The final part of the recruitment exam, the last thing stood in Oliver's way before he could become an Investigator. As he sat at the exam table, he couldn't help but feel nervous. Answering questions on an exam wasn't hard, but it was a bit scary. Like at any moment, your answer could completely alter your mark. That uncertainty was what scared him. As he stared at the black screen of the tablet in front of him, he could only wonder what would happen next?

"Stop worrying! You already made it through the physical exam! It's just a few questions before you officially become an operator for F.A.T.E! Lift your head up!" The reflection of him said to cheer him up.

"You're right! I'm definitely going to pass this!" Oliver thought to himself, smiling proudly.

He was a bit concerned that he was mildly hallucinating, but he chalked it up to his exhaustion and paranoia.

Researcher Penelope went around the tables, handing the paper to fill in the questions. Once everyone received their papers, Penelope clapped her hands with a smile.

"Okay everyone, you can begin the exam.... now!" Penelope said over the microphone.

The tablet automatically turned on, impressing Oliver.

"That's so cool!" Oliver said out loud, standing up from his seat.

The people sitting near him turned their heads as if they were judging him.

"This is like normal technology..." the girl in front of him said, raising her eyebrows.

"R- right..." Oliver said, slowly sitting down.

He felt true embarrassment at that moment, to the point he didn't want to answer the exam anymore.

"What the hell am I thinking? You can't give up now!" Oliver thought to himself, slapping himself back to reality.

He turned his attention to the tablet in front of him, and began answering. Part A was extremely simple for Oliver. They were all questions about the history of F.A.T.E and the operators that had left an impact on the world. Part B on the other hand was a bit harder.

"In order, what is the classification of Festers? Easy, base, then advanced, then super, and finally hyper... wait what the hell is this?" Oliver thought to himself as he looked at the next question.

The question pertained to the law known as the "special case" act. Oliver knew general knowledge of this law from the news and online research beforehand, but what stumped him was the type of question asked....

"..."The special case act is designed for Festers who have achieved not only full sentience, but also empathy. All Festers who have gained empathy for Life are protected under this law. In your opinion, should this act be abolished, or sustained?'..."

Reading the question made Oliver ill. "What kind of question is this?" That was what he thought. A law that protected Festers who had gained empathy, in other words Festers who care for human life. He was about to write his answer about abolishing this law, but then he thought about it for a second.

"Festers are evil by nature... at least that's what I've heard. But if they feel bad for doing bad things... what's really the difference between them and humans? Isn't it wrong to abolish a law that protects Festers that are innocent?" Oliver thought to himself.

The question spun around in his head. He didn't know the right answer... was there even a right answer to begin with? All over the news Festers have killed and destroyed human lives, all for the sake of fun... but there's bound to be Festers that don't want to do that too right? And if they are real, they shouldn't be killed just because of something they couldn't control. At least that's what Oliver thought. He didn't know if it was the right answer, or if he'd be in trouble for answering this, but he felt it was the right thing to answer. Pressing the button on top of his pen, he began writing.

"In my opinion, I don't believe that this law should be abolished. While it's true that festers have hurt humanity, but if anyone is able to do good, we should only judge their evil actions, not the fact that they were born evil, even Festers" He didn't know why, but he felt good for writing something like that.

The next few questions were a breeze, it was safe to say that Oliver was feeling quite good about himself. Part C was up next. It was by far the hardest part of the exam. This part of the test evaluated Oliver's critical thinking skills and general knowledge on fundamental concepts such as mathematics and science.

"W- what is the composition of hydrogen peroxide...? When the hell am I going to use this when fighting Festers?!" Oliver thought to himself, visibly frustrated.

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From a few rows behind him, Olivia watched in amusement at her brother's frustration. It was as if watching a cat struggling to catch a laser pointer... at least that's what she thought it looked like. Olivia continued to watch Oliver, trying her best not to die laughing. However, in her enjoyment, she had completely forgotten to answer the rest of her exam. Although considering she had answered most of the questions flawlessly, she couldn't care less.

Oliver finally managed to answer every question in part C as best as he could. All that was left now was part D. A single question. But it would be the part that completely broke Oliver. One simple question, something a grade schooler could answer in a split second. A free mark. But to Oliver, it was as if he was told to answer the Reimann hypothesis.

"What is your goal in life?"

Such an open ended question, that even if he lied, he would've ended the exam right then and there. But he couldn't come up with anything. Nothing at all. Oliver looked around him, seeing half of the exam hall already finished answering. The ones who hadn't finished were stuck on Part C. In this room, filled with a hundred or more people, he was the only one stuck on his specific question. Oliver turned back to the tablet, and in the corner of his eye, he noticed his hands were trembling.

"No... this should be easy right? Just answer it. Just answer it damnit! You can lie! Just say what you've always said!" Oliver thought to himself.

"What... I've always said? Oh right... I've been in this situation before..."

[7 years ago]

Oliver sat beside his sister and Aunt as his homeroom teacher began looking through some papers.

"Yes miss Rand... um... I'm concerned by your nephew's answer to his 'my dreams' assignment..." the teacher said, adjusting his glasses.

She turned to Oliver with a raised eyebrow before turning back to the teacher.

"Did he say he wanted to become a serial killer?" His aunt asked.

"Of course not!" His teacher said, rather shocked by her answer.

"Then what's the problem? Did he say he wanted to become an influencer? Geez, let him do whatever he wants, it's his life..." His aunt said, sighing.

"No... I wouldn't really mind if he wanted to become an influencer or anything at all... what I'm concerned about is... he didn't write anything" his homeroom teacher said.

His aunt turned to Oliver looking worried. It was as if she was both confused, but also scared for him. The teacher tried to reassure his aunt by suggesting that Oliver might've just forgotten to write anything since he spends most of his time reading instead of paying attention in class.

"Oliver... is this true?" His aunt asked.

Even at that age, Oliver could tell how a person was feeling, and what to say at that moment to avoid any conflict. All he had to do was nod his head and look embarrassed.

"Y- yes... I'm sorry auntie... are you mad at me?" Oliver asked, sounding rather innocent.

His aunt felt a sigh of relief. While this did confirm to his aunt that he doesn't pay attention in class, she felt less mad than she would've been if she had learned that fact on its own. Like telling your parents you got a DUI but then revealing to them you actually failed your math test.

"Well I guess that clears this fiasco up huh? I'm sorry for bothering you on your day off, miss Rand" Oliver's homeroom teacher said.

"It's fine, if it's regarding my niece and nephew, I'd drop anything" Oliver's aunt said, smiling.

"That's amazing to hear... well then Oliver, since you couldn't finish this assignment, consider this as homework. Please hand it in tomorrow, or else I'll deduct a star from your 'good student' chart" his homeroom teacher said, handing the worksheet to his aunt.

"W- what! No, please don't take a star away!" Oliver said, sounding rather panicked.

"Then you have to send it in. Also don't think too hard about it. Just write whatever your dreams are. Even if it's a single sentence, or word, I'll accept it" his homeroom teacher reminded.

One word... one sentence... that stumped Oliver.

That night, Oliver sat at his desk, trying to come up with an idea. No matter how much he thought, how many times he erased, he couldn't think of anything. Olivia was watching him struggle when she decided to confront him.

"You lied just now, didn't you?" Olivia asked.

"What? No I didn't!" Oliver said, angrily.

"Don't lie! Auntie said liars get their tongues cut off!" Olivia said.

"I didn't lie!" Oliver said defensively.

"Did to! You didn't forget to do it, you couldn't do it! I saw you that day, and you were just sitting there staring at the paper!" Olivia responded.

"W- what? No... no I... no I didn't...." Oliver said, looking away from her.

Olivia pouted before looking away as well.

"Are you really that stupid that you can't answer that question?" Olivia said, boastfully.

Oliver gripped the hem of his shirt as he looked down.

"I'm not stupid... I just... I just don't know what to write about..." Oliver responded.

"Huh? What's so hard? Just write about wanting to be something cool! Like an athlete, or like a fire fighter or something! This assignment was so easy, but because you're so dumb, you bothered auntie!" Olivia said.

Hearing her say those words made him very upset.

"That's easy for you to say, because you're good at everything!" Oliver shouted as he began to cry a bit.

Olivia's face turned from boastful superiority, to guilty embarrassment.

"W- what do you mean?" Olivia said, fidgeting with her hair.

"... you're so good at everything. Everyone calls you a prodigy, they all think you're amazing... but then look at me. I'm not good at anything..." Olivia said, curling up into a ball.

"H- hey that's not true, there are things you're good at!" Olivia said, stroking his back.

"But there isn't... I can do some things, but I'm not good at anything..." Oliver said.

Olivia was silent for a moment before laying her head against his shoulder.

"Well... that isn't bad. I mean, you don't have to be good at anything you know..." Olivia said, making circles on the ground.

"But I can't write about that... teacher wants me to write about my dreams... not something to make myself feel better" Oliver said in response.

Olivia thought for a second, before looking at Oliver.

"Then if you don't have your own dreams... why not protect the dreams of others?" Olivia suggested.

Oliver was confused by her statement, but it strangely made sense to him.

"Protect everyone's dream... that sounds good.... that sounds really cool actually!" Oliver said, immediately cheering up.

Noticing her brother's happiness made Olivia happy too. But for the sake of her pride, she couldn't show it.

"Ugh finally you're not moody! Go finish the assignment, it's almost our bedtime!" Olivia said.

Oliver quickly ran to his desk

and began writing.

"I want to be someone, that protects other people's dreams"