As she grabbed something from beside the rack of gowns, I took in the layers. I would fit in among the clouds. Even with all their talk of treacherous times, the beauty of the gown delighted me. With both Starlings distracted, I twirled, and the dress floated around me. My eyes snagged on a faint glowing. Did the gown glow?
It wasn’t the gown. My left wrist glowed brightly, encircled in rich gold. The color imprinted on my skin. I brought my wrist up to my face, perplexed.
“I see your Procreation Agreement has been officially approved,” Rose announced, staring at the golden band.
Violet approached me, grabbing my wrist. “It is gold.” Her eyes narrowed in disbelief. I swore fear flickered there. “So an Illum has actually taken a Mate? A Minor Mate? I didn’t believe the Press.”
Rose gasped, eyes flying between Violet and my wrist. “I—I must get started on your first ball gown.” She thrust a small black box into Violet’s hands and hurried off.
“Seems odd,” Violet muttered as she opened the small box, extracting two dangling pearl earrings. “There’s trouble afoot and an Illum has chosen a Minor with a visual defect. It’s almost as if they need the Elite’s focus elsewhere.”
She fastened the pearls to my ears before handing me a small white bag. I stepped off the dais, my hands clammy.
“Welcome to their game, little Fledgling,” Violet whispered, steel determination upon her face. “There’s no way out now.”
Fear choked me as I followed Violet toward the hall. She held the door open for me, her hand capturing my chin, lifting it. “Chin up. The Elite will now watch your every breath.”
I stepped into the hall, my insides trembling. Violet slowly closed the door, her last words floating through the crack and down the hall. “You must fly now, Emeline. There is no other option.”
When I reached the podium, the attendant bowed. “Your Pod, Ms. Emeline. Fertile blessings.” The juxtaposition in his demeanor, when I entered in gray versus when I left in a dress, was unsettling, as if a garment and some paint on my face somehow made me worthy of respect. Was I not the exact same person?
I stopped on the threshold. “What’s your name?” I asked, turning toward him.
The man’s eyes darted around the room. “My name?”
“Yes, your name. You said last time that reducing someone to a set of numbers was barbaric and disrespectful. Right?”
He wrung his hands, eyes locked on my glowing wrist. “My name is Harold.”
“Thank you, Harold.”
Harold held the door open as he sputtered, “I don’t want any trouble.”
“What?”
“If I offended you in some way, or they’re asking questions. I just do my job, Ms. Emeline. I am loyal to the Illum.” His fear was poignant.
“I just wanted to thank you, Harold. That’s all.”
Harold’s face grew pale. Beads of sweat peppered his clammy complexion as he released the door. “Good day, Ms. Emeline.” He strode over to his desk, unwilling to look my way.
Everyone beneath the Elite had fear. It was as much a part of our genetic makeup as our defects. And we had reason to be afraid.
I knew what happened when a Minor Defect attempted to change their fate. When they refused to conform and follow the Illum’s protocol.
Alice. Together, we had dreamed. Crafted elaborate ideas for life after the Academy, spun stories of the lost history of those bygone humans. Alone in the dark, everyone else asleep, we had built something that went against everything we were taught. The Illum’s lessons cited us against each other. It wasn’t enough for the Illum to forbid socializing. Urging us to outperform the Minors around us, resulting in fulfilling our use for the Greater Good. Warping any idea of camaraderie among Minors.
Over the years, Alice grew angrier and more outspoken, until one night she was called into the headmaster’s office. I waited and waited for her to return, but she never did, and no one bothered to tell me where she’d gone. No one told me why my friend had seemingly disappeared. Until a lecture a moon later, the hologram floating in the center of the large room, the seat next to me empty.
As we continue the most vital portion of your education, it is crucial to the Illum’s success, and all human life, that we preserve this way of life. The Illum have always cherished the education of all offspring, Minor and Elite alike. The Illum view the proper care of these formative years as essential to our peace while pruning rotten genes that risk diseasing everything. Distractions from the Greater Good threaten our progress and peace. Fail to adhere to the rules of your status and risk elimination.
For the longest time I refused to accept it. That a force like Alice could just be eliminated. Even now I didn’t fully accept it. I liked to believe she had found that place where she was free. I just wish she had taken me with her.
My thoughts carried me through the soaring buildings until the Pod slowed next to a cylindrical glass building. Thin strips of metal ran up the sides, connecting the glass panes and meeting at the domed top. A large sphere sat precariously on top of the dome. It seemed as if one strong wind might send the sphere soaring from its perch and hurtling to the ground below.
The Pod took me straight to the sphere of doom.
As the Pod stopped and the doors opened, I attempted to fluff my dress the way Rose had. There was no atrium this time, just a long transparent bridge leading to a suspended platform. I stood, dumbstruck. A gleaming golden disc hovered in the center of the sphere, a podium upon it, the bridge tethering it to the entrance. A Defect in dark gray waited.
