Extraction (2020 Edition) by Stephanie Diaz

Extraction (2020 Edition) by Stephanie Diaz

Author:Stephanie Diaz [Diaz, Stephanie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Stonesong Digital
Published: 2020-05-21T06:00:00+00:00


17

Welcome to your intelligence training session,” Cadet Waller says.

We stand in one of the higher floors in Training Division, in a room filled with glowing blue, see-through capsules that hum. Intelligence machines. It looks like there are enough for all twenty-eight of us Extractions. The other twenty-eight of us went to train with Colonel Parker today.

“You will be tested on a wide array of material, everything from the principles of gravity to the action potential of cells, to the dates of key events in the Great Rebellion.”

I can’t help smiling to myself. Today’s session should be easy.

Cadet Waller walks up to the nearest capsule, her boots tapping on the floor, and pats it. “You’ll each enter one of these. The purpose of this session isn’t just to test you, but also to fill in gaps in your knowledge. These hubs are quite special. They’re teachers, if you will.”

I remember what I learned about intelligence machines: They interact with their passengers, feeding knowledge straight into their brains like they’re injecting a smart gene.

“Each of you, pick a hub,” Cadet Waller says. “They’ll open for you in a moment.”

I stuff the last of my breakfast bar into my mouth and chew fast as I move after Oliver and Ariadne. Everyone else is in a hurry, too. Excited chatter fills the room. This is the kind of session most of us will do well in.

“Over there?” Ariadne asks, pointing to three hubs near the back of the room.

Oliver nods and moves ahead to claim them, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. He doesn’t have his sling anymore. Early this morning, he got called down to the health ward for a checkup, and a doctor said his arm is already almost healed, thanks to that shot they gave him two days ago.

I slip in front of the hub between Ariadne’s and Oliver’s. The machine is about two feet taller than me, with a seat inside, straps, and a steel helmet hanging from the ceiling. The Core’s small insignia is etched into the hub’s plastic door: a full moon embossed in bronze.

“This is your second-to-last training session,” Cadet Waller says, walking down the rows. “One today and one tomorrow. Your time spent in these final sessions will raise your Promise to a score of at least eighty, which, as I said before, is a requirement for Core citizenship.”

My stomach jumps. I forgot about the scoring.

There’s a loud sound of suction, and the door in front of me slides open.

Everyone immediately climbs into the hubs, including Oliver and Ariadne. I shrug off the Promise score thing and climb into my own. Cadet Waller said these sessions will raise our Promise to eighty, anyway. So why should I worry?

I turn around and slip into the hub seat. Cadet Waller and the two science instructors are coming around, helping everyone put their helmets on and strap in properly. I reach and unhook the helmet from the ceiling and slip it on over my head. It’s a bit heavy.



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