The Preliminaries

Upon arriving home, Adelynne was greeted by her father, sitting at the dining table. Her father, who was fiddling with his cell phone, immediately turned to his daughter as soon as he heard the sound of the automatic lock unlocking.

—How was class?—her father, Isaac, asked with a smile. But the smile faded as soon as he saw his daughter's expression.

Adelynne, closing the door behind her, wiped away a tear that had escaped and said,

—I'm going to sign up for the Global Exam.

Isaac widened his eyes, surprised about the news her daughter just dropped.

—Why?—Isaac stood up.

—Lilith never liked me.—Adelynne explained.—And being a guardian has always been my dream.

Isaac sighed, walking over to Adelynne. He already had his distrust about Lilith, the way she always acted like Adelynne was an ignorant girl or something.

But still, he didn't want his daughter to be in danger. Not with what he knew about guardians and this profession and Aurora.

—Don't do something rash just because someone disappointed you.

—Dad! Let me sign up!—Adelynne looked at her father, tears falling from her eyes out of despair and dissapointment.

Isaac hugged her, saying,

—I don't want you to be in danger. Please don't sign up.

Adelynne pushed her father away from her, tears welling up in her eyes.

—I don't want to be a victim anymore, Dad! I've had enough of people telling me I can't do it! You know I've always dreamed of this!

—But, dear...—Isaac stammered.—...it's dangerous.

Adelynne got mad. Very mad. Her father would not trust her? Nobody would believe her dream?

—I don't care!—Adelynne shouted.—I'm signing up! If you don't support me, I'll pay the fee with my own money!

Adelynne walked to the stairs. Isaac, seeing that he wouldn't change her mind, said:

—Wait!

Adelynne, halfway down the stairs, stopped. Isaac reached into his pocket for his wallet and pulled out his credit card.

—How much is the fee?—he asked.

—Twenty dollars.

Isaac walked over to Adelynne and handed his card to his daughter.

—Put it on credit.

Adelynne hugged her father, who hugged her back.

—Thank you, Daddy.—she said, before letting go and running to her room. Isaac just watched as his daughter went upstairs.

While heading to the room, Adelynne got calmer while thinking that, out of everyone she knew, at least her father believed her.

After arriving in her room, the first thing she did was turn on the computer.

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After enrolling, Adelynne studied for months. And also trained. Magic, fighting, etc. Her father enrolled her in a fighting and magic gym, and every time he dropped her off, he'd say:

—Don’t mess up, okay?

Adelynne always smiled and replied something like:

—Okay, Dad.

The gym where Adelynne began training is one of several that emerged when magic stabilized. Various sports involving fighting and magic were formed, and magic and fighting gyms served that purpose. But they also began serving candidates for the Global Exam. Despite living in Manhattan, Adelynne chose an academy in Brooklyn for two reasons: Firstly, it was to avoid facing Lilith, who once mentioned to Corbin that she began training at an academy in Manhattan.. Secondly, it was a cheaper fighting gym.

Of course, the first reason was a thousand times more compelling.

The first part of the preliminaries is a written exam, held at every school in New York state. Those with the best ten grades move on to the next section. Therefore, initially, Adelynne only went to the gym on weekends and studied every day (even weekends). In Adelynne's view, the subjects became easier the more I studied. Then, the math problem she used to solve in half an hour and still got wrong, Adelynne now solved in five minutes, getting most of them right.

She stopped talking with everyone in class. Emma stopped bullying her, but she and Lilith, who became inseparable, always glanced at her while laughing mockingly and saying mean things about her. But she had no time to pay attention to mocking. She had to study and pass the test, that was her chance of proving them wrong.

The weeks passed and, on the day of the test, there was a large banner at the school reading "Global Exam Preliminaries: Written Test." Adelynne stared at the banner and looked at the school for another two seconds. She took a deep breath and went inside.

It was a Saturday, so there was no one at school who wasn't either applying or organizing for the test. For Adelynne, it was very strange to walk through the halls and see almost no one. Adelynne took her phone out of her bag and checked the photo in the email they sent her, telling her the test room. Adelyne's room was number 7, so she searched until she found it. After checking the room, she turned off her cell phone, as cell phones are prohibited in these tests. Arriving at the room, there was a proctor (who was actually a veteran volunteer). The proctor cleared his throat, signaling for Adelynne to hand over her bag. So, she did. After all, Adelynne thought, there was no reason to question the anti-cheating protocol. The proctor said:

—Go through the sensor.

Beside it (actually, in front of the door) was a sensor. It's similar to airplane sensors, and it checks everything you have on you. In fact, in 2130, even airplane sensors do this. The sensor turned green, indicating that Adelynne had no cheating on her, and the proctor instructed:

—You may enter the test room.

Adelynne entered the room, and was immediately offered a pencil, eraser, and sharpener. Adelynne takes the materials, and the woman who gave her the materials says:

—Your table is number 1.

Adelynne nods and goes to find her desk. She sees Lilith, heading for table 13. Adelynne shakes her head, banishing her negative thoughts. Adelynne walks to table 1, which is thankfully far from 13. She sits down and waits for everyone to arrive. Bored waiting, Adelynne makes a simple snowflake with her hands, gradually decorating it.

Everyone in 2130 knew at least one element and could learn the amount of magical abilities (such as telekinesis, flight, strength or teleportation) one wanted. Except if someone had a magical deficiency, which was rare. And Adelynne’s element was ice.

Soon, everyone arrives, and she undoes the snowflake. The instructor tells everyone to sit down and place the materials they received on display on the desk. Adelynne's were already on the desk, with her materials displayed on the top of it, so she doesn't do anything. The instructor sits at the usual teacher's desk. There are stacks and stacks of test papers on the desk. The instructor says:

—Very well. You will receive your test papers now.

The tests levitate and are carefully moved to each table, levitated by the instructor's telekinesis. Telekinesis is the most common skill to learn, as it is easy and useful. Adelynne, in fact, knew telekinesis.

The tests arrived upside down. As Adelynne was about to pick them up to turn them over, the instructor instructed:

—Don't pick up the test now.

Adelynne quickly put her hand in her lap.

—You only pick it up when I tell you to. The rules are simple: the top ten pass. Cheating eliminates immediately. The test has a total of five hours; you can only take it once the first hour has passed.

The instructor clears his throat and takes a holographic device from his pocket, placing it on the table. He turns it on and begins showing a hologram with a five-hour timer, which has just started.

—Start.—the instructor says.

Everyone, including Adelynne, has seen the test. Adelynne, who has ADHD, had taken a concentration medication at home, so she was confident.

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A week has passed. Adelynne could not sleep well, always having nightmares about not having passed the test. But there was nothing else she could do unless wait for the results.

On Monday, the day where the ones who passed would be announced in each school, Adelynne went to her school as usual. Her father dropped her off at the school gates in the car. She had already taken off her seatbelt when he asked:

—It's today that the results come out, right?

Adelynne nodded and confirmed:

—Yes, it is.

Her father patted her on the back and said:

—I trust you. Let me know if you pass.

—Okay, Daddy.

Father and daughter hugged, and then Adelynne got out of the car, quickly closing the door. Her father's car drove away, and she turned around. Then Adelynne noticed the crowd on both sides of the school gates. Adelynne walked toward the crowd, asking everyone to excuse herself. She looks at the wall, where a holographic panel now reads:

STUDENTS PASSED THE GLOBAL PRELIMINARY EXAM

NORTH STAR SCHOOL OF NEW YORK

Olivia Davis

Sophia Miller

Liam Johnson

Elijah Williams

Ethan Brown

Mason Jones

Lucas Garcia

Adelynne Snowstar

Jackson Rodriguez

Lilith Nightfall

Adelynne had passed.

She lets out a scream, startling everyone, and claps her hand over her mouth. Then she starts jumping out of joy, shouting:

—I passed! I passed!

She stops jumping and admires her eighth-place finish. Someone pushes her and says, wiping her smile:

—Let me see.

Adelynne sees that the person who pushed her was Lilith. She looks at the panel and clenches her fist. Lilith looks at Adelynne, furious, and shouts:

—How did you do it?—And that was the first time since the betrayal that she had said a word to her former friend.

Someone else arrives. It's Corbin. He looks at the dashboard and points at it.

—You did it too, sweetheart.

Lilith looks back at the dashboard and crosses her arms.

—I lost to that idiot Addie?

Corbin stammers and comments:

—Honey, you passed and…

—That bitch passed in eighth place, I passed in tenth!—Lilith scolds, taking Corbin's hand and looking at Adelynne one last time.—Let's go.

Adelynne takes a deep breath and wipes away a tear that has decided to escape. Now it's the practical part. In that one, Adelynne was a master.

She started going to the Brooklyn gym every day after school and even after summer break. She trained everything, trained until her body said "enough." The practical test is in the first half of July, and then those who pass go to the capital (in Adelynne's case, Washington, D.C.) for the third and final part of the preliminaries. Only one boy and one girl make it to the official test, and only about ninety people pass each year.

When the practical test arrived, Adelynne had to go to Madison Square Garden. That's where the practical test would take place. As soon as she entered the stadium through the candidates' entrance, they gave her a pink wristband. Blue for boys, pink for girls. Although this "boy's color" and "girl's color" thing has gone out of fashion, it's still used in bureaucratic and qualifying contexts, such as the Global Exam.

Adelynne was led to the right wing of the stadium, where the girls were seated. She sat down and saw a crowd around her.

Once everyone was seated, a broadcast began.

—Welcome.—the woman said in the broadcast.—I'm Kamala, your instructor. As you know, boys and girls compete separately. The competition itself is simple. There will be several robots in the arena. Each one has a score. There are robots with one point, 10 points, and 100 points. You will have five minutes to destroy as many robots as possible. Whoever has the highest score in each round wins.

Kamala smiles and says:

—First the boys!

The boys all leave their seats and Kamala enters through a transparent door. As soon as all the boys enter the arena, a gong sounds, signaling the start of the competition. The boys fight with the robots. The smaller ones fall to the ground, the larger ones just stop moving. Soon, another gong sounds and Kamala returns, saying:

—The male representatives are Edward Barrow and George Urrea! Now the girls.

Adelynne swallows hard, as it was her turn. She stands up and heads to the arena. She and the other girls are guided by holograms of arrows until they finally arrive. As soon as she enters the stadium, she is impressed by its size. Lilith purposefully bumps into Adelynne and laughs sarcastically, saying:

—Today you lose.

Adelynne takes a deep breath. “I can't lose focus”, she thought.

The gong to start rings. Robots begin to appear. They enter through several gates, different from the one the girls entered. Adelynne throws a jet of ice at the first robot that appears, which is the same size as a person, destroying it. Lilith yells at Adelynne, a mocking smile on her face:

—Idiot! Robots our size are only worth one point!

Adelynne clicks her tongue in irritation. She runs toward the robots. She throws two ice spikes with opposite hands, hitting a robot with each spike. They were bigger than her; they must be worth more points.

“Okay, then I should focus on robots bigger than me”, Adelynne thought.

A jet of ice at one, then a spike at another. She uses her telekinesis to throw a robot against the wall, destroying it. Adelynne hears metallic footsteps coming toward her. She turns and sees two robots. She uses her telekinesis to slam them together, and two are destroyed. Soon, a giant robot appears. Three. The ones worth 100 points.

Adelynne runs to one of the giant robots. A one-point robot is her way, and an ice spike is enough to destroy it. Adelynne teleports near the giant robot and creates a giant ice spike, which pierces the robot and destroys it. She grows tired and falls to the ground, sitting down. She looks to the side and sees that the other giant robots have been destroyed. The bell rings.

Adelynne lies on the ground, panting. Lilith looks down at Adelynne, a cruel smile on her face.

—I defeated another 100-point robot. You won't pass.

Lilith leaves. Adelynne closes her eyes. "So I lost?" Adelynne thought.

—That was close!—I hear Kamala say.—The second winner won by only one point. The first is Lisa Connor, and the second is…

Adelynne waited for a name. Any name. Except:

—Adelynne Snowstar!

Adelynne opens her eyes and sits down, in disbelief that she had actually passed.

The other girls clapped for the winners. Lisa was a brown-skinned girl with medium-length curly black hair. Adelynne smiled, but stopped when she saw Lilith, the only one not clapping. Lilith turned and left, determined to find another way to ruin the life of the person who had once called her "friend."