Beyond the Walls

Chapter 2

The room Vienna walked into was extremely dark. As soon as she stepped in, the door behind her shut and she was engulfed in darkness. She jumped back as the lights turned on, and in front of her is a plain white desk, with a paper and pencil sitting on it. There are several fancy-looking drawers to the right, but she could not see what they contain. Except for those few objects, the room was completely bare. The walls are white, and the floors are black tiles that look like they are made from glass.

"Please step forward, and sit at the desk." A very clear voice that sounded like it came from a woman said. Vienna jumped back, thinking that it was coming from behind her, but nothing was there.

"Please, step forward." The woman repeated. Vienna couldn't  find the source of the voice, but did not want to upset the woman, so she carefully took a step forward.  The tile she stepped on lit up, and turned white. Surprised, Vienna took a step back, and it returned to its original color.

"Please fill out the test sitting at the table." The woman said, sounding slightly annoyed. Vienna walked towards the table, the tiles lighting up underneath her. The sound of her shoes hitting the tiles filled the room, and made an uneasy silence as she sat down. She picked up the pencil, and discovered that it was not a pencil, but a stylus with a rubber ball point. She looked at the paper, and realized it was a tablet. She picked it up, never seeing anything like it before. It was almost as light as the pencil, and she could see through it. Suddenly, the screen lit up. A series of questions appeared. Vienna quickly skimmed through them, and scoffed. This was really what was going to decide her job for her? She saw questions like, What is your favorite color? What hobbies do you have? Are you a male or female?  In under a minute, she had filled them all out. She pressed the finished button at the bottom and put the tablet down with a thud.

"Open the drawers." The woman's voice said. Vienna looked around, and this time found a source for the voice. The wall had become transparent, revealing a long desk with what looked like a council sitting at the seats. A woman with grey, long hair that was pulled up into a tight bun was sitting in the middle, with a microphone pressed to her lips. "To your right."

    Vienna snapped out of it. She turned around, the chair making an awful screeching noise as she pushed it away and walked towards the drawers. She opened the top drawers, and was surprised at it's contents. There were several knifes, and what appeared to be some sort of steel stars. What interested her most was a crescent-shaped stone. She picked it up and held it in her hand. It was cold to the touch, and felt heavy in her hand, but she didn't feel any different as though she felt that she might.

"Do you know how to use these?" The woman asked. Vienna looked back, and saw the council sitting with tablets, taking notes. The woman stared at Vienna, making her uncomfortable.

"Um...n-no." She stammered. "Why is this important in deciding my job?"

"We find that this is a benefiting step in the process," the woman explained, "when we decide our future officers, experience with these types of weapons is useful, because many of them will have to end up learning how to use them eventually."

"Oh," she nodded, "Well I've never seen any of those before." The woman wrote something down, and picked up her pencil and pointed in the direction of the other wall. "Please step this way, this is the last part of your test." Vienna walked towards the wall, and it lit up. She saw the most beautiful picture she had ever seen. Thousands of trees loomed over a ground covered with all sorts of beautiful flowers that bloomed in the light. There was green everywhere, more green than is present in the whole city. She clenched the stone in her hand. It looked like something she had seen in a textbook before. A forest.

"What do you see?" The woman impatiently asked, interrupting.

"I-I see a forest." Vienna exclaimed, taking in every detail. "There's so many beautiful flowers, and luscious trees, and-"

"That's enough." The woman interrupted again. "That is all we need." The screen went black, and the forest disappeared. Vienna stared straight ahead, trying to remember all of the vibrant picture. She felt empty inside as she headed back to the door.

"Wait-Vienna is it?" The woman curiously asked.

"Yes." Vienna turned around.

"Your father was Jonathan Gatten, correct?"

Vienna  felt like she has been punched in the stomach. They knew. They were making her an explorer. Vienna thought about her dad, and it made her eyes well with tears.

"Yes." She said softly. None of the council said anything, they all just looked at her for a minute, with sorrow written on their face. Vienna thought that the silence was her queue to leave. She started towards the door again, but the woman stopped her.

"Wait- you forgot to return the stone!" she called. Vienna looked in her hand and realized she had forgotten the stone was there.

"Oops, my bad." She placed it back in the drawer, and left.