My eyes opened to the shine of luminescent light peaking through my sleep mask, slowly I took it off. My vision blurred, impaired by the sudden brightness before raising a hand over my eyes.
I slowly sat up and surveyed the room. Everyone else was just now rising from their beds as well. In the morning a faint tune played in the distance, a patriotic hymn with trumpets and drums, signaling it was time for the farms to start back up—though the sound itself wasnt what woke us, a more conditioned force did.
We'd been trained since birth to wake at this exact hour,and by now it was simply muscle memory. No matter how tired or beaten I felt from the previous day, I always woke at the same time, alongside everyone else in perfect synchronization.
I turned and let my feet hang off the third layer of my triple-decker bed. After rubbing the light from my eyes , I hopped down to the floor and moved to the small nightstand at the head of the bed. On it were my clothes that I had laid out the night before. First came the white shirt, then the loose white pants with a blue stripe running down each side—designed for easy movement.
Everyone finished getting ready at the same time. We lined up as we had the night before, in front of our beds. Now only a few minutes since the anthem had played Mater 337 entered with long purposeful strides. Pushing open both double doors to the barracks, they whipped towards the wall making a firm crack as they made contact with the solid black surface. After advancing a few feet inside, she stopped.
Master 337 wore the same uniform as us, but instead of blue stripes, she adorned gold ones—signifying her prestige as a master. Her hair, black as night like everyone else's, was pulled into a bun so tight it stretched the expression out of her face. She placed her hands behind her back, stood motionless for a moment, then simply nodded before turning to leave.
That was our signal to follow, and that's exactly what we did.
In two perfect lines, we followed our master outside and to the adjacent classroom building. She opened the doors and proceeded to the front of the large lecture hall. The rest of us entered in formation—one group going left, the other right. We descended the stairs and methodically filled every seat in the sloped seating arrangement.
Like all the other buildings the interior was fitted with detailess glossy black walls, similarly equipped with black desks, seats, and a large display board in the front of the room.
Master waited patiently near the front for us all to situate ourselves. Then, she withdrew what from a distance resembled a small pen. Clicking a button on its side, she began to speak, using the device to amplify her voice throughout the room.
"Good morning, class. As I'm sure you all know, graduation day is tomorrow."
She spoke, the vocal amplifier creating a suppressing tone "For the last eighteen years, all 365 of you have worked rigorously for this moment, and for that, I congratulate you."
Another pause allowed us to absorb her words.
"I'm now going to walk you through how tomorrow will work one last time. You will wake up as usual, after that, we will proceed to the center lifts which will take you to the second floor of the citadel. Once there, you will be evenly lined up behind one of ten desks. When you reach the front, you will hand them a piece of paper that I will give to each of you before you leave. This paper simply contains your designation number and marks. They will examine it and then inform you whether you're to be a Librarian, A Keeper, or Dispatcher."
She paused again, leaving a crushing silence hanging in the air as she scanned the room for unauthorized movement .
"Then, as I'm sure you're all excited for, after eighteen years, you will finally get to serve our glorious High Council in the Library."
I heard sly chatter of excitement and noticed grins of pride spreading across the room at her words. I understood—I too looked forward to serving the High Council. It was all I could ask for, but... that's not to say I wasn't also a bit... sad when I thought about how I might never see anyone in this room again, especially Eight and Leaner.
My thoughts wandered for the remainder of the class until our master finally signaled its conclusion and led us out to begin our morning run. We ran five miles around the perimeter of our training zone every morning before rations. Thanks to the blessings of the High Council, our bodies didn't easily tire, so the distance wasn't particularly challenging.
As we finished our run and started making our way to the tables for morning rations, I couldn't help but wonder what tomorrow would bring.