One by one the candidates were guided into the examination room where Ahvra was waiting. What they found depended on who had entered. There had been much debate and a bit of research done on what form she should take, but it had been decided that she should take the form of an adult when dealing with a man and the form of a child when examining a woman. They believed that these forms would offer the most compliance.
The examination consisted of three parts. While the face-value reason of making sure any and all applicants were healthy, and fit for the job, and life in general were true. It was mostly a guise so that Ahvra could gather data. She could have taken her time to examine the new recruits when this was all over, but she had far more willing test subjects this way. Even if they didn’t join, she’d still get whatever data she could from them. It wouldn’t compare to the potential years she may be able to extract if they became members, but she’d take what she could get.
◆Examination 1: Fiend Body Inspector◆
The first examination was a simple one, akin to a physical someone would receive in any doctor’s office. Ahvra took their height and weight, blood pressure, heart rate, temperature, and listened to their lungs. From there, she was a bit more intrusive; measuring the length of each of their limbs and the circumference of their heads, and she also used a scanner to measure their muscle density. She could read their blood flow with her Curse, so no special equipment was required there.
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{No. 118}
The first participant in Ahvra’s playtime strolled through the door with a confident smile on his face. He stood strong, yet with a sense of grace; clearly someone who felt they belonged in higher society. “Of course the spectacular me would get to go first. I’m always burdened with such luck,” he boasted. “I tried to be chivalrous and let some of the fine ladies go first, but everyone was so awestruck as they stared at me that no one could move a muscle. They never even took their eyes off me as I departed.”
Despite all of his boasting, his body was betraying him. From the moment he entered, or more likely since his number was called, he had never stopped nervously shaking. To his credit, he maintained his character throughout the entire examination, but his constant quivering got annoying. Eventually, Ahvra cut off electricity to his nervous system so he couldn’t move for a moment. It was only for a couple seconds, but it was enough to get the precise measurements she needed.
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{No. 121}
She stared at Ahvra with glee the entire time her measurements were taken, entranced by the cute doll that was steadily padding around her and struggling to reach as high as she needed. The choice to have her be a child was already paying off. However, when Ahvra was done, the girl pouted a little. “Oh, are you not going to take my three sizes, y’know, the ones that some boys beg to hear?”
Ahvra did know what she meant, and never understood the absurdity of obsession over them. “Why would I care about them when they’re not even remotely important for my research?” Ahvra replied in her usual monotone.
The young woman seemed appalled for a moment but then smirked again, “Boo, you’re no fun.”
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{No.s 91+92}
For whatever reason, this pair of applicants, assumedly a couple, had demanded to be examined and interviewed together. After some fighting with Deborah, it was eventually allowed under the pretense that if one of them failed, they both failed, to which they happily agreed.
This was causing a bit of a struggle for Ahvra as she ran back and forth between them, repeatedly changing her age. The couple seemed amused by the effort, constantly snickering and whispering amongst themselves.
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{No. 29}
“A decently impressive specimen,” Ahvra noted after she finished her measurements.
“As I should be,” the man responded. “As a mercenary, it would be unfit of me to not be in proper physical condition.”
The following exams proceeded without incident. However, Ahvra couldn’t help but feel something was off about the man. He seemed even more lifeless than she was.
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{No. 1}
“Hmm…” Ahvra groaned as she stared at the results. “Average. Exceedingly average. Suspiciously average.”
“Umm, well I never did stand out much,” the teenage boy laughed nervously.
“Average for a human,” Ahvra glared at him, staring deep into his blood red eyes. “Yet a Lesser… the bottom of the barrel for a Lesser. You’re the least physically fit one here by a lage.”
“Yeah, uhh, the decision for me to come was pretty last minute,” the boy explained. “If I get in, I hope to build up some muscle and stamina pretty quickly. I wouldn’t want to be left behind.”
“You’ll go through hell, that’s certain,” Ahvra was blunt. “I’m begrudgingly approving you for this part since you’re healthy for your age, but if accepted, will have many follow up examinations to monitor your growth. It will be fun to see how a Lesser is molded from the very start.”
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{No. 13}
“Are you okay? Can I get you a sandwich or other sustenance? How about some juice?” Ahvra asked the girl with genuine concern. She surprised herself with what was coming out of her mouth, but somehow every ounce of empathy she possessed was activated when looking at the malnourished girl. Ahvra felt that if she didn’t get some nutrition immediately, the girl may collapse on the spot.
Ahvra had actually received a notice from Deborah just before the girl had entered. Apparently, she had asked to be moved up the list since she didn’t want to wait too long. This genuinely surprised Ahvra even more since Deborah had been promised a bonus from Phon if she didn’t let anyone break the rules.
“No, I’m alright. Please don’t worry about me. This is normal,” the girl insisted. Ahvra hesitantly continued the exam, taking a certain care not to injure her, care that she didn’t give a modicum of to anyone else.
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{No. 53}
“You’re The Witch, right?” the man confirmed as Ahvra examined him, to which she just gave a simple nod. “What’s your criminal score up to these days?”
“No clue,” Ahvra answered immediately. “Such information is useless to me.”
“Right, of course,” the man gave a devilish grin. Ahvra noticed it but chose to ignore it as she continued her work. She was only in charge of physical examinations. Whether or not they were a good, trustworthy, or useful person would be left for the others to decide.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
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{No. 66}
“You’re big,” Ahvra finally uttered after several seconds of staring with her mouth agape, losing all sense of professionalism.
“And you’re small,” the behemoth of a woman chuckled. Somehow, she didn’t seem put off by Ahvra’s obviously rude statement. Nor did she complain when she could barely squeeze through the door, and didn’t flinch as the room shook a bit when she sat down on the exam table.
Ahvra had to assume this was her daily life. Either she’d been a Fiend for quite some time and was used to it, or she had been this way before even becoming a Fiend. Regardless, she was an incredible specimen, and Ahvra was tempted to approve her on the spot for her own selfish research purposes. However, she regrettably didn’t have that kind of authority, but still pondered for a few moments if she could get away with it.
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{No. 167}
This applicant was frustrating in an entirely new way. She insisted that Ahvra’s measurements were off—that her height measurement was too short, and that her weight was too high, demanding to be measured again. After a few more attempts, she brushed it off as the equipment malfunctioning and finally let Ahvra proceed.
When it came time for the more intrusive measurements, she never took her eyes off Ahvra. They’d bulge steadily more and more as Ahvra approached anywhere on her body that could be remotely considered harassment.
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{No. 144}
The measurements on this woman were quite difficult to take due to the bagginess of her clothing. It was difficult to tell exactly where everything was as there were no curves to speak of. She also held a spherical star ornament in her hands the entire time, moving it as needed from one to the other. Ahvra recognized it as the main symbol of one of the major churches that worshiped Cosmos.
“How marvelous,” the woman praised as she was examined. “For one so young to be blessed by Cosmos, you must truly be a child of the heavens.”
Ahvra was put off for a few reasons. One, this woman truly believed she was a child, which she didn’t think actually fooled any of the other girls. Two, her level of religious zealousness was something Avra wasn’t used to. However, she quickly spun that into a positive. Now her ideas were ruminating with all the studies she could do on how religion affected Fiends and humanity as a whole if this woman were to pass.
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{No. 100}
This boy was another frustration for Ahvra, but not because of anything he did. For some reason, whenever she took her eyes off him for even a second, it was like her focus reset. She had to fully relocate the part she was trying to measure and strain her eyes to maintain looking at it.
The whole thing was giving her a migraine which normally only happened when she was massively sleep deprived. Ahvra had taken care to get a few days rest before now, so this kind of thing shouldn’t be happening. When it came time for the more intrusive measurements, she abandoned looking at his physical body altogether and solely looked at his flows. Even then it was difficult.
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{No. 152}
Another problem applicant, but this one was causing Ahvra to have a crisis unlike any other. She could not figure out their gender. No matter how much she examined them, she got no closer to guessing. Their clothing was both gender specific yet ambiguous so it offered no help. They had even greeted her upon entering, but their voice had a neutral tone.
To make it worse, now they were just smiling at her without making a sound. Their face never changed no matter what she did. Ahvra tried changing her age several times to see if there was any reaction to indicate what she should stick with, but she got nothing, not a hint of feedback. Eventually, she gave up and went with her normal child body since it was the most comfortable for her.
Even with that settled, Ahvra never felt relaxed as she continually glanced over at their smile. It was unsettling how perfect it was, how it drew her in, like it was going to eat her alive. Without a doubt, it was the fastest that Ahvra finished her measurements that day.
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{No. 8}
This one didn’t say much at all at first, but as soon as Ahvra started measuring, she felt some pressure on her head. The woman had started caressing the massive bun that contained Ahvra’s hair. After a bit of petting, she dove into it face first and gave it a long drawn out sniff. A few seconds later, she popped back up with a disgusting grin on her face. “I love your hair, can I have some?” She asked with a bit of drool coming out of her mouth now.
Ahvra didn’t even really hesitate. She walked over to a nearby table, cut off a chunk, and handed it to the woman. “I don’t see why not,” Ahvra wasn’t phased. “I wish more people were willing to offer parts of themselves for the interests of others, especially when it will ultimately cost them nothing.” Ahvra’s hair would grow back immediately when she grew again, so it would cost her even less than anyone else.
The woman graciously accepted, running the hair through her fingers. She brought it up to her face, and Ahvra thought she was going to eat it, but she never went quite that far.
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{No. 50}
“About what I’d expect from a retired soldier,” Ahvra stated when she was done with her measurements
“You know I’m a retired soldier?” the man inquired.
“Oh. Sorry.” Ahvra halfheartedly apologized. “Trying to hide it?”
“Not really,” the man relented. “It’s just been a bit since I was in the service, so I’d hoped the stink of the army had washed off from me by now.”
“Then you should change your hair,” Ahvra gave a vain attempt at a laugh. “Your muscle definition gave you away. A bit depleted from lack of use, but the foundation is still there. You’re sitting so stiff and straight too. I could hang a picture on your back.”
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{No. 65}
“Hmmmm,” Ahvra grumbled to herself as she had for the past several minutes, holding the girl’s left arm tight as she glared intensely.
The woman had a twisted face. She was clearly trying to endure it, but was nearing her breaking point. Eventually, she spoke up, “Are you going to be doing that for much longer?”
“This shouldn’t exist,” Ahvra stated directly as she pulled her face closer to the girl.
“What? My arm?” The woman was clearly confused.
“No, your shoulder,” Ahvra corrected. “It’s injured. It shouldn’t be. Fiends do not keep injuries. If you had been injured recently, it would be obvious, but this is old, years old. It should be impossible.”
Ahvra let go of her and began to pace around the room, muttering to herself for a few moments before speaking aloud. “Fiends bodies automatically adjust to what they conceive to be normal. Maybe slightly improved version, but as they see themselves nonetheless. For an injury to exist… it must be your normal. You are the one not letting it heal, because you can not picture yourself without it.”
Ahvra glanced at the girl for confirmation, but she averted her eyes. Her face was telling enough, letting Ahvra know she was onto something. “Speak, did you get that injury before you became a Fiend?” The woman didn’t answer, but her face didn’t change either. “Was it during? Did it happen as you became a Fiend?”
Her face answered before she did, recoiling at what was clearly a bad memory. “Yes,” she admitted painfully.
“Do you want me to fix it?” The girl’s head suddenly whipped to Ahvra when she asked, and surprise lit up her face. “Don’t get me wrong,” Ahvra continued. “I am normally not so generous, but you have given me interesting information, and for that I am willing to help.”
“I can tell you favor your left side, yet you’re restraining yourself from leaning into it because of the injury. You’re weaker now because you only fully use your right arm, yes? To fix you, I’ll have to briefly turn you younger to before you were a Fiend. It won’t revert you back to a human, though. My power isn’t that capable.”
The girl seemed a little disappointed yet still interested. “I would appreciate it, really. What do I need to do?” she asked.
“Nothing, just sit there,” Ahvra instructed her. “What age did you become a Fiend?”
“Umm, 15. I had just recently turned 15,” the woman answered.
“I’ll do 14 to be sure.” Ahvra grabbed onto her hands and focused. The girl shrunk briefly for a moment, only an inch or two, as Ahvra expended more energy than she wanted to today.
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