The Annual Matocaphy Test assessed everyone on 3 attributes- Physical ability, mental ability and technical skills. Failure in a single category results in failure in the test as a whole. Everyone must take this test at the young age of 13.

At the end of every year, the entire nation of Matocaphy comes together at The Colosseum to view the results of the Test on Test Results Day. It was a day of hardship. A day of fear. A day where terrified students witnessed the fruit of their labour.

The citizens of Matocaphy made their way to The Colosseum. A giant structure in the middle of the nation, famed for its grandeur and humongous size. It was here that the student’s results were announced, and for that reason, it was fittingly named “The Site of Judgement”.

Of these citizens was a single mother with 2 twins, M01 and F02, who were heading towards the Colosseum.

‘M01. Stop moving and just walk straight.’ said the mother of two. Immediately, he complies. He looked up and stared at his mother’s emotionless face. This was not out of the ordinary. It was the only face he’d ever seen on his mother. However her orders were absolute, and so, the little child held onto the mother’s hand, firmly. Her shows of love were absent, but she was the only person he’d ever known.

They made it to the Colosseum. As they entered, F02 suddenly stopped.

‘Mother, I don’t want to go.’, she whimpered.

The mother looked down upon her. She showed no sign of empathy, no care for her daughter and with no hesitation, she simply stated, ‘You’re going.’

The daughter nodded as she had done so many times before.

Mother cares about me. I have to go because she thinks this is right for me.

The three walked into the Colosseum and took their seats. No matter how many times they had been here, they still could not get used to the unnerving size of the place. Yet, it was all in complete darkness. All, except the circular stage that lay at the base of the auditorium. It was the centre of attention. The most important object in the room. Worst of all, it was where every citizen of Matocaphy had once faced their judgement.

The twins sat in discomfort. Test Results Day was a horrifying occasion where people met their grim fates. Neither of them wanted to sit and watch.. But who were they to question their mother?

Suddenly, A man walked up on the stage, with a microphone in his hand. He was a man who everyone knew all too well. The epitome of the human race. A culmination of the greatest qualities of every man to ever exist. The Perfect Human. Z1.

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‘Welcome to the 23rd Test Results Day. The students this year have been.. Disappointing. To say the least. Although we began with celebrations for every previous year.. I don’t see the performance this year as worthy of such festivities.’

M01 and F02 looked on, terrified at the figure. Every time they saw him, they feared the man. Yet, this year, something felt even more daunting. It was as if the man had flipped a switch in his head. As if he had been controlling his innermost demons up till now. That today, they were going to experience a terrible act of destruction.

‘The success rate this year is 32%. Of a total of 2300 students, 736 were good enough to pass.’

M01 and F02 wanted to leave. The door was only a few steps away, and their mother was old. They could easily outrun her. But who were they to defy their mother? Even if they had to sit through so many deaths.. They would do so if it meant obeying her.

The man took an uncomfortably long moment of silence.

‘Student A001. Walk up to the stage.’

A young child in a dark suit steps out of the darkness and onto the stage. Every single stride he took was marked with hesitation to take the next. His face, which had been looking down until now, slowly takes a look at The Perfect Man. He stared into those dark eyes. Utterly horrified by this being who he had never seen, who now had so much power over his entire existence.

‘Fail.’

A gunshot suddenly pierces the student’s heart. With pinpoint accuracy, yet nobody could see where it came from. As it had been so for every single student that has been shot on this stage.

M01 and F02 looked in horror.

‘Mom.. Let’s leave. Please.. I don’t want to stay here anymore-’

As F02 was expressing her discomfort. The Perfect Man suddenly broke character.

‘For all those children in the audience. Don’t be scared. This is just how the world works. People who don’t work hard enough are eventually going to be weeded out. Hard work and pressure create diamonds. All of this is normal and it is needed. As long as you pass, you can transform into the greatest version of yourself.’

He walks up to the student, who lies dead on the floor.

‘This.’ he squats down, grabs the student's blood-stained head that was previously hidden, and hangs it so that everyone can see his lifeless face.

‘This is a corpse. When we tested him, he was alive, and well. He knew that he was eventually going to be tested. Did he work hard..? I think we all know the answer. So. We all expected him to perform. And he didn’t. How can we rely on him in the future?’

Gossip spreads in the audience. The Perfect Man was respected because of his high status. However, up until now.. He had been rather respectful towards all those who had failed. It was as if they were seeing a new side of him.

‘If he was never going to contribute. Never going to live up to what we expect of him. Then why should we waste resources on him when he will never give in return anything of equal value? His corpse is as useful as his living self.’ he said.

Nobody says a word. This was the reality they lived in. The Perfect Man’s words were absolute. This is what they believed. That the man spoke with the most refined logic, and following him was the path to humanity’s greatness. No matter how bloody the path may be.

‘Mom.. that kid.. he has a mother.. right?’, M01 asked his mother.

‘Yes. He does. And she is in the audience.’

‘Why won’t the mother say anything?’, he questioned.

‘Because she failed as a mother. She has no time to feel bad for her son.. What is the point of that? All that she must do now is to make sure that she never produces such a failure again.’

A silence follows.

‘Am I a failure..?’ M01 asked his mother.

‘No. Every year, I bring you here to see what will happen if you fail. You are scared of what will happen if you do, right?’

‘Yes.’, said M01.

‘So. Don’t fail. I will not cry if you do, but I will be ecstatic if you succeed.’ said his mother.

M01 felt at ease. F02 however, had different thoughts.

Mother doesn’t care about me. She doesn’t. She won’t cry if I die. So she doesn’t care about me. If mother doesn’t care.. Then.. Why have I been listening to her.. This whole time..