As each of the new adults disembarked the train, one of the scouts tallied what each of them had decided so far.  The decision wasn’t final, but it gave everyone waiting back home at Sanity a chance to take bets on what everyone’s initial decision was.  ‘Undecided’ was an option, but so was picking a few different things.  Any scouts wanting to make a bet, would have needed to do so before leaving town.
The betting boards were awfully busy up until the tally arrived. Bets on what each new adult would initially choose, if they’d choose more than one, whether or not they’d stick with the initial decision and any combination that you could think of.  When the tally arrived, the boards would stop taking bets and the results of the new adults first choices would be put up.
This year, the people in town were betting heavily on whether or not Randall would choose to work the tunnels or if he was going to pick anything else.  The payout on Randall choosing to work the tunnels was high, but no one had bet on that.  Nearly everyone bet on Randall choosing anything else when his final decision was made, which put the payout on that to nearly nothing.
The betting itself was less about winning and more about celebrating.  For the most part the only thing you could use your winnings on would mean taking a trip to Junkton or beyond, donating toward Sanity’s fund or just more betting.  Loosing big or winning big, both gave you bragging rights and a reason to call for another round of something with a kick.

All of the new adults were expected to move from living with their parents in to training quarters.  Depending on the work they chose, they might have more options.  The safest job for a long time had been as a worker in the Underground Farms, there were also worker quarters in the underground farms themselves or at the top entrance.  Right behind that would be working with the giant leaf sheep on the edge of town; the quarters were larger, but the ‘sheep’ were far more active during the night.  The Scouts had the job with the most fatalities and dismemberments and they were housed at the top of the canyon, which seemed like a downside to most, but any of the Scouts would tell you that was the best part.  The job with the most disappearances would be the Tunnelers, when they weren’t far below ground they could be found in a yurt cluster with shared cooking, bathing and storage.  There were other options, but these specialties all meant living in the center of town and were usually ‘passed down’ in a family line.
No matter the choice, each of the new adults were expected to be ready to announce their decisions at the end of day.  They each were also also allowed to have a small box or knapsack filled with whatever they wanted as they moved on to the next stage in their lives.  The would also be able to bring along any clothing or personal care items, but anything outside of that first container would need to be approved by the appropriate quartermaster.
Each location had it’s own set of expectations and allowances. the underground farms workers quarters had very little room for personal items, but all the essentials were provided.  The quarters by the leaf sheep encouraged you to bring extra bedding, pillows and curtains, not to mention any night lighting you might have for your night shifts.  Tunnelers each had a small amount of storage for items in the communal space while they are below ground, but this was usually occupied by any non-essentials like winter bedding and spare garments that weren’t needed underground.

Like Advancement Day, the town was filled with the sounds of celebration.  You could hear some of last years new adults being a be rowdy and drinking a bit too much, something they’d regret tomorrow.  Overall the atmosphere was happy, boisterous with the town thirsty for celebration with the drinks being poured with reckless abandon.   Even if this years new adults had been finished gather their items and saying goodbye to their current living space, few of them were ready to have another celebratory drink.  There was plenty to eat from both the recent harvests and since the return of the train, there were plenty of foods that weren’t normally available in the the canyons and some things that weren’t really a food or a drink.

This year there were even spices from near the wastelands that one of the scouts had been able to barter for.  For the most part, anything from the wastelands was dangerous, but there were several plants growing near the fringe that had incredible effects.  The plants didn’t grow anywhere else, there was something about the wasteland that couldn’t be reproduced in the underground gardens.  Like the strong beverages, these spices were for the adults 
There were both Mulling Berries and Tyme.  Mulling Berries made the mind work at inhuman speeds and also made it possible to intensely focus for just a few minutes and usually left you sweaty, exhausted and very thirsty.  The downside meant they were mostly used to solve problems that needed a solution quickly but some of the scouts found that they could also be used to engage in games of skill that wouldn’t be possible otherwise.  If you could get passed the initial taste of burnt hair, Tyme not only started to taste pleasant, but it also gave you flashbacks of your life.  The person taking Tyme looks like they suddenly freeze and become unresponsive to external stimuli and will stay that way for several minutes.  During this time, the user experiences vivid recall of their lifetime thats been best described as ‘it was like my life flashed before my eyes, but without the flash.’
There are hundreds of other spices in the wastelands, but these were the most common. They were relatively free of long-term effect and tended to be popular for recreational use in towns closer to the edge of the wastelands.  Even though Sanity is a canyon village it’s trade routes include several villages and towns much closer to the wastelands.

Most canyon villages were focused on extending their borders as far as possible, increasing their populations to the point of becoming towns and cities.  Very few villages were focused on trade and most of those that did so were usually in places were there was no room to expand the village and there was access to a resources that could be exploited. Sanity was one of a few villages that continued to extend it’s trade routes reach and continued to produce more food each year and without making the village larger.  Other villages may have ruins from the world before the cataclysm close to them, but these other tunnels weren’t accessible.  Sanity was the only village that was able to delve into the depths of the tunnels in their village.
Other tunnels were guarded by ancient gargoyles, some that could melt you with their glare, some that could freeze with their breath, or were locked behind metals and materials that withstood fire, explosions, axes and whatever else you could think of all without leaving a lasting mark in it. There are some that simply couldn’t be reached or are infested with creatures that were similar to those in the wastelands, but they had slightly different characteristics, like different markings or colors, or spraying venom instead of a bite or stinger or being carnivorous instead of herbivores.  Some of the tunnels were just long hallways with dead ends or empty rooms, but the lack of ventilation and light meant they were nearly worthless except as storage vaults.  To put it bluntly, Sanity was the only village that had useful tunnels.

As Randall was making his way toward the center of town, he realized that he was no longer standing behind the others waiting his turn to disembark and tell the scout what he was going to choose.  He thought that he must have been in a daze since gathering his belongings from the train.  Apparently, he had already gone to his home and gathered everything he planned to keep and stored it all among his knapsack, larger duffel bag and his fathers old tunneling bag.  He couldn’t recall what he packed or what had happened for the last few hours and now he found himself almost at the stage.  The stage where he would need to make his choice.  He made his choice already, but just hadn’t realized it.
Randall wasn’t really listening to the sounds of the crowd or the new adults before him.  The sounds all blended together and we really couldn’t make them out. He moved forward slowly, just following the person in front of him until he nearly tripped on the steps leading up the stage.  He was next, his mind was still blank and all of the sound just disappeared around him, replaced by the somehow calm thump of his own heartbeat.  Even while this was happening, he felt a wave of calm and what felt like someones hand lightly pushing him forward on his shoulder.  He looked over his shoulder after he reached to the of the steps to see who it was behind him, but there was no one.
He approached the center of the stage, turned toward the crowd and waited a moment.  He couldn’t hear them, but he could tell the crowd was still anything but silent.  He waited another moment and drew in a deep breath before loudly coughing.  He had choked on his on spit a few times before, but this time it felt like he choked on a glass of water.  It took a moment for him to clear his throat, in the meanwhile the crowd simmered down.

Randall cleared his throat again, took a deep breath and nearly yelled, “I’m going to explore the tunnels.”  The crowd erupted with applause and excited screams of what Randall hoped were encouragement.

Randall wanted to celebrate, but he found himself exhausted and absolutely had to sleep.  The other tunnelers had set up a space for the new tunnelers to sleep in until they could set up their own yurts.  The bedding was minimal, but Randall was exhausted enough he could have slept on the ground outside.  He fell into a deep sleep almost as soon as his head lay down.