The gargantuan stained glass eye stared down at Eve as she peered out the grimy window of Cooper's jeep. Behind them the guarded, barbed wire topped gate slid closed with a sense of hopeless finality. Despite the conditions of the sectors around their headquarters, the building that housed the Eye was beautiful beyond words. It was in the shape of a pyramid but instead of bricks it was constructed of black glass panels lined with gold. On the front of the pyramid, perhaps half the size of the building itself, was the eye. It had been created out of stained glass panels of every color of the rainbow, a beautiful and frightening monstrosity. The red iris seemed to follow them as they traveled up the drive at a swift pace, and its stare held actual weight. The eye was curved up at the corner to give the illusion that it's unseen face was smiling but the look it gave the world said otherwise. Eve found herself fighting not to squirm beneath its scrutiny and the imagined sensation of heat on the back of her neck.
She'd never been that close to the Eye, any civilian that had hadn't lived to tell about it. Eve had no illusions that she would live to either. Her only goal was to do well enough that they had no reason to go after her family before or after she outlived her usefulness. And she would undoubtedly do just that in a brutal, militarized, male dominated world.
Her eyes had been so focused on the eye that Eve hadn't even noticed the jeep come to a stop. Beside her Cooper cleared his throat, yanking her from her thoughts and prompting the keepers to exit the back seat. When her door was yanked open by an intimidating dark skinned keeper the situation became frighteningly real. She was about to enter the Eye of God and something deep inside of her knew that if she was ever allowed to leave it would be as a changed woman and not for the better.
"Move along."
Hesitating as long as she dared, Eve hopped out onto the dirt drive, dust pluming around her standard black sandals. She was fairly certain the sandals were strategic because it was nearly impossible to run in them. Cooper waved her over to his side and she forced her leaden limbs to comply. Behind them the second keeper fell into line with the box containing her meager possessions perched on his broad shoulder.
Cooper had to admire how well the citizen was holding up after watching a killing, finding out she was to be taken away from her home and saying goodbye to her family. She'd been misty eyed while hugging them goodbye but had managed to hold it in, presumably for the sake of her younger brothers. He firmly believed Everly would fair better than their last doctor, as long as her body could survive the treatments that was. Doctor Hanson had been older and rigidly set in her ways, sometimes provoking the keepers. He'd been tentatively thinking of executing her, despite her extensive medical knowledge, when D1 had snapped her neck during their weekly steroid dosing. Everly was only a junior nurse but it wouldn't take a fucking genius to use the injection gun. He was interested to see if she'd have the same effect on the others as L17, hopeful. They hadn't had to kill D1, just locked him up since the public hadn't witnessed anything, so if things went well he would introduce them. His army of two hundred was now one hundred and fifty trained soldiers and fifty keepers in training. They'd been forced to lottery fifty toddlers to begin their training, which was a pain in the ass. The Eye couldn't afford to keep losing men.
"Welcome to the Eye of God Everly."
Cooper gave her a little push towards the glass doors, two keepers holding them open, causing Eve to stumble slightly. Hold it together, she told herself, as they climbed the stairs side by side. No more crying, you have to be strong now for your family. At the age of ten her twin brothers were too old to be lotteried but revenge could be taken in other forms like starvation or execution.
"I'll show you to your quarters, give you some time to settle in and then at dinner you can meet the rest of the controllers."
Eve just nodded in reply as they entered the building, struck silent in fear and awe. It was much, much larger on the inside than she'd suspected, had brilliantly white walls and electric lights that caused her to squint against the brightness. Everything was so clean and shiny and the air was fresh and cooled, a stark contrast from the stifling heat outside. Her pale skin, slightly dusty from the elements, speckled with goose bumps.
Cooper led her to an elevator, which she recognized from the gathering center, but had never been inside. Electricity was very limited in the sectors and generally reserved for heat in the winters. He took possession of her box, pressed the button and they waited in silence for the ding and the doors to open before entering, while the keepers remained behind. The controller hit the "10" button and the doors closed, cutting off Eve's view of the exit to the outside world. It didn't escape her attention that they'd put her on the very top floor and wondered if they thought she may try to escape. There was a whirring noise beneath their feet and Eve had to grab the railing to steady herself when it began the ascent and again when it came to an abrupt halt on their floor. The elevator opened up directly into a large room, longer across than her house. There was a large silver table in the center of the room and glass fronted cabinets lining the walls on each side.
"The surgery, where you'll be working." Cooper told her absently as he led Eve across the room and through a set of double doors at the far end.
She thought to tell him that she didn't belong in a surgery, being only a junior nurse, but of course he already knew that from her scan.
Behind the doors was a large room with light brown walls and the most gigantic bed the young nurse had ever seen. Her feet froze just inside the doors as another wave of awe washed over her, was this hers? The bed could have fit her entire family.
"These are your quarters." he said, as if reading her thoughts. "Through that door is the bathroom." he nodded towards a smaller door on the left.
"I have my own bathroom?"
He nodded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world and Eve felt a little guilty at the shiver of excitement that zinged up her spine. She hadn't done anything to deserve such luxury. Of course neither had the controllers or the marshals above them. They had everything a person could need and more, while breaking up families and torturing people, keeping everyone beneath their thumbs under the guise of making a better society.
"I'll send up some uniforms and footwear." Cooper said curtly before ducking out.
Eve was glad to see him go. The controller wasn't a large man, only a few inches taller than herself but he carried a very large presence and an air of authority that could end her in a heartbeat without even lifting a finger. Eve mulled around for a minute, standing uncomfortably in the doorway before deciding that deserving or not she was here now and needed to make the best of it. She left her dirty sandals by the door and made a quick circuit of her new home, which led her to the bathroom.
The bathroom itself was near as large as the bedroom portion, with a separate shower and bathtub, the latter of which was large enough to fit at least two people. The walls and floor were covered in white tiling and though they were clean and bright, the decor left Eve feeling empty. If the keepers' quarters looked anything like what she'd witnessed so far it was no wonder they looked so vacant. All the luxury in the world was pointless if you had no one to share it with.
A sharp rap at the door drew her out of her budding melancholy with a small start. Standing just outside the double doors she found a keeper with a small basket, dwarfed further by his muscled arms. His eyes turned to look coolly at Eve as she approached and a little chill worked its way up and down her spine like little impish feet. She'd never been alone with one of them before and it was a sobering reminder of her vulnerability. Eve was in their world now and as far as her world was concerned she was never coming back. No one would ever know if she died at their hands.
"Clothes and supplies." he said curtly and thrust the box into her arms. "I'll be back in one hour to collect you."
The keeper was already at the elevator before she'd had time to even construct a sentence. With a sigh Eve closed the doors to her room and decided to get cleaned up for dinner. If she was going to do her family any good she needed to make a good impression and prove her worth...as stomach churning as these people were.