Exam

After following the signs Annabelle came to a room. It was filled with small rooms that resembled mini cubicles with ceilings.

"Hello, please hold out your IO for identification."

A tall man with white-blond hair and a sharp nose had come up to her and was holding another orb. He looked slightly impatient. Waiting to scan her identification.

"Yes, sorry." She took the orb out of her jean pocket and held it out to him.

"Thank you." He checked her information, smirked and pointed at a tall woman who stood a few feet away.

"Kirsten will escort you to your cubicle, if you have any questions before the exam, she will answer them. Just give her your IO. Don't worry it will be given back to you at the end of the testing period. Kirsten will be waiting for you here after the test to either boot you out of the building or take you to the athletic portion if you pass."

After saying this he turned to the student that had come in behind her.

'Well thanks for that vote of confidence…' Annabelle thought as she started walking towards Kirsten, Annabelle handed her orb to Kirsten.

"Hi, my name is Annabelle." She held her IO out to the woman. Her eyes drifting to the lady's orange hair, and her eyes. Annabelle was interested in the fact that Kirsten's eyes were completely black.

"Hello, I'm Kirsten your guide during the testing process. I'll be keeping your IO throughout the process until you are either admitted or failed. Please keep in mind that conversing with anyone other than me throughout the testing process will result in immediate withdrawal from the test."

"If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them now or wait until the written test is over." She motioned for Annabelle to follow and started leading her to a room.

"Um, may I ask why our orbs are taken?"

"You just received the IO didn't you." Kirsten looked behind and grinned at her.

"They're commonly referred to as IO, it's short for Identification Object. Some people call it an orb, but they are few and are usually older. To answer your question, we take them so that people can't cheat. The cube you'll be in interferes with signals, but it's better to be safe than sorry."

She stopped in front of a cube. "Here's your examination area, are there any other questions?"

"How do we take this exam?" The small space only contained a chair.

"The examiner assigned to you will have access to a wired connection that only they control, every examinee is paired with a proctor, an examiner and an attendant."

"I'm the attendant, like I said, my job is to guide you until the end. The proctor is in place to make sure that the examiner, examinee and attendant do not do anything that would falsify the results of the test, and the examiner obviously is the one in charge of testing you. Does that make sense?"

"Wow, there are three people specifically for me?" Annabelle was surprised that there were so many people involved in this process.

"Yes, though the proctor is only watching via connections, and the examiner will only be with you for this portion of the test." She paused and looked towards the hall; the monitors were beginning to shut the entrance.

"Alright, looks like everyone is here, might want to get seated before it starts." She gently pushed Annabelle into the little room and closed the door.

Remembering what it had been like for her when she was taking the entrance exam, she shuddered, there had been a kid who didn't tell his attendant he was claustrophobic. The whole exam had been pushed back a few hours because he ended up fainting right after his door was closed.

She hated that the examinees were enclosed like this, but it was a way to create space for the millions of people that wanted to join. This was the test that usually culled about ninety percent of examinees.

Inside the room Annabelle waited patiently for the exam to start.

Or not…

She was poking and prodding the inside of her 'cube', she found the connection port in a few seconds, and finally decided to sit down, cross-legged, on the floor because the chair was impossible to sit in comfortably.

"Well, this is the first time I've seen an examinee sit on the floor." A mirthful voice could be heard inside the room. "Are you protesting the use of chairs little one?"

"No sir, but it is quite uncomfortable."

"Well of course it is, we don't want our future students falling asleep on us old fogey's, have to keep them on their toes!"

"Would you prefer I sit in the chair?"

"You don't have to if you don't want to, but it may make answering some questions difficult, since the chair is designed for your height and will allow you to reach the answers."

"Okay, thank you." She got up and sat in the chair.

"Alright, so this is going to be partly oral, I'll ask you something and you'll answer to the best of your ability. Afterward there will be a projection on the wall, you'll only have a short amount of time to read and then respond. To respond you have to touch the correct answer wherever it is on the wall. If you get more than ten questions wrong, you will be failed. Are you ready to begin?"

"Yes."

After two hours of testing the old man with white hair sat back in his chair and sighed.

"Sir, are you alright?" The chubby fifth-year student assigned to him as a gopher stood forward.

"Yes, I'm alright, it's just that I've never seen a young Ayeri answer perfectly in such a short time frame. I need you to go get Dean's Acott and Fresor, they're going to want to keep an eye on this child. Also, ask them if I can get the name of the child." After he said this he turned away from the student.

"Yes, Professor Naet."

As the fifth year left, Naet started grumbling under his breath, only catching the first part of his mumbling. "I really don't understand the need for anonymity in this confounded test… Their new rules are just ridiculous."