Graduation Day

“What did he say?”

“That once the list was public there would be no going back. If Emilie failed her exam, she would face the same consequences as the others and become a resource for the Commonwealth. No exceptions could be made, not even for the daughter of a good friend.” Raffe’s gaze drifts to the portrait. “My father said he didn’t care. If Emilie wasn’t strong enough to take her place at the University, then her Redirection would mean she’d still make a valuable contribution to her country. Nothing else mattered.”

Redirection. “Maybe your father just meant that your sister would have a purpose in one of the colonies.”

“You didn’t hear the tones of their voices, Cia.” Raffe closes his eyes as if hearing it all again. “Whatever Dr. Barnes was talking about had nothing to do with a remote colony job. If it had, he would never have asked my father to withdraw Emilie’s name. That night I lay in bed, thinking about the words Dr. Barnes had used. He said Emilie would become a resource. Something to be used. Since my father refused to change his mind, I did all I could to help Emilie pass the exam. I made her study late into the night and practice taking timed tests. But no matter how hard we studied, it wasn’t enough. I should have told her what I’d heard and made her run, but I didn’t. I thought my help was all she needed. She didn’t pass.” Tears color his words and pull at my heart. “When my father told me the news, he said she had been assigned to a job in Five Lakes Colony.”

“Five Lakes?”

“I know.” His eyes meet mine. “There’s no one named Emilie Jeffries working with first- and second-year students at the school in Five Lakes Colony.”

“No.”

Raffe rises and walks the length of the room. “For the last two years, I’ve been looking for her and the other students who didn’t pass the entrance exams. That’s how I found the street you saw today. The people who stay there want to live separately from the government, but are too afraid of what lies in the unrevitalized parts of the country to travel outside the Tosu boundaries. A few were students who fled before the entrance exam results were posted—certain they had failed. The others—they all have their reasons for not wanting to be a part of what the United Commonwealth stands for. I had hoped someone there would know where Emilie was. Instead one person told me he once heard that students who failed were taken to an unrevitalized area to the east. He didn’t know why. I didn’t want to believe him, but part of me has always wondered if it’s true. My father’s position in the government has made it easy for me to meet officials who’ve traveled to the colonies and to ask questions, and I’ve learned that not a single person I’ve inquired about has ever been seen in the colony they’d supposedly been Redirected to. They’ve just disappeared. Since Tosu officials aren’t in frequent contact with Five Lakes Colony, I couldn’t verify whether Emilie was there. When I heard about you and Tomas, I asked people what you’d told them about your colony. I learned that until the official arrived to escort you to The Testing, no one from Tosu had come to Five Lakes for years. Emilie never set foot in Five Lakes Colony. I don’t know where she was sent, but I intend to find her. She deserves that much. They all do.”

I think of Will’s twin brother and all the other students who did not pass the first round of Testing. After The Testing was over, those of us who were accepted into the University were told that the unsuccessful candidates were directed to jobs in colonies other than the ones where they were raised. When questioned, Dr. Barnes said sending them to new locations allowed them to take their places in society as adults instead of as children who would have to convince those around them to see them as full grown and capable of meaningful contributions. The explanation was logical, but after I listened to the recording on the Transit Communicator, I knew it was false. At first, I thought all the unsuccessful early-round candidates had suffered the same fate as those who failed during the fourth exam—death. But hearing Raffe’s story confirms the theory I’ve recently considered and just today heard Stacia echo. Those who are tested for the University are the best and the brightest. Killing all those who do not succeed in their candidacy is wasteful. And Dr. Barnes is not one to waste resources. Not when they can be used. The question is, for what and where?

Still, while I want those answers and understand his anger, I cannot believe Raffe would really want to see his father killed. But when I ask him about it, his answer is immediate. “My father has chosen his side. Now I’m choosing mine.”

I study the anguish and resolve on his face. I have seen the same expression in my reflector. It is the look of a person who has come to a crossroads and chosen the more difficult path.

The sound of people in the hall tells me it is time for dinner. After the meal, I will have to find a way to test the last two potential members of our team. Perhaps Raffe can help with that and with planning the next stage. He seems to have already helped by possibly limiting the number of people we need to target. But to be certain, I need to learn more, which is why I ask Raffe if he’d be willing to meet later tonight to compare his thoughts to the information I received when I got the list.

“We can meet after dinner and go for a walk,” he says with a smile. “After our disappearance into Tosu this weekend, everyone already assumes I have a crush on you. This will seal the deal.”

“They don’t know you very well, do they?” I ask.