SWNOVELS Chapter The Test
Christiana and Haruhi-nee were sitting at opposite ends of the table in the formal dining room of the public section of their home. This was the first occasion that the siblings had seen the inside of this chamber with its ornately carved mahogany table and chairs meant to seat ten people. After all, this was where their Mother would entertain important guests and holiday meals with her Wives and Husband. In fact, until now, their Okaa-sama had forbidden the youngsters from entry so the heads of the House could have some ‘alone time.’
Sitting directly across from each of the girls was a security guard who was scrutinizing their every move. Sara-nee was situated opposite of her, while Carmilla was crosswise from her oneechan.
‘Well, this is really weird,’ she thought while typing away on the portable terminal in front of her. ‘I never expected they would set the test up like this.’
The entire situation had come as a surprise. The evening before this she had been playing games with the three youngest of her siblings while discussing what they wanted to do during their time off. Since she was still training to improve her combat skills, Sunday was the only day of the week where she was completely free to do whatever she wished. Therefore, that Sat’day night discussion had been quite important to her.
However, all of that had flown out the window the moment Lucy had knocked on her door, stating that she needed to follow her to the main control room. It was only when she got there that she learned there was a vid call for her and that she had to take it in a secure location.
The call had been from Miss Harrison. During the conversation, she had told Christiana that there had been a snag in getting both her and Haruhi-nee simultaneously approved as Keepers. Namely, that despite the older girl’s top grades there were those in House Washington who would oppose her nomination since she had not taken a ‘written test.’ While they had exempted her from the ‘written’ evaluation, they did this via a unanimous vote of all the Wives before the competition. Of course, it was during the same meeting that Sakura-nee had received an exemption because of her perfect score the prior year.
To counteract any objections, she needed Haruhi-nee to take a ‘written’ appraisal. It wasn’t just any test; it was something that no one on the planet could object to. That was the standardized intelligence assessment that they had been using on Cooper’s World since the Founding.
Her geneSister explained that her Sister might wonder why she was singled out for the evaluation if she was the only person required to take it. Therefore, it was decided that Christiana should also take the exam so that they could explain it away as something only administered to gee-emms.
Finally, her friend had emphasized that both sisters had to try their absolute best during the lengthy test. This was essential if they wanted to use the assessment to silence their opposition. Therefore, they needed to stop holding back and show their actual abilities.
Hearing this took her by surprise. She and Haruhi-nee had agreed Years in the past when they first started to study diligently, to disguise their full potential. They had decided to only reveal their capabilities to the point where it would not put their classmates to shame. They could have left their peers in the dust long ago and skipped most of their required schooling. However, while both of them had worked painstakingly to hide their deceptions, Miss Harrison was somehow well aware of their tricks.
While she had done her best to mask her consternation, she spent the walk back to her room trying to understand how her friend had figured things out. In the end, she had simply given up since she had no clues to go on.
Later that evening, she had told Haruhi-nee about the test that they would be taking place the following evening. While she felt bad about it, she used the cover story provided. After several probing questions, her womb-mate reluctantly agreed to show her actual abilities during the examination.
In the end, however, nothing had quite prepared the siblings for their present situation. Despite asking for explanations from the two sentries, the only response they gave them was, “We will explain everything after the test is finished.”
After three Earth hours of constantly answering questions, Sara-nee finally said, “Times up. Hands off your terminals.”
“I think that was the longest three and a half hours of my life,” Haruhi-nee remarked while stretching her arms over her head
“Actually, it was three point four three hours,” Christiana replied playfully as she stretched her own stiff limbs.
“I can’t believe that you still have the energy to convert Earth hours to Cooper’s World hours after that test,” Haruhi-nee responded before placing her forehead against the table. “I feel like my brain is made of mush.”
“I figured it out before we started,” she replied while giggling. She was just as tired as her womb-mate. She merely wanted to make light of it by joking around. “If your brain is made of mush, then mine is made of oatmeal.”
This joke caused her sibling to crack up and laugh. She couldn’t help but smile as her Sister finally showed some signs of her normal self.
“So would you like to know the reason for this setup?” the orange-haired guard asked once the girls stopped giggling.
“Okaayyy,” the Sisters said together in perfect unison, almost as if they had planned it. This, of course, caused more snickering to ensue.
“Geeze are you two more tired or silly?”
“Silly!” came their response, although it wasn’t quite as synchronized as the one from a moment before.
This time it was Carmilla who snickered, much to everyone’s astonishment. However, she didn’t let it evolve into a full-blown chuckle before placing an emotionless, down-looking expression on her partially obscured face.
“Okay, settle down everyone, or we will be here all evening,” Sara-nee went on in her usual good-natured tone.
Eventually, everybody in the room settled down long enough for her to continue.
“The test that you just took is designed to be proctored, or closely monitored to ensure that no cheating could occur. Also, you both had to use portable terminals from Security in order to make certain that no form of electronic interference took place. Otherwise, it would invalidate the determinations.”
“So that’s why you were watching us like that,” Haruhi-nee said with dawning recognition. “But don’t you two think you took it too far?”
It was Carmilla who answered, “We examined you in case someone tries to contest the exams’ outcomes. This way we not only have electronic proof, but we also have two eyewitnesses who will testify that neither of you cheated.”
“Why would someone try to protest our scores?” Haruhi-nee asked, looking genuinely perplexed.
“It has happened in the past,” Sara-nee explained. “Please remember that the results will not only determine your futures, but it can impact the lives of your Aftercommers as well.”
She couldn’t help but gulp when she heard this. When she glanced over at her womb-mate, she also saw a look of surprise on her face.
‘I hadn’t thought about that!’ she realized. When both girls had agreed to their pact, they had been quite a bit younger than they were now. At the time their only thoughts about their unborn twins had been that if they did well in school that it would reflect favorably on their geneSisters to follow. ‘So by not showing our true abilities, we have been doing them a great disservice.’
From the look on her oneechan’s face, she could see that she was thinking along the same lines. Haruhi-nee’s frown showed she was even more disturbed by this revelation than she was. When her dark-haired sibling nodded to her, she could understand what she meant. ‘Looks like the pact has ended. From here on out, the gloves are off and we will show what we are truly capable of. Not for our own sake, but for those geneSisters yet to come.’
She broke the awkward silence that fell upon the room. “I am just glad that it’s over,” she said with a forced grin. “I’m hungry. Could we get a snack?”
For a moment Sara-nee took a long look at her. It was an incredulous stare, as if she wanted the blonde girl to know that she knew Christiana was hiding something. However, that expression quickly melted into her normal warm smile. “I think we can arrange that. But first, let’s have a restroom break,” she continued in a cheerful voice.
“Oh, thank goodness!” Haruhi-nee exclaimed. “My bladder is about to pop!”
She could tell that her older Sister was also suppressing her consternation behind a cheery mask. They were both badly rattled, and neither of them wanted to show their genuine feeling in front of the guards.
“Okay,” Carmilla unexpectedly replied. “Who wants synth creme?”
“Me!” they both asserted. This time, their emotions weren’t as forced. Synth-cream was ice cream made with synthetic milk. Scientists had discovered how to make synth-milk directly from plant matter back on Old Earth during the nineteen-eighties. Because of its cost, as opposed to simply getting milk from animals, it never really caught on in the Sol system.
Even off-world dried milk was cheaper to import than growing the required plants and synthesizing it on Mars or Luna. Since powdered milk could withstand extremely low temperatures just like sugar, flour, and rice, they could easily ship it to the outer colonies. Multi-year trips via solar sails were perfect for these types of cargo.
Here on Cooper’s World, there were no animals large enough for milk production. However, they could grow any type of plant they wanted on their farmland. Therefore, this long-forgotten technology was used extensively by the colonists to create synthetic milk. Of course, soy milk and almond milk were also available. The problem was these other milk substitutes were in comparatively short supply. After all, nuts and beans were the primary protein sources for the working class. Thus, the price of almonds and soybeans made them impractical for an inexpensive dessert.
“I’ll race you to the bathroom!” Haruhi-nee proclaimed as she jumped up and dashed out the door.
“Hey! No fair!” she protested as she ran out of the room directly on the heels of her sibling.
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After the two children left the chamber at high speed, Sara pulled out her ’com and quickly dialed a long memorized ID.
“Harris here,” came a prompt response.
“Heya Big Sis. I am here with Carmilla, and I have you on speaker. We just concluded the tests.”
“Right on time. What are your opinions?”
Sara spoke up first. “Respiration, pupil dilation, eye-focus, and heart rate all showed strong concentration. In my opinion, Princess One did her best on this assessment.”
“Carmilla?” the voice on the other end of the connection queried
“Using the same criteria I believe that Princess Two also tried her hardest.”
“Oh praise the gods,” the person on the ’com exclaimed. “Duflot is going to be ecstatic. I’ll let Coop know right away. Thank yo…”
“Hey, Sis!” Sara interrupted.
“Yeah?” came a slightly exasperated reply.
“Say hi to Mom for me okay?”
“Will do, squirt. Harris out.” They then cut the connection before Sara could make further comments.
“Dang! I didn’t have time to ask her to tell Aunty Cooper hello for me,” Carmilla groused as they left the room together.
Sara only shrugged in response. Even Simmons’ scions loved Cooper. Of course, she cared for everyone in return just as much. It was almost as if she played the part of the mother with all of them. She couldn’t help but joke, far too quietly for a human to hear over their own heartbeat. “We are one big blood-sucking family.”
Carmilla let out a small laugh as they went to find their two precious lab rats… and hopefully soon-to-be relatives.
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