Theo's Pov
The morning light over Enox was pale and filtered, struggling through the perpetual haze that hung over the endless ocean. Theo walked alone.
Families passed him in clusters, parents with their arms around graduating seniors, younger siblings skipping ahead in their best clothes blissfully unaware of the impending tragedy.
Some mothers wiped away tears quietly. Fathers gripped shoulders a little too tightly in encouragement. Everyone understood what this day meant, the council's necessary evil.
Theo shoved his hands in his pockets and kept walking.
The ceremony grounds were set up on the main observation deck, the largest platform in the city. Rows of metal chairs faced a raised stage, and behind the stage, the ocean stretched to the horizon, grey, raging and endless. Theo found his designated seat somewhere in the middle, surrounded by students he'd grown up with, it was hard not to know everyone when they had all been in the same classes since preschool. No family sat beside him. No one squeezed his hand or whispered reassurance.
He was alone. He'd always been alone. He'd die alone.
The crowd filtered in slowly. Theo watched them looking for Ennis and his friends.
Then he saw her.
Ennis walked with her parents, and Theo's heart clenched.
She looked terrible.
Her graduation gown hung loose on her shoulders, wrinkled and unironed. Ennis, who always pressed her clothes the night before, who never let herself be anything less than perfect. Her hair was pulled back hastily, strands escaping in every direction. Her eyes were hollow, the light in it gone , dark circles lining her under eyes.
She moved like someone carrying an impossible weight.
Their eyes met.
For a moment, the crowd faded into the background. There was only Ennis, and the exhaustion in her gaze, fear and…. longing.
Theo raised his hand slightly, fingers moving in the signs they'd created together over years of stolen moments.
Everything will be okay.
Ennis's eyes filled with tears. One escaped, trailing slowly down her cheek. She didn't wipe it away. Her own hand rose, trembling as she signed.
I love you.
Before Theo could respond, her parents guided her forward, toward seats on the other side of the aisle. She glanced back once, twice, three times, until she finally disappeared into the sea of white gowns.
The ceremony began with a blare of trumpets—a recording from Before.
Controller Vance emerged onto the stage, his smile punctuated with disturbingly white teeth, his dark robes billowing in the breeze. Behind him stood the principal, a thin woman with spectacles and the permanent frown of someone who had done this too many times.
"Citizens of Enox," Vance began, "today we celebrate. Today we honor. Today we ensure our survival."
Theo tuned him out. He'd heard this speech a hundred times. It was always about sacrifice, future and legacy. The needs of the many. Words that meant nothing when you didn't know if you'd be the one sacrificed.
His eyes found Ennis again. She sat rigid, her hands clenched in her lap, her gaze fixed on the stage. She hadn't looked at him since she sat down.
"...and so we gather to witness the next generation step forward," Vance continued. "Fifty will rise into our ranks.Fifty will ensure that Enox endures for another year."
The principal stepped forward, a datapad in her hands.
"We will now read the names of those who have passed the final examination," she announced. "When your name is called, please rise and come forward to receive your designated duty."
The first name echoed across the deck.
"Akino, Sara."
A girl near the front stood. Her family erupted in quiet, tearful applause. She walked forward, shoulders straight, face carefully neutral.
"Chen, Wei."
The names continued.
Theo's leg bounced with nervous energy. He scanned the rows for his friends. There was Jax, lanky and slouching even now; Mira with her braids pulled back tight; Lian, sitting perfectly still, his face unreadable. They were scattered throughout the crowd, each alone with their thoughts, each waiting to hear their fate.
"Kovac, Jax."
Jax stood up and took his career sheet, his face somber but his eyebrows creased in relief.
"Okonkwo, Mira."
Mira rose from her chair, her jaw tight. She walked forward with purpose, but at the edge of the aisle she paused. Just for a second. Her eyes found Theo's, and she signed quickly 'I'll find you'
"Zhao, Lian."
Lian stood slowly. He was always the thoughtful one, the overly empathetic one. Today he carried the guilt of survival. He looked directly at Theo, and for a long moment they just stared at each other. He looked at Ennis and sighed as he went to the stage
Theo's throat burned.
Twenty names. Thirty. Forty. The front rows emptied while others sat in growing silence. Families who had hoped, who had prayed, sat frozen as name after name passed them by.
Forty-five. Forty-six. Forty-seven.
The principal paused, glancing at her datapad. The crowd held its breath.
"And finally," she said, "the last name of this year's Passing class."
Theo's heart hammered. Beside him, a boy gripped his seat so hard his knuckles went white. A few rows ahead, a girl whispered a prayer.
"Patel, Ennis."
Ennis didn't move.
She sat frozen, her face blank with shock. Then her mother was sobbing, her father was clutching her arm, and Ennis was rising like someone in a dream, stumbling forward as if the ground might open beneath her at any moment.
She made it three steps before she stopped.
Her head turned slowly. Her eyes found Theo's, and in that look he saw everything; confusion, relief, joy and then horror as realization dawned on her.
His name hadn't been called.
No.
She mouthed it first. Then louder, her voice cutting through the applause.
"No."
Her mother grabbed her arm. "Ennis, you need to—"
"No!" Ennis wrenched free, spinning to face the crowd. "Theo! Theo!, Why wasn't his name called?"
The principal looked up, frowning. "Remaining students, please rise."
Theo rose.
Around him, forty-nine others stood as well. Some tearful, some had already resigned to their fate, some were numb. They were the culled. The ones who would ensure Enox's equilibrium with their lives.
Ennis saw him and her legs gave out.
"No. No, no, no—" She was running now, shoving through the crowd, her gown tangling around her legs. "Theo! You did this! You did this, you fool, you stupid, stupid—"
Enforcers moved.
They materialized from the edges of the deck, black uniforms cutting through the crowd like knives. Two of them reached Ennis first, grabbing her arms, pulling her back. She fought them, screaming, crying, her voice raw with desperation.
"Let me go! theo! theo—"
Theo watched tearfully as the girl he loved more than his own life fall apart because of him but it was the price to pay to keep her alive.
She was on her knees now, held up by two Enforcers, her face a mess of tears and anguish. Her lips moved, forming words he couldn't hear over the crowd's murmurs. But he knew what they were.
I love you. I love you. I love you.
Theo raised his hand. Signed slowly, carefully, so she would see.
I love you too.
Then an Enforcer grabbed his arm roughly and pushed him towards the door that no graduating student came back from.
Behind him, Ennis screamed his name one last time.
He didn't look back.