FYSH: Diving Deeper.

Chapter Four: The First Analysis (Pt 2)

We looked up as Kai thrust open the door, eager to meet our new home.

"Why does it look like a cafeteria?" Beck whispered. He was right. The walls were gray. The floor was gray. The tables and chairs were gray. Everything was gray. We all shambled into the huge room, which did indeed look like a cafeteria without the canteen, and eyed our new living quarters.

"Kai?" A teenage girl asked.

"Yes, my darling." He answered.

Her cheeks gradiently flushed pink.

"Um, how are we meant to sleep here?" She inquired, batting her lashes.

Kai's own eyes widened, big as beavers, his hand raising to grasp his chest.

"Oh children, you have got this all wrong! No, no, no, what sort of caretakers would we be, to force you to sleep in this horrible room? No kids, this is the Meeting Room, where you'll wait every training and test morning for me, and I'll take you to the pool. Go on kids, go and sit down."

The group awkwardly spread themselves over the tables and chairs, peering up at Kai, awaiting instructions.

"So this is how it's going to go." Kai began, a whiskery smile wide upon his face. "At 8:00AM, every monday to thursday, you will come here, in your suits. From 8:30AM-2:30PM, you will train in the pools, doing various exercises and activities. We'll mark your progress every day and these marks, along with where you stand compared to the others will show us how much money and supplies to give to your family."

"How will we know where we stand in comparison with the other kids?" A boy called out.

Kai shot his bony finger in the direction of the boy excitedly.

"Good question!" He exclaimed. He turned around and nodded at one of the scientists, and the man, in return, took a device from his pocket and tapped the screen. Immediately, a screen, exactly the same as the one Mistress Ioa had greeted us upon when we first arrived, slid down over the front wall. Some gasped, and I don't know how but I somewhat expected it, and gritted my teeth. The screen blinked a few times, as though waking up, and flashed and image. A table appeared on the face, with numbers one to fifteen listed. The numbers one to ten were in bright blue, and eleven to fifteen were blood red.

"The top ten swimmers, counting attitude inside and outside the pool as well as how you do in the examinations so everything in total, appear on the leaderboard. The last five people, also, appear. The people who are not doing good enough, but are still not failing, simply do not come up on the leaderboard. And so I say, this," And here he pointed at the top of the board, at the bright blue number one, "is your ultimate goal. And this," Kai continued, his pointer gliding down to the bottom, at the glowing number fifteen, "is your death bed."

He snapped a brilliant smile and crossed his arms.

"Any questions?" He asked innocently.

Reluctantly, I raised my voice.

"How will the money be distributed between us and our family?" I called. His face remained the same as he replied.

"However you like. You'll fill out all that when you're with the doctors. You can decide to give half to your family and keep the other half for yourself. You might decide to give it all to your family. Unwise, in my opinion, because you buy your own food and necessities, you know."

Confused gasps and outbursts were spat from the crowd and Kai quickly changed the subject.