{Aug}mented [On hiatus until From the Ghettos to the Grand is finished]

Augmented

Everyone was excited about tomorrow. It was publicized all over the tabloids, the internet was having constant updates, parents couldn't stop talking about it, students getting overly conscious of themselves. Fingers pointed, rumors birthed. Everyone couldn't wait. Everyone but Taylor.

There were always the rejects. The people who didn't make it, failed to pass and discarded away because they were trash. Society understood that they were an unhealthy kind of nuisance, so it treated them like a disease. Immediately past The Selection, the peacekeepers forced the failures to huddle, then pushed them into a metal container where they were shipped away.

It always happened amidst a loud chaos. Hoarse throats screaming profanities, cries of loved ones, hysterical laughter coming from the rejects and onlookers alike. They were the uglier side of the world, not fit for existence. Or so people believed. She hated the scene and the fact that it was mandated that she watch it every year.

This year was different. Tomorrow, Taylor would receive her code, and just like the rejects many years before her, she was to be sent off for the common good of the people.

A hiss of air sounded, and the heavy titanium door slid open.

She didn't have to turn around to realize who entered. "I should've ran while I had the chance yesterday," she said, keeping her voice low.

He kept his footsteps slow and heavy as he strolled over to her bed. As he sat down, she felt the familiar sinking of the mattress. Lucian kept silent.

"I had sixteen years to escape," Taylor continued. "We already knew that I wouldn't make it." He took in a sharp breath.

"You will," he said, his words hard and reassuring, as if a confirmative tone would make his want a reality.

She shook her head. "No I won't." She tried to smile, but her lips barely curved upwards. It was difficult to imagine that in less than twenty-four hours she was going to be ripped away from everything she had ever known.

Lucian looked at her with hopeful yet teary eyes. "There's a fifty percent chance that you can. Most of us will get through, I don't see why you won't. I overheard someone saying that her sister got through even though most people said that her physique wasn't up to par."

"Luc, I've failed every single test they've put me through."

"You passed the mental ability test."

It was true. And that was the only glimmer of hope she had before she started failing every other one.

He reached out for her hand and held it in his. "You topped the class for that one. They were all surprised."

Taylor pulled her hand away and rested it on her knee. "And I scored the lowest in class for all the other physique tests. You aced every single one of the rest." A small tear rolled down her cheek, but Taylor quickly cleaned it off. She had anticipated tomorrow since she was a toddler, and she promised herself that she wouldn't bawl her face out—she wanted to look good in front of the people she knew before she was dragged away.

She pulled Luc into a hug. "You knew about this when we met. Why be sad now?" Taylor had always been weak compared to the rest of the children, and in the Illuminati's eyes, that meant that she was useless and a burden to the world. It meant that she was her imperfect—or more specifically, her genetic code was imperfect—which made her an anomaly that had to be removed.

"Because it's too soon damn it." Luc almost choked on his words trying to hold back a cry. "I always told myself it's going to be a few years later or maybe even a few months. Not tomorrow."

Taylor wanted to comfort him and say that everything was going to be okay. But she couldn't, because everything wasn't okay. She needed comfort too, although instead of feeling an overwhelming feeling of grief, she felt more numb than anything else.