The Human Realiser Project - Part 2
—all children may pick up their pens.
The frantic sound of page-flipping filled the room. The subtle scrunching, the scratching from the tips of the grey-lead pencils, the soft sound of rubber pushing against paper—it was all too familiar. Heavy breaths echoed through the room as many children noticed the peril that they were in.
Things were simple inside the facilities of the Human Realiser Project. If you're capable enough, you'll be allowed to exist, if you're not, you'll be disposed of. These periodic tests were the simplest sign of such.
ESP required a great amount of intellectual capacity, if you didn't have enough, you'll never become a strong esper.
Looking down at the test, I scanned through some of the questions.
*
Ah, it's getting harder and harder to filter out the cries from the children beside me. It was to be expected that the stress and despair building up in their bodies would eventually explode out.
Eventually, they were taken away by the administrators.
The room was once again eerily quiet, although the sound of pencil scratchings stayed at a constant level.
"This isn't fair! We were never taug—"
Before they even had time to finish their sentence, an arm hooked around their mouth. Kicking and fighting, the young boy was dragged away.
You should know better than to argue with the scientists, they will never care about your opinion.
*
In a dark, perilous world, there are only so many things that one can hold onto. Eventually, you'll lose any hope of being saved. In this world, there was only one way to survive, and that one way was to prove your strength.
In this world, there is only one currency, and that currency is your abilities.
If you didn't have enough, you would never survive. There was nothing you can do, there was nothing your friends could do. The word of the scientists is absolute.
After a few minutes, I finally decided to start working.
Looking down at my test paper, I picked up my pen and began answering question one.
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[Question 1]
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Block Y with Mass mᵧ falls onto and sticks to block X, which is attached to a vertical spring. A short time later, the blocks are momentarily at rest. At that moment, block Y exerts a force of magnitude F(down) on block X, and block X exerts a force of magnitude F(up) on block Y. Which of the following correctly relates F(up), F(down), and mᵧg at the instant of the collision?
(a) (F(up) = F(down)) > mᵧg
(b) (F(up) = mᵧg) > F(down)
(c) mᵧg > F(up) > F(down)
(d) F(up) = F(down) = mᵧg
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To be fair, aside from the long paragraph and lack of supporting diagrams, the question wasn't too bad. You needed to be able to visualise the interaction based on the information alone, if you could do so, it was pretty easy.
The answer was A.
I moved on to the next question.
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[Question 2]
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C=5/9(F−32)
The equation above shows how temperature F, measured in degrees Fahrenheit, relates to temperature C, measured in degrees Celsius. Based on the equation, which of the following must be true?
A temperature increase of 1 degree Fahrenheit is equivalent to a temperature increase of 5/9 degrees Celsius.A temperature increase of 1 degree Celsius is equivalent to a temperature increase of 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit.A temperature increase of 5/9 degrees Fahrenheit is equivalent to a temperature increase of 1 degree Celsius.
A) I only
B) II only
C) III only
D) I and II only
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The next question was just a freebie. There was a slight trap but it wasn't something that most of the children here would be getting wrong. As long as you were confident in your response, you wouldn't need to spend too much time on this.
The answer was D.
I was slowly making my way through the questions. We had around four hours in total to answer 50 questions, so there was no need for me to rush. Looking around at some of the other students, I was able to catch a slight glance at their papers.
Even at my reduced rate, I was at question twelve, thirty minutes in.
I couldn't understand why some of them hadn't even gotten past question four. The first few questions were the easiest ones as well. At that rate, they were definitely not going to make it, in this project. Children like them would inevitably be disposed of.
Time was ticking and I was pacing myself so I wouldn't get too bored near the end. I didn't mind staring off into space, but boredom was something that affected me in a way no other emotion could.
As the time got closer to four hours, I could feel the stress levels increasing throughout the room. The heavy breathing of children on the verge of breaking down filled my ears. Erasors were being used more than ever now that people were beginning to lose their composure.
I had completed my test, leaving it face down on the table.
Eventually, time was up.
The examiners made sure that not a single student tried to continue writing. Pencils fell on the table, and pencils fell on the ground, but not a single pencil continued to write. Punishments were always severe, so you did not want to get caught out.
The results of this test would determine who remained in the project. Those who don't pass the 50% threshold would be disposed of. In total, there were 110 children in the exam hall today. Within the next few hours, we would find out how many remain.
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Several hours passed.
I was making my way through the white hallways of the Human Realiser Project. A large number of students were gathered around the main board in the middle of the reception area.
I looked over.
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Results From The Exam
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1. Oliver Ruth - 100%
2. Maia Keller - 100%
3. Sonya Ruth - 98%
4. Rhyla Camella - 96%
5. Reina Camella - 92%
...
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In the end, only 37 children remained.