Variety Sector

"You will return here three more times, for a total of four days, to complete the tests. You have until 1700 1of Friday to go through at least one hundred. Be careful to not repeat one single test too many times, as it would affect your overall affinities. We will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner at the third floor, just like on your first time here, and if you really need, we can provide a space for you to sleep on. The infirmary is located right at the entrance to the second floor, and you can either ask the teachers or the staff, people dressed like me, for questions and help." She paused for a moment. "I will share with the teachers the assigned groups right now, so if they could come over..."

After we were separated in groups, almost 20 students each, same as before, the commissioner continued.

"Unlike the previous Appraisal, this one will be a little more lenient on student freedom. You will each be receiving a notification on your PScreens with the details of your recommended path through the tests, based on your First Appraisal and on your performance for the last two years. You will only be receiving them upstairs, so there's no use looking through them now. Ah, you should know that you're not forced to comply with the recommendation, so you can visit other tests as you would see fit. Though, the recommendations were made based on what you like the most, so I wouldn't advise deviating much."

My mother had also recommended following the schedule.

"Any more questions before we go up?"

"Ms. Commissioner, why did they advance the Second Appraisal for today?" A student asked.

His teacher glared at him, but the commissioner answered:

"I apologize on behalf of the Institution of Developed Education for the urgency. There were some problems due to the new data regarding number of students graduating Middle School this year, so we had to try to accomodate you at this time slot. You will notice there are more classmates than during your First Appraisal."

"I see. Thank you."

"No problem. Shall we go up?"

...

The second floor was just as astonishing as the first, and quite similar. The only differences were the distribution of the Sectors, the greater details on the walls, and some administrative offices spread throughout. It was also of a darker shade of gray, and had dimmer silver linings.

Once I had received my schedule, I went straight into it.

We had already received an introduction on the topics to be uncovered at the Appraisal, unlike the first time, so we had an idea of what they meant. There a sector just for the social sciences, a sector for history and applied history, a sector for applied arts, which included specific dances, instruments, and stuff like sculpting; and a lot of students walked around nonstop. The sector for STEM tests seemed to be relatively on high demand, as well.

The most popular sector was the Sports Sector, by far. They had stuff like Formula Racing, Spacecraft Racing, mobile suit fencing, scuba diving, soccer... I guess it's still the norm for people to like those careers. I was no exception. But I knew how hard it was to get into them, as my parents deeply engraved into my mind that I shouldn't depend on them. Regardless, I still had some recommended tests there, so I still had hopes for a goo affinity.

I should explain that, despite there being no formal necessity for a good affinity (I could still choose to play basketball even if my affinity was low), it was much harder to get good opportunities. Getting good Second Appraisal affinities would unlock some specific classes that the majority of your classmates wouldn't have. No one got really that envious though, because the appraisal was accurate to predict what people liked or didn't like to do.

On the third day, after finishing a test on the STEM Sector, I saw that my next test would be all the way back at the Philosophy Sector, the 28th and last sector of the long corridor. Looking through my PScreen, I saw that my next several tests would be there, and a brief calculation showed I had time to spare for the day. I decided to look around and see if I found something that looked fun.

A short and thin boy caught my attention. He seemed to have been looking for something at this sector called Variety Sector. Interestingly enough, I hadn't had any recommended tests there so far. It seemed that very few people had, actually, due to the lack of students there, so I decided to check it out.

"'Gender Roles Through History', 'The Story of Samuel Benjamin', 'Lisa's Garden Compendium', 'Under the Tree', 'Understanding Sexuality'... dude, what are these tests?" I mumbled.

Then, I noticed that boy had finally stopped at the end of the line of glass doors, and he stared wide-eyed at a door's title. He smiled happily and quickly entered the door. I shrugged and kept looking through those doors one by one.

Half an hour later, after I had just exited a crazy journey through the 'Ways of the Wind', which had absolutely nothing to do with any wind or breeze, I saw something curious. A tall brunette girl had stopped in front of a door, and as her eyes went wide, she looked to her left and then to her right, as if searching for people. She did a double take when she caught me staring at her, but she forced herself to ignore me and quickly went into the glass door.

Intrigued, I noticed that it was the same door that the skinny boy had happily smiled at, so I went over to catch its title.