5 Book 1 - Entrance Exam (1/2)
”Who are you and what have you done with Etana?” Cisse asked sarcastically. She spoke with a kind tone, but it was lost on him.
”Who are you and what happened …” He was about to make a rude remark about what happened to her legs, but he caught himself. Not because he was worried about offending her, but she had lost her legs in the same accident that had killed his mother. The reminder was a self-inflicted punishment to him. ”… to your hair.”
Cisse touched her head and thought for a moment. ”Nothing,” she answered.
”Exactly,” he said and messaged her a list of the top ten salons in Paris.
She waggled a finger at him.
The intake for that year was 1,275 cadets. It was the same every year. There were five houses with 255 cadets each.
Although it was a boarding school with astronomical fees, if a potential cadet didn't pass and rank in the top thirteen hundred, they would not be accepted. Although Fortescue was a Tier Three school, it always had more successful applicants than places.
It was one of the many academies in Europe but the only one in Paris. There were three in London, which hurt local pride, two of which had sprouted from the famous universities of Oxford and Cambridge.
Germany had four academies in the top three tiers also, which was a low number since that country was an industrial giant.
Daedo completed the math, physics, history, language, chemistry, logic, mental profile and problem-solving tests. As long as he passed the physical test, his results in the academic subjects were sure to place him in the top one hundred.
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He had not had the time or energy to review the academic subjects, but he excelled naturally at math, logic, and problem-solving. He was no slouch at physics either, but it was massively broad with some subjective questions that he could not recall the exact answers to. Myrmidon was no assistance; cybernetic activity was monitored and effectively disabled during the exam.
There were at least three thousand thirteen-year-olds taking the tests in waves, Daedo had not yet turned twelve and was still the smallest in his group of a hundred. The sprint was followed by the eight-kilometre run for the physical test.
He was able to place middle of the field in the sprint, coming in sixtieth out of his group of one hundred. And in the eight-kilometre run, all his training paid off, and he came in the top thirty. However, the fastest runners were ahead by a full fifteen minutes. Daedo was a long way from the peak cadets in the physical discipline.
He wondered why it was so important. Surely if you could control a mech with a cybernetic implant, and if you were taking an engineering focus, it would not matter at all.
He heard another cadet, who was slower than him, complaining about that very topic.
”Are you crazy?” came the response from a serious sounding girl. ”You can't pilot a mech if you're not fit.”
”Uh … why?” asked the boy.
”Because, noob, it's not like VR gaming,” she said disdainfully. ”We wear suits, and when you move your arm the mech's arm moves. When you jump, the mech jumps. How could you possibly operate a mech for more than ten minutes if you're as fit as a sloth?”
”That's stupid,” the boy said without elaborating on the reason why it was stupid. But Daedo was inclined to agree. He would have to find out the reason later.
Daedo barely completed barrage of physical tests. Most cadets completed the squeeze test effortlessly. He wondered how much time they spent preparing for it.
After the obstacle course, he had completed all the elements. Myrmidon was permitted during the physical tests, and it had been monitoring his progress.
Myrmidon: Out of these 123 cadets, you ranked ninety-four, which extrapolates to rank 1,870. This will affect your overall entrance rank, but as long as you passed all elements and rank under 1,275, you will gain entry.
Daedo: What time do I need for the obstacle course?
Myrmidon: It's on the board. Ten minutes.
Daedo: Uh, I see.
It did not seem strange to Daedo that even though he'd seen the board with his eyes, he was so tired and worried that it didn't register in his mind. Myrmidon had perceived the board with the same information that Daedo received, through his vision, and the AI had recognised the significance of the information. This was one of the facets of their symbiotic relationship.
They watched the previous cadets complete the course. This enabled Myrmidon to monitor and advise Daedo during his completion.
Myrmidon: Keep your head down, it's too high for the logs.
Myrmidon: Catch your breath before the climb. Your heart rate is 160; walk the twenty metres.
Myrmidon: The cadets who rolled forward after this drop performed the best.
Between his practice and Myrmidon's advice, Daedo was able to complete the obstacle course in nine minutes and forty-four seconds. Only sixteen to spare. But that was all that mattered.
He had passed the entrance exam.
Daedo would be attending Fortescue Military Academy in the year 2142.
Tier One Academies by Rank
Huawei MA (MA is an abbreviation of Military Academy)
DaVinci MA
Svarksi MA
Oxford
Harvard MA
Massachusetts Military Academy (offshoot of MIT)
Tiger Eight MA (Asia)
Akihabara MA
Tokyo Mech
Munich LMU
Bavarian MA
Stanford Scientific
Tier Two Academies by Rank
Berkley MA
Cambridge
Aachen MA
Duntroon MA
BAE Systems MA
Boeing NA MA
Mercedes MA
SAAB MA
Taiwan Tech
Renault MA
Abu Dhabi MA
Hitachi MA
Tier 3 Academies by Rank
KAIST
Tehran Mech
Templars MA
Lockheed Martin MA
Heidelberg MA
Humboldt MA
Tsinghua MA
Seoul MA
ETH Zurich