"Now children... Shall we begin the examination?" The old man said, his words were rather ominous.

Oliver stood up and sighed. He took a deep breath before getting himself ready.

"No time for thinking, I'll show them why I'm worthy of being an investigator!" Oliver thought to himself.

All the would-be recruits gathered into the examination hall's first evaluation exam, the physical test. From just the starting line alone, Oliver could tell this test wasn't going to be an easy one. He would even admit that some of his confidence got knocked down a peg.

The instructor stood in front of the crowd of recruits and began explaining how the test works.

"This test will evaluate your stamina, problem solving skills and general fitness by making you all go through a gauntlet of obstacles. These factors are very important traits to become an operator. Super class monsters can give even an A tier Investigator some trouble, so it's important for us to find recruits who can withstand the pressure. Now then children... You have exactly one hour to get through the obstacle course... Don't die" the instructor said, laughing a bit as he left.

"D- did he just laugh?" Oliver said, feeling scared.

One of the staff responsible for the recruits' well-being assured Oliver that he was perfectly safe and wouldn't die.

"Senior Investigator Kiel loves to uh.... Scare new recruits. I promise you this test is 100% safe. There hasn't been a single death in 10 years. Although accidents are more prone to happen due to the competitive nature of the test" she said, trying her best to calm him down.

Oliver just nodded, still feeling a bit uneasy. 

All the recruits walked towards the starting line. Some did stretches, some talked to the other recruits, some just looked straight on at the obstacle course. As they waited, the feeling of unease grew in Oliver's stomach. He was scared of the obstacle course, sure... But something seemed off. It was incredibly quiet outside the hall, and nobody had heard a word from any staff other than the ones already inside.

"I'm sorry children but due to some.... technical difficulties, the gates will open in 90 more minutes..." the voice of the old man said through the speakers.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and sighed audibly. They all seemed to be upset, but Oliver became even more paranoid. What kind of technical difficulties were causing this? Did something bad happen? All these thoughts ran through his mind. But as quick as they came, they left almost instantly as he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Are you okay?" A female voice asked.

Oliver turned around, seeing a girl with light magenta eyes placing her hands behind her back as she leaned forward slightly towards Oliver. Her dark purple hair was tied up in a bun with her curtain bangs reaching her shoulders - Framing her face. Oliver couldn't help but notice streaks of pink and lighter purples were peppered around her hair, the colours giving Katherine a gentler appearance. She wore a simple white blouse, with a frilled black choker and a layered skirt - the bottom being a deep red colour while the top being a dark purple. She also wore a long lace pink bowtie that had a little dove in the middle - its wings spread out as if holding the two ends of the bow. Like most of the female recruits, she opted to wear leggings to protect her from the cold temperatures of the physical examination test. However, unlike them, she chose to wear purple and white instead of black or white - clearly, to stand out. Her appearance made Oliver blush slightly, though he quickly shook the feeling away.

Instead, Oliver focused his embarrassment on the fact that his paranoia was so clear that someone else could see. He quickly apologized for bothering her, bowing as low as he could.

"You're not bothering me… And lift your head up! You're practically touching the ground…” she giggled.

Turning even redder, Oliver stood up straight - rubbing the back of his head. The girl smiled softly before twirling her hair.

“You know… I was just wondering why you looked so uh... constipated? I'm sorry I don't know how else to refer it to..." the girl laughed.

"C- constipated? Y- yeah I guess my sister says I look that way when I'm stressed..." Oliver said, laughing awkwardly.

Hearing him say he had a sister seemed to pique her interest.

"Oh you have a sister? What is she like?" The girl asked.

"Oh she's actually right there. We're twins you see..." Oliver said, pointing at Olivia who's surrounded by her so-called 'fans'.

She turned to Olivia and smiled a bit.

"I knew it..." she said softly, making sure Oliver couldn't hear.

She turned to Oliver then smiled.

"Do you believe humans lose all rationality when their perspective shatters?" The girl asked him.

Oliver raised an eyebrow.

"Excuse me? I don't quite understand what you mean..." Oliver said, scratching his head.

"Hmm let me re-contextualise it for you. Let's say two people are born. One is born with incredible power and strength, but the other is born weak and frail. This strong person always does everything perfectly, thus the weaker person puts this strong person on a pedestal. However one day… that pedestal shatters. How do you think that weak person would react?” She asked, smiling softly - though a dark look was behind her eyes.

The question hurt Oliver's brain, but there was only one conclusion he could come up with.

"I think… they'd eat the other alive. Humans… can't accept when things don't go the way they expect. They would rather blame you than admit not everyone is perfect. I can't even imagine what that person born with strength must be going through. Not only the constant blame… but also the guilt and regret born from failing to protect someone . I know it barely makes sense and you probably think I'm weird or edgy, but it's the only thing I could think of..." Oliver said.

The girl paused for a moment before nodding her head.

"Understandable. Although since my question was actually extremely flawed, I actually admire that you could come up with a rational answer to my question" the girl said.

Oliver was a bit confused for a while, but then realized he forgot to exchange names with her.

"Oh by the way, my name's Oliver. Oliver Rand" Oliver said.

The girl paused for a moment before smiling.

"Katherine.... But my last name, well... It's a secret for now" she said, smirking a bit - her finger pressed up against her lips as she left.

Oliver was weirded out, but he actually enjoyed talking to her a bit. Though she kinda scared him for some reason.

As Oliver patiently waited for the gates to open, he wondered back to Katherine's words.

"Do humans lose all rationality when their perspective shatters?"