I am 7

Part 3: Dinner

A complication... What could that mean? It shouldn't be anything out of the ordinary? Surely this process - whatever it is-has to be routine. I make my way to the couch and plop down. I mull the word "complication" over in my head and wonder what could be happening. That's when my mind flashes back to my earlier dark thought but surely nothing like that would happen this early. We haven't even gotten to the hard stuff yet.

"Screen on" I say and then a giant piece of glass slides down from the ceiling, it flickers to life. I scroll thro the channels aimlessly and wait for the next announcement.

Hours pass until I hear the loud crack of the speaker turning on "Hello, Selected. Please prepare yourselves to be escorted to the main hall for the Welcoming Ceremony"

I get up and straighten out my uniform and walk over to the small mirror (the only mirror in here) located in the bathroom. My reflection stares back at me. I am just finishing up fixing my curls to perfectly frame my face when I hear my door slide open.

There is no one there so I walk through the door and stand there not really knowing what to do. I notice several other people cautiously making their way in the hallway. I look down the hall and see a man in a black suit with slicked back hair, his posture rigid. He waits for us all to exit our rooms, his eyes start snaccing the group.

"Hello, Selected," he says, void of warmth. "If you could all get in line and follow me to the Welcoming Ceremony." We all begin to shuffle forward. I glance around and see that there are about 10 of us in this corridor, no wait 9. They must have us broken into 5 different groups. I stand behind a very small girl with wide doe-like eyes. Just as I am about to exchange niceties with her, she turns around and faces forward, shrinking away from the interaction.

The man leads us down the hall, no one saying anything to one another. We make a few turns before finally arriving at some sort of elevator. The doors slide open, revealing a cramped space. We all follow the man inside. I make a mental note that we are level 1. Packed in like a bunch of sardines it makes it very hard not to accidentally bump into one another. The silence is deafening, broken only by a sharp ding informing us that we have reached our destination, Level 6.

The Welcoming Ceremony

We file out still following our escort and go through a large set of double doors. As we approach the main hall, the air thickens. The room we enter is vast and filled with the rest of the Selected. This is the first time I have seen any color in Absolome. It is refreshing to see shades not consisting of gray and white. In the room there are several round tables all adorned with small bouquets of flowers. The walls bear detailed murals-scenes of our history, some violent, some beautiful. At the front of the room stands an elevated banquet table with all eight of the current council members sitting there overlooking all of us.

The man gestures for us to take our places. We all silently find a seat its only once we are all seated that I notice the extra seat at our table. I find myself again next to the girl with wide eyes. I see the bright red 6 on her lapel. She clutches her hands tight and I notice her knuckles are pale. After a second of debating to myself if I should say anything, I lean in closer to her and whisper, "6, are you okay?".

She jolts, like she has forgotten that she isn't alone. She turns to me confused and meets my gaze. "I...I don't know what's happening. '' she stammers. Her voice is shaky and definitely louder than it should be. I immediately regret the interaction, I shouldn't have brought any unnecessary attention my way. She continues, "It has to be a mistake, right? I'm not meant to be a leader? Why would they even consider me? I can't be here!" She looks at me, eyes searching for answers but I have none. That's when I notice the whole table is looking at me.

I lean towards her again, whispering, trying to make her realize she needs to lower her tone, "None of us know why we are here or why we were chosen but I do think it's wise if we dont let them see our uncertainty" I gesture discreetly toward the other tables, where our follow Selected sit. Some of them stoic but others equally bewildered.

She seems unsatisfied with my answer and turns away. Still frustrated with myself for initiating the interaction, I face forward and await for the ceremony to begin.

Councilman 41 stands up, his voice strong, filling the grand hall. "Welcome, Selected! We're very eager to have you here and hope you have found your accommodations satisfactory" he takes a moment fully scanning the room. "The Choosing is a process that has been held for centuries to help select amongst our brightest, those who are destined to lead. The ones to lead the next generation. Before this, our nation was fractured. Neighbor hating Neighbor, political affiliations tearing us apart. This division is what pushed our country to its final civil war." he pauses letting the weight of our history sit in.

"The Choosing is what saved this great nation and what allowed us not to be led by one mind but to thrive under the collective wisdom of many. It was a process that all of us you see here where lucky enough to be chosen by." he gestures to the rest of the councilmen and they all nod and smile at him when he says this. I wonder about their pasts, what they sacrificed/endured to earn their seats.

"You are lucky enough to be amongst The Selected. Eight of you will be our next leaders and guide our great nation wonderfully." With that he raises his glass and takes a drink. The rest of the councilmen do the same. He takes his seat and councilman 27 stands and continues.

"Tonight is a celebration of what awaits all of you," her voice sounds kind and reassuring. "The next few months will be difficult, but remember: this honor safeguards our society. As Councilman 41 reminded us of our grim history we must acknowledge the great accomplishments that this counsel like many before it was able to accomplish. This is the greatest honor of your lives."

She takes a short breath and her tone shifts, much darker and serious now. "Unfortunately, not all are able to share our perspective. Earlier a 'complication' arose during your arrival. This regrettably resulted in the termination of Selected 2" an audible gasp fills the room.

Everyone is shocked, I look over and see 6 start to cry. I elbow her sharply in the arm and sternly whisper. "You need to quit it! You're drawing attention to us, cry later when they can't see you or when I'm not the one sitting next to you." My words are harsh but true. She was right earlier, why did they choose her? She nods, immediately stopping. She grabs her arm and winces. What I did was cruel but just might be the distraction she needed to get through this.

She continues, "It is important that all of you don't let this distract you or let it take away from what today symbolizes but let it be a reminder of what is at stake." Councilman 27's words hung in the air, a reminder of the gravity of our situation. There is no forgetting what is at stake, when what's at stake is our lives.

"Now let the feast begin!" and with those words a line of people come through the double doors all in the same black suits that we saw our escort in earlier. They are carrying plates with silver lids with our numbers in red imprinted on them. They start setting them down in front of people. My table seems to be the last one to get served. I am very pleasantly surprised when I uncover my food to see my favorite dish, Shrimp Alfredo pasta. I am bewildered by this, what are the chances and with that though I look up and notice everyone around me has something completely different.

6 seems lighter now that she has a slice of pepperoni pizza infront of her. We all silently eat our food and as we finish another councilman stands. This man is very thin with long wispy hair and when he speaks his voice is chilling.

"As you've surely noticed, we took the liberty of providing you all with your favorites. For some of you this might be a last meal." He says this with a smirk and I am immediately sick to my stomach. He chuckles relishing at our discomfort and continues, "Tomorrow the testing will begin, Stage One spans over the next 4 weeks. At the end of each week, the bottom 5 of the Selected will be terminated but since one of your friends did you the kind service of taking themselves out of the process. This week there will only be 4 so congratulations!" He nods towards us but no one is celebrating instead we are all stiff and silent. This man is getting way too much pleasure out of the prospect of us getting wiped one by one. "On that note it is time for you to go back to your rooms. Tomorrow testing will begin at 8AM and as a friendly reminder always be aware of what and who is around you... you never know what will be on a test."

With that, we were dismissed to our rooms.