Ellipse

Rain. Pouring rain. I see the droplets dissipating on the clear glass. I shift my focus to directly in front of me. I finger the lattice cage that separated the officer and I. The officer glances in his rear view mirror, smirking at me.

"First time into the ellipse, I assume?" he asks, keeping his eyes on the roadway.

"Yeah," I answer, keeping my eyes down.

"Ah, so it says here I am to deliver you to quarantine warehouse.." he says, glancing down at his tablet.

"Um, guess so." I glance up to see the skyline approaching. Buildings, twenty stories high, side by side, light illuminating the entire area. I stare in awe at the color show before my eyes. I had never seen anything like it before in my entire life.

Getting inside the ellipse wasn't easy. No entrance was permitted if you didn't have a specified admittance key, which was given off by a radioactive signal in a tracking device they shove into your ear canal.

I had heard of this place, but not many things were said about it. They keep it on such a tight lock because of the spread of infectious disease on the outside.

Before this, I had worked in a factory, overridden by robotic supervision and brainwashed workers. Yesterday, I got my ticket of freedom. My certificate of release. I will remember that day clearer than any other.

A drone approached me, grabbing my forearm, pulling me over to where it was silent and free of loiterers. A face I had never seen popped onto it's monitor.

"Hello," it processed for more than a minute before saying it's next words,

"Evangeliene Rose Carter. You have been placed on permanent release status. This means you are to report to the city at the beginning of the next cycle of work days. Please take your Certificate of Release from the drone's printing module. You are to leave immediately, go home, say goodbye, and report to the hovercraft launcher in your town. An officer will be there to escort you. Thank you for your service. President Maree Quarter."

I did as I was told, went home, said goodbye, and left for the hovercraft launcher.

"Eva, this is all so sudden, did you put in for release?" my Mom questioned me.

"No, Mom. It's a random selection process. I'm looking at it as the luck of the draw. I can finally spread my wings and get the hell out of this desolate farm town."

My mom gave me a look, and I realized I had said too much. She frowned, but the said,

"Eva, you're a gifted being, I know the could really use you in the city. Don't worry about me, love. We have it handled here." she says, meeting my eyes for the last time.

She hugs me, and I try not to hold on too long.

“Here Eva, I want you to have this.” I watch as my mom unclasps the heart shaped locket that hung around her neck. She had worn it everyday for as long as I could remember, and it was her only possession that held any value.

She put it around my neck and i clutched it tightly. I looked into my mother’s misty eyes and gave her a loving stare. As I back away from our farm cabin, I feel a tear streaming down my face. Before I start blubbering, I turn and start towards the hovercraft launch station, not looking back.

That brings us to this moment. Here I am, sitting in a hovercraft with an officer who doesn't know who I am or why I was sent for. Quite frankly, neither do I. My entire family worked in the farming industry for years. I thought I was going to be working at the milk plant for the rest of my life. My dad did, all the way up to the point where he could no longer walk due to the disease that wreaked havoc on his already haunt frame.

I look up as we land and come to a stop. I blink a couple of times to bring myself back into the present.

"Here we are. Instruction will be given when you walk in. Best of luck."

I nod, and walk into the door of the quartanine warehouse. I look around the monstrous space. All I can see is cubicles. Each cubicle has a shower, a computer desk, and a closet. I stride closer to get a better look. However, I'm halted in mid-step.

"Hello miss?" I glance over my shoulder to see an actual human worker, dressed in scrubs and a mask, "ticket please?" she prods, looking into my pocket.

I reach into my jacket pocket and take out my certificate. She scans it in.

"Right this way, Ms. Carter." she turns, and begins to walk down the long hall. She unlocks the door to the cubicle, and motions me in.

"Okay, I'm going to need you to take off all clothing, and anything else brought from the Outer Areas, and put it in the disposal tank over there." she points to the corner.

I look at her, and I clutch the locket that my mother had just given me. She gives me a solemn stare, and she tells me, “That must go as well, it’s for safety reasons.”

I do as instructed, dropping all of belongings including my bag and the locket into the incinerator. I stare a little too long before a noise grabs my attention.

She unlocks the shower, punches in a code into the screen, and tells me to get in. As soon as I am secured in the shower, she locks the padlock and leaves the cubicle without saying a word.

"Quarantine treatment to begin in sixty seconds." the mechanical voice divulged.

A short sixty second later, a orange acid spouts out of the shower heads on opposite sides of the shower walls to meet my skin. It stung like ten thousand wasps. I looked down at my forearm, seeing that my epidermis was diminishing.

After about fifteen minutes of the venom bath, a light blue liquid began to stream down from the nozzle. This substance was cool and soothed my burning skin. I watched the beads of the assimilation hit my skinless arm. As the molecules hit my arm, a virgin layer of skin developed on the surface. The river of liquid stops.

"You may now exit the shower, your clothing is located in the closet to the left of the shower. Thank you"

I hear the door unlock, and I push the gateway open. Stepping onto the marble floor, I almost trip, overwhelmed by the forbearance that had just occurred.

I turn the lock on the closet door to reveal my brand-new wardrobe. The closet was filled to the brim with black tops, black denim, and black sneakers. There was also one black dress, and a pair of black heels. In the far corner, I identify a pair of black flannel pajamas.

"Wow, lots of black..." I say, under my breath.

I get dressed in the black top and denim. I tie my shoes, and sit down at the computer desk inside of my cubicle. A familiar face pop onto the monitor.

"Thank you for your cooperation during our quarantine process. Please be aware that it is just for the safety of the residents of the ellipse. You will now be presented with an aptitude test. This test is meant to test your abilities, making sure that our community places you in the correct work environment. Thank you again for cooperation, and we hope that you live a joyous life in the City of Applewood.”

The monitor flicks off, and then flicks back on almost immediately.

"Welcome, please place your hand on the mouse." it pauses as I perform the action, "Thank you, Ms. Evangeliene Carter. Please prepare for your examination."

The test begins, and the questions feature simple math, english, and life scenarios. It then prints onto the screen, "Your results will be posted on the board outside of your cubicle. Thank you for your participation." I rise from the pedestal, and exit from the cubicle.

I look to the right of the door to see a screen. A text is scrawled across the surface.

"Fingerprint, please."

I place my thumb onto the screen. It reads it and the goes black. After a few seconds of blackness, I see my work assignment.

Examiner of the dead.