The group of potential initiates continued to wait until they were called in, their ages ranged from ten to even fourteen, the latter people were considered the chaff due to their ineptitude, but strangely enough to Brotherhood was very understanding to those who weren't able to make promotion.
Afton was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, going over various answers and potential weaknesses in his knowledge. He doubted there was anything he'd missed as Adah had been on him like a ton of bricks, he actually had no idea what level he'd be considered anymore as he could've probably promoted three or four years ago.
Someone waving catches his eye and he notices his mother, father, and Adah standing at the end of the hallway with encouraging looks. A smile unconsciously makes its way onto his lips before he stifles it, his parents had been tense ever since the test had been announced but he wasn't sure if they were worried that he'd pass, or if he'd fail. He could imagine them being worried for both.
It was strange, back in his original world he'd be dreading the tests, he saw them as busywork, meaningless, and a means to an end... But now? Now he was itching to prove himself, to his friends, to his family, and most of all, to himself.
A scribe with short black hair and a short beard walks out of the nearby room, everything about him was short, funnily enough, his height barely being over most of the children. "Students, follow me and take any available seat, once everyone is settled I'll go over the rules and what you'll be doing. You should also mark my words, anyone who causes trouble intentionally or not will be immediately rejected for promotion, understand?"
"Yes" everyone echoes before following the man into the room. Inside they find many school desks spaced a good distance from each other to prevent cheating, they were all facing the front of the classroom which had a whiteboard set up aswell as a desk with a terminal atop it.
Afton walks in and is followed by a nervous Miles and Melissa, he sits down at the back so the kids wouldn't get the bright idea of cheating from his paper.
The scribe stands at the front of the classroom and begins to speak once everyone is seated, "Greetings, I am Doran Dumble, the scribe tasked with teaching new Initiates most theoretical things they'll need to know. Obviously, I also have the unenviable task of adjudicating the test for today. I'll not tell the contents of the tests as that'd defeat the purpose, so I'll just lay out some ground rules... Do not attempt to look at others papers, you may think otherwise but I am not stupid, if I see someone even shoot a glance at another I'll have you tied up and tossed into the desert for the scorpions." he says, obviously joking but Afton could see many students tense up at this... Perhaps that was the purpose of it?
"If you need to use the bathroom then you should have done so before the test, if need be I will permit you to piss yourself. Of course, if that distracts others from their tests then you'll be sent out as well. If you require anything then raise your hand and I'll come, do not speak or cause any noise louder than a whisper... Any questions?" he asks and glares at everyone.
...
"Good." he claps his hands after seeing no one has any questions. He walks to his desk and collects a stack of papers before placing a few on every student's table. Afton examined the paper and wondered where they got fresh sheets from, he doubted many would have survived after the apocalypse, full books were burnt to a crisp after all... Perhaps they had a method of recycling it?
"You have an hour to complete the test, you better get started since times now ticking." he says, causing the students to quickly open the papers.
Afton looks at the first questions and frowns, isn't this a bit too easy? Explain the method with which you would recycle an energy cell. He was already able to recycle microfusion cells which were way more difficult than regular energy cells that you'd power small energy weapons with.
He quickly filled in the answer and moved onto the next question, how would one fix a malfunctioning emitter on a laser pistol?... Well, the emitter was responsible for actually firing the laser, it alone wouldn't deal any damage without the focusing lens of course but if it were malfunctioning you'd either need to replace it or take it apart and rebuild it from the base components... So, this was a trick question, you can't fix it, only rebuild it.
Explain how one would block radio communication?... Afton shakes his head at the difficult question, he'd bet that none in the room would be able to answer it as he himself was slightly unsure, perhaps if you knew the frequency you wanted to be blocked you could suppress the original with your own message.
He continued answering questions, though, none had stumped him as much as the previous one. His years of hard work hadn't been for nothing, and he'd completed the test in around twenty minutes... An that's only due to him double and triple-checking his answers.
Afton pushed the paper away from him and straightened his posture as he looked at Doran, the man giving a questioning look before walking over and whispering to him. "Is something wrong Mr Parker? Have you given up already?"
"No sir, I've already finished." he quietly replies, taking a small degree of satisfaction from the man's stunned expression.
Doran shakes his head and grabs the paper, quickly flipping through it and becoming more shocked the more he read. "I-uh... Good job Mr Parker, you can wait outside if you want... I-ermm... The Physical examination will begin immediately after this test so be ready." he says as he walks back to his desk, almost stumbling into another students table.
Hope you guys liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know.
Afton walked outside the classroom as other students sent envious glances at him, once outside he was greeted by his parents and Adah who didn't seem surprised that he'd finished so quickly.
His mother hugs him to her chest before he's able to back away, "How did it go Afton? Do you think you did well?" she quickly asks.
Afton gently pushes her away as to not hurt her feelings and looks at them, "Judging by how the examiner almost passed out when he saw my paper, I think I did alright." he says with a small grin.
Zachary snorts, restraining his laughter as they were outside the test room, "That's my boy, maybe I can request for you to be made my apprentice once you're promoted." he wonders aloud.
Afton shakes his head, "Sorry dad, but even if that were allowed I'd not accept it... I know you're strong and could teach me a lot, but I want to prove myself. If the others found out you'd apprenticed me they'd think its only because I'm your son." he explains, getting a proud nod from his father.
Adah "Have you been training for the physical test? I've neglected that subject as I myself only barely passed it." she asks, worried that he'd fail due to her focus on his studies.
"I'll be fine, you'll see that I haven't forgotten to train my body." he says, calming the anxious woman he'd come to consider a sort of grandma. The trio leave and head up to the surface to wait for the next test to begin as Afton stays put.
Ten minutes later someone else had apparently completed their test early, Afton nods at a dark brown haired girl with a boyish face. "Finished?"
They nod, "I am... I didn't expect to see anyone else finish before me though, I'd pushed back becoming an Initiate to focus on other studies, so I thought I'd definitely be the best here." she says while giving him an appraising look.
"I'm Afton Parker by the way, ten years old."
The girl nods, "Sandra Torres, twelve, nice to meet you Afton. What did you think about the third question on page four?"
They talk about the test and what answers they gave as they wait for everyone else to arrive, Afton found the girl to be pretty good conversation, she was similar to him in a way. Rational, reserved, introverted, but still did her best in whatever she put her mind to. He was looking forward to see what she'd do in the future.
A few other students came out early, but most existed just as the test ended, probably rechecking their answers as many times as physically possible. Doran walked out next and nodded to everyone, "I bet your all mentally exhausted for that, right?" he asks and receives nods from the students, "Well, get ready because you'll be doing your physical test right about... Now. All of you follow me, if you fall behind then you automatically fail." he states as he begins jogging through the hall.
Some students are confused by the sudden activity and lag behind, having to sprint to catch up to the rest of the group. Doran increases his speed so that those following him are halfway between jogging and sprinting, eventually reaching a ladder that leads to the surface.
He jumps on it and quickly climbs up, throwing open the hatch and crawling out. Afton follows with dexterity none of his peers had seen him show before, standing to attention before Doran with not a drop of sweat on him. "Sir."
Doran just sighs and seems to accept his absurd talent and continues to wait for everyone to climb out. Some of the kids seem to think this was a competition and barged people out of the way to get to the ladder first, some even pulling people from the ladder as they climbed.
Once everyone was on the surface a Knight wearing Power armour climbed out aswell, walking over to Doran and pointing out a few students.
Doran shakes his head and points at them, "Those of you who barged, grabbed, disrupted, or attempted to stop others from climbing are hereby disqualified, maybe next year you'll learn some respect for your fellows." he says, causing the selected ones to grumble and leave, though, some of the more unruly ones were dragged away by some Knights.
Afton dabs his forehead with his forearm, the exercise hadn't caused him to start sweating, the sun had... As he spent so much time underground his skin had become pale and not suited for it, he could feel his skin slowly burning under its intense rays.
He glances around at the area and spots the many heavily armoured patrols wielding an ungodly amount of firepower... Only someone with a deathwish and a mini-nuke launcher would dare approach them unsolicited. Nothing had really changed from last he saw it, ruined buildings and vehicles sat around like monuments to humanities sins, though, he could see red cloth tied around some of the nearby lamposts that hadn't been knocked over.
Not only that, he could see his parents and some of the higher up members of the Brotherhood watching from the sidelines... Even Veronica and the Elder were watching, though, the latter seemed wholly unconcerned with them. If Afton had to take a guess, he'd say Veronica managed to get permission to watch.
He glanced back at the group and spotted his friends, Miles had already been sweating from the brief run through the tunnels, but Melissa seemed completely fine... She was an airhead but didn't lack physical abilities.
Doran smirks at them and pulls out a bottle of clean water, the condensation covering it gave the impression that it was ice cold, causing the thirsty students to audibly gulp their saliva. He cracks it open and takes a large swig, exhaling with satisfaction. "What? You didn't think this was for you right? Only those who pass the test may get one, so, consider it a reward to... Hmm, the top five ranked people, everyone else will have to wait until the third phase test is over before you can refresh yourself." he explains, even though Afton was well hydrated, he couldn't help but feel parched by the end of his speech.
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