The Scholars

Chapter 2

Michael entered the Scholar Building; he had never been inside (well, nobody had) and he was quite anxious to see where he would be working for the rest of his life. He wasn't surprised that he was chosen from his generation to be the Scholar. He was at the top of his class, and he was also the youngest by four years. Yet, he still felt nervous, he felt as if there was this huge weight upon his shoulders that he had to fill. When the elevator door opened on the 4th floor, he saw a door. He knew this was the door, for the letters above the door said "Honesty, Strength, Selflessness".

Scholar John was quite surprised when Michael walked in, he knew that Michael was young but the boy looked twelve, maybe thirteen. John told the boy to sit down. They conversed for about an hour, it was protocol for the scholar to ask the boy questions. At the end of their talk, the old man got up. He began to explain how the scholars managed to lead the city.

Michael knew most of what the scholar told him. He was getting very impatient to get over the review and start shadowing the old man. He wanted to meet the other scholars and observe their meetings, not 'learn' about how there were leaders in each class system that usually conversed with the scholars. He didn't want to review the fact that there were three classes the Fortitudo Class, Honestatis Class, and the Donandi Class, and that they were all equal but they worked different jobs. He knew all the things the old man was re-informing him of.

John took his time explaining the education system. He knew that this irritated Michael. Scholars were meant to be calm and patient, so he would keep going until the boy relaxed. He described in grave detail the school system, since Michael had skipped a majority of it, maybe he could learn something more from this exercise.

The school system starts at age five and children go to the same school until the age of 18 when they take a test which positions them in one of three schools, The Specialty Honsetais School, the Specialty Donandi School and the Specialty Fortitudo School. Michael knew this already. Maybe the scholar thought that this was a joke. It took a moment for Michael to realize what the old man had been doing. He was agitating the boy. Michael knew he had to beat the scholar at his own game. He relaxed, he took his notebook and started to take notes.

The boy thought he had passed the test, but he had not. John could tell that the boy thought too highly of himself, maybe the Scholar building was not the place for him, it was too early to know. John only knew one thing for sure, being a genius does not make it easier to be a scholar.