Bringing Law and Colour

A lot of people in your world take colour for granted. We overlook it in our daily lives. We just walk by and forget. But not here. Here, colour is everything—our hopes, our dreams, our pleas. Because we live in a world where almost no one has seen colour. That’s right, you heard me. None of us know where it went. Nobody was sure if it would come back or not. But because of the loss of colour, we have split into two extremely uneven groups. I belong to the new one and I don’t like it either. Not one little bit.

I wake up and go to the bathroom at the same time as usual. Then I go to the workplace, same as usual. After doing the same work as usual – which never got easier and never got harder – for 3 hours, I have lunch – the same cheese sandwich and apple as usual. No different breads. No drink to go with it and since we live in a colourless world, no differently coloured apples. Everyone else had a cheese sandwich and an apple too. And I mean everyone. Person 1 did, Person 2 did, and all the Persons did. After another 3 hours of work, I go to the living place and look up at the sign "New World Clan". I have soup for dinner, as usual. And as for bed, well I close my eyes at 9:00 as usual.

Yes, this is how every day went. Yesterday was so similar to tomorrow that it didn't feel worth telling them apart. And I seemed to do the same thing every day. No good days, no bad days, just days counting by. I was sick of it. I was tired of it. I felt like bit by bit, my life was pouring away. And it just made me want to cry. It seemed as though when our world lost colour, we lost ours. Is there another way, you ask? Well yes, but it’s too risky. Let me explain.

The New World Clan originated when the colour was drained, along with the Reform Cult. It was focused that in order to match the lack of colour, there would also be a lack of individuality. They had the most members, probably because they were the ones willing to use violent methods to get people to join them. The Reform Clan were against this belief. They thought that everyone should still have an identity, like they did before. And some even thought the colour could come back.

But then, I experienced something I couldn't have imagined. Today was different. Usually, I would never have enough courage to ask for a promotion. But today, I stepped up and did it. I did the impossible – doing something unusual. And it felt wonderful. It was as if I finally mattered and had a purpose. In that moment, I wondered why I had been hesitating for years and years. In that moment, I realised I’d been hiding from destiny.

I didn't get a promotion sadly. But that day, I realised I was letting them get away with my life. I needed to get it back. So that day, after 9:00 when everyone closed their eyes, I ran away. I found the Reform Cult and joined them. I knew I was taking a huge risk. But I didn't care. The cult welcomed me with open arms. They expressed how glad they were that I was joining. They said I should get to know the cult a bit. And they told me to be careful.

My days started to feel different. I had a name; it was Olivia. I had nice lunches. Everyone woke up at different times. There were people who got up super early and people who slept in a bit. I had good days. I had not so well days, particularly when the New World Clan attacked us. I didn’t mind the bad days. They just made the good days seem better. I had chosen to be one of the members who tried to get the colour back. Day after day, I searched in the library, to see for anything of use.

And after years, I found something that could help. It was a book. It had the title “The Science of Colour”. The thick cover seemed to be fluffy at first, but I soon realised it was merely a thick blanket of dust. The cover might have been light blue if it wasn’t, well, colourless. I realised that this seemingly ordinary and largely overlooked book might have the answers we’ve been questing for.

I turned the pages, absorbing the knowledge. I read how light reflected off objects and how our eyes perceived colours. Once I read the book through, I was particularly interested in the eyes. I found a record of vaccines taken. After long and careful examination, I realized that one of the life-saving medications of the past had a side effect; they also made the descendents, who just happened to be us, colour-blind. I wrote a quick report on my discoveries and sent it to my associate, Georgia.

We had no idea where we were going to find the cure for this achromatopsia pandemic, or even where we could find it, but we did know one thing; we were getting closer and closer to our goal. This proved that while we were moving slower than a sloth, we were still moving forward in our journey to help everyone overcome what had befallen us, long and twisted as the path may be.

We may not have the cure yet, and fun fact, you don’t either. But I’m sure we will both find what we need for you to help out the people who do have colour blindness, and for us to bring colour back to our world. And something is for sure; if just a few of us make the contribution, eventually we may be victorious. We would be so entirely grateful if you gave us a helping hand.