"This student's willpower is quite impressive. He resisted the drowsiness Borg induced, and his speed at answering questions is extraordinary. Has he studied High Gothic before?"
Inside the monitoring room, a woman in a white lab coat watched the screen with great interest, her long flaxen hair draped over her shoulders.
Beside her stood an old man holding a Dataslate. Dressed as a butler, he kept his slicked-back hair and goatee meticulously trimmed.
The old butler tapped the screen rapidly with his bionic fingers to pull up the student's file, then slowly shook his head.
"Miss, this student's name is Lino. He was born to an ordinary worker family in the Lower Hive. There are no records in the database of him ever studying High Gothic."
"Show me his file," the woman said, reaching out to take the Dataslate.
But before she could touch it, a third person in the room snatched the Dataslate from the old butler's hands.
The newcomer's hair was dyed a vibrant array of colors, and his ears were pierced with numerous studs. Heavy black eyeshadow ringed his eyes, and his chin was made of metal—likely an implant.
Overall, he looked like a delinquent with a heavy-metal punk style.
He swiped across the screen with five silver mechanical fingers and let out a disdainful snort.
"Heh, don't tell me you two actually think he's taking this test seriously?
"I'll admit the kid has a little bit of street smarts, but not much. Once he realized the Dataslate would just keep feeding him questions, he figured out there was no perfect score for this exam. Whoever answered the most questions correctly would get the highest score.
"So, he's using a rapid-fire strategy to farm points. He's just picking random answers for every multiple-choice question and banking on blind luck."
The delinquent tossed the Dataslate back to the butler and raised an eyebrow at the woman in the lab coat.
"My dear sister, how could the scoring system you designed have such a massive loophole? It's a good thing I caught it in time."
Before she could retort, the youth issued an order to the butler.
"Tell Borg to adjust the assessment parameters. Put the scoring weight on accuracy first and lower the weight of total points. Anyone who answers fewer than thirty questions will be handed an automatic failure. Let's see someone try to farm their way to first place under these new rules."
The butler glanced at the woman. Seeing her give a slight nod, he bowed his head.
"Right away, Young Master. I will notify Borg to change the scoring parameters."
After tapping away on the Dataslate for a few moments, the butler's expression shifted subtly.
"Miss, Young Master, the exam is over. According to the adjusted scoring parameters, first place in this exam goes to Lino."
"What? How is that possible?" the delinquent exclaimed, snatching the Dataslate back to look for himself.
The woman giggled, clearly delighted to see her brother knocked down a peg.
Her laughter instantly grated on his nerves.
"So what if he got first place?" The youth tossed the Dataslate back in a huff, his demeanor returning to an arrogant dismissal.
"Does Lino even have the money to pay an apprentice's tuition? We are recruiting apprentices, not interns. The tuition fee is three hundred ration cards a month. He couldn't earn that much even if he sold his ass on the street."
The woman gave a slight shrug, entirely unconcerned.
"For a truly exceptional apprentice, I'd be willing to provide an interest-free loan. So, you don't need to worry about Lino's tuition. I propose we assign him to my newly built laboratory—"
"No, he's mine!" the youth interrupted, thumping his chest as if out of spite.
"The new production assembly line is almost finished. My Production Department needs him, and I'll give him the best compensation package."
The woman rubbed her forehead in exasperation.
"You were looking down on him just a moment ago. Furthermore, we are discussing business, so don't throw a tantrum like a child. The learning and logic capabilities Lino has demonstrated make him a perfect fit for the laboratory."
"Why can't he come to the Production Department? I can offer him an interest-free loan, too," the youth retorted, stepping forward to meet her gaze.
Caught in the middle, the old butler wore a look of utter helplessness.
On one side was the family head's youngest daughter; on the other, the youngest son. The two had been bickering since childhood, and he couldn't afford to offend either of them. What was a butler to do?
The old butler cast a pleading look toward the fourth person in the room.
The man sported a thick beard, and his brownish-black eyes brimmed with amusement, as if he were enjoying a good show.
With a pipe clamped between his teeth, he leaned lazily against the wall, puffing away.
Catching the butler's gaze, he rapped his knuckles against the metal wall, producing a sharp clang.
The young miss and the young master stopped arguing and turned to look at him.
The bearded man took a drag from his pipe, exhaled a slow plume of smoke, and spoke in an unquestionable tone.
"You two can stop fighting. The kid belongs to me. Only those with sufficiently resilient willpower meet my recruitment standards, and Lino is one of them. Don't try to steal him from me. If my work gets delayed, your new lab and that assembly line of yours will both grind to a halt."
The woman pondered this for a few seconds before giving a slight nod. "You're right. Your work takes priority. I have no objections."
The young master opened his mouth to argue, but the butler gently caught his wrist and gave a subtle shake of his head.
"Fine, we'll do it your way." The youth shoved his hands into his pockets and blew a colorful lock of hair out of his eyes, his face etched with dissatisfaction. He didn't say another word.
The atmosphere in the room finally settled down.
The four of them turned their attention back to the exam feed.
The first exam had weeded out nearly three-fifths of the applicants.
The second phase, currently underway, was a mathematics exam.
The test material didn't go beyond the standard syllabus; all the questions fell well within what the academy had taught them.
This time, Borg hadn't activated the force field that induced drowsiness.
The scoring parameters were identical to the previous round.
The Dataslates continued to feed the examinees an endless stream of questions, calculating their final grades based on a weighted average of accuracy and total points.
Strangely enough, Lino wasn't answering questions in a frenzy this time.
He would answer a few, pause to rest, and proceed with a casual ease that made him look completely unbothered.
"What is Lino doing?" The youth furrowed his brow. "Why isn't he blazing through the questions like he did in the first round? Is he just bad at math?"
The butler checked the data on his Dataslate.
"Young Master, based on his current progress, Lino has an accuracy rate of 100%. He has answered every question correctly. He has simply slowed down his pace."
"Why would he do that?" the youth asked. "What is he thinking?"
The woman glanced at her brother, whose intelligence seemed to fluctuate by the minute, and chuckled.
"When the first exam ended, Borg announced the rankings. Lino knows he took first place. All he had to do was use his brain a little to figure out the scoring system. If my guess is right, even with his slower pace, he's still answered more questions than anyone else in the room. Isn't that right?"
Her final question was directed at the butler.
The butler checked the system and nodded in confirmation.
"Yes, Miss. Lino is currently in first place for total questions answered. He has maintained a steady lead of exactly three questions ahead of second place. Initial projections indicate that he will take first place in this exam as well.
"As a side note, the second-place examinee is Lino's desk neighbor, Amy Marz, the daughter of the Lower Hive academy's director. Her father is a member of the upper hive's Noble Council and was appointed to serve as the academy director down here by order of Lord Vugas. It's quite an unusual situation; traditionally, all past directors have hailed from the Midhive."
The butler switched the camera feed on the screen, shifting the view from Lino to Amy.
The girl was working through the exam questions frantically, not relaxing for even a second. When she occasionally glanced over at Lino, her eyes blazed with an intense competitive spirit.
The butler let out a soft chuckle.
"Amy has always maintained the number one spot in her grade. This is the first time anyone else has snatched the champion title from her. A second consecutive runner-up finish might just be a devastating blow to the little girl."
The others nodded in agreement, seeing no reason to object.
However, the final results of the second exam completely defied their expectations.
Amy Marz had taken first place.
On the monitoring screen, the moment Borg announced the rankings, Amy excitedly clapped her hands together, a massive smile blooming across her face.
Beside her, Lino simply smiled and flashed Amy a thumbs-up.
They couldn't hear what Lino said to her, but Amy lifted her chin, the corners of her mouth curving up in smug satisfaction. She looked like she had just reached the pinnacle of her life.
This scene provoked four very different reactions inside the monitoring room.
The delinquent looked completely dumbfounded. He couldn't fathom why Lino had intentionally thrown the exam; who would be stupid enough to just hand over first place?
The old butler simply smiled in silence, deeply approving of Lino's ability to provide emotional validation.
The woman in the lab coat twirled a strand of hair around her finger and shot a beaming smile at the bearded man.
"Robnos, are you sure you won't reconsider? Lino would make a wonderful assistant for me..."
Robnos scraped the ash from his pipe and dumped it into the trash bin, replying without even lifting his head.
"If the kid ends up failing my next round of screening, you can have him. Assuming he's still alive, of course."
"Alright then. It's a deal."