Instill

Chapter 4: The Sham

I wake up as the first beep of my alarm goes off. By instinct I throw my black sheets off of myself and jump out of my bed to turn off my alarm.

I walk to the bathroom and close the door. The clock on the bathroom wall reads 7:02, but the sham doesn't start until 8:15. Today I go into my last sham, and to be honest, I'm scared. I don't know what lies in front of me.

I brush my teeth and undo my braid. And since I will be running and doing things similar, I need to put my hair up. I need it to stay up though so I French braid the right side then the left side and put it in a pony tail.

I go downstairs to eat breakfast and find Zach sitting at the table. "Where are Daniel and Cyrus?" I ask. "Cyrus is at work." "And Daniel?" It takes me a short amount of time to realize where he is. Today was not only my big day but Daniel's second time going out past the dome.

I grab Alien Crunchies out of the cupboard and sit at the table. Before Cyrus left, he laid out a bowl and spoon for me. I pour the cereal into the bowl jumping when the food first hits the bowl. I eat quickly and when I finish, it is 8:00. Just enough time to get to the Chaining Arena.

As I walk around the third block out of seven, it starts to rain- perfect. I have black jeans and a sweatshirt on so I put on my hood.
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Every day we change the color we wear. Yesterday was purple and today is black. You have to wear all of the same color.
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At first it was just sprinkling but now it's pouring. I start to do a weird walk jog thing but then I start to run and then to sprint.

I arrive one minute before 8:15. The building is a dark grey, which signifies that it is the chaining building. As soon as I walk in, I hear my name "Kris Fazlon, please step forward." A deep voice says. Without stopping I keep walking forward.

I feel a sudden hole punch through my chest. It's my turn. "Step into the box." Another voice says, but this time it's a girls voice. I follow directions and step into the box. When I am all the way in the box, the door instantly shuts. I am in complete silence and darkness. Suddenly it gets hard to breathe and what feels like a minute when I loose conciseness.
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When I wake up, I am in the ship. I didn't realize that's what they did to you before you went into the sham. "Begin your procedures." A dark voice says.

I walk forward to the dark blue chair and sit down. The ships we have aren't that large but are a good size. When I sit in the chair, my back goes in shock The chair is really hard. I expected it to be soft and warm but it's hard and cold.

As the mysterious voice told me, I press the ingnition button and wait to hear the loud roar of the engine. Finally after about five seconds, I hear it. It is loud and sound course.

The next step is to make sure everything is in ship-shape. Check! I begin to take off when the voice says "Stop!!" I land after being two feet in the air.

I just sit there for about twenty-five seconds when he walks in. I forgot!! We have a partner in real chaining so why not train with them?