Eclipse (#Wattys2016)

Chapter 4

Jack Connor introduced himself, taking my hand a dragging me to the people in the center in the room.

"Everybody," he announced, "meet--" He blushed and looked at me. "Remind me your name?"

For a second, I hesitated, wondering which name I should go by. My full name was Margaret, though nobody called me that. Everybody had called me Marge, and now the name stung: it was the name both my dead mother and dead brother addressed me by. And then there was Madge, a new name; a clean slate.

"Madge," I introduced. "Madge Yancey."

Instead of the applause or smiles or something I expected in return, a few crinkled their noses in disgust.

"Has she been ReVamped yet?" a girl asked, looking at me curiously.

"Does it look like it, Stella?" a boy replied, looking bored. "Look at her: weak arms, plain features. And her eyes, they're green. Everyone this generation has blue eyes after the ReVamp, she couldn't possibly have gone through the process."

Stella turned red. "Well, I don't know, Ethan! She could've turned out different from the rest of us!"

The boy--Ethan--stared at his cuticles, uninterested. "Different, huh? Well, at least it'd be something interesting, for a change."

The rest of the group had gone back to talking, the new kid only holding their attention for so long. I studied them. Each one of them were beautiful, their bodies toned, their features full. An aura of confidence surrounded each and every one of them, and I couldn't help but long for what they had.

Jack launched me out of my stupor, jolting me with his deep voice. "Sorry about that," he sympathized. "Ethan's a good guy, really.  He's just so competitive; once he knows that you're not competition, he'll warm up. You wait."

These were supposed to be comforting words, but I found them insulting. He made it sound like he already knew me well enough to tell that I was nothing more than average. Not that he was wrong, it only stung because he was right. I was nothing and everybody knew it.

Jack cleared is throat, changing the subject. "We'd better hurry up so we aren't late for your ReVamp appointment."

I turned to him, my anger morphing into curiosity. "What is this 'ReVamp', anyways?"

"The ReVamp is a machine that genetically alters the patient. We use it to make our soldiers stronger, our smartest smarter, our medics miracle workers. You aren't officially a Fortem until you get the ReVamp alteration done: until then, you technically aren't even a part of Luna."

I laughed. "Genetical alteration? Maybe a physical alteration, but genetically altering someone is impossible. I think you've gotten something wrong here, buddy."

"No," he replied seriously, "our scientists reach into our genes and modify them, I swear. Once you go through the process, you're...different. And I don't mean just physically."

I scoffed but held my tongue. I was wasting my words, arguing. I would see if Jack was right--myself.

"Are you ready?" Jack asked, attempting to warm the coolness between us.

"For what?" I asked sweetly, just to get on his nerves.

"The ReVamp?"

I pretended to think about it. "Sure I am. If you could do it, then I can do it too." This wasn't the answer he wanted to hear, and it wasn't how I actually felt. To be honest, I had pretty mixed emotions about being "modified" for life, but I didn't intend to let them show.