My head jolts from my pillow as my eyelids pry themselves open. My skin feels clammy and my hands are cold. The fluorescent lights illuminate my pale skin that appears to be paper thin. My veins make intricate lines beneath its surface. Almost like roots to a—

“tree-“ I whisper.

I’ve never seen vegetation, at least not naturally occurring. I’ve never seen the sky, just pictures. I’ve never touched grass, yet I’ve been told that hasn’t existed in almost twenty years. I can’t miss what I’ve never experienced, and I can’t afford to get lost in the thought of wondering what’s beyond these cement walls.

I don’t understand why the people who raised me teach me about a past that no longer exists. As if it’s going to help anything. If there’s no remains of the past to return to, then why bother bringing it into focus?

My spiraling thoughts get abruptly interrupted by loud banging on my metal door.

“728, are you decent?” A man’s voice erupts from behind the door.

“Yes sir!” I respond, with my best attempt at holding back a shudder.

I stand at the foot of my bed as the man enters my room. He’s tall and muscular. His deep set eyes pierce through my expressionless face. In all honesty, it’s terrifying how serious he seems today. My calm demeanor fades to a concerned expression that I can’t quite hide.

“What’s wrong?” I stammer, while I fidget with a rogue string in the pocket of my black coveralls.

“Don’t play stupid, you know what day it is.” He huffs.

He’s right, I do know what day it is. However, in all honesty I’ve never been the person to fear much. I’ve heard from our guardians that today can be challenging to say the least, for some it can be devastating. I just wouldn’t expect it to affect any of the guardians this much. They’re not the ones being meticulously categorized.

All I’ve ever known is being tought different skill sets and being assessed. Day in and day out. Rinse, wash, and repeat. It does make me wonder how I feel deathly calm about today, and yet some of the guardians who’ve watched us grow up seem to be fighting back heavier emotions.

It’s almost as if I wasn’t made aware of the entire picture of what today really is.

I continue rolling the string in my pocket between my fingers as I get guided down the long white hallway along with my peers. None of us are smiling or exchanging words, just walking. They’re probably stuck in tought just as I am. Wondering what comes after today, if anything at all.

As we all get released into the auditorium there’s a massive illuminated screen on the cement wall, and it’s our names on a tier list of sorts. The others are now murmuring different numbers and speculating the meaning behind the daunting list.

“767, 724, 797..”

All of the names are in the 700’s because that’s the age category for 17 year olds. There’s roughly 100 of us. Not exactly 100, because some of us got weeded out at a young age due to what they call, “abnormalities.”

I was too young to remember that part, so I don’t think about it too much. Sometimes when my mind does get a chance to run rampant; I do occasionally wonder what the abnormalities were that got them ruled out and where they ended up.

Finally, the lights dim and the room goes deathly silent. All you can hear is shallow breathing. It’s almost rhythmic. A man formally dressed in a suit and tie leisurely takes the stage and taps the microphone. I’ve never seen this man before, or anyone dressed so formally.

He adjusts his tie and then he clears his throat. He puts his bearded face close to the microphone and lets out almost an arrogant sigh,

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet all of you. I am your creator.” He smirks as he directs his attention to the list behind him.

“Today is the day that you persue your purpose.”