“Logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one”. – Spock, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

“Brother Leith! Get up! Today’s the day!” Misha exclaimed. Leith groans and rolls over away from him, “Misha let me sleep, it’s early”. Misha pounces onto his bed and shakes him violently “Leith! We mustn’t be late! It’s allocation day!”. Lieth sits upright from his bed and rubs his eyes, he yawns loudly and stretches his arms. Lieth had long bright blond hair, in some light it almost looked silver. He was relatively short for his age, but had incredible tenacity and curiosity. He would read till the early hours of the morning, to the dismay of the caretakers, whom tried to force him to sleep in his room rather than in his classes.  “Elders be good, what time is it?”, Lieth tries to look over to the clock on the wall of the room, his eyesight still adjusting to the brightness of the sunlight permeating the room. On the side of his bed his dorm mate and sworn brother Misha was sitting impatiently, bouncing up and down excitingly. He was a tall scrappy boy, with jet black hair and piercing green eyes. Lieth had known him since they were babes, as sworn brothers they did everything together. “Come now brother, get out of bed. We must be ready for the allocation ceremony, it’s the most important day of our lives”. Leith rolled his eyes at his naïve sworn brother as he moved his legs off the bed, “Brother. Do not worry, we won’t be late”.

As the young boys get ready, an intercom blasts a simple chime with a pre-recorded voice. “Attention gentlemen, please make your way the main hall for allocation processing. Welcome to the first day of your new lives, praise be the elders”. They exit their room and see a flurry of young men all heading in one direction. “This is it Lieth, try not to offend the elders” Misha said with a smirk. Lieth rolled his eyes, “wow you really think that little of me? I’m sure they will love me”. They make their way through the grand halls, where many young men have done so before. The grand halls stretched for what seems like miles, snaking in all directions. One could easily get lost if they ventured out to the other areas at this architectural marvel, a sheer labyrinth of marble and concrete built by generations of laborers. A tall figure dressed in a formal white suit stands in the far distance, observing as the procession of the young men approach them.

“Welcome graduates”, the tall man in white bellows. All the boys fall silent and listen attentively. “This truly is a momentous day for all of you, for today is where you all join the brotherhood”. The young men murmur excitingly to each other, the level of importance and grandiose of this even cannot be understated. “Praise be the elders” the man shouted with authority, all the young graduates called back “Praise be” in unison. The man in white commanded attention, “Boys, line up one by one for allocation. Do your best to impress the elders”. His face was stoic and serious, and the all the young men immediately formed a line on his order. Slowly but surely each person was called into the central chamber, ready to be judged and allocated by the whim of the elders.

Misha and Lieth saw their compatriots enter the central chamber one by one, as each person returned they could see by their faces if they were glad or disappointed by their allocation. No one knew the decision-making process of the elders, but no one dared to question it. It was seen as the will or the whim of the council, and that was that. Of course, every single one of the, would wish for which position they wanted. The stronger more adventurous boys would want to be laborers, and the studious quiet ones would wish to be thinkers. However, it didn’t always work out this way. More often than not the allocations were unpredictable, however it always seemed to have worked out in the end. As random as the decisions may be, the elders had quite the knack for allocating where someone truly belonged even if the choice seems illogical or random at first glance.