Jake stopped his pen at the two-and-a-half-hour mark and calmly raised his hand.
'Another break?' One of the invigilators thought that Jake had already taken 2 of the allocated amount.
"Yes?" The invigilator stepped forward.
"I'm done. May I leave now?" Jake asked the invigilator who looked stumped at Jake.
"What! You're done?" The invigilator quickly walked forward, going through Jake's papers filled with answers.
As the invigilator went through each paper, not a single question was left blank and though he just went through each question quickly, he could tell they were all correct.
"So, can I leave?" Jake's question broke the invigilators out of their stupor as they all turned towards him.
They quickly turned professional, securing the papers before allowing Jake to leave the office.
'That was easy enough. I'm surprised they remained that calm.' Jake spoke to the Atlas as he walked through the hallway.
(True, if it were anyone else they would have gone crazy.)
"Kid?" A man's voice forced Jake to turn around toward the receptionist area.
The mayor Cohen stood with a coffee in his hand and looked to have been chatting with Martha.
"What's wrong, don't tell me you quit?" Cohen looked worried for Jake.
"Oh it's nothing like that Mayor, I just finished a bit early." Jake responded earning a look from Cohen saying that he did not believe him.
Just then, Cohen received a call informing him of the exam's end. Cohen stared in amazement at Jake before shaking his hand.
"If you pass that paper, I'll give you a strong position to work here, hell if you don't want to, I'll personally write an approval form for you myself for any of your future employees."
"Thank you, Mayor." Jake nodded his head.
"Of course, now, do you need a lift back to your home, I can arrange transport for you." Cohen offered Jake a lift home.
"Thank you for the offer Mayor, but my mother will be here to pick me up soon." Jake declined Cohen's offer.
"Alright then, good luck Jake." Cohen bid Jake farewell as Jake left the borough out onto the busy street.
'Haaaah.' Jake stretched his neck and back before taking a seat on a bench nearby.
'That's done with, how long do the results take Atlas?' Jake asked the Atlas as he ate a peach on the bench.
(You will have your results in a month and the official documentation will be delivered a week after.)
'Nice! So we start the moment I get the results?' Jake asked the Atlas.
(Correct, for the time being, we need to take care of your matters.) The Atlas spoke and Jake knew what it had implied.
'Don't fret about that, I know what needs to be done, even if I may not get it completely.'
(Just a few more years Jake, and you'll understand everything perfectly. I promise.)
"Jake!" Jake heard his mother's voice and turned to see his family including Lyra and Grace had come to pick him up.
Jake once again felt encouraged for the journey that lay before him and knew he would never regret his decisions.
1 month later:
Jake received a notice of his results and decided to father his family around.
Everyone quickly gathered as they waited for him to open his results.
Jake opened it as everyone waited with bated breath except Lyra and Iris, who had blind faith in him.
"This letter serves to inform you that Jake Avalon has passed the Inter-Stellar Examination Summa cum Lauda." Jake read out and the moment the word 'passed' was heard, everyone cheered for Jake.
Elizabeth and Grace had gotten emotional, while Aria had a proud smile on her face as she hugged her younger brother.
'Summa cum Lauda You think we'll have some trouble?' Jake asked The Atlas as everyone celebrated.
(Not immediately, but yes we'll have trouble.)
1 week later:
Jake along with his family was called to the Mayor's office where the IS passing ceremony was to be held, Jake was given his certificate as well as a few awards being presented to him by the Mayor himself.
The proud faces of the members of his family would be etched into his mind for the rest of his life.
Jake's achievement was made known throughout the GOE with many powerful individuals taking a very keen interest in the super genius from an administrative system in the eastern corner of the GOE.
Very few knew Jake's true identity and they, instead of being interested, felt threatened and immediately contacted their allies.
Soon after the ceremony, Jake was approached by a few men who introduced themselves as working under Elian Dravaris.
They gave Jake his Trader licence under The Dravaris Trading Group, which Jake graciously accepted under the watchful eyes of everyone present at the ceremony.
'With this at least we won't be attacked right away.' Jake thought, speaking to the Atlas.
Jake and Elian had planned the event so Jake would be under the protection of the DTG.
(Half a decade at most before they start figuring out the truth. We need to make the best of it.)
When Jake informed his mother of his job offer from Dravaris, she was initially against it, but after careful persuasion and some emotional manipulation thanks to the Atlas, Jake convinced his mother to let him go.
However, he was given a few conditions which he had to follow.
One was to always inform his family of his location if something were to happen, and two was to return home every 2 months.
Jake had no issue with these conditions as he had not planned to take any distant contracts, his and the Atlas planned to concentrate on the Eastern edge and create a name for himself, allowing him certain soft powers he would not be able to have if he just went for the expensive contracts.
Jake received his first contract, courtesy of the Mayor to deliver medicine and food supplies to an up-and-coming mining station 10 systems away, he immediately accepted, his family wishing him off at the landing pad.
He would only be gone for a week maximum before returning home to refuel and wait for his next job offer.
Jake sat in the cargo, watching men load up the supplies taking up 80% of his cargo space.
'The pay is decent considering the job's not risky. Anything we need to know about the station before heading out?' Jake asked the Atlas.
(Well according to the system surveyors, most of the worlds are inhabitable, and although the 4 gas giants in the system have quite a few rings around them, the asteroid belts are worth enough for the GOE to build stations near them. According to Kreedian mapping, we are nowhere near anybody else's territory, so we shouldn't worry about border conflicts.)
'So we're safe then, no border conflicts, food delivery and some GOE patrols nearby, we should be golden.' Jake eased up as he watched the last of the supplies be locked in place.
Currently, two men were sitting next to each other in a container, a small light illuminating their faces.
"I feel like shit." John spoke with tired eyes as he stared at Mathaus sitting next to him with his eyes closed.
Both men were in a small container, hidden in the reserve fuel tanks of a large cargo vessel currently heading for Neptune.
The two were in the Elysium System, just one jump from Earth and had been sitting inside for almost 48 hours.
"This is why I was feeding you those fluids beforehand, you'll feel terrible but your body will be fine. We're almost there so stop complaining." Mathaus tiredly spoke to John.
"How the hell did the scanners not pick us up?" John asked.
"The box is using stealth coating on the interior and exterior and we're submerged in the fuel tank, even if they pick the box it will come back as nothing. Once we're in the system, we'll be fine." Mathaus explained.
A loud hum echoed around the container before the two men were shaken from their seats.
"Alright, that's Elysium done, one more checkpoint and we'll be home free." Mathaus spoke as the ship went through the Hyperlane.
"You ever been to Earth John?" Mathaus asked his compatriot.
"I've seen videos why?" John answered.
"Heh, those don't do Earth justice. I've been there once, to meet a man. Let me tell you, John, it's a paradise. No resort world can do justice to the beauty that is that planet. You can smell its history. I almost left my ship behind to stay there you know. I regret not doing it now." Mathaus spoke with a melancholic look.
"Eh, I was born and raised on a station, so I wouldn't know. What are we going to Earth too.?"
"Maybe? First, let's get to Neptune, hopefully, we won't have any issues."