Elite || Marhinki

•Chapter Three: Physical•

I awoke to a beeping sound.

I sat up groggily, and rubbed my eyes. It was far too bright in here, the lights far more powerful than my apartments were. A woman's figure appeared out of the hologram box.

"It is recommended that you eat breakfast at this time for you to have the best energy for your physical test," The woman said. I stared at the image for awhile, shocked at how real it looked, like there was a miniature woman standing on the desk. I had always assumed that all the images the boxes displayed were blue.

I reluctantly got out of bed, and noticed that there was a plate of food sitting on the desk that I swore hadn't been there seconds before. I walked over too it.

It was bacon and eggs. I'd never actually had eggs or bacon, but I remembered there being a picture of it in one of the books in school, when they were teaching us to read. It was sitting on top of a square that looked like it had been cut into the wood, which was where I assumed it had come from. There were a fork and knife sitting next to it.

I pulled up a chair and started to eat. It was strange; I felt like I was doing something wrong, like this wasn't for me and I had stolen it. I was almost relieved when I was done. I put the plate back on the square, and the square receded into the desk and came back up again, empty. I noticed a panel of buttons on the side of the desk, though I didn't press any of them, as I was scared about what they might do.

I sat down on the bed. I was a ball of nerves. I wished that I could just do my Tests now, get them over with, instead of having to wait. To distract myself, I turned to the hologram box.

It was displaying some sort of homepage. There were little boxes with pictures in them, and titles underneath. Music had a man holding the same object the Lord yesterday had used to make his voice come out of the speakers. Games had what looked like a matching game. Entertainment had a woman and man with swords fighting.

I pressed on the game's box, and it brought me to another page, listing multiple games. I tapped on the first one.

"Welcome to Bubble Pop!" A male voice announced. "Are you a new player?"

I took me a couple of seconds to realize it wanted me to respond verbally. "Yes."

The pixels rearranged themselves to show me how to play with pictures. Once I figured out the basics, I started playing.

It was a simple game, but it was exhilarating. It could track my hands, and I didn't even have to touch the screen to move the balloons. It was a matching game, where you had to match three balloons of the same color to pop them.

I played the game for awhile, before moving on to the next one. I realized why Dad had loved telling John and I stories about his experience here so much; this was wonderful.

After I had been playing games for around three hours, I practically jumped in the air when the woman appeared suddenly.

"It is time for your physical test," The woman informed me. "Please get changed and exit your room. A guard will escort you."

I was confused for a couple of seconds, and then I noticed a pile of white clothes on the desk. I put it on. It was made of some smooth fabric, and hugged my body in a way that made it very easy for me to move.

I walked over to the door and put my hand on the handle, taking a deep breath. This was it. Trying to calm my nerves, I opened the door.

A guard was waiting for me. Wordlessly, he started walking down the stairs, and I followed him. He lead me past the large room where the Lord had spoken to us, through a few hallways, and into what looked like a waiting room that was so white it was hard to look at. There were a few other people, none of whom I recognized. I sat down in one of the plush chairs.