by S. L. Baum
We pulled up to the Career Education Center where a crowd had gathered. The Citizens were craning their necks, trying to peek inside the vehicle. I saw young mothers with toddlers, holding them up and pointing, with hopeful smiles on their faces. There were young men and women around my age, new students of the CEC, and older Citizens as well. All of them were clapping and cheering as the vehicle came to a halt.
Cimarron pointed to the crowd. “I keep telling you this, Bluebell. You can no longer deny the truth of my words. You are the Lush girl. The Citizens love you. Embrace it.”
Gill turned his head and looked back at me. “Are you ready?”
My eyes widened. The crowd began to grow as more students came outside. “I guess so,” I squeaked.
His eyes registered my concern. “I’ll order the Citizens to move back and give you enough room to enter the building. You have nothing to worry about.”
Cimarron nodded her head in approval. “Thank you, Gilbert. That would be quite helpful. It is no wonder you were assigned to us as chauffeur. Your dedication is quite apparent.”
“Yes. Thank you, Gill,” I sighed.
“I’m just doing my job.” Gill exited the vehicle and motioned with his arms. “Please clear a path,” he boomed into the crowd as he opened the back door.
I stepped out first, with Cimarron following behind. The Citizens were shouting things out and my eyes flitted around, as my ears registered the sentiments. The video team was on site as well. They were standing in front of me, walking backward as I walked forward, videoing my every move.
“Bluebell!”
“Lush girl!”
“Oh, look how pretty she is.”
“Concord Reigns!”
“I can’t believe we get to see her in person, first.”
“Look, Mother!”
“See, baby, she’s a special Citizen.”
“Blue! Hey, Bluebell!”
“I love her dress.”
“I hope I get a Lush baby.”
“Did you see her Brand?”
“She’s not so special looking.”
“How’d she end up so lucky?”
“Concord’s chosen one.”
“Just look at her.”
I kept a smile on my face and I waved at the crowd as Cimarron ushered me forward. “Thank you. I’m so happy to be here. Concord Reigns,” I kept repeating those three sentiments, all the way into the building. The man and the woman who were videoing stood directly in front of me, continuing to walk backward as I slowly worked my way forward. They kept no more than four feet away from me, usually less.
I sighed, saying a silent goodbye to personal space.
Weaver was waiting for us right inside the doorway. “Bluebell, how are you this glorious Concord morning?”
I plastered on my best smile. “Quite well, thank you. And yourself?”
He placed his hand at the small of my back, and I stiffened slightly the moment his hand came into contact with my body. “Excellent, as always. I’ve been appointed to be your escort for the day. I’d love to show you around the Center, especially the medical wing. It has become my second home, seeing as Medical requires such extended training,” he said as he ushered me through the Common Room and down a hallway.
“I would guess that Medical is quite time consuming. But then it must be, if you are to be in charge of the Citizens’ health and well-being. I can only imaging the amount of preparation it takes to be a truly effective caregiver.”
Weaver uttered a small, but proud, laugh. “I wouldn’t have been chosen for this career if it wasn’t obvious that I could easily handle the challenge. I very much look forward to receiving my Certificate of Completion, and to the day that I am able to treat my own patients. I find that Medical requires great concentration from me, and much hard work, but it is an exceptionally rewarding profession.”
I nodded my head. “I imagine it would be. Your parents must be exceedingly proud.”
“They are. And I am proud to serve Concord in this way.”
“Of course you are, just as I am.” It was a Citizen’s duty to perform their chosen profession with pride.
“Concord Reigns.” Weaver smiled at me.
“Concord Reigns,” I echoed.
Weaver’s smile seemed innocent enough, but part of me saw something intimate, something hopeful in his gaze. I turned my head and concentrated on the hallway in front of me. When I’d walked into Two’s Career Education Center, I found almost a mirror image of the one that my friends and I attended back home. The design was the same, except for the extra hallway. Instead of three, leading away from the Common Room, there was a fourth hallway built into this one’s design. The extra one being designated for Medical Training.
I wondered if Fisher had compared the plans for the two buildings yet during his Architectural Design classes, or if that kind of information was even shared between Concords. I told myself to ask him when I got back home. If not, he’d be excited to hear the details and would probably scold me when I couldn’t remember the Architecture with accurate specifics.
Cimarron looked down at her tablet and then at Weaver. “I assume we will be touring Medical?”
“It is our first stop,” Weaver confirmed with pride.
There were numerous and varied classrooms in the Medical hallway. Some Citizens had been chosen to be Doctors, some were destined for Drug Development, and others strictly worked on Longevity… extending the life of a Citizen while preserving his or her youthful appearance.
Weaver took us on an informational walk through it all, explaining the workings of each area and introducing me to the instructor inside each classroom. When we arrived at Drug Development and storage, the video team was asked to stay outside. “We need a clean environment,” Weaver explained.
They recorded footage of Weaver and I as we donned the sterile white coats, hats, and shoe coverings that were the required uniform for entrance through the steel double doors. Cimarron chose to wait outside for us; she said she had files to go over. Weaver punched in his security code, which unlocked the doors, and the two of us entered. We walked in completely alone, with no one following us. No one was watching me. It was a nice feeling.
I soon discovered we weren’t completely alone at all. As we walked past rows of humongous, clear, cubed experiment and isolation boxes, I saw that each one was occupied. There was a member of the Medical personnel typing away at a tablet inside each one. And in some of the cubes, a second Citizen sat in a chair or lay on a table.
“What is this room?” I asked.
“Medicinal Research and Experimentation. They are trying out new drugs, checking the results, and recording the data. The information will be used to fine-tune the drug for maximum efficiency,” Weaver explained, as he pushed his hair away from his eyes.
Standing at a high table, overseeing the entire room, stood Payson.
“Bluebell, so nice to see you again,” he said, extending his hand. “Impressive operation, is it not?”
“It is.” I nodded my head as my eyes scanned the room. “What is wrong with that woman?” I asked, pointing to one of the clear cubes nearest to me.
The woman’s hair was dull and was thinning. Her skin looked bright red and was flaking away from her arms. Her expression was anything but calm. She frowned down at her arms, shaking her head in worry.
Payson looked over to where I was pointing. “I think that was a bad reaction to a faster acting, skin glow and darkening serum. Something new for those women who prefer a sun-kissed complexion. We are in the process of fine tuning it.”
“She looks miserable.”
Payson shrugged. “She volunteered to be a test subject. The benefit package must have been worth it, to her. No one is forced to participate in a Medical test.”
“And why is he here?” I asked, pointing toward another cube. Inside was a young boy, probably around three years old, with tears running down his face.
“He just received a vaccination w
ith our new painless delivery system. I assure you, he is fine. We are quite pleased with the results. The tears are because we were not able to allow his mother to stay with him.”
I frowned, watching the little boy’s chest heave up and down. “Poor boy.”
“He might as well get used to it now. He can’t stay with her much longer. The tears are unneeded. He should have been aware that no harm would come to him. The mother must have been coddling him too much, which is not the best kind of test subject. But then, maybe it was the right subject after all. The mother needs to realize that her son will be going to Training Tech, soon. She must learn to detach herself, and he must learn that Concord knows best. It was a good lesson for both of them.”
“A lesson we all had to learn,” Weaver agreed.
“Look,” Payson said with a self-satisfied smile. “The tears are gone, he is quite content now. He simply needed to learn how to comfort and calm himself.”
He was correct, the boy seemed happier. He was given a ball to play with while the man in the cube with him typed something on his tablet.
I crossed my arms in front of my chest and rocked back on my heels. “Aspen, my mother, was never overly affectionate with me as a child,” I said aloud. Or ever, I silently added in my head.
“Your mother knew what was best for you. If you became too attached, then the transition to Training Tech would have been a traumatic one for you. It is best not to bring that kind of stress into a child’s life. Aspen knew that Concord’s recommendations for child rearing were for the best, and she followed them explicitly. I’ve read the report. And look how perfect the results were,” he stated, pointing to my left arm.
I circled my right hand around my Brand. “Yes. Perfect.”
“Do you recognize that woman?” Weaver asked, pointing toward a cubical in the far right corner of the room.
The woman was stunning. She had flawless skin, with a perfect porcelain complexion. Her hair was long, a splendid shade of red, and it had an unearthly shine to it. She stood tall, in a short, clinging, black slip dress that hugged every curve of her body. Her eyes gleamed and a small, satisfied smile was set on her face. “I’ve seen her face before.”
He leaned in toward me. “A Fertile woman, a proud mother of two Citizens here at the CEC, a woman who waited to begin her youth serums until her children were born. In fact, records show that she requested the first one exactly two months after giving birth to the second child. Both her offspring are Fertile, and she is visual perfection. She is the first Citizen to receive of all of the drugs that have been previously tested and are labeled to have proven results. She is also the top performer in all of Concord’s video dramas.”
“Yes. I can picture her now. She has such an endearing way of crying during those sad scenes.”
Weaver winked. “Insta-tears,” he whispered.
“No! Really?”
“Really.”
I covered my mouth with my hands to keep from laughing.
“Shall we move on?” Payson motioned ahead of us, gesturing toward a blue door in the back of the room. “Drug housing is through there, and then Weaver can escort you through the rest of the CEC.”
The room we entered was like a wide hallway, with glass shelves that lined the walls on both sides. A multitude of colored pills lined the walls. The drugs were clearly labeled, in alphabetical order, and neatly lined up and spaced out on the shelves. It was an impressive display. The Memory drugs caught my eye. I stopped in front of a shelf that contained three bottles with the Memory label.
“How does anyone know which one is which?” I asked. “I assume they are all different.”
“Pink is for preserving memories, a daily dose is recommended for naturally forgetful people. White is for erasing, and yellow is for gaining lost ones,” Payson answered. “Yellow is quite popular among our aging Citizens. It has remarkable results.”
“A yellow a day, for the week before crucial exams, is also quietly given to many of the CEC students. It helps to unlock knowledge that may be hard to bring to the front of their mind when in a moment of performance pressure,” Weaver added.
“That would be quite helpful!”
Payson nodded his head in agreement. “Yes. Would you like the have some? I believe the yellow Memory drug would help if you freeze up and forget a rehearsed speech.”
“Oh, yes. That would be lovely.”
Weaver opened a drawer, removed a small, clear plastic bag, and was about to hand it to me when Payson stopped him.
“I’ll have a bottle of each sent to Guest Accommodations,” Payson said. “Concord’s resources are abundant.”
I stepped toward the shelf and stared at the little colored pills inside the bottles. “Thank you so very much, Payson. What would you say is the best way to consume them? With a sip of water?”
“Ummhmm, that would do. Or if you find it difficult to swallow a pill, you could drop one into your drink. They dissolve almost immediately, and are completely colorless and tasteless when they do.”
“I see,” I said. That answered my question about how I’d been given Memory erasing drugs without my knowledge. I wondered what else I had been given throughout my life; surely more than I wanted to know.
“These might be helpful in your duties as well,” Weaver said, holding up a small bottle with pale purple pills inside. “The best combination of Awake, Aware, and Pain Relief there is.”
“Ah, yes,” Payson nodded his head in agreement. “That one was just released for Citizen consumption. It is an effective combination. Weaver, I believe it was at your suggestion, during your first year at the CEC, that we began development.”
“It was,” Weaver replied with pride.
“Which is why you quickly became our top student. I’ll have all four drugs sent over right away. They will be in your Accommodations by the time you retire for the evening. Well, I must be getting back. Bluebell, I am sure the remainder of your day will be quite pleasant, with Weaver to guide you. I will be present for your question and answer session with the students after your midday meal. Until then.”
Payson spun around and exited through the door we had entered from, and went back to the Research and Experimentation room.
“Shall we continue on?” Weaver said, placing his hand at the small of my back again.
I nodded my head and we walked through the doorway at the end of the storage room.
Chapter Eight
Ask Questions. Find Answers.
As soon as Weaver and I exited the Medical hall, the video team began to shadow me once again. They had stayed by Cimarron’s side until they saw the two of us emerge from the double doors we’d disappeared behind. They continued to record more seemingly useless footage as I removed the white coat, hat, and shoe coverings. I couldn’t imagine that the scene would be remotely interesting to any Citizen.
“Was it an interesting behind the scenes tour?” Cimarron asked, her heels clicked in pace with us as we continued on to the next hallway in the CEC.
“Very informative. Medical is hard at work, making sure our bodies are in superior condition, inside and out. What a blessing Concord is, for all Citizens,” I said, looking directly at the video recorder.
“A blessing indeed,” Cimarron agreed.
I found the tour through the remaining three halls of the Career Education Center quite fascinating as well. I wasn’t a traditional CEC student… in the sense that once chosen as the Lush Ambassador, I wasn’t given another profession. Because of this, I didn’t enter into any kind of formal training as my friends had. I didn’t take classes or learn anything other than how to be a dutiful and effective public figure for Concord. So, watching the students of Two as they socialized and moved about while they received specialized instruction filled me with a sense of wonder. I was finally able to see how my friends experienced the CEC.
As we passed the Architectural rooms, I thought of Fisher. When we entered Video Development, I pictured Stone recording a fe
llow student and editing the performance to create a fun comedy. We passed rooms labeled Peace Keeping, Guarding Training, and Early Child Development. When we came upon Custodial Services for a Hygienic and Spotless Concord, a guilty smile appeared on my face as I thought of Coral. I’d heard that she had chosen to become a Custodial Manager instead of becoming a Guardian. She would be able to enter into a Marriage Contract earlier that way, and Lily said Coral was still clinging to the thought that being Coral 1.01 would be enough to persuade some unfortunate man into a union with her.
When we passed by Armory, I felt a pang of longing for Lily. I missed my best friend and wished she could be travelling with me; it would be a whole different experience if Lily was by my side. And then we poked our heads into the Writing Department. The room was divided into two areas, with Creative Storytelling in the back of the room, and News and General Information in the front of the room. I watched the students steadily typing on their tablets and it made me yearn for Thorn. I wished I could have Lily on my left and Thorn on my right; the two people I trusted the most.
I always thought I would live my life, do my duty, and be all that Concord wished me to be, because I knew that The Council would make the best choices for each and every Citizen. But somehow, everything had all been turned upside down. I was following directions, trying not to call attention to myself, and had started to believe that The Council only wanted to use Concord’s Citizens for its own best interests. Was my whole life a lie?
After we left the Writing Department, we headed toward a private room just outside the Career Education Center, in which we would be having lunch with a few of the students. I took a deep breath as we walked and blew it out very slowly, releasing as much air from my lungs as I could, purging it all. What I wanted to do was run into a private restroom and hide from the video team. I wanted to find Gill and make him take me back home to One, back to my friends. But that also meant back to my family, and I wasn’t ready to face Aspen and my father. There were too many questions that I knew they would never answer, and I would never be able to ask.