Chapter 3

A few moments later, after the preparations were complete, the class in front of Axel's and Abigail's began to enter the tube one by one. Each student's turn varied, from five to twenty minutes. When a student finished, they were directed to a waiting room to await their results. After 20 students from the first class were done, it was finally Axel's class's turn.

Because he had been pushed to the front, Axel ended up being fourth in line, behind his class president, the vice president, and Abigail. The class president, Jacob, stepped up first. He lay down in the tube, and two staff members closed the metal lid. "Wuuuuung," the machine hummed to life, and a green light scanned Jacob's body. After fifteen minutes, the tube opened automatically. White smoke billowed out, and Jacob stepped down with steam rising from his body.

An association staff member immediately led Jacob to a different room from the previous class. After a quick cleaning, the staff member motioned for the vice president, Lilian, to step forward and get in the tube. After about fifteen minutes, the same amount of time as Jacob, the tube opened and Lilian stepped out.

Finally, it was Abigail's turn. Before she walked forward, Abigail, who had been facing the front, reached her hand back and took Axel's.

They held hands for a brief moment, then Abigail stepped forward and entered the tube. A few minutes after she was inside, "teeet... teeet," the machine beeped, and a yellow light on top of it began to spin. Axel was startled and looked at the tube, which was now steaming and emitting a yellow light, unlike the green light for the two previous students.

"Abby... hey... what's happening to Abby?" Axel yelled, worried.

A staff member approached Axel, but Axel could see the staff member's face was cheerful, not worried.

"Relax, your friend is fine. We just didn't expect to get a result so far beyond our expectations at this school," the large staff member said, placing a hand on Axel's shoulder with a friendly smile.

"A-are you sure? You're certain nothing happened to her?" Axel asked, unsure.

"Trust us. The only thing we can tell you is that your friend exceeded our expectations. Please understand, and don't worry," the staff member said, trying to reassure Axel again.

Because he got the same answer twice, Axel finally just nodded. But he was still worried, and his eyes never left the tube, where the yellow light was now rapidly moving back and forth. After staring at the tube for 30 minutes, "psssssh," the lid opened. Axel immediately rushed forward and tried to help Abigail, who was weak and still steaming. But when Axel touched her, "bzzzz," "ow," his hand suddenly got an electric shock and he fell, causing a dazed Abigail to turn and look at him.

"Huh... what's wrong, Axel?" Abigail yelled.

But as she went to touch Axel, two guards immediately grabbed her arms. Surprised, she instinctively did a backflip to break their hold and "buaak," with a speed invisible to the naked eye, she kicked both guards, sending them flying. "Huh," seeing what she had just done, Abigail was stunned and looked at her palms. "Bzzzz," a yellow current was still visible flowing through her hands.

"W-what is this?" Abigail asked, confused.

"A-Abby, I'm okay... are you okay?" Axel asked as he stood up.

But before Abigail could answer, the female staff member in the blazer who had been standing behind the machine suddenly appeared between Axel and her.

"I'm sorry, but it's your friend's turn now. Please go inside first. We'll explain everything to you later," the female staff member said with a smile.

"O-okay," Abigail replied. She leaned her head to the side to look at Axel. "I'm okay, but I have to go now. Don't be too long, follow me soon," she said.

"Yeah, don't worry," Axel replied with a wry smile.

After a male staff member led Abigail away, the female staff member turned to Axel and smiled.

"Is she your girlfriend?" the female staff member asked casually.

"N-no, she... she's my childhood friend," Axel replied.

"Oh, I see. All right, it's your turn now," the woman said. She looked at Axel's body, then at the recently cleaned tube, and thought for a moment. "Hmm... why don't you get in first?" she said.

"Okay," Axel replied.

Axel stepped up to the tube, looking at the bed covered with a spider web-like fabric. "Glup," Axel swallowed, then lifted one of his feet onto the bed. "Gleng," the metal support table creaked. "Pffft," he could hear his classmates suppressing their laughter, and some shook their heads in embarrassment. Axel, who was used to his classmates' taunts, just ignored them. He climbed in and laid down. "Dung," this time the table groaned loudly. The female staff member stood next to him.

"Is it too tight?" she asked.

"Um... a little... I'm sorry, I'm a little too big," Axel replied, embarrassed.

"It's fine. As long as you're comfortable. I'm going to close it now, okay?" the woman said.

"A-alright," Axel replied.

"Duk," the lid wouldn't lock tightly because of Axel's stomach, which was quite a bit larger than that of a normal student his age. The two staff members improvised using a rope and a hook to keep the lid shut until the test was over, even though there was still a pretty wide gap. Inside the tube, Axel could faintly hear his classmates laughing and talking about him. He just closed his eyes and took it all in.

"Just let them. I hope my test is fast and successful because I need to follow Abby," he muttered to himself.

"Wuuuung," the machine turned on. Axel's heart began to pound, and he felt a sudden pressure on his stomach. "Zrrrrt," the light began to scan Axel's body, but when he opened his eyes, he was shocked and terrified. The light wasn't a green like Jacob and Lilian's, and it wasn't a yellow like Abigail's; it was a bright crimson. He also didn't hear a sound outside, and a lot of people were running.

But before he could even think about what was going on outside, the light disappeared, and he heard a few people untying the ropes. "Blaak," the tube opened, and Axel immediately took a deep breath. He sat up and turned to get out, but when he saw the female staff member's pale face, he became very confused. Even more so when he saw she was holding a thick, leather-bound book, a rare sight in this digital age.

"Um... what's wrong, ma'am?" Axel asked, confused.

"Could you come with me for a moment?" the female staff member asked tensely.

"A-alright, ma'am," Axel replied.

Axel immediately got out of the tube, and of course, the table legs creaked again. But this time, no one laughed. When Axel looked at his classmates, he was shocked because they were all stunned, staring at him as if they had never seen him before.

"W-what the hell is going on?" Axel thought to himself.

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