by Aaron Slade
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COLORBLIND
A Novel
By
Aaron Slade
© 2012 Aaron Slade
Published in 2012
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, copied in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise transmitted without written permission from the publisher, unless otherwise authorized by law.
All characters and events in this work are purely fictional. Any resemblance to any individual, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Designs by Brett Williams.
This book is dedicated to my family,
Who taught me to love.
The Weekly Telepath
A Human Child
Article by K. L. Bennett
Since the year 2125, the word human, as in Homo sapien, has rarely been heard by itself. Extra-humans, or Homo evalescos, have repopulated and rebuilt this broken land. But in society’s smallest survival city– Fallon of the Nevada Territory– the first human in nearly a century has been born. The boy is now six years old and doctors report that he shows no trace of an extra-human trait (EHT).
Over two hundred years ago, scientists first announced that the next stage of human evolution was upon us. It is perplexing why a human child has been born now, especially since Homo sapiens went extinct a century ago.
Doctors referred to the boy as a medical mystery. Both of his parents, James and Amanda Vance possess class two extra-human traits, leaving no reason that their son should have been born without one.
Like many newborns, the parents thought it would take time for their son’s EHT to manifest. Certain psychic EHTs can be hard to detect at birth, or even various other abilities like increased intelligence or teleportation. The parents waited the last six years to discover their son’s ability, but doctors legally pronounced the boy to be Homo sapien on December 3rd, 2210.
Not only is the child the first human born since the extinction of Homo sapiens, he is the first human on record to be born of Homo evalesco parents. People have worried this will mean the return of humans. The medical experts reported that it might be possible that humans could repopulate, potentially starting with this child.
“Our magnificent abilities are made possible in the brain,” explains Dr. Alfonz Miller, the Military’s leading researcher on extra-human traits. “Certain lobes and glands of the mysterious organ have been linked to specific EHTs. However, people’s abilities are different because everyone’s brain is unique. The child’s brain must be similar to that of Homo sapiens.”
Most children show signs of their ability by age three if not sooner. The parents sought medical advice when the child did not present any signs of having an extra-human trait.
After years of tests and examinations, the parents have finally decided to call it quits. Doctors encouraged the parents to prepare their son for his condition. Experts worried what being the last of an extinct species will do to the boy emotionally.
The birth of a human child also sparked a large debate in the small desert community where the family lives. The child cannot be blamed for the mistakes of past humans, but many people worry that he will show much of the same hostility. It was Homo sapiens’ lack of understanding and jealous natures that led to such dark and violent times as the Blight, partially resulting in their extinction.
Officials of the Military agreed, without the permission of the child’s parents, to brand the Homo sapien with “the mark.” Like the humans that lived in the years following the Blight, the boy will wear the identifying insignia that marks him as Homo sapien. James and Amanda Vance were outraged when they discovered what the Military had done to their son.
Amanda Vance stated, “We marked humans after the Blight because they could not move past the violence. Their intolerance of extra-humans encouraged more fighting when society was striving for peace. It was necessary to brand them for general safety. But it was not necessary to mark my six-year-old son. He will be raised differently than the humans of the past. He won’t fear or loathe extra-humans. The mark was unnecessary, and as his mother, I’m outraged.”
Doctors and ranking officials on Fallon’s Military Base claimed that they didn’t wish to brand the child, but they understood the safety factors at hand: Can a human be trusted?
In a recent interview with the parents, they claimed to have the utmost confidence that they could raise the child with no problems.
The child’s father, James Vance, an accomplished historian, said, “We will love him no matter what. Frankly, we are disappointed that our home town of Fallon has created such an issue of this whole thing. Our son is just like everyone else. There is no need to ostracize him or us.”
Whatever the future has in store for this family, it is clear that history will remember the name, Casper Thomas Vance.
PREDICTIONS
Evee:
Scorch marks covered most of the city block in black stripes and blotches, and ruinous chunks of stone and cement crumbled into the streets from the surrounding buildings, making the area look like the disturbing aftermath of a war zone. I walked by the orange Military markers that prohibited people from trespassing on the scene– a giant, deep crater in the street’s cracked asphalt. Strong winds stirred ash piles on the ground blowing the debris into the air, and the women in front of me covered their faces to avoid inhaling the dust. Being this close to the scene of an attack of this scale made me nervous, but mostly sad.
“Evee!” Allison called.
I snapped out of the slight shock from seeing the destructive scene. “I’m coming.” I did an about-face, running after my friends and fighting the coastal wind as it blew my dark hair across my eyes.
“Hurry up!” Allison rounded the street corner rapidly to forget the horrible wreckage. Felecia stayed on her tail. It made them uncomfortable to be so close to where all the murders had occurred. Several people on the street kept their heads low, evading eye contact with the devastation around them, but others stared at it with a morbid fascination and a complete disregard of the deceased.
I caught up to Allison and Felecia, pleased with the increasing distance from the block where so many had died. I shuddered one last time as the images I’d seen in the newspapers forced their way into my reality. Dad warned me several times not to go near the block, but according to Allison, it was the quickest way to get to our destination.
“I wish we hadn’t walked by that place now,” I confessed.
Felecia’s tall figure leaned down and tangled her arm through mine. “Don’t think about the accident, especially not on your last day in San Diego.”
“I don’t think it was an accident…” I started.
“What Felecia is trying to say, Evee,” Allison interrupted, “is that we want to have fun with you today.” Her hard, grey eyes gave an intense look, telling me to drop the subject of the disaster. “We had to walk past it. We have to walk through the Marina if we want to see… her.”
“How did you hear about this woman?” Felecia asked.
“I overheard some of our fellow Military-brats talking about her,” Allison answered, pulling her chocolate hair behind her ears. “For a small price she’ll tell us our futures.” She checked nearby house numbers to see which way we should go.
The street was jam-packed with houses on both sides, and most of them looked the same: a few stories tall, but rundown and outdated.
“Doesn’t the Military frown on this sort of thing?” I asked, spotting a group of patrolling Military soldiers in their black uniforms, grey hoods, and silver falcon crests on the left breast.
“The Military has a problem with everything,” Allison responded. “And future forbid that the Colonel find out you were in the city having fun with friends.”
I hated it when she called my dad the Colonel. “But it’s illegal for seers to tell other people their futures.” I spoke in soft whispers, afraid of roaming ears on the crowded sidewalk.
“I don’t care,” Allison said. “We never get to do anything fun because your dad keeps you under house arrest twenty-four-seven.”
“That doesn’t mean we have to resort to doing something illegal,” Felecia said.
