Chapter One

"Carmella, get up!" I didn't want to open my eyes. I was so tired.
"Carmella, get your butt out of bed! We need to go!" I had another nightmare. A Serpent was attacking me and was jabbing me with long skinny needles. He tore at my pale skin and pulled out my dusty brown hair.
"Carmella, you'll be punished if you don't get up right now!" Anton was punching me now. He always kept me in line. He'd always been my best friend. Almost thirty-seven years ago when we were created, we worked together. We were just normal Workers, trying to survive the day. Our lives would last forever. Every new body was about the same. Sometimes my eyes were lighter or my hair would be darker, and even Anton's teeth were either straighter or more crooked than when he was first created.
An ear splitting whistle screamed. All twenty-six Workers lined up as a Serpent strode into our quarters. He was a small man with a profound chin and a flat nose. Even though he had the body of a twenty-eight-year-old, he had to look up at us Workers, even though we had bodies that of a seventeen-year-old.
He wore the standard uniform: a forest green jacket with a black pants. His rank of Warden gave him a dark, dull orange cape that fluttered tauntingly whenever he walked.
"Good morning Workers," Serpent Calfon said emotionless. He began to stride past us while glancing at our twenty-four hour uniforms of gray. He said nothing, which meant that they were adequate.
"Your station today," he began as soon as he reached the end of the sleepy line of workers, "will be in the Oxygen Room. Your instructor shall remind you all the processes of which you will provide oxygen to the world. So you should feel proud of yourselves." Sometimes I wondered if Serpents could feel any emotion at all, let alone have a soul. They reminded me of space: empty.
After role call, Serpent Calfon escorted us to the Oxygen Room.
"Good morning Workers," the Serpent said in automatically in a bored tone, as did all he Serpents. "I am Scientist Sarvon. Today, you will be producing oxygen." She brushed away a thick lock of blond hair from her face as she tried to hide herself rolling her eyes.
"No, really? I thought that we were making cakes." I thought. We weren't stupid. She continued.
"Half of you will type these codes," she began to hand out sheets of paper to every other person, "and half of you will throw switches and levers in sequence to these codes." Anton and I automatically went to work together at a near by computer screen and waited for the others to do the same.
"You may begin now." A massive wave of clicking and typing filled the room. Every now and then, there would be a 'beep' or 'boop' from the switches and buttons. Everyday for six hour shifts, we were to work. But once every two hours we'd get energy pills that provided us with vitamins and minerals and all that stuff that we needed to carry on. We never got real food. We never felt hungry, but we never felt full either.
The Serpents get to eat food. Serpents got to do whatever they wanted.
As we worked, Anton and I began to whisper about Worker gossip, about how much we hated the Serpents, and which one was the worst, things like that.
"Psst. Carmella," Anton looked puzzled at me.
"What?"
"The Head Leader is here, Master Letara." His eyebrows almost touched above his nose. Usually, when unnecessary Leaders supervises Workers, especially the Head Leader, it means that either a Worker is exceptional, or needs Altering.
Altering only happens if a Worker isn't functioning properly, or is behaving badly. Although Altering happens very rarely, a girl a few months ago was she told a Serpent that it was hard for her to hear, and when she could hear, there were unbodied voices talking to her. She was taken in to see Doctor Serpents, and her hearing was improved and the voices disappeared.
"So? What about her?" I wondered why Anton cared why the Head Serpent was here.
"So? There's a rumor going around that she's going around looking for a good Worker!"
"Why?"
"I don't know, but who cares? She's the Head Leader!"
"Why are you calling her a Leader? You know she's a Serpent."
"Well, she is standing right behind you, for one," an acid sweet voice cooed. Oh crap. I turned around. A woman wearing a tight brown bun in her hair and bright red lips stared back at me. Her face was soft, and made her look innocent from everything bad in the world. But her sickly yellow eyes glowed evilly into my dull gray ones.
"Ah, um... M-Master Letara! Uh, you look nice," I mentally slapped my forehead. How stupid was that?
"Why thank you. We Serpents try to look our best for you Workers." She put extra emphasis on Serpents. She stared at me for another few seconds while I tried to think of something to say to her. But before I could speak again, she had turned to walk away to talk with Serpent Servon.
"You're screwed," Anton whispered. Way to go. I could feel my face fill with blood and turn red. Man! I can't believe that the Head Serpent had snuck up behind me just as I called her a Serpent. I wanted to crawl away into a little hole and stay there.
"Anton, why didn't you tell me that Ser- Master Letara was right behind us?" I hissed at him.
"Well, I did tell you that she was in the room." Yeah. That makes it all better.
"Bite me."
For the next three hours or so, I worked in churlish silence. Every now and then I'd look over my shoulder to see if any more Serpents were looking at me, or glare at Anton. He was so dead. But finally, the whistle blew.
"Alright Workers. You can go back to your quarters for thirty minutes," Serpent Sarvon called. A long slow sigh of relief flowed from the mouths of the Workers. My hands were shaking from all of the keys I pressed.
As w headed for the door, I tried to keep my head down and tried to leave as discretely as humanly possible. But of course, a white cape brushed against my face.
"worker Carmella," Serpent Savron said. "Warden Calfon wishes to see you." I glared at Anton.
"I'll see you later... hopefully," I hissed as I past him. His face flushed and he lowered his eyes. Serpent Calfon walked up to me in the hallway. His face was dimly lit from the low lights in the metal walls. The room seemed like a skeleton to her. Beams were supporting the ceiling because they were underground.
"Worker Carmella." Here we go. "Because you have insulted Master Letara, she will be the one to decide your punishment."
Double crap. Not only will I be punished, but bu the Head Serpent! I heard that she gives out long and grueling punishments.
"You are to report to her immediately. Do you know where her office is?" He raised an eyebrow at me.
"Oh of course. Everyone must know where the Head Leader is." Sweat was running down my back sending goosebumps pulsing up and down my arms and legs. I turned away, gulped and headed towards the cave of the Head Serpent.