The test wasn't for the weak of body and faint of heart; it used a biologically engineered creature from a highly dangerous parasitic organism that put strain on every cell of the body in attempt to take over the host. But this very one was an infant and had been tinkered with to reduce its aggressiveness.
The podium was well around 1.2 meters above the ground and on it was the testing equipment. A large screen that faced the audience and showed the progress of the student and in view of the student was a smaller transparent screen that had the standard anatomy of a human being, a bar to the length of the anatomy on screen and a percentile that gave a figure of the students' progress. All was at zero but that quickly changed as the students went one after the other; pushing themselves to their limits and made the pass mark of 60, another a 65, another a 66. Many others followed suit but none was able to make it past the already set mark of 68. Hardly could anyone make it past 70.
Then, "Hikami Kaina" Oueus called out. And the crowd responded with cheers and murmuring,
"You failures, let me show how it's done." He took to the platform and planted himself in the testing chair without Oueus' say so, then the teacher grunted and looked at the boy. "Let's begin." Kaina instructed.
"Kids of these days." Oueus sighed as he began the test. After a while, the crowd cheered. Kaina was one of the first of his batch to have made it past the 60's. Then his body began shaking yet he held on, the anatomy icon glowed green and the bar beside it rose up well past 68 and Kaina, struggling to keep his eyes open and strained himself, his slightly opened eyes saw "70, 71."
"Kaina. Young man." Oueus called out. "Did you pass out?" He said, almost teasing.
"You did well." And he pushed himself up after the test was done, sweating and breathing heavily, Oueus directed him to the infirmary at the attention of medics present like all the others before him. There, they commended him for his resilience and record breaking. But, the boy was not interested in their praises, he wanted to have done better. And all he could do was sigh out his worries. "At least I set the record." He scoffed.
"Kaina, I doubt anyone could break you record, the best I did was 66. One of his gang members encouraged."
"Yeah, I was watching very closely. I've never seen you go that hard at anything you've ever done. But this was impressive."
"And who wanted your praises, Kiriku?" Kaina shot at the boy.
"This enmity thing really won't end you anywhere Kaina." Mira added.
"Nurse, how long do I have to be here with these people?"
"Oh don't worry, we were just leaving." Mira replied. "Come on Ingrid, Kiriku."
They left with other students mostly leaving Kaina and his henchmen at the infirmary.
"Tsk."
Then as if to make things worse, the crowd began to cheer and call out one name. And Kaina witnessed it from the screen set in the infirmary that was covering the test.
"Amine Na. Amine Na. Amine Na"
He grunted in response.
"Well isn't this interesting." Lina folded her arms.
"It's not, these two have been known to be opposing teams ever since. It's only natural if you ask me." Mai shared her honest opinion.
"And the ones in the middle of it all." Lina's gaze went over to Khay and his friends.
Amine Na sighed and had no choice but to take the stage.
"Teacher Oueus, I'm in your care."
"You'll do just fine Amine, sit tight." Then a beep followed and the test began as Amine began to struggle in the chair, strapped by the chairs safety mechanisms. And the people cheered watching as the marker rose in numbers then, it went past 70, then 71, then his body began to wrestle the parasite.
"Come on!" Oueus softly said, watching as the number on the screen went from 71 to 72, then 73, then 74. He immediately stopped it at the 75th mark and set Amine's body free as the suction tube connected to the nape of his neck sucked back the creature into the tank.
The crowd roared and cheered at Amine's score; he'd beaten Kaina and Kaina wasn't happy about it while he viewed from the infirmary.
"Come. We're leaving." He ordered his henchmen.
"Mischievous bunch!" Oueus called out. "Must you always be the last to go at everything?"
"Well…"Khay cried out amidst his friends.
"Tri-"
"Ehhh- - -" the boy screamed. "Why must I be the one to- - - is what you thought I'd say. I'm more than fired for this."
"Well get over here then."
His friends wished him well as he ascended the short stair that led to the platform. He took his seat and in the chair, and his vision fixated on the audience. He could see the teachers from the balcony and then the students who had finished their test also amongst the crowd and on the rooftops far and away. The thought of the number present made him a little nervous.
"Ready when you are Trilith."
He took a long deep breath in and out and said; "Ready!"
Oueus touched the screen of the monitor that read "BEGIN", then the chair popped out its safety measures; metal cuffs and leather-like straps, locked around Trilith's neck, his forehead, arms, torso, leg, chest, at every major joint of his body.
He breathed deeply. Getting his nerves under control. A sudden disturbing squeak seeped through from a tank to the outlet of the tube that found its way above the nape of the neck, the BI strain had begun. Using its microscopic nerves, the parasitic creature invaded the body and seeped its' nerves into the nervous system and started to spread to the various parts of the body in an attempt to weaken the host and reduce resistance. Blood red nerves revealed themselves on Trilith hands and he quickly closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. A 3d anatomy representing the takeover showed live progressive data. The nerves had now progressed from his back, well above the 55% mark and to his hands, the Beast Integration Strain indicator had now reached the green zone in the 60th mark and rising. The test had progressed gradually and smoothly so far, when suddenly, bones crackled and nerves began to lift themselves even more from underneath his skin and bulging. The boy moaned in pain. In fear for the students' well-being, Oueus made an attempt to stop the test, now at 69%. It didn't need to go any further by his account. But he was interrupted by a groaning voice.
"No…! I can go further!" Trilith stressed. The indicator had progressed rapidly into the 73% and climbing.
"You're already past the qualification mark and into 75%." Oueus informed Trilith.
The crowd murmured with concern. And some cheered on.
"Don't stop… I can… go… further." He groaned and struggled with words. As a tutor in charge of the test, Oueus had become concerned yet couldn't help but look as the indicator changed from green to blue indicator and rose further into the 80% zone.
The anatomy icon's reading per the screen showed the creatures' nerves almost fully taken over Trilith's body as the monitor indicated. The anatomy icon began blinking red on and off. Then, dark crimson nerves protruded on Trilith's body showing on his neck. The spectators starred on, tense and eagerly anxious, his twin clasped her hands together, hoping and praying, and Khay and the Jun brothers with cheery and eagerly anxious faces.
The creature began to creep up further up his neck and into his head when suddenly Trilith's body began to shake vigorously, convulsing, with the only thing holding him down being the restraints. Without a moments delay in judgment, Oueus hit the "STOP" button as a murky substance quickly flooded the tube the beast was in and sucked the creature away from him as quickly as it was discharged then, Trilith's body signals began to settle down.