Chapter 6

Several days passed before Hayes fully recovered. During those days Hayes spent his time exploring the medical wing. The medics guided him and Lilith to the commons area. It was a community center that had various shops, a cafeteria and a lounge. Hayes headed for the cafeteria, the food there was a simple liquid. Hayes watched as a line of people dressed in white waited to dispense the colorless liquid into their cups. The colorless liquid contained all vitamins vital for survival. Hayes headed for the line, grabbed a cup. Next to the dispenser was a screen, on it was a multitude of flavors. Hayes scrolled through the different selections ranging from roast beef to chocolate cake. Anything Hayes could think of he found in his search. Hayes looked up chicken parmesan he hit select. A powder dispensed into the liquid in his cup. Hayes waited for Lilith to select her flavor and they both sat down. Hayes slowly brought the cup to his mouth, he sipped just enough to taste. A savory sweet taste enriched his mouth, he gulped his cup down quickly finishing his meal. Lilith, who had been hesitant watched as Hayes quickly drank the liquid. Seeing this she decided to try the mysterious liquid too.

Hayes and Lilith left the commons area and headed for the observation deck, from there they could see outside of the vessel. Hayes looked around at all the ships surrounding this vessel, thousands all different shapes and sizes could be seen. The vessel they were on was the placement vessel, this was for processing new citizens to become part of the fleet. A man in a green uniform approached Hayes and Lilith. "It is time for your placement, Mr. Hayes please follow me." Hayes looked at Lilith. "I will meet you back at the room, wait for me." Hayes followed the man in green down the sleek white hallway to the testing rooms.

"There will be four tests administered today, each will measure your aptitude for the four categories. The categories are as follows Military, Engineer, Guard and Military. These four categories also have sub categories, but that will be discerned after your primary category is determined." The first testing room was wide yellow room with a workbench in the center, at the back of the room a door could be seen. Hayes approached the first test and saw a device dismantled in front of him. "This was a tool used for welding outside the vessels, I want you to make it functional again." Hayes spent hours trying to rebuild the tool, finally a voice came from an intercom. "Test complete, please move on to the next test." Hayes was taken to a new room that also had a doorway at the end. This room was all white. 'Medical' Hayes thought. Inside this room a written test was given to Hayes, he had one hour to complete it. The questions on the test started by asking basic medical knowledge questions, but soon Hayes discovered the further he got into the test the harder the questions became. DING! DING! "Test complete, please move to the next room." The third test room was green, the tests in the green room were simple tasks. The first to deliver a package without opening it, second was to watch an exit and the third was to escort someone while others tried to tag them. At first the two tried at different times, Hayes was able to tag them to make them return to their corners. Halfway through the VIP's destination the two tried simultaneously, as the VIP got closer the two men got faster. Just a few feet before the end the VIP was tagged. Hayes had failed to escort the VIP, thus ending his green room testing. Hayes was brought into the last room, the red room.

The red room had a rack of odd looking weapons to choose from, each had a sleek design with different sizes and shapes of barrels. One of the observers handed him a long bulky weapon with a thin barrel. He could feel the weight in his hands, he aimed it at the other side of the room. On the opposite side was a collection of targets. DING! DING! DING! Hayes hit each target with ease. He was escorted through the back door to the next room. This room contained moving targets, all around the room the targets raced around. Some targets were green representing friendly. Hayes passed the test with ease. Hayes thought back to his time with his mother. She had trained him daily on marksmanship, he would train all day until he passed her standards. He hated that training, after she passed he missed their time together. Hayes was brought to the next testing room. This room was different from the others it seemed like he was back on earth. Trees surrounded him all around, water running could be heard in the distance. Plant life had overgrown all around, Hayes couldn't see a wall besides the one behind him.

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"So far I haven't seen anything too impressive, he will likely be assigned the green." The first man said. "Another member for the green... what about the blue?" The second man said. "The blue? He is still building his team, why would he want someone so average?" The first man said. "Just submit his results, I have a feeling about him." The second man said. "Lets see how he does this last test, then I will decide whether or not to send his file." The first man watched closely as Hayes passed through the hunting grounds test.

Hayes slowly passed through the row of trees, watching his every step. He looked around trying to find a clue as to what his purpose was in this room. Then he saw it. Large claw marks across a tree, something was in here with him. Suddenly, he could hear something breaking trigs making its way behind him. Hayes flipped around to see a large bear, but it wasn't a regular bear. It had read eyes and a metallic face. 'A robot?' Hayes thought. Hayes fired his weapon at the bear but the shots only bounced off. Right before the bear could claw him Hayes rolled to the side, aiming his weapon at the bear's hide. DING! DING! He fired two shots before the bear turned to face him, these shots revealed the metallic body of the bear. Hayes ran deeper into the woods, weaving between the trees. The bear followed at breakneck speed, Hayes whipped behind a tree. WHAM! The bear ran into the tree. Hayes had an idea. He started running a circular route around the trees shooting them with his weapon. Hayes led the bear into one of the trees Hayes had shot. WHAM! SNAP! The tree had fallen on top of the bear. Before the bear could recover Hayes started knocking over the rest of the trees. Four more trees fell on top of the bear immobilizing it. DING! DING! "Test passed!"

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"His combat prowess is nothing extraordinary, but I like his ingenuity. I will submit his results to the blue team." The first man decided. "That last name do you think there is a relation?" The second man asked. "I don't know yet, keep a watch on him. We need to know they are related. If they are we can't risk him roaming free around the fleet." The first man walked out of the room. The second man turned off the spectator screen and headed for the blue zone with two files on hand.

"Congratulations! You have finished your placement testing! Let's review your results... Engineering Level 1 Basic, Medical Level 1 intermediate, Guard Level 3 Basic, Military Level 3 Advanced. I will now escort you to your room. We will come find you when your results are processed! Hayes followed the man in green back to the room, Lilith was there waiting. "Hayes!" Lilith jumped off her bed to greet him. Dark circles were under her eyes, she had not slept since he left. "Take these, they are your id bands, they will contain all of your information. Currently all they contain are your test results." The guard interrupted their reunion, handing them each a wristband with a holographic screen that would glow above the watch. Hayes looked at Lilith's test results. Engineering Level 3 Advanced, Medical Level 1 Advanced, Guard Level 2 Advanced, Military Level 3 Basic. 'Level 3 military, that means she had to fight the bear too..' Hayes thought. He looked at her tenderly, she had been through a lot these last few days. He hugged her tight.