The Folder

Mary Her heels clacked on the glass floor as she walked confidently to the room where her destiny awaited. Everything would change today if she got her way. She had spent hours this morning applying her makeup and curling every strand of red hair until she knew she had reached perfection. She knew she was late for the meeting but she didn’t care and waltzed straight through the double iron doors, causing silence to fall over the white room packed with twenty people around an oval table. She held her head high, wanting to produce an air of arrogance around her. She sat at the end of the table and layed out two folders neatly in front of her. “Project Kai starts today. We can not put it off any longer as the tests have already started and my calculations have been done for some time now. If we wait any longer it could be ruined.” “So what are you proposing?” A bald-headed man asks his eyes eagerly, taking every inch of the young girl in. “On your tablets you’ll find I’ve already sent the information to you. On both the boy and the girl.” She gets the reactions she expected as everyone lets out surprised gasps. “Surely this can’t be right. Are you sure he’s the right candidate?” “Will this affect his tests in any way?” “Does it have to be someone so critical to the outcome of our operations?” “Yes, yes, and yes. But I’ve run the calculation a hundred times, there’s no better candidate. He’s a one hundred percent match and it should add an interesting play to the tests. He could be the key to saving all of us. He could be the key to saving the world.” Silence. “And the girl? I see nothing spectacular in her file to suggest that she should be the one to carry out this crucial task.” Mary shrugs, “the computer chose her, not me. She’s not the important one, who she is makes no difference in the outcome.” “How soon can you start?” “Right away,” she snaps, unable to contain the excitement that buzzes through her. The members share glances but none seem to resist the proposal. “You better get started then,” a lady in gray says, nodding at the young girl.