◆Examination 3: Compliance and Gullibility◆
The last exam was a simple one, and the applicants didn’t really need to do anything but roll up their sleeves. However, to Ahvra’s dismay, they all felt the need to ask the same stupid question when a pointy object started coming their way. ‘Uhh, what’s that?’ It was always a variation of that, some more or less polite.
“It’s a Fiend detector,” Ahvra explained countless times. She was holding an injector with two vials attached. One had a slightly foggy but mostly clear liquid inside of it, the other vial was empty. “This serum will measure your resistances and will prove that you are a Fiend based on the result. If you’re a Fiend, you’ll barely wince. If you’re a Lesser, your arm will hurt like hell for a moment, and you won’t be able to hide it. And if you’re a human… you’ll die. As for the other vial, I’m taking a blood sample.”
Ahvra was lying about the death part. It wouldn’t actually kill a human, but would probably cripple them in pain for a minute. The serum was just designed to stimulate the pain receptors of the nervous system based on a human’s resistance, and Ahvra would monitor the reaction with her Curse. It was a modified version of an old Drazah torture serum that had been diluted to only last a few moments. Most of them shut up after that and accepted it, but a few had more questions or tried to get out of it.
----------------------------------------
{No. 121; Vain / Trying to flirt?}
“Usually I make someone take me out to dinner first before I even let them think about pricking me…” the girl snickered. “But since you’re so adorable, I’ll make an exception.” She wasn’t wearing sleeves but she compliantly held out her arm.
----------------------------------------
{No. 50; Humble / Stiff Ex-Soldier}
“Can’t be anything worse than the military pumped into me over the years,” the man sighed slightly before rolling up his sleeve.
----------------------------------------
{No. 65; Capable Despite Appearance / Formerly Injured. Fiend Anomaly}
“Do I have to?” The woman inquired, clearly in distress.
“Yes, it is a requirement if you want to continue,” Ahvra wasn’t allowing any concessions.
“Uhh, not that. The shot’s fine, I guess,” the girl corrected. “It’s just… does it have to be my arm?
“I could jab it into your neck, I suppose,” Ahvra offered. “But I wouldn’t recommend it. It’ll hurt—”
She didn’t get a chance to finish before the woman had eagerly pulled at her collar to better expose her neck.
----------------------------------------
{No. 29; Needs Annoyingly Specific Instruction / Dead inside?}
“As you command.” This man who seemed to live off orders was the easiest of the bunch, giving absolutely no resistance or hesitation.
----------------------------------------
{No. 8; Likes Hair A Lot / Likes Hair}
The woman didn’t react at all when informed about the shot. Instead she just continued to stare at the hair in her hands. Somehow, though, her own hair that had been covering her shoulders seemed to slip away in acceptance without the woman moving at all.
----------------------------------------
{No. 53; Likes Money. Mumbles / Asks dumb questions}
“Hmm…” the man grumbled at the idea for a few minutes, clearly weighing his options. “If that’s what it takes to get an audience with them, I accept.”
----------------------------------------
{No. 118; Secret Power? / Full of Himself. Stop Shaking}
There were no objections on the boy’s part, but Ahvra had to once again disable his nervous system so she could get the needle in his veins. Otherwise, she would have had to stab him a dozen times over to get a proper injection.
----------------------------------------
{No. 144; Religion is Powerful? / Very Religious. Bad sense of age.}
The woman said nothing for a while, but Ahvra could sense her hostility. Eventually, she relented. “I would never let anything tamper with the body Cosmos gave me, but I sense no impurities, so you may proceed.” However, before Ahvra could continue further she interjected again. “As part of my beliefs, I do not raise or remove my clothing. If you wouldn’t mind, please… please stab through the cloth into my arm.
Normally, this would negate the sterilization of an injection, but Ahvra figured it wouldn’t matter since she was a Fiend and accepted her request. Luckily, the needle wasn’t too big and the hole it left would likely be easy to repair, though the material of the woman’s clothing seemed unique.
----------------------------------------
{No.s 91+92; Very Annoying. Bad At Instructions / Annoying Couple}
“Oh, can I do it?” the woman pleaded. “I can’t bear anyone harming my darling but me.”
“Neither can I,” the man avowed. “Please let me do it. I must make sure my love only receives the tenderest touch.”
Ahvra was appalled by this display, but accepted nonetheless. Anything to get this pair out of her sight whom made her internally vomit every few seconds.
----------------------------------------
{No. 100; Eyes Playing Tricks / Hard to Pin Down}
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Ahvra was tempted to break out some straps for this one, but instead used her full physical strength for once. She grabbed the boy's arm tightly, refusing to take her eyes off his flowing veins for even a moment as she tried to inject him. It took a few tries, but that’s how it had to be so her concentration wasn’t broken.
----------------------------------------
{No. 13; Patheticness is Corrupting Me / Needs Help. Might Die}
The girl protested, then she protested some more, but Ahvra wasn’t having it. Enough concessions had already been given, and this was the one thing Ahvra wasn’t going to break on; at least, until the needle was just about to pierce the girl’s skin and Ahvra made the mistake of looking at the girl’s eyes and the pitiful expression on her face.
Next thing she knew, Ahvra had thrown the injector to the ground, smashing it. “You may proceed,” Ahvra couldn’t stop herself from saying. She began dejectedly sweeping up the broken bits as the girl left the room.
----------------------------------------
{No. 89; Shifty. Thief?}
“So blood’s worth something to you, huh?” the man smirked at the idea of his bargaining chip. “Tell you what, I’ll let you take a full pint for let’s say… a measly grand.”
“Done,” Ahvra agreed without hesitation, pulling out her Common Card and transferring the money before he could reconsider. Even though it was an easy chunk of cash for him, he had a sour look on his face, likely annoyed that he could have bargained for more.
----------------------------------------
{No. 152; Smile Haunts Me / Don’t Like. Causes Stress}
Just like the other exams, the genderless one continued to smile through it all. “Please, allow me,” they said, referring to rolling up their own sleeve. However, something was off about it, so very off that Ahvra’s emotions started to swell in her small body for reasons she couldn’t ascertain.
The applicant slid their sleeve up slowly, but it was also somehow sensual and seductive, like Ahvra was watching a striptease and the urge to look away was spiking every second. Trying to get a read on them, Ahvra looked at their face, expecting it to be a fruitless endeavor. But their eyes were wide open for the first time since entering the room.
Ahvra immediately became entranced, her eyes now being guided by the applicant’s. They were following exactly where they were drawn to, and Ahvra couldn’t bear the stimuli. Eventually, it became too much, and her face flushed red. Her body forcibly jumped to an adult as she hid her blushing cheeks.
----------------------------------------
{No. 66; Too Strong / Big Woman}
“Oops, sorry ‘bout that,” the big woman apologized as some droplets dripped to the floor. She had reflexively flexed her arm when she was jabbed, causing the needle to snap from the sheer force alone. Ahvra wasn’t strong enough to disable this woman’s full nervous system like she had with the shaking boy due to the overwhelming size, but she could incapacitate her arm for a short period of time.
----------------------------------------
{No. 167; No Self-Accountability / Deluded)
“Oh no, absolutely not. This is a violation of my personal rights!” the woman refused before Ahvra could even finish explaining. “I will not let anything be injected into my body without knowing exactly what’s in it.”
“Okay,” was all Ahvra replied before turning around and poking at a tablet for a moment. She then handed the tablet over to the woman. “There’s the full workup of the serum.”
The woman barely glanced at the list, half-heartedly reading it before she started stammering, “Bu-but how can you expect anyone to understand this? It’s just nonsense ingredients that no actual person would get. You could be lying to me anyways. Where’s the testing, huh? Do you have proof it's safe, have there been trials?!”
“Okay,” Ahvra shortly spoke again. She took back the tablet, fumbled through it a bit longer, and then handed it back once more. “Here’s the certificate of approval from the Central Peace’s Board of Medical Advancement.” Ahvra had submitted the serum a few weeks ago, as she did for any of the medical discoveries she made that weren’t confidential.
Like Nathym, she felt no need to not share the information. Once she had the data, more often than not it was useless to her, and it may as well benefit humanity if it could.
The woman was baffled at this, refusing to say anything for several moments as her eyes glazed over while she feigned staring at the tablet. Eventually, she entered pure denial. “How am I supposed to believe this? You’re a Fiend, and you’re part of a criminal organization! How could I trust anything you say?! Just let me speak to someone in charge. I’m sure I can make them see reason on how ridiculous this is!”
“Nope,” Ahvra gave her blunt answer as she took back the tablet and set it aside. “You’ve failed, please leave.”
“What?! I’ve failed?! How dare you!” the woman raged into a tizzy. “Just because I won’t take your stupid shot! What kind of scam is this?! I demand to speak to someone in charge right now. I’ll have you out on your ass missy, even if you are just a child. What were they thinking anyways, letting a child run this?! Deluded I tell you. I’ll get this place running right, just you see. Now go get someone!”
“No,” Avhra’s monotone voice somehow grew colder. “Leave. I will not ask you again.”
“Such an insolent child!” The woman fumed. “I’m not leaving this room until I can speak to whoever’s in charge. The Drazah’s right? I’ll make them understand.” She then crossed her arms and legs and began pouting unceasingly.
Ahvra shrugged and then calmly walked to the door and opened it. The woman watched her, a smug smile drawing across her face, thinking she’d won. A few confused eyes stared into the room since a new number hadn’t been called. The woman also grew confused when Ahvra didn’t leave the room. Instead, Ahvra then walked over to one of the counters and pressed a button. These counters were specially made to electromagnetically lock everything in place when needed, in case such an event like this were to occur.
Ahvra then picked up her broom. What she really wanted to do to this obstinate incessant mawhging idiot was turn her into a baby and punt her out of the room into the crowd. However, that would leave the woman naked and exposed when she turned back into an adult. Ahvra could also use her marginally superior Fiend strength to shove her out, but was opposed to the idea of grappling with her.
Instead, she’d use the more fun but exhausting way. Ahvra swished her broom through the air, creating a gust of wind which she amplified with her Curse. It nearly blew the woman over on the table, but it didn’t do much else. Ahvra made another gust, and then another, swinging her broom wildly until gale force winds were bursting out of the room.
The woman did her best to hold onto the table, stubborn even now. When her clothes began to lift however, her modesty took over. As she went to grab them and hold them in place, the wind caught her, and she soared out of the room and into the crowd. Before she could regain her composure, she found herself teleported outside of the compound’s gate, and a butler was already chucking her luggage over the wall.
----------------------------------------
{No. 1; Useless Data / Suspiciously Average}
“I’m human!” the boy screamed when the needle lightly brushed his skin. Ahvra had wondered how long this charade was going to last. She’d guessed as much from the first exam but wasn’t going to call it out in case it was an anomaly. The further tests just proved as much, but she wanted him to admit it himself.
“Woah, really?” she feigned surprise as unenthusiastically as possible. “That’s fine. I’m not going to disqualify you for it. It’s not my place.” The boy was still calming down from shock and now even more surprised at her words. “But I’m obligated to inform them. If you can convince them to let you in otherwise, it will be your own doing.”
----------------------------------------