Rose stood at the center of the testing field, her eyes slowly moving over the space around her. The ground beneath her feet looked dry and cracked, stretching across an empty landscape that felt abandoned. It would have been a wasteland if not for the four towering walls that surrounded her. They rose high into the air, smooth and completely transparent.
Beyond the glasslike barrier, she could see Director Nate Buckley and Ms. Hale observing from a secure platform. Their figures were small behind the thick walls, but Rose didn't miss the contrast in their expressions. Ms. Hale looked tense. Nate looked calm.
"This is the Talent Exam," Ms. Hale said. Her voice echoed from hidden speakers above Rose. "If you pass, you will be accepted as a student here in the Dark Central Academy. There are three parts in total. If you succeed in at least one, you will be considered for admission."
Rose listened without moving.
"According to your file, your talent is superhuman strength," Ms. Hale continued. "So first, you will have to prove it."
As soon as the words left her mouth, the ground in front of Rose opened with a burst of steam. A heavy metal sphere rose up from beneath the platform. It was almost twice her height and covered in thick plates that reflected the bright stadium lights.
"That sphere weighs thirty tons. An average student with super strength can lift it without difficulty. If you can…"
Ms. Hale didn't finish.
Rose had already placed her hands on the metal. Her fingers sank slightly into its surface as she lifted it off the ground with a calm, effortless motion, no strain, no hesitation and no sound came from her throat. Her face remained blank as if she were lifting nothing heavier than a school bag, Rose has lifted more than this thanks to her training with Mr Flowers.
Ms. Hale froze.
In the next second, Rose tossed the sphere upward and caught it with one hand. She held it there for a moment, studying it without emotion. Then she threw it in the direction of the platform where Nate and Ms. Hale stood.
The metal ball struck the transparent wall with a deafening crash. The barrier rippled like a shield hit by a wave. The impact sent vibrations through the entire field. The sphere bounced backward and rolled across the ground with a violent shudder before settling.
Ms. Hale stumbled back in shock, a hand pressed to her chest. If the wall hadn't been reinforced, she would have been crushed.
Rose didn't look at her. She simply lowered her hand and waited.
Ms. Hale quickly checked her tablet with trembling fingers. "Strength confirmed," she murmured, ticking the box. "She does have a talent."
Nate, however, did not move at all. His expression didn't shift. It was as if he had expected that result from the beginning, instead he wanted to confirm something else.
Ms. Hale looked at him carefully. "Sir, she clearly possesses a talent. Should we conclude today's exam here?"
"No," Nate answered.
His eyes stayed fixed on Rose, sharp and curious. "I want to see more. The report mentions regeneration as well. I want to see if that is true."
Ms. Hale drew in a steady breath. "Okay, sir. How many of them should I release?"
"How many are the default?" Nate asked.
"One, sir," Hale replied. She reached toward the control panel, where a green and a red button glowed side by side.
"The red button," Nate said.
"Sir?" Hale froze.
"The red button should be pushed," he repeated.
"But all of them will come out. They'll kill her. Not even the top ten could survive that," Hale warned.
Nate said nothing. His silence spoke louder than any explanation. There was something he wanted to confirm, something that wasn't regeneration, something buried in her file, and he needed to know whether Mr. Flowers was right about her.
Ms. Hale swallowed hard. Tension tightened her shoulders as she stepped closer to the microphone.
"One more exam," she said. Her voice was steady but held a quiet strain. "This final test will determine your fate. If you survive it, you will not only be accepted into the academy, you will be one of the top ten."
There was a pause, a long heavy silence, because no one in the academy's history had ever passed this test, not once, not because it was difficult, but because every student who tried died.
Ms. Hale's hand hovered over the red button. Her fingers trembled. She looked toward the Director for one last chance to protest, but his expression did not change. That was enough.
She pressed it.
A deep mechanical click echoed through the arena.
The ground stayed still for a moment, almost too still, then the earth split in several thin cracks.
Something crawled out.
At first, Rose thought they were people, shapes shaped like humans, staggering forward. But as they pushed fully into the light, she saw them clearly.
They had no eyes.
No nose.
Only a massive, gaping mouth that stretched from cheek to cheek, filled with jagged teeth. Their skin was gray and sunken, pulsing like something rotten. Their movements were jerky, wrong, like puppets being pulled by invisible strings.
They were called Viruses.
Creatures born during the unknown blast that reshaped the world decades ago.
The explosion didn't just alter human genes, it woke something else. A sickness that spread like fire across the planet. Humans, animals, even plants, everything living became a host.
First came the fever, then the panic, and finally the screaming.
Lockdowns began. Entire cities went silent, smothered by fear. Scientists searched desperately for a cure, but none existed. The virus only grew stronger, mutating into the creatures now crawling toward Rose, things that no longer remembered being human.
It was the closest humanity had ever come to a true apocalypse.
Eventually, a scientist discovered a way not to cure the disease, but to protect the unaffected: an immunity drug, something temporary yet powerful enough to hold the virus back. They also discovered its weakness too, electricity. It didn't kill the virus, but it stunned it long enough to fight back.
When the world finally began to rebuild, another surprise came.
Children born after the blast weren't normal.
They carried altered genes, talents. Strength, regeneration, fire, lightning, telekinesis and so on. Powers that defied everything humans knew.
And with power came fear.
People believed these gifted children were the next stage of the virus. They wanted to eliminate them, wipe them out before another disaster could begin.
Until one woman stood against the entire world.
She proved the children were not monsters, but humanity's best chance for survival. She demanded that instead of killing them, the world should train them, sharpen them, prepare them for whatever threat would come next.
That belief created the academy Rose now stood inside.
And now, in the center of the transparent-walled arena, with the Director watching silently and the Viruses crawling toward her, Rose was being tested the same way countless others had been.
Only one question remained.
Would she survive what no one else ever had? Well the answer was because Rose has something inside of her that could wipe them all.