Dead Ringer *Watty 2016*

Coraleigh

The next morning every 15 pleb was jittery, today was the day they would meet their personal Cian.  At the breakfast table Larkin, Briar, Sanders, and Wilder joined in on the festive feeling by adding their own excited jokes to the noise.

"Bet yours is a giant with like 10 inch muscle enhancements," Briar said motioning to Wilder with her fork.

Wilder stumbled for a moment trying to think of a comeback but then he quit and turned the joke to Larkin, "That won't be as bad as Lark's her cian is gonna be so white she's translucent."

"Hey I have a tan thank you very much," Larkin said shoving her slightly tanned arm into his line of sight.

The other three laughed.  "Isn't anyone curious if Sanders' is going to have his permanent scowl."  Wilder said.

"Shut it Wild, you're not even going to meet yours because he won't fit in the door."  Sanders said and there was a chorus of oohs from the girls.

"Well mine is going to be beautiful and perfect just like me," Briar said throwing her arms out dramatically.

"They probably won't look like us," Lark added realistically.

"We are genetic matches they have to at least look a little like us," Wild said but because he wasn't sure he added "don't they?"

The table shrugged and let the conversation drift elsewhere.

Hours later each pleb was ushered into a cubicle with two chairs, one padded and one wooden.  Larkin took a deep breath and entered.  The girl who sat in the plush pink chair made Lark gasp.  Their faces were identical, they were around the same size, and Lark could see that she had the same large red birthmark taking up most of her calf.  That's where the similarity stopped.  Where Larkin's hair was her natural shade of light blonde the cian's was platnum with undertones of light pink and lavender, Larkin's hair was pulled into a low pony that hung onto her shoulder and the girls was cut into a chin length bob.  Larkin let her eyes wonder down to the girl's neck and arms which were covered with large ocean wave tattoos that moved and the twinkling lights of the night star peaked out from under her shirt on her back.   Finally their eyes met.  Larkin's blue eyes stared into the girls hombre eyes that matched her hair.  While Larkin's pupils grew larger in shock the girl's stayed small, surgically altered so they were only as big as a pin point, which gave her eyes the apperance of being bigger than they were.

"Hey I'm Larkin," Larkin said then she hated how informal it sounded and regretted speaking first.

"Coraleigh," the girl said sounding disinterested.

Larkin nodded, unsure how to make the conversation continue and unsure what topics she was allowed to mention.  Luckily Coraleigh was braver, or possibly less worried about the outcome, and began a conversation, "What's with the work boots?"

"I'm on garbage patrol, I clean up the dump out there," Larkin said gesturing behind her even though Coraleigh knew nothing of the world she came from.

Coraleigh shot a glance at the attendent behind her as if she was checking to make sure that he was still there.  "She doesn't want to be left alone with the crazy trash girl," Larkin thought.

"Won't that damage my organs?" Coraleigh blurted dramatically.

Larkin tried her best to hide her shock.  The statement made her feel aware of every one of her organs as if she could feel them sitting inside her like rocks.  The thought made her nauscious.  "No," the attendent said calmly, making no apologies for Coraleigh, and Larkin was once again reminded that she was an inferior.

The rest of the first meeting went similarly, with Coraleigh checking the guard's position before saying something shocking or unbearably rude.  Larkin had already made her decision about Coraleigh when the guard told them that he would leave him alone for the last three minutes so they could form an intimate bond.  Larkin snorted at the idea which earned her a disgusted look from the guard before he stepped out of their cubicle leaving the two girls in silence.  Just when Larkin had decided it would be three minutes of awkward silence, Coraleigh surprised her once more.  "Larkin meeting you was delightful, and I can't wait to get to talk more with you during sustainment," she spoke in the same loud, obnoxious voice as before then she lowered her voice and it returned to a more normal tone as she whispered, "they won't be watching as closely then."

Their time was up before Larkin could ask what she meant?  Who they were?  Her confusion built as Coraleigh flung her dainty arms around her and whispered in her ear, "Don't worry. "  Then just as suddenly as she had done everything else that morning Coraleigh left.

That had taken longer than most preparement activities and it was considered "emotionally draining" so all 15s had the rest of the day off for relaxation, although very few used it that way.  "Train car," whispered Briar as she passed her friends and they all took their separate, assigned route to the hide out.

Once inside the damp tunnel, filled with items that Larkin had managed to sneak away from one job or another, they sat in a circle each filled with excitement, ready to share their own retelling of the day.  Sounds of the far end of the tunnel floated to them, music and laughter and shouting and giggling.  These sounds were all they clung to, their only information about Cian City.

"Why did we have to come to hoarders hollow?"  Wilder asked.

Larkin rolled her eyes, knowing that the joke was aimed at her.  Briar was too excited to go through their bickering and teasing routine so she cut them off and began to gush about her day.  "I was so disappointed, there was this amazing Cian that was so perfect.  I just wanted to sit by her and listen to her talk, she had to be more interesting then my Cian, her name was Harlow and she was so giggly.  Also this Cian was stunning."

"It doesn't matter what our Cian looks like we just have to make sure they won't waste our organs," Sanders pointed out.

"We can't do anything if they want to waste them," Larkin pointed out.

The other three shot her dirty looks.  "Was your Cian as much of a down bringer as you are?"  Wilder asked.

"She was awful!" Larkin said glad to have her chance to talk and she was planning to spill the whole story when she remembered the shot of panic in Coraleigh's eyes when she began to whisper.  "Her name was Coraleigh and she just asked if garbage duty would damage her organs."

They all laughed.  "She sounds really dumb," Wilder said.

Larkin was going to agree but her tongue felt stuck in her mouth, luckily everyone was too busy recounting their own stories to notice that she had gone momentarily mute.  Wilder told the story about his Cian who was so polite he offered him a sugary drink which the attendant immediately forbade him from drinking.  Sanders then told the story of his Cian who was such a jerk he didn't look up once from some confusing light up electronic thing.  "I just thought it would be more exciting," Briar said.

"Me too," the other three said in unison. 

The conversation died down and it was getting late so they settled their plans to get back without anyone noticing, the boys headed out first, on Larkin's request, and the girls would follow a few minutes later.  As the boys left the train tunnel Larkin grabbed onto Briar's arm and pulled her back to a sitting position.  "I didn't want to tell the boys but Coraleigh was acting weird."

"You don't know her maybe she just is weird," the words sounded like they should have been a joke but there was underlying tone of seriousness to her voice similar to the one when she was talking about dying.

"She warned me against people watching and then she whispered to me not to worry when we had those three minutes at the end."  Larkin said.

"What do you mean three minutes?"  Briar asked matching Larkin's whisper.

"When the attendant left," Larkin said more focused on Coraleigh's message then the organization of the meeting.

"The attendant never left us," Briar said then she added under her breath, "thank god."

"Then why did he leave us?" Larkin said growing more confused by the minute.

"We'll have to talk later its our turn to walk back," Briar said, "and if your Cian was so careful with her secret maybe we should only talk about it down here away from them."  Briar motioned her head in a vague direction but Larkin understood what she meant and with so many questions floating around in her head the only thing she was sure of was that they had to maintain secrecy at all costs.