All is Fair

Touchstone

As Emery slowly walked out of the office building she was filled with a hundred different emotions ran through her veins. Sadness of leaving her friends, anxiousness of joining a completely new program, and many more as butterflies fluttered through the knots in her stomach. She reached the jeep and climbed into the passenger seat.

They drove through the gates of the camp into a world completely undiscovered by Emery. She stared out the window, hiding her excitement of being outside of the camp she had lived in her whole life. Most never left the camp unless it was for punishment. The untouched forest bloomed all around. The pine trees towered over the jeep as they drove. Tanks, huge trucks, and other jeeps passed every once in a while, breaking her concentration.

Emery focused on her surroundings instead of the thousands of wild thoughts trying to form, however she fell into one without a fight.

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She was at Touchstone, or what she thought Touchstone would look like. Everything was dark and dull, and she was all alone. Her officer was screaming at her, "Emery White you are the worst soldier I have ever seen!! Birthmothers have better aim with a gun and drivers have more strength!!I have never seen anyone so..."

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Emery shook the thought away. She was too afraid of what her mind could come up with.
So instead she thought of something else.

She had always known that the worst job for a female was a Birthmother but the male and female trainees were separated, so she never knew what the worst job for a male was. She had substituted driver because the one in this jeep looked pretty wimpy. He remained focused on the road but he was obviously displeased with his position. Who could blame him though? All he did was drive the same road every day. How boring could that be? Seeing the same things over and over every day. Poor guy.
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Before Emery had time to with another awful daydream they had arrived at Touchstone. It was a two story, old, cinder block building. The walls were starting to crumble and every window was broken. It looked like an abandoned jail, which was probably the point. There were tall gates lined with barbed wire and bars covering every possible exit. This didn't look anything like some top-secret rebel government facility, it looked like hell.

As they pulled up to the front Emery got out of the car and the driver immediately left. As she turned to face the entrance of the building, she saw an officer standing right in front of her. Emery jumped into attention, she hadn't known the Sargent was there. She was tall and thin. Her hair was a dark brown, almost black, with large waves that flowed over one shoulder. Her eyes were a bright blue, she was like the picture of perfection.

"So you're the new maggot I'm in charge of?" She spoke sternly, "I hear you're a good soldier but I want to see for myself. 50, now!" She screamed. Emery immediately dropped to the ground and did fifty push-ups with no complaint. She then rushed to her feet back into attention.

"Not bad," she admitted, "but not fast enough. You're here to become a spy for the Outsiders. You will be pushed until you break and then I will push you farther. You will not complain or you will suffer. I will make you a machine, to act on an instinct that I will implant into your head. You will become the perfect spy, or you won't like what happens. Are we clear?"

"Sir, yes, sir!" Emery shouted

"Good. Now follow me."