Resident 35

Ship Yards and Fish

 Her heart pounded as she observed the room she was in.  She was strapped to a metal chair, with all kinds of wires traveling in and out of her body. One particular blue wire that had been inserted into her arm had start to painfully stretch the girl's skin. She breathed a deep sigh of frustration as she she continued to look around the room she was in. The room's walls were crafted from a white stone with flecks of black. Covering what seemed like never ending walls were countless machines and computer monitors, each having a specific purpose. 

The girl turned to her far right and could see the monitors and machines that would be used during her session. One monitor logged her heart rate, along with other various calculations she couldn't understand. The second monitor showed the revolving symbol of the Star Sweepers,  three golden lines with a red circle surrounding them. Below the crest was a quote that read,

                                                   "Training is the only way to succeed."

                                                                 -Lancet Dipharium

A sigh of frustration escaped the girl as she turned away from the monitors and stared at the door in front of the chair. Don't worry yourself, you undergo this evaluation every month. Just do what you always do, and you'll be fine. The girl took deep breaths as she kept relaying thought in her mind over and over. 

The girl turned her head to the left and stared through the window, and surveyed the Ship Yards in the morning dawn. Even though it was only 5:00 am the yards were bustling with activity. From one part of the yards, she could see the maintenance crews cleaning and replacing ship parts that she could not name. From the other side of the shipyard, the girl could make out someone yelling strict orders to the maintenance crew. Most likely one of the navigators being overbearing about how their ship looks. The thought made her chuckle slightly, knowing that in fact, it was a navigator. One that everybody had come to know well. People called him Keyboard. For what reason, she didn't know.   From the back of one of the yards she could see a ship rising into the air, then it shot up into the sky and disappeared.  

All of the morning noises clouded her mind, giving her a headache. She attempted to get out the chair she was in, so she could go to the medical building, but was then reminded by the tugging of wires tearing her skin slightly, that she would have to deal with it. 

It felt like hours before the girl saw the doorknob turn, and the person she had come to know as an acquaintance entered the room. He wore plain black shoes, along with black pants, a white button-up, and an ash grey lab coat. His eyes were a dark brown with flecks of green, while his hair was dirty blonde and put into a low ponytail.  His stare was stern, yet warm as he walked over to the chair beside the girl, and sat down.

"Greetings Resident 35. Today instead of taking a normal evaluation today, you will be taking a final evaluation to see if you qualify for the exit test ." 35 felt her stomach drop. She knew that sixteen was the age when a person would take their final evaluation, but normally someone would have a final evaluation five months after their aging ceremony. Hers was only a week ago. The man let out a slight chuckle before he spoke again.

"I know this is a premature scheduling for a final evaluation, but all of the other 16's have had their final evaluation, and the Electors thought it was best to have you move on with the rest of the 16's"

A puzzled look came across 35's face as she spoke. " But it was told to us that the mind wasn't ready to undergo such an intensity as the final evaluation until 16 years and five months. This would mean that if I took the final evaluation, my mind wouldn't be able to comprehend the magnitude of the situation, causing my neural cells to overload with information, which would make my body shut down." 35 knew she had broken a rule, by not asking permission to speak but she was interested, yet slightly terrified of the situation before her.

The man stared at 35 for a moment before speaking a carefully crafted response. 

"You must learn to ask permission to speak. If not you will be working in the Ship Yards for the rest of your days." 

The thought hit 35 like a rock. The yelling, cleaning AND repairing ships, having to possibly take orders from Keyboard? She wouldn't be able to handle it. With a single glance, she told the man everything she wanted to say. 

The man stood up and walked to a compartment behind the chair 35 was sitting in. He opened the compartment and took out a syringe filled with a translucent blue fluid. 35 had seen the evaluation liquid before, but this time it looked different. She could see flacks of a strange substance floating in the liquid He walked back to the chair beside 35. The man took hold of the left arm and inserted the needle into a green wire that was in the crook of her arm. A strange sensation washed over. Like a thousand needles poking her skin, and fire blazing over her bones. 35 knew that it was supposed to hurt, but it stayed at a dull roar warming her slightly.

"Because this is your final evaluation, it will be given to the Electors. The test will be far different than a normal evaluation. Instead of being given a certain task, you will be put in a situation that has been made to see how far you've progressed since you started these evaluations. You will be in this environment until you choose to find the exit. While you're in the selected environment I will be monitoring variables such as heart rate, stress and comfort level, and your prefrontal cortex which helps you make decisions. After you exit the test you will go back to your normal routine, while the Electors study your final evaluation in great detail. If you pass, you will go on to take the exit test. If you don't pass this evaluation, the Electors will decide what punishment is fit for you." 

The man sat down in the chair beside 35. The girl had to battle a severe wave of fatigue to ask the question that had been gnawing at her insides since the man had walked into the room.

"Permission to speak sir?"

The man chuckled for a second before he nodded, giving her permission.

"Do you have a common name? I don't mean to intrude, but this has put me in deep thought." For a few moments, 35 thought that because of the man's harsh stare that she was condemned to work in the Ship Yards for the rest of her days, but his eyes softened, portraying a sense of understanding. He spoke with slight amusement in his voice.

"I once had the same curiosity as you. But then I passed the exit test, got assigned to Evaluation Recorder, and have been here ever since. But to answer your question, my common name is Fish."

35 wanted to ask more questions,  fatigue had ensnared her. Her vision started to blacken and her hearing became more and more muffled until the blackness had swallowed her consensus into a void that would soon place 35 in a situation unlike any other.

Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. I intend to upload chapters bi-weekly, or once a month. Happy reading.