by S. L. Baum
“I think Mr. Stone might already be crazy,” I laughed.
The bell rang, signaling the end of our lunch. It was time to go to the medical center. Another vial of blood was needed… another test had to be taken, another duty to perform.
Chapter Five
Answers and Questions
The time had come for the conclusion of Incorporation. All things came to an end at some point, didn’t they? Year One had somehow morphed into Year Twelve… twelve years of Training Tech; it was hard to believe it was over. Incorporation seemed to pass by so fast. It was like one of Stone’s bubbles – blow up one cheek, move the air to the other, and then blow out the breath. The six months had simply blown by. But it wasn’t really that long of a time frame. It amounted to a twenty-fourth of my time at school. Such a tiny fraction, but it held so many new experiences, new memories, and new friends that I would cherish forever.
Get up, Bluebell… Get up, Bluebell… Get up, Bluebell! The room alarm beeped at me.
Lily groaned in the bunk below mine.
“It’s the last day,” I whispered.
“I almost can’t believe it,” Lily responded, sounding surprisingly awake.
“I can’t believe you aren’t hiding under the covers trying to squeeze in those last five minutes of sleep.”
“I wasn’t able to get much sleep. I think I got maybe three hours the whole night.”
“I heard you tossing around all over that bunk.”
Lily sighed. “It’s over. I mean, tomorrow we’ll be waking up in a bed, in a room, in our parents’ house.”
I absorbed her statement. It was almost too much to think about. Living with my father and Aspen… it was hard to imagine. I leaned over the edge of my bed and stared at her. She was wide-awake, no covers pulled over her head. “Lily, what am I going to do without you?”
She pulled my hair and smiled. “I’m going to miss you too, Blue. We’re going to be friends forever, silly. I’m still going to be there. Maybe not in your bedroom, but I’ll always be just a video chat away. And our parents don’t live that far from each other. Mother told me at the last Visitation Day that I could walk to your house in under ten minutes. That’s not too far at all.”
I rolled back onto the bed and stared at the ceiling. “But Aspen…”
“It’ll be fine, Blue. It’ll be fun. It’ll be an adventure. Now get up, get ready, and let’s get going. I can’t wait to see if I ended up in Armory.”
“You are entirely too enthusiastic. It’s freaking me out a little bit,” I grumbled, sat up, and then climbed down the ladder from the top bunk. I grabbed her shoulders once I was standing next to her. “I think you’ve forgotten about the whole branding thing.”
“No. I haven’t. But we know what to expect now, don’t we? It’ll be fine.”
“It’ll be fine,” I mimicked her voice.
Lily shook her head at me. “I’m not sure if I like grumpy Blue.”
“I’m not sure if I like… Ugh, I’m going to the bathroom.” I turned and opened the door to our room.
Our Guardian was two doors down; performing her morning duties. “Time to wake up, girls,” she trilled into the other room. “It’s the last day of Incorporation.”
I hurried down the hall, avoiding her gaze.
End of Incorporation: Final Brand: Day of Departure – scrolled along the wall calendar. The words were too brilliant in the dimly lit hall.
As soon as I reached the bathroom, the lights came up to their full brightness. I put my hands up over my eyes, trying to block out the glow. I knew what was ahead of me, breakfast and then branding. I wasn’t ready.
***
Instead of being fifth in a line of twenty girls, I was last in a line of thirty-seven Incorporated students. One by one, we had lined up at the medical center… the same machines were set up in the white room. The same medical assistants were standing at each machine. The same fear grew in the pit of my stomach.
I watched Holly, who was first in line again, go through the paces… put your arm in here - count to ten - take your arm out - go to the next machine. The only thing that differed from the first time was that when Holly removed her hand from the last machine it was neatly wrapped in a white bandage. Holly looked down at her arm in amazement. I saw her say something to the medical assistant, though I couldn’t hear what words were exchanged. The assistant shook her head and pointed, motioning for Holly to vacate the room. Holly lowered her arm, her shoulders slumped, and she walked away from the last machine; disappointment was written all over her face.
It seemed that we were not allowed to see the results of our Citizen Brand just yet.
“Did you see that?” I asked Stone, who stood in front of me.
I heard him expel a breath. “We aren’t allowed to know yet?”
“Apparently not,” Lily whispered from in front of him.
Fisher swung his head around and grabbed Lily’s hand. “It’s not a big deal,” he smiled at her. “We’ll know by the end of the day.”
“I guess you are right.” She smiled back at him and gave his hand a squeeze.
I watched their exchange with my own little smile. I wondered if there was something brewing between my old friend and my new one. The looks on their faces seemed more intense than usual, more intimate than I’d seen before.
I pushed the thought away. I was probably just imagining something that wasn’t there; letting my head create stories. Lily was right. I should be assigned a position in the Creative Storytelling field. Nothing definite had come my way. Everyone seemed to have at least been told that they showed an aptitude in this field or that… even Stone had been told that he showed an aptitude for the Creative Arts. I kept getting inconclusive results.
The line seemed to move more rapidly than I remembered. Maybe it was because we all knew what we were doing the second time around, and we weren’t given even a moment to marvel at our new brand. We all pulsed forward with steady even steps. Within an hour, I was gripping the white bandage that encircled my left wrist, wondering what had been stamped into the flesh underneath it, and walking out of the medical center for the very last time.
“I’m dying to know what is under here.” Lily poked at the edged of the white tape.
Rosemary waved her white-bandaged arm and declared that it didn’t matter. “My grandfather left me enough money that the results will not affect my future at all. I can secure a good Marriage Contract and adopt a baby if I need to. This brand means nothing,” she declared.
“You mean buy a husband and a baby,” Coral smirked.
I gasped. I’d never heard Coral make a nasty remark to Rosemary, well not where Rosemary could hear it. She usually made her nasty remarks about everyone behind their backs. Rosemary had always stood by Coral’s side. Coral, it seemed, didn’t hold loyalty to anyone.
“You’d better hope there isn’t an X under there,” Rosemary hissed, “because you don’t have enough money to buy them for yourself.”
“You couldn’t pay me enough,” Stone quietly whispered.
I turned my head and put my hand over my mouth. I didn’t like Coral, but I also didn’t want to insert myself into a fight between her and Rosemary.
Coral scowled and then stomped toward the Main hall, where we were expected to listen to yet another lecture about our responsibilities as Citizens of Concord.
During the months of Incorporation, I’d been amazed to learn how very many and different ways it was crucial to concur with Concord. We were expected to have pleasing hair, dress in an agreeable manner, keep savory company, secure a mutually beneficial Marital Contract, be a willing team member in our chosen profession, help our fellow Citizens coexist in harmony… the list seemed to be endless. But I’d heard it all before; they’d begun drilling it into our heads the very first day we entered Training Tech. It was what we’d been taught, how we’d been raised. It seemed silly that the Trainers felt the need to repeat it over and over and over again. It’s not as if there were other optio
ns.
It was quite obvious that we must conduct ourselves in a way that would maintain harmony. Chaos was an unacceptable option – especially for me. I couldn’t stand the thought of it.
“Stop poking at it, Lily,” I said before I grabbed her right hand and swung it back and forth.
Fisher reached out for her left hand. “We’ll find out in just a little while, won’t we?” he said softly.
Stone reached for my other hand, and we made a human chain of four: the Fearsome Foursome. “Let’s go, Citizens. On to the lecture, and then the big unveiling. All in good time,” he smiled. “I personally can’t wait to hear what career the big brains have decided I would excel at. As long as it isn’t a tedious desk job. Say it with me, friends, no desk, no desk, no desk,” he slowly chanted.
I laughed and joined in, “No desk, no desk…”
Fisher shook his head. Lily smiled. “No desk, no desk,” they chorused.
“Onward!” Stone shouted, pointing toward the entrance to the hall.
We marched forward.
“I still want to know what is under this bandage,” Lily sighed.
“We all do,” Holly patted her on the shoulder, from behind.
Four hours, two films, one lecture, and a lunchtime later, we found ourselves sitting in the main hall once again. Alpha stood at the podium, demanding our undivided attention. Beta stood just behind her. Our parents were gathered there as well. They sat in the back, as anxious as we were to hear the results.
“Young Citizens, the time has come. And to be completely honest, I am in as much suspense as you all are. Dr. Odessa will remove your bandage then I will record your Citizen brand…”
Beta stepped forward. “The results of all of your tests, along with our personal recommendations, have been recorded. By a series of algorithms, a career path has been selected that would best fit each of you. Many years ago it was decided that the test results would be housed in our data systems until this very moment so we could all share in the experience together. But change is sometimes necessary. You are the first class of students who will not be receiving your career assignments today.”
Stone whispered in my ear. “My father told me that when he was at the Career Education Center, years ago, there was a scandal over here. Somebody accused somebody of altering the results. They used to know a few weeks before, you see, and somebody supposedly paid somebody something to find out.”
“Stone, that’s crazy. You’re talking in circles,” I whispered back.
“Listen. It happened, but was kept very quiet. It’s why now they don’t know anything until we do. So somebody with money to spare doesn’t try to get their precious offspring a better career, or a different Brand than they really deserve. Why else would neither Beta nor Alpha know already? And now they’re delaying even more… maybe they are giving our families more time to come up with a bribe or two…”
A Guardian shushed us from the aisle. Stone snapped his head forward.
Why would someone want to change his or her results? I wondered. I turned my head to look at the Guardian who was standing there. She wore the standard non-descript uniform of a Guardian: a long navy skirt, a white button down shirt, and a lightweight navy cardigan sweater. Her hair was twisted into a braided knot at the back of her head. It was the same hairstyle that all of the female Guardians wore.
I glanced around the room and found the other female Guardian, standing watch over us. I stared at the knot at the back of her head. It was relatively similar in size and shape to the one of the Guardian standing close to me. I wondered if they were given classes on proper hair styling when they entered their Guardian training. The sparse amount of make-up that they both wore was identical. Their skin color wasn’t exactly the same, so the make-up shades varied just a bit. But unless someone stared at them, like I was doing, then it would look completely uniform.
The shoes on their feet were sturdy and black. A one-inch, thick, sensible heal with a strap across the top; the only adornment was a simple gold button on the outer side of the strap. They wore no jewelry, save for the whistle and key, worn on a chain around their necks. They were allowed no sense of personal style. I hoped that they were able to express themselves in some way whenever they were given a day of rest.
I thought about what Stone said again, and suddenly I saw it. I didn’t want to become a Guardian. If there was an X under the white bandage on my left wrist, and if I’d come from a family without financial means or social and political influence, then it might have been decided that Guardian was the career for me. What would Aspen resort to, to make sure that a member of her great and influential family would not be in danger of becoming a servant of Training Tech… or a housemaid… or a medical assistant… or any other career that wasn’t glamorous enough for the descendant of a 1.15? Aspen would do just about anything to keep her status in society, even bribe a head Guardian or a medical officer to change test results.
“I’ll call the names in no particular order. They have been randomly selected from the data banks,” Alpha explained. “Come forward when you hear your name and we will all share in your providence. Concur with Concord.”
“Concur with Concord,” I repeated, along with the rest of the people in the room.
Holly was called first. I almost laughed out loud. Holly, first in line when she could make the choice… first in line when she had no control… She walked up to the podium with confident strides, the same way she attacked everything in life. Holly raised her arm, almost thrusting it into Dr. Odessa’s face, and smiled back to where her brother Ash sat.
Dr. Odessa cut away the bandage and dropped the wrappings in a white glossy trash bucket, which sat waiting by the white sensible shoes on her feet.
Holly looked down at her wrist and her smile widened. She looked back at Ash and mouthed, “I knew it.”
“Fertile,” Alpha called out.
Willow was called up next.
“Fertile,” Alpha smiled.
Then it was Clay… “Infertile,” Beta announced.
River was next. “Infertile.” Beta’s voice rang out.
Petunia – Fertile
Ridge – Fertile
Stone – Fertile
Coral – Infertile
Rosemary – Fertile
Ash – Infertile
Fisher – Fertile
Rosebud – Fertile
Violet – Infertile
Palm - Infertile
Petals – Infertile
Thorn - Fertile
Lily – Infertile
The names continued to be called, but I had stopped listening. I just stared at Lily’s face. She couldn’t hide her disappointment. She covered her wrist with her right hand and walked away from the podium. Her posture slumped, she no longer walked with the confident air she usually did, and her face was a mixture of disbelief and confusion.
Fisher stood waiting, just a few steps away. He grabbed her, when she neared him, and pulled her into an embrace. Lily rested her head on his shoulder. As she held onto him, a single tear escaped her eye before she closed them tight.
I wanted to go to my friend. I wanted to hug her as well and tell her that everything would be okay.
Her head came up from Fisher’s shoulder. She wiped the remains of the tear away. She straightened her form and stepped back. Fisher smiled at her. Lily smiled back. I saw her mouth move as she said the words, “It’s fine.”
Fisher nodded his head and reached up to squeeze her shoulder.
Lily looked over at me and gave me a small smile, but I could still see the sadness behind it.
I smiled back.
“And lastly… Bluebell,” I heard Alpha call out.
“Go on,” Lily mouthed and pushed her hands in the air like she was ushering me forward.
I left my seat and walked over to Dr. Odessa. I stood in front of her, not really wanting to know the outcome, not really wanting to know what mark had been branded into my arm earlier that day.
“Of course. Sorry,” I mumbled and then I lifted it up for her.
Dr. Odessa held onto my arm with her left hand and pushed the tip of a pair of scissors under the white bandage with her right hand. I closed my eyes as the cold metal came into contact with my wrist. I heard the crunch of the scissors as they cut away the gauze and felt the cool air as it hit my exposed skin. Wait for it, I told myself, don’t look.
The pause before Alpha spoke seemed to stretch out forever. I felt each beat of my heart. I could hear the other students in the room as they shifted their weight. I heard them whispering to each other. But I did not want to open my eyes. I heard Dr. Odessa suck in a breath. I heard Alpha make that clicking sound with her mouth that she did sometimes when she was thinking.
“Lush,” Alpha called out. “Our Bluebell is LUSH!”
Lush? I repeated the word in my head.
I opened my eyes. Dr. Odessa simply turned from me to drop my bandage in the bin at her feet. Alpha was looking at me with pride. I glanced over at Beta, who raised his eyebrows and then gave me a nod. I looked over to Lily and she just stared at me; her mouth had fallen open.
Finally, I looked down at my wrist.
Instead of an X, to mark infertility, or an O, to mark possible fertility, a series of five overlapping circles had been marked into my flesh. The pattern made a flower of sorts, with a star in the middle. I’d never seen anything like it. We’d never been taught anything about it.
I traced the little flower with my right index finger. “What does it mean?” I asked, letting the point of my finger rest on the center of the star.
“That you will be lush with life,” Alpha stated.
“But what does that mean?” I whispered, too full of questions to think straight.
Chapter Six
LUSH
Of the twenty girls in my Incorporation class, ten were now marked with an X… and of the seventeen boys, there were seven also branded infertile. It was unusual for there to be such a large percentage of infertile new Citizens. But then, that wasn’t the only unusual thing about my Incorporation class.
