Imperfection

Imperfection: Prologue

Prologue:

The Beta Colony does not make mistakes. Everything is perfected, organized into neat rows, sorted and rounded to the thousandth decimal place. We, the people of Beta, are categorized into six types of people. For females, the categories are Opals, Sapphires and Emeralds. For males, there are Irons, Steels and Leads. Each of these categories have specific features. For example, Opals and Leads are the only Beta citizens with grey eyes and brown hair. Sapphires and Irons are always outgoing and talkative, while Emeralds and Steels are quiet and shy. The categories are called Omnicivis. Everyone in the Beta Colony fits into an Omnicivis. Without them, the Colony would be filled with Imperfections. Without them, there'd be more people like me.

It may sound kinda cliché and tedious, but I promise you being the only Imperfection in Beta is harder than it sounds.

Of course, the Dux Ducis (the "overseers" of Beta) didn't see that I was an Imperfection when I was first assigned to my Caretakers. I looked like a Sapphire, except my eyes were teal, which looks close enough to blue. As I grew older, my eyes turned to more of a forest green. Green eyes are not recognized in the Colony. They are one of the Irritus; the list of 1,000 irrelevant things from the Praeterita- the time before the Colony. Everything on the Irritus had to be removed due to them not being perfect or organized for the Colony.

Not only was the color of my eyes on the Irritus, so was the color of my hair. My hair was fiery auburn and it grew out into big, loopy curls. My hair was hard to disguise whenever I went to school.

I was just fine being invisible; everything seemed to be going just fine.

Until

the citizenship ceremony: The ceremony where every student receives a certificate that proves them to be a citizen of Beta.

It happens on the last day of Hibernis or winter as people used to call it. A group of 16 year olds stand up on a stage dressed in their most formal attire and wait for their names to be called.

Everyone, and I mean everyone, in my age group was called up. Except me. I stood at the edge of the stage, my face cast down, praying it was a mistake. If I wasn't a citizen of Beta, I wouldn't be able to continue under the guidance of my Caretakers. I wouldn't be able to apply to be a Caretaker myself. But what worried me the most was the fact that if I wasn't a citizen I would no longer be able to live in the colonies.

I'd never even heard of life outside of the colonies. I thought the colonies were everything. That's what they made us think.

"There is no civilization outside of the Beta Colonies," They told us. "Beta is the only form of life left on Earth,"

To be honest, I never believed we were alone on Earth. But what did I know? I was just an Imperfection.

They never called my name and I just slipped off the stage and ran to the closest Dux Ducis I could find. It had to be a mistake and if anyone could fix it a Dux Ducis could. One was standing with her arms crossed, looking bored as ever.

"Excuse me," I nodded a greeting to her. "My name wasn't called up for a citizenship certificate,"

She glanced at me, skeptically. "Are you sure this is your age group?"

I nodded.

She stood up straight and pulled an ID scanner from her back pocket.

I held out the ID code that had been stamped on my wrist when I was first given to my Caretakers. She scanned it and stared down at the scanner. Her brow furrowed in confusion.

"Huh," she said. "Strange,"

She then looked at me. "How long have you lived in Beta?"

This question puzzled me. How could she ask that? No one came from outside of Beta.

"A-all my life," I stuttered.

"It says here, that you no longer exist within the Beta Colonies."

"What?" I didn't bother to hide my shock. "It must be a mistake,"

She squinted, focusing her brown eyes on my face. She was clearly an Emerald, with her charcoal hair and coffee eyes.

She stared deep into my eyes. "What Omnicivis are you?"

For a second, I was speechless. Could I have been crossed off the list for being an Imperfection?

"I'm a... Sapphire," My cheeks were drenched in molten lava.

She raised an eyebrow. "Really? You sure?"

I nodded.

She glared at me, mumbling something under her breath.

Sighing, she looked at her scanner again. "I'll have to check with the Base,"

I nodded a quick thank you and dashed off to rejoin my Caretakers. Their faces showed as much confusion as mine. They stood together, my "father", as they used to call them, had his arm around my "mother".

"Huh... they didn't call you up?" Father's eyes said more than his lips.

I shook my head, looking down at my shiny flats.

Mother pursed her lips. "Are you sure? Did you ask a Dux Ducis?"

I nodded again. "She said she would check if it was a mistake,"

Father shook his head. "I don't think so,"

"What?" I looked up at him.

He shifted his gaze to a random spot on the floor. "Beta doesn't make mistakes,"

My Caretakers shared the same expression, their lips pursed, grey as the sky before it rains; bland, bleak nothingness clouded their cheeks. I could tell by the look in their eyes they didn't want to tell me it but I already knew.

They didn't want to be the Caretakers of a mistake.

And who would? No one who lived in Beta.

Who would want to be the Caretakers of something that was forbidden, supposedly forgotten, lost in history?

Word bank:

~Latin~

Omni: All

Civis: citizen/ townsman

Dux Ducis: leader/ commander

Irritus: irrelevant, useless

Praeterita: past

Hibernis: winter