*beep* *beep* *beep*
“I don’t want to get up though.”
In the early morning, in a small and unknown city nestled in America, Reed woke up. He fell right back asleep. It was early morning after all, and waking up early sucks ass. His blankets were cozy, and his mattress was soft. He had all the reason in the world to lay in bed all day.
“Wake the fuck up, bitch!”
Underneath his covers Reed twitched. It was his sister, Amelia.
“But I don’t want to get up! Leave me be.” Reed moaned back.
“Wake up before I beat you up!”
At this Reed reluctantly woke up. He was going to get up anyway, Amelia just gave him more of a reason to. After all, today was an incredibly important day in his life. Today is the day he gets his aptitude test, and has his potential assigned by the government.
It is the year 2078, in order to maximize economic efficiency, the government takes direct control of the futures of its citizens. Everyone, upon graduating highschool, is required to take the government supervised aptitude test. Depending on how you do you are placed in a rank from A to F, with A being the highest. The higher your letter the more lucrative a job you could get.
“Amelia, what time do I have to take you to school?”
“Um… In about fifteen minutes? Hurry your ass up!”
“Jeez so rude. I’ll be ready, don't worry.”
Reed wasn’t the type to care about his future. As long as he makes a living, and as long as he can have free time, he’s fine with anything.
But.
‘Isn’t it boring, being average?’ Reed thought to himself. ‘Isn’t it tiring to live an unexciting life, and die in a boring way?’ Reed silently steeled himself to do his best on the test. After all, though he may be fine with just enough, isn’t aiming that low just boring?
*Thump*
Reed rolled out of bed and began his morning routine.
“So Reed, are you nervous about your test?”
As Reed exited his room, his mom spoke to him from down the hall.
“Well, yeah I am. I mean, it’ll determine my future. Of course I’d be worried”
He was worried. He had no idea what he wanted to do with the rest of his life.
“Well good luck on the test! I hope it goes well for you.”
Reed smiled softly. He loved his parents. His mom and dad were both decently high ranked, and have rankings of C and B respectively. Because of this he had a very kind childhood.
“Mom, what do you think I’ll score?” Reed asked.
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“Honey, I’m not going to be disappointed in you no matter what you score.” Scolded his mom.
“Thanks mom. I just wanted to know how well you think I can do. Encourage me!”
“Here.” Reed’s mom came over and handed him a bag. “It’s for lunch after the test. I spread some N*tella on the sandwich. You’re only allowed to eat it after the test! That’s your encouragement.”
Reed smiled, embarrassed, and hugged his mother.
“I love you mom, see you later.” Reed let go and walked to the front door. “Amelia, get out here we’re leaving!”
____________________________________________________________________________
“Amelia, how well do you think I can do on the test?” Reed asked.
The two were currently driving to drop Amelia off at school.
“I don’t know. You got pretty good grades, nearly top of the school. You also spend so much time studying, so I think you’ll do fine.”
Feeling a little guilty, Reed smiled slightly at her comment. Reed actually never studied. He used studying as an excuse to not be bothered in the afternoon.
“Oh, we’re here. See you later Amelia.” Slowing down the car, Reed waved goodbye to Amelia as she got out of the car.
“Yup. Don’t be a disappointment, asshole.”
“Heh, thanks, I’ll try not to be.”
Watching her meet up with her friends at the front of the school, Reed sighed.
“Fuck me, why the hell do I have to decide my future today. God knows what I want to do for the rest of my life. It would’ve been less stressful if they just chose for me. If they want to limit my choices just go all the way dammit.”
Making his way to the test center felt like the longest car trip in Reed’s life. Even longer than that one 13 hour trip to visit his Grandparents. What should he choose? Will he be able to choose? Should he botch it on purpose so he doesn’t even get a choice?
“No. Botching the test… That would hurt my family too much. Ugh, I’ll just do my best on the test and go from there.”
In no time at all, he made it to the test facility. Looking at the entrance, it seemed to be heavily guarded. Cameras, metal detectors, military personnel, it had it all. It was a bit intimidating. Seemingly undaunted, Reed stepped up and showed his identification.
“Unranked Civilian, 18 year old Reed Chambers. I’m here for my aptitude test.”
“Ah you’re a little early. Please deposit all your belongings here and step into the waiting room.” The attendant at the entrance seemed friendly enough.
“Got it. Thanks.” Reed stepped past and went through all the required procedures. “Ugh I hope I don’t have to wait for long.” He mumbled.
The waiting room was an enclosed space, with enough chairs for ten people. The chairs all faced a wall with a white screen pulled down, one that was used for projections.
“Looks like they’re going to give us a presentation of some sort?” Annoying. It sounded pretty boring.
A few of the chairs already had people in them. ‘Probably other people taking the test.’ Reed thought. After a few minutes the rest of the chairs filled up, and a woman in a military uniform walked in.
“Alright everyone sit down and stay seated! Welcome to the aptitude test. Today you’re going to find out where you’re going in the future. However, before you get started taking the test you all have to go through a mandatory briefing. First let’s start by asking a few questions. Can anyone tell me why the government makes everyone take the aptitude test?”
“Um is it because it increases the efficiency of the economy?” One of the kids in the room asked.
“Well, you’re half right and half wrong.” The woman replied. “The primary reason is to figure out which people can be thrown away with minimal losses.” The room fell quiet.
The silence in the room seemed very loud. ‘What the hell is she talking about?’ Reed thought. ‘This is bizarre, there’s no way the government just throws people away.’ A cold sweat ran down Reed’s back.
“In the year 2042 Earth made contact with extraterrestrials. Against our hopes, they were hostile. Human kind had to put our differences aside and work together in order to protect our world. When I talk about throwing people away, I mean sending them to fight that war.”
The room erupted in chaos. People were freaking out.
“Aliens? But we never heard about that! This is bullshit!” Someone with noticeably red hair in the room screamed.
“Of course not. If we told the general public about this chaos would break out. In fact, among those who have aptitude tests, only a small portion are privy to this knowledge. You have all been deemed as those with possible high level talents. Whether in sports, school, or otherwise all of you have shown an impressive performance. Rest assured unless the government was extremely wrong with their prediction of your talents, you are not required to fight on the front lines of this war. However, after taking the aptitude test you will be required to choose a position in the military to serve for a period of three years.”
“Fuck! What horse shit.” The red-haired guy said.
The room descended into chaos again. Some people were crying, some people were unbelieving, and one was quiet. Reed was silent in thought. ‘Extraterrestrials? This actually…’ He grinned, ‘sounds really fucking fun.’ Reed was excited. A war? Aliens? This was a lot.
“Listen up!” The woman shouted, causing the room to quiet down. “Calm down and focus. If you do well on the aptitude test you might even be scouted as one of the Players! This may not mean much to you now, but I guarantee you will regret passing up the opportunity to become one! Players are people that surpass human limits using technology we copied from the Extraterrestrials we fought. More on that after the test. Now! The test is separated into three different sections. First is the written portion, to measure your basic knowledge you learned in highschool. Second in the physical test. In this test we will test your body’s physical endurance, strength, and speed. Third is the mental test. Yes it sounds similar to the knowledge test, but make no mistake it is very different. It will test your pain tolerance and control over your emotions.”
This was a lot to take in. Everything was moving so fast, however, Reed couldn’t wait. He wanted to start the test immediately and find out more about this war. He could feel it in his bones. He has been waiting for this opportunity. Surpassing human limits? Yes please. It was time for him to start actually trying.