Zero

The various groups that stood outside looked at one another, with a variety of expressions upon their faces. Some seemed to be interested in the others, or what they could do, or even in the people themselves. Others wore judging expressions, as if they already knew how the others were going to be, and that they, somehow, were superior. Each of them were waiting their turn to go within and see exactly how they measured up. That was to be expected- that was the whole reason why they were even here, after all.

Two teams had already gone into the building, and there were no sounds from the inside, so there was no way to know what was even happening in there. "I wonder...hm," Theodore spoke, his gaze on the building where the two previous groups had gone into. He didn't bother to elaborate further, his eyes unfocused as he looked.

"Heeyyyyy! Teddy! Wake up!" Evie called, waving her hands frantically back and forth in front of Ted's face, causing him to blink and look down at her, before lifting his gaze back up to stare out once more. "Don't keep your thoughts in your brain or it'll explode because you have too many." The serious tone conveyed in her words made it hard to tell if she was kidding or if she was genuine with that statement.

At the statement, Wesley arched a brow, looking back over at the girl. "You don't actually believe that, do you?" he asked, not necessarily gullible... but all the same, he found it strange that someone would actually believe such a thing.

A giggle of laughter was his response, and Evie clapped her hands in her excitement, shaking her head. "No way! But wouldn't that be wild? Just keep thinking and thinking and then all of a sudden- Boom!" she cried, clapping her hands together again in an attempt to startle the rest of them. A low growl came from Sasha, and Jay just pat the girl's shoulder in a form of comfort. He had managed two before she lifted her hand, slapping his away in an almost offhand manner.

"As I was saying," Ted continued, as if all of what had just transpired hadn't, "I wonder what the...combat test is comprised of. We haven't heard...any sounds from within. They're attempting to keep it quiet..." he mused, his tone still wispy and light, drifting from one thought to the next like a feather on a breeze. However, as he continued to speak and voice the thought, the others looked up at him with some confusion. Then slowly the implication of his words seemed to dawn on each of them, and their gazes went right back to the building, with concern beginning to cause the hair on the backs of their necks to rise.

Exchanging a glance, the brothers looked as if they were about to say something, but before they could, Gustave approached them, a kind smile on his face. "All right, you five. You're up. Come on," he spoke, gesturing to the group as a whole. There was some hesitation as they were all caught off-guard given the fact that they were currently trying to consider Theodore's words, which made the idea of actually committing to something a little more...difficult. "What, you aren't ready to go?" he asked, setting his hands on his hips. "You all were the third group to come together, so you're the third to go in."

"We're just kind of wondering, dude. What's the combat test that they mentioned before?" His tone was curious, but also there were notes of fear sprinkled into his words. "It's not that bad, right?"

At that, Gustave paused, before letting out a long, low laugh at the group, which only caused their concern to heighten. Wes' hands tightened into fists, and Sasha's eyes narrowed, while Theodore fiddled with his glasses and even Evie looked a touch concerned. "It's a 'test,' you five. It's not anything where you'll be in any danger. Come on now- you really think that we're going to send a bunch of newbies to their deaths? We're already putting time and effort to make you into soldiers."

"That is true," Wes murmured, his tone quiet and speculative as he glanced over at Theodore, as if trying to get his silent take on it, but the man didn't even spare Wesley a glance, leading to the young man snorting slightly as he brought his gaze back to Gustave. "All right. Yeah. We're ready."

Sasha brushed some dust from her skirt as she stood, scoffing at Wes. "Who went and made you the leader?" she demanded. "Whatever, let's just go," she continued, not waiting for him (or anyone else) to respond as she went on after Gustave, the other four in tow.

"She's extra feisty today, man," Jay spoke, clapping his brother on the shoulder, a grin on his features.

Wes glanced back to Jay, giving a small snort. "Most people would call that bitchy, Jay," he responded, which only led to a larger grin from the man, but no further response as they came to the door.

"I'm Major Ellen," the curt woman from earlier introduced herself as the group approached. "Once inside, you'll follow the instructions given by the soldiers running everything. Be ready to move when they give the word." Her word, once more, was absolute, and left absolutely no place for them to respond. As she finished, her hand moved out stiffly, opening the door to the dark building, and waiting for them to enter.

There was only a half-second of hesitation before Evie let out a cheer and began to move inside, her hands raised up over her head. That single act seemed to break the tension that surrounded them, and the rest of the group followed suit in a single-file line. As the last person entered into the room, the door shut, leaving the group in absolute darkness for a moment, before lights flickered on a short distance away.

"Y'know if you're scared you don't need to- ngngggghhaaaaa," Jay began, smirking at Sasha before her heel was driven into his foot and she pointedly walked ahead of the others, the dark expression on her face clear as day.

It was then Wes' turn to set a hand on his brother's shoulder, in the most demeaning way that he could muster with a fellow that was quite a bit larger than himself. "Maybe next time just enjoy what you get and keep your mouth shut," he spoke, moving after Sasha as the rest of the group moved after her, toward the young man that was waving a hand over his head at them to direct the flow of traffic his way.

"Hey you five. We've got four machines up and running to read your Framework. Number five is on the fritz, so you'll have to go in two groups. Just avoid the one there in the middle and you'll be fine," he called, waving them onward. The room they were entering into looked almost like a warehouse. The floors were cement, and the walls looked as if they were little more than sheet metal, with a massive, vaulted ceiling that went up probably twenty meters or more.

On the floor there were rather large circular devices, about two meters in diameter that were raised a bit off the ground. Each of them were connected to a large screen that had several displays on it. There were four setup in a square-like pattern, with one more in the middle that had its own screen resting above it. This was the one indicated as being broken, only leaving the four around the edges to be shown.

"Dibs!" Evie called out, pulling Theodore along toward one of the active devices, as if she had already known that he would choose to back out. "We're gonna see what we got!" she called out as she went.

Sasha glanced at the brothers before she tossed her hair, not waiting for either of them to even suggest that she remain behind, which left Jay and Wes looking at one another. "Settle this the old fashioned way, dude?" A smirk lit up Jay's face as he watched his brother's expression.

"You might as well just go. You know I can't beat you in an arm wrestling match," Wes spoke, not minding all that much that he was going to be the odd one out. "Just don't screw it up out there."

His hands moved to his pockets as he watched his four allies take their spots on the spots they'd been assigned, leaving the fifth one empty. "Good luck!" Wesley called out, as the room began to be filled with a strange humming sound that emanated not only from the major system the soldier who had called to them was working on, but also all four of the discs on the ground, creating a weird, resonant sound that made Wesley's vision swim.

As he watched, he became aware of several numbers appearing on the screens near each of them. He was most interested in his brother, and his gaze moved there first.

Life: 8% | Death: 46% | Time: 41% | Space: 5%

Code: 08L46D41T05S

Well, that was about what they had expected. Jay tended to live 'in the moment' which exemplified those with the Death Framework. But whenever something didn't interest him, the boy was rather...lazy, for lack of a better word, which then made sense with the high Time Framework as well.

Curiously, he glanced toward Sasha's, only a touch surprised at what he saw there.

Life: 15% | Death: 32% | Time: 3% | Space: 50%

Code: 15L32D03T50S

That was about right. He hadn't expected Life to be as high as it was, with how difficult and frustrating she could be. Space Frameworks were rather focused on the end result, rather than what happened in the interim. They tended to be excel in their fields, but it wasn't uncommon for those without a backbone to get trampled underfoot.

Curious about the other two, his gaze flickered over to their screens. Theodore was first, although based on Gustave's thoughts, he had a fair idea of what he might see.

Life: 44% | Death: 11% | Time: 38% | Space: 7%

Code: 44L11D38T07S

Life being that high was expected, but Time having something that high was not... but he supposed with the way Theodore spoke, it was easy to see why that was so high. Life Frameworks tended to be kind and working to build things in some way, either relationships or even architecture. And with the way Ted seemed to be in tune with everyone's thoughts made it obvious, in hindsight.

The wildcard was Evie, and he glanced at hers to see what was listed.

Life: 41% | Death: 22% | Time: 0% | Space: 37%

Code: 41L22D00T37S

He blinked, cocking his head to the side. She was rather friendly and outgoing, but didn't spare much time for anything. He supposed that actually worked out for her... although he was curious to see the 0% in Time. That was unusual. None of the other three had a zero at all. The humming began to steadily subside, leaving a faint ringing in their ears as the group came off of the pads.

"All right! Just like I thought! C'mon, Wes! It's your turn, dude!" Jay called out, and Wesley let out a breath he hadn't realized that he was holding before he began to move forward toward the one that his brother had been on, the group standing off to the side to watch, curious what he might be.

He stood, exhaling slowly, unable to quell the nerves pounding throughout his body as the humming sound began to occur once more, picking up in intensity. It was a whole lot worse right here, but he kept his gaze steady as he stared at the screen.

Life: 0%

What?

Death: 0%

Wait.

Time: 0%

What was going on here?

Space: 0%

Code: 00L00D00T00D

"...What!?" he yelled, staring at the screen.