Seven

Chapter 2

"I'm sorry...can you repeat that? I didn't quite catch that. You were saying something about me going to the Earth? What is this, the April's fools?" I really didn't believe him. Could you? "No Forty. You're going to the Earth. Your qualification was one of the best. You have the perfect knowledge of the Earth. You know the dangers there." He was so pulling my leg...

"We just had the Memorial for the deceased soldiers that, may I add, DIED on THE EARTH. Are you seriously expecting me to say yes? Plus if I were to say yes, my father and mother would never in a milion years let me." First he was looking at me and then finally said "I've already spoken to your family. They agreed to terms. They were actually...how do I put this...looking forward to it." I couldn't do anything except stare at him.

I sighed. What do I have to lose, except my life? "Fine. I agree." He smiled again "Good. Your training is starting tomorrow." Training? "I'm sorry you didn't mention any training?" "Yeah, tests, training, it's the same. Go rest now." He showed me the door and I left.

I need to go to Angel as soon as possible. I was running through the corridor and I accidently collided into my mother. "Easy Forty." She said. We had to be formal all the time. Except in our mini homes. "Are you okay?" She asked. "Yes. Why wouldn't I be? Look, I'll talk to you later, I need to go somewhere, okay?" She nooded and we parted ways.

Finally I came to Angel's home. She lived alone, her parents died 2 years ago and her brother...well he died too. Her parents were executed for not obeying one law. You see, we have a lot of laws. Her family was important too. Angels name was Fifty,but she lost her name after that. They were stealing food for their children. But this wasn't the icing on the cake. First they killed her father for accidentally telling the secrets of the spaceship. So her mother wanted revenge and stabbed the leader of the ship, Zero. He didn't die. Seven then took care of her sister. He didn't lose his function, because he was one of the best soldiers. They trusted him.

I knocked on the door. I waited patiently for a few minutes and then she opened the doors. Her thick, long blonde hair gracefully falls down to her shoulders and encircles her heart-shaped face. A golden suntan usually brings out her smooth, pale complexion and high cheek bones. Her hi-low eyebrows highlight her emotions by moving up and down as she reacts to the world around her. Her large light blue eyes reminds me of a lake we saw on pictures. Her small curved nose gives her a little girl look, that I can't but smile at her when she smiles. And her mouth, a small mouth outlined by puffy lips that give her an angelic look. When she grins, her well formed and white teeth brighten up her whole face. She is the definition of beautiful. Every girl here is very jelous of her looks. I'm very surprised she hasn't got a partner yet.

"Come on in." She says. I do what I'm told. She was sitting on the old shabby couch. Her home was in poor condition. Her kitchen had loads of uncleaned dishes. On her dining table and her coffe table, there was a lot of papers. It was very dim in her home. The walls contained a lot of pictures of her family. The book shelf, that once contained books, was full of dust and webs. 

"You can sit here. Wait, let me clean this up." She said as she stood up and cleaned a big pile of papers. "Why do you have so much papers?" She looked at me and said "I'm doing some research." She was in the kitchen pouring me water. She came to the living room and gave me the glass "Thank you." I smiled as I said that. "Mind telling me what research?" She shook her head. "Sorry, not now." And I respected that decision. "So what about you? What did the comander need?"

"He said something about me going on a mission." She looked at me in expectation for saying something more. "And...?" "Angel...he said about me going to the Earth." Her eyes went wide and her mouth could catch a fly if she won't close them. "You're not going, right?" I sighed. "I don't know. I think I'm going. There's something calling me. I don't know. I'll be going through some tests or trainings or something. I don't know..." 

"What about your parents? What are they saying?" I looked down with betrayed look. "They're saying it's okay. And I quote: They're looking forward to it. Whatever that means." She gave me a sympathetic smile and said "It'll be okay. I'm sure they didn't mean that." I shrugged. "Maybe they did. It doesn't matter. I'm sorry for your loss by the way..." The mood suddenly went down. "It's okay...I saw it happen anyway. I should just clean his room and give his clothes to someone." "I can help if you want. When are you going to start?" She shrugged her shoulders and said "I don't know. Maybe in a few days..." 

We were talking for quite some time and right before she could tell me about the papers the announcer said: All residents, please go to your homes. "I guess this is my goodbye." I stood up and went to the doors "If you need anything, you can call me okay?" She nooded, smiled and hugged me. And so I left.

With fast steps I paced back home. One of the law contains our bed time. If they see you out the house after the announcer announces a notification, you can get punished. Even by death. There was a few punishments because of this. Even young children got punished. 

Finally I came home. Our dwelling is bigger than Angel's. The kitchen and living room are separated by the wall. Once you get through the main door, there's a big bathroom on the left. The bedrooms are at the end of the corridor. We have 4 bedrooms. My mother was expecting a baby that was never born. It died inside her womb. We have a few pictures on the walls, mainly of me and my parents. There's also a few with my grandparents, that I've never met. I went to the living room and picked up my journal from the coffee table that I left this morning. 

I'm not scared of leaving my journal here, because my parents are hardly home. Except on the weekends. I looked at the picture on top of the fake furnace. It was me when I finished grade school. I don't remember very much of it, I just know the classrooms are very different from what they used to look. There's not a lot of plants now. Next by this picture was me again, but when I was 16. My freckles were very visible then. I saw I had some necklace around my neck. It looked familiar, but I wasn't able to place it anywhere. It's like a distant memory. 

I shook my head and went to my room. My room was light, it's walls were white, my furniture was white. In the middle was a double bed and on each side a nightstand with little plants. Near the door was a mirror that I so adored. In the right corner I had some sort of a desk with a few papers here and there. 

I moved to my desk and put my journal on it. I stepped back to the mirror and I took a few minutes to look at my figure. My dull, green eyes were looking at me. My thick, long brown hair were overlapping my diamond-shaped face. My slightly arched eyebrows were looking like I hate everyone. My pale complexion, paler than Angels, defined my high cheekbones. My definitely defined lips were soft pink. My slim, average height made even a few older men drool over me. At least that's what Angel is saying. 

After I was done looking at myself I went to my bed. I couldn't stop thinking about that necklace. I felt a sharp pang in my chest, yet I didn't know what that means. I fell asleep still thinking about the necklace and about the mission.