***
It was time to break for lunch, and Cimarron gave me a black bag and told me to keep my new tablet in it always. There were two pockets inside, one for each of my two tablets, and a space to keep other personal items. The new bag hung from my left shoulder, slung across my body, with the words Concord Reigns embroidered in shimmering gold. The gold against the black sparkled in the sun as I stepped outside, glinting and catching the eye of everyone that I passed.
Lily stared at it as I approached the table where she sat, waiting for me, with a group of our friends. Fisher and Stone were perched on either side of her. Holly, Willow, Ash, and Clay were across from them.
“Nice bag,” Lily whistled as I neared. “Fancy bag for your fancy new position. My father told me about it this morning. Hope you don’t mind, I kind of filled them in already,” she said, gesturing to the group.
I rushed over to her and gave her a hug. “No. It’s fine. Everyone will know soon enough.” I sat down beside Stone. “Cimarron, my new mentor, gave the bag to me. I was also given a second tablet for my training as Lush Ambassador of Concord. Apparently I must carry two tablets with me at all times; one for me and one for Concord.”
“I would hate that,” Stone said through a breath of released air. “A small one in my pocket is more than enough for me. I think I could do without it, actually.”
“How can you say that?” Willow balked at the thought. “We are much safer with them. How would anyone know where you are or if you are in trouble if you didn’t have your tablet?”
“She’s right,” Holly agreed.
“Yes, I know. I’ve got it with me,” Stone assured her. “See,” he said, pulling it out of his pocket. He waved it in the air.
Fisher pulled out his full sized tablet and placed it on the table. “I wouldn’t be able to look at all my Architectural studies with something that small. Blue, I got Architecture. That was a load off my mind.”
“Oh, yeah! I almost forgot,” I said. “You guys all got your assignments today. So, what did everybody get? I want to know what was chosen for each of you.”
“Architecture, as I just said,” smiled Fisher.
“Armory, as expected,” beamed Lily.
Stone raised his hands in the air, a show of triumph. “Entertainment Video Production. No desk, no desk!”
“Yay!” I laughed. “No desk.”
Willow spoke next. “Well I am to become a Culinary Technician and Nutritional Consultant.”
“I am bound for Peace Keeper Training.” Ash’s eyes shone with pride.
I gave an inward sigh of relief. His X hadn’t rendered him with an undesirable position.
Holly gave a sheepish smile. “I have no idea why, but I’ve been told that I’d excel as an actress. Stone and I will be working on opposite ends of the video camera.”
“This is pretty exciting!” I exclaimed. “We will all be working in such different areas. I love it. I can’t wait to find out what everyone else was assigned to.”
“Clay got something technical,” Stone said. “That’s all I know.”
“As if we didn’t expect that,” Fisher added.
“It is not just something technical,” Clay scoffed. “I will eventually be apprenticing with the Concord One Information Systems Department. I hope to eventually work my way into the Overseer Division and encompass Two, Three, and Four as well.”
I tried to picture Clay in any profession that wasn’t technical and I just couldn’t do it. If he wasn’t able to analyze something he’d be a miserable boy. “That sounds about right,” I smiled.
Stone puffed his cheeks out huge and then expelled the breath. “Alright, Miss Blue, let’s see it.”
“Arm on the table, oh Lush one,” Holly added.
I sighed, quite loudly.
“Bluebell, I have a feeling you’ll be doing this quite often. So you better get used to it,” Lily coaxed.
“Plus, we are your friends, so we get first dibs to gawk at you,” Fisher smirked.
Willow nodded her head. “Who better to expose yourself to?”
“Willow!” Holly laughed.
“I didn’t mean it that way!” Willow gasped.
“Alright, alright,” I said and placed my arm on the table, palm up, Citizen Brand exposed. “Gawk away.”
Clay moved in for a closer look, examining the circles quite intently. He was taking mental technical pictures to file away in that overworked brain of his. I just knew it. Holly and Willow put their fingers out at the same time and began touching it. But Fisher and Stone just observed from where they sat. I felt like an oddity… an interesting oddity.
Ash turned his head. He didn’t want to look at it, and I didn’t blame him. He had bragged about and expected an O, but had ended up with an X. I had been secure in the fact that I’d be fine with either mark and I’d been blessed with something entirely outside of the realm of my expectations. We had both been thrown. He’d be fine though, I knew he would. Ash had genuinely good looks and had been placed on a promising career path, even though neither of his parents were all that influential. There was a novelty in being a twin, and that novelty had saved him. He knew it, I knew it, we all knew it; but none of us needed to point it out. I’m sure we were all just glad that Ash would be able to secure a noble place in Concord Society.
“Anyone know about Coral?”
Rosemary walked by our table just as I asked the question. “She was given a choice between Custodial Management and being a Guardian. She has to decide by tomorrow morning,” she laughed. “So much for the 1.01. Her family has been steadily falling from its rickety pedestal for years and that X on her arm just knocked them to the ground.”
“Rosemary, that’s a little harsh, isn’t it?” Lily frowned.
“If you’d been secretly belittled the way I was for most of my time at Training Tech, you’d be harsh too. You get what you give, right? And that girl gave me smiles and then backstabs for many years. She got what she deserved,” Rosemary countered. “I’m destined for Party Planning, if anyone wants to know. Galas, parties, balls, soirees… mine will be outstanding.”
Rosemary clasped her hands together, tilted her head up, and closed her eyes, as if imagining one of her fabulous celebrations. When she opened her eyes, she looked at me.
“Congrats on the Brand, Blue. You lucked out with that one,” Rosemary stated. “Although I think I’d excel in a position like that. It’s kind of wasted on you, isn’t it?” She spun around and walked away.
“Rosemary is the new Coral,” Willow whispered.
“I think we will just have two of them now,” Holly whispered back.
“No,” I said, being the realist. “Neither of those positions will allow for Coral to act with her usual flippant behavior. She will have to learn her place or suffer the consequences.”
A collective sigh went through the group.
I pulled my arm back and hid it under the table. “I’m really hungry,” I declared. “Can we order some food now?”
There was no longer a Food Manager dispensing required sustenance at the CEC. We were finally able to order whatever it was that we wanted to eat, with few, if any, restrictions. The food was delivered to the table in precisely measured portion sizes. It was artfully arranged and visually appetizing.
“Willow, take note.” I called her attention to my plate of food. “This is a beautiful thing.”
“Mine will be better,” she smiled.
“I have no doubt, my friend,” I smiled in return before taking a bite.