by Sadie Turner
It’s odd, the things I remember and the things I don’t.
Men and women in crisp, black uniforms herd us toward the flagpole where we will be assigned to our bunks. As we head to the center of camp, I see two dozen adults standing by officiously, wearing the colors of the seven communities. I hear one of the black uniforms tell a camper that these will be our counselors for the next three weeks.
“How soon do you think we can go swimming?” Rane asks as we walk.
“Huh?”
“Look, there’s a lake!” Rane turns me clockwise and I immediately smile. There is a large man-made lake just to our left with several wooden cabins around it. I’ll be able to swim! Sure, it won’t be in my beloved ocean, but I will feel more at home. Smiling, I look over the rest of the terrain. There are more cabins to our right at the base of the mountain. There are playing fields behind us and just in front of us is a flagpole bearing the seven striped flag of Global Governance. I look back at the lake. Just beyond it is an imposing stone building which, judging from my history lessons, has the design of the Victorian period. I’ve never seen anything like it. It is completely out of place, but stunningly beautiful with tall stone structures with turrets.
“What’s in that building?” Rane asks a passing counselor. While I am fairly shy around strangers, Rane has no problem letting her voice be heard, especially if she is curious about something, and Rane is always curious. She is one of the smartest people I’ve ever met in my life.
“It’s part of MC-5,” the counselor in black says.
“What’s that?” Rane presses.
“Monarch Camp for five-year-olds. They come for the last week of the month. Just after you go home.” He rushes off, trying to reign in a group of boys from Ecosystem who have wandered away from the pack.
“We should check it out,” Rane impishly whispers.
“No way,” I say.
“Way,” she shoots back. “C’mon Keeva, aren’t you even curious? We can see what all of the fuss is about. Check out the place where we met our intended partners ten years ago.”
“I’m not planning to get into trouble while I’m here.” It’s not that I’m not interested, I am. But I want to stick to the program.
“Suit yourself. But when I have a free moment, I’m definitely going,” Rane says.
“C’mon, let’s get good seats.” I pull Rane in the direction of the flagpole where everyone is congregating. Rane, Annika and I sit at the far left of the semicircle so that we can have a perfect vantage point of the entire procession.
A hard-looking woman in a black uniform walks up to the flagpole and I know that my session is about to begin.
“Welcome, Citizens.”
Everyone quickly settles down and finds a patch of ground to sit on as the woman with short-cropped white hair and high cheekbones raps her ringed hand on the flagpole, making a surprisingly loud noise. Annika, Rane, and I sit side by side, holding hands and waiting eagerly for our fates to be decided. Annika’s sister Quill told us everything that is about to happen, so we are prepared as we watch the announcements. Quill said that we should try to remember every moment from the second the Camp Director starts speaking. It is such a mind-blowing experience to finally be reunited with your intended mate that it’s easy to get caught up in the emotion of it. Quill can still describe the first time she and Jed were reunited. Each moment. Each feeling. It’s a story I’ve heard far too many times and I’m ready to have my own story to tell.
“Welcome, Citizens,” the handsome woman repeats as the last few whispers quiet. “My name is Claudia Durant and I am your Camp Director. Welcome. Over the course of the next hour, I will be announcing each group of intended partners. As you know from your sociology lessons, these partnerships have been carefully arranged to ensure a long and happy life.” She gives a practiced smile before consulting her digital tablet. “I will be calling you by the girls’ bunk assignments. Girls Camp is located next to the lake and Boys Camp is at the base of the mountain. When you hear your name, please come forward. You will have two hours to reunite with your intended partner and explore the campground before continuing on to your assigned bunks. Nothing is off limits except the administration building.” She points to the same Victorian building that Rane asked about. I feel Rane squeeze my hand, but I ignore her, focusing my attention on the Camp Director.
“When your names are called,” Claudia Durant says, pausing for a split second to survey the entire camp before continuing, “you will feel something you have never felt before. It is OK. It is just part of the imprinting process.”
Annika, Rane, and I sit nervously, surrounded by a group of kids from the Ocean Community. All the communities are huddled together. It is an uneven rainbow with blues, browns, purples, greens, yellows, and reds all assembled in patches. Only the Protectors, kids in sleek black outfits who look a lot more mature than we do, congregate in smaller groups, peppered among the larger cliques.
“Bunk 1 Girls! Annika Aames, your intended partner is … Dante Suarez from Bunk 1 Boys.”
Annika jumps up and we all scan the crowd. At the edge of the red group, a caramel-skinned boy rises. He has thick black hair and a big smile. When they lock eyes, I notice something quite remarkable. Annika’s Third begins to buzz. I can hear the soft purr of electricity and I watch as she closes her eyes. Annika is momentarily in shock before she opens her eyes again. She shakes her head, trying to understand the new jolt of energy.
“What’s happening?” I whisper.
“It’s … it’s incredible” is all she says. Her eyes glaze over and her pupils suddenly dilate. My usually klutzy friend doesn’t trip once as she makes her way to the flagpole. The entire time, her eyes are locked on her intended partner who smiles widely at her as he deftly glides through the crowd. Dante Suarez’s body has clearly caught up with his head and he is cute. Really cute. Annika’s smile takes up her entire face and I watch as she grabs his hand and pulls him along to the lake area.
Claudia Durant keeps calling out names. First the girl’s name, then her intended partner’s name. It’s a fascinating process to watch because no one has any idea who their intended partners are. As each girl’s name is called, everyone murmurs and looks around before her intended partner’s name is called. I feel privileged to be a spectator in such an important life event. The only person who seems unfazed by the activity is the Camp Director. Durant has clearly been in charge for a long time because she is almost bored by the task.
Claudia Durant finishes listing the partners in Bunk 1 and moves on to Bunk 2. Annika is the only person from the Ocean Community assigned to Bunk 1. It is filled with mostly Labor and Ecosystem girls. I can still see her in the distance by the lake and I try to suppress my jealousy. She has been assigned to someone who she likes. With whom she seems completely compatible. I hope that I am equally satisfied.
As each of the bunks is called out, I observe the flashes of fear, uncertainty, and excitement on each of the intended pairs’ faces as they are matched together. Then, I hear their Thirds buzz before a calm washes over them. I can’t wait for the calm to wash over me. With each name Claudia Durant calls, I feel increasingly anxious. She finishes calling Bunks 2 and 3 and begins on Bunk 4.
Even though many of the matches are across communities, people seem generally suited to each other. A gangly girl from the Labor Community squeals with delight as she is partnered with a tall, athletic boy from the Agricultural Community. The Lauderdale twins, who are in my grade in the Ocean Community, are matched with a pair of identical twins from the Ecosystem Community. Claudia Durant calls out Bunks 5 through 15. More squeals of excitement, more future partnerships solidified. The Global Governance has taken all unknown variables out of partnerships and the result is a one-hundred-percent success rate for marital pairings. In my grandparents’ time, more than half of the couples used to get divorced. Now, there is no such thing, because people are matched from the inside out, rather than from the outside in. Our DNA
dictates our compatibility. The guesswork has been removed. I am so entranced by the process, I barely notice that neither Rane nor I have been called.
“What bunk are they up to?” Rane asks twisting her nearly white, blond hair around her finger. She always does that when she’s nervous. Rane is almost as tall as I am and she wears black spectacles, which make her light blue eyes look enormous.
“No clue—16? 17?” I quickly count the number of bunks along the lake. Twenty in total. I look around at the remaining campers. There are no longer distinct assemblies of color, just a small circle of nervous faces scanning the crowd, wondering whom their intended partners will be.
“We’ll be fine.” I clasp my hand tightly in Rane’s to comfort her, and before she can respond, her name is called.
“Bunk 19 Girls—Rane Crowley. Your intended partner is Edward Stoppard—Bunk 19 Boys.”
I can barely stifle a laugh. Eddie is a member of the Ocean Community who lives half a mile up the shore. His father works with my father. Rane is being matched with Eddie, nerdy Eddie. I am still tightly clasping Rane’s hand when she is imprinted. Suddenly, I feel a spark of energy jolt through my fingers. It is coming from her Third, and I feel the energy travel from in between her eyes through the rest of her nervous system, eventually shocking her hand, which in turn shocks my hand. I watch her eyes, magnified by the glasses. Her brown pupils get bigger and bigger, covering up most of the light blue. A wave of calm envelopes her body and she stands up.
Unflustered. Serene.
I watch the pair shyly greet each other, old friends who are now suddenly asked to change the entire nature of their relationship.
The pairing makes sense.
Both are smart, much smarter than the typical Ocean Community members, where physical strength is encouraged over mental acuity. They will be happy. They’ll have beautiful towheaded kids and I guess they’ll both end up as marine biologists. Again, I find myself filled with envy. The transition will be so easy for Rane. Not only will she not have to wait three extra years to be with her intended partner, she knows him already. She could have done a lot worse. Eddie, although a bit geeky, is a standup guy who is popular, smart, and really kind. My eyes follow them as they walk off toward the base of the mountain. Eddie gently grabs her hand, just a finger at a time until their hands are fully clasped. The blues of their outfits match and they look like a single unit as they walk farther and farther away, disappearing into the distance.
“Bunk 20 Girls—Keeva Tee.”
I’m pulled out of my reverie when I hear my name. My Third will soon buzz and I will soon find satisfaction in my intended partner. I stand eagerly, waiting for Camp Director Durant to say, “Your intended partner is,” but those words never come. Instead, she reads off a list of two more names in Girls’ Bunk 20 and four more names in Boys’ Bunk 20: “Mikaela Fleming. Blue Patterson. Kai Loren. Burton Skora. Genesis Kraft. Radar Morton.”
There must be a mistake. Shock spreads across my face as I look around at the remaining seven campers. Two greens, a red, a purple, a yellow, a brown, and me.
Anomalies.
“WHY AM I HERE?”
Calix was irritated. He had reluctantly left the game room where he was playing laser holo tag with his friends. His team was winning by two points and he hated leaving his friends in a lurch. But when Sobek beckoned, Calix had no choice but to comply. He followed his father from the ground floor up one hundred levels to the penthouse suite. Sobek’s office overlooked the entire city, but Calix was unimpressed by the view. He scanned the city below that was teeming with people. He wished he were one of the masses and could just disappear rather than be the son and sole heir of the world leader. Calix slumped into a leather chair, wondering if his team was still winning. He much preferred hanging out with his friends than his father.
“You need to cut your hair,” Sobek snarled.
“I don’t need to do anything.” Calix undid his ponytail, shaking out his long black hair, which framed his strong jaw. He grinned defiantly at his father.
“It’s your choice … for now. But all Protectors have short hair and you’ll be eighteen soon.” Sobek sighed. He was used to his son’s recalcitrance and, in the past, he hadn’t discouraged it. All leaders need an unbreakable spirit and he had spent the last seventeen years raising the strongest heir he could. Soon, Calix would be tested and if his son could survive the test then his options were limitless.
Sobek waved his hand across the 360-degree view of the city and thousands of holos appeared over the window. They showed different communities, different cities, different territories.
“How did you do that?” Calix was stunned. He didn’t know his father had so much access.
“The information from the satellites is projected here,” Sobek replied.
“This is your office?”
“Everywhere is my office, son. In our new, technologically advanced age, I can set up a command center from wherever I am.” Sobek held up his wrist. On it he wore a sleek identity watch. “Satellites collect information from every citizen’s Third. The information is sent to my identity watch and I can watch who I want, when I want.”
“So, you’re spying on everyone?” Calix got up and slowly wandered around the perimeter of the room, trying to view the thousands of changing holos.
“Spying is such a negative word,” Sobek said.
“What would you call it?”
“Observing. Gathering. Protecting.” Sobek looked at his son, “How do you think we keep everyone safe?”
“I don’t know.”
“Start thinking son. There is a complex system set into place and it will need a complex mind to control it.”
“Like I said, you spy on everyone.”
“There isn’t enough time in the day. I have underlings who do that for me. They are located on floors 88 to 90. They collect data and send the critical information directly to me.” Sobek watched his son’s amazement as he tried to take in all the holos. “I’m planning to give this to you.”
Calix stopped at a holo. His dark green eyes settled on a small group of teenagers standing in a cluster in what looked like a large campground. “Exactly what are you giving me?” Calix finally asked, his eyes glued to the tall freckled redheaded girl with the sad eyes who stood in the center of the circle.
“The world, my son.” Sobek grinned, “The world.”
I am stunned.
We all are. Our silent shock is interrupted by the petite girl in the green overalls who won’t stop crying. No one moves to her, no one helps. Our lives have all been seemingly condemned with this unexpected new label.
“How can I be an Anomaly? I’m so popular,” she spits out between sobs, not caring how ridiculous she sounds. She curls up on the ground in a ball, bawling so hard it looks like she is about to throw up.
“Popularity has nothing to do with it, Mikaela. Don’t you know your history?” A boy in drab olive-green work clothes mutters as he protectively puts his arms around her, enveloping her in his large frame. I admire the way he instantly comforts her, as if he is rescuing a wounded bird. The boy with the square jaw is also an Anomaly, yet his concern is not for himself but for her. A selfless act. They are both from the Ecosystem Community and they practically blend in with the environment. Two small dark figures camouflaged by their green clothes in the tall grass.
“The person you’re supposed to imprint with is probably dead. That’s why you’re here. It’s why we’re all here. We don’t have a partner. We’re individuals. We’re not connected to anyone,” he says, gesturing around to the rest of our ragtag group.
“But it’s not fair, Genesis.”
“Life isn’t fair,” Genesis immediately replies. His voice is soft, so that we must strain to listen to him. He has broad shoulders and the muscles of someone who has spent his young lifetime working in the fields. I watch Genesis kick the small patch of grass at his feet until the earth turns over and makes a brown hole of dirt. I see an
almost imperceptible twitch in the corners of his almond shaped eyes. He looks like he is going to cry, but he is clearly trying to stay strong. Ecosystem is the most emotional community and Genesis and Mikaela express themselves immediately while the rest of us are still trying to process. I am envious of them. I want to scream, cry, explode. Instead, I just stay silent and look at my feet.
I don’t want to know these people. These Anomalies.
“This wasn’t what was supposed to happen.” Mikaela continues, “What are my parents going to say?”
I think about my father. What am I going to tell him? Will I even have an opportunity to tell him anything? I am no longer certain of my future. I take in deep breaths, trying to control my fear. I close my eyes and pretend I am swimming. Long rhythmic strokes. Holding my breath for ten, twenty, thirty seconds. I imagine I’m underwater, racing a school of blue-lined snappers. I’m surrounded by the yellow and blue fish, darting in and out of brightly colored coral. I’m … I’m … I open my eyes. I’m sitting in the middle of nowhere, redefining my life.
I’m an Anomaly. I let out a sudden gasp, the realization finally sinking in.
“There is nothing to worry about,” Claudia Durant says. She never looks up from her digital tablet. She forces a smile while simultaneously typing notes. “Ninety percent of Anomalies are quickly imprinted and reintegrated into society.”
Before any of us can ask the unanswered question about what happens to the other ten percent, Claudia Durant finally looks at us, as if we are an afterthought to the day’s events.
“Like I said, it is all going to be fine.” She pats Genesis on the shoulder and it seems like an awkward action for her. She is forcing a compassion she clearly doesn’t possess. “I’ll be right back. Please stay put. I have to finish some administrative duties and then I will show you to your cabins. We have plenty of time.” She gestures to the rest of the camp who has gone off into pairs, “Everyone else is getting acquainted. You might as well do the same.”