"His brain scans are normal," a nurse said to Boris, the latter seated leisurely in the waiting room.
After Sophia's report, the unconscious Luke was brought back for testing, specifically his brain.
The reports proved there was nothing abnormal, which translated that Luke was just a normal person.
"Thanks," Boris rose to his feet, but before he could walk out, Sophia stepped into the waiting room.
"Sir, what is wrong with him..." she asked, her voice soft.
"Take a look," Boris handed her the report.
She took the report from him and quickly glanced through it.
"That can't be, my memory suppression doesn't work on him," she unconsciously blurted out.
"Memory suppression? Didn't you use it on him before the test..." Boris asked, confused.
Sophia, noticing her blunder, covered her mouth.
"Sophia!" Boris's tone changed.
He hated it when someone hid something from him, especially a subordinate.
"I... I..." Sophia shuddered under Boris's intimidating gaze.
She explained everything, her ears bright red.
"Haha hahaha..." Boris burst into a hearty laugh, his voice booming in the waiting room.
The people in the room with them were annoyed but none dared to say a thing to the bear of a man.
"I thought it was something serious," Boris wiped the tears glistening at the side of his eyes, Sophia's cheeks flushed red in embarrassment.
"You needn't hide that from me, you know," Boris tugged at her shoulders playfully, the little girl too embarrassed to look up.
"...But on a more serious note, how did he withstand your ability twice..." Boris sat down, a pondering expression on his face.
Sophia also thought about it.
He was supposedly unawakened; how could he overcome her abilities twice now?
"Sir, should we go for a retest..." Sophia suggested.
"No, let's finish the tests for now. His ability might be something our machines cannot detect. Let's watch him for now."
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"Where the f*CK am I?" Arthur said to himself, his constricted pupils scanning his new environment.
Dense vegetation surrounded him: shrubs, vines, ferns...
Vegetation he had only seen on nature channels, thick and seemingly without a path through.
He unconsciously looked up; the canopy of trees allowed only slivers of light down, but luckily there were enough to illuminate the forest.
The smell of damp earth, rotting leaves, and wildflowers wafted through his nose.
It wasn't bad; it somewhat felt refreshing, not that he could relish in it, still confused about his unknown predicament.
His heart rate spiked, as anyone's would, beating like a drum, loud enough to be heard if not for the bustling forest, alive with the sounds of creatures he couldn't see.
"No, let's calm down..." His eyes flashed with blue current, as his nerves instantly calmed, his heart rate back to normal and the cold sweat seized.
He closed his eyes, opening them almost immediately. "The third test!" he exclaimed in realization.
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"Sh*t... it still didn't work on him," one of the Starborn Psionics cursed out loud, his gaze on the screen displaying Arthur's test.
"Language," Sophia reprimanded.
"Sorry, Commander, it's just... It's frustrating. All ten of us chipped in to suppress his memories, yet it didn't have any effect on him," he said through gritted teeth.
"Pay attention. Lieutenant Commander Atem left me in charge," Sophia ignored his complaints, the lad grumbling as he went back to the screen.
Arthur was immune to psionic attacks since the beginning of the test.
It wasn't much of a surprise they couldn't overcome him; his power was a bane to any and all psychic attacks.
"Don't be smug, I will put you in line," the lad said to himself, his words not directed at Sophia but at the oblivious Arthur, who on the screen was finding his way through the thick forest.
Meanwhile, others sat in front of their screens, four main screens each showing the four candidates:
Arthur, the round-glasses boy, the girl with the psychic ability, and Luke.
The others, on the other hand, were monitoring something else: the real test of the day.
"I hope you pass this too. Then we will be in the same class," Sophia smiled to herself as she looked at the giant dome-like greenhouse, the artificial rainforest created by the world government two months ago.
The testing grounds of the four and many before them.
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On Arthur's side, he sat atop the branches of a tree, leisurely enjoying a strange fruit he had picked from the ground.
It had a translucent skin, exposing its yellowish-orange flesh in full view.
He bit into it without hesitation, believing it was a mutated mango or something, as it did look like a mango.
Mutated plants and animals weren't common but they existed; he had seen numerous before the government confiscated all mutated fauna and flora alike, claiming it could be dangerous.
Having the opportunity to see one again, his curiosity got the better of him. Even if it were poisonous, he believed his ability might help, though that was impossible.
"Tastes like mango... I thought the taste would be a bit different," he stared at the fruit, scrutinizing it, trying to find out why it looked different but tasted the same.
But there was no way for him to know that it had taken such a mutation path because people usually couldn't tell whether the Keith mango, its variety, was ripe or not.
Thus its translucency, either by the mango's will or by nature, had taken that path.
Arthur took another bite, pushing such thoughts to the back of his mind. He wasn't here for science lessons; this was a test.
"I don't know what they want us to do in this test, but I suppose I should keep moving," he jumped off the tree, landing gracefully on the ground.
Cazzzzzzz!
Almost instantly, a high-pitched sound echoed through the forest, overshadowing the bustling sounds of the wildlife.
Arthur pressed his hands tightly against his ears, trying to block the ear-piercing sound. The action only lessened the noise, but it was very much there.
He crouched down instinctively, teeth gritted, brows furrowed in annoyance.
He scanned his surroundings, looking for the source, and that is when he noticed it.
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~~~~
A/N
Still here