Page 6 of The Order

"Did you get dressed in the dark?" Kai questions with a smile. Giving him a playful nudge, I threaten to swipe him with my dirtied bristles.

"I decided to sleep in, unlike you," I say with a full mouth. Kai scrunches his nose, motioning me to spit. I oblige with a roll of my eyes.

His hands fiddle with my tie as I wipe my mouth. His fingers work quickly, managing to fold my tie even better than his own. His curly brown hair bounces with each movement, most of his body taking up the space around us. He towers over nearly every member of our family. My mom and dad are not sure how he got so tall. Genetically, Kaiden was bred to be no more than 6 feet. Now he towers at a large 6'2". Sometimes I question if he even knows how to use his long legs. Each step he takes is like a baby gazelle walking for the first time.

His brown-green eyes land on my green ones as he finally finishes sorting me out.

"I heard your clock tell you off this morning," Kai begins, moving away from the bathroom, hitting the light switch. Trailing behind his slim figure, I let his long strides devour my short ones.

"What's new?" I question with a scoff.

"You know they keep track of that, right? Enough low-level violations and you have to talk to an Official before doing some community time," Kai says.

I almost feel satisfied knowing they'd dress me in something other than this insufferable uniform for community time.

"Who's doing community time?" my mother's gentle voice questions as we finally turn the corner into the kitchen. She wears dark blue scrubs.

Blue is the customary color for all of those in the health field.

The table is filled with our regulated breakfast portions. Each meal resides in a small glass container, delivered by Unfortunates every morning like clockwork. The steam hits the top of the glass container in white swirls. Kai tosses himself into his seat, promptly pouring a massive mug of black coffee. My father flashes me a smile before returning to the silent sips of his mug. He speaks on his phone, droning on about some Unfortunate affairs he is tackling this week. I hear his frustrations rise as he leans against the wall. His eyes trail out the window in the kitchen, his chair at the head of the table pushed away from its usual spot. The call must have been sudden for him to speak during breakfast like this.

"No one is doing community time," I say after a moment. Sliding in next to Kai, I pull away the top from my breakfast portion. Eggs and bacon again.

"Unless your name is Forest and you tell off your clock for doing its job every morning," Kai says. His fork poking his eggs, my mother's eyebrows rising.

"Forest, I asked you to stop doing that," my mother says with some frustration.

I narrow my eyes at my brother while reaching for the coffee pot. He slides it away from my grasp with one motion.

"I want some too."

"Mom and Dad haven't gotten seconds yet. Plus, you get jittery every time you drink it, and, frankly, I don't feel like dealing with that today," Kai says.

"Forest," my mother's voice says once more. "I need you to promise you will stop being so careless with your actions. Violations are not something to take lightly," my mom finishes.

My dad slowly lowers his phone.

"I understand," I start, trying to reach for Kai's mug of coffee. His hand swats me away, my dad finally taking a seat at the table.

"The only people who should worry about the violations are Unfortunates. Even a high-level violation for us is nothing but a slap on the wrist and some grief from an Official," my dad says with a smile.

Unfortunates.

The people who have been placed on the lowest totem pole of this society. Here in the Untouchable sector of New Haven, we have a good thing. We continue to create advancements in this society that better the people. Unlike Unfortunates, we were born to do something more significant. We are more innovative, cleaner, and advanced in our thinking.

The Unfortunate sector lies on the other end of New Haven. Like most bottom feeders, they reside in a separate commune, not ever leaving the comforts of their hell hole. Some Unfortunates work in the primary strip market, while others run transportation or deliver food for the Untouchables. Unfortunates have been tasked to do the work our people cannot be asked to do. Farming, electrical, grunt military work, and all other undesirable tasks are left in the laps of Unfortunates. Once they are away from their sector, Unfortunates are only permitted to speak to Untouchables if they are in an academic or work setting. Speaking outside of regulation can result in immediate punishment by an Official or an Untouchable.

In most scenarios, Untouchables roughing up Unfortunates is far from uncommon. They were bred to do the work our people did not want to do. They live to serve. We live to survive. That's the only way this society functions. As far as anyone is concerned in this sector, they are hardly people. When our school implemented its hybrid program, welcoming a select few Unfortunates to be put in our academic setting to “further educate the bottom feeders," people were furious.

"You should listen to your mother, Forest," my dad continues, placing his phone face down as he speaks. "You don't want a list of violations on your scorecard when it is time for your Judgment Day," he finishes. Placing a piece of bacon in my mouth, I process his words.

In no way does New Haven's government-elected leaders deciding what career I am stuck with for the rest of my life sound appealing. The chips are supposed to gather the data they need to create a proper placement for each individual in New Haven. Judgment Day is something most people look forward to. Kai has had his outfit picked out for months and even convinced our parents to splurge on champagne for the event. I hardly make it through a school day without zoning out.

"What was your phone call about?" I question, my fork shovels a mound of eggs into my mouth. Kai gives me a disgusted scrunch of his nose.

"Forest, no work talks at the table."

"It's fine, Katiana," my dad says, shaking his head. "A few Unfortunates working the market have decided stealing from our people was appropriate. They took extra food rations and a few items worth some money that they planned to distribute in their sector. I had my men take care of them," my father says with great pride. I watch him take a long sip from his coffee. It's as if he’s washing down the words he just spoke with the dignity he must feel.

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