Deep within the Andromeda galaxy located in the Virgo Supercluster, twin planets orbiting binary stars embarked on another consecutive military campaign that marked an indefinite year of intergalactic conflict.
To the untrained eye, these planets were identical in size, location and topography except for one key aspect: the slight reddish tinge of one and contrasting blue color of the other.
To be born a Blue is synonymous with forsaking everything the Reds represent, blindly rejecting their culture and eagerly awaiting the draft come their eighteenth year when they could finally use violence to ease their thirst for Red blood. To be a Red is ironically similar, obedience and loyalty to the government was taught at a young age. Fed by propaganda and false information, the Reds raised generation after generation of fiercely devoted drones who knew no more about the war they were fighting than the other side. These circumstances bred intolerance and ignorance. No one knew anything about when the war started, who were the ones pulling the strings or even what they were fighting for, only that they mustn’t question it.

It was how it had always been, and always will be.

Banned texts written by rebels in primitive times suggest the planets had once been one, providing a reason for their similar nature. Their difference in color only varied because of their distance from the central binary stars. These texts were long forgotten, and never made waves in either society. The Reds and Blues were blissfully ignorant in their hatred of each other.
~

Remy was by all means an ordinary but reasonably promising young Red. He had passed his tests of allegiance with above average marks, could recite the ever popular 50 Reasons Why Reds Dominate Blues from start to finish, was a huge fan of the rebellious Red Renegade series, and like many young men and women eagerly awaited news of his application the top Red Military Academy. Most of his acquaintances knew him as a fiercely loyal Red, incapable of betrayal, although that was hardly out of the ordinary.
He was visiting his mother as a courtesy call before she was terminated on her scheduled death day. He had been as close with her as any mother and child could manage in Red society. Bonds within families were discouraged, a government agency ran Red Allegiance Schools and were responsible for the education and rearing of all Red children. Remy’s mother lived in the southern hemisphere of Red. She was awarded the ideal place of retirement because of her exceptionally high allegiance scores through her service as a respectable official.

Remy knocked on the deep red door and his mother, with strong features but a feeble stature appeared.
“Remington, I am so pleased to see you. Glory be to red.”
“Glory be to red.” He replied with the customary greeting.
“Come in come in we have much to discuss, I don’t have a lot of time.”
Remy was confused, this did not follow standard procedure for the farewell meeting outlined in A Dummy’s Guide to Red Allegiance: Protocol in Traditions. Nevertheless, he trusted his mother and followed her inside.
He headed toward the sitting room, where cameras had been embedded to record their last meeting for his future reference, to help ease the grief that comes with the termination ceremony.
“No Remy, not there today, come follow me to the kitchen where we’ll be alone.” His mother said breaking protocol.
“I-I” Remy was at a loss for words, for the first time in his life they weren’t carefully orchestrated for him. But oddly enough, the trust had in his mother compelled him to follow her into the secluded kitchen.
“I am here today Remy, not just to say goodbye. But, to divulge a secret I should have told you long ago. Sit, I’m running out of time”
Remy sat perplexed, secrets were never kept, it was a sign of disobedience and implied disloyalty the the Red Allegiance, nothing was to be kept from uniting the Reds in complete conformity.
“Remy, when I was your age I enrolled to become an astronaut in the military like yourself. I was drafted into the war on the proxy planet Cerebrus to fight the Blues. My ship, the Andromedous, sent me out in a fighter jet, where my objective was to find the location of the Blue ground troops then report back my findings. Except, nothing went as planned, my jet malfunctioned and crashed not too far off from the Blue camp and I was left stranded. Protocol had taught me that I was to take my own life before compromising my allegiance to the Reds by seeking refuge with the Blues. But after days without taking my RedPills™, my thought process was starting to change.”
She paused to gesture towards the pills required by every Red to take once a day.
“I thought I was going mad, even though I knew it was the highest form of treason imaginable. I snuck into the Blue’s base, stole a uniform and attempted to conform with them in order to live another day.”
She said, sounding like she had practiced and was reciting the speech from memory. His mother searched his face.
Remy looked dumbfounded, everywhere warnings flashed in his brain, bright red, compelling him to prove his allegiance by disposing of his mother. They were right, she was contaminated, she had betrayed all of Redkind.
But something stopped him, caused him to continue listening. He couldn’t put a finger on the feeling, too alien to comprehend.
His mother breathlessly rushed to continue, searching his face, like she knew what he almost tried to do.
“I’ll be brief, I won't go into what the Blues are like, I’m not sure you can handle hearing that. I need to tell you this, your father was not an anonymous Red donor, but a Blue with pure indigo blood running through his veins. You, Remy are the first to be born half Red and half Blue, since the planets were one. You are the bridge that connect us to our Blue brethren. It’s your responsibility to end this senseless war and unite us once more.”
Remy stared expressionless, unable to move. He felt a strong urge to reach for the kitchen knife on the counter, end his treasonous existence and prove his loyalty to the Red Allegiance.
“Remy listen, you're going to stay here for a few sols, you will not take the red pills, you will think for yourself for the first time in your life. Tomorrow I will be gone, this is my last act on this planet.”
And with that she handcuffed his hands to the table and left him in silence.
The next few days were agonizing, not taking red pills were unheard of, and for good reason. They were taught in Red Allegiance school that it was the most painful experience a Red can go through even beyond the punishment for treason and the torture the Blue prisoners underwent.
However, after a few agonizing days spent hunched at his mother’s kitchen table. Remy started thinking and seeing in ways he never thought possible. His thoughts were no longer red, but teeming with different colors he couldn’t name, most distinct among them blue.  It all became clear to him, the Red Allegiance had been manufacturing blindly loyal subjects for millennia to fight a meaningless war. He knew then, why he had continued to listen to his mother despite disobeying protocol. His loyalty to her, his love that he hadn’t recognized under the influence of the pills, was unconditional. Buried beneath the propaganda and oaths of allegiance that clouded his head was the love he had for his mother, that proved to be more authentic and purely Red than anything that could ever be forced on him. Through the red haze that previously blinded him he saw it, unspeakably beautiful, his roots blending together: The color purple sprang from his soul.

He felt free.