Adlai woke up, muscles completely exhausted from the work yesterday. The factory had required overtime production, and so Adlai had to do essentially two jobs at once, quality control and actual manufacturing. The pain he felt was negated by the fact that today was special. He stretched, staring at the peeling walls. He got up and walked down the stairs once again. Averi was waiting for him outside his door.

  “You ready to go?”

  Adlai nodded, stretching his shoulders as he strode down the street. Averi jumped up to follow him.

  Averi looked at him a little anxiously. “What do you think they’re gonna ask us? Do you think they’re gonna care about this?” Averi gestured towards her prosthetic leg.

  Adlai shook his head. “You’re gonna be fine, they’re more worried about genetic things and disease.”

  At least, that was what his parents had told him before they had gone to get tested. Averi reached out a hand, and Adlai took it. Together they walked past the sad, rotting buildings, towards a new building. This one stuck out like a sore thumb, a bright bird of paradise amongst ratty sparrows. A huge line stretched out from the entrance, and Adlai sighed internally. He was not excited at all to deal with that line. It beat working though, and he had saved enough money to where he could live a few weeks without work.   

  The line moved slowly, and Averi could barely sit still. She kept Adlai entertained, however, telling him about the most recent scam she ran, and her escapade. There were guaranteed to be embellishments, but they started from a nugget of truth. Eventually, as Averi talked about fighting off five massive bald men, the person in front of them walked through the door. Adlai was first up, taking a deep breath as he walked through the yawning doorway. Following signs that pointed him to the right section, he entered a bright room, holding a myriad of tools. From a strange metal tube, to what Adlai assumed was an eye test, to syringes. It looked like the doctor's office that he had been to once when he was a lot younger. His dad had been good friends with a doctor and decided to treat Adlai to a visit. Now that his parents were gone, he didn’t have the luxury of knowing a doctor, much less paying for one.

  “Hello?” Adlai looked around.

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  “Hello.” The reply came from a smartly dressed doctor. They stood leaning against a wall, holding a clipboard.

  “I’m here for the test?”

  “Lay down here for me. Take off anything metal.” Adlai unbuckled his belt, laid it on a nearby metal table, and laid down on the metal tube. The freezing cold metal sucked the heat out of his back, leaving Adlai a little uncomfortable.

  “Stay still.”He felt a strange feeling as the tube slowly slid over his body, like thousands of little pinpricks, jabbing away at him. The tube retracted, and Adlai sat up, looking for the doctor. They came back, holding a syringe. Adlai’s discomfort must’ve shown on his face and the doctor chuckled slightly.

  “You want a sticker afterwards?” Adlai snorted, and tensed for the shot. He barely felt it, just a strange twinge in his arm. The doctor took the blood sample, and Adlai was left to wait. He looked around at the other machinery and grabbed the eye testing machine. He held it up to his eyes, wondering how it worked. Another quiet chuckle and Adlai jumped, nearly dropping the expensive machinery. He gently set it down, and the doctor had a slight smile on their face.

  “Congratulations.” A bright smile split Adlai’s face, and he shook the doctor’s hand.

  “Thank you so much!”

  “Come back here later today, we should have your certification. Bring that to the terrasub station tomorrow. Good luck up there.”

  Following the doctor back out, Adlai squinted as his eyes adjusted to the bright sunlight outside. Craning his head, he searched the crowd for Averi. He saw a flash of red hair, put up in a messy ponytail. Slowly he slipped his way through the crowd, like a droplet of water between hundreds of pebbles. Averi saw him and pushed her way toward him.

  “I made it! Did you make it?” Adlai nodded, a smile pushing its way through his normally stoic face. Averi wrapped him in a warm hug.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” Adlai nodded again. Averi ran off, her slight limp barely perceptible. Walking past the buildings again, Adlai looked up at the sky, tinged with a bit of purple and pink. He couldn’t help smiling again. Tomorrow would be good.