DAY TWO:

Sarai carried three boxes of chicks into the brooder house and released them into the circular enclosure for the newly hatched. Males and any weak or deformed chicks had already been culled at the sorting station. The chicks stumbled into the layers of straw and explored their temperature controlled environment.

Sarai returned the boxes to the transport cart and picked up another stack.  Sunny walked up behind her, carrying her own set of empty boxes.

“We missed you yesterday,” she said to Sarai.  “The chime rang for work and you did not show up.” Sunny looked at her with clear eyed curiosity.  When Sarai gave no reply, Sunny leaned in a bit. “Some of us thought you might have been injured. We were quite worried.”

“I went for a swim,” Sarai said, moving past Sunny with her boxes. Sunny set her empties down, picked up a fresh stack and fell in step with Sarai.

“The office called for someone to come over from the Orchard to fill your space,” Sunny continued. A small frown crossed her face. “They had no idea what they were doing. All the chicks in lot 14 got mixed in with lot 18.” Sunny shook her head. “The Orchard team doesn’t know anything about chickens.”

“Hmmm,” was all Sarai responded with. She emptied her boxes of baby chicks into the circular holding area.

“Are you going to the concert tonight?“ Sunny asked as they returned to the cart with their empties.“It’s going to be a great show. Everyone will be there.”

“Not everyone,” said Sarai. Sunny frowned again. Sarai continued. “The concert is in the Geodome. You can only hold… what, 2000 people in the Geodome?  So, not everyone.“

Sunny rolled her eyes as she often did. “Of course not everyone everyone,“ she said.  “Certainly not the Sixes and Sevens. And the Eights and Nines have their own show happening tonight. And the Tens… Well, the Tens are all old and never do anything.  I meant us—the Fives.“

Sarai set her empties down. “I don’t know. It’s the same concert as last week. I’ll probably just stay in.“

Sunny shrugged and picked up another stack of chirping boxes. “You’ll be missed—again,“ she said.

After work Sarai got off the train at Five Block.  When she walked into her housing unit Cal was sitting in the common area. The door to his pod was open and his blue uniform was neatly folded on his bed. Everything in his pod was neat and essential.  Sarai sat down in a chair opposite from him and slipped off her shoes.

“I guess you saw the notice go up yesterday,“ Cal said.

Sarai nodded. “I submitted an application.“

Cal dropped his head and stared at the floor between his feet. “I thought so. When you didn’t come back last night…“

Sarai shifted in her chair. “I came back. It was late, that was all.“

“A lot to think about,“ said Cal.

“I suppose.“  Sarai brushed her palms over her thighs.

“Are you actually going to do it this time?“ asked Cal, still looking down.

Yes,“ Sarai said. “Nothing‘s changed about the way I feel.“

Cal looked up and into her face. He wore an expression of quietly confused frustration. “I don’t understand it. Last season you applied and they transferred you from the fish hatchery to the chicken brooder.  Then you withdrew your application. What if you get offered a better position again?“

Sarai looked around the sparse common room. Six private pods branched off from it; hers and Cal’s included.

“I thought… I don’t know. I wish I’d left last season.“

“Maybe they’ll offer to pair you.“

Sarai shook her head. “They don’t pair people until they’re Sevens. And anyway, that’s not going to change how I feel.“

“Trapped,” Cal said, not trying to hide the sharpness in his voice.

“Contained,” Sarai said.

“To you it’s the same thing.”

Silence strung out between them.

“When will you leave?“ Cal asked at last.

“My application hasn’t been accepted. Last season it took them eight days to notify me. I think even more people applied this season.“

Cal snorted. “More people apply every season.” He shook his head and looked down at the floor again. “I just don’t understand.”

Sarai stood and went to her pod. “I have to feed my fish,” she said.

Cal followed her to the doorway and watched her as she sprinkled ground chicken feed over the top of the water. The small fish in the tank darted upward, gulping greedily at the floating chunks.

“Why do you keep them?“ Cal asked. “They don’t serve any purpose. They’re too small to eat. Are you going to eat them when they get bigger?“

Sarai did not look back at Cal. She watched the fish and their quick-slow flickers of movement around the tank.

“Earle says they will never outgrow the tank that they are in,“ she responded.

“Well, then I don’t see the point.“

Cal had always been good at living inside systems. He found comfort in structure. He accepted the limits of life when drawn cleanly. 

Cal was not interested in going to the concert either, so they agreed to have sex in Sarai‘s room. Afterward Cal returned to his own pod. His shift in resource scheduling started four hours in the morning before anyone else’s.

Sarai laid on her bunk without covers, uncomfortably comfortable as the room’s climate adapted to her biometrics. She fell asleep watching the fish swimming in endless circles in the tank.