I glance over at Pepper, her blue eyes starting to mist.
Her hands shake as she hesitantly picks up her wine glass. A small red drop
drips from her cup, bleeding into the white table cloth. Shifting my eyes back
to Mother, I lift my own glass and steadily take a sip. I will not show
weakness. I am not weak.
Mother stands with striking posture, her hair a tight red
bun, dress sleek and the color of wine. Her cheeks are flushed with passion as
she says, “Everyone dies eventually. Today you decide the risks you are willing
to take to honor our family. Don’t let fear make your choices.” She points at
the center of the dinner table. On cue the silver holographic boxes appear. My
mouth goes dry, but I don’t move towards my cup. My hands are shaking. Mother’s
blue eyes focus on me. “After dinner Pepper will go first.”
Teacher pats a napkin to his wet forehead and avoids my
gaze. He wears a crisp suit. His stress is painted in thick streaks across his
head, but his clear blue eyes reflect Pepper’s gentleness. Father sits,
silently typing on his Holo-page, a clear sheet of glass that projects
holographic images. His H-page starts to
buzz and chills slowly inch up my neck, causing my body to tremble. We don’t
know our parents’ real names. It’s
better we don’t, because they are traitors. That knowledge could get us killed.
Mother
glances at the screen blinking in Father’s hand and hurries out of the room to
answer the door. Her heels click above us as she pulls open the front door. I
can imagine her fake smile as she allows the Elite into our house. Father
signals us out of the room as the muffled voices above get loud. Quickly, we
move from the dining room to the hidden door behind the framed map of the old
world. As Teacher slides the large map away from door, I stare at the old map
and think about Pepper’s lecture on how the “Old World” map is really the “New
World” map and that we don’t have a world anymore. Teacher roughly drags me out
of my thoughts by pushing me through the doorway.
“What
do you think that was about?” I whisper to Pepper as we sit in our living
space.
“Inno,
be quiet,” Pepper whispers as she fiddles with the blue bow in her long blond
hair. She wears a short, fluffy blue dress that sets off her eyes.
“Did
you make that dress?” My own dress is black and plain, but Pepper never wears
the clothes given to us.
“Inno,
be quiet.” Her eyes avoid mine.
“I’m
tired of the silence.” I look at her expectantly. “Why aren’t you?”
She
laces her pale fingers through my dark fingers. “Because we are different. We
were born into a world that doesn’t want us and you want to be a part of it.”
“What
are you going to pick?”
Pepper
lets go of my hand, pulls a pencil from a hidden pocket, and starts to doodle
on the hem. “It doesn’t matter, because in the end, they will pick for me.”
Biting
the inside of my cheek, I snatch the pencil from her. Mother doesn’t allow
drawing, and Pepper knows it. Pepper picks at the couch cushion, and the
silence between us coils around my throat. I want to tell her we’re not
different and that she does have a choice, but that would be a lie.
The
law forbids children to know their parents because we are all supposed to be
children of our Parent Country. A typical child is bred and sent to an Academy.
They are groomed to be mindless creatures, the perfect picture of obedience. In
the real world there are no mothers and fathers, only daughters and sons of the
country.
Pepper’s
real mother and father were caught hording their four children, hiding at the
edge of our world in an abandoned Academy. Her mother was put in the breeding
facilities and her father escaped. All the children had their memories wiped,
but Pepper was immune to the procedure. She was sent to my mother for an
experiment on the brain and Mother became so fascinated she fabricated Pepper’s
death and brought her here.
Mother located Pepper’s father, who we now call Teacher, and made a deal. In
exchange for his and Pepper’s lives he was to teach us how to survive when we
came of age. It seems too simple, but I can imagine how difficult it was
for Mother to get a hold of Teacher and put her trust in an alleged criminal. A
crime she committed when she chose to keep me.
“Inno?” Pepper avoids my eyes and focuses intensely on
her hem. “What will you choose?”
“I… I want…” Carefully I touch my hands to my cheek,
rubbing the tear-shaped mole beneath my eye. “Something worth the risk.”
Her smile is shaded beneath dull eyes. “We will always be
different, won’t we?”
“Different is a good thing,” I attempt to reassure her.
Pepper shakes her head, causing her hair to brush against
her shoulders. “Being different has never been good. Inno, when we get out
there… when we are on our own, do not draw attention to yourself.”
“Girls.” We both look up. “It is time.”
I grab Pepper’s hand and pull her up alongside me. Her
wrist is fragile in my hand. I steal a glance at her frail frame and wonder
when she had become so pale.
As we enter the room, I take in the surroundings. The
chairs have been moved into a straight row, but the table still contains the
silver boxes. Teacher and Father sit in their chairs with straight backs, one
chair on each side of them. Mother stands next to the table, her hands tapping
silently on her wrist.
“We are out of time.” She glances at the silver boxes on
the table. “Dinner will have to wait.”
Pepper and I take our places next to our fathers. My father
doesn’t look at me as he clicks his H-page off and stares obediently at Mother,
he never looks at me. Teacher picks at the dirt beneath his cracked fingernails.
Mother hovers one hand over the three boxes, causing them
to slowly click open. The first box contains a wilted flower. “Life must be
balanced, and the science field gives us that opportunity. Unfortunately,
science has become destructive, and if you choose this field you must stop the
newest discovery from being implemented.”
“What discovery?” The words erupt from my mouth before I
can contain them.
Mother purses her thin lips and glares at Teacher. “Um…”
He nervously chokes on his words. “Inno, questions are forbidden during the
ceremony. Giving more information about a job could cause you to choose for the
wrong reasons.”
Mother nods in agreement. “Moving on.” she motions to the
second box that contains chains. “A strong country requires strong individuals.
The chains that have kept our society together now oppress us. If you take on
this task, you must do whatever it takes to break the chains and bring down the
government.”
“The cost is high,” Pepper mutters.
I shift my eyes to the third box that contains a bowing
dog. “For every strong and balanced job, there must be one willing to serve
those who make our world livable. In a
typical society, this task is for the lowest social status. However, it does
have its benefits. If you choose this task, you must become my eyes.” Mother
breathes in the air around her. “Pepper, stand and make your choice. Understand
that whatever you pick will become unavailable to Inno. After you leave in the
next seventy-two hours, you will no longer know us. Knowing us could get us all
killed. Do you understand?”
“Yes ma’am.” Pepper steps towards the table and reaches
her hand towards the dog. The dog immediately bites her finger drawing thick
oozing blood. Pepper doesn’t flinch as each drop of blood smears into the table
cloth like my short-lived wine tasting. My stomach growls from the lack of
dinner. Blinking back tears, Pepper turns to face us.
Standing up, I take her place in front of the table.
Mother places her hand on my back and smiles kindly. “What will you choose,
dear?” Her kindness is out of character and causes me to shiver slightly.
As
I stare at the wilted flower, an edge of curiosity causes me to bring my finger
towards it. I could be like mother, a
scientist. If I worked long enough I could live outside an Academy. This is my chance
to be as extravagant as Mother. No. My purpose for existing is to destroy the
Academy system. I pull my hand
towards the chains. Immediately they wrap around my wrists imprisoning me with
my decision. I attempt to pull away from them but they tighten and begin to cut
into my creamy, tan skin. Blood. Crimson specks slowly dibble down my wrists. I
swallow a scream before turning to face my audience. The holographic chains
disappear, but I can still feel their presence clinging to me as I sit down, the
blood and pain an evaporated memory.
