Prologue

Catherine Ross steps out of the elevator and into a clinically white room with no other door visible. Before her, sits a lone silver chair. The elevator’s door closes shut behind her and she is left isolated in a silent room.

She walks around the room, running her hand along the blanks walls, hoping to find a seam, indicating that there may be a door hidden somewhere. By the time she comes full circle back to the elevator, not even which can be detected.

She sighs, “What the hell did I get myself into?”

“Only what you signed up for Miss Ross,” a disembodied voice answers.

She nearly jumps out of her skin at the sudden answer to her rhetorical question.

“Please have a seat Miss Ross,” the voice instructs her.

“Please, call me Cat,” she says as she walks around to the front of the chair and sits down.

“Thank you Miss Ross,” the voice says, ignoring her request. “You have signed all the confidential paperwork and waived all right to sue should something happen to your persons.”

Cat winces at the thought, but keeps in mind that she can’t actually waive all her rights “You’ve assured me nothing would happen.”

“All our research indicates that nothing dangerous should happen, but there is always that small chance that something unexpected might occur. The prospect is equal to the danger of any experiment. Let me assure you that we will take every measure to prevent any and all bodily harm to you.”

“Alright,” Cat answers meekly. She can’t keep her voice from shaking at the sudden realization of why she is here in the first place. “And my father will be taken care off?”

“As we agreed, Miss Ross. You will not only be providing a service to District 2, but your father will receive the treatment he requires.”

“I won’t remember anything right?”

“You will not have any conscious thought Miss Ross. Once the procedure is complete, you will have fallen asleep, never to awaken and all the will remain is your body, an empty vessel to carry on with the project.”

“Alright.”

“Now, if you please Miss Ross, we need you to strip all of your clothing off.”

Cat nods and slowly begins to undress. Her mind is reeling with what the future holds, not for here but her father and those of District 2. For years, ever since the Fallout, after the districts were built, everyone knew energy would one day become a concern. Without energy, there was no way to run their technology and without technology there was no food production or any ease to their lifestyles.

When that day had finally came and the Inner Sanctum, the government that ran District 2, came up with a solution. They suddenly had a way to generate unlimited power, though they did not divulge how they got it. It was only known that volunteers would be needed to help out in the process.

Of course many rose to volunteer. The Inner Sanctum promised something great in return. But many, who realized what volunteering meant, quickly changed their minds. Cat was one of those, but when they promised treatment for her ailing father, she just had to reconsider.

Life outside the Upper Circle wasn’t pleasant. Those like Cat, the Lower Circle, weren’t living in squalor, but needful things like the treatment her father needed, were far out of their reach. The Upper Circle only treats the Lower Circle like people because it is the Lower Circle that keeps the cogs moving in District 2. But like any society, as the one before the Fallout, there is always a upper class.

With her clothing piled on the floor, Cat stands with her arms at her sides, her long black hair trailing down her back. Before the Fallout people would have been very shy at being naked, after though, there was no need for shyness. Many of the jobs in District 2 required a person stripping down to ensure commodities were not taken from the job.

“Excellent Miss Ross,” the voice says. “Would you please be so kind as to proceed through the door?”

Cat is about to say something about there not being a door when one suddenly slides open right in front of her. Instead she just simply nods and proceeds through the portal.

Once on the other side, she finds herself in yet another stark white room. This one, however, has a large glass wall and beyond it is a slew of machinery and medical equipment. To her left is a handsome man dressed in a lab coat and clipboard in hand.

“Miss Ross, I am Johann. I will get you settled in before your transformation,” he says offer his hand.

Cat takes it and receives a gentle squeezed before he pulls it away and looks at the clipboard.

“We have a few things to go over. Please, have a seat. I can answer all your questions while the computer gathers the information it needs.”

“Alright,” she says as she takes yet another seat, this one diagonal to the man. “Is this the point when I’ll go to sleep?”

“Yes, well no,” Johann answers with a smile. “You will be asleep for the procedure, but you’ll wake up again. Afterward we need to make sure that the procedure took hold without incident before moving to the next and final phase.”

“What is the procedure?”

“It is a simple genetic procedure,” he begins. “We will alter your DNA, changing your physiology to match the required needs of the end result.”

“That doesn’t explain much,” Cat says a little irritated. “What exactly will you be doing?”

Johann sighs slightly under his breath. Cat catches the sound but doesn’t say anything, instead waiting for the man to give her an answer. After a few moments he does.

“We have found that giving the subject all the details leads to anxiety and ultimately fouls up the procedure. It is best for your state of mind to wait until after, when the testing has to be done to find out what took place.”

Cat huffs, having to calm herself with the thought of her father getting his treatment, provided that she corporates. “Very well,” she finally says. “How long will it be before everything is complete? My father needs the treatment.”

“Don’t worry Miss Ross,” Johann answers. “Your father’s treatment began the moment you stepped into this facility. However, we don’t want you to get the notion that you can decide to not go through with this.”

The treat is clear enough for Cat not to ask about what would happen and certainly not to change her mind.

“What will the test be afterward?” she asks.

Johann just smiles and says, “Another one of the team will be conducting it, but right now that is all I can tell you.”

“A lot of secrecy,” she grumbles.

“Like I said Miss Ross, it all has to do with keeping your anxiety and stress levels ow.”

“I feel pretty anxious right now,” she protests.

The man looks up from his clipboard and it is only then that Cat realizes it is not a clipboard at all.

“Your readings are in the normal, safe range that we like to have. If there are no more questions then we can proceed.”