**8th of June 2055, Dover Military Academy, Southern Shore of UCN Stronghold 11**
"We have to what?"
"Calm down, Cass. I might be able to get us re-matched."
The brothers huddled together in the corner of the briefing room.
"How?"
"I'll have a word with Smith. See if he'll let us swap."
"And if he doesn't?"
"Then… We'll deal with it later"
"I don't like this Johan"
"I know, I know. But take it one day at a time for now. You just focus on today's stuff. I'll deal with the bout."
Johan stood to leave Casper, heightening his brother's anxiety.
"Uh… Um… What should I do?" asked Casper, grasping at Johan's sleeve.
"Read the itinerary. I need to speak to Smith." said Johan, breaking free of Casper.
Casper heeded Johan's order and turned to the pages of the first day's activities.
"Seated pull… Medicine ball… ugh!" Casper muttered, the tension in his chest manifesting as a compulsive bouncing foot.
He did his best to remain collected, as per Johan's advice. Yet the thick clinical wall of text before him danced and flickered from overstimulation coursing through his nervous system. He covered his ears and eyes, taking deep breaths, attempting to soothe the electricity in his torso and return his literacy.
"Casper, are you alright?" asked a muffled voice through Casper's attempted isolation.
He uncovered his gaze to meet Emily's concerned demeanor. He stared, not speaking.
"What's the matter? You look pale," she insisted.
"It's uh… well, the fights and I don't know what any of this means and…"
Casper's words caught in his throat. He was barely comfortable discussing this with a girl whom, while nice and understanding, he had only just been properly introduced to the day before.
Emily clocked the winged expressions that revealed Casper's knotted thoughts and elected to take a seat next to him, though maintaining an arm's length. She sat quietly for a moment and gave Casper a soft smile to encourage him to finish his thought.
Casper was wary of the gesture. Unsure whether the girl was trying to reassure him or merely taking glee in his distress, though his mind eventually relinquished toward the former.
"I don't know how any of these tests work," He admitted
Emily quelled her compulsion to mock the boy like she might his brother and scooched closer to Casper.
"Show me"
—--
Johan strode at Smith, who was eyeing through some papers of his own.
"Sir?"
"Greenwood" Acknowledged Smith, while still shuffling his documents
"Sir, I would like to request a change in sparring partner for Friday's activity"
"Ah… I must say, this is quite unlike you, son. Who is your opponent?"
"Cas- Cadet Greenwood, Sir."
Smith chuckled in his belly.
"You know, I would rather like to see that, Greenwood." he replied. "Given his precarious enrollment, however, I will let you change partners for the sake of your home life."
"Thank you, Sir" responded Johan, readying to return to Casper.
"I won't, however, rework the matchups for you, son," corrected Smith
"Sir?"
"You two will have to arrange another switching pair yourselves who are both willing to switch with you."
"Sir, I don't thin-"
"I am already doing you a favour by allowing this at all, Cadet," interrupted Smith.
Johan swallowed
"I appreciate that this is an uncomfortable situation for you, son. But you have a lot going for you at the moment and I'd hate to see you throw it away by covering for your brother. Should you two fail to find new partners by the end of the week, I expect you to treat him as you would any other opponent, otherwise I will consider it collusion. Understand?"
"Yes, Sir."
—
Casper pointed to each of the exercises and their pass requirements and Emily described the motions and their relative ease.
"Oh… that's not so bad I suppose," Said Casper.
"To be fair, the bar is set for most people to be able to pass."
"So why do people make such a big deal about it, then?"
"Well, passing the test doesn't have any sort of reward, but you get more credits depending on how high you score"
"Ah."
Casper previously had little need for credits as he rarely spent them on anything other than materials and enrollment, but without Harrison's continued sponsorship he would be hard pressed to make it to selection with his current balance mostly thrown at the gizmo on his bedroom desk.
"Well, how many do you get?" He asked
"They usually say in the itinerary…" Emily trailed off. Flipping through the pages of her document, "That's weird. Doesn't say." She concluded.
"Don't you have any idea?" he pleaded
"Well, for the first day it's almost always exponential, but the rewards start small, so unless you're consistently well above average or a super prodigy at a particular exercise, you probably won't get a lot of credits."
"Oh…" mulled Casper
"Range events are the same and drills have a penalty system instead of rewards. But team activities and fights always have a set number."
"Right so?"
"So, for team activities, the reward is based on team placement and then split equally between all members of the team. Fights are similar, each match is worth the same amount of credits and then they're split between the combatants depending on how the training officer feels they performed. So, for most people, the team activities and the bouts are where they get the vast majority of their points."
"That means my best chance at getting enough credits is in the range."
"No Casper, the points for shooting and assembly are skewed like the strength and fitness. Unless you're a literal prodigy, you won't get enough credits to make it to selection." stressed Emily
"I am though," Casper stated
Emily was taken aback; "No, you don't get it, even Johan barely gets any meaningful bonus from the range and he's like Navy superman."
"Johan sucks" laughed Casper
"Are you joking? He's freakishly athletic and the highest ranking cadet in the NTC"
"Well, yeah, he's good at that stuff, but I don't think he's very good with guns."
"He's one of our top shooters"
"Really?" said Casper in disbelief
Johan slumped next to them, interrupting their conversation, and sighed.
"Speak of the devil," said Emily
"Any luck?" asked Casper
"No… well, sort of," replied Johan.
"What's up?" asked Emily
"Cass and I have to fight each other on Friday, unless we can convince someone to swap"
"Oh, shit," said Emily, eyes widened.
"Shit indeed," responded Johan, biting his lip in thought.
"What do you mean? Let's just trade with someone," said Casper.
"Well, both members of the other pair need to consent-" Johan was interrupted by Emily
"Ha!" she snuffed. "Who in their right mind would risk their credits fighting you?"
"That's the problem. I asked a few people already, and while plenty of people want to punch you in the face," Said Johan, nodding at his brother, "Their other halves aren't so eager to swap."
The trio fell quiet.
"Not to pile on, but can you talk some sense into your brother? He's got it in his head. He can get enough credits from range time alone." broke Emily
Johan perked up in his seat. "Maybe…"
"What!? Have you both gone mental? The distance he'd need to hit would be insane."
"He's a good shot, Em," insisted Johan
"Better than you?" she retorted
"Miles. He taught me how to shoot and assemble a rifle."
"I thought that was all 'hard work and repetition'," she jeered, sucking her teeth.
"Yeah, but Cass used to teach me when we first started," defended Johan.
"Really?"
"Uh-huh"
Casper faced Emily with a proud look that, while unusual to her, suited him well.
"I told you so," He said.
"You actually know how to shoot?" asked Emily, still skeptical.
"Yes!" insisted the brothers.
"It could be close though," added Johan. "You'll probably end up with a really high penalty on the drills, assuming you can pass at all."
"So?" asked Casper
"So, we'll have to get you up to snuff, Cass," replied Johan
Casper groaned and returned his palms to his face.
"I'm sorry? We?" said Emily.
"Well yeah, I'll run the drills but he'll need someone to keep time with." explained Johan
"Listen, I really want to help you guys out, but I need to focus on my own exam."
"Come on Ems, you kind of owe me one after yesterday"
"I know, I know, and I'll get you back. I swear," insisted Emily.
Johan rolled his eyes. "You need help on the range. Casper needs help with the drills. That seems like an even trade," he explained.
Emily shifted her gaze back and forth between the brothers
"Mmm… fine!" she said, scrunching her face, "But If I fail this exam, I'm going to beat you up again.". She settled her eyes on Casper. He rubbed his battered arms and broke her gaze. Guilt twinged in Emily's chest once she realised her joke didn't land.
"Oh Casper, I didn't mean to -" she said, reaching out a hand.
Smith's booming voice made her arm retreat. "The first test is starting shortly, cadets! Form up and follow me to the gym."