The two share an intimate moment and have sex. Rye in turn reveals to Obsidian that she can speak. Rye was a former teacher and loved reading, and feels a violent jealousy toward Obsidian upon realizing that Obsidian still knows how to read, but manages to repress it. With difficulty, having lost the ability to read and write and, therefore, to interpret the road map, Rye manages to make Obsidian understand that she wants to go towards Pasadena. However, she is reassured by the gestures of Obsidian, who makes her understand that he has no ill intentions, and she accepts his offer. Rye initially refuses for fear of the weapon and baffled by the uniform, knowing full well that the police have long been disbanded. "Obsidian", an armed man in an LAPD uniform who is named for his obsidian medallion, intervenes and restores order, and then invites Rye to get into his car. The bus stops and Rye is forced to get off as the violence escalates. A fight breaks out on board, triggered by two passengers for trivial reasons. Wracked by pain and loneliness, she decides to take a bus to Pasadena to join her brother, who is probably still alive. Valerie Rye lives in Los Angeles the disease has killed her parents, husband, sister, and children. People have also become prone to violence triggered by resentment of their own impairments and harbor jealousy towards the very few who are still able to speak and who, therefore, hide this ability. Communication is therefore compromised and the attempt to express oneself with gestures or grunts generates misunderstandings and conflicts. The world has been decimated by a mysterious pandemic: the survivors have reported intellectual deficits and can no longer speak, understand words, or read. The story was subsequently collected in Butler's anthology Bloodchild and Other Stories and in the science fiction anthology Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse. It won Butler her first Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 1984. It was first published in Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine in 1983. "Speech Sounds" is a science fiction short story by American writer Octavia E. This article is about the science fiction short story.
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