V

The nurse tapped her perfect nail on the glass cylinder, shaking up the clear liquid inside. I glared at her hoping she would notice. Agnes said not to, but I hated her. This wasn't right.

"Are you ready, miss?" the woman asked, like she wasn't about to murder somebody, her wide blue eyes guilt-free.

"Almost." Agnes told her. "Could I speak to my granddaughter alone, please?"

"Of course." the nurse smiled, and retreated to the computer, staring at the wall patiently.

Agnes's hand took mine, and she looked at me with those grey eyes. I saw there was no fear, only happiness.

"Are you.....happy?" I asked with disbelief. How could she not be frightened at a time like this.

"Of course I am, Sam." Agnes seemed surprised by the question.

"But....but they're going to..." I was unable to finish the sentence, and a tear escaped my brimming eyes.

"Oh, I'm an old woman. It's high time I let go." Agnes wiped away the stray tear. "What's important is that I have you."

"I'm going to be alone." I murmured, and another tear slid down my cheek. "You're leaving me all alone."

"I'm so, so sorry, Sam, but I can't stay. Remember that no matter how hard it gets, nobody can see you cry. You've got to hide yourself. All you can do is wait, and hope." Agnes put her hand to my cheek. "Never stop hoping, Sam, and never give up love. Hope and love are the two things they can never take from you. Happiness can be stolen, hate can be cured, jealousy can be muffled, contentment can be broken, but love and hope stick together through thick and thin. There is no love without hope, and there is no hope without love."

"Please don't leave me." I whispered. "I can't do it alone."

"Yes, you can." Agnes told me firmly.

"Are you ready now, Miss?" the nurse called, and Agnes nodded to her.

"No!" I shouted, but Agnes held me tightly. The nurse injected the needle in the neck, packed up her things, and left, without even a second thought. Agnes's grip relaxed, and she fell back onto her pillow, looking weak and vulnerable.

"Please." I begged, and Agnes's hand managed to squeeze mine.

"I...love you, Sam." Agnes slowly spoke, and I almost couldn't hear her.

"I love you, too, Agnes." I choked, and forced myself to swallow my tears. Her wrinkled hand slowly reached up to brush my cheeks, but never made it.

And I was alone.

   • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

This wasn't fair. To get real emotions, just before Agnes died, seemed cruel and twisted. I felt lost and broken, with nobody to talk to and nobody left to fill the hole in my heart.

For days, I moped and hid, but my parents didn't even notice my lack of activity.

Monday was agonizingly slow, Tuesday left my eyes red and raw, and Wednesday was the most painful. By Thursday, I went about as if in a dream, with no direction or conscious effort.

I came home from school, and immediately went to my room. Mother said, "Hello." from her seat at the computer, but that was it. I went to my bed, planning to sleep it off, when there was a noise.

Chirr-uip.

"Samantha! Come answer the door!" Father called, and I frowned. Just because the Standards dictated that the whole family be present for a guest, didn't mean I had to like it.

I forced myself to my feet and trudged to the door, where Mother and Father were waiting. Their disapproving looks scolded my laziness, and Father entered the door code.

Fsshk.

The door slid open, to reveal a person clothed entirely in white, except for pieces of black here and there, and the shiny black visor that went across the helmet. The thick white gloves held a slightly flattened ellipsoid shape, as white as the uniform behind it, with a black spot in the center of it.

"Patricia and Gregory, Room 64?" the Official's voice is robotic and garbled, to discourage any classification of gender. Nobody knows the gender of an Official, the age, or even where they come from. Nobody we know has ever said to have been assigned to Official training. It's all very odd, but what's even more puzzling to me is that I've never bothered to think about it until now.

"That's us." Mother replies.

"Identification here." the Official holds out two tablets, one for Mother, and one for Father. They proceed to do the necessary protocol for receiving any kind of special package; hand match analyzers, thumbprint check, eye scanners, and personal four digit code.

When they finish, the Official holds out the sleek package.

"This is your second child addition, and Standards clearly specify that under no circumstances are you to attach to the designated person, until after Testing, which will occur when the child addition is in its fifth year." the Official straightens and begins to recite the same warnings and reminders that all parents get with new child additions. "Remember that the Council holds the right to repossess any child addition if they test positive during Testing. If they test negative, then you as a responsible citizen will be free to attach to the child addition. Failure to uphold these Standards will result in severe punishment......" it continues to drone on and on, and I quickly lose interest.

Reaching out, I ran my finger along the shiny surface of the object in Father's arms. It was so smooth and shiny, I didn't know how we'd ever get a human out of it. Why would we seal a living person in something like this in the first place?

I wondered what it would look like. Most people had brown hair and blue eyes, and if they didn't from the start, they usually got it changed at their Fixing.

Kshhk.

The door suddenly slid shut, and both my parents went to the couch, setting the device on the table. I went over, climbing on the side of the couch to get a better look. Mother reached out, and pressed her finger on the black spot.

Sssik.

The object suddenly split down the middle, and the top half lifted up, detaching from the bottom half, then slid off to the side.

She stared at us with big blue eyes, a normal enough color, but her hair was wispy and fine, and blonde. I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen blonde hair.