Dystopian Utopia

Chapter One

It was my day.

It was the day I would be chosen for a task assigned to me. It would be the last day I spend with my family. It would be the last day I would spend with green-purple eyes.

It was my Drafting Day.

Today, I would go to a short day of classes- a measly half hour. I then would go home, get dressed, and at six o'clock sharp, I was to enter the Drafting Room and find out my fate. The fate that was never in my hands. It was a fate controlled by the Order.

The Order was what controlled us all. To us Sector 3B kids, it was the Dynasty. The Dynasty was the Order, but it was called the Dynasty because the same bloodline ruled. The more Order/Dynasty blood you had, the better job you got.

My father had a small amount of Dynasty/Order blood, and he worked in the Order Center for the Order. He probably knew what my job was going to be, but he wouldn't reveal it. I applied for Nurse, Engineer, and Editor, but there was a small chance I would get any job I wanted, or any job related to it. Before the Drafting, a blood sample was taken. The Order says it's for an identification purpose, but nearly everyone knows what it's for. Finding a job and a spouse for you that matched for you. 

It was unfair, this system of Drafting and matching. No one is truly happy. No one will ever be happy. 

I wished for someone good to be matched up to me. Someone who won't drink or treat me terribly like some of the women you see in the propaganda they show us. Be good, or you'll end up like them.

My mother sat on the couch when I came down. Her blue eyes- the same blue eyes everyone has over Drafting age- looked up at me sadly. I was her only daughter and last child. I was the last child she had raised for fourteen years, just to be sent to a far away Sector. She would spend the rest of her years alone. 

I didn't want to be Drafted away. Everyone was sent away from their home sector. The chanced of getting into Sector 1 were 124 to 1, Sector 2 was 14 to 1, and Sector 4 was 3 to 1. I, personally, really wanted to get into Sector 1, where my brothers, Lark and Farren, where. After that, I would be placed in a Section A, B, C, or D. Even though I had a small chance to get into their Sections, being in the same Sector would have been comforting.

My mother brought bread to the kitchen table. She smeared it with my favorite raspberry jam and gave me a glass of water. I ate in silence and she hugged me when I went to school for the half hour final lecture.

The school was a large, shining building. Despite being the second to last Sector, we had a fairly well organized Section. Sector 4, as we heard, was terrible, and the useless people got assigned there. They were the ones who had no purpose to the Order but to populate.

That thought always made me shudder.

I sat down in the Lecture Room. In a few moments, we would hear how we have no control over our fate.

Ange Allieon sat down next to me. We were somewhat best friends- we didn't tell secrets or any of the girly things other Sector 3B kids did. We both didn't like attention and were simply friends for that reason.

Ange was against Drafting. It was the only thing she would speak up about. She said we should have rights. Every time she spoke up, she got a sharp slap on her right cheek and told she should be grateful for what she gets. She was normally sent home after a fight like this. My mother said she would be sent to 4 if she keeps it up to some drunk as a punishment and forced to live in the outside shacks.

"It's been nice knowing you, Merla," she told me.

"Ditto," I responded and sighed as Miss Urendia walked in for the final lecture. She was Drafted here from 1 as a single teacher.

"Today is a great day. Today is the day you will be Drafted," she started.

"Here we go," Ange whispered.

"On this day, your occupation for the rest of your life will be chosen. We take your choice into account as we choose it for you," Miss Urendia started her big speech on occupations and spouses.

"Kill me now," Ange snickered.

"Your occupation is based off of your skills related to the job, your choices, the various variables that affected your childhood, and how well this job will work with your spouse. You will become an apprentice to someone with this job or be submitted to a special school where the skills required for this job are taught to ensure the mastery of this job within a few years. You will then be fully ready for your job."

"This is a sick system," Ange added and I nodded.

"You are to be have at least one child or be pregnant with one by the age of twenty five to ensure steady population growth. At thirty, two are required unless there is a specific reason why you have not reached the correct number yet.. By the time you reach the age of forty, you are required to have the Order minimum of three, but no more than five children are allowed. Exceeding the maximum of children allowed will end in the child's death and severe punishment to the rest of the family."

"I hate the Order," Ange said in a disgusted tone.

"Remember to fulfill all of the Order's requirements. Treat your spouse correctly. Have at least 3 children. Do your job correctly. Not fulfilling these requirements is a direct statement of rebellion."

I hope so, Ange wrote down on a piece of paper after Miss Urednia sent a dirty look towards her.

We went over how we should act in cases of emergency, childcare, how important it is to support families, the Single option that is rarely allowed, and how to act at the Drafting. We were sent home and Ange invited me and my mother over to her house.

Ange's house is pretty. Since she has a little sister under the Drafting age, the house is more lively. Her father is also there. He cares a lot for Ange and little Ennie. Their home is the same as ours: a two story light brick home surrounded by a picket fence. Behind it was the brown wooden patio and a small garden.

"Would you like watermelon?" Ange asked and I nodded. We ate the watermelon and Ange's mother showed us how to do a watermelon facial after we finished eating. I soon had to go home to get ready for the Drafting. My mother got a pretty green dress for me.

"You get to keep the one outfit you wore to the Drafting," she said and gives me her pearl earrings.

"Thanks mom," I hugged her and we made our way to the Order Center. I saw Ange on her way to the Order Center and we hugged.

"This is probably the last time I'll see you," I told her.

"Remember me, then. I don't like being forgotten," she responded as we entered.

The kids getting Drafted were sent into a special hallway. There, a special laser made kids' eyes Drafting blue and a blood sample was taken again to verify their identity.

It was my turn to get the Drafting blue eyes. I stepped up on the platform and a special helmet was put on my head. A woman with a mask on smeared the special cream on my face, and in a measly 5 seconds, my eyes were Drafting blue. 

I then got a blood sample taken from my thumb. It seemed that the little scar on my thumb would never heal, but I knew it was the last day I would feel the little prick in my thumb.

I was finally ushered into the Drafting Room. Miss Urednia stood next to the Drafter, Holle Grinda. She's been Drafting Sector 3 kids for over twenty years.

"Ange Allieon, please step up." Holle Grinda said into the microphone. She took a letter into her hands with the script 'Ange Allieon- 3B' on it and opened it.

"Single, Sector 1C, Medical Scientist," she said, and I saw a small smile on Ange's lips. She was interested in becoming a Doctor or Nurse, and she didn't have to marry someone. She was lucky.

It was soon time for my name.

"Merla Evion," Holle said. I stepped up and the letter was opened.

"Married, Sector 2A, Architect," she smiled. I sucked in a breath.

Married.