The political loyalty test room carried an air of solemnity that inspired both awe and intimidation in Shon.

Gigantic pillars in the corners of the room propped up a domed ceiling almost three floors high. There were no other windows in the room except the gigantic skylights on the roof, which were covered partially to direct beams of sunlight toward the center of the room.

Shon took a seat in the center. In front of him were three examiners, two Valerian and one Fraxian. Around him sat many observers whose faces were covered. They were there to record the tiniest movements that Shon would make.

“Candidate, I believe you are familiar with the rules. We will ask you a few questions. All you need to do is to answer truthfully. Lying would result in immediate disqualification,” said the Valerian examiner in the center.

“Please be reminded that a Fraxian Truthsayer will be observing you today,” said the other Valerian examiner.

Shon looked at the Fraxian examiner. She must be the Truthsayer. Truthsayers were Fraxians with an extremely heightened sense of thermal perception. Heavily trained in behavioral psychology, they could deduce whether someone is truthful through the tiniest change in body temperature or the heat flow from an accelerating heart rate. The Truthsayer right here was also wearing some additional Thermotech gadgets, likely to aid her perception.

However, the Truthsayer wasn’t the only answer to truth, because that meant giving too much power to a single Fraxian. Shon could also feel the heavy thermal-reactive gas pressing against his skin.

“In addition, please be reminded that the room is filled with thermal-reactive gas. Please do not be alarmed by the ensuing chemical reaction.”

Thermal manipulation was as much a strength as it was a weakness for Fraxians. A Fraxian would betray their emotions by involuntarily altering the temperature of their surroundings.

The thermal-reactive gas filling the testing room would change color from a temperature shift of a fraction of a degree. Although academy-trained Fraxians like Shon could conceal temperature swings from an ordinary Valerian, it would be near impossible to hide them from the detection of the thermal-reactive gas.

This, combined with the Truthsayer, meant that Shon had no other options.

He must tell the truth.

Shon sat down slowly and took a deep breath, slowing his heartbeat and regulating his body temperature.

The exam began with simple questions to establish a behavioral baseline, like asking for Shon’s name and city of birth. Shon was disturbed by how the observers around him were rapidly taking notes on his intonation, microexpressions, and body movement, even when he wasn’t speaking. He felt like a circus animal like one of those Fraxians put on a freakshow display back in the Gloom Centuries days.

Shon noticed the air around him slowly turning to a pale, translucent yellow. He quickly pulled away from these angry thoughts and focused on the present. The air gradually cooled down again, and the yellow tint was gone.

However, the cooling did not stop. At the sight of the thermal-reactive gas changing color, Shon began worrying about getting disqualified for the exam. The more he tried not to worry, the worse the worry grew, developing into fear and anxiety.

The air around Shon chilled more. A light cyan hue began permeating the air.

“Candidate, please do not worry too much about the thermal-reactive gas.”

The Fraxian Truthsayer spoke gently with a warm and soothing voice. If it wasn’t for the serious demeanor and solemn outfit, Shon was sure she would be a personable woman outside the Exam.

“The changing colors will not disqualify you,” she continued. “Most candidates, including many Stormrunners in the past, had triggered the gas. It’s completely normal.”

Somehow, simply by speaking, the Truthsayer felt a lot more human to Shon. At her reassurance, Shon calmed down. The air around him went back to normal.

However, just like in a sandstorm, the sudden calm typically indicated much more violent chaos ahead.

“So tell me, Shon,” the center examiner spoke. “Your mother is an immigrant from the Bastion Empire, is that right?”

Shon nodded slowly. He could feel himself sweating a little. The air turned to a very light hue of blue, representing uneasiness. Seeing no reaction from the examiners, he spoke out aloud.

“Yes, that is correct.”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“And for your deceased father, was he also a Bastion immigrant?”

“Yes.”

The examiners paused a little. Shon felt the uneasy silence. The air turned a little more blue.

“What were your parents’ occupations in the Bastion Empire?”

“My mom was a schoolteacher. My dad was a desk clerk. That’s all they told me.”

The two Valerian examiners shot a look at the Truthsayer. She nodded her head. Seeing that, they proceeded to question.

“Why have they not spoken more about the Bastion?” asked the left-side examiner.

Shon hesitated. Back when he was a kid, whenever he had returned home bruised and defeated, he would beg his parents to tell stories about the Bastion Empire, where there were no Valerian bullies, and where Fraxian kids would be the center of attention for all schoolteachers.

However, every time he wanted to hear these stories, his parents would smoothly change the subject. Sometimes when he pressed too hard, his sister would shush and reprimand him.

Only after Shon grew up did he understand how intricate this subject was.

“I don’t know. I guess my parents didn’t like their time there.”

The air remained in the same hue, signaling no temperature changes from Shon. The Truthsayer also nodded her head.

The two Valerian examiners seemed skeptical, but they decided to move on.

“As a Fraxian now, what do you think of the Bastion Empire?”

This question was venturing into dangerous territory. Public narratives around the Bastion Empire always resembled carefully constructed propaganda.

“I think the Bastion Empire is a dictatorship and therefore an enemy of the Republic of Valeria,” Shon replied slowly, carefully picking his words.

“I am not asking for facts. I am asking for your opinion, specifically your opinion as a Fraxian.”

The question of the Fraxian identity was unavoidable. Shon wished he had Zora’s eloquence, so perhaps he could mask his thoughts with some flowery rhetorics. However, all that Shon could do was to expose his naked mind.

“I believe that the existence of the Bastion Empire harms the Fraxians.”

The air immediately shifted color, turning from the earlier blue to a mustard yellow. The examiners immediately became alarmed. They looked at the Truthsayer. This time, the Truthsayer did not nod her head.

“Candidate, if you are omitting some thoughts, this is your last chance to express them. Next time, omission would be seen as a lie.”

Shon’s heart pounded profusely. The truth was, that Shon saw the Bastion Empire as a distant homeland. In principle, Shon disagreed with the Bastion’s military dictatorship. However, despite the Bastion’s rough history of conflicts with Valeria, and despite the alleged conspiracy theories that they were controlling the sandstorms, the sole idea of a Fraxian nation was enough to fascinate Shon.

Demonstrating curiosity of the Bastion would be career suicide, but lying to the Truthsayer would be no better.

“I believe Bastion Empire’s dictatorship and wars hurt all Fraxians.”

That was true. Whenever Valeria had conflicts with the Bastion, the Valerians always took out their anger on the Fraxians. There were countless lynchings, race riots, and burnt neighborhoods.

As Shon finished speaking, the air gradually faded back to its translucent color. After a few more seconds that felt like forever, the Truthsayer nodded her head.

However, the Valerian examiners did not want to let Shon off the hook so easily.

“Please elaborate more.”

Shon carefully treaded through this minefield of a question, stepping through every word with the utmost caution.

“I dream of a world where Fraxian kids could grow up, finding role models around them in the Republic of Valeria instead of hearsay from the Bastion Empire.”

The two Valerians considered this response. Finally, they decided to proceed after the nod from the Truthsayer.

“Do you believe that the Bastion Empire caused the storms?”

This was another tough question. Because the Fraxians had the ability of thermal transfer, there had long been conspiracies about the sandstorms being a weapon of the Bastion Empire. However, assuming thermal transfer was powerful enough to manipulate the climate was simply outrageous.

However, Shon was not sure he should just reject this claim. Although the Valerian government never publicly accused the Bastion, they made ambiguous jabs here and there.

“From what I know of Fraxian biology, even a thousand Fraxians cannot create a storm. But from what I know of the Bastion Empire, they would not hesitate to weaponize the storms if they know how.”

The examiners pressed on.

“Then how do you explain the fact that disproportionately more Valerians die in storms than Fraxians?”

This was tricky. The factual response was that Fraxians had superior abilities in thermal perception. The truthful response was that Shon believed that the storms were a retribution against Valerian oppression. However, a test of politics was no police for facts or truth.

“I wish that innocent Valerians are spared, but a storm is indifferent to who we are and what we want.”

To Shon’s relief, the Truthsayer nodded her head, and the examiners considered his answers satisfactory.

What a close call.

After a few more questions on the Bastion Empire, the examiners seemed to finally be convinced that Shon’s loyalty lay with Valeria. However, Shon saw a bleak future. Even if he were to become a Stormrunner, his family’s past in the Bastion Empire would forever be branded in him, becoming a burden heavier than the weight of his orange eyes.

As the test drew to a close, the examiners threw out the toughest question.

“Do you think the people of our nation deserve more than the life they have now?”

For this question, a wrong response meant not only failing the exam but also going to prison.

If Shon answered yes, it could be seen that he was criticizing the government for not doing enough for the people. It was in no Fraxian’s place to assume that he enjoyed the same freedom of speech as a Valerian. Worse, he could be imprisoned for suggesting usurpation.

However, if he answered no, he would be suggesting that the people deserved a brutal life amidst the storms, an idea antithetical to the tenet of Stormrunners. He would be committing treason, as the storms were the biggest enemy of the Republic of Valeria.

In all honesty, Shon wasn’t even sure of his own opinions. In a world of meaningless, unpredictable deaths, believing anyone “deserved” anything would be a futile attempt to impose manmade rules on an apathetic nature that arbitrarily picked her victims.

“If they deserve better, then may I bring them there. If they deserve their lives right now, then may I protect them with my own.”

The Truthsayer nodded her head. The Valerian examiners looked satisfied. The political loyalty test concluded.