It took Cassia longer to get changed than it had for her to get dressed to begin with. Of course that had something to do with the fact that she had absolutely no desire to go through the testing again. Her last session should have been the end of it since she was going to be an adult soon and she could opt out finally.

Fresh faced and dressed in plain, comfortable clothes, she dragged herself back down the stairs to find her stepmother was still camped by the front door waiting impatiently. "Took you long enough," she barked and all but pushed Cass out the door where she almost ran right into her brother and a pack of his friends.

Russel was sixteen, already about six feet tall, and as much as she wanted to hate him as much as she hated his mother, he was just too damn nice. He caught her by the shoulders before they could collide. "Hey Cass!" He seemed surprised to see her, which was odd. "Good luck today, okay?" The hesitation in his voice was odd, too. But before she could say anything there was Margaret grabbing her by the arm to pull her away.

"We're already late," she snapped at Cass. When she spoke to her son her tone was suddenly sweet as pie. "Russel, I'll be home in a couple of hours. Why don't you boys order yourselves some pizza?"

Cass wanted to protest and complain. She wouldn't have been allowed to have all her friends over with no adults in the house. But her stepmother had an iron grip on her arm and the pain was distracting. "Ow! I'm coming, I'm coming. God, what?s the rush?"

She got no answer back, then again she hadn't been expecting one. A few moments later they were in the car and on their way.

The houses all blended together as they passed through the neighborhood. Not just because she'd been down this road a million times, but every house was identical right down to the landscaping. If they weren't numbered there would be no way to tell each apart. And this neighborhood was identical to all of the other neighborhoods across the suburb, across every city, across the whole country. The parts of the country that had been rebuilt, at least. The news would occasionally cover the Outlands where people were doing their own rebuilding.

Eventually houses gave way to the commercial center where all of the shops were. Cass stared longingly at the mall as they passed by. Her friends were probably already in there sipping on lattes and trying on all of the shoes. Without her. Maybe they'd buy her something for her birthday.

Pleasant thoughts of all of the different things they might have picked off her wishlist occupied her until the buildings changed again. Now they were in the business district which even on a Saturday was bustling with activity. In one of those tall, unassuming buildings was her father, toiling away for what always seemed like endless hours.

The office buildings would have blended right in with the government buildings, except for the very visible armed guards outside. The testing center was one of the first in the district. The visitor parking lot was about as empty as Cass expected it to be. It meant they got a spot nice and close to the door, which was always a plus since the tests usually left her wiped out.

Margaret usually dropped her off and left, so when she got out of the car and followed Cass through the automatic doors it was yet another surprise. "Why are you coming in?"

"To make sure there are no problems. Keep going." Her stepmother shooed her on.

Cass groaned, but she kept moving forward. Just inside the door she paused to let the scanner comb over her body from head to toe. The green beams didn't just check for weapons and whatnot, they also were a retina scan to confirm identity. Can't get into the building without an appointment. She almost hoped it would flash red at her so she could get to the mall. No such luck. There was a faint chime and a woman's voice gave her directions to go down the hallway to a particular door.

Margaret's presence at her side was more irritating than usual. Cass was sure there was something up, but she couldn't put her finger on what until they walked through the door and it wasn't a testing room.

"Cassia Aphrodias. Please have a seat."

Saturday June 24, 2017, Earth

Cassia froze at the sight of the long desk. Behind sat five severe faced people, two men and three women, and directly in front was a solitary chair. The woman who had addressed her by name sat dead center. Other than the man seated to the far left, who had administered her testing all her life, she was the only person Cass knew by name.

Serina Ferens. Director of Youth Development. She oversaw the testing and programming for the whole district, which encompassed several cities just like Cassia's. This was the first time she'd ever seen the woman in person, though the beginning of every year they were forced to watch a boring speech about how children are the future, blah blah blah. She knew this woman was far too important to be showing up for some regular testing.

"Cassia," the voice hissing into her ear made her jump. Her stepmother pushed her lightly. "Go. Sit."

She moved woodenly towards the chair. This couldn't be good. Not good at all. Every year there were one or two kids who went in for testing only to never come back out. It was supposed to be an honor to be selected for further programming, but that didn't stop kids from whispering horror stories. Just last month she had worked with her career programmer to go over past testing and decide what paths suited her best. They had been all smiles and encouragement. It was Cass's dream to work in fashion and makeup. But a safe backup plan was for her to go through the management tract. She was a natural, they said, at leadership.

What bull shirt. Now she understood why Russel had seemed so concerned and why Margaret was so preoccupied. She was getting farmed out. She blinked away hot tears as she lowered herself into the chair.

"Mrs. Aphrodias, you are excused."

Her stepmother had stepped up next to Cassia with an oddly self-satisfied expression plastered on her pinched face. Now she looked a little confused when Director Ferens addressed her directly. "Pardon me..." I thought that..." She cut off short when the director raised a hand.

"That will be all."

Margaret looked stunned and confused. She turned towards Cass who was glaring daggers at her and finally moved awkwardly for the door. Clearly she was under the impression she would have been involved in whatever this crap was. Cass's nails dug into the thick denim covering her thighs until she was sure she was going to leave marks behind.

Director Ferens didn't speak again until the door had closed. "Cassia." Her smile was every bit as perfectly plastic as it appeared in the yearly speech. "I believe I am correct when I guess you are unaware as to why you are here." There was no sympathy in the woman's voice, just a sense of simple knowing. Cass nodded, unable to speak. The director glanced down the table towards Marc Ulyss who had been her tester since she started school at five. He was a kindly man who had a lot more gray in his hair now than he had when she'd first met him. Those blue eyes of his were the only source of warmth in that room. Cass focused on him while he spoke.

"Thank you for coming in, Cassia, though it should have been your choice." He glanced towards the door with what she suspected was a little annoyance. Despite what he said she had a very good feeling she wasn't going to get the opportunity to leave now that she was there. He looked like he was going to go on, but the director took over before he could.

"Cassia," the voice was sharp enough to pull her eyes away from Mr. Ulyss. "Do you know what the Program's goals are?"

"Uhh." She hadn't been expecting to be put on the spot with a question like that. "To....make better citizens...?" Her voice was loaded with hesitation. That was a common line all of the year start videos. Director Ferens seemed amused by her response, which made her cheeks flush hotly.

"To make better humans." She corrected. "The genetic programming is intended to create better humans at the core of their very being. To make them more intelligent, stronger, faster, and live longer, healthier lives." That all sounded pretty good to Cass. But there was something about the greedy sparkle in the director's eyes that made her blood run cold.

"The testing is intended to help us create the best version of every student, to create a population that is its very best. However, occasionally there are....deviations." Oh yes, Cass thought. That smile was nothing good. She wiped her sweaty palms nervously against her thighs. "You see, Cassia, every once in a while a student displays the potential to become something extraordinary."

Cass expected the woman to keep going on, but when the silence stretched on for what she guessed to be a million years, she blurted out the question on the tip of her tongue. "And that's me?"

Under that heavy stare she felt like some prey animal cornered by a large, cunning predator.

"Yes, Cassia, that is you." The director fell silent again as she opened up the thin file that Cass hadn't noticed up until that point. The woman looked over whatever was in there, then she turned it so that it was facing Cass. Not that she could see it from there. There was a presumption that she was going to have to get up to take the pen that the director was holding out. That she would take it to begin with. "The elite program comes with many benefits. Not only will you be greatly benefiting the country, but your family will benefit, too."

No wonder Margaret was so eager to thrust Cassia blindly into this. Not only would she get the daughter she never wanted out of her life, but she'd get a big payday, too.

"What if I don't want to?" She asked shakily while remaining firmly in her chair. This wasn't an unexpected question, if the expressions of the five on the other side of the table were any indications.

"Of course you can decline," the director said. "It is ultimately your choice. However, saying no may negatively affect you moving forward." The thinly veiled threat. "And you must decide now." The pressure. The line drawn in the sand.

Cass drew in a shaky breath as she got up from the chair. She wiped her hands again on her jeans. How could they be so damp when her mouth was so dry' She looked over her shoulder towards the door where she was certain no one was waiting for her to come home. Margaret would have bolted the moment she was outside that door, probably overflowing with joy. When she looked towards the woman sitting directly in front of her on the other side of the table she knew she was see a wolf making no effort to hide what it was.

What choice was there" Say no and be ruined. It didn't happen very often, but every few years a family would move out of the neighborhood. Big government vans would show up to help them go to their new homes. Fake smiles masking internal screaming would attempt to reassure those who knew better. Don't go up against the State. Follow the program and live in utopia. Subversion could not be allowed. And this would affect more than just her. How could she put her father through another tragedy' Losing her mom had been bad enough. Single parents weren't to be tolerated, so he'd been saddled with spinster Margaret. Russel had been the only bright spot in that forced hell.

So after what felt like an eternity she moved forward to take the pen and look at the form. Her heart sunk right into her stomach when her eyes skimmed over the tiny, overly complicated legalese to find the signatures at the bottom. On the 'parental consent' line right next to her stepmother's was the flowing script of her father. Part of her had hope he hadn't known at all.

As she set pen to paper she noticed a third line. Beneficiaries. That was very clearly Margaret's spiky script. Hers and Cass's fathers name were there.

Setting her jaw she struck out the names. She didn't just cross them out, but obliterated them with ink until the paper had worn enough to tear. One of the people behind the desk started to say something, but the director stopped them.

Just before signing the paper she added in a new name above the black mess.

Russel Bennet Aphrodias

Saturday June 24, 2017 Earth

After the paper was signed, Mr. Ulyss was up from the table to sweep Cassia out of the room. Not the door that lead out to the hallway. Of course not. They probably were well aware that she was a flight risk, despite the fact that she had just signed her life away. Even though she hadn't read those papers she knew what she was consenting to.

They weren't in that new hallway for very long. Just long enough for Cass to realize she had stepped into another world. She counted no more than five armed guards, including the one outside the windowless room they slipped into.

"I'm sorry, we don't have very long." Mr. Ulyss said in a rush like he expected not to have the time to say even that much. "It was hard enough to convince the others to let me speak to you at all."

The room was small, bare walled, and had a couple of chairs and nothing else. Cass didn't want to sit, but the old tester grabbed her by the shoulders and eased her down anyway. She hadn't realized until that moment how much her legs were shaking. She wanted to ask questions, but he shook his head.

"If I had known they were going to go this path I would have prepared you during our last meeting. I want you to know I didn't recommend you." She'd known this man for so long he was like an uncle. When he reached for her hand she let him take it and found comfort in the squeeze of his fingers.

"It's not going to be easy, Cassia. The other kids won't treat you well, but....you have a lot of potential to go far." He patted her hand with his free one. "Just keep your head up. You'll....you'll be okay." There was a pounding on the door. The expression on Mr. Ulyss's face looked pained. He was scared for her and that made all of this so much worse.

"Time to go," he told her softly. They rose slowly and he started to pat at the pockets of his jacket. "Take this," he said as he handed her a business card. "They won't allow you any outside contact at first, but just in case."

Cass took the card carefully with both hands and held it close. The pounding at the door started up again and she hurried to tuck it away in a pocket of her jeans.

Their goodbyes were hasty at best, hurried by the guard who had been displeased with how slow they'd been opening the door.

In short order she found herself being escorted down the hallway with a mind full of questions.