Rights and Lefts

Chapter One

          "Aria, what behavior trait would young Timothy be displaying at the moment?" I looked up at the massive screen. "Behavioral trait Z3". I said like a robot. I felt like one too. We have been watching Timothy for three years now so we knew how he would react but it's harder to remember the exact title or code for the way he reacted. While Master Seven called on my other lab mates . I let myself daydream about what I always daydream about. What's would it be like to live on the other side? This question keeps me awake every night. I have thousands of questions. That is why I'm put on this side. The right side that is. I sit in the lab and then I go to my pod. That is what my life consists of. The other side seems to be so much harder to live in but from our collected re-search it depends on the person. I see some people bursting with life, Like eight year old Timothy, and then I see some struggling to do the most basic everyday things. But mostly I see a combination of both. But the simple pleasures of the other side make me burn with Jealousy. , having a family , having a wide array of careers to choose from, experiencing love.  and those are only a few of billions. our family is our masters and lab mates and the only career we have is studying the other side, and as for love, We learn about it, what it is. But have never experienced it, and never will. I'm yanked out of my daydream when I see my fellow lab mates get up and walk to their pods in an orderly fashion. Everything we do here is an orderly fashion. I'm always curious to know if anyone else feels envious of the left side but I can't ask. I already feel out of place I can't bear to make that known.  Although I'm jealous, I can't even begin to process how the left side works but then I remember they don't. They have crime and hatred and pollution. Whereas we essentially are perfect. But what is perfection against passion.
     As I go back to my pod, I lie down thinking about when I was a child and I would talk to my masters about running away to the other side or ask questions about where we came from and why I don't remember anything before I was 11. They put me on a new pill and those thoughts vanished for awhile. When they came back I didn't dare say another word. It was nice to not think about it but I was eternally grateful when they came back because it gave me reason to hope. Hope, the feeling felt foreign when it came back.
We weren't supposed to feel. I was different. I knew that. I also knew to keep it a secret early on, for fear that hope would be taken away again. And this time I couldn't bear it. I thought these things as the sleeping pill lulled me into a sleepless sleep.
      The next morning, the sleep master came in my pod and recited the daily bulletin. "Aria, Female, age 16, pill code: 2868709, today is Drez. New clothes laid out. Today was Drez! I completely forgot! Each sixteen year old in Right side gets assigned to their individual. Up until now, we as a class have been watching someone (Timothy) togther. Today is the day we get assigned to our own individual people to take notes on, collect data, and report it to the masters. A lucky few get to become masters, that is only with careful consideration from Glass. Glass is headmaster of right. Like a president, you would say if you lived on left. But only with exceptional grade reports and attentive eye to behavioral traits do the lucky few even get to be reviewed by Glass. I would definitely not be chosen. I was lacking in all areas and rarely tried without being asked to. I still I am delighted to even be studying someone by myself. Privacy is foreign here on right side.
       I sprang up from my cot to find my new set of work clothes. I had graduated from my simple slacks and lab-coat into a lab-coat dress. I rolled my eyes at the Impractical but somewhat flirty dress. More of a rite of passage then a dress really. Boys and girls become men and women and gain newfound indepence. I pulled it over my shoulders and gasped at sight of myself. I looked different. I ran my fingers through my dark hair and grinned. I hadn't looked in the mirror in awhile. No need to. But when I saw myself I was pleasantly surprised.
        As I walked over to the Drez ceremony I could see all my fellow lab mates alive with chatter. I was plenty social, I chose to be isolated always. My fear of being different ruled out my need to be social. I didn't need the constant companionship of others like everyone else did. Sigh. Just another thing to make me different. I think back to a time where we studied "June". She was a red head and had blue eyes. She was studying genetics in science class and she was the only red haired blue eyed person in the room. "I'm different!" She burst allowed. She smiled and laughed and danced happy to be special. Grateful to break the mold of everyone else, where I cower at the mere thought of anyone else finding out of my indifference.
"Welcome to annual Drez ceremony for sixteens" Master6's voice boomed through the invisible microphone. "Annex assigned to Julia" Annex made his way to the front where he received a packet of information. "Levy assigned to Jessica" "Aisha assigned to Brandon" The names were called and the packets were given. I waited anxiously and played with the bottom of my contact device. Each 16 had one just in case they needed to chat with their master about something. The left side had one too, a cellular phone I think. "Aria assigned to Kev" I walked up and received my packet and then walked back to my chair. Robotically. What's new.
     In the privacy of my pod I open up my packet to read about Kev.
He was 17 years old, he liked photography, writing, and filmmaking. A simple photo of him was clipped to the top of the folder. Dark hair, Carmel colored skin, light blue eyes, bright smile. He goes to Lincoln High School in California. My training would be overseen by Master #8
    It was weird being in my own office with no other scientists. I sat down ready for the massive screen to show me Kev. But when I sat down I noticed something odd. The ground was vibrating. As I was about to ask Master #8 what was going on, I saw the tear. The wall had a tear. The ground was shaking more violently now. The screaming sounds around me deafened my thoughts. The wall was crumbling. The sirens blared, the people were in a state of hysteria and chaos. And all I could do was stand there. After precisely 6 seconds I could make out a thought. On the left side they called this an earthquake. I never thought any of their natural disasters would apply to us. oh how naive and foolish I am! We all live on the same planet don't we! The wall was breaking more and more every second. I saw a chunk of the wall coming down on me in slow motion.  I could make out one more thought. The wall was breaking. The two worlds separated were about to become one. And then it all went black.