Lara nodded. “Most likely it was in her case and that’s why she was running away, but something bad happened and she died. Did she tell you anything?”
I shared with Lara the three words the woman kept repeating.
“Wow! She must have gotten information about Dr Liverfield’s intentions somehow,” Lara highlighted. “As far as I know the process isn’t shared with parents.”
“Wait ... does it mean there are parents like mine living here in Vinder too?” I signed.
“The parents who volunteered for the process are from everywhere including all the towns and right here in Vinder,” Lara indicated. “I guess for people living in the towns, Vinder is like a workplace, but Vinder does have a large population of people born and raised here too.”
Sam joined them. “Marinette, give yourself some time to adjust here. It takes a while.”
“I am only one person,” I motioned. “I am very grateful you got me out of there, but I don’t know what I can do to help you.”
Sam shook his head. “This isn’t about what you can or cannot do. You are a symbol of hope to us and everyone out there. In time to come you will understand what I am talking about.”
Lara stood up. “You should get some rest. We can talk more tomorrow.”
I nodded as I followed Lara into one of the rooms, which had bunk beds setup. “You can take the one in the corner there and try to get some rest. Nobody will disturb you here. We eat breakfast around 9am in the morning. Maybe you can join us when you are ready.”
I thanked Lara again who then left me alone and, as I sat on my bunk bed, I noticed there was a large table in the middle of the room with some chairs, there were no windows and the faded white paint appeared to be peeling off the walls.
NINE
I woke up and found a set of clothes on a chair close to my bunk bed and I realized I had slept through the night and was thankful I had no nightmares this time. I got up, changed my clothes and walked out to the main room to find a few people, none of whom I recognized, seated at the kitchen, talking among themselves, and still busy eating their breakfast.
Sam and Lara were nowhere to be seen as I wandered to the kitchen, grabbed some food sitting on the counter and settled myself to an empty table. I was so happy to be finally having some normal food, which tasted delicious and, as I was enjoying my food, a young boy came over and sat down at my table. The boy had freckles on his face, wore a t-shirt and a pair of jeans and had carried over his bowl of cereal to my table.
“What’s your name?” I signed noticing that the boy kept stealing glances in my direction.
“Tom,” the boy motioned.
“Nice to meet you, Tom,” I motioned. “My name is ...”
“I know who you are,” Tom gestured. “We had heard about you and had been waiting to see you for days, but, honestly, I never expected to be seated here with you.”
I smiled at him.
“What does it feel like to make a sound?” Tom gestured.
“It’s the first time anyone asked me this kind of thing,” I indicated.
“Oh, I didn’t mean to be so direct,” Tom indicated.
I waved at him. “It feels like I am doing something so natural using my voice although it feels very unnatural. I don’t know if you understand what I mean.”
“I get it,” Tom signed. “It’s like you are learning how to do something, which you should know how to do already, for the first time.”
I tried to manage his expectations. “It will take some time for me to learn because no one has tried it for a long time.”
“What words would you first like to learn to speak?” Tom gestured.
Tom was quite curious and didn’t seem to care about the people around him; the fun of being young and carefree. How I longed for that life again?
“Maybe my name for a start,” I highlighted. “And then followed by saying hello or something.”
Although I had heard Dr Liverfield say my name I felt it would be different coming from me.
“But what do you plan to do when you can speak well?” Tom signed.
I didn’t have an answer to what he was asking me because I had never thought so far ahead. Everything to this point had been about finding out about the process, but ever since I found out about the process I hadn’t thought about the next steps. It was time for me to start planning again.
I smiled at Tom. “I am not sure yet. It has been very overwhelming for me so far and I am going to take it step by step for now.”
“I am sure whatever you decide to do, it will be amazing and change the world for the better,” Tom grinned before standing up and walking away.
I realized that Tom was looking to me to give him hope that a better future was ahead for everyone and I finally began to understand what Sam had meant about me being a symbol of hope for others.
Lara joined me at the table. “Did you get a good night's sleep?”
“Yes I did,” I motioned. “When I was with Dr Liverfield she spoke to me you know?”
“Ohhhh yes ... the Council has been experimenting with devices which could help people speak and a few years ago their research teams created such a device,” Lara motioned. “I think this device is the one you probably saw Dr Liverfield use. The device, itself, was kept a secret from many people and the high cost linked to making the device didn’t help matters much.”
“Is this why people don’t know about it?” I signed. “I mean there could be people out there who could make a cheaper version of it.”
“What I heard was there were only two devices made and I guess Dr Liverfield had one of them planted in her voice box,” Lara highlighted.
“Planted?” I signed.
“The cost of making the device is one part, but there is still an expensive, complex and dangerous surgery which must be done to embed the device inside a person and Dr Liverfield took it upon herself to be the first to volunteer and try it,” Lara indicated. “I heard that the cost of the surgery is very expensive and would be outside of the means of most people. Even though we are against Dr Liverfield I admire her for having the courage to do it, you know?”
Dr Liverfield’s passion was unmistakable by the fact she would even try an experimental and dangerous surgery so as to be able to speak.
Lara continued. “I know it sounds crazy and it did when I first heard about it, but Dr Liverfield wanted to prove to everyone there were benefits to speaking, which would get her more support to do her secret research.”
“Secret? I thought the process was being controlled by the Council,” I signed.
“Oh no. Dr Liverfield’s process is a secret programme she is running outside of the Council,” Lara highlighted. “Officially, no one knows about it, but of course there are many rumours floating around about the existence of it.”
“There must be a way to prove its existence and show the world what she has been doing is illegal, right?” I indicated.
“We have been trying to do exactly that for the last two years, but Dr Liverfield and her people keep everything about the process away from Vinder and it is hard to get any evidence,” Lara motioned.
A few more things fell into place and it explained why the Magistrate and Council were after me because they didn’t know the whole picture either and only saw me as a threat over their control of society. To them I was probably a random person who suddenly had the ability to speak, but they also didn’t know how it was even possible. I realized I was walking deeper and deeper into a complicated web.
I shared with Lara about the secret farm in Thomson and, as I told her of my experience on the farm, the purple liquid and the parents to be, her eyes widened with shock.
“Wow! So, this is how they are doing it,” Lara signed. “To be honest, they are very clever and the setup and secret train is perfect for their operations. They could be doing this same operation in other towns as well now that I think of it.”
What Lara said did make sense as Thomson couldn’t be the
only town which had a secret farm to support Dr Liverfield’s process. I had learnt in school that the number of towns surrounding Vinder was always changing; new towns were always being created by the Council in an effort to spread the population, but there could be an ulterior motive behind it too.
“Do you know what is in the purple liquid?” I indicated.
Lara shook her head. “No one knows, but there are rumours that it was created many years ago by a scientist who worked with Dr Liverfield before she started the process.”
I was surprised the Resistance didn’t know especially since they had been around for years.
“Let’s talk about you Marinette. How do you actually make the sound? Have you figured it out already?” Lara gestured.
I shook my head. “It is something which happens when I least expect it and I am still trying to figure out how to control it.”
Lara continued. “Follow me. I want to show you something which may help you.”
I followed Lara into another room, which was quite different from my bunk bed room. There were a series of tall cabinets around the room and on one wall was a large screen monitor and computer. I had never seen such a big monitor in my life before and wondered how the Resistance had acquired and fixed it in this run-down building.
Lara went to the wall, switched on both the monitor and laptop and played a video. I was stunned by what was being played on the monitor.
TEN
I couldn’t believe I was watching someone teaching others how to speak on the monitor. I was quite amazed with the way in which the teacher, an older man, spoke so gracefully and naturally and I wished I would be able to speak like him someday.
I turned to Lara. “Where did you get this from?”
“These videos were handed down over the generations to one of our members who is no longer with us, and he brought them to Sam so that he can preserve them in the hopes that one day we would find a use for them,” Lara motioned.
And, today there was a use for them: me.
I smiled and thanked her.
“How long have you been part of the Resistance?” I signed.
“It’s been three years since I met Sam and was introduced to the Resistance,” Lara gestured. “Before that I was barely surviving in these outer regions of Vinder where no one really has the chance to live and thrive.”
I wouldn’t have been able to guess that about Lara from the way she spoke. Somehow during the last two days I began to feel this level of closeness with her and I don’t know why I felt like this, but I knew I had to keep my guard on because Lara was still a stranger to me.
“Are you from Vinder then?” I motioned.
Lara nodded. “Born and raised in this great city as everyone who visits it would say, but there is nothing great about it. Behind all the innovation and technology Vinder is like other cities full of corruption and control by the higher authorities who govern us.”
“Why do you choose to stay here then?” I signalled not sure if this was too personal a question to ask her.
“It remains my home despite everything,” Lara motioned. “Most of the people I grew up with are still here although I have lost contact with them.”
I smiled at her.
Lara continued. “But the Resistance isn’t as big as it used to be.”
“What do you mean?” I signed.
“The Council has been very good at branding us as kind of a gang of vigilanties trying to disrupt the fabric of society,” Lara motioned. “Their efforts have been so good that many of our own families, once they realized we were part of the Resistance, chose to disown us instead of understand what we were trying to do.”
“What?” I signed in frustration. “The Council has no right to do this.”
“They are in charge in Vinder and the towns and they can do whatever they want Marinette,” Lara indicated. “Brainwashing society is only part of their way of getting to us. Over the years the Council has used its military wing to capture many of the Resistance’s members.”
“What happened to those who were caught?” I signed.
I suspected I knew the horrible truth behind those who got caught by the Council, but I wanted Lara to tell me it wasn’t so.
“No one knows and we never hear from them ever again,” Lara confirmed what I thought. “There aren’t any trials for any of them and it is like they fell off the planet. To the Council we are a serious threat and they will go to any means to stop us.”
I looked back at the monitor.
“I am going to leave you to this,” Lara highlighted pointing to the monitor and left me alone.
I took a chair, sat down and watched the teacher on the monitor. I wanted to learn to speak instead of making random sounds that didn’t sound like a human because I remembered how my unexpected word had destroyed that door to free Oliver back in Thomson and I imagined what I would do if I was able to speak more words and direct them with the raw power behind them.
I listened and then tried to mouth the words being displayed on the monitor, but it was much harder than I expected and after the first hour I hadn’t even spoken a single word yet. I chose to continue trying and then into the third hour I was able to say a single word: hello. It didn’t come out exactly as the way the guy on the monitor said it, but the sound of it was close enough to its meaning.
As I continued, someone touched my shoulder, I spun around ready to run forgetting I was in a safe area and realized it was only Tom.
“I was walking by, heard the word you spoke and came in to see you,” Tom signaled. “It was so unreal to hear a word from another human being. Keep doing it okay? You will soon be able to speak a sentence.”
I hoped I wouldn’t disappoint him. “Thanks. I will try my best.”
I could see Tom was fascinated by my sound-making ability, grinned at him and high-fived him before he left me alone again this time closing the door behind him.
ELEVEN
Three days had past since I first arrived here at this building controlled by the Resistance and most of my time had been spent watching, listening, and learning how to speak through the videos.
The only times I had been outside of this room was when I went to get food and even during those times I kept trying to practice my speech when no one was looking.
During one of the times at breakfast I met a young girl named Claire who was probably around my age. She told me she had been here for only six months and, like the others, she was excited to meet me.
“How did you first know you could make a sound?” Claire signed.
“I didn’t know until I was faced with the situation from the car accident,” I indicated.
It was a good question she asked because it got me thinking about the first time I made the sound. Since my emotions had been the trigger it could be possible that I wouldn’t have made any sound if I hadn’t been there at the right place at the right time. This meant it was possible there could be others out there who could potentially be able to make sounds, but had never been placed in an extreme situation like I was. This thought, itself, gave me hope I wasn’t alone on this planet with this sound-making ability. There was no way I could find out if this was true or not because it would require me sharing my emotional trigger, which was something I couldn’t risk.
“You know everyone here is looking up to you, right?” Claire motioned. “I am sure it is pretty obvious.”
I looked down at the table with a frown.
“But I think it is unfair on you,” Claire continued. “You only arrived here recently and you don’t even know everything about the Resistance and they shouldn’t expect so much from you.”
I smiled at her, was glad she was being straightforward with me which was refreshing because I hadn’t seen much of Sam and Lara the last couple of days, but I figured they must be doing important things for the Resistance. I also didn’t want to ask around for them because it could make me look weak and needy.
“I wanted you to know not everyon
e expects everything from you because you are like my age Marinette,” Claire indicated. “And I know I wouldn’t be able to do half the things you are trying to do right now. I would be overwhelmed with the intense pressure and so much attention on me even in this building. It is amazing how you have kept yourself together in all of this so far.”
“Thank you for saying it,” I signed. “To be honest being a silence breaker isn’t what I ever wanted or wished for, but it looks like I am stuck with it.”
Claire stared at me. “I know you are learning to speak and all because everyone out here is whispering about it every day. The breakfast gossip is always about whether anyone has heard you speak something. I don’t like it all.”
Emerging Above the Silence Page 4
