Elsewhere, on a disc-shaped space colony:
'All in'
'You can't be serious..'
'All in. Put all my chips on WL-591!'
'You're going to bet on a lab-grown malnourished kid..?'
'You don't take risks like me.'
'Well, it's your money, pal, but I wouldn't do that if I were you.'
'U0023 seems too confident for his own good.. Let him stake it all on the kid.'
'This is not the first time you lost all your bet money on someone new.'
'Ah, you just don't get it. I'll make that money back in 20 mins anyway!'
'True.'
'The Metal soul faction is getting violent again. Who has majority of chips on those scum?'
'That's also U0023. Bastard had his chips on both sides.'
'HAHaHAHA'
'Aw dang it. I lost a Shell because of you.. My poor human farm..'
'Say, who is betting on the military folks?'
'I want a piece of that.. take my bucks to Officer Svezon'
'Who wants to put their chips on the special unit? I call dips!'
'Nooo, no, you can't do that to me!! I want Vasila to truimph all odds with my support alone.. my sweet Unit Vasila..'
'You have a weird attachment to that kid. Do you realise that, E0066?'
'I think E0066 is a little different from us.'
'5 more mins and the lunch break is over, so be quick about it, everyone..'
'I have a proposal. I say.. we bless this new kid with some power like we did those cadets. That would even out the playing field.'
'This is the first time in history that we have seen a children of the shell surviving outside its shell. I say, we do it for the science.'
'I agree. But, that would be boring though. He survived without our guidance. We all agreed it was pure luck. Let's see how far his luck and determination can take him before we intervene.'
'You know what...? That's a valid point, P0028. Agreed.'
'Agreed.'
'Agreed.'
'Agreed.'
The Wokan Interterrestrial Science Corporation staffs have resumed their usual work after indulging and gambling on the fate of billions of lives with banter and drinks.
Main story:
I sat with Melvin and abided my time until the examination.
'So..What do you want to know?' Melvin asked me.
He seemed determined to prove that he's useful to me. He is seeking my validation.
But the sad thing is I don't even know what to ask him.
'Uhm.. What is even the examination about?' I replied. I expected nothing from this question but it seemed to put Melvin at ease as his face brightened. I think he might have been expecting me to ask him really hard questions and it turned out to be the most basic questions.
'Well, you see.. The examination is a necessary procedure to assess a candidate's potential to serve in the Guardian force.' Melvin answered in a enthusiastic tone. This is the first time i see him be comfortable since I entered this room.
'You will sit in a chamber and the system will take care of everything else but it'll give you a temporary shock so be warned.'
'How do I prepare myself for it?'
'You don't.. It's one of those things that is outside your perception of control. the systems follow the will of the god.'
'Is it true that I will die as the fahad person said? what is your opinion?' I asked Melvin who had already gone back to his usual ways of being nervous for no reason.
'I.. don't have a opinion..' Melvin replied and started tapping his feet under the table. 'I mean.. it's not that I'm incapable of forming a opinion.. it's just that I think, there's a 96% chance that you will..' Melvin stopped.
I urged him to say what he was meant to say and assured that I wouldn't think of him badly even if it was negative.
'You would.. die if you take that exam. I'm sorry. As fahad and the officer told you before, you have the odds stacked against you..' Melvin finished his sentence and looked pale.
I don't know how I could tell him in a respectful way that he doesn't need to be anxious around me. I think, It would hurt his self-confidence.
Of all the people that officer could've left me with, he chose the one with the worse communication skills than me.
The difference between Melvin and Korvet is night and day. But atleast, Melvin is not weird and goofy like him so it balances out.
I quietly waited for a couple minutes before Melvin stood up. 'I've got to go now.. Can you sit here by yourself for the rest of the 11 mins?.. I seriously need to be somewhere else. I hope you don't mind'. And he left in a hurry before I could respond.
...
After awhile, Someone came in to guide me towards the grounds. I hoped they must have sent Korvet but it was Vasila.
Vasila Of The Undying Iron.
What a terrifying name for such a pretty lady.
'Ofcouse, that d##knead ran off to god knows where.' Vasila said in a annoyed tone when she discovered that Melvin is missing in the room. 'Have you been sitting here all by yourself? Didn't this full white space not drive you crazy? This room design is psychotic..'
Vasila said and told me to follow her outside.
'Uh.. y-yeah, no. no. I'm pretty used to empty rooms. My shell chamber looked like this but it was all black.' I replied to Vasila as she kept walking forward.
Her iron arm bangles made no noise. It was a tight fit, gripping her bulging arm muscle. She's unusually well toned for a female. because as far as I've seen.. Kyle never had this physique.
Vasila is almost as tall as me despite looking way younger than me.
I guess, this is what the Managing Officer meant by 'superior genes'.
'Vasila.. doesn't wearing those things hurt you?' I asked vasila, pointing her 3 iron rings she was wearing on each of her hands with one extra on her waistline.
'These are weights. It's a necessary accessory for training to me. Each one weights 7 tons.' Vasila said and pointed at her hips. 'The one I wear here is 14 tons.'
'ohh.. how much does that weight.. I don't know about the measurement of tons.'
'What do they even teach you at the shells?' Vasila replied, her eyes sharp with judgement. 'It means I can practically destroy this whole building if i feel like it.'
My jaws dropped. 'Whatt..? can you really do that..?'
Vasila smiled. 'Ofcourse. but i won't do that. Yiovali will cut my allowances'.
She seems to be too proud of herself.
'If you are the strongest to ever exist in the history, then why are still only at cadet rank?' I asked vasila.
Vasila stopped.
She took off one of her weights from her right arm and dropped it on the floor. The weight left a crack and shattered the floor, leaving a hole.
'I-im sorry? what are you doing..?' I asked Vasila.
She turned around and punched the wall while staring at me, her eyes locked into mine. 'Bow before me. You ask too much question for a weakling..'
The meeting room which we were in was shattered to dust. the impact carried the debris in so much force that whole area was a huge gaping hole, with sawdust and fire.
Her punch disintegrated every particle that stood in her way.
'I didn't become an officer yet because I was born too late. I can only succeed to that position after that old man retires fully.'
Vasila said to me in a deep toned voice, a major shift from what she used to sound like when I had met her.
I kneeled before her and said that I'll never doubt her strength and authority.
My bad. I didn't know people will really get pissed off for asking good questions..
I was going to ask, who would win if she and the higher ranking officers fought in a 1v1 but she already answered it without saying anything.
Vasila forgave me. She's surprisingly understanding.. only if you agreed with her in the first place.
'It's fine. People used to question my power a lot when I was growing up. Besides, I always wanted to destroy that meeting room, anyway.'
She stomped the floor and the fallen weight came flying back up. she wore it on her right arm again and told me to keep walking.
'Old man is going to cut my money for this week.. dang it..' She muttered under her breath but it was loud enough for me to hear.
I didn't say anything but I wanted to laugh but I held it back. She is a ticking nuclear bomb and I don't want to see her explode again.
While we made our way to grounds outside, I saw cadets waiting for me. They put on a restraining cuffs and led me to a hall, which was opposite to the meeting lobby where we had been.
'What's going to happen to me, Vasila..?' I turned around and asked.
'You'll be fine. I'm here. I'll save you if you couldn't take the shock. I'll save you like I always did. Now go on.. Prove your worth to me and join my unit!' Vasila replied with her iron fist pointing at me.
I had tears.