I worked at a place called “Ham & Burgers.” Though I had worked there for twenty years, my boss said it would be “unacceptable” for an Aberration to get a raise. I didn’t mind it, since my best friend worked there. His name is Lousy Lanny. He treats me like a normal person. He always says, “It’s not normal to try to be normal.” When I stepped into the kitchen, a cheerful voice said, “Hello! What’s your name?” A woman my age was standing in front of me. “The name’s Aberration Abe. Who are you?” I exclaimed. “The name’s Avid Aria. I’m excited to work here, since the old guy retired.” I didn’t know if she was joking; Lousy Lanny never talked about retiring. My question was why an Avid was working here. When you’re born, you’re given a  name by the Oracles of the Earth. That name decides your status. If you get a lousy name, like mine, you will most likely get a lousy job. Avid is one of the highest names you can get; it’s like getting millions of dollars as a child. “Why are you working here?” I asked. “I don’t like getting given a name that defines your life,” she said. 

I showed her how things worked. Soon after, three men with black suits came in. “We are looking for an Aberration Abe,” one said. “That’s me,” I choked out. They took me by the arms and led me into their car. If I protested, the punishment could mean death. We rode for thirty-five minutes. When I stepped outside, I knew that I was at a government facility. The building was covered with glass, and there were perfectly cut grass yards. Only government facilities have the tools and time to keep everything perfect. 

I was guided into a room with twenty elderly men. “You are an Aberration,” stated the oldest of the men. “You are the most expendable person on this earth right now. We have a small problem. There is a meteor traveling towards earth at 1,000 miles per hour. We need you to get rid of it with a small atom bomb. If you get back alive, your name will be changed. You will no longer work at Ham & Burgers; you will be hired in a government facility.” I was surprised, yet saddened. I didn’t think I could do this, and if I did, I wouldn’t make it back alive. I nodded at them, and they smiled back. 

They prepped me on how to launch the missile and how to get back. When I reached the destination, I didn’t see any meteor, but I guessed that it was going to pass through any second. I prepped the bomb and realized that there was no launch button. There was a compartment, but they said not to open it. I had no choice, so I did. There were hundreds of bodies, each with a different name. All the names were low class. There was Bad Benjamin, Ugly Umar, and Lousy Lanny. I checked his pulse only to find out that he didn’t have a heartbeat. The operation was a ruse. The government had killed all of the low class citizens in the world, and sent them off into the atmosphere, not knowing someone would figure it out. I remembered they had said they were going to send multiple shuttles in case I “didn’t do the job.”

I opened the air hatch and brought a wrench. I pried each nail off the bottom of the shuttle, so that I could disconnect the bomb and bodies. They broke off, with the dead bodies exploding on an unknown planet. 

Two days later I crash landed on earth. I woke up in a jail cell, covered in glass. I saw a government man in front of me. I asked, “What’s my name?” It didn’t matter if I died now; all I knew is I was responsible for hundreds, maybe thousands, of deaths. “It’s Astronomical Abe,” said the government man, smiling, “although no one will ever know that; all they’ll know is that you died at sea. No one will ever hear from you again, and no one will ever know your ‘new and improved’ name. You will always be an Aberration.”

The End