Testing

CH2 (E)

As Lucas entered the auditorium the sound of nearly four thousand students meet his ears, the usually quiet and disciplined crowd was rowdy today.

He rolled over to the bottom of the bleachers beginning to focus on the stage in from of him.

There was a large black screen in the middle of the stage, a large wire connected it to a small silver metal box on a stand.

Standing on the stage a large burly old man overlooked the crowd with a blank expression. Lucas recognized him from his last military discipline hearing, this man was their school's principal.

This man's silver hair and stoic demeanor hinted at his past life in the Army, His pristine mustache distracted you from his aging face.

Lucas was aware of a few of the Generals exploits serving in the very early years of the war.

Another two people, who were most likely AHG aptitude testers, walked around as they examined the equipment.

Lucas sat there for a few minutes as people continued to enter. Eventually, the stream of students tapered off.

When Lucas looked behind him, he could see an immense sea of people as nearly five thousand kids sat on the bleachers. Their grey and black uniforms congealed everyone to look like a head floating in a sea of static.

"Good morning, military class of 2083" General Cobalt said in a strict voice immediately silencing the crowd as all eyes focused on him.

"As you all know, I am General Cobalt. Today we are joined by the parents of some of our esteemed students. So I would like you all to show a little discipline on this much anticipated day," this immediately silenced the stray few who were talking.

"I know that waiting for this day has felt like an eternity in your young minds, but you should all relish in the joy of seeing your progress."

"When you all started here you were mere kids, now as most of you enter your sixteenth year on this earth your country asks for your due diligence" The general was walking across the stage scanning the crowd for the already academically distinguished students.

"Today, we will be calling you up one by one to establish your final AHG scores for this year. keep in mind that they can fluctuate up or down depending on performance annually. After they are established, you will be assigned a number, this will correlate with your future academy's number."

Excited parents lined the inner wall as the atmosphere became tense in anticipation. Most if not all of them had played a large role in their child's superpower, some even buying and selecting powers for their kids.

Lucas knew very little about this economy, although he did know that one couldn't just implant whatever they wanted. They would have to hope that the Radigrade would accept the host in return, unfortunately, it didn't always work out this way.

The general scanned the bleachers to confirm that everyone was listening.

"Allison Brooks…" he announced.

A member of the crowd stood up and walked down the center aisle of the bleachers. She had long golden hair and a slender face. Thick black jewelry lined her arms and legs.

All eyes were focused on her as she rose to the stage, as whispers flowed through the crowd,

"Ah, it's Allison! I bet her score is going to easily be above 30"

"She's so beautiful, if only I had asked her out sooner. There's no way she'll say yes now that we're all being separated" Another added.

Lucas tried to stay away from Allison, the few meetings they had ended with Allison's fan club separating the two and then physically correcting 'lowly' him for taking to her.

Her descent to the stage was effortless as she practically glided down the steps. There were no signs of nervousness either, her mannerisms stayed perfectly professional.

Allison's family was well-known and produced many successful warriors over the years. Because of this, she was able to obtain a superpower to her parent's liking with the abundant amount of money they had.

Once she arrived in the middle of the stage one of the testers held up the silver box while the side opened, just large enough for a hand.

"Please place your hand in the device Allison." gestured the General.

She stood next to the device, as she placed her hand into the opening slot, a locking sound rang out.

A slight look of pain appeared on Allison's face.

"Ouch, I'll never get used to that," whispered Allison as her hand was let free from the contraption.

The black screen behind her lit up as a profile appeared.

{ALLISON BROOKS}

{Ability: Magnetic Manipulation(active)}

{AHG;42%}

"Wow! She's got such a unique ability, and an active one at that too!" a member of the parent crowd told another.

"Not the first time I've seen magnetic manipulation, but it's special every time. Good job Allison on the 42%!" Exclaimed the general seemingly delighted with the results.

"I can rarely get above 25% and she got 40%!" a student from the bleachers mumbled.

"She is a special case. Obviously, none of us can get above 30%" another retorted.

General Cobalt then held up a thin piece of glass with a digital display.

"These are your academy identity cards; they will have your progress and school number on them. Do not lose them." As he waived the id to the crowd. He handed the card to Allison.

A look of confusion came over Allison's face as she read the ID and walked off stage.

***

Hours passed as thousands of kids received their school IDs, none looking as confused as Allison.

While Lucas had a few opportunities in the past to observe others' abilities and aptitudes, none were to this scale, as the number of people increased Lucas realized just how bland everyone's powers really were.

I mean, someone could only be enamored by a generic strength enhancement ability so much before it became bland. And on the off chance a unique ability appeared, you could tell that the person was fed on a silver spoon.

For example, the strongest known strength enhancement ability could only make a person around twenty times more powerful than usual.

This could be combated through the use of higher-grade abilities which had super strength as a side effect, allowing for other applications besides raw strength. But this was very costly, and most weren't lucky enough to stumble upon a wild Radigrade with these abilities.

Lost in his own thought Lucas was startled when the General said his name,

"Lucas Payne!" announced the general, as he scanned the crowd for the next student to stand.

Realizing that the general summoned Lucas and not someone else named Lucas, he started psyching himself up.

He rolled up the side of the stage as he scaled over the daunting step leading up the platform, which was only about 4 inches above the ground.

The general had a look of disappointment as he examined the student wheeling over to him,

"Lucas, I thought you would have changed over the past few years," the General said under his breath, thinking back to the time when Lucas was still in custody for murdering his own brother. "I'm the reason you are still here, and yet, my decision has yet to benefit you" he added.

Lucas had finally arrived right in front of the large black screen, was the General talking to himself? no, must have been his imagination.

He struggled to push himself out of his chair, as his breathing intensified.

Finally standing in for the few academic representatives present for this event, he saw the faces of the crowd scrunch and contort in disgust.

Yet another wave of whispers surfaced from the crowd,

"See I told you he wasn't really crippled."

"Why would they let him into a military school if he struggles to stand"

These were just a few examples of what Lucas heard, the remarks he did manage to catch were just brushed off.

Lucas placed his hand in the machine, the cold silver metal giving him goosebumps.

The machine clamped down on his hand, and Lucas felt a needle pierce his wrist. It did hurt, but not enough for a reaction, it was just expected pain.

He had subsequently grown numb to pain both emotionally and physically over the years.

The screen lit up revealing his status.

{LUCAS PAYNE}

{Ability; *%$#:>(unknown)}

{AHG; 0.01%}

Lucas had only ever used his powers once and the repercussions were detrimental.

The thought of improving upon himself never occurred to Lucas, the shackles he had unintentionally placed upon himself acted as his limiter.

'It was wrong of me to expect a different result than last time' Thought the general, he had tested Lucas when he first arrived, but the ability was still unreadable.

"This doomed boy only has .01 AHG! HAHA, and I thought my Gracey was slacking," a parent said.

"That kid has an unreadable ability, which could mean one of two things. foremost, the ability could not yet be developed enough for it to be detected. And the other possibility was that the ability is so rare that it has never been seen before." One Mother taught the small child she was carrying.

The general knew that the power that Lucas had was not just any regular strength enhancement, because if it was, the screen would state so even if his mastery was low.

'The decision is still hard but, using the power needed to launch a golf ball through a person at the mere age of 12, It's safe to say his power is something we have never seen' the General internally argued.

The general handed Lucas his id as the crowd quieted down. Lucas sat back down, exiting the limelight.

Lucas tried to calm himself, He was visibly sweating, and his legs felt like jelly.

As Lucas looked at his ID, he noticed that it displayed the number 0 in the bottom right. He wheeled back over to his original spot among the bottom row of the bleachers and searched for more information. In smaller letters, the ID stated, "Meet in staff room 24 for debrief".