When the boy finally woke up, he found himself on another bed. This time, however, he was aware of its inner machinations as he confidently poked it and observed similar characteristics to his previous bed. He wasn't in an uncharacteristically large room this time but found himself in a room with about nine other boys and girls still asleep in their beds.
There were ten beds in this room, five on two opposite sides in the room. Space separated the groups of five beds with small lanterns hanging on the wall between the beds, where there was also a small table with water and flowers.
An adult was currently placing a blanket atop the child opposite to him, who quickly noticed his consciousness.
She spoke with slight surprise, seeing he was already awake. "Ah, number 854, you made an excellent impression on the minister. Please follow me."
The lady proceeded to help the boy out of his bed and proceeded to walk towards the door. Only now did the boy notice that each child had a number written on their forehead. So he reached up to feel his forehead, but it felt completely normal and smooth as if nothing was ever there.
The lady noticed his actions and reassured him, "Only you children and the people here can see the numbers written on your forehead."
She swiftly opened the door and gently closed it behind them as they walked towards a spiral staircase.
The boy kept looking around and noticed the stone bricks covering the wall with some dirt pieces on the floor. There were lanterns on the bricks similar to the ones he saw in the bedroom. Each lantern was evenly spaced and beamed on both sides of the hallway. He determined he was probably underground, so he didn't bother asking the lady. While the boy continued examining every detail of the hallway, the two approached the stairs together.
Each step was short but long, and the staircase seemed to go up and down. Taking one step at a time at a medium pace, the two climbed the stairs towards where the boy presumed was the minister.
After walking about the full circle around the spiral stairs, the boy saw an entrance leading to a hallway. It was nearly identical to the one he was just in, having a singular ornate door at the end.
The second opening was also a hallway, but the door was much grander. It looked exactly like the door from the large room the boy first woke up in but similar to last time, the boy's curiosity continued to wander without asking anything of the lady walking beside him.
Time wandered as they passed the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth openings. Each one had the same large door he remembered when he woke up in the grand room. He was curious as to why they built so many different rooms, but his curiosity continued to wander around without questioning one thing for too long.
The two then slowed down as they approached the seventh opening, and this time there was a much longer hallway with ornate doors to the sides that contained small windows too high up for the boy to see inside. They walked down the hallway as the boy continuously observed minute details of every little thing they passed by.
When they reached the end, he faced a simple wooden door, sorely out of place compared to the rest of the doors. Through large cracks on the sides of the door, light illuminated a small portion of the hallway.
The lady gently spoke, "You should close your eyes before we head out."
Then she opened the door while holding the child's hand, as the sunlight temporarily blinded the boy. As they kept walking, he slowly opened his eyes and saw men with spears standing outside. He turned around and saw a massive tower that he had just come out of with two more armed men standing at the entrance.
The boy then looked at the nearby buildings as they left the premises and walked along a gravel road. There was a large variety of houses, some made of stone, some made of wood, and he even saw one sculpted out of the dirt. In the distance, he saw a marble building that stood out like a sore thumb.
The lady spoke, "This is the town of Strom, where you were born."
The boy uttered a single word as though he felt meaning held inside it.
"Strom…"
The lady smiled as they walked toward the marble building. Behind them, two armed men followed, but they hid their footsteps well enough for the boy not to notice them, despite his wandering curiosity.
When they finally reached the structure, a lofty older man just walked outside the entrance, with another two armed guards standing outside, one man and one woman. The guards' clothes were much darker than the other guards he saw, with their weapons much sharper.
"Ah, you've brought him, Lucile. I was just about to come over and speak to him."
"He woke up much sooner than I expected, so I figured I'd walk him to save you the trouble."
The two wore bright smiles, and both looked at the boy, who now felt pressured by their gazes.
"H-hi."
The man laughed and spoke proudly.
"Come in, little one. We have a lot to talk about."
The three walked inside together as Lucile stepped inside a nearby doorway. Her absence left the boy and the man to walk together.
"Ah, I never introduced myself."
The man looked at the boy, "You may call me Komptan, and what should I call you?"
The boy thought a little before speaking, "Lucy called me Number 854, but I want to be called Lavitz."
Komptan let out a laugh as they continued down the hallway.
"Lavitz is it? Tell me about yourself."
"I'm turning eight today, and my name is Lavitz, and"
His voice trailed off as he couldn't remember anything else.
"Don't worry. Most people don't even remember their age."
Komptan and Lavitz reached a door to their right as Komptan began to open it, "Why don't I remember anything?" Lavitz stared at Komptan with both fear and confusion.
"I will answer your questions inside, have a seat."
Lavitz walked towards a seat and looked around the room, finding neatly drawn maps, a bookshelf, and a desk.
Komptan sat behind the desk and spoke regarding the boy's question.
"Three days before we turn eight, everyone is taken into an elaborate test to determine their capabilities. There are five kinds of tests, and you took the fourth one, the investigation test. When we take these tests, we first wipe the memory of the participant--"
"Why?" Lavitz interjected.
"Well, we can only wipe someone's memory once with our technology, so you can think of it as a safety measure because now that we've done it, it can't happen again. It strengthens your mind in a way and also decreases bias in the test. It is a neat system which has been in place for centuries."
"Hm…" Lavitz wasn't satisfied, but he saw no point in defying tradition.
Komptan pulled up a sheet of paper that was lying on the desk.
"According to our records, you will turn eight years old in approximately 2 minutes, so if you could quickly step inside the chamber over there, we will finish in no time."
Komptan pointed to a black cylinder tucked in a corner.
"First, we will test your aptitude."