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Un Majeur
Charlotte Wirtz
Eve Grande was born in the year 2145 into a world full of fear and
uncertainty. A world which was almost completely out of any
individual’s control. Looking out of her bedroom window she could
see the shining lights of the city on the horizon in the west. Beautiful
and enlightening towers which pierced the clear blue sky stood tall,
inspiring her, but also warning her of what was to come. A future of
prosperity in ‘
the only perfect place on earth
’.
Walking into her school on that dreary, cold Thursday afternoon,
she could see the fear set into the eyes of the boys and girls around
her. Her class today was to receive a presentation from the all
controlling enterprise which called itself The Bridge. The Bridge in
the last twenty years had accumulated more power than any
company had achieved in all the years previously. Today, we no
longer saw governments or committees, Prime Ministers or Heads
of State, we merely saw the ever present charcoal and grey emblem,
plastered like the Nazi Swastika across the face of planet earth. The
Presentation would be nothing new for the gathered assembly –
they had heard all the rumours and knew all their chances, when
they stepped into the examination centre in November. Eve knew
that when she graduated she would either be transformed into a
shining light of The Bridge or be plunged into darkness.
When Eve was little, The Headmaster had told her stories about
what he called the ‘scraps’ of society – those who had been
segregated, who plunged into the void of humanity with no hope of
changing their likely fate. Gobs was what many generally referred to
those who were in the genetically lower classes below The Bridge.
Gobs were so dramatically different that at Maturity they had their
genetic codes stolen, becoming the property of The Bridge. Their
DNA was not changed but stored for when The Bridge decided to
test any new genetic engineering advancement. Such advancements
would eventually go to improve the lives and health of those who
passed the torturous Maturity Tests.
As the name suggests, The Maturity tests are taken by every
seventeen year old on planet Earth, the year before they turn
eighteen. Much like the examinations of the 21st Century, they are
perfectly designed to find those with the highest likelihood of
success and prosperity in the future; those whose heads mirror and
cherish the ideals of The Bridge.
Looking up from her cold, angular desk, Eve saw the metallic
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