SILVER EYES (GXG)

Chapter 1: The border

It was like a sudden gleam of light, one of those that momentarily blinds you before filling the entire space with a powerful and warm illumination. That's how I remember seeing her for the first time. There are moments when you just know that someone is destined to play a significant role in your life. And despite my disbelief in such feelings at that time, I couldn't shake off the heavy pressure in my chest, as if I couldn't breathe - a feeling I couldn't fathom.

We found ourselves waiting in the fourth queue, surrounded by many others with fear in their eyes. Six long hours had passed, and the border still remained silent. Gates closed. Not a sound. Not a movement. Everyone was quiet and there had been no conflicts. No one wanted to be labeled as difficult right at the doors of what we hoped to be our salvation.

Each of us wore our identification colors visibly on our jackets and shirts; we belonged to the orange group. No one knew exactly what that meant. The only thing we knew was that each year, the Narval Officers made what we defined as 'the call,' and some of us were transferred to the other side. But before that, you were given an identification color that you had to wear and then stand in front of the gates, waiting for them to open and call you.

At first, everyone stayed on high alert, our eyes locked onto the huge metallic door and the unyielding, endless wall that split the world in two. I'd heard countless stories about the other side. It was called, the Reg Society, the place for all the ones who believed that embracing the principles of technology and data was the only path for the survival of the human race.

Their lifestyle faced extreme criticism, but ever since the wall went up, those of us outside the Reg Society lost sight of their advancements. And now, we find ourselves starving on a dying planet, desperately pleading to be accepted into their side.

As the sun slowly dipped behind the distant mountains, the gates of the border creaked open. Everyone stood up, holding their breath in anticipation. The beeping sound indicated a transfer was about to happen. My heart raced, and I clutched my brother's hand tightly.

"Don't worry, we have the same color, we'll be okay," I reassured him without averting my gaze from the doors.

A woman with brown hair and a silver identification badge emerged from the gates, stopping in front of all the queues. She appeared serious and composed. Her gaze swept over the ten long lines, and when she finished, she took a deep breath as if gathering strength to bear a heavy weight.

"Hello, everyone. Today, some of you will be transferred," she announced. The crowd erupted with complaints, and anxiety spread like a virus.

"Some of us?!" A woman yelled.

"We've been waiting for six hours!" Another voice.

"This is unacceptable!"

"We just want to live!"

I took a moment to observe her. She didn't interrupt the complaints but waited patiently until there was relative silence.

"It's not fair. You are right, and I'm sorry. But reality imposes itself," her tone was honest, and beneath her forceful exterior, I detected a spark of sadness in her eyes. Narval officers were the ones in charge of almost all the security duties of the Reg Society, and for that, they were also widely despised.

"So easy for her to say behind that silver badge!" my brother raged. The silver color was the color for the privileged, for the untouchable... I was conflicted about them. I understood they held the power to decide who could be transferred and who could not, and some of their decisions were questionable. Yet, they were the only ones trying to sustain life in an organized and effective way. So, angry or not, what could we do without them?