When Medeia walked past Lucian, he gave her a subtle brush on her arm, as if silently telling her that the test was truly harmless.
Maybe it really was just a simple question-and-answer test, just like Shuri had said.
The moment she sat on the chair, the glass wall instantly turned opaque, just like before. The screen in front of her lit up brightly, making Medeia squint her eyes for a moment because it was the first time she had seen such a modern screen since arriving in this world.
Seriously. Back in hell, Medeia had always longed to watch television or stare at a phone screen. But unfortunately, she ended up transmigrating into an apocalypse, where she had no access to such luxuries.
So now, seeing the screen come to life actually made her a little excited.
Unfortunately, she wouldn’t be using it to watch movies, instead, she had to answer question after question that popped up on the display.
"Here, you can answer using this." Shuri handed her a mini keyboard.
Medeia found it amusing because she also had never seen a keyboard before.
When her finger pressed a key and the corresponding letter appeared on the screen, she had the sudden urge to clap her hands in excitement—but no! She needed to focus.
The questions were truly simple, just as Shuri had promised.
"If you had a day off with no responsibilities, what would you do?"
Medeia narrowed her eyes. ’This ... feels more like a casual question rather than a test to determine whether I’ll be accepted or not.’
She typed, "Reading novels."
The next question appeared.
"What’s your favorite part about being in the military?"
Medeia didn’t even need time to think about her answer. She immediately typed: "Nothing."
The questions kept coming, shifting to topics like her opinion on leadership and what she thought about deserters. Medeia didn’t bother overanalyzing and she simply typed whatever answer felt right.
Three minutes later—two minutes faster than Lucian—Medeia finally finished the test.
From behind, Shuri, who had been observing her the entire time, gave her a bitter smile, as if she were holding back from saying something... unkind.
Why? Medeia frowned slightly. Her answers should have been good enough.
"Good job, Corporal Cross." Shuri forced a smile onto her face, tapping her pen lightly against the clipboard in her hand. "That was... a very interesting test."
Medeia nodded proudly and even gave her a thumbs-up.
When they stepped out of the room, Shuri immediately said, "Alright, I’ve already reviewed your test results." She glanced at the paper in her hands, smiling.
"Congratulations, both of you have passed. You may begin working here."
That was way too easy.
Medeia couldn’t shake the feeling that this "test" was nothing more than a formality. As long as The Metal Cube was recruiting, soldiers could simply be slotted into place without much scrutiny.
What if the test was actually a psychological screening—a way to determine who needed to be "adjusted" into a mindless soldier and who was allowed to keep their free will while working here?
Shuri’s voice pulled her from her thoughts. "Alright. Before you can start working, I’ll inject your vitamins first."
... Yeah, maybe it wasn’t a vitamin at all.
Shuri retrieved two small boxes, each containing syringes filled with serum. At first glance, they looked identical, but Medeia’s sharp eyes quickly caught something.
A tiny green dot was marked on one box’s handle, while the other had a red dot.
’Why are they different?’
Did this mean one of them wasn’t allowed to keep their free will?
Her gaze flicked to Lucian. Did he mess up the answers? How the hell did he fail such a simple test?
However, what she didn’t expect was for Shuri to reach into the red-dot box—and pull out a syringe meant for her.
"Corporal Cross, you’re first."
Wait. So Lucian didn’t mess up?!
Medeia tilted her head slightly toward him, her eyes asking a silent question, "Should I let her inject me ... or just kill her?"
But killing her would only create unnecessary chaos inside the base.
Before she could decide, Lucian suddenly spoke up.
"Oh, Doctor Shuri, I think your pen is leaking. There’s ink on your lab coat."
Shuri instinctively looked down, searching for the supposed stain.
Before she could finish, Lucian had already lifted the flute to his lips.
The moment the soft melody filled the air, Shuri’s body slumped forward, nearly collapsing onto the floor.
If Medeia hadn’t reacted quickly enough to catch her, she would have hit the ground hard.
"What the hell?" Medeia muttered, dragging Shuri into her chair. She positioned her head onto the desk and covered part of her body with a blanket, making it look like she was simply taking a nap.
Her eyes flicked back to the red-dotted syringe.
"So that serum really does turn people into mindless robots?"
Without wasting another second, Medeia closed both boxes and slipped them into her Space Pocket. "We can check them later."
Lucian grabbed the clipboard from the desk, his brows furrowing as he read the scores that Shuri had recorded for both of them.
"What does it say?" Medeia asked curiously, tilting her head.
Lucian hesitated before answering. "It says... I have an 8% chance of rebelling, while you ... your score is 98%."
"Ninety-eight percent?!" Medeia’s eyes lit up in delight. "Wow, that’s high!"
Lucian took a deep breath, staring at her with pure exasperation. "Medeia, that’s not a good thing. The higher your score, the more likely they are to decide you can’t be left to roam freely in this place with your own mind."
He skimmed through her answers, his expression growing even more concerned.
"’If you were given unlimited power for a day, what would you change?’" He paused before looking at her. "And you answered ... ’Everything. I’ll burn everything and start over.’"
Lucian sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Medeia, my love ... you can’t be this honest in a psychological test."
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