Haze and Halaine sat in a small lobby, waiting for Calyx who had been led to another room by some individuals. Just like before, there was silence again. Haze couldn't help but realize that he and Calyx hadn't thought their visit to this place through.
The man who had made the mistake of mentioning suppression in front of Halaine attempted to cover it up by saying it was just a routine medical procedure Calyx had signed up for some time ago. It was a terrible lie.
Haze also realized that Halaine most likely knew what resonance was. After all, she knew a lot about Quasars when she was informing them about the project. Although he doesn't remember her going into details about resonance, it was most likely that she knew what it was.
"So..." Halaine started, breaking the silence in the lobby where only she and Haze sat.
"Calyx is...a Quasar?" Halaine asked, her words leaving her mouth slowly as if too unbelievable to say.
Her words hung in the air, receiving no response from Haze but a drawn-out sigh. He sank his face into his palm, a gesture that told Halaine all she needed to know, causing her to let out one astonished response.
"Woah," she whispered, her eyes widening in disbelief.
Meanwhile, in another part of the large headquarters, Calyx sat in an office, Dr. Aile's office, to be exact. She looked through some papers as Calyx sat quietly in front of her.
"I was going for the suppression; why did I get called here? I'd really like to get this over with and go home," Calyx spoke up.
"Well, change of plans. You'll have to do something before that," Dr. Aile said.
"What's that? Why?" Calyx pressed, confused.
"Well, put simply, as much as I feel you should get the suppression, someone with higher authority than me strongly disagrees," Dr. Aile explained.
"So...no suppression then?" Calyx asked.
"No, we decided to meet in the middle," Dr. Aile said, dropping the papers on her desk and reclining back into her chair.
"What does that mean?" Calyx inquired.
"You'll be taking the Quasar mental stability test. It's a test all Quasars take before officially becoming one. If you fail the test, you'll be immediately suppressed. However, if you pass, not only will you avoid suppression, but for the few months you have here before going to Astra, you'll be made a practicing Quasar," Dr. Aile explained.
"And what exactly is this test?" Calyx asked, trying to conceal his relief.
"You'll be asked simple questions by our AI system, and you must answer truthfully as lies will be easily detected. The AI will provide a Quasar mental suitability percentage; you'll need over eighty percent to pass," Dr. Aile elaborated, hovering her finger over a screen on her desk.
"However, you can decline taking this test and choose suppression," Dr. Aile offered.
"Of course, I'll take the test," Calyx responded.
"I thought so," Dr. Aile said, pressing a button on the screen.
"Yes, ma'am," a voice responded as she pressed the button.
"Take him for the QMST," Dr. Aile instructed.
"Understood," came the reply.
A few moments later, a woman wearing a medical coat entered the office.
"Please follow me, Mr. Sablestar," she said, her smile reassuring as Calyx stood up to follow her, giving Dr. Aile a final nod before they both left the office.
Following the woman's lead, Calyx walked through the headquarters. As they walked, he noticed more and more eyes glancing at him but didn't pay too much attention to it.
Shortly, they arrived at a large room, inside of which there was a single chair in the middle, with a few wires around it.
"Please, take a seat," the lady gestured, pointing to the chair.
"Yeah..." Calyx replied reluctantly. He moved slowly towards the chair, then sat down. The lady connected a single patch to his hand, then set a headset over his head, covering his eyes and ears.
Suddenly, everything went white within the virtual world, with only a floating blue light in front of Calyx.
"Good evening, Mr. Sablestar," the voice echoed.
"I'm guessing you're the AI system," Calyx said, looking around.
"Yes, I am the Mental Insight Assessment system, M.I.A, for short," Mia responded.
"So, Mia, what do we do now?" Calyx asked.
"I'll ask you a series of questions and you'll answer them. Your answers don't all have to be direct, but please be truthful throughout. I can easily detect all lies, and this will affect your evaluation," Mia explained.
"Understood, let's begin," Calyx said.
"OK, firstly, what is your goal as a Quasar?" Mia asked.
"Answers, to some questions I have," Calyx responded swiftly.
"Interesting answer. What are you willing to do for these answers?" Mia asked.
"A lot of things," Calyx responded.
"I see, noted," Mia replied, as the white space turned into a devastating scene. Flames raged around as monsters lay dead, not ethervores but monsters born from the chaos taint. Quasars stood, blood from the monsters staining their arms. It was a very familiar scene.
"How does this scene make you feel?" Mia asked, as Calyx stared at the scene before him with a dead gaze.
"Annoyed," Calyx replied simply.
"At whom?" Mia asked.
"At myself, at the reason it happened," Calyx responded.
"You seem to attribute this kind of situation to your experience. Do you believe this will hinder your duty as a Quasar in any way?" Mia asked.
"No, if anything, it makes me more prepared," Calyx answered.
"Do you think Quasars are wrong for killing these humans turned monsters?" Mia asked.
"No, they are just doing what needs to be done," Calyx replied.
"Did you always believe you were capable of murder?" Mia asked.
"I believe everyone is capable of murder when pushed to the edge; some edges are just closer than others," Calyx answered.
"Where would you say your edge is?" Mia inquired.
"Far enough to not be a psychopath, close enough to do what's necessary," Calyx replied with a strong tone.