Rise Against the Faultless (4 page)

I gave him a minute to get out
of the long hallway so I wouldn’t have to confront him again before I left to
go back into the crowded meeting hall. When I made my way back there was no
sign of him so I felt pretty safe. Adrian and Lo were standing on the far side
of the building now, talking to their parents. Adrian waved me over with a
furrow between his eyebrows. “Are you okay? You look flushed?”

“I’m fine, just a lot of
excitement today,” I reassured him. He put his arm around my shoulder and gave
a small squeeze. I guess he had made note of the sudden freedom for public
affection as well. My mother caught sight of it, but it didn’t seem to bother
her. She hadn’t wiped the smile off of her face since my sector was announced.
Was this something she was hoping for? I knew that appearances were important
to her, but I had no idea that the prestige that came with Command was
something that carried that much weight with my mother.

We stayed and politely made
idle conversation with some of our neighbors and then decided it was time to
leave so we could go home and prepare dinner.  It was a special occasion night,
which meant that our dinner was of a premium selection, it was actually one of
my favorites: imitation roast beef, green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy with
green tea. We were almost to the door and my father was about to scan his PID
to leave when Ann Brutus stepped in front of him. She delivered him a smile
that was different than the one that she had given me on the stage. “Hello,
Troy. You’re looking well.”

My mother was standing beside
me while turned around talking to one of the school monitors and I saw her
stiffen at Ann’s voice. Her entire demeanor changed in seconds. She slowly
turned around to face Ann. “Ah, Mrs. Stone, how are you this evening?” I could
see disdain in the woman’s eyes, but I could not for the life of me figure out
why she would dislike my mother.

Mom mustered a smile and said
in a velvety smooth voice, “I’ve been quite well, and you, Ann?” If this woman
somehow intimidated my mother, there was no sign of it now.

“Well I’m enjoying the
wonderful news about your daughter. Quite a turn of events. It looks like she
and I will be spending quite a bit of time together.” A man came up behind Ann,
and placed his hand on her back. I saw him lean in to her and whisper something
in her ear, it must have been her husband. “Of course, dear. We’ll be going in
just a few moments. Familial duty calls I suppose. Oh, sweetheart, you do
remember the Stones?”

The man locked eyes with my
mother for a split second, but did not acknowledge my father.  His hair was a
salt and pepper color and he had dark green eyes, I could tell that he had once
been quite handsome, but worry lines now made him appear tired. He mumbled a
fast, “It’s nice to see you again, I must be going, and Shane is waiting
outside.” He scanned his PID and left the building.

Ann put a hand on my father’s
shoulder, “He’s always been a bit socially awkward. It was wonderful to see you
all. Raily, I can’t wait to see what’s in store for us next week.” She flashed
her fake smile at me once again, turned and clicked her way out of the building
in her high heels.

As soon as we were out of the
door I grabbed Mom’s arm. “What was that all about?” I wasn’t sure if I was
more curious or angry. Why hadn’t my parents told me that they had a past with
Ann Brutus. Something had to have happened between them, even if I hadn’t known
that Ann never let Shane come to our house it would have been blatantly obvious
from their little encounter.  Whatever my mother did to Ann had to be pretty
bad for her to lift that professional facade and give me a glimpse of the
contempt she held for Mom.

She turned to me and saw that
this wasn’t something that I would just let go, so she tried to placate me, “I
used to work with Ann and Jacob Brutus several years back.” I couldn’t remember
her ever mentioning them, but depending on how many years ago it was, I might
have been too young to remember.

“Well, maybe you could give me
some tips for the next three years then.” I was fishing.

“All I can really tell you
about Ann is that she is quite determined.” With that, she closed the
discussion. My father never chimed in.  In fact, he stayed silent on the entire
ride home. He must still be upset for whatever reason about me being chosen for
Command. I know he’ll come around, though. Dad never stayed upset or angry for
long. Mom was the one you had to worry about holding a grudge, but even she
would eventually cave. The noiseless ride home wasn’t bad for me. It gave me a
chance to catch my breath and reflect over the events of the ceremony.

I thought about the boy in the
meeting room after the Ceremony and his piercing blue eyes. What nerve he had.
I couldn’t help but appreciate his looks, though. And what did he mean about
how I would care what he thought?  He must have been messing with me, because I
have never seen him in my level before, so he won’t be an initiate with me. I
shouldn’t be worried about this anyway, what I need to worry about is how I’m
going to keep it together at the Training Compound for the next three years.

I will miss riding in the
transportation vehicles. Right now, I get to ride in the school transportation
every day and with my family every once in a while, but once I leave for
training after next week, I will be at the compound for most of my days.  We
will get a holiday every now and then, but mostly we will be there. Mom and Dad
said that their parents used to actually control the vehicles when they went
places. Dad said they he had driven a car a few times when he was young, but we
are automatically shuffled around to our destinations now. I loved looking at
the trees as they whirred by my line of sight. The house was not far from the
assembly hall so our ride was quite short, but I tried to savor the feeling
when we hit 120 miles per hour. I would miss that. 

This next week would be the
longest holiday of my life. We were always given holidays on one or two day
stints, so this week would seem like a decade. My recent acquisition of
knowledge about the perils lurking not far from my abode would only make the
week seem longer. I decided that I should keep myself busy as a distraction
from reality. I’ll use both of my visitor passes to go see Lo. I’ll invite
Adrian over for dinner with my parents as well. That will help with the awkward
conversation sure to come this week.

I heard the vehicle come to a
stop just in front of our house. I trekked the familiar path up the front steps
and into our home. It dawned on me that this might be my last week of living
here. I would get to visit, but more often than not, initiates are granted
their first living quarters after training. Sometimes they have even married.
For some reason I don’t think that that is a likely scenario for me, but you
never know. I will really miss living with Dale, and if I was being honest, Mom
and Dad, too.

The week inched by just as
slowly as I thought it would. Mom and I didn’t talk about more than the weather
or food, Dad stayed busy with work, and Dale still had to go to school.  I did
go visit Lo twice, which seemed to help. Adrian came over for dinner late in
the week. Of course, coming over for dinner just meant that he carried his
prepackaged meal over to my house, but the entire family ate together. Dale
monopolized Adrian’s time with questions about computers. Afterwards Adrian
suggested that we talk outside. The weather was a bit milder this week, so I
grabbed my coat and agreed. We talked for a few minutes about what we thought
the Training Compound would be like as we made circles around my back yard. We
stopped and I noticed he was staring at me.

He grabbed my hand and pulled
me to him. We were facing each other and his arms were wrapped around my waist.
It shocked me a little bit as I had been resigned to his hand squeezes under
tables or the occasional stolen hug when no adults were around. “I’ve been
waiting for this for a long time.”

Our first kiss was interrupted
by Dale slamming the back door and drawn out “Ewwwww. Rai, gross!” My mind was
a bit foggy, but that snapped me back to reality.

“Dale! Aren’t you supposed to
be inside helping Dad?”  After talking about this moment with Lo for what
seemed like forever, my little brother brought it to a fast ending. He made a
twisted face at me and ran back inside. I looked up at Adrian, who still had a
sweet look in his eyes. 

“Rai, you’re the only person I
want to see right now.  What do you think about that?” Was he saying he wanted
to be my boyfriend?  Oh boy, things have gotten crazy lately. I witnessed a
murder, I’ve been chosen for the Command sector, and now I have a serious
boyfriend. I wonder what’s going to happen tomorrow, maybe I’ll grow wings and
fly off to a place where PIDs don’t exist.

“Okay.” I smiled up at him. I’m
not sure what that will mean and I’m not sure why he would want to take me off
the market, there certainly isn’t a huge demand.

Dale poked his head back
outside, “Are you guys finished kissing, I want to show Adrian something on the
computer!” Adrian let out a chuckle even though I’m sure he could see the steam
coming out of my ears.

“Maybe next time, buddy. I’m
almost out of time.” I heard Dale’s overly dramatic sigh as he went back
inside. Adrian leaned down and gave me a quick peck on the lips, “I had a great
time tonight. I guess I’ll see you next week.” He went through the house to say
goodbye to Dale and my parents. I watched him climb into his transportation
vehicle and speed away and I could not stop the smile from creeping across my
face.

After their normal route of
dropping off kids, the school’s transportation units are used to bring us to
the Training Compound. The bus would be here at 9:55 on the dot and I would
have five minutes from its arrival to load everything up. I had packed
everything the night before so I could be ready to just pile everything in.  I
only had two bags, one contained my clothes, the other my toiletries. We would
be provided new clothes for training over the next few years anyway, so no
sense in bringing too much.  I packed a few of my dressier clothes, just in
case. Mom bought me a new red dress with a halter strap and a shiny, sheer
material that hung past my knees. She gave it to me last night, she said as a
celebration. I also packed that in my bag, taking care not to let it get
wrinkled, although I doubted that an occasion would arise when I would need it.

I had gotten up early enough to
say goodbye to Dale. He was extremely jealous.  He still thought that the
Training Compound was mysterious and exciting, when I knew that it was nothing
but work, and possible danger. “I’ll miss you, squirt.”  I trapped him in a big
bear hug, and for once he didn’t fight his way out, only hugged me back.

“Yeah, I’ll miss you too.” He
smiled a mischievous smile at me. “Send me a message and tell me everything!” 
We were allowed monitored messages to be sent using the Training Compounds computers
once per week.

I laughed at him, “You know I
can’t, it’s not allowed to talk about Training.”

“Ok,” he looked disappointed,
“you can at least tell me if the food is better.”

“You got it.” I seriously doubt
that the food would be any improvement over what we have now, but I can let
Dale hope that.  I waited with him outside for his bus and watched as the bus
sped out of sight. It would be three months before I would see any of my family
again. We were allowed a home visitation every three and a half months for two
days. Maybe being physically removed from this place would help my mental state
of being.

   Mom and Dad would have to
leave for work before I was picked up to leave for the Training Compound and
our goodbyes were fast. I could tell that Mom had been crying this morning, but
no trace of moisture was left in her eyes. She and Dad both told me how proud
they were of me and how much they looked forward to seeing me in three months. 
I saw them off and stood waiting alone for the bus.

The ride to the training
compound would only take about an hour.  It was centrally located in our
district and would house the initiates from all ten surrounding schools. Every
one of us felt like sheep being herded off to be gleaned of our wool. We had no
idea what to expect. Even those of us with older siblings only had heard only
the most mundane details about the Training Compound.  Secrecy was of the
utmost importance and any betrayal was considered a criminal act. The one
tidbit of information that Ari had ever really let go of about the Training
Compound was that it was big, and if Ari was good at anything, it was following
the rules. Lo and I had small conversation, but both of us were mostly just
silent, awaiting our fate.

Upon our arrival, I realized
that Ari’s characterization of the Training Compound was almost laughable. The
Training Compound was not big, it was the most massive structure I had ever
seen.  It was like a self-contained city. To the east of the main buildings was
a field with wind turbines for as far as I could see, no doubt providing
electricity for the miniature city. I could see the buildings with flat roofs
were topped with gigantic solar panels. There were three towering skyscrapers
toward the back of the compound that looked like the jewelry of the property. 
The first building we came to was bright white and lined with large curved
windows that I could not see inside of. Although the outside was plain except
for some shrubbery, the inside was anything but boring.

The entryway contained one
hundred and forty stations to scan our PIDs. At each station, there was a
hologram of an attractive woman with short blond hair giving us individualized
instructions for us to make our way to our assigned living quarters. After
scanning in, my PID continued to spew the same instructions that the blond had
given, “Take forty steps to the north, then take a right.”  I paid attention to
where I was going just in case I wasn’t granted the instructions next time. 
The halls were decorated with artwork depicting scenes of war or great leaders
from our past. One particularly interesting motion piece was of ants building
an intricate and glorious castle together, each lined up behind the other. The
ants moved together, of one mind to serve someone else, someone higher up and
then retreated back to the ground to their meager existence. I didn’t like it.

I reached my room, 3624, on the
third level of an endless hall of small dormitories. As I approached the door,
it automatically opened for me. The inside had a small bed against the wall on
the left and just past it was a door leading into my own bathroom. The bathroom
was just large enough to contain a full sized shower, sink, and toilet. The
lights slowly came on and went off as I entered and left the rooms. “Lights
dim,“ I tested, and was right, they were voice activated.  There was a small
desk and chair on the far side of the room with a window directly above it. The
walls were a muted green color and the sheets and comforter on the bed were the
same standard white as those at my home. Three stories down from my window was
a large and open courtyard with several different obstacles, which I assumed
were for training.  Just past them was a gigantic covered in ground pool, no
use for it now that the weather is so frigid.

I threw my bags on my bed and
started to unpack the few items that I had brought along with me. I might as
well settle in since this could very well be where I lay my head for the next
three years. Mom had insisted that I bring some of her makeup with me for any
social outings that I had here. She’d shown me how to apply the makeup to my
eyes and lips, but it still felt foreign to me. I smeared some of the balm on
my lips and then quickly wiped it off again. I’ll try that later.  I put it in
the small cabinet under the sink in the bathroom.  There was a closet on the
wall opposite the bed where I carefully hung my new red dress.  After I had
settled in, I waited for instructions, I still wasn’t sure about the rules of
wandering around here. Besides, if I did leave, I would surely get lost.

No time had passed and I heard
the blond woman’s voice through a sound system in the ceiling instructing all
initiates to the main hall for the State Leader Ann Brutus’ address. Her voice
came through my PID to guide me down the long and confusing halls to the lower
level into the huge main hall. It had to be four times the size of our local
assembly hall at home, and I imagine that it probably isn’t the biggest place
here. After milling around for a few minutes I spotted Lo in the crowd. She
waved me over and we found seats about half way up the hall. “Can you believe
this place?” Her eyes were wide, and I could tell the experience was a little
overwhelming for her.

“I know, it’s ridiculous.
Where’s your room?” Please let it be close to mine.

“I have no idea!” We both
laughed at that. It didn’t surprise me that she didn’t remember, Lo doesn’t
always pay attention to her surroundings. “I hope that blond keeps giving us
directions, or I’ll be in the ranks with the Grime in no time.” We were
interrupted by the actual blond woman walking on to the stage and addressing
the crowd.

“My name is Terra Sharp. I am
the director here at the Training Compound. If anyone has any issues or
problems, please address them at my office.”  The ease with which she addressed
the crowd made it seem like she had done this many times, but she didn’t look
old enough for that to be a possibility. She looked to be almost six feet tall
and her hair was almost as short as my father’s. Her image was projected on to
three large screens at the front of the building. “Please welcome State Leader,
Ann Brutus.”

Ann took the stage and gave a
short welcome to us, with not so subtle reminders that our confidentiality is
not just expected, but enforced. “Much is expected of you all, and I know that
you will live up to, and exceed those expectations. You are allowed to go to
any unlocked portion of the Training Compound. This is more freedom than you
are used to. Take care not to leave the grounds, the boundaries are clearly
marked. Your free time is your own. However, your roaming freedoms will be
revoked if you are late or miss a training session. This is a zero tolerance
policy. Good luck to you.”

Terra Sharp reclaimed the stage
and instructed us that our PIDs had been loaded with a map of the compound.
Today we were to make ourselves familiar with the compound and our schedule for
the next week. We would begin training sessions tomorrow morning. As soon as
the meeting was over, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see
Adrian beaming at me. He did not embrace me, which I thought was smart, we
still don’t know all the rules of this place.  The only rules that were obvious
were don’t leave, don’t talk about training, and don’t miss training sessions.
Maybe those were the only rules, but to be on the safe side, we should probably
avoid public affection.

Adrian, Lo, and I wandered around
until we found the dining hall. In all the excitement we didn’t realize that we
had missed our lunch.  Unfortunately, I was right about the food, no better,
but it did seem a little protein heavy. I guess they’re going to try to bulk us
up for training. Rather than water, we had a thick, green, slightly sweet
tasting drink.  It took all I had to choke it down, but I took what I could
get. After lunch we helped Lo find her room, it was on a level two and on the
opposite side of the dormitory than my own room.  I was grateful for my view
after looking out of Lo’s room because she was looking at the side of another
building, however if I looked out towards the South, I could see one of the
three skyscrapers that I had noticed on our arrival.

After checking each of our
schedules, we found our meeting rooms for the next day and memorized how to get
there. Adrian’s meeting room was full of technical equipment that I couldn’t
dream of operating, but he seemed impressed.  Lo’s room was relatively low tech
in comparison and full of training equipment, but more noticeably, it was
massive. My room contained only two shelves and a few chairs. I guess that
since it isn’t utilized as much as the other training rooms it doesn’t get
quite as much attention.

“I heard some guys behind me
talking about the lounge on campus. They said that you can get drinks and
crackers there.” If they’re letting us freely eat and drink something, it
probably isn’t very tasty, but I still found myself feeling excited about it.
We got lost twice, but eventually found the lounge. Apparently we weren’t the
first to hear about it, because it looked like half the initiates were in
there.  I could see the table with the crackers on it, but it also had bread
and some sort of white dip with green flecks in it. I couldn’t believe my eyes.
A long line snaked around the room of excited initiates trying to get a taste
of the unregulated refreshments.

The other side of the room had
an entire wall of readily bottled drinks in coolers. All you had to do was scan
your PID and select your beverage. I could see that there were a few with small
amounts of alcohol in them.  Alcohol had never really intrigued me as it had my
classmates. This would be our first opportunity to have it, but I could see a
sign on the wall above the coolers that said “Limit of two alcoholic beverages
per day- strictly enforced.” So that was why we had to scan our PID before
getting a drink, but not a snack. Adrian, Lo, and I decided that we should
probably wait until tomorrow evening before trying out the snacks because it
would probably take well over an hour just to get to the table today, but the
drink line wasn’t nearly as long and in ten minutes we each had our beverages
and were off to check out the rest of the grounds.

From the map on our PID, it
looked like buildings on the Training Compound were grouped together in the
shape of a triangle. Our dormitories were on the far east side, just before the
fields of wind turbines. The three sky scrapers on the back of the grounds were
to the north, and there were large structures on the West side that I hadn’t
figured out yet. The property was so expansive that there was an inner mode of
transportation. There were silver shuttles that were in the shape of bullets
that sped through from point to point every five minutes or so. They could hold
a maximum of forty people, probably enough for a small class of people. There
were stations where the shuttles would pick you up where you could wait for
one.  You just chose your destination and in a few moments the shuttle would
appear to whisk you away.

I had been intrigued by the
skyscrapers since my arrival, so we all agreed that we would go there next.
Several other initiates hopped on to the shuttle and in less than fifteen
seconds we were sitting in front of the tallest skyscraper in the middle. I
could see now why they had been so shiny from the front of the Training
Compound, the windows that were on them were mirrored. I wondered if they were
another source of solar energy. I had never seen a skyscraper, so I didn’t
know. As we walked through the front doors, I noticed a beep. The same beep
that I had heard going through every doorway since my arrival here. It wasn’t a
loud annoying beep, just a little chirp.