Enhancement

- - 65 - -

I screech in pain, but my fall to the floor never comes. Instead, I'm glued into stillness, left with the force of the Enhancement Project's pulses.

I can hardly breathe anymore, and not in a good way. If this doesn't kill me, nothing will. Especially not Hybriad and his psychotic plans for my friends and I.

"Next are the likelihoods and the possibilities. These two categories join hand-in-hand to define your future decisions. They form your tendencies into actions you might take in the future, well into your adult years."

Statistics begin to flash in front of me, the holograms consuming every glass box around me. It's so easy to forget I'm not alone in the Project. I'm surrounded by innocent people who've got no idea that hell exists, and it's right beside them.

Nicolette tries to smile supportively from across the glass, clearly startled by whatever her holograms begin to spell. She's not in pain or deathly afraid, so I can only assume she's safe. Hybriad's got bad blood with Stephen and I, not her. She's just a pawn to him. Thank goodness.

The frozen voice interrupts, almost gleefully but heartless as ever. "Likelihood of maintaining a job."

84%

"Likelihood to make new friends."

94%

"Be on time."

97%

"Work efficiently."

95%

The holograms progressively turn more serious. The change is subtle, but before I know it, I watch my levels of horror accumulate.

"Work without objection."

42%

"Raise a family in accordance with national requirements."

38%

"Remain loyal to the nation."

2%

"Accept the final stages of the Equinox process, including the conditions of secrecy."

17%

As more numbers flash by, I don't bother to look at them. How did all of the Tasks reveal so much about me? Did they really, or is it Hybriad adding in his own opinions? Are they going to kill me for disloyalty?

Disloyalty is treason, and it's a reason to be screened. If I wasn't screwed before, I certainly am now. Then again, somehow I'm not dead or imprisoned yet.

But I've had my fair share of pain to last me a lifetime and a half.

And when is this ceremony going to end? Like seriously, I'm so done with all the punishment pulses and the drawn-out revelations. Just give me the answers to my questions, and I'll shut up.

"Finally, we have the confirmations, or the factors we know will occur. There's only a few ways to change bad confirmations into acceptable ones."

New holograms shine in front of me, telling me exactly what I already know.

HOLLAND RENNER: unstable citizen. TYPE Y.

"No kidding," I mumble. "No surprises there."

"And for the final Equinox ranks," the icy voice says. "Green ranks move straight to the Equinox banquet. The rest of the inductees will remain in their boxes for further instruction. Those ranks will be red."

I can't help but feel the impending doom. I should be immune to it by now, but the nation's not going to let that happen.

Out of nowhere, glass boxes around me turn red and green. I watch Nicolette through my own red glass, trying to tell if she's moving on without me. Her box is green, and she shakes her head at me in protest.

She knows better than to fight back, though.

The elevator doors behind her open, and she turns to step within the portal. I just watch her and try to communicate how much I don't know what to do. She feels the exact same way. The elevator doors close anyways, and then she's gone from me.

It feels so permanent, the way my soul sinks deeper into its hiding place. It's empty and lonely and downright torn shredded.

I have enough sense to look around me and see who's left. I nearly die on the spot.

It's just Stephen.

I leap off my pedestal, pressing right up against the glass to bang with my fists. Stephen doesn't need my spectacle because he's already spotted me. Though his eyes look slightly sunken, and I can tell that unhealthy yellow tinge of his skin begs to revive itself in him, he's still with me. Judging by the fact that we're the only people left, it's no coincidence.

The back of my neck becomes warm, and I immediately identify the sensor. All this time it's been planted in my body, and now it decides to re-awaken. That could only mean one thing...

I don't dare to blink. I keep my eyes locked with Stephen's brown ones until tears swim into my vision. Then I finally blink. I give in, but like always, I put up a fight. It's hopeless and stupid, completely stupid, but life is life and I can't escape human nature.

And so I blink.

-- -- -- -- --

give us the answer was the winner! as always, I never give a straight answer, but I did my best. now that you know the reason for the tasks (to categorize each person into their capabilities to see how disloyal they are). we can move on to a new chapter...

but with a fun little cliffhanger ;)

Question: Do you want weekly updates or once-every-two-week updates. Because I kinda miss weekly updates and you guys probably do, too

Follow-up Question: What day of the week do you want updates to be?

Final Question: Pick a choice: familiar place, foreign place, or final showdown.