The Child of d'Dahjlonica

Silence

Silence.

Nothing but silence.

But that is how it's been on Yore for exactly 1000 years.

Every human that walks, crawls, or soars over its surface, does not speak.

No one ever says a word.

Well, almost never.

Centuries ago, there was such a thing as "speech."

Any human, free of will, was allowed to say whatever they wished, however they wished.

They could even say the same thing twice, or as many times as they wanted.

The same people were even allowed to put their words next to musical notes, creating something called, "music," which was pleasing to the ear and caused people to move in strange ways.

But then the Change came.

The ruling nations of Yore decided that "speech" was dangerous. It caused people to fight and kill over little sounds emitted from their throats. They decided the world was much better without "words" and "language."

Of course, the world wouldn't be without communication, they assured the people. "Speech," would just be excluded from the equation, no longer a variable.

Nobody agreed. But they didn't have to.

Using a unique algorithm, the nations released a sound wave across Yore, which weakened every human's vocal chords so that they couldn't make a sound.

But of course, even non-existent voices cannot be suppressed forever.

One day a year, every human finds enough strength to utter one word.

Just one.

The word can be any length, but must be uttered with a single breath.

And then, you're silent again.

But don't worry.

The people of Yore did not live without hope.

One scientist, known to the world as Nic Sele, created a back door within the 'speech algorithm.'

A way to shut the system down from the inside.

All it would take was a key-word. A word, which if uttered, would reverse the sound wave's damage, releasing every human from their in-voluntary shackles.

After that, there would be no way to re-make the sound wave, for every scientist who worked on the project was executed after the nations found out about the back door.

They did not know it was Nic. They only found out after he was killed.

He didn't even have the strength to say that one word. His year was not yet up.

But he let the masses know there was a way out, bleak though it may be. You cannot kill a man without drawing attention.

The word got out.

And every human on earth was thankful to him, though none could say it out-loud.

Now, you would think with ten-billion people on the planet, the key-word would be uttered in no-time.

There are, of course, only so many words to go around.

But you are not thinking of repetitive phrases, variations, or languages. Even nonsense.

What about selfishness and pride? Why should you choose to utter a word that might not even matter in the broad scheme of things?

Over the years, the people of Yore slowly lost hope.