position please locate the nearest representative office in your area. Other than those circumstances, you will have this assignment for the rest of your life.”

“Thank you.” I say smiling ear to ear. I swiftly walk out of the lobby, down the hall, and to the lounge. I scan my ID on the door and it flashes green as it opens. I sit at a nearby table and look into my booklet. There is a map of Decipula, this wonderful city. Decipula is a city divided into 9 Sectors; in the middle is the Capital and it is surrounded by sectors A-H. The city of Decipula is also surrounded by a wall, made by our founders. The wall was built to protect us from the danger outside.

In the Growth Center, or GC, we were taught about the evil that lives outside. It is an evil that kills you slowly and painfully, it is so powerful that it has tainted everything beyond the city. Even the air is too toxic to breathe, and so the wall was built with a dome that keeps out the air and harmful sun rays. I’ve never seen the wall up close in person because my GC here is closer to the Capital than the wall, but the GC in Sector C is much closer to the perimeter. I can’t wait to go tomorrow.

“128!” I look up at the mention of my number and look to see my roommate, 6,505,472, or 472 for short. She excitedly rushes over to me and sits at the table. “I’m going to Sector C! I’m going to be a post transmitter!”

“That’s great! I’m going to Sector C too, to be an educator!” She smiles brightly and cheers. I can’t help but laugh at her excitement.

The next morning, 472 and I pack up and leave the GC. We both talk and reminisce about our 18 years at the GC as we walk to the train station. We get to the gate and scan our IDs and train passes. We board the train and see people, dressed in black and white just like everyone in Decipula, filling up all the seats. 472 and I stand while holding onto the pole. The train abruptly starts to move and someone roughly bumps into me. I look behind me to see a blonde woman quickly grab the railing to catch her balance.

“Oh I do apologize!” The woman puts down her bag, and moves to put her hair back up. “I’m not yet used to the…” she freezes as she makes eye contact with me, “...trains.” She continues to stare.

“Are you alright?” I ask and she seems to snap out of her trance.

“I’m sorry, it’s just,” she stares again for a moment, “your eyes are brown. You don’t usually see that in Decipula, especially not with blonde hair like yours.”

“Oh, um, thank you?” I say, a bit confused.

“You look like someone I might know.” She turns towards me and that’s when I notice her gold armband with a circle on it, which means she’s representative from the Capital.

“I doubt that, I’m 18 and just graduated from a GC and I’m heading to Sector C for my assignment.”

“You're definitely very familiar,” she smiles kindly, “would you tell me your number?”

“Uh, 6,505,128.” I hesitantly answered her. Her expression lights up and she opens her mouth to say something when the train stops and the bell rings. She picks up her bag and looks at me.

“Thank you, it was wonderful to meet you.” she says, then exits the train. 472 and I glance at each other.

“That was… interesting. Do you know her?” she asks me curiously.

“No, I’ve never seen her before.”

When we arrive at Sector C, 472 and I have to part. She is stationed closer to the Capital, while I am closer to the wall. We decided to meet up tomorrow to share each other's days. I head to the GC and get familiar with the people and the space. Afterwards, I started to head to my new living quarters as the sun went down, about two minutes from the GC.

When I get there, I see a small package at the door. I was not expecting to receive anything, so I had no idea what could be inside. I take it inside and carefully open it and inside is a small pouch and a letter. I open the pouch and pour the contents into my hand. It’s a small heart-shaped piece of metal on a tiny chain. I’ve never seen anything like this before. I trace my finger on the heart in wonder. Suddenly, I hear a loud bang like someone falling. I quickly put the foreign object back in the box and tossed it under the table. I then go to where the sound was in the common area, and I find a person face-down on the ground in front of an open window. The person moves and I panic grabbing a lamp from a side table. The person groans, sits up, and looks at me. It’s a boy, but not like any boy I’ve ever seen. This one has very tan skin, his hair is brown and messy, and his clothes are not black and white and they are dirty. His eyes go wide when he sees me and he jumps to his feet. His sudden movement scared me so I swung my lamp and he ducks.

“Woah!” he exclaims while dodging my attack. I swing again and miss. “Hey, you’re gonna have to chill with that lamp.”

“Who are you?!” I ask pointing the lamp at him. He puts his hands up.

“Woah ok, I’m Skye. It’s very lovely to meet you.” He says sarcastically and grins.

“Sky? You’re not the sky. You’re a person! What is your number?”

“I don’t have a number. I have a name and it’s Skye. S-K-Y-E.”

“A name? What’s a name?”

“If you put down that lamp, I’ll tell you.” he says, eyeing the makeshift weapon in my hands. I hesitantly lower the lamp, he slowly walks towards me and takes hold of the lamp. I tighten my grip as he tries to pull it away from me, and he gets really close to my face and smiles. I’m so taken aback by this that I loosen my grip just enough for him to take it out of my hand, and walk away to put it on a table. He then looks at me and gestures to the couch.

“I won’t hurt you if you don’t hurt me.” he says as he sits down. I reluctantly sit down as far away from him as I can. “Alrighty, so, a name is what you call a person that separates them from everyone else.”

“Isn’t that just like a number?”

“Yes, but a name is more personal.” he smiles at me,. “We could come up with one for you if you want.”

“Why would I want one?” I say with a bit of anger.

“Uh, okay that’s cool you don’t have to have one, but is there something I can call you?”

“My number is 6,505,128. But I guess you can call me 128.”

“Okay then 128, as I said earlier, my name is Skye.”

“So Skye, where did you come from?” I ask and he nervously scratches his head.

“Well I’m not exactly supposed to tell you, but…” he looks at me, then sighs, “I’m from outside the wall.” My jaw instantly drops at the shock of this information.

“You’re an outsider? But how? How are you not dead?” My mind was running a mile a minute trying to understand what was happening. “There is no way you could be alive.” He puts two fingers on his wrist.

“Well I am, and so is the rest of my clan.”

“There are more of you?”

“Yup! In fact there are clans all over the place, thousands of them.”

“I can’t believe it…” I look at him flabbergasted and in awe, “If you weren’t sitting right here I would never give it a second thought, but you’re living proof that it’s true.”

“Oh, I bet you’ve never seen something like this before!” he pulls out a small rectangular object and a wire. He puts one end of the wire in his ear and gestures for me to do the same. Then, he plugs the wire into the object and presses a few buttons. Suddenly, the wire is making noise in my ear, it’s soft and soothing. Then I hear a woman talking but she’s dragging out her words. “This is called music.” Skye closes his eyes and seems to mouth the woman’s words, and now it sounds like multiple people are talking.

“Music? What’s it made of?”

“Uh, it’s made of sounds, singing, melody, harmony…” he goes on to list things “The melody is actually the main part of the song. Hey, ya know what? I like the sound of Melody. Do you mind if I call you that?” I think about it for a moment.

“I kinda like that, sure!” I say with a smile. I suddenly remembered the package. “Could you actually look at something for me?” he nods and I grab the box and show him the heart shaped object.

“This is a necklace! You wear it on your neck.” He fiddles with it for a moment and it pops open. “Look, it’s also a locket. There’s a picture inside.” I look inside to see a man and woman smiling at me. The man looks like Skye, with darker skin and dark hair. The woman…

“That woman is the one I saw today on the train!” I gasp. Skye picks up the letter inside and hands it to me, saying that this may be an explanation. I open it and read. “My dearest daughter, When I saw you today I saw your father’s eyes and I knew. I’m sorry I don’t have much time, but contact me from the Capital when you get this. My number is 6,466,074. Love, your mother.” I immediately run to the transmitter on the wall and dial the Capital services center. A man answers and I give him the number and he leaves for a moment then comes back. My heart sinks and I hang up.

“What is it, Melody?” Skye asks

“She’s dead.”