The Sorting Room Read online

  “Okay, so first, I just collect an orb from one of the dispenser tubes on the wall. Look, there’s one over here.” Luna leads Delphine by her white, clammy palm toward the tube. Then Luna raises her hand to the tube, and an orb lands on it. “Okay, uh, here it is. Honestly, I’m still a little nervous, but I’m better than I was, that’s for sure. Now over to the tagging station!” Luna carefully carries the orb to the scanner, and then looks at the screen. See? This is meant to give you an idea of who this person will be.” Delphine nods, reading the block-type lettering display of “Anna Rose Mickelson”. “Yep, Evander definitely covered that already.” “Okay great! And then, after glancing at the screen, you close your eyes, take a deep breath - at least, that’s what I do - and then, go where the orb leads you.” Luna closes her eyes, and when she opens them, a tube receptacle across the aisle is clearly glowing. “See? I’m bringing it right over to this one. And then…” Luna drops the orb into the receptacle. The screen lights up, and a curly-haired little girl is seen being held by her father, a tall, burly man with a long beard. Delphine is enraptured by the magic unfurled on the screen, and stands agape, much like Luna did upon her first introduction to the Sorting Room. A moment later, the little girl is riding a three-wheeled vehicle of sorts, with presumably her mother walking next to her. “Wow… you just…” Luna nods. “Yeah I guess I did. Amazing, isn’t it?” Delphine nods. “Well, I guess it’s my turn, huh?” “Well, I am sure you’ll do just fine. I was scared too, at first. But once you get over that first one, it gets so much better. You’ll see - just try it.”

  Delphine’s small frame is shaking as she walks over to the orb dispensing tube nearest her, on the wall. She places her hand under it, the wetness of the orb shocking her hand into total care and submission. “Oh, it’s very… wet.” “Careful, don’t let it slip. I bet that wouldn’t be a good thing.” Delphine nods as Luna hovers her hands around the orb that Delphine holds. “Okay, now tag it…” Delphine scans her orb under the laser beam and waits for the display on the screen which reads:

  HUMANOID

  #110000000000004847593739293377772847829

  MONIKER: MIRANDA EVELYN GARCIA

  BIRTH DATE: 2002

  DEATH DATE: 2085

  GENDER: FEMALE / HETEROSEXUAL

  RACE: LATINO

  ABILITIES:

  DANCING, SINGING, WRITING

  PROGENY: #11000000000000000503736273828264836828266

  PARTNER: #110000000004823746392748749759392

  COMRADE: #110000000000004763856382937497593

  “Okay, here goes nothing…” Delphine holds the orb in her hand, awaiting her inner senses to tell her where this life belongs. “But wait, Luna, how do you know where to go? After you close your eyes and wait a bit?” “Well, for me, the right tube glows, really brightly. I can’t explain it. Maybe try looking for something like that?” Delphine nods, but still can’t find where to put it. There is a certain vicinity that is shimmering in her mind, a glimmering angle of hope that is working its way through her unsure vision. Without a better option in mind, she slowly moves in that direction, with Luna right behind her, nervously awaiting her choice.

  “Okay, I’m going to drop it into this one…” Luna nods, not knowing the correct answer any more than Delphine, since she didn’t get to physically hold the orb herself. As if in slow motion, Delphine raises her hand over the tube, and can barely breathe as she ever so slightly tilts her small, pasty-white hand, letting the life-yielding orb roll off her hand and into the vast opening of the orb receptor tube that she chose. Luna smiles for a minute, waiting to see the smiling child appear on the screen. But the screen remains blank.

  CHAPTER 9

  Sirens blare. Red lights shine down everywhere from the ceiling, with Delphine’s chosen tube fogging over with a deathly pallor. The entire Sorting Room is silent, like a tomb. The casual chatter of the workers ceases immediately.

  “What - what happened?” Delphine asks Luna, barely over a whisper. Luna shakes her head, all the blood draining from her face. “I… I… I’m not sure exactly…”

  The two girls clutch each other in the middle of the Sorting Room. The two of them were in the eye of the storm, the pale-haired rosy one crumbling onto the floor in pitiful tears, the raven-haired girl barely standing, her legs quivering, grasping her new friend in a desperate need for comfort and answers.

  Onyx runs over to Luna. “Luna, I heard the sirens from nearby. Was there… an accident?” Luna’s face was still white and frozen with fear. “I, uh, um, I’m not sure what…” “Luna! I need you to tell me what happened! Did you see something happen?” Onyx spies the fogged-over tube and the blank screen above it. “Oh this is bad, really bad. I should go find Jade. Stay right here.” Onyx wasn’t mad - but Luna could sense much concern through his frozen expression. Within a minute, Onyx returned with Jade, who was already on her way over to the disturbance. Sirens still blaring, the forsaken tube that Delphine chose is now fogged over and bright red.

  “Okay, we have an incorrect orb placement in sector eighty-seven of the Sorting Room”, Jade yelled into her communicator. “Yes, I know, Zephyr. I’m taking emergency reboot precautions now. I’ll keep you posted.” She grasps her arm to end the call, and sets her sights on the two girls in the eye of the storm.

  “You need to tell me what happened over here, and now.” Jade had found the source of the disturbance, and she was not happy. Livid would be a more accurate term. “The longer we wait, the more difficult it is to fix things. I’ve paused Earth time for now, while we take emergency measures. Otherwise, that child would have been a teenager in the wrong family by now!”

  Luna could not quite understand what Jade meant - she is still frozen in fear, so she just listens. Delphine is cowering on the floor, whimpering like a lost puppy. Her guide, Evander, was next to her, trying (and failing) to simultaneously listen to Jade and get his charge off of the floor.

  “Whoever did this… catastrophe… will need to be sent down to fix it. Pronto. Either admit it yourself or I will pull out the security tape and scorn you myself, while everyone watches you make a terrible fool of yourself. Go on… reveal yourself.”

  “Down where?” Luna whispered to Onyx. He whispers back: “To Earth, of course. To fix the mistake that has been made.” Earth! It couldn’t be. Earth? Where the humanoids are? Alone? To fix what? Luna was horrified at the possibility. Delphine, sweet little Delphine, heard Onyx’s whispered answer, and crumbled further onto the floor, clutching Luna’s leg even tighter, weeping profusely.

  “All right, I’ll give you a minute more to reveal yourself while we pull up the orb info.” Jade walked toward the offending tube, typed a few things onto the locked screen, and images appeared. On one side, a young girl looking to be about Luna’s age sat on a wall with her arms wrapped around a boy while watching the sunset. It was a pleasant scene. On the other side of the screen, the same girl (Luna assumes) is wearing all black, heavy face paint, and screaming while a different boy plays an instrument next to her. There also appears to be a large crowd of people watching and screaming back at them. This scene looks horrendous, Luna thinks to herself.

  “I’ll explain the magnitude of the situation. This, everyone, is humanoid

  #11000000000000000004847593739293377772847829, with the moniker Miranda Evelyn Garcia.

  She was assigned to be partnered with humanoid #110000000000000004823746392748749759392, with the moniker of Anthony Mitchell Stevens, to produce progeny humanoid

  #1100000000000000000503736273828264836828266, with the moniker of Bentley Roger Stevens. However, since one of you Sorters has blown your responsibility to the entire human race, Miranda Evelyn Garcia has ended up partnering with humanoid

  #11000000000000003333365248328363471173739, under the moniker Garth Ignacio Lopez. You can see Miranda with Anthony on the left screen, as Zephyr himself had intended, and you can see Miranda with Garth on the right screen, which is a terrible, terrible, mistake. She was born, quite li
terally, into the wrong family, and that is a mistake we can never perfectly fix.” At that moment, Delphine nearly throws up on the floor at Luna’s feet. Her face is slowly turning from deathly pale to downright green, the sickness of the terrible error eating her from the inside out.

  “We can, and we will, however, fix the results of this mistake. If we do not, then the wrong progeny will be born, and a chain reaction of mistaken identities and lives will ensue. That is why we must get Miranda and Anthony together. Luckily, Anthony is still in the same geographical vicinity as Miranda, but they have never met in this mistaken reality. Earth time has been paused, but we cannot do that for much longer or else the space-time-continuum could be thrown out of place. I’d say we have about seven minutes Earth time before that happens, and that’s not very long at all. Step forward now, mistaken one, or I will find you myself. Whoever you are, you must go to fix this.”

  Jade’s stare scanned the room for the offending sorter, and her glare stopped on Delphine. For an unknown reason, Luna frees herself from Delphine and steps in front of Jade before she identifies the perpetrator. Delphine figures out before anyone else what Luna plans to do and screams. But Luna steps forward anyway.

  “It was me. I did it. Take me.”

  CHAPTER 10

  Onyx’s eyes widen with terror. “What? Luna, this was your mistake? How is that possible, you were doing so well…” Luna avoids his gaze - it is too painful for her to lie in the face of the one she trusts the most. “I have to go. Tell me what I need to do.” Jade glares at her from under her platinum hair and then drags her forcefully toward a chamber not very different from her utero chamber.

  “Get in here. I’m going to press this button, and when I do, your ethereal being will be transformed into that of a human, and you’ll be transported to Miranda’s closest location. You will feel much different there - the only difference is that your implanted communication device will still be present. That is how you will speak to us, and we’ll guide you the best we can. I normally wouldn’t want to send such a new recruit down, but in this case, we have no choice. This has to be done.” “When will I come back? How will I come back?” Jade is busy furiously pressing buttons on the chamber. “When you get them permanently together, for good, you can call us, and we will have you materialize right back here in this chamber. Until then, you will have to take care of yourself on Earth. That means finding nourishment, also. Here is some Earth currency that you can trade for food. Oh, and there is also the possibility that you might die while on your mission -” “WHAT?” “Oh not to worry - it’s not too likely, but you should know about that anyway. You’d just end up in the Underworld, no big deal.”

  “NOOOOOOO!!!!”

  Jade is strapping Luna into the chamber now. “Three minutes until time breaks!”, someone yells in the crowd to Jade. “I know, we got her. We’ll be fine. Luna, we’ll be monitoring you the whole time.”

  “Luna!” Onyx pushes past Jade. “Luna! You did this? How is that possible… your vision is… I can’t believe it… I… you’re not ready! Jade, she can’t go. Unstrap her now!” “Two minutes to go!” that same being yells. Jade nods her head, finishing the process. Before she hits the final button - “WAIT!” Onyx composes himself. “Little one, be brave. Be strong. Be smart. You can do this.” “Onyx, I’m scared…” Onyx nods. “I know. But I’ll… see you soon. I would come with you, if I could.” Luna nods her head, amidst the tears streaming down her face now. “One minute to go!” Jade nods. “I have to do this, Onyx. Move it!”

  And then, as the machine hums to life, Onyx inexplicably places his lips on Luna’s. He is doing… something. Affectionate, passionate, powerful. Luna feels her body reacting to his embrace, her muscles relaxing, her mouth dancing with his, even though she never learned the steps. It is powerful, and strong, and rushes chemicals into her brain. He pulls away at the last second before the machine responded, breathlessly staring at her in a wide-eyed panic. Luna had no idea what it meant, or why he did that, or why she liked it so much. Onyx seemed surprised too. Her last memory before her body was dissolved by the chamber was Onyx’s deep blue eyes wide open, and the other Sorters pulling him away from her with shock and surprise on their faces too. The sensation came to her, and suddenly she was as light as air, a feather on the wind. And then darkness was all there was.

  ✷✷✷

  Luna finds herself lying on a wooden structure under a blue sky, surrounded by green foliage. Where am I? Oh right… this must be… Earth. She takes a deep breath, and sits up on the structure. Sitting turned out to be harder than expected. Her body feels inexplicably heavier for some reason, even though she was still herself. Or at least, the Earthly version of herself that she’d never met before. She sits up to look around at her new surroundings… this planet, this world that she’d have to encounter. She looks at the humanoids walking around her, milling about their business. So these are them… these are the beings that we sort. These are the lives we control, the beings who live out our whims. Something about the vibe around her feels oddly familiar, an inexplicable deja-vu that she can’t explain…

  She tries to stand, but immediately feels weighted down again by an unknown force. After a moment or two, Luna stands, and tries to walk. Falling down, she gets up again, fighting the forces that be. What is this green prickly stuff under me? Earth is so strange. And why is the sky blue? I don’t understand this at all.

  Luna is standing in the middle of this green space now, wondering what to do next. She knows that she needs to find Miranda, but has no idea where or how. She barely even remembers what she looks like. Feeling her panicked emotions begin to rise in the back of her throat, she calls Jade on her embedded communicator.

  ✷✷✷

  “Now I’m telling you, Harold, I was walking back to work after my lunch break when I saw this girl materialize right in front of me! No, I swear I’m not drunk. Seriously, I’m not kidding…”

  ✷✷✷

  “Hi, Jade? Um, I’m here, but I’m not sure what to do. Where is Miranda?” “We’re watching you on a monitor in the Sorting Room. Miranda is getting ready to play music with her band on that raised structured plateau about fifty paces behind you. Make your way over there and try to talk to her. Befriend her, and earn her trust. Oh, and above all… never mention who you really are and where you came from. You’ll need to pretend to be a humanoid - so don’t let them see you using your communication device. Also, now you are living in time. The sun -” “The what? What’s a ‘sun’” Luna can hear Jade scoffing from the Upperworld through her communicator. “‘The sun’ is a heavenly body in Earth’s solar system which regulates activities and daily activities of the humanoids. It is also their primary time keeper, as Earth’s revolutions around it constitute one ‘year’ as humanoids call it. They also have ages, which refer to their bodily depreciation over time. They are mortal, after all. And for now, Luna, so are you.”

  At that remark, Luna’s breath catches in her throat, this threat of death, an equally unknown and frightening novelty descended upon her. But she pushes it away, as she knows that she should stay focused on the task at hand so she can get home.

  “But listen to me - you have to find a place to stay once the sun sets. It is not safe to stay out of doors. And as you are mortal, you will need to sleep, eat, and relieve yourself occasionally. You’ll have to figure out that last part on your own. There is much you’ll have to learn, because I myself have never experienced any of this. I only know about it through my studies of humanoids. Best of luck to you, Luna. I know you’ll be okay. Stay strong, try to find a place to stay for the night if you can.” “Uh, okay… I suppose. Jade, can I speak to Onyx? Is he there?” “No, uh, sorry Luna. He’s… detained right now. Busy. Attending to… something. Not sure I can say. He’ll be in touch with you eventually.” And with that, Jade ends the call, leaving Luna’s mind spinning.

  I suppose I should go talk to Miranda. Jade said she was behind me. Luna turns to look beh
ind her, and sure enough, there is a garishly-dressed girl standing on the raised plateau structure with some sort of a sideways gadget hanging off of her neck with thick strings laying across it. Luna makes her way toward the structure, where it appears that there are other humanoids near her, with similar gadgets and machinery. They are all dressed in very dark clothing with much face paint and eccentricity. Luna feels both curious and frightened by looking at them. Regardless of her feelings, she walks right up to the structure and locks eyes with Miranda, who is a mere eight feet away from her. Luna takes another deep breath and walks up onto the plateaued structure for a little chat with Miranda Evelyn Garcia.

  CHAPTER 11

  “Zephyr, I’m telling you, there is absolutely no possible way that Luna was mistaken. Her orb vision was the most clear I’ve ever seen in my four hundred years of guiding new recruits. She told me that the correct tube completely glows in her mind. No one I have ever met has told me that.” Zephyr would not budge on his sure assumption that Luna was the one to blame, but for a moment, his eyes widened at the thought of a glowing tube, but he quickly hid his surprise and remained stone-faced anyway. Regardless of whether or not Onyx was correct in his thinking, his pleas for mercy on Luna’s behalf were falling on deaf ears.

  “Now, believe me, Onyx. You are one of the best guides we have, if not the best. Your new recruit rate of successful assimilation is impressive. It is natural for you to want to defend your own charge - that is understandable. But it does not mean that she can do no wrong. As chronic and disastrous as mistakes can be, once in a green moon, they happen.” Onyx was shoving his hands through his pale blond hair, his face red from anger and frustration. “I refuse to believe that she did this…” “Well, you had told me that she was a nervous one…” “Well, yes, but most recruits are at least a little nervous. If she was not nervous at all, I would be more concerned, as the Sorting Room work requires a vast level of sensitivity and carefulness.”