Aiden stood over Sky, laughing. She was on the ground, twisted up in pain. Purple and green clumps had formed under her skin, and her lip was bleeding. The skin on Aiden’s knuckles had torn from him repeatedly striking Sky until she had fallen. Tears welled up in her face and she tried to contain them. She would not cry in front of Aiden.
He spat on her, which was the last straw. Her favorite brother who had always been her guardian had turned against her. If he could betray her, then then anyone could. Sky couldn’t take it anymore, she couldn’t handle acting tough. The tears that had been gathering in her eyes began to fall down her cheeks in fat, ugly globs.
“Awe! Is the little baby going to cry?” Aiden said mockingly. “Well that’s what you get for going against your government!” he said up in her face. Sky angrily wiped her hears and stood up, but Aiden knocked her back down. “What was that? Did I look like I was done?” he yelled. “Your government protects you! You of you are a traitor!” He yelled, then his body began to morph into that of an Upholder.
“We feed you, give you safe harbor, and allow you to live. And this is how you repay us?! You lot are foolish! We provide a way for you to be happy, and you plot our downfall! You will not die, not yet, not here. We are gracious and kind, and to show that kindness we offer you a second chance. Step forward and you will be brought to a government facility to have your memories wiped, and you get to live out the rest of your lives. Or you can stay here and burn, and when you die so will your mutinous behavior. There is no third option.”
Sky’s eyes snapped open, and she sat up in her bed. She was breathing heavy as she thought about her dream. She remembered…everything. Each of the memories which had been locked away from her conscious mind had broken through. The government was evil.
A knock came at the door, then Aiden stepped in. Sky cringed at the sight of him, he had been so awful to her in that dream. But Aiden didn’t do that. He wouldn’t, would he? Sky could trust him, right? She didn’t know. Aiden had already gone to his revealing, which meant he was potentially working with the government. Did he know about what the government did? She doubted it, but she couldn’t be sure of what he would do if she told him about it, so she said nothing.
Aiden noted her hesitation to talk to him when he entered the room. Cocking his head to the right and raising his eyebrow, he softly closed the door. “You haven’t gotten up yet? You have to leave for your Revealing in an hour…” he said hesitantly, not knowing what was up with his sister. Sky nodded and Aiden walked out.
She sat in her bed absentmindedly for a few moments before finally taking the time to get dressed in her ceremonial uniform. You were required to wear a specific uniform when you went to your revealing. Sky wasn’t sure why, but she assumed it had something to do with order. They probably wanted to know who the newly revealed were because they had a tendency to get lost easier because everything they had previously known about themselves was irrelevant.
The clothing itself was not especially feminine. That was to be expected of course, because everyone was to wear the same attire regardless of gender. It was a white shirt and black pants with no shoes.
The white shirt represented purity. It symbolized our youth, and what how we were expected to act as we grew up. The black pants represented our immaturity and ignorance. When you are still a pre-revealed young person, the consequences of your actions are lighter than that of an adults. This was purely because young people had not yet developed a complete understanding for Utopia’s rules and how our world worked.
A knock came from the door, and Sky hesitated before answering. “Yes?” she asked.
“It’s Dad. Your mother wants to know if you’re ready to go yet.” Father said.
“Nearly, I’ll be out in a moment.” Sky replied, and Father went away. Now there was just the matter of her hair that Sky needed to deal with. Other girls were likely to do something extravagant, but that didn’t appeal to her. Instead, she pulled her hair up into a simple half up. With a smile, Sky opened her door and prepared to enter her family’s sanitation tube.
Her mother was standing by the opening, tapping her foot impatiently. “You’re late. Everyone else has already gone to the House of Revelations.” she said. Turning to the voice recognizer, she told it the destination that she wanted to travel to. Then Mother stepped into the tube and got sucked away.
The traveling tube was the way that most people got around when there was a major gathering, such as that years revelations. The tube was black, and fairly thick. They were built so that a person could fit in it, be sanitized, and not feel claustrophobic. “House of Revelations.” she said. Once Sky stepped inside, she couldn’t see two feet in front of her face.
Cleansing liquids began shooting out at her from inside the tube. It wasn’t especially pleasant, because the liquid was cold. But it did its job in ensuring that each person who entered was clean before they went to the central system underground. After the cleansing liquid was done spraying, another liquid began to come out.
No one quite knew what each liquid was. It was so dark in each of the tubes, that you couldn’t see what was being shot at you. However, the first liquid was noticeably denser and smellier than the second. Then came the part of the cleansing that was actually enjoyable. Hot air began to blow on Sky, drying off her skin and clothing. Everything stopped for a moment, than the gravity shifted and she was pushed forward in the tube.
The tubes were by far the quickest mode of transportation, but it was such a hassle to be sanitized every time you went into one. It was necessary in order to keep the tubes nice and clean. If no one was cleaned upon entering the tubes, then they’d become a filthy, stinking mess quite rapidly.
It was cold when you traveled by tube, because they ran underground. Had they been placed above ground, then the sky would look clustered. You couldn’t have that, not in Utopian Earth. Sky shook her head, this wasn’t Utopia. Utopia didn’t exist. The world wasn’t perfect, no matter how hard it tried.
She stopped, and the tube opened. The House of revelations was right in front of her, and there was a large crowd of people standing in front of it. Sky scanned the massive crowd for her family, but it was hard to distinguish individuals in the sea of people. Then she spotted Aiden. He was waving his arms over his head with a grin on his face so big, it went from one ear to the other. “Over here!!” he shouted.
With a deep breath, Sky maneuvered her way over to Aiden. He had begun to jump up and down, perhaps to make sure she didn’t lose her way. It was loud, so loud that Sky nearly reached up to cover her ears. She restrained herself from doing so. It wouldn’t look good if she did that. It might give off the illusion that she didn’t want to be there.
Finally, Sky managed to reach her family. “What do I do?” she asked. The question was geared at Aiden, since she was closest to him, but Mother answered.
“Just walk up those steps and stand with your gender.”
“You couldn’t just say the other girls?” Sky sighed.
Her mother frowned and rolled her eyes. Then, with one swift motion, Sky was off. She took as large of steps as the crowd would allow. She hesitated slightly before climbing the stairs, then scolded herself. ‘There’s nothing wrong with finding out who you are.’ She thought.
The other girls looked like they had taken a great deal of care to make themselves look pretty before arriving to the House of Revelations. Sky hadn’t done any such thing, and she could tell that the others were judging her for it. Looking down with embarrassment, Sky awaited her turn to be called. The list was in alphabetical order of their first names, so it would be a while before she was called.
Butterflies gnawed at her stomach as each of the other teenagers were called up in groups of three. Each group took approximately five minutes before they came out, and the next group was called. Three groups were able to go in at the same time, because there were quite a few rooms where revelations occurred. However, it was one person per room. That factor made the ceremony take up the majority of the day.
Finally, Sky’s name was called and she turned to enter the building. It was quiet outside, considering the amount of people who had gathered to watch. It wasn’t required to go the revelation ceremony unless a member of your family was going to find themselves, but it was encouraged. Since attendance was encouraged, most people chose to come regardless of whether or not they had family there.
There were a total of twenty-eight marble stairs leading up to the entrance of the house. Sky had counted them as she went up out of shyness. Eyes from all around were watching her. She could feel her cheeks going bright red with embarrassment. What if the unthinkable happened, and she tripped? Sky shook her head, banishing all such thoughts. ‘This is my day. Nothing is going to go wrong…’
Sky entered the building, it was spectacular. Everything was pure white and deeply extravagant. The carpet was white with silver swirls that sparkled with every step she took. The walls were covered with wallpaper that seemed to dance around, though she knew it was lying still. There were crystal chandeliers hanging from a ceiling of clouds which glittered like stars on a clear night.
Mists swirled around on the ground as Sky walked further down the corridor, masking her feet. A periodic door or white wood could be seen, but she wasn’t quite sure which one she should enter. A young woman stood at the end of the hallway. She was tall, with fair skin and grey eyes. Her hair was wavy and white, hanging freely to her mid back. She wore a dress as white as snow that reached the ground.
It hung loosely, and appeared wrinkled. In these wrinkles were lines of silver that colored the cracks. A necklace hung around her neck that looked like a ring of silver leaves. Her ear rings were the same, but did not hang in a circle. Rather, they hung like her dress. Everything about her whispered purity, as the House of Revelations did.
She took a step forward; her feet were bare like Sky’s. When the woman spoke, her voice sounded like honey. “My name is Grace, and I shall show you the way.” she said, then reached forward to touch Sky’s forehead. Sky almost pulled back, but decided against it. If she did anything suspicious…well she didn’t know what would happen to her. Darkness.
Sky sat up, dazed. She was in a room, but it was about as white as sin. There was a plush chair in the center of it, and Sky moved to sit in it. She didn’t know what to do, but for some reason this felt right. Once she was seated, a pale blue sphere floated down and landed on her lap. It was some type of computer, and it was analyzing Sky.
She could feel buzzing on her lap for an extensive period of time. There was no way to tell time, but Sky endured over an hour of waiting, at least. Finally, she heard a ding, and a computer screen bubbled up from the walls. A slot to the right of the chair also began to chime, it was a printer.
A stack of papers was spit out of the slit, but Sky waited until it was finished before she picked them up. The computer stopped making funny noises, and she knew it was done. The butterflies returned as Sky reached down and scooped them up. This was it. These papers contained her future, the very reason for her existence.
She read the first line. Skyler Morgan; her previous name, had been crossed out. In its place was her new name, Ashley Morgan. ‘Ashley…that sounds funny. I’ll have to call myself something else, perhaps Ash.’ she thought. The name sounded so alien in her head. “Ashley. Ashley. Ashley.” she repeated to herself.
Ash continued to read the paper. There was going to be a whole lot more than her name in them. She scanned through the document. Government official. Ash’s heart stopped, her job was to be a government official? Surely she wasn’t cut out to be one of those stuffy old rats? She smiled to herself, judgmental. Ash continued to read the paper, it held such odd things.
The documents listed each of her new traits that she was supposedly going to receive as time passed, and the traits that she should have gotten at the revealing. Ash should have the new traits of strict, confidant, calm, sly, etc. Yet something struck her as odd, judgmental was a reject trait. Why did she feel bias?
She was supposed to be poised and diligent. Something caught her eye. About three pages in, a line read: ‘Proposed Partner for Marriage. (Intended for age 25)’. Ash’s heart stopped as she read this. They were already telling her whom she was to marry? That was absurd! The name on the line said Zane Faunter, previously known as Jake Faunter.
“Him? Eww…” Ashley muttered. Why did she get assigned to him, especially at her age? Whatever the reason, Ash simply pushed the thought to the back of her mind. She wouldn’t have to deal with that for years to come.
She saw something out of the corner of her eye, it was black. Turning around slowly, Ash tried to see what it was. When she turned to look, it was gone, or was it? It caught her eye again, but this time she realized what it was. Ash picked up a section of her hair and inspected it. As she had guessed, her hair was no longer red, but black. ‘Ashen black, how appropriate.’ ash thought. Apparently, someone wants me to resemble ash, but why?
Ash was impure, was this some kind of sick joke. She sighed, nothing was joke, not any more. She picked up her papers and put them next to the door to be stapled. Once they were bound, Ash grabbed them again and exited her revealing room. She didn’t know what was going to happen to her, but one thing was certain. Nothing would ever be the same.
Mists swirled around Ash’s feet as she closed the door, and Grace beckoned her ever. “Head into that room on the left. There you will be sorted according to your new job. The rest will be explained to you once you’re there.” she said.
Ashley nodded, and made a sharp turn to the left. There was another hallway, but it was less extravagantly decorated. There was a door at the end of it, and she opened the door to let herself in. It closed without a sound, and Ash turned to see many adolescents sitting quietly in their designated spot.
The room was dead silent, no one so much as coughed. It seemed that they hardly dared breathe. The chairs were arranged in alphabetical order, so Ashley went to the M’s. There she found her last name; Morgan. The chair was labeled Morgan, Ashley. She sat down and quietly waited with the rest of the revealed.
About an hour passed, and the last group finally claimed their seats. Then the administrators came in and closed the door softly behind them. A tall male cleared his throat and clutched a piece of parchment. “As your occupation is called, please walk through the door that we point to.” he said. Everyone nodded and he began listing off jobs.
“Artists there! Magistrates! Book keepers, journalists, health inspectors, principles, teachers, musicians, patrol officer…” he rambled on, listing the various occupations. The strange thing about it was that they weren’t listed in alphabetical order like most other things were. The simply sounded to have been thrown out there.
Finally, when the room cleared, Ash’s group was called. There were only a handful of children left by the time government official was announced. They looked like they were fiercely loyal to the Final Kingdom, another name for our government. But perhaps she was wrong, after all, Ash wasn’t feeling especially loyal.
“Now, you’re group is a little different from the rest. That’s why we called you last. There are different levels of government officials, each with their own name. None of you will be placed in the same catagory." he said.
There were five government instructors standing in different areas of the room, one for each new trainee. Each of them were sent to a different instructor, and then left to go to a different room. The instructor I was assigned to was a powerful looking woman.
She was dressed in white, because those were the requirements to enter the House of Revelations. Her hair was grey with white speckles in it, and was pulled up into a tight bun. She had square blue eyes, and a tight jawline. A few wrinkles were present on her face, but for the most part her skin was streached across the bones in her face, making wrinkles nearly impossible to occur. The older woman look to be about 60 or so years old, but there was no way to be certain.
When all the others had left the room, she cleared her throat. “My name is Rebecca Mocný, but you are to call me Master Mocný, or Master. I’m giving you a bit of leeway on the matter.” she said harshly.
“Master?” Ash said mockingly.
“Excellent, you are a quick learner.” she said.
Ash rolled her eyes, but didn’t let “Master” catch her doing it. Rebecca sounded a bit harsh, but she didn’t seem cut out to be on official.
“Now that you know who I am, we will meet in this room every Friday after you have concluded your regular studies.” Master said.
“Friday? But that’s when my friends and I usually go to see a show or something...” Ash said.
“I’m glad you see it my way. You shall meet me here every Friday from this day forth precisely after your studies have come to a conclusion. No exceptions.” she said.
“I-oh never mind.” Ash sighed.
Master smiled. “Wonderful. You are indeed a fast learner. I’m not going to say much today, but I will say this; you’re now training to become an Inhibitor. This is among the highest rank of officials.” she said, then paused. She waited for a moment before continuing.
“The different levels of officials go like this. The lowest level is the Traffic Examiner. Then we have Inspectors, Patrolmen, and then High Patrolmen. After that it goes, Investigators, which are sometimes referred to as Watchers. Next we have the Night Watchers, and the masked. Those are the middle ranked ones. You will be one of the top ranked Officials. There are only two offices that hold power over you, these are the Upholders and the Iron King. You; as I said before, will be an Inhibitor.” Master finished, having barely taken a breath.
“Wow...there sure are a lot of Officials...” Ash trailed off.
“Oh yes, but you needn’t worry about them for now. Just head home and get some rest. You will come back on Friday.” Master said.
Ash nodded and left the building. The halls seemed less white now, but she didn’t care. All she wanted to do was go home and sleep. When she saw her family, they all had excited looks on their faces. They wanted Sky; now Ash, to tell them about everything that had happened. Ash simply shook her head and looked up at them with weary eyes as she allowed herself to be sucked into a transportation tube.
The cleansing seemed to go down a great deal faster now that she had already had what she’d come for. “House of Morgan.” she stated loud and clear, and was whizzed away. Ash could feel her body sliding around in the tube, but she didn’t care. It was taking all she had not to fall asleep. It was curious for her to be behaving in such a manner.
Most newly revealed would be bouncing about, unable to even process the thought of sleep. Yet there she was, longing for sleep as if she had been living in the world of the waking for her entire life. Sleep just seemed like the most gracious, merciful thing that the world could offer. Because of this, as soon as she reached home, Ash headed straight for the stairs.
When she got to her room, Ash didn’t even bother to change into her pajamas. She simply collapsed on her bed and passed out for the night. There was no fight for sleep, and she reached her goal of unconsciousness before her head hit the pillow. And for the first time in a very long time, not a single dream came to her that night.