Poppy 16

Appearance
Poppy has brown hair, brown eyes, fair skin, and unattached earlobes.

Personality
Poppy is a clever girl who looks out for her friends.

Prologue
Poppy 4 was allowed to eat in the primary cafeteria for the first time, and was exposed to children who looked nothing like herself. Once she saw all of the new faces, she didn’t stop talking about them.

Chapter One
Sorrel 16 questions Dahlia 16 about odd habit of placing her fingers in a a flood table when she is gardening, and Poppy claims that her friend thinks she can predict the water’s PH balance by placing her hand in it.

At the end of the work-study period, Poppy takes off her apron and slides her class-jacket on. Next, she waits at the doorway for Dahlia so they can walk to the cafeteria together. However, Sorrel 32 steps in front of her and informs Dahlia that the Management Bureau wants to see her. Poppy quickly becomes visibly nervous about walking to the cafeteria alone, as she is supposed to stay with her identicals.

Chapter Three
Eight days later, Poppy wakes up and prepares to start the day, but notices Dahlia, who is oversleeping again. She wakes her up, and her roommates pester Dahlia about why she’s been sleeping in as of late. Poppy asks her friend if she is nervous about her meeting with Management. Dahlia claims that it was unnerving being by herself. She trails off, which Violet and Sorrel take notice to. Poppy quickly finishes her sentence, adding that Dahlia is nervous because she’s being considered as an instructor. Violet becomes angry because Dahlia told Poppy and not her, and Poppy says that Dahlia tells her everything. Sorrel asks Dahlia to tell them something she hasn’t already told Poppy, and Dahlia lies, claiming that there isn’t anything to tell. Violet encourages Sorrel to leave with her to avoid being late, and Poppy assures Sorrel that she’ll take care of Dahlia. Once their roommates close the door behind them, Poppy asks Dahlia if she dreamt of Trigger 17 again (referring to him as “the boy”).

Dahlia confirms it, and describes how it feels to dream about him, and Poppy tells her that it sounds weird. Dahlia continues to describe how she feels about him, saying that he’s beautiful no dangerous, which only confuses Poppy more. She reminds her sister that Trigger put Dahlia and all of her identicals at risk by conversing with her. Dahlia says that she knows, and Poppy tells Dahlia that she thinks she’s ill. Dahlia knows she isn’t sick, and Poppy realizes that Dahlia spoke back to Trigger. She tells Dahlia that they shouldn’t talk about it anymore, and reminds her that what Dahlia does affects all 4,999 of her identicals. Dahlia finishes getting ready, and the two head to the cafeteria for breakfast.

Weeks pass by, and Poppy gets in line behind Dahlia on the way to the delivery bay behind the Workforce Academy. She notices that Dahlia is staring at the Defense cadets, and asks her what’s wrong. Dahlia says that nothing is wrong, and asks if anyone knew that Defense cadets eat vegetables straight from the ground. When Sorrel asks how she knew that, Poppy shoots Dahlia a warning look. Violet wonders why there are so few of the Defense cadets, and Dahlia explains that they’re special forces. Realizing that she said too much, Dahlia claims that she assumed that because special things are made in small batches.

Poppy supports her claim by saying that she heard geneticists are made in meager groups of ten, and their training lasts until they’re twenty five. When they arrive, she begins to unload supplies from a delivery cart. However, Dahlia becomes distracted again, and doesn’t notice that the jug of liquid fertilizer she’s holding is broken. Iris 16 snaps at Dahlia for not noticing it, shakes her head. Poppy takes the jug from her, places it in a crate, and turns to Dahlia, asking her if she’s still having sleeping issues. Dahlia says that she just became distracted, and Iris tells them to report the broken jug. Poppy reports the jug and watches it go off, while Dahlia leaves to get new shoes.

Chapter Four
Poppy goes to the cafeteria, and once it’s her turn, she places her wrist under a scanner, A few moments later, a steel door opens up to reveal a tray of food. She moves down the line to receive her beverages, and then heads to her table. Shortly after sitting down, Dahlia gets back up again to see Trigger, but when Poppy asks where she’s going, Dahlia lies and says that she’s going to the bathroom.

Chapter Five
Two weeks later, when Dahlia is the last girl off the court proceeding a game of indoor volleyball, Poppy goes to her and asks if she’s all right. Dahlia responds with a yes, but Poppy takes it with skepticism. She asks her if her dismal attitude is a product of being spoken to about the instructor position, wondering if someone else has been selected. Dahlia tells her that she hasn’t heard anything. Then, Trigger 17 marches in and says that Management wishes to speak to Dahlia, who is surprised. Poppy stares at Dahlia as she leaves, likely wondering if Management wants to speak to her about the instructor position. Chapter Six

On a cool fall day, all of the year-sixteen hydroponic gardeners are ordered to jog around the training ward for exercise. Sorrel tells Dahlia that it feels like she’s gone all of the time, but Poppy points out that Dahlia has only been called out twice. Violet asks what it’s like to go by herself, and Dahlia tells her that it feels very uncomfortable. Poppy tells Dahlia that she’ll have to get used to it if she becomes an instructor. They pick up their pace, but Poppy and the other girls notice a massive crowd of hundreds of soldiers nearby the Defense Academy. Belay 35 tells them to take a break, even though they haven’t completed the first circuit.

Violet asks why there are so many soldiers, and guesses that it could be some sort of training exercise. Poppy wonders if soldiers still do training exercises once they graduate. Belay 35 goes to find answers, and Poppy waits. Some soldiers jog across the common lawn, and Poppy and her identicals, as well as the male hydroponic gardeners, recognize them as the year seventeen cadets. A boy wonders why they’re graduating nearly three months early, and Sorrel asks what his explanation is. He frowns and tells her that he doesn’t know, and a boy named Indigo 16 says that they’re not supposed to know. Poppy points out that if it were normal, then Belay wouldn’t have gone to investigate.

Chapter Seven
Several weeks after the strange event, on field day, Poppy heads down some steps on the way to the first event of the day when Dahlia stops her and asks if the soldiers in a nearby squad are the year seventeens that graduated. She says that they are, but tells Dahlia that she needs to forget about Trigger, because he’s probably long gone. Dahlia wonders why only part of the cadets graduated, and Poppy says that she has no clue why Management does what it does. She and her identicals play volleyball, soccer, and relay races. During the sprint relay race, Violet wins and they are given chocolate cupcakes. Dahlia volunteers to collect and put away all of the field day supplies. However, Poppy and her identicals are escorted away from the field, without Dahlia.

Chapter Twelve
Poppy is likely drugged, loaded into a truck, and driven away to an assimilation factory.

Strange New World
Poppy is relocated to an assimilation factory in Valleybrook.

Epilogue
Poppy rides in a truck to Lakeview, and notices Dahlia. She grabs Sorrel and Violet’s hands and the three of them run over to her. Dahlia nearly bowls Poppy over, and the two (along with Violet and Sorrel) hug. Then, Waverly and Hennessy walk over, and Dahlia introduces her. Poppy pulls her into a hug, and the others follow suit.