CHAPTER 10

Week 10

The day had finally come. Today was Jasmine’s first test. The girl took a deep breath as she turned the piece of paper and looked at the first few questions on her test. Her heart rate slowed down as she realized it was primarily things she knew about.

Jasmine sneaked a glance at Veronica, hoping not to be noticed by the soldier keeping watch. She couldn’t see any change in her emotions, so she imagined that things were going well for her too. She grabbed her pen and reread the first question.

Translate the following words to Saverian: Bomb, Door, Deal, Attack, Murder, and Escape.

The thing about Saverian is that it was still somewhat related to Azerian, save for a few letters. It still used the same writing system, and it had some similar words. Of course, learning it had still been challenging, and the girl was nowhere near fluent yet, but she could write and read some of it.

Speaking it and understanding it, though? No way.

Jasmine wiped the sweat off her palm on her uniform before moving on to question two. Now, she had to translate again, but it was reversed. From Saverian to Azerian. Then she had to tell the time and write complete sentences. Her last question was a three hundred word essay about what she thought the best way to deal with one of the MSA’s leaders was in a one-on-one setting.

General Loeb had brought over a soldier with Saverian origins that could correct their test, but that was only the first part of their trial. The second test was tomorrow, and it was about combat— or at least that’s all they had been told.

Jasmine’s head snapped up as Agnes dropped her pen on the ground. The girl ignored it and kept going, hoping to finish as fast as possible so that she could get full marks, because for some reason, General Loeb had made it so the slower you completed the test, the more penalized you got. Maybe it was just to stress them out or to see how good they really were, but Jasmine wasn’t entirely sure.

“Fifteen minutes left.” The soldier said lazily with his head resting on his palm.

Jasmine took a deep breath. Half the allotted time had already passed as she translated her last sentence. She pondered for a second about who to pick, and then she decided on Palmer, the man who could alter into sand. Her makeshift plan for him was to enter a battle of attrition. She would feign attacks to trigger his transformation and find an opportune moment to shoot him or slash at him with a knife. The girl also added an addendum at the end of her essay, stating that if grenades were at her disposal, she would attempt to throw or plant one right inside of him while she was invisible to try to kill him, but Jasmine didn’t know if dispersing Palmer was enough to deal with him.

The essay was probably riddled with mistakes and wrong tenses, but it would do. Jasmine sat up and handed the test to the tired man, and headed out of the room. She felt confident enough to say that she had passed, and that was good enough for her.

Jasmine wondered how Franz and Veronica were doing— or what they were doing.

---

“Argh, I did terribly!”

“Are you sure? You looked fine when I glanced at you.”

The two girls slowly made their way back to the residential quarters. Agnes ran up to catch the elevator door as one of the research center’s employees inside of it kept pressing the ‘close’ button.

“Thank you.” The girl said coldly. “Come in, Jasmine.”

“Sorry about that.” She said.

The employees just nodded, and they all got out on the next floor. Agnes shook her head in disapproval.

“See how they are? It’s like they can’t wait for us to get out of here.”

“Maybe they were just in a hurry, Agnes. You always see the worst in everyone.”

“Or, and hear me out here, they’re just racist. Anyway, how did you do?” Agnes asked as the girls got out on their floor. “I could barely construct a sentence, and Loeb asked for a fucking essay? Allfather, I bet he can’t even speak anything else other than Azerian.”

“He probably wouldn’t need to, though. I mean, he’s a general, they have interpreters for that.” Jasmine retorted, snorting.

“Yeah, well, I’m just saying he’s a hypocrite. Answer the question.”

“I did alright. Aside from the essay, it was all things I knew. What do you think Franz and Veronica are doing?”

“Franz is obviously healing something. And Veronica? That woman can do anything, she terrifies me.”

“I think she’s opening up to us. She did bake that cake for my birthday.”

“Right, right. You’re sweet.”

The compliment took Jasmine aback. The girl didn’t reply, not knowing how to answer.

“You… too?”

“Yeah, right. If you really believed it, you wouldn’t have said it so half-assedly.” She paused to laugh as they entered Jasmine’s room. “I meant it though, you’re the best friend I ever had.”

“Is that because I’m your first friend?” Jasmine answered.

“Nah. I mean, kind of. You’re my first real friend, you know?”

“Thank you, I guess. I don’t know how to take compliments.” She said as she fiddled with her thumb.

“You took that one pretty well, I’d say. Allfather, I feel so drained. I hadn’t taken a test in so long.”

“When did you get pulled out of school? Official date or beforehand?”

“Before. I told you my dad hid me, remember? I mean, I guess it was weeks ago.”

“My bad. I was pulled out when the king proclaimed the Metahuman decree on education.”

“Right as the nail was put in the coffin, huh? So you were… ten.” Agnes said as she counted the years with her fingers.

“Yeah. But my mom still homeschooled me for a while after that, until we got shipped out.”

“Well, I don’t know how useful that was for our test, but homeschooling sounds nice.” The girl said while stealing Jasmine’s spot on her bed. She looked at the clock while sighing. “Shouldn’t they be done by now? What are we gonna do while we wait?”

“Maybe we don’t all get thirty minutes.” Jasmine replied, annoyed that her bed was full. She sat at her desk instead. “Why don’t you go get the card deck in the common room, and we can play something? Or a board game?”

“But I’m already laying down. You’re sitting, so you should go.”

“What— hey! Don’t get under the covers. If you’re not going, we’re not doing anything.”

“Allfather, there’s a special place in the void for you. I’ll go— but only if we can play blackjack.”

“But blackjack sucks. It’s completely random!”

“Take it or leave it, Jasmine. Quickly, before I change my mind.”

“Fine.”

Agnes smiled triumphantly and got up from the bed.

“Keep it warm for me.” She said while patting the mattress.

“Dude.”

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding!”

Agnes had taken a liking to card games like poker and blackjack, and she liked to play in her off time, although they didn’t have much these days. Jasmine was not a fan, but she played anyway because it was something to do. Books got old after a while. The girl longed to finally leave this cramped laboratory to go back to a city, and maybe she would even be allowed to raid something expensive from a store.

A few minutes, later her friend came back into the room with a deck of cards and some biscuits. Jasmine was already in the bed and had practically anchored herself on the mattress, determined not to be kicked out. It was her bed, after all.

“Who’s dealing? And what are we betting?” Jasmine asked.

“I’m dealing, duh. And that’s what these biscuits are for, you know we don’t have any cash. Here, let’s say you start with ten.”

“I don’t see the point of that, but you do you.”

Agnes dragged the metallic desk next to the bed and handed over the biscuits. She shuffled the cards and sat with a determined look on her face.

“How many will you wager, ma’am?” Agnes said sarcastically.

Jasmine sighed and rolled her eyes. “Let’s go with two.”

---

“This game blows, Agnes, I don’t understand how you can like something so mind-numbingly awful.” Jasmine threw her cards off the table as she gave away her lask biscuit. “I always get fourteen on the first draw!”

Agnes grinned as she slowly chewed the girl’s cookie. “House always wins. Sounds like you need more practice.”

“Yeah, right. Hey, give me one at least, the pack’s nowhere near empty—”

The door suddenly opened as Franz walked into the room. He had to do a double-take as he looked at Jasmine’s room.

“What in the world is going on here? While I’m busting my ass off in this exam, they have you playing cards here?” He said, astonished.

“We finished ages ago. I think you’re just slow.” Agnes answered. “How’d you do?”

“Pff, don’t even talk to me about that shitshow. I couldn’t answer like half the questions.”

“Wait, questions?” Jasmine interjected.

“Yeah, questions. About human anatomy. Organs, bones, and all that jazz. I am one hundred percent sure I failed, and I realized once again that I am incapable of studying.”

“You and me both, brother.” Agnes said with a smile. “Wanna play blackjack?”

“What?” Franz said in disbelief, slightly shaking his head. “No, of course not. I want food though, give me some.”

“She wouldn’t give me any, so I think you’re out of luck. Do you know about Veronica?”

“I mean, what would she even be tested on? I bet she’s wicked smart, though.” He replied as she leaned in to try to grab a biscuit. Agnes snatched it and held it out of his reach. “Seriously? Yikes.”

“They’re mine. If you want some, play with me.”

“Never.”

The group bickered and talked for the next hour. Veronica still was nowhere to be found, and Jasmine was getting slightly worried.

“Think she just forgot we agreed to meet here yesterday?” Franz asked.

“It’s possible. You never know what she’s thinking.”

“Hey, be nice to her. She’s our friend.” Jasmine protested. Agnes hung her hands in the air, and Franz just shrugged. “I’m serious, guys, we have to stick together, and that means no being mean behind each other’s back. We all know how that feels.”

The mood shifted from playful to serious in an instant. Jasmine opened her mouth, wanting to apologize, but she didn’t know what to say. Luckily for her, the door finally flung open.

“I apologize for being late. It will not happen again.”

Veronica stood in the doorframe, face unchanging. She looked at Jasmine directly and then at the others one by one.

“Don’t worry about it. At least it’s not always Jasmine being late now for a change.” Agnes replied with a nod.

“Sit.” Jasmine said with a smile while making space on her bed. “How was your test?”

“It went perfectly, thank you.”

“What was it about? Come on, spill.” Agnes asked. Jasmine also wanted to know, of course, but she said nothing.

“I was told I was not allowed to divulge the contents of my test. All I am allowed to say is that I will not be joining you tomorrow for yours.”

Jasmine frowned. “I think she did what we’re doing tomorrow.”

“What will she be doing tomorrow then?” Agnes said while pointing at Veronica.

“I don’t know. Maybe nothing. I mean, think about it, she doesn’t really need to know anything extra. She’s like a living tank.” Franz said. “No hints?”

“I am afraid I am not allowed to give any more hints.” The girl said. “But perhaps I could be convinced if you gave me some of these. I am hungry.”

“Oh, these?” Agnes said while lifting the package above the table. It’s empty. Why does everyone ask me for those anyway? You know you can get one by yourself, right? It’s not like they’re hoarding this stuff.”

“It’s so far, though, and you had it right there.” Franz said, insisting on ‘there’.

“Well, I’m willing to get another one for you guys—” The girl said. Franz and Jasmine brightened up. “—but only if we all play poker.” She said with an evil grin.

Franz threw his hands up in the air. “Damn it.”