Lyox Labelling

THIS IS THE SUBMISSIVE POV. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO LOOK AT IT THROUGH THE DOMINANT POV, YOU WON'T BE MISSING ANY IMPORTANT STORY ELEMENTS. SKIP TO THE DOMINANT POV CHAPTER.

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Today was the day I turned 18. I was nervous, but excited. I was strong, and I was ready. I was going to become a Dominant today. I imagine what the Pykx would feel like- what my Pykx would feel like.

"Ren! Time to go!" I heard my Foster call from upstairs. On my planet, you didn't stay with your birth parents. You were raised by a Foster, a failure. It's unfair to expect us to be the best if they let the worse raise us. The cowards of the community. My Foster wasn't allowed to make any relations or connections with me. It was there just for my wellbeing. Fortunately, my birth parents named me. I had a warrior's name- Ren.

I zipped up my labelling day outfit, or L-Day, as most call it. We were required to wear grey, rubber jumpsuits that were issued at school the week prior. This would keep us dry in water challenges, and flexible in anything else. Adrenaline pumped through me as I took the stairs two at a time, bumping into my Foster as I reached the bottom. I didn't apologize. Rynxhos don't deserve apologies. I was just glad I wouldn't look like it any longer.

Stepping out of our cell, I was met by children. They asked me many questions- did I think I would win, would I remember them, would I mention them. I brushed them off, already feeling my prosthetic superiority to the world. I stepped onto the hovertrain and sped off to my destiny.

I heard the ding announcing my arrival after what seemed like forever, and stood up. We weren't allowed to bring anything with us, at least that's what the note had said. Last week when they issued the rubber outfits, a note had come with. The note read that we weren't allowed to bring anything but ourselves, and that if we didn't board the train, our Fosters would be forced to take us to the Center. There, we would be given work and our pathetic excuse for a life. Once we would arrive at the Arena by hovertrain, we would be sorted at random into our competing groups of 20.

Stepping off, I didn't bother looking around me. I knew I wouldn't see anyone different from myself. All Neuts were almost the same, if not identical. Slight differences in skin tones, different long hairstyles. That is all that separated us.

"Group 12! Polo, Tore, Myr, Feko, Ren..." I knew the Rynxho in front of me continued listing names, but my heart was beating too loud in my ears to hear them. I stepped forward, my prior confidence evaporating. Soon enough, 16 Neuts had stepped forward. 4 of the Neuts from my group were already Rynxhos. They hadn't wanted to risk it. This meant only 8 would become Dominant.

"Follow me." The Rynxho said. We all walked behind it, taking step after step closer to our destiny. We were all pushed into a room, hardly big enough for us to all fit comfortably. Once everyone was in, the floor started to push up. I then realized we were in something resembling a large elevator. Once we reached the floor, I had to squint my eyes. It was extremely bright. A loud voice filled the room as my eyes adjusted.

"You will be given 10 minutes to construct a trap. The materials you have to make this trapped are laid in front of you. You will be scored on the time used to construct your trap, and the effectiveness. You do not know what you have to trap. Go." As soon as the voice said Go, the lights dimmed enough for me to see there was a pile of raw materials in front of me. While most of the other Neuts stood dazed, I ran forward to sift through the building blocks to my future. I grabbed hard, iron caging, and zip ties. I constructed a box big enough to fit a Rynxho, as long as it was in a fetal position. On one of the sides, I only zip tied the top. I ran back and got a wide, thin stick. I placed it under the half hinged side, and left it.

The bell rang. All around me, Rynxhos appeared with Dominants. The Dominants said a foreign command, and the Rynxhos each walked to a different trap. My trap was pathetic. It was barely holding together. Around me were killing machines. What was trapped would never walk away. I saw I had missed the point altogether and the wind left my body. A Rynxho crawled into my trap, and it closed on it. He easily pushed out and walked away. The Dominant watching it made marks on a chart he was holding. I thought I was going to throw up. Around me, I heard the gruesome sounds of Rynxhos being impaled, decapitated, and suffocated. I had lost the first match.

After being pushed into another elevator, we arrived on a different floor. This one was not over-bright. I could see everything, and I was glad I could. It was a pool. The voice came on again.

"As you see, there is a pool. This is the physical challenge. You will each get a cuff put onto each ankle, and then step into the pool. You will tread in twelve feet of water. The trick is that, each second treading, 10 pounds will technologically be added onto your cuffs. Good luck."

I looked down to see a Rynxho clipping two metal bracelets around my ankles. We were told to walk up the ramp, and to enter the water. It was easy. I had been treading water since I was a child. Once we were all in, I immediately felt a pull from my legs. The weights on my ankles were trying to pull me under. Another 10 pounds was added. The Neut next to me went under. Another 10 pounds. Three to my left were gone. Another 10. I was struggling. Another three gone. Another 10. I couldn't take it- but I just had to outlast one more person. We stared at each other. I felt the water rising around my head. Suddenly, he quit fighting and went under. All the weight was released from my ankles and my competitors came up from the water.

After we had all dried off, we were headed to another floor. Sixteen Rynxhos were lined up in a shower-like room. We were each handed a gun. Each Rynxho was then forced to tell us why they were being executed. Mine had put too many ice cubes in someone's drink. I raised the gun, but I couldn't do it. I heard multiple bangs. I had come in tenth place. If I just would have killed that pathetic failure, I would be a hero- a Dominant. This was all I could think of as the Dominant behind me forcefully took me to the Submissive transformation building.