Abigail moved a token between her fingers. It shone with a radiant light that illuminated the otherwise dark room. She could’ve turned on the lights, but the darkness helped her focus. The room was empty either way, but the darkness helped her forget all the other people in the building. She focused on the dozens of worries bouncing in her head. Would she do well on the trial? Was it going to be violent? Her mother had mentioned that her trial had been at a war scene, and she had needed to kill a few people in it. Abigail didn’t think that she could kill someone. Despite her family’s best attempts, she couldn’t get used to the sight of blood.

That was the main reason she had delayed taking the trial. There was a very real chance that she would fail the trial if it wanted her to kill someone. If it was a matter of self-preservation, she thought that she could do it. But she knew that there was no real danger in the trials. Dying was just a failure, and even if she failed, it wasn’t the end of the world. She had been given one of the best educations available, and she could handle almost any job. Not passing the trial would affect her pay, but her family had more than enough money to throw at her, in that situation.

Well, she was nineteen now, and there wouldn’t be another chance. It was going to be awkward enough as it was. She was sure she would be one of the oldest students at any academy. Her heartbeat picked up at the very idea of someone bringing up her age. She could lie, and say she was seventeen or eighteen. She looked young for her age, at only 162 centimeters (5ft 4in), she was well below the average height. Even within her family, she was considered short. And she had her parents to thank for her height and appearance.

Her family was mixed too, her mother was from an eastern region with narrow eyes and short hair that was dark like the night. She was short too only a centimeter or two taller than Abigail herself. On the other hand, her father was tall and had long blond locks and blue eyes that were purer than water. Her family didn’t use cybernetics to enhance their appearance either, or she inherited their qualities. She had long blond hair that was tied into a braid and wrapped around her neck like a necklace. Her eyes were narrower than her fathers, but not quite as sharp as her mother's. Although Abigail had adopted her mother’s dark brown eyes. The combination of her hair and eyes made her stand out, but it was her mother’s youthful features that made Abigail seem far younger than she was. Some of her fifteen-year-old cousins had looked older than her.

The token in her hand was blinding now, and her vision was sprinkled with dots as she glanced at it. She blinked to clear the dots. In one blink she was staring into an empty black stone room, that was given strange shadows by the token. The next, she was sitting in a chair in the middle of a storm. Rain crashed into the ground and drenched her in an instant. She had been wearing a riding uniform that had a lot of leather straps to hold things like weapons, water bottles, and other generic tools. It wasn’t something she liked wearing since all the leather made it feel a little weird. Her sisters had drilled into her mind how it made the boys notice her, and she couldn’t help but grimace a little at the memory.

She looked around, hoping that she was alone. It was strange to be worried about leering eyes in the middle of a chaotic storm and her trial, but she couldn’t help it. She was blessedly alone. All around her was grassland, tall enough to brush against her knees. Which it did, hard enough for her to feel it through her padded leather pants. The storm’s winds tossed small pieces of the grass into the air, and a wall of rain blocked everything beyond a hundred meters. The clouds cast the world in a dim light, and she struggled to further than fifty or sixty meters. There was nothing other than grass. After confirming that fact another two times, she checked the message that was trying to edge its way into her vision. She had heard too many stories of people failing their trial due to some surprise attack while the person was reading the message.

Hello! Welcome to the Greater Connection. This is your first Trial of Evolution, please try your best, this is your opportunity to raise your grade and become something more.

Continue…

That was a more friendly introduction than she was led to expect. Her parents certainly hadn’t mentioned being greeted or encouraged. Although, they had taken the trial over three decades ago. They probably just forgot. She focused on the prompt and let the message progress.

Name: Abigail Kaminari

Home World: Moon X23

Grade: F

Rank: N/A

Physical Grade: 0.0

  Strength: 0.0

  Dexterity: 0.0

  Speed: 0.0

Mental Grade: 0.0

  Reflexes: 0.0

  Intuition: 0.0

  Fortitude: 0.0

Gift Grade: N/A

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Recognitions: None

Continue…

She didn’t bother checking her status. Everyone knew what to expect for the start of the trial, and she just continued the dialogue until the actual trial revealed itself.

First Mission: Solve the Puzzle of Storms

  Bonus: Collect more than one thousand pieces

The wind shifted, and rain smacked straight into her head. She smiled widely, spitting a little as her mouth filled with some water. As it was, she couldn’t know if the water was safe to drink. Plus, she had brought her own bottle, and would only consider drinking the rain after that was empty. The mission was far better than she was expecting. A puzzle wouldn’t involve killing someone, right?

She did look around a little fearfully though. Based on the description of the mission, the storm would stick around until she finished the puzzle. It also sounded like there wasn’t a set number of pieces. She didn’t quite understand how a puzzle could have a variable number of pieces. The storm was thick and violent, and the rain made it impossible to search further than a few feet at a time. She couldn’t even be sure if there were buildings.

A particularly strong shift in the wind slammed against her, and she tumbled forward. Her knees scraped against the ground, and mud smeared her pants. Thankfully they had been brown already, but she didn’t like the sticky feeling that the mud added. Despite the fall, she was smiling. So close to the ground, she could actually look into the grass a little. Her hands had pressed some blades flat, and she could make out a white misshapen piece of metal. It was partly stuck into the dirt and had an odd bulge. She had found her puzzle piece.

She reached out to pick it up, but another gust of wind pushed her away. The thick grass cushioned her back as she rolled backward. Then the world flashed white. The air around her heated quickly and singed her skin. Her eyes burned, and her brain was slow in processing what had happened. Understanding came too late and the roaring sound of thunder shattered her eardrums. She couldn’t help but shriek, but she couldn’t hear her own voice anymore. Only felt her yells vibrating within her head. Her hands moved to cover her ears, though she needed to move them when she felt blood begin to pool inside.

Panic came first, and she thrashed in the mud and grass. The burning smell of the grass around her came second to the pain in her ears. Remembering all the things she had taken, she scrambled for her packs, mud now covered most of her clothes and equipment. Her hands dumped most of the contents onto the ground, but she paused as her hands wrapped around a rectangular metal box. The size and shape would’ve been perfect for cigars. Instead, her case had several nano-med shots in them. Five metal tubes fit perfectly into the case, and she quickly pulled one out. Without hesitation, she plunged one of the metal tubes into her side. A needle popped out of one end of the device and easily pierced through her skin and clothes. With how much her skin felt burned, the needle went in without notice.

Relief fell upon her like the rain. The pain all across her body diminished as the painkiller aspect of the medicine took effect. It was too slow though. Her vision and hearing were still… broken, as far as she could tell. Her hands scrambled for another of the metal tubes. She had brought five in with her, and she might not even need another dosage. Maybe if she gave it enough time the meds might be able to heal the rest. A surge of pain as she tried to open her eyes, made her decision for her.

The second needle was more noticeable as she stuck it to the side of her neck. The location didn’t matter that much, but it helped. She didn’t inject it into her cheek. It would probably be more effective that way, but she didn’t like the idea of needles any wear near her face. Even after almost getting blasted by lightning, that idea bothered her more.

This dose finished off what the previous had failed to get to. Her senses returned to her in a rush, and she had to cover her ears to suppress the roaring wind and thunder. Storms were loud! It shouldn’t have surprised her, but it did. And her fresh eardrums were sensitive. Her eyes had a much better time. Her sight returned to a dim light that barely managed to pierce the storm clouds. The occasional flash of lightning only slightly illuminated the world around her.

The healing was done, but her sensitive skin and senses made the rain feel like hail. She turned onto her back, letting her hair shield her face from the falling water. It would take a few minutes for her body to adjust to healing, and more importantly, she needed to deal with the extra dose. The medicine burned a body's nutrients and calories. Two doses back-to-back would kill a woman with an empty stomach. Her stomach wasn’t empty before, but it sure felt like it was now.

She reached for one of her bottles and flinched as the metal exterior of the bottle was hot. It didn’t burn her or anything, but it was hot enough to make the drink inside disgustingly warm. It was a highly nutritious and dense smoothie. Not a drink that was meant to be drunk hot. She still did. It was gross.

“I want to go home.”

The words came out, but they were swallowed by the storm. Not to mention that they didn’t do anything. It wasn’t a way out. Or some magical exit phrase. It wasn’t even a part of the interface. No, it was the petulant desire of a child who didn’t enjoy pain, even if her family had prepared her for it. She let out a groan and rolled over. She propped herself up and stared at a patch of charred grass. Not a lot of the grass was burned. That felt wrong considering how much of her skin had been burned. Maybe, the grass wasn’t very burnable. In the darkness of the storm, she was able to notice the light on the ground more clearly. The puzzle piece from earlier stood out like a tiny star. She opened the notice.

First Mission: Solve the Puzzle of Storms

Well, the name fit. She stared at the glowing white piece and hesitated. Her gaze drifted up, and she used her hand to block the rain. It didn’t seem like lightning would strike again. She didn’t take the risk. Instead, she walked away from the piece.

“Nine. Ten.”

She counted ten steps, before turning and facing the puzzle piece in the distance. It was still visible with the way it glowed. In fact, she could see other glowing pieces scattered in the space around her. There were a lot of pieces. She had an idea though and reached into another of her many pockets. She pulled out a toy. It was something she had made a long time ago. More than all of her talent and training, it was this little toy that truly filled her with her pride. Normally, she just kept it with her as a lucky charm. Now it had some use.

The toy in question was like one of those stretchy sticky hand things that kids got in happy meals. She had smacked her father with it so much, that he had actually banned the toy from the entire world altogether. Rather than giving up, she had created this. A flexible aluminum metal hand was attached to a long multi-segmented wire. It worked pretty simply too. Just throw the handout and squeeze the wire. The hand would close or adhere to whatever it was touching. Her father had been so proud of her for it. He even let her smack him with the new toy, even though it had probably been a lot more annoying.

Her lips curved into a slight smile, as she attempted to throw the hand at the puzzle piece. She missed. She tried again and missed again. After a few more attempts, she took a few steps forward. This time it made contact, and she pulled and squeezed on the wire. The hand snapped back to her; the puzzle piece stuck to the hand perfectly. She triumphantly held the piece in front of her face while doing a little dance in celebration. It had worked. Her toy had been the solution. Not her years of training and study. The rain drenched her clothes, and the thunder rocked her ears. Even still, she danced to the music of the storm.