I’ll never forget the face Charlie bore right before death. Suspended in the air for that brief second, the look of pure shock will be painted across the back of my eyelids forever. Hair flying up past blue eyes, arms reaching out, mouth open in a silent scream and then my shoulder being torn out of its socket and an entire body hanging over that dark black void kept up only by that one arm. The pain but my reluctance to close my eyes because I knew. I knew this would be the last time I’d ever see Charlie.
“Miss Emberlyn?” My head snaps up, and the world blurs as it comes back into focus. A women dressed in silver stands waiting patiently at the other side of the iridescent room. I get up, brushing my white assignment day dress down.
”I’m right here.” The woman tilts her head in a small nod, her hands clasped in front of her just in front of her stomach.
”Follow me.” I grit my teeth, my finger nails press into my palms and I can feel them making little dents and I see Charlie falling the hospital and-
“Are you coming, Miss?” I shake my head trying to get the image out of my head, then I nod. “Is that a yes or a no?” I nod again.
“Yes. It’s a yes. I’m sorry. I’m just a little...” I trail off, and she nods, unsmiling. She turns and starts walking. I follow, scowling. I’d guess she’s a few years older than me intitally, but considering that one of the main personality determiners last year for silvers was stoic, I’d probably say she’s only 21, 22 at the most. That’s a big part of the assignments. Personality, that is. Every year, it’s determined by whoever it is that makes the tests which personality trait the different classes need to remain balanced and orderly. They keep the determiners under strict lock down until the year ends to prevent cheating, and though it isn’t the best system ever, it’s worked pretty well for the last few hundred years, so I’m not exactly actively protesting or anything. After a long walk down a sterile white hallway, we come to a circular sliding door. It’s opening starts a foot off the ground for some reason, but when it opens I have no problem getting through it.
The woman doesn’t follow, but rather presses a button on the wall and starts walking away. I pause, then the door violently slides closed with a loud thump and my eyes widen. Panic takes hold and one of my hands shake. The other is in my hair over my head to let the air into my lungs easier. I take a deep breath. When I’m calm, I open my eyes and my arms go limp. I cautiously turn in a circle. I’m in a completely white room. It’s small, I can touch both sides at the same time if I arrest him my arms out wide, and it’s got circular walls. No edges. I can’t even remember where the door was anymore and I sure as hell cant tell the difference between the door and the wall.
I run my hands along the walls looking for a break in the smooth white plastic. Nothing. After a few minutes of looking I finally spot a small button near my left foot. I could have sworn that wasn’t there two seconds ago, but whatever. I step on it slowly and part of the wall slides away revealing a black tunnel. I reach out, but it’s just glass. The glass lights up and images start crawling across the screen. It’s me. Sera. My mother and siblings father and everyone I've ever known. The glass emits a bright white light and I shield my eyes.
"Scan complete." What? I reach my arm out and cling to the wall, temporarily blinded. Soon the stars come and then I can see again. My name and information is sprawled across the screen. Emberlyn Creiny; Bronze, 20 years of age and the information goes on. After I read it the words yes and no pops up in the air in front of me. "Please confirm information. Please confirm information." I stumble back, starting. I look around, where is that voice coming from? "Please confirm information." The voice repeats. I jump, trying to get a better gauge on if the voice is coming from above or below, but I can't quite tell. It sounds almost as if it's coming from my head, but that's not possible. "Please confirm information."
"Oh shut up." I grit my teeth, swiping at the yes button.
"Information confirmed. Commencing IQ test."
”IQ test!? Excuse me?” I fume. Nobody ever mentioned an IQ test! I quiet, scowling. The screen displays twenty something words.
”Locate the word that does not belong.” I snort, reading. Hat, shoe, scarf, tennis- I click tennis. The words warp, changing into colored text. “Locate each word that is not the color it displays.”
“Huh? Yellow is yellow, blue is blue, green is g-purple no wait okay I get it.” I nod, thinking out loud. I click as many of them as I can that fit the theme as fast as I can. This progresses and the questions get harder and harder until finally the screen goes white again and the voice rings though the small chamber.
”IQ test complete.”
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