What the Rebels Want: Maxon & America Schreave

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Julia pulled Phoebe along the corridors. "Okay, so here are the labs." She pulled her into a white room with silver trays and shelfs all along the walls. Minerals, gases, various liquids, and other materials were contained in the jars. In the middle, two desks were filled with stacks of papers, on top, on the side, one reaching about 4 feet high. "Ugh, they promised they'd clean it!" She told herself. She shook her head in disappointment and pulled Phoebe through the rest of the room, until they reached another door, which led to the real labs.

About 20 women stood and sat around the room. Some were writing things down into notebooks, others onto whiteboards, others looking through microscopes and writing observations, and the rest just talking to each other about their findings. A chemist was working in the corner, when two of her chemicals exploded into a cloud of blue. The reaction was immediate; four women walked over to her and looked over her equation and notes to see what went wrong. Or what went right, Phoebe didn't know the things these women did.

Julia pulled her out of the room, through the two doors, leading her down another corridor. They passed an opening that led to a little garden in the courtyard, and turned right to continue down another corridor. "Here are the computer labs. Are you ready?"

Phoebe didn't understand, but still nodded. Julia pushed the door open.

Rows of 6 women each led on for 8 rows, each in headphones and staring intently at their computer screens. As Julia led the newcomer to the side rows so Phoebe could see what was on their screens, Phoebe noticed just how much each women was important. 6 of them worked on some type of code, another 6 worked on surveillance, another were editing a blueprint, 6 more were filing a report, another row was working on some fiber thing, and the rest were all editing a letter on the same document, commenting on paragraphs when they were sitting mere inches away from each other.

"What are they doing? Who is that letter for?" Phoebe asked.

"You'll see. When you get there," Julia winked again. "Off to the meeting rooms." Julia led her down another series of corridors. Phoebe could tell when they got to the correct rooms-- each door had a golden plaque that read "Meeting Room" and then a number. Julia walked up to the third one and knocked twice before entering.

I peeked behind her shoulder to find an annoyed elderly women sighing. She cocked her head to the side and faced Julia. "Julia, you really have to stop popping in to 'introduce new bees'. We know you just want to eavesdrop or something foolish like that."

"What?" Julia feigned shock. "I can't believe it. How much you've underestimated me. Of course I would eavesdrop, and it isn't foolish. Why wouldn't I?" The women scoffed and waved her hand in dismissal to Julia.

Julia pulled Phoebe out, dragging her behind and pulling Phoebe through their linked elbows. Phoebe could still hear the women talking. "When she comes, the security here has to be extra tight here, here, and here..."

"Any questions?" Julia asked while they were still walking.

"Where do you guys get all of this clothing?" The question was burning the inside of Phoebe's mouth, it needed to come out.

"Hah!" Julia laughed. "Wait 'till you see. You'll drop dead." That sent huge shivers through Phoebe's body, her heart speeding in excitement.

Julia took them through a series of glass doors leading to a glass hallway outside. Green vines grew along the sides of clear material. Phoebe could see the end of the hallway at another building, a two story plain cement compound.

When they reached the building, Julia stopped outside. "Are you ready?" She asked again. I vigorously nodded my head. "Let's go."

She tugged on my hand and we went in. Silver bars hung all along the walls, silver racks spun in all directions and angles stood all throughout the warehouse. Six women behind computers and sewing machines were scattered throughout the room. None of them looked up when the two girls entered the room.

"Okay, so, this room is divided into 4 sections. Casual, fancy," she listed onto her fingers, "nightwear, and shoes. Then, the back room is about 4 changing rooms for people to try on new outfits. Since you're new, you get a new outfit for a first day present."

Phoebe nodded her head in amazement. Now she was also getting new clothing! Finally, she could change out of her ugly outfit.

"So. Who chooses?"

"What?" Phoebe asked.

"Who chooses your outfit? Me, you?" Julia clarified.

"Um.. You." Julia immediately pulled her through the racks and pulled out some random clothing. Or at least Phoebe thought it was random, but it turned out to be an outfit Julia already had planned out while Phoebe was thinking about the size of the room.

Julia pushed her into a changing room with the clothing. "Don't come out until it's on! Completely! It should be your size."

Phoebe pulled on the black tights, red skirt, black shirt, red sweater, and black booties. She faced the mirror the entire time, waiting for that "magic movie transformation" to occur. It didn't, just yet. Julia, apparently, wasn't done.

"Now, makeup." She dragged Phoebe to the back where she gasped, out loud. Eyeshadow, eyeliner, lipstick, blush, powder, anything makeup related was neatly organized around the room. Three women walked around, brushing powder over their face and placing eyeliner on their lids with prefect precision. Julia dragged Phoebe to a table in the center. She started with foundation and powder. The brush tickled Phoebe's chin and eyelids. The eyeshadow brush gently scratched her eyes, and the liner made her eyes feel wet. The blush made her cheeks feel like they were melting. When she finally could face the mirror with her eyes open, she shook her head. Like magic, her cheekbones were more pronounced, giving her face a more symmetric and angular look.

"How do you do it?" Phoebe asked.

"Magic." Julia's eyes glittered. Phoebe saw Julia's eyes in the mirror follow someone else. Phoebe lifted her eyes to see a women in a red floor-length gown. Two other women were working on her makeup. "I want to be her. Like that," Julia whispered more to herself then Phoebe.

"Me too," Phoebe responded. "What 'level' is that?"

"Well," Julia started, "She's wearing a gala dress- one of our more expensive pieces. That means the organization trusts her. That she wont steal the dress or ruin it either. She's one of our top agents."

"Wow," Phoebe breathed. Julia looked at her watch.

"Shoot! We need to make it to a meeting!" Julia pulled her up and they fast-walked to another meeting room, different from the earlier one. Phoebe's legs were getting tired from running so much, and Julia noticed, so she pointed out the gym before they made it to their final destination. Oh how kind of her.

They sat down just in time before Gloria walked into the room. Five other women sat around the table, each with a folder and pen in front of them. "So, what do you think?"

"Wow," Phoebe breathed.

"I know," Gloria nodded in agreement. "Any questions?"

Phoebe asked essential questions about food, housing, clothing, and jobs in the field. She also asked about the physical aspects-- how in-shape she had to be. She was assured that a trainer would be assigned to her within the next week. For now, she was to get situated to stay at the base. Her parents thought she was at a sleepover.

Then, she asked the question that was bugging her the most. "Who are you guys inviting and what was the letter for?"

The women, it seemed, took a sharp breath at the same time. They raised their eyebrows, as if to ask "Can we tell her? Can we trust her?" Gloria faced all of them. "I don't see why not. Julia?" She piped up. "You want to say who?"

Julia briskly nodded her head and faced Phoebe.

"We want to invite Queen America here."

***

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