"Section four, please report to Medical for inspection. I repeat. Section four, please report to Medical for inspection." The voice blared over the loudspeaker, jarring Lyra from her sleep. She turned, attempting to untangle herself from her blanket. Today was the day. She sat bolt upright and flung her standard issue blanket to the wall. She was already dressed in her pale blue pants and matching shirt. Nerves had kept her from sleep for hours and she had not bothered to change into her sleepwear. Her bunk mates were also stirring, all in various stages of dress. It was not hard to guess what was on their minds. Hers was abuzz with questions; questions she had no answer to.
She swung her legs over the side of her bunk and shoved her cold feet into her shoes. Would she need shoes? Of course she would. That was such a silly question. The others were starting to shuffle toward the door. Rubbing sleep from her eyes, she followed. As she exited the room, her hands wrapped themselves in the hem of her shirt.
"Lyra!" A tiny voice called from the crowd of people amassing in the hallway. Lyra turned this way and that, trying to locate her. The voice squeaked behind her and she felt a tug on her elbow. Saren was nervously glancing around and her fingers wrapped firmly in Lyra's sleeve.
"Are you nervous?" Lyra smiled affectionately down at her friend. Saren nodded silently in response. She was such a small girl. Saren was much shorter than Lyra and while the same age, she looked like a child. Her short black hair hung in her eyes, shielding her eyes that were likely brimming with tears. She clung to Lyra's sleeve like a leech. Lyra left the hem of her shirt alone and patted her friend's hand.
"Me too." At least she wasn't lying. It was hard to hide her nervousness. The friends followed the crowd down the hallway, heading in the direction of Medical Unit A. Lyra had been there several times before. Each year they had to report for an inspection. They were poked, prodded, and measured. They were never told the purpose of these tests, only that they were necessary. Everyone here knew that once you reached the age of eighteen, there was only one inspection left. Once you had your final inspection, you were never seen again. Rumors and stories floated around the dorm. Maybe they were moved to another facility? Perhaps they died? Lyra didn't know which one she believed. Those questions always went unanswered from the Keepers.
Keepers, the people in the white coats. Ever present, ever watching. Each floor reported to a single Keeper. That Keeper gave them their orders each day. Where to go, what to do, when to do it. Everything was a routine. At the end of the hall, Lyra saw the familiar face of their Keeper. She was a woman much older than Lyra. Gray streaks peeked through the flat brown hair that she had pulled neatly into a bun. Her lips were always drawn in a thin line. Thinking on it now, Lyra was certain she had never seen her smile. She was kind enough, but a stickler for the rules. As Lyra watched her, she lifted a small device to her mouth and the announcement echoed down the hall through the speakers once more. The voice was dry and emotionless.
Lyra caught her gaze for only a moment. Her eyes seemed distant and it sent a chill through Lyra. Did she know something? Could she tell Lyra what would happen to them? The eye contact was broken when someone jostled Lyra and the moment was over. Lyra was headed toward the lift. Saren had started to shake. Lyra grabbed her hand and squeezed.
"Its going to be okay." Saren shook her head and sniffed quietly. Lyra's own nerves felt like she would burst out of her skin. The ride in the lift took mere seconds but it seemed to drag on forever. Finally she felt the lift give a slight jolt and the doors slid open. Others were spilling out of the adjoining lifts and gathering at the entrance to Medical Unit A. Two Keepers were scanning the ID bracelets on each person's wrist as they went through the door. Another Keeper beyond the door was directing them were to stand.
Lyra and Saren lifted their wrists obediently to be scanned and rounded the corner into the unit. They made their way down the hall and a rather rotund Keeper, unknown to Lyra, grabbed Saren by the arm.
"No, I want to stay with her." Saren protested. The Keeper silently tore her from Lyra's arm and shoved her into a line that had formed in front of a closed door. Lyra felt gentle but firm hands settle on her arms and she was guided to a line that ran parallel to Saren's.
"I'm right here. It is okay, Saren." Lyra tried to reassure her friend. The girl was so small and frail looking. The two had grown up together. They might as well be sisters and Lyra had always looked out for Saren. Now, standing in this line, she wasn't so sure she could anymore. Would they be separated? They had kept them together this long. Certainly, they'd keep them together now. Right?
The door in front of her line swung open and a Keeper directed the person at the front of the line to enter. Nine more followed, including Lyra. She aimed a quick smile at Saren before she disappeared through the door.
The room she had entered was stark white with ten stations set up against the wall. They were ordered to stand on a taped square on the floor. It was worn and peeling at the edges. She toyed with the end of the tape with her shoe while they waited. Ten medically trained Keepers entered through a door at the other end of the room. They walked in single file and approached to begin their assessment without a word. The woman assigned to Lyra first measured her height and weight. She looked in her ears and shined a light in her eyes. The woman was older, much like her Floor Keeper. The only difference was that her hips flared out and her legs tapered to tiny feet shoved into equally tiny shoes. Her hair was pinned back in the same neat bun. Her shoes made the only sound in the room as she clacked around Lyra, listening and looking. A small pen tapped across the handheld screen laid across her forearm. Lyra wanted to ask her about what would happen to her, but she remained silent. This woman didn't seem to want to talk.
"Strip." The word made her jump. She had not expected the woman to say anything. The shoes clacked behind her and the woman appeared to her right.
"E...excuse me?" Lyra wasn't sure she had heard her correctly. The Keeper looked up from her screen with a look of annoyance. She wiggled her pen at Lyra, indicating her clothing.
"Take off your shirt and pants and set them on the table there." Lyra looked around her. She was in a room with so many other people. She had only ever been naked in front of a Keeper during annual inspections. Trembling, she pulled the shirt over her head and laid it gently on the table. Her cotton pants followed and she stood in just her shoes. Instinctively her arms came up to cover herself. Lyra gazed around the room but no one was watching her. The others in her group were being subjected to the same orders. The young man a few feet from her stood in the nude, his bare chest heaving with his anxiety. The Keeper in front of her cleared her throat and Lyra's attention snapped forward.
"Get on the table." Her pen pointed behind her. There was a table that was familiar to Lyra. During her annual inspection, they also had a reproductive exam. This was nothing new to Lyra, but again, the circumstances were different. She climbed up onto the table and crossed her legs and arms in an attempt to hide herself. One hand was pressed against her tuft of pubic hair and the right arm was covering her nipples. The Keeper approached and pressed her fingers firmly to Lyra's sternum. Lyra permitted herself to be pushed back onto the table. The pen rapped the edge of the stirrups and she complied. With her feet in the stirrups, Lyra was exposed. A male Keeper stood on the opposite wall and she could have sworn he smirked. A male had never looked at her before. She brought her knees together but her assigned inspector gave her thigh a swat and she let them fall open. She lay her head back and stared at the ceiling. It would be over soon. Gloved fingers prodded her pelvis and there was the familiar intrusion. It was over in a matter of seconds.
"You are done. Put your clothes back on and exit through the door." The woman tapped the screen a few times and gave a weak smile. Lyra was back in her clothes as quickly as possible. At least it was over. The others were finishing up as well. They filed out through the door at the back of the room and were met by a much larger room. It was brightly lit by large elongated light fixtures. The floor was cold cement and Lyra was glad to have her shoes. She immediately began searching for Saren. Everyone seemed just as nervous and they huddled together on one side of the room. Saren was nowhere to be found. Lyra asked if anyone had seen where she went, but no one could provide an answer. Either they did not know or they were too worried about their own fates to bother.
A large, burly Keeper stepped out in front of the group. His hands were clasped behind his back and he leaned forward slightly, as if the extra few inches made him more easily heard. His voice boomed out and echoed off the bare cement walls.
"Attention Section 4. Please form two lines in front of the bay door behind me. Keep quiet and keep still unless you are given the order to move." The group hurried to form the indicated lines. Lyra felt her palms start to sweat and she wound them in the hem of her shirt again. It was such a nervous habit; one that had stretched her shirt out far longer than it should be.
All but two of the Keepers left the room. The two that remained stationed themselves by the bay door, each holding a half-meter long baton behind them. They stood with their feet shoulder width apart, and became still as statues. For what felt like hours, they waited. Shoes impatiently shuffled in place. It was beneath her shoes that Lyra began to feel something. It was a hum and it was subtle at first, but it escalated at an alarming rate. Within seconds, the lines were reduced to panic as the bay door shook violently. The metal door danced in its rails and Lyra was sure it would collapse. Her heart pounded in her chest and all she could do was stare at the shaking bay door.
"Stay where you are. Do not move." The Keeper's voice was nearly drowned out by the roar. Lyra's gaze deviated from the door to look at him with an odd fascination. This was the first time Lyra had cause to feel fear. Everyone else in the room was panicking, but this man and his partner were calm and collected. They had not even bothered to look up at the crashing metal behind them. Eyes scanned the room continuously, watching out for those who would break from the line or shout. They had been through this before with those that had come before Lyra. It wasn't until the Keeper reached over to press a green button on the panel next to him that she realized the noise had stopped.
