The hall was large and well decorated, but the walls were cracked and worn out. It had seen better days. Few shaky pillars supported the roof that seemed too heavy for them.
At the front, a raised podium dominated the space. Upon it sat several government officials, arranged with graceful precision. Each wore the Global Agency uniform: black as midnight authority, white gloves immaculate as if sin itself could not stain them. The fabric carried no wrinkles, no personality....a garment not worn by people, but by functions.
They were here for what they always did. What they were built to do. They were here to measure, to judge, to categorize. In plain terms, they were here to conduct a test.
The crowd of them, candidates, aspirants, victims, whatever you'd call them, stood in uneven rows. The air was thick with unease, but no one spoke out loud. Not when the officials could hear. Not when every word might be weighed as part of our "evaluation."
I stood apart from the crowd, though. I didn't want to smell of sweat or self-insufficiency to cling to me. I just stood at the far end of the corner.
" They should get this over with. " I murmured under my breath.
A few people were whispering under their breaths, so I decided to eavesdrop.
It wasn't hard really. Fear makes people careless. Or you could say it was because of my sensitive hearing.
"Heard someone failed last week. Just… vanished after." A boy whispered.
"No, they didn't vanish. They were taken." A girl answered.
"Taken where?"
"You know where," she pulsed "… The Abyss."
The abyss? What, are these people retarded?? That's just a fairytale told to children at bedtime. The truth is they were killed. Anyways, that's their problem; whatever they choose to believe is on them.
These days, power is everything, and some people will do anything to achieve it.
"Doesn't matter. If you're born without an Essentia, you're useless. Might as well disappear." Another boy chipped in.
Essentia is the energy source from which abilities could be manifested. It resides within everyone, being b; rn without it is like a curse, a terrible curse.
Brittle pride, I thought. The kind that cracks the first time it's tested.
I changed my hearing focus. People can detect when being gazed upon.
My gaze returned to the Arkstone at the front. It pulsed faintly, it was black, smooth and alive in some quiet and ancient way. Like a heart torn from something greater and left to throb alone. That was the true reason we were here. To touch it and connect with the global system.
The global system connected everyone; it was like the internet, but also a natural concept. Like the concept of time, space and the rest of that.
I heard a noise like a broken car trying desperately to revive its engines. At the other end of the hall, someone was comfortably sleeping on the floor. He or she had taken the time of day to pack up a sleeping bag.
" Alright, everyone. Once you hear your number, walk up to the podium and place your hands on the arkstone. Wait till you're fully assessed and connected before removing your hands," one of the officials shouted out the instructions.
Finally. I almost died of boredom.
" Number one"
A girl walked up to the podium. She was wearing a white dress and looked extremely shy. The instructor shouted out the instructions again like a broken record.
" Your virtue is unassigned," one of the officials whispered to her. Too bad I could hear everything.
" An A ranker," He said more audibly.
People burst into murmurs.
Well, that wasn't bad for a start. It got people boiling. Each person is fantasizing about beating the record.
One by one, names were called, and one after the other, trembling hands pressed to the cold surface. Light bloomed from it in pale greens, muted blues, angry reds. Officials scribbled notes without lifting their eyes.
Some candidates left smiling weakly. Others left hollow-eyed, like something had been scooped out of them after their assessments.
I didn't move, not yet. I didn't have to, I just let the line shorten on its own.
They could call me when they were ready; I did not need to stand among them as if we were equals.
"Number 69," the official yelled before repeating the procedure.
The next person they called was the person sleeping. He was a guy, not that tall, with red eyes and black short hair. His dress was unappealing and unkept. He ignored the stares and side talk.
"Your sin is unassigned. You are a S ranker."
"What?? An S ranker?"
" This has to be a mistake, right??"
" No way, the arkstone is bugged or something, " a guy said, frowning.
" Nah, you're just mad you got a C rank," his friend tugged at him while laughing.
A S ranker. I felt he was trying to steal my light, and I wasn't going to let him show me off. But something almost unnoticed and unexpected happened.
He smiled.
Interesting. Most here prayed for Virtues because it was safer, cleaner. But Sins… Sins made you fear. And fear is the closest thing to respect. Everyone is born with either a virtue or a sin. They go hand in hand.
The line thinned until only three of us remained. The whispers were gone. The air felt heavier.
The lead official's eyes found mine.
" Number 86. Lysar Vayne."
I waited a little before responding. I walked calmly and slowly towards the podium. Yes, they had to wait for me.
The Arkstone waited for me at the center, its faint light flickering as though it already knew my name, as if it knew who I was. I hovered my hand above it for a moment, close enough to feel the unnatural chill bleeding from it before lowering my palm. It was cold to the touch. I felt some electric move through my palm and into the arkstone.
The stone pulsed once, and a second time.
Then it erupted violently.
Not in the muted colors of those before me, but in a blinding gold-white radiance that swallowed the hall whole. Gasps cut through the light. Chairs scraped as some officials rose to their feet.
One of them whispered the word that they shouldn't have, that would follow me until my last breath:
"Pride. S ranker."
And I smiled.