Verde

Chapter 1: Daniel Tate

     Located on Cassidy's nineteenth chromosome was her gift from God. Meeting her own green eyes, the only reason she was alive, in the mirror, she put the final pin in her brown hair.

     "Come one Cassi! Dan says we're going to be late!" Elle, Cassidy's roommate at the underground Verde facility, as well as best friend, screamed from their room.

     Cassidy checked her watch. 6:02. "We still have half an hour Elle!" she called from the bathroom. "We'll be there on time!" Dan's rule in life was if you're early you're on time, if you're on time you're late. It was probably just to impress Alison Moiree, their pretty young trainer.

     "You have ten minutes, Cassidy Wilson!" Dan's attempt at sternness carried in from the hallway. Elle probably had the room door open.

     "And you have too much anxiety, Daniel Tate!" Cassidy rolled her eyes, but, honestly, she was a bit nervous too. It didn't make sense to be - she had aced all her finals, excelled in every psych profiling and passed every examination with flying colors. Today was just the banquet - the ceremony at the end of the year, where every trainee would gather to be promoted together. And yet the night that was meant to be the most fun of the year filled Cassidy with a sense of dread.

      The mess hall was huge. It was the central gathering place, where the two wings of the Verde facility met - left wing for the trainees and right wing for the agents. The mess hall was where everyone met in between classes and tasks.

     Now, walking into the hall, Cassidy had to stop and stare. Dan did an incredibly obvious double take, and Elle's jaw dropped. This was there fourth Final Banquet, but each year the decorations put the last year's adornments to shame.

     Jewel toned cloths draped the walls and banners hung from the ceiling. There was a space cleared against one wall for the promotions, and the wooden tables were set and covered in silky tablecloths, food cooked by the Fourth Years, as was traditional, already placed and covered in the middle of each. The mess hall was the only part of the facility above ground, but the sun had already set and all that could be seen through the huge windows was the velvety night sky, dusted with diamonds. For once, there was nothing ugly in the world.

      But what had Cassidy, Elle, and Dan gaping had nothing to do with the way the agents and Fourth Years had outdone themselves. It actually had to do with the group of First Years who should have been standing against the back wall, waiting to be announced and ready to start their training in the next week. The number for this year had been projected as forty applicants.

     "Dan, how many new trainees are there?" Cassidy asked carefully. Maybe she wasn't seeing right.

     "Um," he began quietly, "it's not many." 

     "Dan," Elle's voice was stern but her eyes were squeezed shut. "How many do you see?"

     "Um?" it sounded more like a question. "About fifteen," and when Dan said 'about' anything, he really meant 'exactly'.

     "It's okay. That's logical anyways, isn't it?" Elle tried to console Dan with reason, but rationale wasn't her strong point, "we're running out of population anyways, so it makes sense that there would be fewer Verdes too - right?" 

     Dan shook his head, chewing on his lip, "There were originally almost three thousand citizens on Quarantine! Our numbers shouldn't be dropping so fast." 

     Just as Elle was about to reply, Agent Kate Thompson's voice rang from hidden speakers.

     "All trainees and agents to your places please!"