As It Must Be

A Solid Ten

P.O.V. Deceit

Everyone takes their test on their eighteenth birthday. As far as I know, that's the way it's always been. I've been told the test is in place to keep the peace. To create fairness amongst all. To show what a person can and cannot handle. The schools have drilled it in our heads. Even if I never really paid attention, it was taught enough times to know it off by heart.

You take the test that comes in two parts: written and physical. No one talks about what happens during the tests, it's something everyone keeps very personal; something you'd only share with your close friends, so I'm not sure what to expect. What I do know is that I'll get a number at the end. A number from one to ten. A number that will end up defining me for as long as this heart continues to beat and as long as my name still has meaning. A number from one to ten.

The number ranks your dominance. Your capability to handle situations and people. A natural ability to make people bend to your will. A protector. A person of great care. People respect those with higher numbers. Most dominants rank in at seven. It's not uncommon for someone to rank in at an eight or nine, but everyone has a little soft in them. Ten is almost unheard of, but it happens.

Most submissives rank in at three. People who need more care. The strong willed. The follower. Its quite uncommon for people to be ranked lower than three. I chalked that up to everyone having the spark of fight in them somewhere. Most people tend to go one of two ways when dealing with a submissive; they may baby them, or they might treat them like the lowly.

I have a good idea of where I'll be ranked. I've made it through life so far without anyone's help. Though my parents weren't any help, I managed to get myself to the other side of the city after school. The address scribbled down on a small scrap of paper by my Global Management teacher becomes crumpled in my hand as I approached the doors of the building.

"Here goes nothing," I whispered silently under my breath as I pushed the large doors open with ease.

"Dee?" A person in a long white coat questions. I raised my eyebrows towards the sound and he takes my acknowledgement as a confirmation. "Right this way please, Sir." I managed to get a quick glance at his name tag before he turns to lead me away.

Dr. T. Williams
Rank 6

I roll my eyes at the thought that this guy barely has the rank to be a scientist, let alone a doctor, but follow behind him anyways. He briefs me on the simple rules of the testing. The same ones I've heard hundreds of times before.

Once we enter a large room, I note that my surroundings are made completely of one-way glass aside from the door, the floor, and the ceiling. There was a camera in the center of the room, just above where I would sit at the lonely desk with a single chair. I walk towards it without instruction before I hear the door close and suddenly, I'm alone. He must have left.

"You may start."

I'm not entirely sure where the sound came from, but I assume it's from a speaker somewhere and brush it off before flipping the written part of my test over. I click my pen once and I'm right to work.

It's composed of mostly this or that questions. Questions like: "A submissive ranked 4 or lower needs guidance all the time." To which I answered that I strongly agreed. Some of them, surprisingly revealing for even myself. Not that I disagreed, I just hadn't put much thought into my actions and beliefs.

Just as I finished the third to last question, I felt a small tap on my shoulder. I turned my attention towards the disruption to find a rather small male looking down at me. I stand up quickly and he takes two quick steps back, keeping eye contact. His eyes were barely brimming with tears and something seemed off.