Jax had been like Whill’s parent for his entire life. Their mother and father had both disappeared a few days after Whill was born, and Jax had run away from the orphanage to take care of Whill himself.

And he had done a damn good job.

Whill remembered Jax sneaking out to grab food every morning for the two of them, trying to make sure that he didn’t wake up. Jax had taught him everything he knew, and when the day came that he had turned 18, Whill desperately tried to keep Jax from going to the Bureau of Shaping. 

In Taring, all males, on the day they turned 18, were required to go to the Bureau of Shaping, to be assigned their roles. If one did not show up, they were assigned a death penalty. There were 5 roles.

The best role was Shaped- they were granted extrasensory abilities, and were of the highest social class.

After that, there was Mused- Mused became wealthy business owners and politicians.

Third was Tried- they were the middle class of Taring, having enough money to feed their families, with some spending money left over.

Then there was Burdened- the factory workers, always struggling to get by.

Finally there was Snapped. The mysterious role. Deemed the worst possible.

But Whill knew what had happened to Jax.

He saw it with his own eyes.

As soon as Jax had stepped onto the platform, Whill was forced to watch as his brother, his mentor, was subjected to the worst role that could be assigned.

Snapped.

Jax had been taken to a room, and while no one knew exactly what happened to Snapped, it was obvious. They went into the room, and they never came out.

Whill had been living alone ever since.

He had been given the name Elias at birth, but Jax had always nicknamed him Whill, and since that fateful day, he had refused to be called anything else.

Because that name was the last thing, besides the desk, that he had left of Jax.