Ignoring the feeling of nausea and dizziness that was starting to hurt him, Kale continued to flip the button but he kept on missing.
Axel noticed his friend's distress.
"You okay bro?" He placed his hand on Kale's shoulder.
"Sorry. It's this button. I've flipped it over and over again yet I can't seem to catch it." The latter explained.
To better explain, he flipped the button and tried to catch it, failing once again.
He picked it and flipped again and like clockwork, missed it.
Axel's eyes widened in shock. Far more than what was necessary for what was happening.
"Drop the button." His tone was serious.
Kale picked the button and dropped it like he had been instructed.
"It doesn't make sense. Unless…" Axel muttered under his breath as Kale placed the button back in his clothes.
'They are also testing our physical endurance.' His mind raced.
"Listen now and listen well. This room isn't normal." He paused to let his words sink in.
"I thought it was only a mental test, but it is far more, and I can only grasp at straws, but I think they are increasing the gravity in this room."
Kale stared at Axel blankly with a hint of doubt.
"I don't know how they got the technology to do it or even how such technology exists but it's what is happening."
"With each second, the gravity in this room is increasing and that's why you can't catch the button. Its acceleration is increasing."
By this time, everyone was sitting because of physical exhaustion. An exhaustion that if they spent a little moment thinking about it, they wouldn't be able to explain.
"Stand slowly okay?" Axel tapped Kale.
The two of them slowly stood to their feet and nearly fell to their knees.
"Squat and spread your legs apart." He whispered and Kale listened.
By this time, the other people had noticed their odd positions and were whispering.
Axel looked at the timer.
[01:34]
[01:33]
"Hey!! You two!! What the fuck are you doing??!!" The aggressive man from earlier stood and questioned them.
[01:30]
As soon as the timer hit this, the yellow lights from the cones turned red and an insurmountable force landed upon them.
The man's knees buckled and he fell face-first to the floor while most of those lying and sitting lost consciousness.
"STAND ON YOUR FEET BEFORE THE TIMER HITS ZERO." A cold, metallic voice echoed the instruction in the room.
The man and some of those still present glared at Kale and Axel.
The latter two could feel their bones creaking and groaning from pressure.
Their only saving grace was that they only had to maintain their position for 90 seconds, but to them, it might as well have been an eternity.
The aggressive man clenched his teeth as thoughts rushed through his head.
'Those little shits!!! If they knew about the real test, why didn't they tell us??!!!' The man, Eric, cursed in his mind.
Eric had always gotten his way either through merit or force.
It didn't matter the means. All that mattered, though, was the result, and right now, he felt like what he wanted was being taken away from him by two teens.
The idea that those two were going to be the reason for his detestable position in the military sent knots down his stomach.
He wouldn't fail to get what he wanted. He couldn't.
With shaking legs, he pushed himself off the ground and stood to his feet, staring the best friends down.
And while he wanted to march over there and smash their heads in, he couldn't move and if he could, there would be a price to pay.
But 'mishaps' could occur during training that'll kill off the both of them.
The timer slowly crawled to an end where every second felt like an hour.
But eventually…
[00:00]
The oppressive force disappeared as quickly as it had come.
Axel and Kale collapsed as their bodies adjusted back to normal gravity, Axel bent over and emptied out the contents of his stomach.
Kale would have helped his friend out but his situation wasn't much better. His body was feeling heavy and sluggish as black spots filled his vision.
Eric fell to his knees and grimaced. His ankle had been sprained a bit by his forceful stance earlier.
The doorknob turned, and various people in lab coats entered, with some attending to those who had lost consciousness.
"Kale Vincoff. Axel Romero. Eric Singfall… you have passed this test with a perfect score." The woman from earlier stood at the door and spoke, writing something into her tablet.
"Onto the next test." She let out a smile that didn't reach her eyes. A mere courtesy.
Those whose names she had called followed while the rest were taken somewhere else.
Eric continued to glare at the two while walking with a limp.
"I hope that sprain won't be a problem." The woman addressed him.
"No. No, it won't. I can assure you of that." Eric replied.
"Good."
After walking deeper into the facility for about ten minutes, they came across another room but this one had transparent glass walls.
"Good. We are here early enough to witness another person use it. Study this well so that you'll have an idea of what is required for this room." She pointed to the room.
Inside was a young girl with a fierce look.
She was wearing a black body suit that hugged her body while giving her a fierce yet savage look.
But while she was the center of attention for those outside the room, her eyes were fixed on the ceiling.
Kale and Axel followed her line of vision and saw dozens of black rods attached to the ceiling.
A loud buzz echoed within and outside the room and the rods took on a red glow.
The ends built up a brighter red glow as she leaned forward.
Her left leg was squatting while her right leg was spread out. Her hands were holding two imaginary blades behind her back.
This was clearly a premeditated form of martial arts and then she moved.