Operation Shutdown

One Year Earlier

So, here's the thing: fail and you die. Your life depends on The Test. Actually, your life depends on you passing The Test. It's common knowledge.

"So, how'd you do, Rosie?" Emma asked her best friend of six years.

Rosie looked over at her. Emma's brown hair was plastered to her head and her brown eyes still alert. "Not too good. I only passed by two points. One more question wrong and I'd be dead right now."

Emma sighed. "It's not fair you know."

Rosie quietly shushed her. "Careful Em, they'll hear you!"

"Rose, I passed by fifteen points. Any harder and I would have failed too."

In Aproba every year, on your birthday, you take The Test. The Test challenges your mental and physical capacity, along with your health. It uses a point system to decipher the weak, from the useful. A score of 1600 points is passing. Anything lower, and well, no one ever sees you again. No goodbyes and no funeral.

The Test was created by the fifty-ninth president of the old country, 97 years ago. It was originally created to solve overcrowding. But the overcrowded population still needed to be trimmed every year.

There are four components to The Test. The mental test, the knowledge test, the physical test, and the blood test. Each aspect is worth 600 points total.

"We should go catch that bus. Our parents will be worried." Rosie grabbed her water bottle and started towards the door with Emma by her side.

"Fine."