Lost Music

A Story by Quartz

What happens when the world becomes all sunshine and rainbows. People will be people.

Lost Music

Jack O’Donnell was an average 25-year-old man, nothing that stood out about him and that’s the way he liked it, to avoid anything that would distinguish him from the thousand other workers around him. As he sat in front of his computer in his own little cubicle near to the exit, he planned for the future. He was ready for tonight, the once in a month experience had finally arrived and he needed it now more than ever. The experience that he was looking forward to was a simple yet beautiful creation known as rock and heavy metal.

Music had changed after centuries, now it was completely illegal to listen to anything other than government approved sounds. It was short happy tunes that had no lyrics and made your mind numb and dull. Jack despised it but he couldn’t show his distaste for it. Another illegal activity, showing negative emotions and actions. It was ‘put on a happy face’ or be put into the rehabilitation centre. The stories from the Rehab made it an experience that Jack wanted to avoid.

At the sound of a claxon, Jack stood up and left, it was time for him to finish. He followed every other man and woman in the floor as they went to the exit. Their faces were plastered with grins and smiles, all discussing the great job they were doing and patting each other on the back.

Just hand each other f*****g medals already Jack said in his head it was just another day of typing pointless notes

Jack never knew who looked at his work, maybe no one, but he kept at it in case of being watched. He just decided which paragraphs of text should make it into the local newspaper and what shouldn’t. Jack’s issue, nothing negative went on his screen so he sat there day after day clicking yes to everything coming his way.

Finally, he got on the elevator and went down to the carpark. As he walked through the carpark he saw the sky with its light green, light yellow, baby pink and blue clouds flying through the bright sky, it never went night here. The weather of the world had been controlled since the last world war, no one recalls how many, it has been erased from the history books, but an old textbook he found out one night had mentioned there had been several over the centuries. The cars were similarly coloured, Jack owned a simple white car, closest to average as he could get. As he climbed in, he waved with a smile to the co-worker that had been waving at him for a good couple of minutes.

Yeah, I see you moron hurry up and f**k off Jack thought to himself

As he sat in his car he pulled out the hidden earplugs, these prevented the s**t music that was constantly playing out loud everywhere but allowed voices to be heard, if sometimes muffled. It had taken years to get the hang of wearing these, no such thing as an excuse of going deaf now that healthcare covered anything. Lost an arm? Give the doctor a big smile and you’ll have a new one in just 20 minutes, you might have bled out by then but it’s the thought that counts, apparently.

Jack turned on the ignition and was greeted with the welcome sound of Ace in the Hole. One of his current bands in the underground music. As the singer started her chorus, Jack was jolted up suddenly by knocking at his side window. Quickly shutting off the music he rolled down his window to see a co-worker grinning at him.

“Hey friend” the co-worker said with a large smile “Your rear lights flickering, might go soon, have a lovely day” and with that he was gone

Jack had smiled back but inside he was panicking. How close had he been to being caught and had the police brought on him. The police were nearly all robots, except for the odd thousand that were human. With the human police you could talk your way out of being sent to the Rehab, just a serious warning, but the robots were pitiless.

As he pulled out the carpark, the singer from Ace in the Hole hit her screaming part. It sent chills down Jack’s spine and he loved every decibel of it. It was nearly the exact same as his mother when she sang heavy metal. In fact the name of the band he was listening to was almost the same as his mother and fathers, Two Aces in the Hand. His parents would sneak out with him at nights to play music, his mother singing heavy metal while his father played the lead guitar. His mother sent chills down any listener’s spine while his father made them jump and shout to the tune. Well they did, before they were caught by the police. His father had punched a robot officer so hard that it had been reported on the news for weeks because no one had broken one before. It had cost him dearly though, to this day he still couldn’t pick up anything small, his mother was worse, and she only recently started to form things that were close to words, most of the time drooling or rambling utter nonsense. Both of this had been done by the Rehab. Jack had only been seven when his parents had been taken, forced to live in an orphanage for three years till his parents came back. Both had changed, his mother that had long bright blue hair, and always wore bright red jeans had come wearing a dress with a bow in her bland brown hair. His Father who had trained his body to the point where he could lift Jack and his mother on a seat with only one hand, was a skinny man that had thick rimmed glasses a bow tie and had developed a stutter. Both had arrived, his mother only able to smile and drool, while his father stammered about how great it was to see their smiling boy again, their eyes were the only thing that spoke the truth to Jack, they were broken, they had fought the system, lost and were broken by the Rehab.

As he drove the singer shifted her tone, singing slow and quietly about the loss of the one she loved. It was one of Jack’s favourite and he hoped it would be played tonight. As he drove into his housing estate, he looked at the houses, each the same after the last, small garden, driveway big enough for one car. The only difference between the houses was the colour, each a bright fluorescent colour different from the others next to it. Jack’s was bright blue, he couldn’t get any other one and was not payed enough to get a new one. As he parked and left the car he heard the sound of laughter from the park, mainly children running and playing together. Jack smiled genuinely he thought that the only ones that should be made to smile were the children. Then again a memory suddenly surfaced, himself crying at falling down, a random stranger dragging him behind the trees and begging him to stop, making promises while the fear of the stranger’s eyes made Jack even more terrified. It wasn’t till he was older that he learnt from his parents that the stranger was panicking because the police were about to walk past the park and he didn’t want Jack to be taken away. The stranger had saved him. Turning away, Jack went inside, the government tunes, already giving him a headache.

He had worked hard to dull the noise inside his house but he still didn’t like his house, it was too bright. Jack loved the dark, but dark was negative and negative was illegal. Jack had soundproofed the house, there was still a slight ringing noise but that was bearable, the Holovision had been broken and fixed so that only the voices of people were on it and no subliminal sounds broke through. Jack turned on the Holovision and was greeted by a news broadcast.

“"ankfully these poor people will get the help they need” The reporter was saying “I mean look at these poor people, stuck in that mindless cursed cult. The Rehabilitation centre will help them in time and they will soon be productive citizens of society” it cut to an advertisement.

Jack turned it off in disgust, the holovision had shown the image of a poor boy, not even sixteen yet, getting dragged by the robot police. His face was blurred out, so it was unclear if he was either yelling in anger or crying in fear. The boy wore dirty clothes, all black and dark coloured, another illegal activity. Jack hoped that it had not ruined his plans for the night.

He went to his bedroom and removed the fake bottom of his cupboard and removed his dark clothes. One pair of trousers were dark red, similar to his mothers had always worn red jeans, because they were the most that stood out and represented blood. Jack remembered looking at the dark versions of all the colours when he was a small boy, he was scared of dark red cause of blood but had grown to like it like his mother. She wore bright red though, even in the day time, as well as her hair, being bright blue, she turned heads wherever she went, before the Rehab. As well he had his father’s leather jacket, it had mix match patches and a silver streak down the back. It was still too large for him, he didn’t have his father’s old physique. Jack’s image was completed by a black t-shirt and a pair of black boots. He didn’t have to dress in such dark clothes, he just felt better wearing something that was not so damn bright.

Jack liked the dark, he would spend his nights playing classic holo-games in the dark. The classic games were different from modern ones, the old ones weren’t controlled by the human body, but were instead used by a ‘controller’ that was for playing the game. The main reason he loved the classic games was simply because they were violent and showed details that the current holo-games had gotten rid of. The current games featured the player giving flowers to friends, a pointless and waste of time. Jack considered purchasing some new classic games tonight but decided against it, best to save his money.

He went down to his basement, and moved the bookcase out of the way. The bookcase covered the manhole that led into the sewers. It wasn’t pleasant but it had to be done. Jack jumped in and followed the path, avoiding the water as he went. As he progressed he considered whether it was a good idea or not, it was clear that at least a couple of other fans had been caught today. They may have to call the event off.

Finally, he arrived and found the hidden door. He chapped on it in the pattern he had been told. The door swung open to two large men wielding bats with barbed fence wrapped around them. They saw Jack and nodded him inside, quickly glancing down the sewer halls. Inside was busy, not as packed as it usually was, probably due to the news, but was still busy none the less. The crowd was dressed in a similar fashion as he was. There was a bar over to the side filled with alcohol, no one knew what it was, just that it was alcohol, or devil’s nectar as the news called it. Some fans had taken to calling it that as a joke but Jack just called it alcohol.

As he moved forward the band started to play, slowly and quietly at first but soon building in sound and speed. It was one of Jacks favourite song by Ace in the Hole. The singer stood at the front, she wore a simple black singlet with an upside down five-sided star. She had short blue hair, nearly the same as Jacks mothers used to be. She stood and shouted at the crowd, letting out her anger, her frustration and her sadness that had been pent up for weeks. Jack stood and absorbed it all, enjoying each and every syllable that dropped till it was over.

Jack went over to the bar, there was only the barman’s son behind the bar by himself. This meant the barman was counting his money. If there had been enough of a profit, the barman would give away drinks for free, Jack waited to save his money no need to spend when he didn’t need to. The barman would spend all month hiding the alcohol here, it would be easier to get rid of it than to try and get it back to where ever he made it. As Jack waited he spotted a man getting a tattoo with the word Rehab being scored out with a red line.

“Bloody fool” Jack heard an old voice say, turning Jack saw an elderly man standing with the look of distaste in his eyes “He’ll not survive till the end of the week”

“True, but it’s his choice, that’s why we’re all here to have choice” said a songful voice

Jack stood in awe, it was the singer from the band, she wasn’t smiling but had a confident smirk and a glint of mischievousness in her eyes. She watched the man with the tattoo for a couple of seconds before turning to Jack, it was then that her eyes open wide in shock.

“Is that the O’Donnell jacket?” she asked quickly grabbing the sleeve “From Two Aces in the Hand?”

“Uh… yeah it is” Jack said

“Where’d you get it?” the singer asked, “How much?” she started reaching in her pocket for cash.

“Not for sale” Jack said, “It was my fathers before he was taken away”

“…Your joking” The singer stared dumbfounded, even the old man stared in shock “you’re the son of Two Aces in the Hand?” she let out a small squeal “I’m getting you a drink”

“If you’ll just wait, it’ll be…” Jack never finished

“Free drinks are open, one jug per person!” The barman called loudly

“Quick, quick move” the singer said shoving Jack in front of her. They grabbed two jugs of alcohol and a couple of glasses and sat at a nearby table.

“What happened to your parents?” The singer asked straight away “I was eight when I last saw them”

“I’m Jack by the way” Jack said straight away “My parents were taken at their last show, it was a hot summer and my Father decided to not wear this” Jack said pointing at the jacket that his father had worn to every show, except for the last one.

“Oh sorry, Lucy” the singer said “I know that they were taken, but why didn’t they come back, to sing I mean?”

“Are you serious?” Jack asked confused “The Rehab broke them, my mother can’t even speak a sentence, my father can’t move his fingers, they can’t do anything”

“I’m sorry to hear that” Lucy said, “I love their songs though, I admire your mother more than anything”

“The hair gave it away” Jack said

“I thought it would” Lucy said fingering it “But why do you not stand out, you have these two incredible parents but you look like everyone else”

“That’s the point” Jack explained, “I want to blend in to hide, that way I can survive”

“Whatever kid” Lucy said, “if you want to die in a hole that’s fine for you but soon the world will change”

“Oh” Jack smirked “and you’re going to lead the charge at the government?”

“Damn right I will!” Lucy said taking a big drink “I want everything to change from this happy go lucky s**t”

“If it could be changed it already would have” Jack said drinking in big as well

“It’s that passive nonsense that causes us to be stuck in this scenario” Lucy said

“Well what do we do?”

“Like you said kid, we march on to the Government building”

“Good luck with that” Jack said

“Come on it can’t be that hard?”

“What about the army?”

“F**k the army”

The night passed this way, in the end, only Jack and Lucy remained in the hideout drinking and talking letting the night pass them by. Until it was clear that they needed to leave.

“Hey kid, do you have somewhere to be?” Lucy asked

“No, got tomorrow off” Jack replied, he’d planned for this and already taken the day off to spend with his parents. The only way he could get that time off.

“Can I come to your place?” Lucy asked batting her eyelashes

“Why not” Jack said smiling, feeling the alcohol

They left and went back the path that jack had come earlier, they walked in silence, giving each other glances and the odd snicker when one or the other fell over in the darkness. When they finally arrived back at the house they snuck up the stairs to find the lights were on. Jack cursed himself, he remembered that he hadn’t turned the lights on before he had left. There could only be one possible reason

“Good evening citizen” The robot police said in a computerised voice, it was eight-foot-tall with pure black arms and legs, and the only colour on its face was the red line where it saw everything in front of it. Its chest was blue with the word ‘police’ written in clear bold letters. “Citizen we noticed that your lights were off, as part of the law designated 2844 paragraph 87, ‘all citizens are required to keep lights on to prevent the dark from coming inside their homes, we will have to ask you to come with us to the rehabilitation centre”

By this point, Jack and Lucy had back down the stairs away from them but when the police robot had finished speaking it had charged at them. Lucy had dived at the manhole cover and slipped away but Jack had been caught.

“Lucy help me” he called

“Sorry kid” Lucy said, “if I’m leading an army there’s bound to be casualties, sorry about the jacket though” she slipped down and disappeared.

Now a second police robot had arrived and was helping the first drag Jack up the stairs where they shoved him into the back of their van. The doors slammed shut before being opened again after a long period of time.

Jack could only scream and kick at the air until he was dragged into the Rehab. The rehab doors slammed shut and that was the last time he heard that sound.