Joining the Council

Chapter 1

Gavin's whole life is centred around a Guideline, a document to control each step, each action, and each decision he took. Everyone has one and never seen their own, except for the Commanders. It just happened that Gavin's Guideline was very special, and there was only one other like his. The most important rule was that the guidelines must never be broken, until he met Jenna.

The Commanders controlled everything, like a magnificent hawk watching from the sky and rewriting the Guidelines when deemed necessary. Only a few Commanders existed and they dedicated their lives to writing the lives of others.

Gavin's fingers brushed over the edges of the envelope, running across the face and tracing the stamp, then finally the unbroken seal. It was addressed from the Council, he knew without even looking. Gavin closed his eyes and like a band aid he ripped his fingers through the seal. With shaky hands Gavin let the envelope fall to concrete under his feet and he twisted his fingers around the letter to see the front. He read only numbers, a date and a time down to the second. These little numbers could never mean anything bigger to Gavin. They were to decide his fate. It was too soon, only days away and Gavin could never tell anyone, only her. She was where the second letter was sent with the exact same numbers.

He could barely count the days. As they flew by with each passing moment he felt more on edge. The morning of, he struggled to get dressed, his fingers slipped around the buttons on his shirt from pure nervousness.

It was only minutes now. He looked around expecting someone in a suit from the Council to whisk him away to a secret meeting but nothing like that happened. There was no location decided he knew nothing. But when the last second counted down he looked up and met the eyes of a girl.

Her eyes showed a beautiful mix of fear and then relief. Gavin's heart jumped at the sight of her eyes, the blue captured him from across the grassy yard. Only once had he seen blue eyes and it was only for a split second. Everyone's eyes in New Earth were painted with the same brown colour, the individuality of any other colour had been taken away. Gavin's eyes looked like the colour of chocolate paint flaking off an old bench in the park across from his house but Jenna's were the complete opposite. They were blue like the sea, crystal blue floating on top of a deep blue crashing and churning. When he looked into her eyes he could hear the waves falling against the shore, sending light foam into the air.

Her legs took long graceful strides as she walked towards him, leaving a waterfall of hair flowing behind her. Once she was merely a foot away she stuck out her hand and gripped Gavin's, giving him an uncomfortable business-like handshake. He could feel his arm flop. Now he was feeling very stupid in her presence. Their hands dropped back down and they started staring at each other, covering each inch with judgment.

Gavin needed to make an impression on her, but he could barely stutter a vowel, his nerves were numbing his tongue. She seemed calm as if she was built for the assignment. This unnerved Gavin even more because he knew they had huge boots to fill. They were picked by Commanders from the Council to take over. They were to rule the strongest development in all of New Earth.

Her mouth jutted open, words about to leave her mouth like a breath of air but it was abruptly interrupted by a tiny Bot. Bots like these documented everything, being the Commander's assistant the Bots almost ran the city. It moved like a hummingbird, twitching in the air. In a rehearsed voice it let through loud speakers.

"Jenna Adams and Gavin Packer, I am to escort you to Council building."

The Bot hovered in its spot then whisked around to start leading them to the building. Each step Gavin took felt heavy, weighted down by responsibility, but Jenna walked as if she was floating on clouds.

The facility was large, and covered in layers of cracking white paint. As soon as Gavin's foot touched the ramp the door lowered over the water. Stunned Jenna whispered, "A drawbridge." and it was exactly that. Their footsteps were quiet as they followed the Bot over the bridge, the pads of Gavin's uncovered feet stuck to the cold metal as he walked off the bridge and into the large building. His heart was pounding as they walked and it grew faster the farther they walked. The Bot stopped and so did they. Only now did he realize that his knees were shaking uncontrollably. He stood on the balls of his feet trying to hide his nervousness and felt Jenna's hand wrap around his. He could feel the warmth almost destroy his nerves; her nails slightly scratched the back of his hand as she rubbed it with her thumb.

Every square foot of wall was covered in art, but not the art that Gavin had seen before, this was Old Earth art. Gavin strayed from the bot, captivated by the paintings. His eyes traveled in rhythm with the brush strokes. His eyes were whisked across the painting with each line leading into the next. Gavin could feel his heart quiet and his senses liven when his fingers reached out to touch the painting. He merely brushed the acrylic when a sharp voice silenced his actions. Gavin whipped his head around to be met with two brown eyes lit with anger.

"What." Her voice dripping with fiery lava. "Are you doing?"

"Nothing." Gavin responded, he could feel sweat start to build the more he looked at her. She was built for power, every essence of her demanded respect.

An alarm rang causing both bodies to stiffen in awareness. Gavin pivoted to see his Bot racing towards him, with Jenna reluctantly trailing behind.

"Bot you are excused." said the lady in charge. "Come with me." She announced to Gavin and Jenna.