He looked at he result which said boldly. "87%" Out of the results he had expected to get he did not expect to get more than eighty percent but it appeared that he was a bit more competent than he initially thought. In the monts that followed those that failed to pass the threshold were disqualified with imdiate effect.
Alto was sure that the number of people that started the comoetition were nearing the tens of thousands but surprisingly it had been thinned down to about two thousand or so. He grimaced at the thought that he could be disqualified in an instant.
The young woman in charge of the test snapped her fingers causing the room to turn a bright white. "If you’re feeling pleased with yourselves for reaching this far then you need a ntal check. For your second test the hologram of three ch parts will be displayed before each one of you, you are to simply to disassemble them and identify their power coupling system and internal systems, and identify the flaws in the system. For this you will have forty five minutes."
And just like that she started the test without any warning or word of encouragent. Alto got to work imdiately, not wanting to be disqualified for even the slightest slip up. The first tal part was a transmitter unit, he went through it as quickly a she could, inspecting it for flaws was easy with the help of the designer’s eye which had co to beco one of his most useful tools as of recent. The second ch part he worked on was a laser guidance system, and the third was not a ch piece but a code which he had to find the flaw in. By the ti they had used up the ti given to them and the results ca out Alto found himself to have passed, the number of people left was barely nearing a thousand.
It was here that the real test began.
The young woman that was in charge it their test sighed and said. "Follow to your next testing ground, it’s ti to get practical."
They all followed her quietly down a hall to a huge work room with many 3d printers lying around and materials on the table. A young man waited for them in the room standing by one of the 3D printers in the room and typing into his wrist comm device, on seeing the young woman he waved at her and gave a very heartwarming smile. "Hey Nix, done already? I thought I still had an hour."
Nix walked up to him and said with stark indifference. "I tried to thin them out but it seems a lot of them made it, unfortunately."
The young man chuckled. "Yes it seems, I wonder if any of them is going to surprise ."
Nix walked past him and exited the room leaving him behind with a few words. "Yeah good luck with that."
He smiled and turned to face the group of participants. "Well, hello there. My na is Justin McClaire, and I will he overseeing this test. I suggest you get yourself paired with soone with this one."
Alto did not like the idea of pairing up with soone, he knew he was competent enough when it ca to his own physical prowess but when adding soone to the mix it made him feel awkward. He had never worked with soone on a ch before so he was very unsure of how to relate with the said person. He could see so people forming pairs, most of them seed to know each other but not quite everyone was buddying up with each other. So chose to stand alone and attempt to do the test on their own, Alto envied their confidence. Even if he preferred to work alone he decided to follow the man’s advice and form a pair with soone and why he chose that was fairly simple, the fact that they would work with 3d printers could an that the task was too hard for one person alone but then again he could learn a thing or two from soone else and how they worked.
Alto felt a tug on his arm and looked to his side to see the girl he had ts days prior, Priscilla. She looked as radiant as ever, "Want to pair up with Alto?"
As open-minded as that sounded he still was not convinced. "Why do you want to pair up with , don’t you have your friends? Besides do you think you will pass if you pair up with ."
Priscilla giggled softly as she pulled him with her to one of the 3d printers in the area. "Who cares if our styles clash, you’re not boring, my friends are."
Alto did not think they knew themselves enough for her to make such a statent, but he appreciated a familiar face regardless. "Then I’ll be in your care then." He took a step back which caused her to give him a strange look which he found hard to understand, it was sowhere between curiosity and anger. "Did I offend you?"
She looked at the printer before her and said nothing.
Alto scratched the back of his head awkwardly, he was never good at making friends. What did she even find interesting about him in the first place.
Justin McClaire started the test after a few minutes, those who failed to form or join a pair were made to work alone regardless, even if they pleaded. So were against the idea of joing up with anyone leading to them working alone, and so others did not even bother to make an attempt to.
"This test is quite simple..."
"Why does that make think otherwise", Alto whispered causing Priscilla to giggle slightly.
"...we will send a ch design to each work table and you are to fabricate it with a success rate of ninety percent, with minimal flaws in it. Know that you are only allowed to make slight alterations to the internals to et the original work plan, any form of creativity on your part will be lead to you being expunged. You are not here for arts and crafts but to show you can follow a directive of a prompt given to you. You have four hours to finish. Does anyone have any question."
Alto noticed the difference between the first test taker and the current one, the first was cold and indifferent, and also very unsettling. While the second seed more heartwarming, but when it ca to their work they both had the sa level of cruelty and heartlessness.
"I guess results do speak for themselves over here." Alto muttered to himself. Priscilla looked at him secretly, mostly at his eyes. They did not tremble but were much brighter, exuding a confidence that seed reversed and out of place for soone of his background. "Who really are you Alto?" She thought to herself.
One person raised his hand to ask a question, it was a young man only a little older than Alto. His hair was a deep blue, his face pale and his eyes green and energetic. From one look it was certain that this person was soone of renowned background.
"Is there any sort of recognition for the first place, I tire of these easy tasks." His voice was cocky, as his attitude.
Justin McClaire replied without looking at him, "No there is not, we will begin now."
Alto could hear mumurs from around him.
"Oh, it’s him. The star student if the academy."
"It’s Calvin Lunarian."
"He’s so cool."
"Why don’t you face your own work you dipshit."
"Do you think we can win with him here?"
"He’s even working alone."
Alto had heard of the prestigious academy that existed on the planet, it was good that their star students had the greatest opportunity if winning the competition which was very true since all winners had erged from the academy founded on the planet with very few outsiders even reaching the top fifty. At first it sounded like cheating but simply, the academy had the resources that allowed them the privilege of having a foot above any other academy in the star system. Them winning was a given and the number one student Calvin Lunarian, the son of a known figure on the planet was already granted to win the first spot in the cootiton.
Alto found Priscilla looking at him, "Is sothing perhaps the matter."
She smiled and looked away just as the image of the ch they were fabricating appeared before them. "Nothing, just that you don’t feel intimidated by any of this."
"Oh is that so?" Alto asked. For so reason whenever his hands got on work any such thing as anxiety left him. "Let’s get started then."
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