Evaluations

Oren made his way down to Gymnasium No. 2 at around 10:30 AM. His first evaluation appointment was set for 10:45, but he always thought it better to get anywhere earlier than you need to be. As he walked into the gym, he immediately clocked the differences between this gym and Gym No. 1. Whereas the first had been constructed as nothing more than a large set of basketball and indoor tennis courts, this gym had much more to offer. There were rows upon rows of exercise machinery, and some equipment Oren couldn't recognize. In the center of the room, he noticed a grouping of four raised sparring rings. There were some people fighting in the rings. He recognized a few of them from the Entrance Ceremony and Coach Ecker's talk, so he assumed it was a part of the evaluations. Oren trembled a little, having never actually fought somebody before. After all, it wasn't allowed in high school divisions of Chasm Diving. He'd had experience fighting the wraiths, which were the most humanoid thing one would encounter in Chasm Diving that wasn't another diver. Though, he mostly relied on his trident or some other weapon while diving. He decided not to worry about it until he had to. There were quite a few people in the gym, presumably there for their own evaluations, and some non-trainees just there for conditioning. 

Oren continued on until he saw a staff member in the recognizable black-white uniform. The person approached him, holographic clipboard in hand.

"Oren Astor?"

He nodded in reply.

"Wait here. Your evaluations will begin soon."

He stood patiently at the spot he was told to wait in, continuing to take in the sights. Looking around, he spotted Loran at some odd contraption on the far side of the gym. Loran's appointment was at 9:30 AM, so if he was still there, it meant that the evaluations were going to take a while. Oren envied Julian, who's evaluation wasn't until 2:00 PM. Oren would have liked to sleep in a little, as the nerves kept him up for quite a while. Not that Julian slept in, either. He had woken up before anyone else to clean their dorm room. While Oren appreciated the man's dedication to cleanliness, he couldn't say he loved being woken up at 7-o'clock by the soft clamor of a broom and spray bottles being moved around.

After a few minutes, the staff member returned.

"This way, please. Your first evaluation will be a stamina test."

The staffer led Oren to one of the many treadmills lining the back wall of the gym. Oren was instructed to get on, and to run two miles as fast as he could. The task was simple enough, Oren had actually done some track in high school, at least before he realized that doing both track and chasm diving was not the best choice for his stress levels or time management. Oren finished the miles in eleven minutes and was sufficiently pleased once he got off of the treadmill. The staffer gave him a large water bottle, from which Oren drank readily. 

"Your next test will be a test of strength." 

He was then led to a small area with racks of dumbbells and benches. The second test consisted of bench presses, bicep curls, squats, deadlift, and other exercises of that nature. He'd been instructed to go for a set of his max, allowing for one-rep maxes as well. Oren wasn't the strongest person ever, and he did feel a little self conscious as he saw other, larger people moving more weight than him, but he tried not to let it get to his head. 

The next test was a reflex and awareness test, as the staffer told him. He'd been led to the same machine that he saw Loran was at before. Up close, Oren realized that it was in fact a small room with several cannon-like things protruding from the ground in a circle formation. Oren was puzzled, looking to the staffer for guidance.

"This machine is going to shoot soft projectiles at you. Your aim is to catch or dodge each of the balls. When a machine is about to shoot, it is going to play a noise. Use the noises to your best advantage. Over there in that pillar is an earbud set. Please put it on and begin the test."

Oren walked over to the pillar that the staffer pointed out to him and touched a small button at the top. A small slit opened in the side of the pillar and a tray with two earbuds, which Oren grabbed and put in. Taking a deep breath, he pushed another button on the pillar, marked "start", and he could hear the soft whirring and hum of the cannons getting into place. 

Suddenly, Oren heard a beep. 

To my left.

He turned his whole body quickly and caught the ball, small enough to fit into your hand, but big and bright enough to see clearly. 

Another beep, mere seconds later.

Crap. Its behind me now.

Oren turned again, but had to dodge the ball because he didn't turn quickly enough.

Beep.

Slightly to the right.

Oren realized that he couldn't keep turning his whole body unless it was absolutely necessary. Instead, he planted his feet and focused on the sound.

Beep. Left. Catch.

Beep. Behind to the right. Dodge.

Oren had begun to get into a rhythm when all of a sudden, the cannons, which had been mounted on more pillars, had begun to circle him. Initially he didn't even notice the ring on the floor where the pillars stood, though it was hard to miss now. Oren kept himself grounded. It didn't matter if the pillars were moving. All he had to do was listen to the sound for the cannon shot and—

Beep, beep. Left, slight right.

Oren was caught off guard. There were two balls shot at him this time. He managed to catch the one on the left, but he was caught in the arm by the one on the right. Once again, Oren had to gather his focus, but this time he was prepared for more than one shot.

Beep, beep, beep. Right, Left, Behind. Catch, catch, dodge.

Oren got into a rhythm once more. He'd gotten hit by a few of the projectiles, but had been clean for the most part. 

[One minute left] chimed an artificial voice in his ear. 

Suddenly, the orbiting pillars began to move up and down. However, Oren was ready for the change this time. The projectiles came faster and faster, shooting at Oren from all different directions. The beeps stopped coming for a second until there was a final sound.

10 beeps. Every single pillar was going to shoot one after another.

Having no time to react, Oren flipped, twisting his body in the air to avoid as many as possible. Two out of the ten projectiles hit him, to his disappointment, though not to his surprise. 

After that, the pillars returned to their starting positions, and the artificial voice told Oren to put the earbuds back on the pillar-tray. He did so, and the staffer who had been monitoring him was wide-eyed.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, it's just that you have the highest reflex/awareness score out of anyone so far. Well, you're tied with one person."

"D-do I really? Who am I tied with?" Oren said, the interest clear in his voice.

"I believe he is waiting for you in one of the rings. Let's go. Your last test is a sparring match." The staff member gave Oren his water bottle and walked him to the center of the gym, where the four sparring rings stood. 

Oren watched in awe as he saw the matches. People were being thrown around, punched, kicked, and so much more. It was honestly quite scary. 

In one particular ring, Oren spotted a short young girl about his age facing off against someone Julian's size. She had dark brown hair and olive colored skin. Oren could see she was pretty, and thought it lovely how her skin still seemed to glisten under the harsh fluorescents. He didn't imagine that the fight would be at all fair though. Having the small woman spar with a man two and a half times her size was simply ludicrous.

"Hey, why don't you look over here? I'm pretty too, you know?" said a gruff voice from behind Oren.

Turning around, Oren saw a young man, also about his age, sitting on the edge of the ring, arms casually slung over the ropes. He was a little darker than Oren, with hair dyed a light purple color with the sides shaved in a fade. He'd dyed his eyebrows purple as well, and cut a slit in the left one. The man's eyes were almost cat like, and a little too playful for Oren's liking. 

"What?" Oren said, trying not to look the man in the eye.

"Stop gawking at the girl over there. She's not your priority right now."

"I wasn't gawking at her!" Oren asserted. 

"Sir, please get in the ring. This will be your final evaluation for the day." The staff member gestured to the ring, which Oren just realized was the only one without an ongoing fight. 

As Oren climbed into the ring, and assumed what he thought was a good fighting stance, his purple-haired opponent casually did the same.

"I think I should know your name before we fight. I'm Oren Astor." 

"Okay Oren. It's nice to meet you. My name is Carter Lovecraft."

It was only seconds after those words that pain slammed Oren, sending shockwaves throughout his entire body.