Spoiler! :
“Minor number 326, proceed to platform...”
I made my way up the the platform in front of the large, foreboding machine. Planting myself firmly on the metal plate. It scanned me from head to toe. A picture of myself that had been taken earlier that year appeared next to a vocal register.
“Citizen or Soldier? Which do you choose?” the disembodied voice sounded from the soon lifeless machine.
In my community, we are prepped our whole lives for this decision that can either make or break us.
I stood there motionless as people around me stared, eyes wide, listening to what I have to say. My body became as cold as ice as those seven words pounded through my brain like a thunderstorm. Many a time I had heard those words spoken towards individuals I didn't know. But nothing could have prepared my for the question being directed at me.
“Citizen or Soldier? Which do you choose?” the machine asked again. The words literally registered pain. They were like hands that grabbed a hold on my very being and rattled it like a child plaything.
I stood there for what seemed like hours, utterly paralyzed by fear. Until the machine spat out another command.
“Choose minor! Citizen? Or. Soldier?” hearing the escalation in tone, I quickly made my decision.
“CHOOSE!” it blared.
“SOLDIER!” I exclaimed. “I CHOOSE SOLDIER!” genuine anger escaping from inside me.
The machine's tone returned to normal,
“Thank you for choosing,” it said.
“Soldier...”
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