Old Men

After finishing the written portion Annabelle pushed open the little door and looked around for Kirsten.

"Hey, you're already finished?" She was leaning against the wall.

"Yeah, he told me we were done."

"Damn kid, you finished fast." She pushed off the wall and started walking away. Completely ignoring the fact that she had caused the little room to collapse.

"Ummm, should we fix that?" Annabelle asked as she tried to keep up with Kirsten.

"No worries Winston will be happy to fix it. You remember the jerk that scanned your IO? He's a real gem, S.O.B., classist snob, I wish he'd just get his face plowed in by a Snarin."

When Annabelle didn't respond she turned to look at her. "Please don't tell me you thought he was nice. Damn fake ass smile, greasy little weasel!"

'I wonder if something happened between them.'

"No, I was just wondering if by Snarin you meant the things that resembled snot balls, but are technically made up of puss and mucous?"

"Yep." The p popped as Kirsten nodded and continued walking through the rows of little rooms towards an empty hall.

"Okay… Umm Kirsten are we going to the athletic portion of the test now?"

"No, the physical test requires everyone's participation, so you have to wait for the rest of the examinees to finish with the written portion. I'm taking you to a lounge."

"Cool, by the way, what happens if someone fails the athletic test?"

"It depends, if you had a good enough score on the written, then probably nothing, as long as you can pass the third test."

"What third test?"

"You'll see."

The girls walked in silence till they reached an open area filled with benches, sofas and beds.

"Just find a place to sit, I'll come by for you when the second test is ready." Kirsten patted Annabelle on the back, continuing down the hallway.

'So, I get to sit around and do nothing for who knows how long. She could have at least stayed to talk.'

Sighing Annabelle walked over to a bed and lay down. Looking up at the ceiling she saw a few cameras and stuck her tongue out at them.

"Hah." A middle-aged man sitting at a computer screen laughed. "She found your camera's Fresor."

Fresor raised an eyebrow at his old friend and colleague his brown eyes amused. "And that's surprising to you Acott? I don't see why Naet is so interested in this girl. So, what if an Ayeri finished the test in two hours? I'd prefer to have an Apse who can answer them in thirty minutes and won't act like a five-year-old."

"Oh, come on, it's fun getting Ayeri that are brilliant. One minute they're acting like perfect adults and the next they are throwing tantrums."

"Why in the world do you view that as fun? No one else does. In fact, everyone else abhors it. You my friend are truly insane."

"As a man of science, you should be more interested in how their brains develop and how their physiology dictates their actions Fresor!"

"I've been down that rabbit hole, it's dark and destructive. I had to spend an entire summer with abandoned Ayeri children as my graduation thesis. Never again…"

"But"

"No."

"Kill-joy, you should at least feel sorry for the tykes." Acott looked sideways at him.

"I will be sympathetic to their plight from afar."

Looking back at the screen Acott laughed again. "I can't believe she fell asleep; most would be pacing in anticipation."

"Maybe she's confident that she'll pass, whatever, I'm bored come finish the game old man."

"Jeez, you never did have any patience in that body of yours. Plus, you keep calling me old man, remember you're ancient compared to me!"

"Relatively though I'm way younger than you Acott." Fresor glanced at his friend.

"The lack of patience is something that developed after years of being your friend. I can't just let you finish observing, or we'll never get anything done, much less finish a game."

"Alright, alright, tell Naet that rules are rules and he can't know her name till she either fails, or becomes a student." He spoke to Naet's fifth-year messenger. "Also tell him thanks for letting me know about something interesting."

"Yes sir."

"Oh, and Kait." Fresor spoke up before she left the room. "Tell Naet that before he gets busy with research again. I need him to track down those three rebels of his. I want to talk to them about becoming professors."

"Yes sir."

"Such a good girl, too bad she had to draw the short stick this year. Getting stuck as Naet's research assistant. The man's a genius, but until she proves she's useful he'll just use her as a gopher."

"You heard about that huh." Fresor was not amused in the slightest, brow crinkling at the thought.

"That your wise fifth-year students resorted to drawing straws in order to decide who had to be assigned to Naet? I haven't laughed so hard in years; I could imagine your face after you heard that they had done something as unscientific as drawing straws."

Acott pounded his knee as he spoke pointing at Fresor. "I bet that when you found out you assigned them all work about how they could use a formula to decide who would be best suited, and then you probably gave them some type of punishment like cleaning toilets or something."

Fresor sighed and rubbed his temple. "I couldn't believe they resorted to luck of the draw. I thought at least one of them would think of a way to dump it onto someone else or find a way to make sure they weren't the ones chosen."

"Are you trying to take over my debate club? I saw that a few of your students were attending." Acott was still laughing.

"If they can't discuss their issues without resorting to straws, they might as well give up on being scientists, so I sent them to learn a thing or two about debate. Maybe I should require first years to take debate courses."

Acott just shook his head and turned his head back to the chess board on the table. Taking one last glance at the child who was still asleep on a bed in the test's waiting lounge.