Clarke Griffin was having a lot of trouble sitting still in her chair. Today was her Assignment Day, when the Ark's Council would select her work placement. She'd already spent twenty excruciating minutes waiting for the ceremony to begin.
"Relax Griffin," Wells Jaha said softly from his chair beside her as he placed his hand on Clarke's bouncing knee to settle her down.
"How are you not nervous?" Clarke demanded.
"What's the point of being nervous?" Wells asked with a wink in her direction as he slid his arm from her knee to the back of her chair. Clarke rolled her eyes at him as he added, "we've done everything we can at this point. It's out of our control."
That was the part she couldn't stand; things being out of her control. Clarke had been studying non-stop for the past two years to complete the Ark's General Education credential a year early, desperately hoping that all of that ambition would show the Council that she was ready to become a medical apprentice.
Clarke shifted anxiously in her chair and glanced down at the tablet she was holding. Five minutes. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest as she waited. She heard the door to the ceremony hall swing open behind her, and swivelled her head to catch sight of Raven Reyes strolling calmly into the room.
"Where have you been?" Clarke hissed as Raven took the seat on her other side.
"What are you talking about?" the dark-haired beauty asked. "I'm early."
"Aren't you nervous at all?" Clarke marvelled.
"Honey, I'm the perfect mechanic," Raven answered her with a cocky smile. "Where else would they possibly assign me?"
She knew Raven was probably right - that girl had an undeniable talent when it came to fixing things. Clarke's father was the Ark's Head of Engineering, and he'd had his eye on Raven for at least the last five years. She knew she shouldn't be so worried. Her mother was the primary physician on the Ark and a councilwoman, and the Chancellor was a close family friend. She had to believe that both of them would vote for her to be assigned to Medical. It was terrifying to consider any alternative. If she was going to be trapped on the Ark for the rest of her life, Clarke at least wanted the opportunity to do something she found interesting.
"Hey Tinkerbell," Clarke heard a familiar voice and turned to see her father grabbing a chair a few rows behind her.
"Hey Dad," she called back with a smile and a wave.
"You got this sweetheart," her dad said encouragingly, shooting her a thumbs up and a crooked smile.
Clarke took a deep breath and glanced down at her tablet again. One more minute. Sixty seconds until the rest of her life was decided.
The door to the adjoining room creaked open and the Council members entered the chamber to take their places at the head of the hall. Clarke desperately tried to catch her mother's eye, but Dr. Abigail Griffin wasn't looking at her.
"All rise – Chancellor on deck!" Boomed the voice of Councillor Marcus Kane, as Wells' father, Thelonius Jaha came into the ceremony hall and stood behind the podium. Clarke stood up with her friends to acknowledge the Chancellor's entrance.
"Welcome, citizens of the Ark, to this Assignment Ceremony," Chancellor Jaha's smooth voice rang out. "Please, be seated."
Clarke could barely stop herself from shaking as she sat back in her seat. Wells placed his arm on the back of her chair again. It was something she noticed he'd been doing a lot lately.
"Congratulations to our new graduates," the elder Jaha continued. "Your positions on the Ark have been chosen based on a variety of factors. We've studied your test results, job requests, teacher recommendations, and personality evaluations in order to determine these assignments."
Clarke felt like she might hyperventilate. She grabbed Wells' hand and he shot her a curious smile from his chair.
"Finn Collins, Galley," Clarke didn't miss Raven's frown beside her as Chancellor Jaha announced Finn's new work assignment. Finn stood up and took a bow while a couple of kids seated at the back clapped mockingly for him.
"Monty Green, Engineering," Jaha read from the paper he was holding. Clarke knew her name was next.
"Clarke Griffin, Medical," Jaha announced and Clarke let out an explosive breath. Her mother finally looked over at her proudly. Clarke could hardly believe it was happening – she'd been chosen for Medical!
"Wells Jaha, Earth Monitoring. Jasper Jordan, Farming. Zoe Monroe, the Guard. Raven Reyes, Engineering."
Once the rest of the assignments had been read and the ceremony had been concluded, Clarke hugged Raven and Wells. "We all got what we wanted!" She said excitedly.
"We got what we're suited to," Wells corrected her good-naturedly.
"I'm going to be a doctor!" Clarke said it out loud for the first time. It felt good.
"I'm going to spacewalk!" Raven said, equally excited.
"I'm going to stare at a planet simmering in radiation and enter data readings into spreadsheets for the rest of my life!" Wells quipped jokingly, but Clarke and Raven both knew that Earth Monitoring was his dream job because Wells was a total nerd.
"We're going to have to celebrate tonight!" Clarke's dad said as he approached the group of excited teenagers and wrapped her in a hug. "I'm so proud of you Tinkerbell!"
"Thanks Dad," Clarke couldn't stop smiling. Normally she would have been embarrassed that her dad had called her Tinkerbell in front of her friends, but not today. This was the beginning of the rest of her life and it was headed in the direction she'd always dreamed.
"Just a reminder everyone!" Thelonius Jaha shouted over the noise of excited graduates in the room, "There will be an Assignment Celebration tonight for you and your families in the Mess Hall. I hope to see you all there!" The Chancellor then made his way over to congratulate his son, while Clarke's mom rushed down to hug her from the stage.
"I am so proud of you sweetheart!" her mother cooed.
"Thanks Mom," Clarke replied with an uncontrollable smile.
Abby Griffin wore her thick hair pulled back in a ponytail, her blue eyes sparkling as she beamed at her daughter. "Why don't you head back to our unit and get ready for the celebration tonight? I have a few more hours in Medical before I'm free for the rest of the day," Abby suggested.
"And I have to get back to Engineering just for a minute," her dad added.
"Sure, sounds great!" Clarke smiled. She scooped up her tablet from the chair and said a quick goodbye to Raven and Wells.
Clarke left the Go-Sci Ring and headed to the adjacent Alpha Station where she lived with her parents. The Go-Sci Ring was also home to Medical and Earth Monitoring, so she and Wells would both be working and living on the upper levels of the Ark for the rest of their lives.
Clarke knew she was lucky to live on Alpha. It was at the top of the hierarchy of stations that made up the Ark, and because both of her parents held important positions, they were privileged to live in a two-bedroom unit with a private bathroom and a family common area. She held her wrist up to the access panel next to the door of the unit which beeped happily in approval as it scanned her implant chip and the door to her unit slid silently to the side for her.
She headed for her bedroom to pick out an outfit for the evening celebration, and was surprised to see a brand new dress laying on her bed. A brand new dress on the Ark was, of course, not brand new, but most likely fashioned out of other pieces of clothing or some other item that had been submitted to the repurposing station after it stopped being useful at whatever it was originally designed for. Clarke tossed her tablet onto her bed and held up the dress which she was sure her mother must have gotten her as an Assignment Day gift. Although Clarke's family was one of the most prominent on the Ark, a new dress was a very rare treasure. This brought Clarke's total wardrobe up to three dresses, five shirts and three pairs of pants.
The dress was beautiful, and obviously made by a master. It was white – probably made from pieces of an old bedsheet that had been bleached - with beautiful blue flowers sewn onto it. Clarke slipped out of her simple black pants and green long-sleeve and into the dress, admiring how it flared out at the waist.
Instead of showering that morning, Clarke had saved her water allotment for the afternoon so she could prepare for the party. Her family's unit was rationed two five-minute showers every day; because her mother was a doctor, she was one of a handful of people on the Ark who was permitted a daily shower. Clarke and her dad split the remaining showers, alternating every other day, and toady was her day. She knew that her shower privileges were a luxury compared to the rest of the Ark. Citizens on the outer stations were permitted to shower once per week or even less if the mechanics were working on any of the ship's water recyclers.
Clarke laid her dress carefully on the bed, and headed to the bathroom to clean up. When she stepped out the shower, she spent some extra time detangling her wavy blonde hair which typically decided on its own whether or not it was going to behave on any given day. She wanted to wait for her hair to dry a bit before she finished getting ready, so she placed her towel on the floor next to her bed, then laid down sideways across it on her back with her head hanging over the edge so her hair could drip-dry onto the towel. She picked up her tablet and started scrolling through the Ark's daily news.
Seven New Graduates! Results of Today's Assignment Day! Clarke wasn't surprised to see the assignments listed as the top news item of the day. New assignments only happened four times every cycle and it was a big deal to everyone on the ship to know who their new colleagues were. She scrolled through the brief article until she saw her name listed. Clarke Griffin – Alpha Station – Medical Apprentice. She felt her heart jump a bit at seeing it in print for the first time. She was really going to train to be a doctor. She frowned when she saw the name above hers: Finn Collins – Mecha Station – Galley Assistant.
Clarke knew Raven and Finn had been incredibly close growing up; Finn had essentially saved her life by sharing his ration points with her while her mother drank herself into oblivion. A few years ago, they'd finally started dating and Raven had been the happiest Clarke had ever seen her until Finn cheated on her with a girl named Roma from another station. It had been a messy break-up, but recently Clarke had noticed them spending a lot of time together again.
Congrats again on Zero G
Clarke typed out in a message window to Raven on her tablet and pressed the send button.
Thanks, Dr. Griffin ;)
Raven responded almost immediately. Clarke knew that meant she was probably sitting around with her tablet waiting to hear back from Finn.
Medical Apprentice, not a doctor yet. How's Finn?
Clarke didn't really want to ask, but she knew that the longer Raven stewed by herself, the more upset she was going to get, and she wanted her friend to enjoy her Assignment Day.
Who knows? He won't talk to me about it. He's being an ass again.
Raven's message popped up on her screen.
Shocking.
Clarke reread her response and thinking it may have been a bit harsh, she added: maybe he just needs some time?
Maybe. Or a swift kick to the balls.
Good, Raven was joking. Clarke knew that was a good sign.
Haha. Maybe that too. Let me know if you need anything. :)
Thanks, Doctor :)
Clarke reached back to feel her hair which was still too damp to do anything with, so she continued browsing on her tablet. Tablets were another luxury that only high-level stations enjoyed. Every citizen who lived on Alpha, Phoenix and Mecha was assigned one on his or her fifteenth birthday, but there weren't enough tablets for everyone on the Ark to have their own. The outer stations all had common rooms with giant screens for watching films that had been made on Ancient Earth or watching messages from the Chancellor. If they wanted to search the Ark's databases for information or read a novel, they could use a few communal tablets in the library, but they weren't allowed to check them out. Clarke did sometimes feel guilty that her family had three tablets and some families had none, but she also loved being able to read anything she wanted whenever she wanted. Clarke was a voracious reader.
She pulled up one of her favorite ancient texts to read while her hair finished drying. She'd first read Wuthering Heights a few weeks after receiving her tablet, and despite all of the extra studying she'd done in the past year, she'd somehow managed to reread it four times since then. Clarke had intended to read just until her hair had dried, but as so often happened when she was reading, she lost track of time until she received a message from Raven two hours later.
Meet you in the mess hall in 10?
Shit! Clarke looked at the clock and realized she had to hurry.
On my way!
She quickly shot a message back and jumped off the bed to pull on her new dress. Her hair was dry, so she pulled it back into her trademark half-up style, slipped on her fancy pair of shoes and hurried back into the bathroom to check her reflection in the mirror. Her hair wasn't perfect, but it also wasn't a nightmare. The dress was spectacular. Whoever had made it from her mother's measurements had really done incredible work. Clarke gave a little spin in the mirror and admired how it clung to her in all the right places. She was going to have to think of a way to show her mom how much she appreciated this gift.
She arrived at the Mess Hall eight minutes later in a rush to find Raven. She was breezing passed the door when a deep voice barked out, "Hold it right there!"
Clarke turned around and came face to face with a tall young man with slicked-back black hair and an angular face staring down at her trying to look intimidating. She ran her eyes down his face to his guard uniform and noticed the "CADET" badge displayed proudly on his chest. That explained why he didn't know who she was. All of the regular guards who worked on Alpha Station recognized her. As she lifted her eyes back to his face she realized he'd also given her a once-over, and she felt herself blushing under his gaze.
"ID chip," the man commanded, still trying to look intimidating.
"Here," Clarke said flippantly as she held out her arm, put off by the tone of assumed authority in his voice. "I'm Clarke Griffin."
"I know who you are," he said as he looked down at his handheld scanner and ran it over her wrist.
"Then why are you scanning me?" she asked.
"Protocol," he answered without looking up. He was silent for a moment while he studied the scanner screen. "Nice dress," he said with disdain.
"Am I good to go?" Clarke asked impatiently. "Or did you want to stand around and talk about what I'm wearing all night?"
The guard looked up from his screen. "I don't much care what you're wearing," he said with a note of disgust in his voice, "I just recognize the work of the seamstress."
That threw her for a loop, but she was late to meet her friends and didn't have time to worry about it. She'd met cadets infatuated with their newfound power as guards before. Typically, they were from the outer stations, and after a few encounters with Alpha citizens they realized that their new uniform didn't elevate them quite as much as they'd anticipated.
The young man was clearly enjoying the fact that he was holding her hostage. She glanced at his name tag underneath the word cadet. Blake.
"Listen, Cadet Blake," Clarke challenged him. "I have a party to go to, and if you haven't figured out how to use your scanner yet, I don't really have all night to wait around."
Cadet Blake clenched his jaw, tilted his head to the side and opened his mouth to respond, when suddenly a guard Clarke recognized approached them.
"Clarke," the older guard greeted her with a smile. "I saw you were assigned to Medical today! Congratulations!"
"Thank you, Sergeant Miller," Clarke responded with a warm smile. David Miller was one of her father's best friends, and his son Nathan was a few years older than Clarke. Their families often watched Earth movies together in her unit's common room.
"Well why aren't you inside the hall enjoying the party?" Sergeant Miller asked her as he glanced over at the young recruit who looked a whole lot more nervous than he had twenty seconds earlier.
"I was just getting to know Cadet Blake here," she replied, a smile still plastered on her face. Even though the rookie guard had rubbed her the wrong way, she knew that criticism from someone in her position could get him in trouble, which she didn't really want to do. "And congratulations to you too! I saw Nate graduated from his level one guard training this week!"
"We're very proud of him," Sergeant Miller said with a nod and then waved his hand towards the mess hall doors, "Well, head on in!"
"Thank you, Sergeant," Clarke said with a smug glance at the younger guard.
As she passed Cadet Blake she heard him mutter angrily, "Enjoy your party, Princess." Clarke could not believe his nerve! She had just saved him from a write-up or possibly worse from his superior officer and he was still being a dick. She whipped her head back around but Cadet Blake had already turned to scan the next party guest.
"Clarke!" She heard Wells' voice calling to her and searched the room for him, quickly forgetting about Cadet Blake. She spotted her friend sitting at a table with Raven, Finn, and Finn's mother. She headed towards them quickly, happy to see that Raven and Finn seemed to have gotten over whatever issue they'd had earlier in the day.
"Hi Mrs. Collins!" Clarke said enthusiastically as she sat down next to Wells.
"Hello Clarke," Mrs. Collins responded with what looked like a forced smile. Clarke assumed she wasn't thrilled with Finn's new future as a vegetable scrubber.
"Guess what," Wells said to Clarke.
"What?" Clarke replied.
"Word on the street is they're serving us peaches for dessert," Wells said excitedly, "your favorite!"
"Yum!" Clarke said with a smile. "What street though?" she asked her friend and he laughed.
"Okay, okay," Wells said, always willing to play her games, "word in the hallways."
"Much better," Clarke told him approvingly just as her parents joined the table.
"Attention!" Thelonius Jaha's voice boomed from the front of the cafeteria before she had a chance to greet her mother and father, "and welcome all to the Assignment Day Feast."
The room quieted as everyone turned to the front to listen to the Chancellor.
"You should all be proud of your children. They are now citizens of the Ark."
Clarke tried to look like she was paying attention while Jaha talked about their future lives as productive members of society, but her mind kept drifting back to her interaction with Cadet Blake. She glanced briefly in the direction of the door and realized he was staring at her. Clarke looked away quickly.
"Hey," Wells nudged her gently. "What's up with you?"
"Nothing," Clarke responded with a shake of her head. "I'm just excited," she continued with a smile. Jaha's speech had ended and he joined their table in the seat next to Wells as chatter rose from the tables around them.
"Chancellor Jaha," Finn's mother greeted with a nervous nod. Clarke knew she would never have dreamed of sitting at their table if Raven hadn't been so close with Clarke and Wells.
"Thelonius," Jaha said with a quick gesture of his hand, "please, call me Thelonius."
"Sorry, Sir," Mrs. Collins replied with a nervous nod.
"Finn," Jaha turned his attention to the young man. "Congratulations on your assignment today."
"Congratulations?" Finn snorted, "on becoming a scullery boy?" Clarke was pretty sure she saw Raven kick him under the table.
"Absolutely," Jaha said emphatically. "All positions on the Ark are equally important."
"Oh really?" Finn challenged. "Then why do some citizens get to live on Alpha and others have to live in Section 17?"
"Finn Collins!" Mrs. Collins yelped before Jaha had a chance to respond. "You apologize immediately to the Chancellor!"
Finn crossed his arms and shook his head.
"It's alright," Jaha said to Finn's mother before turning back to Finn. "Young man, there are certain duties on the Ark that require citizens to perform at a higher level than others. And while all duties are equally important, we must make sure that those performing the more difficult duties are afforded a lifestyle where they can properly rest to perform those duties."
Finn rolled his eyes. "So you're telling me a farmer who does physical labor for twelve hours a day deserves less rest than a politician who sits at a desk?"
Jaha shook his head, about to respond, when Finn pushed his chair back from the table and stood up. "Whatever," he said, "I don't much feel like celebrating my future tonight."
"Finn!" Raven called out as he started to walk towards the door, but Finn didn't turn around. Mrs. Collins looked absolutely horrified.
"Chancellor Jaha – Thelonius – I am so sorry! I don't know what's gotten into him! I'll talk with him," she sounded panicked.
"It's alright Evelyn," Jaha said calmly. "It takes some longer than others to understand the importance of their work, especially if they didn't get the assignment they were looking for."
"Even still," Mrs. Collins said, "I'll give him a good talking to." She stood up and started after Finn.
"I'm going to go with her," Raven announced sadly, pushing her chair back from the table. "Good night, everyone," she said with a wave.
Clarke racked her brain for something to say to break the awkward tension at the table when a server arrived with dishes of chicken, potatoes, carrots and a whole bowl of peaches. Clarke was excited to see that chicken was on the menu; meat was usually reserved for very special occasions on the Ark. She felt a bit guilty that Raven and Finn were missing out on the chicken.
"To our new graduates!" Jake raised his glass.
"To Wells and Clarke!" Jaha chimed in as everyone remaining at the table raised their water to toast.
"So Wells," Jake began as he scooped a generous helping of potatoes onto his plate, "what are you most excited about doing, working in Earth Monitoring?"
Wells considered his response carefully before answering, "I think what I'm most excited about is the potential to learn something new. Something that isn't already written in the history databases on the Ark."
"Excellent motivation," Jake complimented.
"And you're set for a great future," Abby added with a smile and a glance at Clarke.
Wells took a sip of his water and peered over at Clarke. "The future is something I'm very, very excited for," he replied softly.
Clarke almost choked on the piece of chicken she'd been chewing. She'd been best friends with Wells for as long as she could remember, but recently it seemed like people kept implying there was more to their relationship. Or that there would be more in the near future. Clarke was only seventeen, and while she loved Wells like a brother, she just wasn't sure she felt that way about him, or that she ever would. Maybe it was one of those things that eventually came with adulthood.
"And Clarke honey," Jake continued, obviously sensing his daughter's discomfort, "I'll bet you just can't wait to start your first shift in medical tomorrow?"
"I am so thrilled," Clarke replied, happy for the change in conversation. "Mom, do you know what time my shift will start?"
"You'll receive your official schedule via your tablet sweetheart," Abby smiled at her, "but I have it on good authority that most medical apprentices start out on night rotations, so probably not until after dinner."
"Looks like we're going to have to let you sleep in tomorrow," he dad chimed in.
"Jake, I've been meaning to ask you about the engineering reports you sent over to me yesterday," Jaha said, "the air circulation data tables were particularly interesting to me … "
Clarke stopped paying attention to the conversation and really dug into her meal. She doubted there was much she could add to a conversation about engineering. She paused for a minute to pull out her tablet and check to see if she'd been sent a schedule.
Wells looked down at his own tablet. "My shift in Earth Monitoring doesn't start until twenty hundred tomorrow," he said just to Clarke. "Maybe we can grab dinner together before that?"
"It says I start at twenty-one hundred in Medical, we should definitely grab dinner," Clarke agreed before polishing off the rest of what was on her plate.
"Well, I'm not sure we need to panic just yet – " her dad was saying to Jaha.
"Panic about what?" Clarke interrupted.
"Nothing Tinkerbell," her dad smiled at her, "we're just double checking some safety features, doing due diligence, all of that."
"Ok," Clarke smiled, trusting her dad. She waited until everyone else at the table was finished with their main course before she reached for a peach from the bowl.
"Mmm, I love peaches," Clarke gushed as she chewed the first sweet bite.
"I might have a made a special menu request just for you," Jaha told her with a wink before biting into his own peach.
"Thanks Uncle Thelonius!" Clarke smiled at him.
"Don't thank me," Jaha said with a conspiratorial look at Wells, "someone else suggested it."
"Thanks Wells," Clarke said to her best friend. Wells smiled back.
Dude, you will not believe what Finn just said to me. He's an unbelievable dick.
A message from Raven popped up on Clarke's tablet. It was frowned upon to have tablet conversations during meal times, but Clarke knew Raven was probably desperately in need of someone to talk to.
"If nobody minds," she said to her parents, Wells and his father, "I think I'm going to excuse myself for the night. Raven wants to talk," she gestured to the tablet.
"Honey – " Abby started before Jaha interrupted her.
"Certainly Clarke," Jaha said, "please let Raven know how happy I am that she's been assigned to Engineering."
"See you for dinner tomorrow," Wells said, handing his peach to her. Wells always saved his peaches for her.
Clarke grabbed the peach with a smile. "Good night, Nerd."
"Night," Wells smiled back at her.
She made her way over to the door, wondering what her first day of training would cover. Clarke wanted to be prepared.
"No food leaves the hall," a newly-familiar deep voice interrupted her thoughts.
"Holy Earth," Clarke said with a sigh as she turned around to face Cadet Blake, once again. She knew the guards enforced the Mess Hall rules pretty stringently with the outer stations, but she often left with snacks for later. Cadet Blake was standing next to the doors with his arms crossed, looking very serious, and Sergeant Miller was nowhere in sight.
"I don't make the rules, Princess," he said humorlessly. "Your people do. I just get to enforce them." He held out his hand implying that if she wanted to leave she had to give him the peach.
Clarke knew she could have just given him the peach and walked away. Or she could have wasted her time arguing, but she still had to call Raven and she really wanted to get some sleep before her first day tomorrow. The problem was she didn't want to back down from his power trip.
"You know what," she said sweetly, "if this peach means soooo much to you," Clarke raised the peach to her mouth and took a slow bite, the juice seeping out and trickling down her chin, "you have it," she passed him the peach and turned around, still chewing as she walked away.
After a few steps, Clarke glanced back and saw the cadet carefully wrapping the peach inside of his jacket. He looked up and caught her watching and he immediately looked away, embarrassed. Clarke suddenly felt awful. She'd done that on purpose to put him in his place. Not that she would normally treat people from the lesser stations poorly, but he was just so damn arrogant she'd wanted to shut him up. She knew he probably thought she'd stand in the Mess Hall to finish the peach, like someone from Farm Station would have done, but she'd wanted to show him that one measly peach didn't matter to someone with her status.
Except now she'd seen the shame in his eyes and realized that he obviously did need that food. She stood still for a moment staring back at him and trying to think of a way to apologize, but he refused to make eye contact so Clarke turned around with a sigh and a guilty conscience and headed back to her unit.