Becoming Chosen

The number of children our descendants have must be as tightly controlled as any other system. The artificial infertility will take care of that, but we should not kid ourselves that we can in anyway control love. It is as much a part of the human condition as the wanderlust that spurs this project. Personally, I’d change it if I could., Love is wonderful, but it’s sad twin, heartbreak is something we could do without.

-Marta Jager, excerpt from a file titled “Musings”, Sealed Archive

Miri’s head was spinning. She felt like she was the heroine in one of the silly stories the other girls would make up. Tonight had been perfect!

When she had met Bret, he looked so handsome it took her breath away. He had been standing near the pen for the prize goats, dressed in a long sleeved, blue and white striped shirt, with a tightly buttoned vest of soft suede hugging his frame. Obviously new black jeans showed off his long legs, with the tooled leather of his boots peeking out from under the hem. He was one of the most gorgeous things she had ever seen.

Miri was so glad she had the new dress to match his finery. As exciting as it was to wear something Town-made, the way people looked at her made her feel like the prettiest girl at Festival.

When Bret had spotted her, his eyes had gone wide. For a second Miri had thought he was looking at someone behind her, then she remembered the new Town dress.

From there, time seemed to shatter, leaving her with sensations rising up above the flood of golden bliss she was drowning in. She could recall the scratchy feel of the hay as they rode with other couples to the South End Cap. And the bouncing feeling of finding seats in huge curving bleachers, up the side of the Cap, where her weight was less than a quarter of what it normally was. And the chill in her stomach as the vast light tube was fully extinguished, and true darkness took the habmo.

Miri had always loved fireworks. The flashes of light in the darkness, the sharp sound of the explosions, the burst of carmine, gold, blue and green, and of course, the patterns. Squares, pyramids, even faces were created in instants of fire. All this was the same as it had always been, but when Bret had slipped his hand into hers, it became better and more exciting than ever.

Now they were walking hand in hand through the fog that only seemed to form during Festivals. Maybe the Gods of Earth knew there were many couples seeking a little extra privacy. In the middle distance, there was the sound of music and the blobs of color from the light globes around the dance floor. Miri thought it might be fun to dance, but not until later.

As so often happened when she was excited, Miri was babbling about the way things worked, specifically the fireworks.

“There are walkways up on the light-tube. Way up there, it’s like bein’ in the no-weight of an elevator all the time. The fireworks are launched from there by teams of Chosen and Town-folk. It only takes a small push to get them goin’ and they time the fuses to make the shapes.”

“That’s interestin’,” Bret said and pulled her close. He began kissing her on the side of her neck.

“It really is, isn’t it?” Miri said. “I got to see where they made the bombs once. It’s amazin’!”

Bret grunted and moved a hand to one of her breasts. He moved it around in a circle, which felt amazing.

“The way they mix the powder and chemicals to make the color, it’s…”

Bret pulled his head away from her neck, and looked hard at her, something in his eyes was not friendly, not at all.

“World around! Do you ever shut up? I don’t care about the cursed fireworks! Do you want to pair or not?”

Miri couldn’t believe her ears. What had happened? She thought things were going perfectly.

“I, I… why are you being like this?” she stammered. “I thought we were having fun.”

Bret snorted derisively. “Fun? Talkin’ about unrighteous crap like throwin’ flaming bombs off the light-tube? Why would you think that is fun or even interestin’?”

Miri pushed him away, her eyes wide with horror.

“Look, girl, do you want to pair or not?” Bret asked harshly.

“With you? Now? No!” Miri shouted.

Bret set his mouth in a hard line, and nodded. “Okay, fine. That suits me too.” He started to turn, then turned back. “You know, I was willin’ to do Solange and Farhi a favor, get you started off pairin’ and all. It seemed like the kind thing to do. But the boys from Three warned me you were too weird. Now I know. Good thing I had another pairin’ set up for later. Good bye, freak.” He pulled his vest straight, turned and walked out of sight in the fog, never looking back.

Miri stood completely frozen as he walked away. After Bret vanished she felt her legs collapse, dropping her to the dew-drenched grass.

Tears ran down her face as she cried with great wracking sobs. She thought Bret was so wonderful, but it had all been an act! He didn’t care about her at all. Worse, he didn’t like her even a little. He had planned to meet some other girl even if she had paired with him. How could someone so lovely be so awful on the inside?

And what he said! That the boys from Habmo3 thought she was too strange, and had told others! He was going to pair with her out of pity! Why did things like this always happen to her?

Maybe he was right. Maybe they all were. She was just too odd, too different from all the other Chosen. She had always suspected, but to have it confirmed like this was the worst possible thing.

No, it wasn’t the worst. The worst was that she wanted to talk to her friends about it, but they were in on the joke! Solange and Farhi had set this all up. All their help with buying the dress and urging her to start pairing; it was all because poor little Miri was the odd duck, the strange one no-one wanted. She couldn’t even talk to her best friends, because they were part of the problem.

In that instant hate blazed through her mind and heart. They didn’t want her, fine! They could all go to the unrighteous masses of Earth! If they didn’t need her, then she didn’t need them!

The fire of her hate stilled her tears. Roughly rubbing her face, she forced herself to her feet. Right. If there was no place for her among the Chosen, then she would go to the Town! At least there, wanting to know how things worked wasn’t freakish. She never asked to be Chosen. Now there was no reason to even pretend.

Miri looked around to figure out where she was. The South End Cap and the elevators were that way. With a determined expression on her face, she stalked into the fog looking for a different future away from everyone who looked down on her.

Two hours later, Miri approached the doors of the South End elevator. It is one thing to decide to throw away everything in your life, it is quite another to do it without any thought. Though the fire of hate still burned hot in her chest, Miri was not willing to make her approach to the Town-folk in her party dress, with red eyes and blotchy skin.

She had gone back to the farm her family were staying at and got her own clothes. It took some doing to sneak in and out without anyone seeing her, but they didn’t expect her back this early. They all thought she’d be out pairing with Bret.

She felt better the instant she pulled on her pants and gathered up her few possessions. Clothes, shoes, the little kit of tools she had assembled to explore her world, these were all she had, and all she felt she needed.

Part of Miri wanted to leave a note, telling everyone she was leaving. But the angry part of her wanted them to wonder and suffer. None of them ever did anything kind for her. Why should she do anything for them?

Punching the call button Miri looked around, she had come this far without being seen, and didn’t want anyone to see her until it was too late and she was living in the Town. She was a little disappointed that she had not run into Bret and whatever dim-brained girl he was pairing with. She wanted to give him a kick in the fork good and proper, like she should have done earlier.

The elevator doors opened and she stepped in. Already the light from the machine looked different to her, more like the home she always wanted. It was the work of seconds to fit her feet into the loops. Ready to leave she pushed the button for the Town and watched with satisfaction as the door shut on her old life.

As the elevator began moving to the no-weight zone, doubts started to crop up. What if the Town people didn’t want her either? She could read and write, all the Chosen had to learn, but what did she know about the things they did in the Town?

Miri shook her head hard. No. It didn’t matter. She would make the Town people, her new people, see she was valuable. She didn’t know how exactly, but it didn’t matter, she’d figure it out. Miri could feel a bitter little smile paint itself over her face. Uncle Fergus had often said not to run out to meet trouble. It might not be coming to your house. Who knew the old man could be right about anything?

The elevator made the bumps and clanks that signaled it was leaving the habmo. One more no-weight time and she’d be at her new home! She spent the time thinking of the things she would say to whoever she found there. It’s important to have a plan.

When the elevator doors opened, Miri faced something she had not planned for. There was no one in the Town. The lights were dimmed, making big and threatening shadows everywhere, but not a single person was to be seen.

After wandering through the streets for a few minutes, Miri decided to be more organized about this. She had always thought the Town-people lived in the Town, but that obviously wasn’t true. So, if they didn’t live here, they must go somewhere else to sleep and live. All she had to do is find how they got there.

It only made sense that the door she was looking for would be somewhere that the Chosen didn’t go near very often. Miri looked behind her and found where the elevators from the Habmo’s were, and then set her face in the other direction.

She walked through the spookily silent Town, heading for the far wall. Arriving there she found another broad street, like the one near the elevators. Okay, if there was a street like this, then there might be an elevator to where the Town people were. She turned left and started walking.

After fifteen minutes, she was starting to doubt her thinking. There was nothing like the big stock elevators or the smaller ones for people. Miri was just about to give up when she came to a short hall, set in the wall. It was dimly lit like the rest of the Town. Not having a better idea, she turned into the hall.

On first glance, she had thought it dead-ended, but as she approached the end, there was another hall leading off to the right. She took the turn and after a few feet she was confronted with big red letters, seeming to hover in mid-air. “Stay Out!” the sign read.

Nearly all the Chosen would have heeded the sign. But having come this far, Miri had no intention of paying attention to a silly sign. She reached out to touch the letters, but her hand went right through them! Well, if the sign was that flimsy, then the warning couldn’t be that serious either, could it? Miri squared her shoulders and walked through the sign. There was another turn, this time to the left. Then she saw it! A door just like the elevator door! Ha! Take that, sign! she thought.

But victory was not so easily grasped. When Miri arrived at the elevator there was no call button. Instead there was a square pad with the numbers zero through nine on it. They glowed slightly with their own light.

After thinking for a minute, Miri pushed each one in order, zero, then one, and so on. After she had pushed them, a red light winked at her three times, then went dark. Trying the numbers in the opposite order got her the same three blinks.

It looked like the Town people did more than put up a strange sign to keep the Chosen out of their homes. Miri couldn’t blame them, she didn’t want anything more to do with the Chosen either. There was probably some set of numbers to make the elevator come, but she didn’t know how many numbers or what order. If she kept blindly trying she would be at it when she was as old as Gran.

As she was considering this, Miri heard the sounds of an elevator arriving! For all her determination and bravery, the sudden arrival made Miri very nervous. What if they were mad she tried to get in? The sign had said stay out. It hadn’t had any exceptions for girls running away from home. Overwhelmed by doubts and fear, Miri scrambled back through the twisting halls to the wide street as fast as her feet could carry her.

Seeing one of the weird boxes sticking out from the wall she huddled down behind it. After a very short time she heard voices coming from the hall.

“You’re sure no one called in a medical emergency?” asked a man’s voice, sounding annoyed.

“No, no calls from any of the Habmo’s. Just a signal that a car from Six was called and came up. The return time was too short for it to be the auto-return,” replied a woman’s voice.

Miri peeked her eyes over the top of the box she hid behind in time to see two of the Town people come out of the hall. She ducked back down before they could see her.

“Hmm,” said the man, “Six is hosting a Festival right now. It’s probably some of the early teens getting rambunctious. Let’s go to the medical facility. Hopefully it was just some stupid kids playing with the elevator, and we won’t find ten people missing their arms or toes.”

The sound of footsteps dwindled. Miri thought about what she had heard. What a headless-chicken she’d been. The people from Town would know when the elevators ran. After all, they were theirs. It was just luck that her random pecking at the numbers on the other elevator hadn’t signaled them.

Now she had a problem. She could go out and talk to those two and ask them to take her to wherever the Town-people lived, or she could keep trying to get there herself.

After hearing them talk about younger kids playing with the elevator, Miri was pretty sure that they would treat her like a child and send her back to Habmo6. There was no way she was going to get sent home like a child. Especially after she had already decided that her home was not with the Chosen anymore.

Besides, if she managed to get to wherever the other elevator led by herself, it would make her claim of belonging with the Town people much stronger. But how?

Getting to her feet, Miri quickly ran to back to the elevator. It was a risk. Who could know how long those two would be? If they came back, she would be caught. She knew she couldn’t risk trying the buttons, if there were only some way to hide. She looked up, but the ceiling was too far overhead.

Down on the floor, to the right was a metal grate. It was maybe fifteen inches high, and twice as wide. If she could get in there, she might be able to see the code they used when the Town-people left.

Pulling on the grate didn’t have any effect. Miri thought for a second, then looked at one of the upper corners. Sure enough, there was some kind of fastener holding the grate in. It even had a slot like one of her screwdrivers! Working fast, sure that she would be found out any second, Miri dug through her little bag of tools. Holding the flat-head screwdriver up in victory she put it in the slot and tried to turn, the thing wouldn’t budge!

Muttering under her breath she desperately tried the other three fasteners, but had no better luck. She could feel tears forming in her eyes. Her breath was going in and out like she’d be running. If she was caught and sent home, then everyone would know the story! That was the only thing that could make this all worse!

Before panic could overwhelm her, Miri thought of something Gran had said time and again. “Calm is the beginnin’ of all success. If you act without bein’ calm, you only make failure the destination.” It was one of the few annoying things Gran said regularly, but it suddenly made sense.

Miri put the screwdriver down, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. While she held it she firmly pushed all the worries, all the fear to the back of her mind. They would have their time, maybe, but it was not now. She blew the breath out and opened her eyes. There was no sting of tears, no panting in panic. She was calm.

Taking a new look at the fastener closest to her, Miri thought about it. Turning to left had not worked, would turning to the right? A quick try shot that idea down, but she did notice the part of the fastener with the slot moved back a bit when she pushed the screwdriver in.

Pushing with all her strength, Miri tried again. The head went back but nothing she could do would make it turn. Feeling panic creeping up again, Miri took another deep breath and thought about what she knew. Wait! She hadn’t tried to turn it to the right!

As soon as she pushed the head back, it rotated easily to the right, but did not open. Miri smiled a fierce smile, she had the way of it now! Without releasing the pressure, she turned the head a full turn to the left. There was a small clicking sound and the corner of the grate moved out!

Glowing with victory, Miri went to work on the other three fasteners. As she released the last one, she heard voices. The Town-people were almost back!

Miri scrambled to get into the cramped opening. Her head and shoulders went through easily but something had caught on her shirt, just behind her head. There was no time! She put her hands on the walls and pushed, when that didn’t do it, she added her strong legs.

There was a bright pain in her back, and then her face slammed into the far side of the hole. It made a hollow thudding sound, which Miri was sure could be heard back in the Habmo’s. Still she did not stop moving. Scrunching and struggling she dragged her legs in behind her.

The space was too small to turn around in, so Miri had to crawl backwards until she was next to the opening she had just come through. She grabbed the grate, set it in its track and pulled. There were four clicks, and when Miri let go of it, it stayed in place.

It was just in time too. As she lay there trying not to pant too loud she heard the man and woman’s voices.

“Told you it was kids,” the woman said, as her feet and calves became visible through the grate.

“It must have been, but it doesn’t make any sense. The doors would sense someone jumping out and not close. Then the car should have sat there until the timer went off and returned it to its starting position. They are not supposed to be able to run empty.”

“We’ll put it in as a maintenance issue and have Emily talk to the Elders to keep the little monsters from trying this kind of thing again. That should put fixed to the whole situation.”

Miri became aware that her nose was bleeding, quite a bit. She wanted to sniff the blood back, but she was sure it would give her away. Instead she tried to ignore it and watched as the woman went up to the numbers. She was standing so that most of the numbers could be seen, but not all of them.

“Think on the positive side, we didn’t have to call in a full trauma team, and aren’t elbow deep in blood,” the woman said punching numbers. 1, 1, 9, 4, then one that Miri couldn’t see. No!

The doors slid open and the man and woman went in. The doors closed, and they were gone.

So close! It was almost enough to make Miri start crying. Instead she got mad. No! She wasn’t beat yet! Looking down in front of her she saw a small puddle of blood from her nose. She swirled a finger in the blood and used it to write out the numbers so she wouldn’t forget them. Then it was time to figure out how to get out of the very small tunnel she was in.

Miri had no idea how long it took her to figure out how to release the grate from the inside. It must have been quite a while because the blood on her face and back had dried before the last corner popped free. She pulled herself out of her hiding place; face up this time to avoid the sharp hook that had torn her shirt and back.

She was tired, cramped and had blood all over her face and shirt. There had been no way to avoid the puddle as she scrunched and turned trying to get out. Still, she felt good. She hadn’t been caught. And she had figured out how to get in and out of the grate. Miri wasn’t where she wanted to be yet, but she was much more determined.

She walked up to the number pad. She knew the first four numbers, but what was the last one? Looking back and forth so she could be sure she was standing right where the woman had stood, Miri tried to figure out which numbers had been hidden from her.

It had to be the three or the six. Closing her eyes, Miri tried to remember just where the woman’s hand had been when she pushed the last number. Moving her fingers over the buttons but not touching, she acted out the code, once with the three, then with the six as the last number.

She just couldn’t tell which one was right. It was going to come down to luck now. Miri took a moment to breath and to be as calm as possible. When she was ready, she punched in the code. At the last second, she chose three instead of six.

There was a pause, then the light showing the car was coming winked on. Victory!