disconnect. (paused)

chapter one.

The wind brushes my pale, freckled cheeks. I finally felt free. Today’s April thirteenth, my 14th birthday. I’m allowed outside for the first time since I was ten. Even if only for a few minutes (sixteen minutes and forty-eight seconds exactly), the cool wind and bright sun gives me goose-bumps. I have to contain my excitement though, I reprimand myself. I can’t cause suspicion. Not here, not now. I keep walking solemnly down the street. I can see curious faces peeking out of windows and doorways. They’re watching. Probably wondering why such a young girl is out alone, and so early at that. From my features, they probably can’t tell I’m already almost Halfway. I’ve always looked young compared to the others in my Year. My slender form from years of training doesn’t exactly scream womanhood.  

I gaze ahead. The silvery glint of the building in front of me almost hurts my eyes. I squint to make out the obsidian lettering: “MAIN OFFICES, ATLANTA.” As if there was any doubt I was in the right place. I’ve been imagining this moment since I was a tyke. My pace quickens as my moment comes. I leap up the stairs two at a time and step gingerly on the platform and lock eyes with the camera. Finally. All of my friends have told stories of being terrified, of shaking and feeling like crying. I just want the moment to be over so I can fit in with my peers.

 A voice booms in my head, “Fire Ashford, please enter the building”.

 Despite being a little taken aback at both the voice in my head and the use of my surname, I push the gold-plated button beside the doorway and watch the aged wood swing open in front of me. I take a few seconds to study the sight in front of me. A gigantic polished desk is the centerpiece of the room, surrounded by several older men which I recognize to be our Leaders. My heart rate quickens. None of my friends had mentioned such authority attending their Aging Rituals. I don’t particularly recognize the men, other than the crests on their lapels signify that they work for the Government of the Americas.  It astounds me that one of them has a few grayish hairs mixed with his mostly-dark hair. That man must be almost forty years old. How has he survived so long?

The man I’m studying breaks the silence.

“Fire?”

I’m surprised at myself. I likely look slow and unintelligent. I want to come off as professional and prepared to my judges, especially because they’re members of the Government. I quickly respond,

“Hello, my name is Fire Ashford. Sixth Sector, Eighth Year.”

I quietly reprimand myself for saying something so lame. They have all of my files, from birth to now, in front of them. They know everything about me, every conversation I’ve ever had, every score I’ve ever made on every skills test. My legs start shaking a bit and I force them to stay still.

One of the other men laughs a bit and I let out a breath I wasn’t aware I was holding. The man gestures to a chair in front of him, and I gladly oblige.

“Hello, Fire,” the man with the silvery hair greets me. “Welcome to the Aging Ritual for Eighth Years. As you probably know, today is a very big day for you. After you take your exams, we will determine where you will be heading next on your Path.”

I nod eagerly. I won’t be considered a child anymore.

One of the men gets up and inserts an IV needle with a tube into my forearm. I don’t even flinch. I was expecting this. I have been told that the liquids in the tube will make it so I won’t need to take breaks to fuel myself while testing.

The older man continues. “First will be the written section of the exam.” He hands me a packet a little less than 5 cm thick. “I assume you brought a pen?”

I pull my pen, engraved with my initials, out of my cinch sack. The four men around the table nod approvingly. One pulls out a square device and inputs some numbers.

My future is to be decided from this booklet.

The man that inserted the IV speaks loudly. “Fire Ashford, Year Eight Aging Ritual Test One, begin.”

A small ticking noise sounds from the square device.

Then the whole world goes black.