Capítulo 16: Initiation?
"Hey Afton, think you'll pass first time?" Melissa asks as Afton reads a pre-war book detailing how to manage agriculture.
His feet are kicked up onto the desk as his chair leans backwards, lowering the book slightly he gives the girl a blank look, "I will."
The cute blonde-haired ten-year-old pouts at him, "How are you so sure? It's impossible for a bookworm like you to pass the physical."
"And an air-headed girl like you won't pass the theoretical." he replies with a shrug, he'd never displayed his physical talents to anyone apart from Veronica and Christine before, and due to the fact he was almost always engrossed in learning something, people regarded him as a bookworm or nerd.
"I'll have you know my mom says I'm really smart!"
"Even if you were a simpleton she'd say you'd be the next Einstein... I'm not being mean but that's what parents do." he says, returning his attention back to his book.
Melissa walks up and pushes his book down again, "Just because your smarter than me doesn't mean I'm dumb, and don't call me Einstein again or I'll tell on you." she threatens.
...
"Don't call you Einstein?" he asks in confusion.
She nods, "I don't know what it is but if it came from you then it must be mean!"
...
Afton facepalm while tossing his book onto the table, deciding to leave before he loses more brain cells talking to this girl, they were technically friends but due to the disparity in their intelligence, he felt more like an uncle than anything else.
As much as he made fun of her, she wasn't stupid... Maybe slightly below average? Hopefully, she'd start properly studying instead of whatever else she was doing in her free time.
As he was walking towards the door he was stopped by his other friend, Miles Stanton.
"Er, hey Afton, could you maybe... Help me study? I've been doing my best but I don't think I'll be ready in time." he says with a hopeful expression.
"No." he replies bluntly, he had more important things to do than tutor children.
Miles's enthusiasm seemed to quickly dissipate as he gets rejects, looking down at the floor solemnly as if his only lifeline had been cut. "Ah, sorry for asking I guess..." he says and turns to walk away as Melissa smirks at him.
...
Afton sighs, "You probably won't pass this year, but don't worry about it, most don't until their third try. Just study as much as you can and if you fail then so be it, just know that it isn't the end of the world if you do." he explains before leaving, not being there to notice Miles slumped shoulders loosening slightly.
Only after leaving the room did he realise he'd left his book in there... He wasn't willing to do the walk of shame after leaving so succinctly so he'd have to come by and collect it later.
He started walking back to his room and happen to pass by the medbay as he did so, usually, it'd be empty as they had such a large advantage with Power armour, energy weaponry, and training that it was almost impossible to be injured. But lately, it seemed to be different.
There were a few people being treated for gunshot, and knife wounds. These had been the scouts that'd been silently surveying the region to reports back on the happenings of the Mojave. Fortunately, no one had been killed yet, but gangs, tribes, and other savages seemed to be getting more proactive.
Traps were laid in unexpected places and random ambushes were set for the Brotherhood Scouts, clearly the savages knew their territory better than the Brotherhood did, and they were hunting down scouting parties not just belonging to them, but to the NCR and other tribes.
Afton, aswell as everyone else had no idea about what would be causing this sudden increase in activity. He'd asked his father about it but he just shrugged, not having anymore information than Afton himself had been able to glean.
Due to the attacks on their members the Scout parties had been replaced by proper patrols fitted with Power armour. They lacked numbers so taking risks with each other's lives would be incredibly stupid.
Shaking his head he passed by the medbay, he'd learned the basics in first aid as required of all initiates, but he was nowhere near being able to assist in complicated injuries like bullet wounds. He hoped to learn more in future just in case he finds himself riddled with bullets and nowhere near a doctor.
A week passes and its almost time for the Initiate test, Afton, Miles, Melissa, and a large group of children that he'd not bothered to learn the names of were all standing in the hallway. The first phase of the test would basically work like how a regular school would, you'd be brought into a room and given an hour to complete the written test.
Once that was over they'd be whisked outside onto the surface where an obstacle course had been set up specifically for them. They'd not need to worry about their safety as many patrols of Knights and Paladins had been tasked with keeping them safe, it wouldn't do for the younger generation to be torn to pieces by a Deathclaw after all.
Last but not least was the supplemental test, that would be where you could choose to take a test on more advanced subjects. Doing so didn't achieve anything aside from displaying your talent and potentially being apprenticed like how Veronica had been... Though, she also had some extraneous reasons for being apprenticed so perhaps she wasn't the best person to follow
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Capítulo 17: Testing Patience
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.
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