Examination

Chapter One - Graduation

   The cold, unforgiving wind whistled past Aria as she rushed into her school a whole ten minutes late.

   "I can't be late on the last day!" she muttered, angry with herself. It was the last day of school, yet Aria was not as excited as the other students in her class. She'd heard about the Examination and what it entailed, but no one ever told her exactly what went on there. That was the least of her worries, however. Tests were not her strong point. 

   "Miss... Maurer?" Ms. Irwing, her teacher, sighed as she saw Aria walk into the classroom. "Miss Maurer, you're late. In fact, this is the second time this week you've been late. Is there something the matter?"

   "Yes, I don't like this class," Aria mumbled, which resulted in snickers from her other classmates.

   "And I don't like you," Ms. Irwing replied. Aria actually did like History, but she wasn't in the best of moods that morning. "Now that the... interruption has been dealt with, let's begin class with a lesson about one of the greatest wars to ever be fought." The entire class moaned. They always learned this lesson on days Ms. Irwing deemed to be 'special'.

   "Why do we have to learn about the war anyway? We've already learned it seven times this year. Yes, seven. I've been counting," Lillie Pickens stated matter-of-factly. Lillie was known for her outbursts during class, even more so than Aria. "I mean, can't we learn about something more important? Like how the graduation ceremony works? It's not like we're about to-"

   "That's enough, Miss Pickens. I don't care how badly you want to learn about the graduation ceremony. You'll figure it out tomorrow, anyway," Ms. Irwing shot back. Aria shuddered at the thought of attending her own graduation. Apparently, over two-hundred years ago, when you graduated, all you had to do was take a piece of paper with your name on it and walk off-stage. Aria wished she could be at one of those graduation ceremonies instead. 

   "Back to our lesson. Can anyone tell me what the name of the greatest war fought in history is?" Several kids raised their hands, including Lillie and Aria. "Mr. Antel?"

"The Nuclear War," Beck Antel stated without a second thought. He was one of the more studious in Aria's class.

   "I bet he'll pass graduation," Aria thought to herself. 

   "Yes, indeed. So great of a war, they didn't even bother calling it World War III, because it was all just nuclear warfare. One country bombed another country, which bombed another country, which ended up starting a chain of nuclear warfare that just destroyed hundreds of nations and killed billions of people. After the dust settled, all that was left was, well, us. Australia was left alone and forgotten about, untouched by the leftovers of the war. And what happened next?"

   "We split up into four sectors: the agricultural, political, industrial, and the technological sectors," Felix, a scrawny kid dressed in all black answered proudly. 

   "Correct. While some call them sectors and others call them districts, it's just a fancy term for where you work. The agricultural district provide food for the other sectors and ourselves, and they provide us with homes and medicine-"

   "And don't forget the corrupt leaders we let run us over in the political district," Lillie grumbled.

   "Thanks for your insight, Miss Pickens. May I ask why you think that?" Ms. Irwing groaned slightly, only pressing further because she was curious to hear what Lillie had to say.

   "The leader we elected doesn't even live here anymore. Light moved to the political district to join his fellow politicians. It's not like he even knows what's going on in our district anymore. All he does is meet with the other leaders and decide what to do from miles away."