Lucas opened his eyes, his body felt a bit numb but he could feel that he was still restrained. The chains around his body keep him in place.
He raised his head and saw someone staring at him, she seemed to be as old as he was, her bright blue eyes seemed to be judging him, his eyes drifted downwards, the first two buttons on her shirt were unbuttoned which exposed part of her…
Lucas turned his eyes away, flustered.
"You're finally awake." She said to him, she got and took out a key from her pocket and unlocked his chains.
"Thank you." Lucas said, bowing a little to her, he stretched his limbs a little, his body felt more durable and somehow stronger, an effect of ranking up.
Lucas looked at her more closely, there was an ID on her neck, he stared at it and saw her name, "Elianna Shaw" he looked a little lower and his eyes widened.
"I'm Elianna Shaw," she said to him, stretching out her hand for a handshake. Lucas took it, still in awe of how someone so young could be that strong.
"I'm Lucas." He replied. "Um I have two questions, one how old are you and two what rank are you?"
"I believe you've been told it's rude to ask a lady her age?" She replied.
"No I haven't." The moment he said that he covered his mouth with his hands, he never meant to say that out loud.
'Shit! That damned Faculty.' He thought to himself.
She looked at him with one eyebrow raised, surprised to see a strange individual like this.
"Well to answer your questions, I'm eighteen and my rank is um… Condemned."
Lucas nodded, it checked out with what he saw on her ID, a Condemned which meant she was only a rank below someone like Clara was five years ago and that's if Clara hadn't gotten stronger in the past five years.
"So you were here to kill me eh?" Lucas asked her.
"Yes, I was sent here just in case you turned into a Cursed Creature." Elianna replied.
That was true, those who spent too much time within their Impositions turned into Cursed Creatures, which artillery such as guns have no effect on and so Rankers had to be deployed.
The Writ sends one's consciousness to their Imposition but their bodies remain in the real world or in current time depending on where or when one is sent to.
Lucas's mind thought of David, did his body turn into a Cursed Creature? How did his family feel about having to put down their own son? He shook his head, brushing it away from his mind.
"What're you thinking about?" Elianna asked, seeing Lucas's mannerisms.
'I won't answer, that way I won't have to tell the truth.' Lucas thought to himself and that's when he felt it, he felt pain building in his chest, what was causing it?
"I was thinking about a friend." Lucas replied, immediately he said that the pain stopped. So if he says nothing he starts feeling pain and he also can't lie.
"Good job Writ, good job.' Lucas thought.
"Now let's go." Elianna said. "I'll check you out and then we can go to the academy."
"Hmm." Lucas said nothing, the Academy was the place the newest Rankers went, to learn more about the imposition, and about the other parts of the world where they would be sent on missions, it was funded by the governments of the United States and Canada making it a very well run organization.
Elianna led him out of the room, she spoke to the Officer at the counter and signed a couple of papers then she and Lucas walked out of the police station.
The streets were bustling with activity, there were people of different walks of life at every corner, but most of them were Rankers. The majority of the United States' population was that of Rankers, they made up ninety-five percent of the total population in the U.S and about eighty percent in the entire world.
Elianna beckoned Lucas, he opened his mouth in awe as he saw her ride a yellow Lamborghini Aventador, which would cost at least four hundred thousand dollars, that much money being spent on a single vehicle somehow made Lucas angry.
'I'd be able to feed myself for a year or two without working if I had that much money.' Lucas thought to himself as he opened the door and got in.
Elianna started the car and then drove off.
"So… what was your Imposition like?" She asked
Lucas cursed inwardly, he never wanted to tell anyone about this, he wanted to keep it to himself and himself alone. He held off for a while, trying to keep silent but the pain in his chest grew and so he had to speak up:
"Horrifying." He decided that if he wanted to make the best use of this goddamned Penalty, he would have to use his wits and answering in single words or short sentences were the best way to do so.
Elianna nodded her head. "Understandable."
She put her foot down and drove even faster, Lucas laid back and closed his eyes.
"Now, what do you know about the Academy?" She asked
"I know this is where Rankers who just finished their First Impositions went to for training and for preparation for their Second Imposition and so on." Lucas replied.
"Well that's common knowledge, but there's one thing I must tell you, don't tell them everything that happened to you within your Imposition." Elianna warned.
"Why is that?" Lucas asked, even if he did follow her advice he still couldn't lie about anything anymore.
"Just don't, that's all I have for you."
She came to a stop at the front of a tall silver gate with an Eagle engraved on it, Lucas immediately knew that this was the Academy. He got down from Elianna's car and then turned to her.
"Thanks for the lift." He said to her,
She wrote something on a piece of paper and then gave it to him, he looked at it and saw ten digits.
"My number." She clarified. "Call me if you ever need anything." She drove off, Lucas stared until she was out of sight.
He looked at the piece of paper with a smile on his face and then his expression changed.
'I don't have a fucking phone.'