Linked

Chapter 4

Lucas

I put my mug of black coffee down onto the little table and sat down onto the sofa with a sigh. Turning the holographic TV on, I motioned for my best friend, Claire, to sit down next to me. The broadcast for the Linking Ceremony in the rest of the city was about to begin. The logo of the Great Leaders flashed on the screen, a coat of arms with the letters T, E and X entwined, for the Circles of Thalience, Elshent, and Xenthi. Nobody except for the people of Zerron, the secret fourth Circle of the city, knew to look for the tiny Z in the corner of the the logo. It had been put there some time ago, when a master computer programmer had hacked into the city's official files and done some... let's say, editing. Then, the voice of Jack Kayder, the highest ranking in the Leaders, rang out. "Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls from all three Circles of our city..." Claire snorted into her coffee.

"Right. All three Circles." I smacked her thigh lightly, and put my eyes back on the Ceremony.

"Today is the day where another generation of seventeen-year-olds will become adults and fully become a part of our community. This year, we have the 247th pack of the city, which means that this ceremony has happened 246 times before today. The girls and boys assembled today will become supports for the system of our city. A necessary part of this is being Linked to another member of their Circle, so that every one of these soon-to-be adults can live their lives to the full potential..." he droned on. I yawned. You might be wondering why we were watching this in the first place, but there was always at least one pair of rebels every year, and the contract between the city and the Circle of Zerron included that we had to take in those rebels. Why? Because they didn't want anyone that would disturb their precious "government". The camera zoomed into the fancily dressed teenagers, and the first names of the Ceremony was called. "Anna Hailey Curtbel, Daughter of the Circle of Elshent, Pack 247. Michael Jared Rodfer, Son of the Circle of Elshent, Pack 247. Please come up to the stage to receive your Brandings." A red-haired girl wearing a very glittery purple gown stood up from one side of the room, while somewhere in the back corner, a boy in a metallic bronze tux shook his black hair out as he walked up to the stage. This went on and on until a girl caught my eye. She was dark-haired and had naturally red full lips. She wore a silver dress that let me see the curves of her upper body then was loose from her hip down. The girl jumped up nervously as her name was called. "Kaileen Tessa Windsworth, Daughter of the Circle of Thalience, Pack 247. Kyle James Lowbane, Son of the Circle of Thalience, Pack 247. Please come up to the stage to receive your Brandings." How interesting, I mused. The pair had been sitting at the same table. They were probably friends or were together from before. They went to the stage together, holding hands as people awwwed at their casual contact. I watched as the branding gun was pressed to the inside of the girl's, Kaileen's elbow, I corrected myself. For some reason her name stuck inside my brain like a piece of chewing gum. The next pair of names were called. "Elia Gemini Kayder, Daughter of the Circle of Thalience, Pack 247. Jax Ethan Calcutt, Son of the Circle of Elshent, Pack 247." The large hall, which had been loud with chatter from so many people, went completely silent. I shared a smile with Claire. There were our new recruits for this year. Cross-Linking was strictly against the Law in the city, for some reason I didn't care to know. Guards from the Surveillance Force, who were the police for the city, stormed in and took the blonde girl called Elia and the black-haired boy called Jax roughly by the arms. I picked up the remote controller to turn the broadcast off. The last thing I saw before the holographic screen went blank was the girl named Kaileen, her dark hair flying behind her as she desperately clutched at the blonde girl's arm as she was being taken away.