Plant

“Subject two eight nine four, please step forward.”

Clissy stepped away from the line of inmates, fear gripped her so intensely her throat burned. Tears fell silently, trailing down her smooth bronze cheeks and disappearing into expanding dark circles on her light blue jumpsuit. The nine crones regarded her disdainfully from the bench, waiting as the other accused were removed from the chamber.

“Subject two eight nine four, you stand accused of treason. You are suspected of transporting and harboring an illegal and dangerous substance with the intent of societal destruction. What have you to say?” Clissy parted her lips, but her burning throat would not obey. The High Crone lifted her glasses, dark eyes burning into Clissy, she could feel the flames against her skin. They both knew this was a mere formality.

“Subject two eight nine four. You’re with the Burners today. There is new growth in Quadrant Sixty Six, Section twelve, Parcel 300. Complete Extermination.”

Clissy bowed her head and accepted her order card. She found the black arrow on the ground and followed it to Transit. She boarded the train with several others, each of them stopping to scan their order card at the door. The number of required burns had been steadily declining since the founding of the Court's Union. Soon, they promised, all toxic plant life would be wiped away. Clissy sat in the front of the train, knees together, hands folded in her lap. She regarded her reflection in the window beside her, her rebellious black curls were escaping from their braids and her dark, nearly black eyes were bright. Clissy loved being a Burner, though she tried to keep that fact to herself. There was something about being above the ground, even in the sealed exit suits, that gave Clissy a feeling she had no name for, as if her body could feel the openness around her, and it ached for it.

The train closed its doors and pulled forward into the oppressive black tunnels. Occasionally they would pass through a patch of light as the train zipped past empty stations. When it did stop the subject who was to depart the train was announced and when the proper order card was scanned the door would open and allow them off. Clissy waited until her number was called, she rose slowly and walked slowly to the exit, avoiding the eyes of the remaining two subjects. On the sterile white platform she waited for the train to depart, the wind pushing and pulling the stray curls around her face.

The platform was lined entirely in white tile, with a single metal door under a bare white bulb. Clissy again scanned her card to pass through the door. She entered a small metal chamber equipped with a shower, a bench, a locker, and an egg shaped pod nestled in a tube that disappeared into the ceiling above. Inside the locker was her exit suit, composed of woven metal threads, a glass helm and tube that ran to the breath pack on the back, and a holstered burner. She stripped and adorned her suit, neatly folding her jumpsuit and leaving it on the bench, tucking her slippers beneath.

With a shaky breath Clissy hopped into the pod and began her ascent to the surface. She kept her eyes closed, giddy as she awaited the light that would soon assault her eyes. It started gradually, a faint lightening of her eyelids that blossomed into a fiery white glow, always bringing tears to her eyes. The pod emerged from the ground into the open air. Clissy threw open the pod door and jumped forth, eyes still closed. Her booted feet landed with a muted thud and she spread her arms wide, turning in a circle.

Clissy basked in the light for a few short minutes. She must not forget why she was here. She still had a job to do. She pulled the Burner from her hip and opened her eyes. There were an innumerable amount of parcels on the surface above Court’s Union. Clissy had seen many, but there was not much to differentiate them. All of the surface that she had visited was the same. Blank white sky broken only by the blinding white orb, mottled black ground stretching in every direction, occasionally interrupted by the bones of some long forgotten structure from before The Rise. This parcel was no exception.

Clissy raised her Burner, pointing it to the horizon, slowly turning in a circle until it began to tick, picking up the growth energy it existed to snuff out. She followed the clicking for some time before coming across several strange brown poles rising from the ground. They were lightly scorched from previous Burn visits, the ash covering the ground around them was deep, but sprouting at the base of each were the tiniest green vines. Clissy pointed her Burner and pulled the trigger, releasing a direct stream of flame that engulfed the delicate sprouts. Just like that the strange burst of color was gone and the barren land restored to its pure state.

At the last pole, as the flames stirred the ash, a strange glint caught Clissy’s eye. She returned her Burner to her hip, knelt and raked her fingers through the fluffy dust. Out came a delicate chain, she’d never seen a chain so fine, she felt the weight of the locket as she raised it to her eye level. Her breath caught in her throat. She had certainly never seen anything like it. The metal was shiny despite the flame it had just endured. The pendant was heart shaped and across its face was intricate raised detail depicting a tree, its many branches spider webbing the surface. Hanging from some branches were embedded glistening red stones. She knew it was beautiful though she was ignorant of what it was. Clissy’s heart thundered in her ears, her mind raced. Her eyes slid from the necklace to the ash she’d pulled it from, she thought about the little vines and leaves she had burned just moments before. Could those vines… Could the growth look like this?

The brown poles which before had seemed ordinary now made Clissy uneasy. She closed her fist tightly around the locket and began to back away, finally turning and sprinting back along her trail to her pod. She slammed shut the door and smashed the button to begin the descent into darkness. She closed her eyes, unable to steady her thoughts. Those poles were not like anything she had seen before. The locket was something strange. What was the image on its front? Clissy felt sick to her stomach thinking about the countless green beginnings she had ended, never questioning why.

Upon exiting her pod back in the small metal chamber, Clissy laid the locket on the bench. She couldn't take her eyes off of it as she removed her exit suit, as she showered and comfortably returned to her jumpsuit and slippers. Finally ready to depart for her own quarters, she stood over the locket, fearful of touching it with her bare hands. Clissy took a deep breath and lifted the locket. It was cold, heavy, she ran her fingers over it, marveling again at its beauty. A groove ran around the edge of the heart and Clissy wedged her fingernails in it, applying the slightest bit of pressure. The locket popped open with a faint click revealing a hollow center lined in red silk with what appeared to be a small black pebble resting in it.

Clissy turned the locket allowing the pebble to fall into her open palm. She rolled it in her fingers and held it up in the dismal artificial lighting. It was too light to be any rock, but what it actually was she had no idea. She returned it to its silk bed, closed the locket and jammed it deep into her pocket. She returned to the platform just as the train was returning to pick her up. Her reflection in the train window was much different than it had been that morning, hair wild from the shower, cheeks flushed, eyes bright and darting. She sat in the front as she always did, knees together, hands folded in her lap, but her knees betrayed her agitation, shaking, though she prayed no one would notice.

Unfortunately for Clissy, someone had noticed much more.

“Subject two nine eight four, you stand accused of treason. You are suspected of transporting and harboring an illegal and dangerous substance with the intent of societal destruction. What have you to say!?” The High Crone posed the question again but still Clissy could not form words. She recalled finding the locket that awful day, ignorantly thinking it was her little secret. They came for her that same night and she had been in the dark ever since.