Glacia is notorious for being Cornell’s adrenaline junkie. In Secondary, she aced every flying simulation the Officials gave her, most of which exceeded the abilities of every other student. But she’s most famous for her Hologis skills. The girl holds every single arena record. She’s ambidextrous, and will literally jump off the wall to pelt you in the face with a Hologis sphere. I know that from experience.

Multiple experiences.

8:01. The proctor is late. The Placement Report was supposed to start at eight o’clock. The guy who waved to me is thinking the same thing. His legs are shaking, and he keeps folding and unfolding his arms. At one point, he leans through his hologram to try and see out the door.

People start mumbling and whispering ‘where are they?’ to each other. Aside from Glacia, I don’t recognize anyone, so nobody whispers to me. Good, because I don’t feel like talking to them. I just want to get this over with and find out my score. I need to join the Embassy. I don’t have any other choice. Mother and the twins are counting on me to provide support.

And Ladia is waiting for me on Belvun.

Five minutes late…ten minutes late. The twitchy guy stands up and jumps to the door. He looks both ways and suddenly sprints back to his desk, nearly colliding with the black-haired guy in the first row.

A woman rushes through the door: Lieutenant Victoria Hofhen, one of Father’s colleagues who works with General Orcher. Her long braid swings over her shoulder as she drops into the seat behind the proctor’s desk and taps the panel to activate the Placement Report.

“Sorry I’m late,” she says, clearly out of breath from running. “I was just down the street. Stopped at the…um…”

Abandoning her explanation, Victoria swipes her ID across the panel. The Embassy crest vanishes from above my desk and a new display appears, asking me to log my personal information. A confused murmur moves around the room.

“Gloves!” Victoria realizes, straightening up quickly before bending down and checking through the desk’s drawers. “They’re somewhere around here. Gloves…gloves…aha!”

She scrambles around the room, haphazardly handing pairs of tendril gloves to people. I strap on mine and enter the information. When I finish, the display disappears and the projector deactivates. The rest of the exam will be taken on the glass panel so that nobody’s answers are left floating in the air for everyone to see.

“Right. The Embassy wants five Recruits from the cities this year,” Victoria says, her hand hovering near a holographic icon that reads ‘Begin,’ except backwards. “You have ninety questions, two essays, and three hours. Unanswered questions are marked wrong. Your essays will be judged by Embassy Officials.”