To be or not to be

“What a fool you are, Aram,” Reia said. “How could you mistake me for David?”

“But he was very convincing, it’s not my fault,” Aram answered, with a sad face.

“Exactly. I’m cunning and clever,” David said, smiling. “And I played you.”

“What did you say, moron? Who played whom? Reia and I actually won the fight.”

“Winning doesn’t interest me. Once again I showed you who’s stronger and smarter.”

“Again? When on earth did you ever show me anything like that, huh? Last time you were in chains until Ksyu saved you.”

“What did you say? Come here,” David shouted, raising a hand.

“Will they ever calm down?” Reia asked Ksyu.

“When I first met them, they acted just like this. But something tells me that in time they’ll definitely get along.”

“Who’s going to get along with whom?” David shouted.

“Only over my dead body!” Aram shouted after him.

“Tell me, Reia, what was that?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about the duel. How did you get above David’s head in a split second? Was it your active superpower?”

“No, it was my passive superpower. But I don’t like to talk about it.”

Ksyu came closer to Reia and whispered in her ear.

“Are you really one of those?”

Reia looked at Ksyu and said nothing.

“You know, for a girl who looks like the coldest iceberg on the outside, you acted rather recklessly,” Ksyu continued. “Our fight wasn’t in the middle or even at the end, but second in the lineup. At that point people still had the desire and the interest to watch the fights. I’m sure plenty of them noticed your trick.”

“There are a huge number of different superpowers that resemble one another. I don’t think I did anything supernatural.”

“Then why are you making excuses instead of denying what I said? You clearly have something to hide.”

“Think whatever you like. But I don’t want to continue this conversation.”

Ksyu and Reia fell silent. David and Aram were still yelling at each other, trying to assert themselves.

“Come on, boys,” Reia said. “Let’s watch the others - maybe we’ll learn something interesting.”

Reia, Aram, Ksyu, and David headed back toward the arena. It was interesting for them to watch the other students, since some of them would later become their classmates. And the fights themselves promised to be interesting, even though each lasted only three minutes.

___

17:40. Although the so-called initiation ceremony had begun at 8 a.m., the first test didn’t end until 5:40 p.m. Most of the students were already tired, and three tests still awaited them. What’s more, there was no information about one of them. And from the smiling faces of Chief William and Felix, it was clear that this test would definitely be more of a trap than a pleasant surprise.

“Dear students! You did a great job! It was very interesting to watch your fights,” William said from his podium.

“Now, I’m going to ask everyone to move to the gym. Your second test will take place there. It’s the intellectual test,” Felix continued.

“And remember the main rule: don’t pretend to be someone you’re not. Be yourselves,” William said, and, turning, left the arena with Felix.

“Such a strange name - ‘the intellectual test.’ Why haven’t we renamed this test yet?” William turned to Felix.

“Every year, on September 1st, you ask me this question. And every year you then forget to rename it. I’m sorry, sir, but you’re the one in charge here.”

“Sir, dir, mir… Just do it. Call me chief and be done with it. You say ‘every September’ as if we’d been here not for our second year, but for twenty already. Come up with a new name, please.”

“As you wish, Chief,” Felix laughed, and walked on ahead.

The students headed to the gym. Hundreds of tables and chairs were arranged across its floor. Sheets with the tests were already laid out on them. The students sat down at random, and time ticked on. They had only fifteen minutes to solve the problem set before them. The numbers on the holographic neon placard hovering from the ceiling grew smaller and smaller.

“Fifteen minutes for the whole test,” one of the students shouted. “They’ve completely lost their minds. What kind of intelligence test can be solved in so little time?”

“Don’t you dare say a bad word about our teachers! Every one of them is a wonderful person, worthy of respect for the simple fact that they worked as detectives and saved at least one life!” another student shot back.

“Guys, look at the paper, this isn’t a test, it’s something else entirely,” Alex said suddenly.

There was only one task on the paper. The description of the problem went as follows:

Imagine a situation. You are the head of one of Crotho’s police departments. Before you sits a man, tied to a chair, who has been caught by the intelligence service. It is believed that he has planted explosives throughout the Crotho metro. And at the height of rush hour, at exactly 18:00, all the bombs will explode, killing thousands of people. Innocent victims will die - old people, women, children among them. Only fifteen minutes remain before the explosion, and it is impossible to search for the bombs at every metro station. It is also impossible to evacuate everyone. If you can get accurate information about where the criminal planted the bombs, then experts will be able to stop the explosions, and no one will die. Will you torture this person to get the information you need?

As soon as the students sitting in the gym read the task, their faces twisted. Resentment, confusion, and strange feelings crept into their thoughts.

“What the…” David said quietly.

“How interesting,” Ksyu said. “I haven’t taken a test like this in a long time. Well, I’ve never taken a test like this at all, ahahaha.”