A red light bulb appeared above my head and lit up my surroundings slowly. Glass chambers surrounded the room filled with ominous liquids and objects. Some of the chambers contained brains, corpses, blood, and animal remains.

“This is something...” I thought to myself, kinda creep out.

The light continued to reveal the room and I could see the dirty white walls stained with dry blood. I could see the rest of the agents spread out across the room and Luke standing in the center next to a giant device. It looked like an hourglass without any sand and connected from the floor to the ceiling.

“It seems like everyone is here. Wonderful.” Luke stated. “The operator test will consist of three sections in alphabetical order from a to c.” Luke finished.

“Wait. Where the hell are we? This place is… different.” Zero yelled.

“Hahaha. I wouldn’t expect you out of everyone to feel creeped out. This is still a simulation but it’s a representation of a place where our queen went into hiding when she was younger.” Luke responded.

“I never said I was creeped out. More like inspiration.” Zero said with pride.

Everyone looked at him in disgust and an awkward silence entered the room.

“Ahem. Anyways, part a will test how well you all can maintain your aura over a period of time. This device next to me is called the rampart which will determine your results. All you guys have to do is place your hand on the scanner and let the machine do the rest.” Luke stated.

“What are the rankings of the results?” Isabel asked.

“Good question. The ranking from highest to lowest is S, A, B and C. We will go in alphabetical order by last name to test each of you.” Luke said while looking around the room.

“Shoot, I don’t want to go first!” Isabel thought while shaking a little.

“Isabel, you are up first.” Luke stated.

Isabel walked awkwardly to the center of the room and stood in front of the rampart device. She placed her hand on the scanner and the device began to fill with a cyan aura. It almost reached to the top of the device while making an eerie sound and stopping. Luke looked at the screen next to him then looked at Isabel

“Impressive Isabel, you achieved an ‘B’ rank. Congratulations.” He stated out loud.

Everyone awed in shock and clapped for her as she walked back to her spot.

“I wonder if she is pretending to be weak.” Lilac thought while looking at Isabel.

“Jenna, you are up next.” Luke stated.

“Oh yeah, my time to shine.” She said while walking up confidently to the machine. She placed her hand on the scanner and the device began to fill with black and red aura. It passed Isabel’s mark but still didn’t reach the top of the device.

“Jenna took the lead. But you still achieved an ‘A’ rank.” Luke said excitedly.

Everyone clapped as she walked back with a huge smile on her face to her spot.

“Jenna did amazing. I hope I could do just as well.” Naomi thought.

“Mordecai, you are up next.”

I walked up to the machine and placed it on the scanner. The device did not react at all and I started to feel embarrassed.

“You remember how to release your aura?” Luke asked me.

I looked around and whispers filled the air of my failure but I didn’t care enough.

“Is he trolling or is he actually that weak?” Zero asked.

“I just woke up from a hospital so cut me some slack.” I said while walking away.

“Well, you hate to see it. You achieved a “C” rank.” Luke stated.

“Haha, Scrub.” Zero said as I walked past him.

I ignored him just so I wouldn't end up punching him in the face. But, this part of the exam made me realize something.

“If I don’t learn to use my aura, I might fail the exam. Then the queen might kick me out of the city.” I thought.

“Zero, it is your turn.” Luke stated.

“Let me show what power looks like.” Zero said as he walked pridefully to the machine. He placed his hand on the scanner and the tube slowly filled with black aura. However, it did not reach even close to halfway point before stopping.

“Wow, that’s embarrassing. But, it is more than Mordecai. You achieved a ‘C’ rank.” Luke stated.

“The machine is broken or something. Get it fixed.” Zero said as he kicked it and walked away.

“Pathetic.” I said as he walked past me.

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“You’re one to talk.” He barked back.

“Lilac, please step up.” Luke stated.

Lilac walked up silently to the center and placed her hand on the scanner. A light purple aura filled the device immediately to the top.

“You achieved rank ‘S’, Lilac” Luke stated after looking at the result screen.

Lilac walked away in a humble state back to her spot while everyone clapped.

“My partner is so cool!” Yoru thought.

“Yoru, let’s see what you got.” Luke stated.

Yoru vibed over to the device and placed his hand on the scanner. A blue aura filled the device nearly to the top but was just a little short.

“Aw, almost to the top. You received an ‘A’ rank.” Luke stated.

“Perfect!” Yoru replied as he walked back to his spot.

“I hate when he holds back. He just wants me to have all the attention.” Lilac thought while crossing her arms.

“I bet I pissed Lilac off. Now I'm not going to hear the end of it.” Yoru thought while smiling.

“Two more people left. Valery, it is your turn.” Luke stated.

Valery walked up to the machine quietly and placed her hand on the scanner. Yellow aura slowly filled the device barely making it halfway.

“Hm, well you’re rank is —“ Luke stated.

“Shut up, I’m not done!” Valery interrupted as the yellow aura reached to the top. Everyones’ eyes widened at her results and began to clap.

“Just who the hell is that girl?” Lilac thought.

Luke stood speechless at the result screen while Valery pridefully walked away. “No wonder she was able to survive Dove’s rage.” Luke thought.

“Attagirl.” Zero thought as she went back to her spot.

“Ahem. Naomi, you’re up.” Luke stated.

Naomi nervously walked towards the device and placed her hand on the scanner. White aura steadily filled the device and reached the halfway point.

“Not bad, you achieved a “B” rank.” Luke stated as she walked back.

“Whew, I tried my best!” Naomi though while sighing.

“Naomi did great. I just have to remember what she taught me and I could do this.” I thought.

“Alright, part a is done. You will now be transported to part b!” Luke said.

The lights slowly turned off and I was soon alone with my own thoughts in complete darkness.

“This is the perfect chance for me to release my aura while no one is around.” I thought.

I started to channel my aura to my hand just like Naomi taught me slowly. I felt a channel of energy flow from my heart to my hand and watched my purple aura slowly form. The purple aura flowed off my hand and created a figure of a boy. Black sneakers started to form along with his black clothes filled with blood stains. His purple eyes were the last thing to form and they locked onto me quickly.

“Who are you?” I asked as we both stared at each other. The figure started to talk but no words came out of his mouth. “Can you hear me?” I said while waving my hand. I watched as the boy started to cry while scratching his arms excessively. His nails pierced through his skin violently and ripped from each scratch he made.

The aura leaked from his body and he slowly started to fade into the darkness. A yellow light bulb appeared above my head and slowly started to light up the room. Windows appeared on my left showcasing the darkness I was just in. The light filled the rest of the room showcasing a regular school classroom but it was completely empty. I found myself standing in the center of the room and looked towards the right where I found the door. Suddenly, a white light appeared on my left and Naomi appeared inside the classroom.

“Oh, I’m safe.That darkness started to scare me.” She said with a sigh of relief.

“Wait. Why are you in here?” I asked.

“I don’t know. I’m just glad I’m out of the darkness.” She said while stretching.

“I don’t know where we are. Any ideas?” I asked.

“No idea.” She said while shaking her head.

“Naomi!” A faint scream came outside the classroom and Naomi looked over but saw nothing but darkness. “That sounds like..” Naomi thought.

On the other end, Jenna was banging on the door of the classroom.

“There’s no use. They can’t hear us.” Isabel said while leaning against the wall. “I just want to make sure they’re okay. This morning has been stressful.” Jenna responded while walking towards the center. She leaned on the wall next to Isabel and sighed.

“What do we think we’re going to do?”

“Patience is key, we just have to wait and find out.” Isabel stated.

“Hello operators. Welcome to the second part of the simulation. Luke has left and I will be your new supervisor.” A female voice stated in a monotone voice. Jenna jumped in excitement and clapped her hands.

“Finally, some action!”

“In this exercise, you will be tasked with a very straightforward plan. As you can see, each of you are teamed up with your roommates. Allow me to name the teams. Team 1: Yoru and Lilac.” Yoru stood in front of the door while Lilac remained in the back. She was sitting on a flower petal floating in the air. Yoru looked over to Lilac across the room and nodded at her.

“Couldn’t ask for a better partner.” She smiled and nodded in agreement. “Let’s get the job done.” She said.

“Team 2: Jenna and Isabel.” Isabel summoned her bow while Jenna started to stretch.

“We got this Jenna!” Isabel exclaimed. Jenna cracked her back before turning around and nodding to Isabel.

“Let’s do our best.” She replied.

“Team 3: Mordecai and Naomi.” Naomi tapped my shoulder and I turned around to face her.

“I’m really nervous so please take care of me.” She said while bowing.

“C’mon, don’t bow. We’re equals.” I said. She looked up surprised as I gently grabbed her shoulder.

“Let’s do what we can, yeah?” I finished. She smiled and nodded in agreement.

“I’ll do what I can. By the way, do you remember how to fight?” Naomi asked.

I slowly surrounded my body with purple aura and clenched my fist.

“When my life is on the line, I’ll manage.” I replied.

“Team 4: Zero and Valery.” Zero kicked the door as soon as his name was announced.

“Why the hell are we announced last? We are the superior team!” He yelled. Valery hugged him from behind and started to calm him down.

“Shhh Zero. We’ll show them who they’re messing with.” He grabbed her hand gently and kissed it.

“Aren’t you a charmer?” She said while blushing.

“You’re the only one that can calm me down.” He said with an evil grin on his face.

“In this simulation, there are two halls: red and blue. The red hall will test your fighting abilities while the blue hall will test your intelligence.. Once you reach the blue hall, you must simply locate a golden door. First team to find this door will earn a bonus into the final phase of the exam. The rest will be decided by the admins of this simulation.”

The doors in everyones’ room opened as she finished the sentence.

“Good luck.” The announcer finished and the four teams set off into the second phase of the exam.