Reunion, Part 1

My Mom was not thrilled with the idea. My brother Aaron thought I was joking. Aren't girls supposed to play dress-up and tea party with dolls, he'd say. Which was ironic before either of us knew the term since I'd never owned a doll in my life. To say I was something of a tomboy was a bit of an understatement. I ran with the boys on the playground and competed on the monkey bars till my palms bled.
And that's ultimately why I wanted to test for the Program. Because Johnny LastName did and he tested well enough for the Redplains School and I knew I could do two more full trips on the bars than he could.
My Dad ended up being my big supporter. Not a surprise, since he was a petty officer in the Army but he never could outpace those "Program lads" who kept getting promotion after promotion. They had a real edge on the rest of us, he'd say. And of course he was thrilled that any of his children would decide upon a life of public service. That's being a Patriot.
Yes, but she's six, my mom said.
I got my way, though, with Dad's help. I took the test. But I didn't do well enough to get into Redplains. The proctor tried to explain to me and my parents that the schools were all the same caliber, just different. The test just steered us to the right part of the Program. But I knew all the best kids went to the Redplains and I could tell from my Dad's face that he was thinking "What a crock of baloney." Maybe the proctor could too, because she went on to say I tested off the charts in math and science and I'd make a great doctor or research scientist.
This made my Mom very happy.
So I went to SomeSchool. And I enjoyed my time there a great deal. At least I think I did. They say to those of us who went there that very few if any of our memories are false, manufactured implants. But I think the truth is that they don't know. They have no way of knowing.
I Finished at Charlesmount, where I know for a fact that all my recollections are real.
My family was part of the class action suit against the government. We got a piece of the pie: around two hundred and twenty thousand dollars. And I don't even have to do the compulsory five years of service. They waived that.
Aaron is spooked by me, thinking that they must have done something to me. But every test I've undergone indicates my genome hasn't been tampered with. I was told that although the Directors wouldn't ever refuse a volunteer for the Program, only a small percentage of applicants actually even had the correct genetic makeup, the right receptors for their Formulas. Chances are, they said, you got a legitimate education from a fine military academy (that's now defunct, I might add).
Of course they'd tell you that, Aaron says.
My parents divorced. My Mom blames my Dad for everything that happened to her little girl. If anything happened at all.
Not everyone was so lucky. Johnny LastName went to Redplains. He died there twelve years later.