Fifteen minutes had passed since the group left the house, walking in a seemingly straight path to a big white and grey building that could be seen in the distance.From the residential area to the main city new sights could be seen for the country boys.
"Woah! there are so many houses and they are all so big, bigger than our house!"
Kaito kept looking down while walking, ignoring the amusement his brother felt exploring the new city they found themselves in.
Truly the houses were big and spacious,predominantly white with blue or yellow adgecents,making for a magnificent and righteous sight.
"How much do we have to walk?"
"We are almost there dear,is it difficult to walk?Are you still hurting?I can alleviate your pain if you need."
"N-No i'm fine,thank you for earlier"
"You are welcome dear,but I wouldn't have nedd to heal your injuries if someone could be more patient with his students…."
Choo simply ignored this remark, has he knew he could had found a better way to educate Kaito,nevertheless they arrived at their destination,
The building gave a cold and stern feel from its outside,factory and machinery noise could be heard from the inside.
"What is this place uncle?"
"This is the department of research and analysis, where we are going to conduct your preliminary assessment test."
"What is that ?"
"It's a test to gauge and record your personal physical and mental data to assign you a preliminary rank,then we can see what kind of training you need to have."
Sora still had some questions,but a young man dressed on a white coat with glasses came outside the building,took a quick look at the kids and Choo and immediately made his way to greet Gael.
"Good morning Gael! It is a pleasure to see you this early in the day."
"Good morning Doctor Pegassi, the pleasure it's all yours"
"Indeed, so it seems, well then, I believe these are today's subjects the orphan boys…"
"Good morning to you too Pegassi, you are as pleasant as ever."
"Hello there"
Gael stepped in front of Choo and asked if they could get started grabbing Kaitos hand in the process, making him feel a little bit more calmer.
The group entered the building and followed the Doctor and Gael, as he rambled about his new salary and department promotion to her.Until they arrived at a room with a machine that had a bed of sorts in it.
This machine covered the bed and the outsides like a dome would, with wires coming from a screen on the other side of the room that connected to straps and suction cups that laid on the bed.
"Okay! who wants to go first?"A hand proudly invited one of the kids to lay on the bed.
Kaito stepped upfront to be guided inside the machine, the man asked him to remove his shirt and shorts and set it aside, so he could lay on the bed and be strapped to it.
Soon the man connected all the wires to his chest, head, legs and fingers.The cold pins made the young boy shiver.
"Worry not, this won't hurt... i think , i haven't tested this yet"these words did not strike kaito well , as he started to develop a disdain for the humour of this man.
"Dont worry dear, he may not seem like it but he's the best doctor in Dusky,so you are in capable hands."The womans smile made the kid more comfortable as she was there to comfort him.
(Well said Gael!I wanted to punch him , but this will do for now,oh this woman always knows what i'm thinking)Choo sat with Sora on the available chairs near the door and the man could see the concern in the boys eyes.
"You okay kid?"
"Hum...yes uncle"
"I know that look kid, your father had the same eyes when he was worried about something, you can talk, don't be afraid"
"...it's just… that i.. I mean… how are we going to know our ranks?"
"Well it's quite simple actually, you see that machine there?It analyses you physical attributes such as muscle strength and elasticity and other things, I think it sends some impulses or something and they get sent back…"
"I don't understand, well uncle…"
Pegassi was sitting in front of the screen but looked at Sora for a moment then looked back at his graphs.
"Come here kid, let me explain it to you, that man could not comprehend the beauty of the baby i created!"
Sora looked at Choo for approval,but he reluctantly pointed at Pegassi with his head
"...I´m going to explain so you can understand it,this machine can tell me what is the upper limit of a body , it can tell me how fast you can run , how high you can jump, and ranks that and other physical abilities against others in the data base to give a value,but this also scans the brain and the limbo,"
"The limbo?"
"Yeha, listen to me...It scans the brain and limbo to make an assessment of how efficiently you can control your limbo and send it signals from your neurons"
"But... Doctor sir, what is limbo?"Pegassi looked at Choo in disbelief,Cho could only scratch his forehead as a response.
"Oh dear...in simple terms, the limbo is an organ opposite to the heart about the same size,that can store and release matter, what that is depends only on the individual"
"Like uncle can do?"
"Pffft!, more like most of the population can do, albeit others have higher reserves than others and other can make something that others can not."
"S-so… its possible that… like… hum…
"What ?"
"Like..if you can't… like…"
"Like what ? speak clearly kid!"
"S-Sorry!But what if you can't do anything like that what happens?"
"... first, that is unlikely, second, even if you can´t create matter you can always have an affinity for manipulation or even disruption of the bonds that keep them together, in the rare case you can't do one of these three… you'll just be useless in this society."
"...oh I see."Pegassi could see the concern on the kids face, and deep sadness.
"Don´t worry, if you are one of those cases you can just be my test subject!"Sora felt cold hands feeling his small boddy and a shiver ran down his spine.
"Don't get your hopes up pegassi!, and keep your hand to yourself !"Choo got up to check the results on the screen and keep Sora away from the man.
"So how's Kaito coming up?"
"Let me see…''The man typed away on his keyboard,"As far as physical aptitude goes he's way above average for this age,this reminds me a bit of the chars from that boy in your class...what's his name?The one that looks like you?"
"Ikari?"
"Yes that little one,they are similar but i think his where above this by a bit,at least in terms of base readings i can't tell for sure about possible outputs this early on"
(That bastard!i´m going to train hard to crush that smug off his face next time we fight!)Kaito clenched his fists in anger, with made the machine beep in way different from before
Pegassi noted the fluctuation on the reading,and further analysed the graphs.
"Interesting!,it seems that an agitated state decreases the mind body connection , but increases the limbo of mind connection, fascinating !truly fascinating!"Kaito did not understand what that meant but more of that limbo thingy could not be bad could it ?
"Doctor is that a good thing? I can be stronger if I get angry?"
"What?! NO!!! On the contrary, your physical attributes go lower if you get angry, and your limbo connection to your brain is so low that the increase is barely noticeable!"With an amazing opportunity in front of him Pegassi could not pass on trying to try and capture this specimen for a new test, he would lie if he had to, if it meant getting what he wanted.
"But if you stayed here with me i could research how to make the connection more pure and direct and getting angry could boost your attributes, ten..no 20 times more of what they normally would be!"
Kaito would take this opportunity if it meant crushing that white haired kid.
"Really? Will you help me?"Kaito´s words made Choo sad, seeing how quick he was traded for Pegassi.
"Kaito,I will be your teacher, that man will only run tests and tests and you day in and out, and won't teach you real combat skills, which I can teach you,pay no mind to him.(Don't even try to persuade him pegassi!)
"Humm.. okay...Doctor what about that limbo thing i got something right?"
"Oh, that...No!, sorry the results are inconclusive i can't tell what you can possibly do or what your affinities might be..."
"What? Why not??"
Choo faced the doctor and was ready to intervene but was assaulted by thoughts that were not his
("shhh!don't make any remarks Professor! I know you know!,lets keep it between us and the higher ups won't need to know about our little secret.")
("What do you want now pegassi ? i don't have patience for your games")
("meet me in the park after closing ours and well talk")
("...fine")
Gael noticed the upsurge in brain wave activity but decided to remain silent about it.
"Well this is what i can tell you now kid, but don't worry,we´ll find out soon enough!,Now then lets set you brother up next"
Sora was still reluctant to step inside the machine, he was afraid of what the results might be , he was afraid ,because unlike his brother he knew that is physical attributes could not compare, afterall while training with their father he could never even keep up with them not even close,so e feeling of dread rushed his mind.
"Don't worry it will be okay no matter what the result is you always have me to train you!"The man´s smile was not enough to put his worries to rest but the boy stepped in the machine a tad bit more calmer.
Now the only thing he could do was wait...
(Chapter end )