1 The Mark

Everyone had it. But it differed between the males and the females. For the males, it was a star on the forearm that was either shaded in or just an outline. All of which was decided at birth, and would decide the future as it stood. For females, it was the same all around— A circle on the forehead as if to tell the world your gender. Laura was no different. At birth she had been given this tattoo with no way to stop it. For the next 10 years, she would spend her time in a "Function House." The Function House is a place for the young objects to develop into grown ones. And yes, we females were referred to as objects. The FH was a tall building located in the outskirts of the city, and only consisted of two stories. It's goal was to get the objects acclimated to the worst kind of living conditions possible for life so when they were sold off, they would be prepared for what's to come. In most cases, this would not be the case. Some would be bought into normal facilities or into company domains. Some even bought into Royal Facilities. These objects soon had the mark of the dragon claw, and three prongs at the top and one long at the bottom were added to the tattoo to signify ownership as well as importance of the object. This was the dream of all objects here at the Function House. The dream in order to gain some humanity. Then came my day to be sold— my day to shine. I'd wore my favorite dress and perky shoes. I did my hair all nice to try and impress the Royals watching. Instead, during the bidding there was this one guy representing the Head of Company Domains that kept on raising his price for my head. The royals and my Shiki were shocked. (A Shiki is a teacher at the Function House.) A rule during the biddings is that the objects aren't allowed to speak, yet I couldn't hold back.

"Please! Don't take me with that man!"

The Royals gasped and immediately opted out of the Bidding. Whispers hushed around the room talking about me.

"What a horribly trained object—"

"I don't want it."

"..."

"Who would buy that thing?"

Soon enough, my Shiki raised her hand to silence those in the Bidding.

"As for the bidding of this object, Object SSA-0003 will be sent with the Head of Company of Domains. Up next is Object SSA-0004..."

The rest of the words blurred through my mind as I was taken by my neck and had a collar forced on me. I was at the top of the class! Why did the Royals not chose me? As the rankings go in the Function House, we have the Class Rating which is based on the integrity testing and intelligence. This is a letter grade represented at the beginning of every object's name. The top of the class are the SSA's, then the SS, A's, B's, C's, moving all the way down to E's. Not every class has thousands of people, but we have 4 digits in order to keep a system. The lower the number, the better. Most Royals own SSA class rated objects only with the highest number owned being a 13. In our culture, 13 is a very lucky number to be. As I was loaded into the back of my relocation van, I had my rights and rules read to me.

"Attention Object SSA-0003. You have been selected by the Head of Company Domains Erik Copwin. Consider yourself lucky as you could have been selected to go with worse. Your master will be Erik Copwin. You will at all times oblige to whatever is said to you both in verbal or written form. You are never to assume anything, and you must consult the Master before considering any of your rights. Object SSA-0003 will be renamed in accordance to the Master's orders when we arrive at his office. And another thing... do not speak unless spoken to."

"..."

I felt the van lurch forwards as we pulled to a stop in front of the building. Two men dressed in suits opened the back, flooding the van with sunlight which I was not used to. I squinted as I was helped out of the back of the van while I was being informed of my rights as an object of the Master.

"You have the right to offer yourself to your own needs. This includes self and personal care, hydration, as well as feeding. Anything involving personal desire is not allowed. Any sexual act or intention is not allowed. The Master may do as he wishes with you, and you have every right to remain silent unless spoken to. There are video cameras watching in every place for the exception of the personal living quarters which you will be shown momentarily in a tour of the office."

I stepped in to the well- lit area of the lobby. The living conditions here were far better than the ones at the Function House, and the air conditioning hit me with surprise.

"Right this way, SSA-0003."

I was shown to a room with a leather chair and sat down. The chair then began to recline, which startled me. I felt cold straps wrap around my wrists as the resting position changed from upright to laying down. After realizing struggling was futile, I stopped. A man walked over with a tattoo gun in his hand.

"We will be modifying your tattoo to our company's desire."

I began to feel them modify it, it was painful, but I noticed that they were adding on 3 stems at the top and then one long at the bottom.

"Am I getting a Royal Mark?"

"Indeed. Although it is illegal, the Master is held accountable for all actions. You will be granted unlimited access to the Kingdom and your quality of life will improve significantly. If you are asked which Royal you are assigned to, simply say you are not allowed to specify as you are a trainee. Understood?"

I nodded my head. I was confused-- I got assigned to a company, right? The Royals opted out once I spoke during the Bidding, so why was I getting a Royal Mark?

Once the metal cuffs released, I was directed to a large door with a gold placard over it entitled "Erik Copwin - Head of Company Domains & Services." the door creaked open to reveal a rather elegant man sitting behind a large oak desk.

"Hello, Object SSA-0003. Your name will be Laura. Remember it. Welcome to the Rebellion."

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