Vox Mentis

Uh... thanks?

(Try not to slurp your soup)

Well, give everyone a chance, I suppose. Curly haired kid probably won't surprise you and turn out to be ok, but you might be stuck with him a while if he passes the exam so try not to make an outright enemy. The little kid, at the least, is unlikely to give you much shit for not being on top of the manners game.

Blonde girl is trying to make conversation. Try and engage with her, offering more than a short reply, and ask about her; people usually love when you give them the chance to talk about themselves.

Yeah, did you know this jacket is 100% real? Says so on the label. Touch it, go ahead — see how your hand doesn't phase through it, even a little?

>Compliment the girl right back!

"Uh, thanks, it's real too," you say. "I like your ears."

"My ears?"

You had meant that sarcastically but now realize the angel girl was serious. The girl had seriously tried to compliment your jacket. "Yeah. They're like a fairy's." You elbow the ten-yearold. "Fairy ears, right?"

"Yes."

"Oh," says the angel girl. "Well, thank you."

"So what's your story?" you ask. "What brings you here?"

She just blushes and looks down. Okay.

There are silver plates with bite-size constructions of meat and bread and paste and whatever. You pick one up only because it gets you out of this conversation. It's actually not bad. Weird, but not bad-weird. This is your whole day, on a cracker.

Jane rises and gives a short speech about how happy she is to have you all here and she hopes you will seize the opportunity with both hands because each of you has great potential and the Academy is dedicated to unlocking it. Then she says you should sleep well because the first examination will begin early, and the curly-haired boy asks what it will be, and Jane smiles and says that will be answered by the morning. Those are her words: Answered by the morning. You'd get your head kicked in talking that way in your world, but you're kind of enjoying it. On the pier, under your floppy hat, you used words to make people smile and come closer and give you two dollars and not care about losing. Good words were the difference between you eating well and not. And what you'd found worked best were not facts or arguments but words that tickled people's brains for some reason, that just amused them. Puns, and exaggerations, and things that are true and not at the same time. Answered by the morning. Words like that.

Afterward, you all file back to your rooms and you brush your teeth alongside a girl from Connecticut. Everyone but you has pajamas. On your way to be, a voice floats down the hallway: "Good night, girl in a doorway."

"Night, boy on a sofa," you say. You close your door. You can't believe you just said that. He's trouble, this boy. But maybe the good kind.

~

In the morning, you're all sat in a hall and given forms. The first questions you recognize: Are you a cat or a dog person? What's your favorite color? DO you love your family? Even the weird one is right there: Why did you do it? It's at the very top of a page and the rest is nothing but endless lines.

"Please answer with complete honesty," says Jane. She moves between your desks, echoes of her heels bouncing between the floor and ceiling. "Anything less will not serve you well."

They ask your favorite movies. Songs. Books. You haven't read a book since you were eight. You glance around. The ten-year-old is three desks behind. Her feet don't even reach the floor. You twirl your pen. You write: Princess Mary Saves The World. It's the only one you can remember.

Jane collects the papers and disappears for a while. People lean across aisles and compare answers. You notice a man in the corridor, tall with eyes like rocks, watching you through the glass. You feel flustered for some reason and look away, and when you look back, he's gone.

Jane returns with a TV on a trolley. "You will be shown a series of rapidly changing images. One of the images will be of a type of food. You are to write down the name of the food. Are there any questions?" She looks around. "Very well. Good luck."

You pick up your pencil. Jane presses a button on the VCR.

Series 1-1

SpoilerShow

Don't cheat, it ruins the fun! Put yourself in the situation.