Blue

The unique scents of carnations, lilies, and daffodils blended perfectly with the soothing morning breeze. The brown noise of clapping grasses and sounds of waking insects refreshed my dull senses as my toes finally greeted the ground for quite a long time.

"𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚"

As a kid, I thought being able to live up to this line was the coolest. Now, as an adult I realized it's quite a drag most of the time. Furthermore, it's nice being able to escape from the responsibilities once in a while. Breathe fresh air in an empty mind. I'm not even married at this rate. Scary.

"Hi mom! Hi Aika! How are you?"

A windy yet sunny day of November 1, 2031. It's that time of the year. I've lost quite a lot that this day had become a tour. Sometimes it felt like I was cursed to be alone; to be secluded in a world of six billion people. The price of greatness is truly great that sometimes I don't even know if I want this or not. Luckily, I still have Ed around to falsify this theory. So I'm quite good. After visiting everyone including Dr. Chan, Simon's grave in the sky and Dr. Dave's, Cassandra pinged my watch.

"Joe, it's ready."

"Thanks, Cass."

One tap on the right side of my head where the HB100 is located and I appeared as a totally different person. It's a prototype technology I developed personally for me to be free to walk around without worrying about my safety. If you're familiar with 𝘉𝘦𝘯10, that's kinda how it worked but I won't be getting superhuman powers and be transforming to an alien. That's gross.

Our eyes see things through the reflection of light from a light source towards objects. This technology which I'd like to name as 𝘔𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦 blocks the light's reflection omni-directionally from all forms of light sources and sends a different set of reflection to all beholder; be it a living or non-living thing. Cool thing about this was I get to choose the people who could see the real me. It's just like social media blocking principle but in person.

"Okay, here goes nothing."

I went out of my land to go to the national heroes' burial grounds. It's a few kilometers away so I took a regular bus ride.

"Sir, we don't accept cash." Said the Bus AI as I was sitting on the the window side.

"Oh, since when?" with an innocent face.

People stared at me. Some even chuckled softly.

"Sir, it's been this way for about three years already. Are you new in the Philippines?" An old lady kindly interrupted.

"Oh! Hehe Yeah, I'm sorry. Quite new actually." I awkwardly smiled. I can't pay online, they'll know who I am. I forgot this part. A disadvantage of having underground private roads and cars.

"Sir, apologies but you need to step off the bus. You need a passenger card to ride. It's available--" The AI said.

"Wait! I'll pay for him." A familiar voice stepped in.

She tapped on her passenger card on the payment sensor. It beeped. I'm saved.

"Thank you for your payment, Ms. Ariel Mae B. Deleon." The AI confirmed the payment.

"What are you doing here, Joe?"

Ariel asked.

What in the world is happenning? How did she--

"Cassandraaaaaa!?" I yelled softly.

"What did I do?" She sarcastically replied.

"Are you okay? You look pale and why is everyone acting weird?" Ariel said.

"No, it's just-- thank you by the way and it's a long story. I'll tell you next time." And I gave her my cash but she refused.

"Where are you headed? You're supposed to be famous why are they--"

"Shh! Keep your voice down."

"Alright, alright, relax."

A couple of minutes of silence and I arrived at my destination.

"Okay, this is me. Thanks for the save. I appreciate it. Gotta go."

And I immediately got off the bus.

"Cassandra! What was that all about!? I said block everyone except people--"

"you know." Cassandra completed it.

So it was my fault all along.

"Oh, my bad. Anyway block--"

"Block who?" Ariel popped out of nowhere and it scared the shit out of me.

"What are you doing here??"

"Long story, tell ya later." Great. Even karma is fast nowadays.

"Are you following me??" I asked.

"Why would I do that?" Her brows raised as she continued to walk behind me.

I stopped at a flower shop near the cemetery.

"My dad's buried here, too."

She said as she picked a pot of flowers.

"My dad died in the apocalypse evacuating civilians in bunkers. His remains aren't really literally buried here. He's one of the millions who went missing. Good thing he's still recognized and a tombstone was assigned for him here." She continued.

"Oh, I see." I felt bad for her.

I picked one flower pot too.

"Oh, thanks. For Leor-ra??"

"Leonna" I corrected her.

A few steps to the entrance and we arrived. There were quite a number of people but the line was pretty straight. Everything's in order. Again, she paid for my entry. For starters, cemeteries in this age isn't just wide plains of grass and standing tombstones. Due to the apocalypse, the Earth's composition changed and almost 10% of the land collapsed or burried in ice. To make of its loss, advanced urban planning happened. Since the world had gone through some kind of a reset. It was decided that the poor and the middle classes shall live in high rise apartments and condominiums. Owning a land became far more difficult and expensive than owning an airplane. Because of this arrangement, public lands like cemeteries were built in levels. The national heroes' burial grounds consisted of 6 levels vertically. You can move in different levels via elevators using quantum locking technology.

"I'm here. My dad's just here on the first floor. Her's on top, right?" The world really knew a lot about me.

"Yeah. Thanks for the save, Ariel." And I stepped in to the elevator.

She looked at me as the elevator rose and waved goodbye.

I nodded and I look away. As the elevator rose from floor to floor, I was worried. I was always worried visiting Leonna's grave. After all these years, I still carry the burden of what happened that day. I could've saved her if I weren't an asshole. I could've if I was just in the right mind and remembered our dinner date.

"Sixth floor" the AI notified me. The sixth floor is where the heroes who had the greatest impact in the apocalypse were buried.

Guilt filled my steps towards her grave. The feeling of remorse and regret slowly creeped back to me as her name in her tombstone became vividly clearer in each step I took.

Each year, the flowers on her grave became lesser and lesser. People had forgotten her. But each year, there was always three white roses on her grave everytime I arrive. I don't know from whom it came from but I am thankful there's still someone who remembers her.

I stood there in front of the grasses on her grave. Her engraved photo in a transparent glass. Her innocent smile brought me shivers. I can't even say a word but my heart's full but nothing came out of my mouth. I'm convinced I didn't have the right to say anything and I hated myself for it.

I said a prayer, left the blue hyacinths on her grave, and left.

[𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚎𝚍]