Steven Santos - The Culling

Is this the reactor wire?

RING!

The sound of an alarm pierces my ears. I tumble back and smash against the wall.

Attention Recruits! Attention! One of you has just clipped the incorrect wire and activated the detonation sequence. Unless someone correctly deactivates the explosive within the next thirty seconds, it will be automatically triggered and all of you will be shelved, along with your Incentives.

Blip … Blip … Blip …

I reach out my arms, fumbling until I make contact with the control panel once more, my fingers retracing the path to the reactor wire. Along the way, I come across a smaller box.

Is this the reactor wire instead? Or is it the ignition timer?

Sweat trickles into my useless eyes and I don’t bother to blink it away.

This is exactly where I screwed up during the Sim. And I could actually see what I was doing then.

My sweaty hand runs between the two possibilities one last time before settling on my original choice.

Blip … Blip … Blip …

Gritting my teeth, I hack through the wire-

Nothing happens. No loud explosion.

I was right this time.

I’m running on pure adrenaline now. No time to fear. My palm engulfs the remaining box and hacks off the lead feeding into the ignition timer.

BEEP!

The sound screeches through my ears.

I messed up-

Searing light engulfs the room, blinding me.

Then it feels like the room’s moving. And I’m still in one piece.

Congratulations, Recruit Spark. You have successfully deactivated the explosive and emerged victorious in this Trial.

I sag against the circuit board, too fried to feel anything remotely resembling joy.

The vibrating motion ceases abruptly and the room cants left and right before coming to a stop. My eyes adjust to the brightness at last and I take in the cramped chamber.

It really does seem almost like a coffin, with barely enough room for me to stand. I spy my supplies strewn across the floor and hunch down on creaking knees to stuff them back into my pockets.

Woosh!

A slot above the control panel slides open, letting in more light. Bracing myself against the wall, I push myself back up to my feet and peer through the glass.

Digory, Cypress, and Ophelia peer out of identical oblong rooms arranged in a diamond pattern. Digory is directly across from me, Cypress is to my left, and Ophelia is to my right.

Digory presses a hand against his window as if he’s greeting me. Despite the mics embedded in the glass, neither one of us says a word. His cheeks are drawn, his eyes somber. I mimic his gesture with my own hand and try to smile, but the muscles in my face feel numb. My eyes dart from Cypress to Ophelia. Both looking exhausted-

And afraid …

A terrifying thought oozes through my skull.

If I won, and no one else was able to disable the bomb in time, how are they going to determine who will have to endure the Culling?

What is Phase Two?

Recruit Spark. As the victor, it now falls upon you in Phase Two to decide which of the other Recruits must choose between their Incentives.

My gaze lingers on each of them. And then I tear away.

“I won’t do it-I can’t .”

But even as the thought escapes my lips, I know I have no choice.

A panel rises from the circuit board containing round buttons numbered one through three. All are lit in vivid green.

Recruit Spark. Before you are three numbered buttons. When you are given the prompt, you must simply press any one of these buttons within ten seconds, blindly choosing one of your comrades as the losing Recruit. The losing Recruit will, in turn, make a blind choice between their own Incentives. If you should choose Recruit Juniper, she will be selecting the manner of her remaining Incentive’s shelving, just as Recruit Warrick did. But be warned that the wrong selection will make you susceptible to shelving, despite your victory.

A blind choice. Someone else’s life will be shattered by my whim.

And if I should select Digory’s button, then he in turn might end up blindly selecting me -and therefore my Incentives-for execution.

There’s no choosing correctly.

Recruit Spark. Make your selection now.

Everything in the room seems to shrink around me, everything except for the three green buttons which grow larger, pulsating like noxious slugs.

My hand hovers over them, wavering.

I slam a fist down onto button One .

My chin slumps to my chest. I don’t care what happens to me.

What if I’ve not only condemned myself, but murdered Cole and Digory as well?

DING! DING! DING!

I take a deep breath and look up.

Nothing’s changed. Digory’s looking at me, just the same way he was a moment ago.

Then he smiles wide.

I almost laugh out loud.

Cole’s safe. And I guess I am, too … for now.

My joy evaporates. There’s a green light blinking in my peripheral vision … to my left.

I whip my gaze in that direction.

The light’s flashing right above the window of Cypress’s chamber.

I’ve chosen her.

After Digory, Cypress was the last person remaining I’d ever want to put through such horror. To my right, Ophelia’s jumping up and down, clapping her hands, giggling.

Recruit Goslin. You have been chosen by Recruit Spark to make your selection. The panel that has just opened in your chamber will trigger the release of toxic gas into your Incentives’ chambers. By selecting either the key marked Incentive A or Incentive B, you will decide into which chamber the poison shall be dispersed. However, the identity of the recipient shall not be revealed until after your decision has been made. Prepare to select at once.

Just as before, there’s the whir of motors and a darkened glass chamber rises from the floor between us like a behemoth from the depths of the underworld. The lights come on, revealing the little girl and boy I saw at the Graduation Ceremony sitting on identical cots, divided by a partition of thin glass. I can see the metal vents in each of their sections, just like the one in my own chamber, gleaming like teeth. The girl’s playing with a torn stuffed doll, while the boy’s jumping up and down on his cot, both totally unaware of what’s in store for one of them.

I collapse against the glass.

I’m responsible for murdering one of them.

Recruit Goslin. Make your selection. Press button A or button B.

Cypress looks at me with empty eyes. Then she turns and stares at her children, together for the very last time. Even from here, I can see her fingers digging into her cheeks, drawing blood.

Make your decision now, Recruit.

“ I can’t. ” She cups a hand over her mouth.

My heart’s breaking, especially knowing that I’m the cause of all her agony.

Your time for making a selection has expired, Recruit Goslin. You have forfeited your position in the Trials, and as a result, you, as well as both your Incentives, shall be shelved immediately.

I pound the window over and over again until I finally slump against it. Weak. Empty. “I’m so sorry, Cypress. Please forgive me.”

She looks at me, her green eyes glazed into icy lakes. Then she shakes her head. “There’s nothing to forgive, Lucian.” Her voice sounds tinny over the speakers. “You’ve done nothing except what they made you do.”

I make a decision. “Your brother never abandoned you, Cypress,” I say. My voice quavers. “You have to believe that he loved you and would have been there if he could.” Even now I can’t bring myself to tell her everything.