Job Aptitude Test (5)
Temporary detention center cafeteria in the lower area.
“What is this?”
A shout full of complaints echoed through the large cafeteria, where long tables and chairs were neatly arranged in rows. The nu set before the inmates was unusual.
Barley rice.
A bowl of water.
A plate with three pickle slices.
“Is this what they expect us to eat?”
“I worked my ass off, and this is what they’re feeding us?”
Curses erupted in a variety of languages from all directions, creating an atmosphere akin to a cursing festival. Even those who didn’t understand foreign languages could clearly catch phrases like “Piece of shit!”
“Quiet down! Quiet!”
“Everyone, sit down!”
Won dressed in security force uniforms shouted, attempting to bring the situation under control. The room fell into montary silence.
Screech!
A commander of the security force, with epaulettes on her shoulders, dragged a chair in front of her and stepped onto it.
“Shut up, all of you!”
Everyone’s attention turned to her. Her tall fra, now standing on the chair, made her presence even more intimidating.
“If you don’t want to eat, then take your tray and get out. If you’re going to eat, shut your mouths and eat quietly.”
Her voice was loud enough to reach every corner of the cafeteria. Though most wore expressions of discontent, no one dared to challenge her directly. After scanning the room for nearly ten seconds with piercing eyes and confirming there was no resistance, the commander stepped down from the chair.
It seed the situation was calming down, but then…
“What’s this supposed to be in this bowl?”
A sneer ca from behind the commander as she was returning to her position. The voice belonged to a woman wearing a white tank top.
Her na was Bella. Towering at least 180 cm, she had a stature that allowed her to look down on most of the other won. She had a strong physique, thanks to her mixed South Arican heritage, with thick bones and muscles that even most n couldn't rival.
She had been captured by the robotic security forces after holding the warden's office on the third floor of an offshore prison. With her formidable strength, she had never been bullied in the prison.
“This is just plain water, right? Are we supposed to pour rice into this and eat it?” Bella held out the bowl. Her tone was mocking.
“Sit down, Bella,” the commander said coldly and took a step forward. The two were now less than five steps apart.
“We were eating the sa slop not long ago. Now that you’ve got a uniform on, have you suddenly changed? Is the title really that great?”
The commander drew her baton from her belt.
“I said shut up. It’s better than starving, right?”
“If you gave us sothing fit for humans, I’d go back to my seat.”
The won around Bella cheered in agreent, raising their voices.
[We’ve confird a disturbance in Cafeteria C. Do you need assistance?]
Rose’s voice ca through on the radio.
“No. We can handle this ourselves,” the commander responded.
If Rose's ard shelter forces arrived, the situation would be resolved in an instant. However, relying on support for such minor issues would only hurt their evaluation score.
“Listen to you. The woman I knew wouldn’t have spoken so politely,” Bella remarked, as if genuinely surprised.
“I won’t say it again. Return to your seat,” the commander said, stepping closer until they were practically face to face and feeling each other's breath.
“Do you think we’re causing all this fuss just because of the food?”
The surrounding won raised their voices even louder in support.
“You and us, we’re all criminals, aren’t we? So why is it that just because you did well on so test, we have to sweat and work while you wear nice clothes and boss people around? Do you think that’s fair?” Bella pointed her finger at the security force won around them. “You all get your own rooms, right? I heard the trash cans in your dorms were full of beer cans! Is it really fair to discriminate so much over just one test?”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The won pounded their fists on the tables in agreent. Bella’s words had struck a chord with everyone there. The won’s uproar grew increasingly intense. Soone had climbed onto a table, shouting profanities.
Thud!
The commander’s baton struck Bella squarely in the solar plexus.
“Ugh!”
Bella collapsed while clutching her stomach, and the room suddenly fell silent.
“If anyone else wants to get hit, go ahead and speak up,” the commander said and glared around the room.
Murmurs filled the air. Bella groaned and doubled over on the floor. The tension was thick in the room, with the security force mbers looking visibly on edge.
“Hey, you bitches!” soone shouted from among the won.
“Who said that? Who just spoke?!” the commander growled and scanned the room with fierce eyes, but no one answered. And then the murmuring began to rise again.
“Kill those bitches!” soone else shouted.
“I said, who the hell was it? Which bitch da—”
The commander couldn’t finish her sentence.
Bella, who had been groaning on the floor, grabbed the commander’s ankle and yanked hard. Caught off guard, the commander lost her balance and fell hard, smacking the back of her head on the ground with a resounding thud.
Like a wild animal, Bella pounced on the commander and relentlessly pounded her face until it was covered in blood in a matter of seconds. That was the spark that ignited the riot.
The security force mbers brandished their batons, trying to fend off the oncoming won, but they were vastly outnumbered. While more than half of the won simply watched, the troublemakers, the ones with rebellious spirits, attacked, and the numbers were overwhelming.
So security force mbers grouped together, backing themselves against walls and fighting to hold out a little longer, but they, too, were eventually overrun by sheer numbers. Screams echoed as won were knocked to the floor. They were rcilessly stomped and kicked. One security force mber had her arms and legs pinned down as soone began stripping her pants off.
“No, don’t!”
A garbled voice taunted her. Resistance was futile, and within seconds, her lower half was fully exposed.
“Spit!”
The woman who had punched the security mber spat blood-tinged saliva on her. In her hand was the baton she had taken from the woman who had hit her.
“I’ll make sure your lower half bleeds just as much as your face, you bitch.”
With a twisted smile curling on her bloodied lips, the woman’s sadistic words filled the air, and a terrified scream followed.
anwhile, so of the more quick-thinking security force mbers had secured the cafeteria exits and the serving station entrance. If they could hold those points, they could focus their attacks on the won trying to co through one or two at a ti, or, if necessary, make a quick escape.
In prison, the number one rule for guards was to never engage prisoners in a place without a clear escape route. Most of the security force mbers were forr prisoners themselves. Anyone who had ever thought about revenge on the guards knew this rule all too well.
“We can't hold on! Everyone, retreat!”
Just as the last of the security force mbers were about to make their escape…
The cafeteria doors burst open with a force that shook the room, and in ca the black-painted, riot-suppressing security robots, ard with shotguns. At the rear of the group, two robots carried assault rifles loaded with live ammunition.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The shotguns fired into the won beating the fallen guards, and those hit in the stomach, chest, and thighs scread as they fell. They writhed in pain from the salt rounds. Following the robots, a squad of riot police, fully armored with shields and batons, stread into the cafeteria. Every one of them was a human female.
“Everybody freeze!”
“Get down!”
The officers shouting these ordinary commands likely used to be prison guards.
“Kneel, you bitches!”
anwhile, there are also task force mbers who were once inmates, their disdain for their own kind showing.
“Drop the batons now!”
“Bastardt!”
Like the forr inmates who used to complain about their als, the task force mbers mix in bits of foreign language among their mostly Korean speech.
“Stoooop! Nobody move!”
There’s also a Hispanic woman who used to work as a prostitute before learning how to use her body in a new way as a smuggler. She mimicked the exact lines the prison guards in the U.S. had yelled in English at her as she swung her baton. This suited her far better than smuggling—her brain was now producing endorphins at a fierce pace.
The task force brutally beat the won as they quashed the riot.
[Warning. Level 2 riot detected in Block C cafeteria. Riot squad has been deployed. All security personnel must cease current duties and remain on standby in Level 2 readiness.]
Rose's clear voice rang out through the speakers.
[All residents present in Block C cafeteria are hereby sentenced to two days without food supplies and one week without luxuries.]
At Rose's announcent, all the won who had been watching indifferently as bystanders voiced their displeasure at once.
Bang!
A security robot fired imdiately.
“I told you all to shut up!” A security officer with a long scar across her cheek barked, and the place went silent.
[Silence and indifference are forms of complicity. No effort was made to restrain your fellow inmates during the riot.]
Rose’s calm voice marked the end of the chaos as the riot participants were forcefully pinned to the cold floor by the officers. And then, the world turned white.
Beeeeeeep!
With a loud alarm, the won lying on the VR machines ca to their senses.
[VR test completed. All participants, grab the vomit bags on your stomachs and wait for 10 seconds. If you do not experience nausea, you may leave. Vomiting inside the VR machine will result in severe penalties.]
The voice from the manual played. In the shelter, there were only two male voices: Jinsoo and the one from the manual. Exams for positions in security, fire, and disaster prevention forces made special use of VR programs. The data obtained from the last expedition had been improved by Artemis to create these programs.
[Everyone, move on. There are many others waiting.]
As Rose spoke, the applicants, with disappointed expressions, stepped down from the VR machines. Though they had tried their best, many of them felt like they had failed miserably.
One woman, in particular, who had scored high in the practical and physical tests and confidently entered the VR machine with her officer's epaulets, couldn't even lift her head after being knocked out early.
The won coming down from the machines were completely naked. These VR machines were the latest models, designed to provide a realistic experience by stimulating tactile nerves with appropriate cold, heat, and other sensations. However, pain was replaced with a sense of pressure to so extent. To function properly, participants had to enter the machines without clothes.
***
“Good grief.”
Watching the won step down from the VR machines on the screen, I couldn’t help but feel a bit sorry for them. To be honest, they displayed even less control and crisis managent than I’d expected. Still, I guess I’m just a guy at the end of the day. Seeing them, defeated while quietly picking up their clothes and shoes, the desire to criticize them faded.
“It’s a bit pitiful, though. They probably didn’t expect to fail in a scenario where suppression is practically impossible.”
[Are you sure you really feel sorry for them?] Artemis asked, sounding skeptical.
“Of course.” I chewed on so popcorn as I watched the recordings of other test participants, particularly curious about Seyoung's performance.
When I entered her test number, her thumbnail video appeared. It showed Seyoung in a sprinting position, desperately running. Her expression was priceless, with a horde of inmates chasing her, filling the background. It looked like a scene from a zombie movie—or maybe a famous adult video cover.
Just as I was about to hit play, an alarm popped up at the top of the screen.
[Contaminant detected in test chamber.] With a serious tone, Artemis spoke.
“Where is it?”
My excitent vanished in an instant.
[Test Room B, VR Machine 5.]
I manipulated the panel to bring up the video feed of the test room, where a woman was trembling with her head bowed. Her face was flushed red.
[Contaminant composition: water, urea, inorganic salts.]
“Couldn’t you just say she wet herself? You scared ,” I said while rubbing my nose bridge.
[Just kidding.]
A giggle followed.
“I prepared for nausea, but I didn’t expect anyone to wet themselves.” I manipulated the panel to replay the last part of the experience from VR Machine 5.
[Screeeeech!]
As soon as the footage began, the screen was filled with the face of an infected creature. The woman had already been pinned down with both her hands restrained. The creature had quail egg-sized tumors all over its body. Its face darkened to a brown hue, and bulging black veins snaked across its skin, with sothing moving beneath them.
The creature’s face moved closer as its abnormally wide mouth opened to reveal pitch-black teeth at least three centiters long. One of those long fangs had a severed ear attached to it—whose ear, I couldn't tell. Disgusting saliva dripped from between those teeth, falling onto the woman’s face.
[Aaaaagh!]
With the woman’s ear-piercing scream, the VR test forcefully ended. The machine’s safety features had kicked in after detecting rapid changes in her heart rate and blood pressure.
“It was an internal infection scenario, huh.”
This was the final stage of the four VR tests perford on security officers. Even the won who had perford excellently in the first three tests fell apart when facing infected creatures in the fourth stage.
It wasn’t even a full-scale assault—just one or two creatures during the early outbreak—but they crumbled. However, she was the first to wet herself. Now, the woman, half embarrassed and half resigned, was scrubbing the seat and floor she had soiled with the cleaning supplies handed to her.
I switched the cara to a different channel. On screen were won actively putting out a fire in a burning building using extinguishers. While I didn’t much like VR training for war scenarios, I had to admit its effectiveness in disaster preparedness drills.
Watching Artemis' disaster scenarios, I had learned a lot myself. And to be honest, they were quite entertaining to watch.
Firefighting and combat in VR.
Female reactions to horror gas.
It was like combining two popular video genres into one. How could that not be fun?
Anyway, with the completion of this VR test, the entire job aptitude assessnt was now over. The ti to dismantle the camps was drawing near.
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