Atlas (A Selection/Hat Films Fanfiction)

~ Two ~

"Please sign here," the balding photographer said after I had pulled my clothes back on, handing me a small placard with my information and measurements next to the data chip with my pictures. He was a five and probably not talented enough to freelance, for he looked and sounded extremely bored. 

It had been like this for a week. I was summoned to city hall nearly every day to discuss plans, take measurements, sign forms, and talk to ridiculous officials who didn't seem to like me for the sole fact that I was an eight in the selection. I had another meeting in an hour, but they were going to meet us at the library instead of coming to one the warehouse. Not having a permanent residence really annoyed them.  

I was glad he didn't ask for the skin colored vest top and shorts that they had me dress in for the pictures back, for it wasn't often that I was able to get new clothes or undergarments. I guessed it didn't really matter any more, since I was now a three and the palace would give me clothes until they kicked me out and then I could get a job to afford them on my own. My head swam with the thought; I don't know what I would  do when I was sent home. All girls were set up with an adviser who would help them after the selection, and because it was said that we would have a hard time adjusting back, we all automatically became threes when our names were announced. 

Would I really become one of them? I couldn't ever see myself 'having a hard time adjusting back to normal life', no matter how long I was there, and I wasn't completely sure that I wanted to become a teacher or researcher over going back to fighting, whatever the pay was. Being a Daughter of Illead meant that I was serving my country, and would therefor get a stipend for every week I was away. The first check we received was enough for us to eat comfortably for a year, and if Ari and Sjin were smart, they could save up and buy one of the apartments close to the warehouse before I even came back. 

"What did they have you doing today?" Sjin asked, pulling me out of my thoughts. He was loitering around the trashcans and I could hear and see the change and clean napkins in his pockets he had found while waiting for me, a practice that was more of a habit than a necessity for us. 

"Pictures and measurements so they can start working on my dresses," I grimaced, knowing fully well I would have a hard time converting from old jeans and tee shirts to lavish and expensive dresses. 

I tried to push all thoughts of the selection out of my head for the time being, focusing on the walk back to our district instead. It was a humid, overcast day, and the closer we got to the six, seven, and eight district, the more the city smelled like festering garbage. If there was one thing Allsport was famous for, it was it's slums. 

Stopping at one of the stores that let us in because I had my new identification card on me, Sjin and I walked around as we read magazines and newspapers and ate whatever was readily available and wouldn't be missed. We got kicked out after I was caught tasting one too many grapes, but not before I managed to hide a newspaper under my shirt. I normally didn't like stealing if I could help it, because I had to stay out of jail for Ari and Sjin, but I had missed the last report and I wanted to know what was going on with the uprisings and rebels. 

Illead was still a budding nation, and therefore faced a lot of public discontent as we grew into the country we had founded only around 100 years ago. That's why the princes hold a selection; it gives the citizens something else to focus on and puts one of the people onto the thrown (Never mind that the past four queens have been twos or threes, and there are rumors that the entire thing is fixed). I'm sure the poor decisions and ruthless rules instated by our current king didn't help quell any of the rebellions and murmurs throughout the lower casts. 

I read about the merciless attacks of the southern rebels and the silent protests of the northern rebels as we walked, trusting Sjin to guide me to the library. The princes were triplets and as soon as they came of age the King had announced a plan to divide the country into three electorates to be equally ruled by all three of them. The oldest would ascend the throne once the king died and decide the best plan of action on how to carry on with governing the country, and it was his choice whether to keep it separate or join all three bodies again.