Even in my youth, I hadn’t experienced the consumption of my mind and body within melody. I’d never been immersed in sound like that before. Music came blaring through the speakers expertly placed throughout the cabin. I closed my eyes and let the music completely sweep me away.īeckett noticed my abandon and increased the volume so loud I couldn’t hear myself think. One of the songs on the list featured a gorgeous falsetto male voice layered on top of thunderous drums and a driving bass guitar. Music floated all around us, bouncing off the walls and making the air heavy with beautiful color and emotion. I lounged on the sofa while he fitted himself into the far corner where his mattress met the wall. Beckett tried to look annoyed but his face resembled that of an adult trying not to entertain the smart remarks of a petulant child. “You also need one of these special issue tablets from the Affinity, but, you know, no big deal.” I laughed at my own sarcasm and stuck my tongue out at him. “Everything is available in digi-file you just have to know where to look for it.” He smirked, hinting at some secret digital knowledge. No stylization, no personality, and certainly no fluffy green pillows and golden-hued walls.

Citizens preferred modern, industrial materials and utilitarian design. Actually, the fact that he had any color on the walls at all was unusual for a home in the Collective. “How did you find this music? I thought only eccentric old citizens longing for the Green Age still listened to this,” I teased him, his preference for the Green Age clear in everything in his home from the pillows to the color on the walls. We found common ground in our love for Green Age sounds made with instruments as opposed to the digital contortion known as music in the modern world. I scanned through hundreds of songs on his holo-tab, eventually selecting a list of amazing tunes from times gone by. In the afternoon, music filled the uncomfortable space between us. I hadn’t done anything interesting in the hours that passed and I took great satisfaction in knowing he needed to occupy himself with the electronic tethers of technology while I sat content with the freedom of the day. Beckett pretended not to watch me, peeking up from his holo-tab from time to time.

Frozen Heart by Annabelle Blume