Chapter 26: Compensation from the Municipal Research Bureau
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【Jupiter City Comprehensive Science Research Bureau】
This was not the same research institute the group had visited for their previous field exercise.
More precisely, their previous destination had been merely a branch office. This was the city’s central bureau.
The high-rise building was designed in a brutalist style, its colors deep and cold. Dense arrays of dynamic luminous devices covered its exterior, projecting publicly available research-related images around the clock and keeping the entire structure brightly illuminated.
When the ride-hailing car arrived, the three of them immediately saw Anna Ivanova waiting for them.
Unlike the three students, who were still wearing their uniforms, Anna had taken the time to change into casual clothes—or rather, she had been required to change, lest her appearance stir up unpleasant memories for the class monitor.
“Wenwen!”
“Anna~”
When she saw that the class monitor was “in one piece,” Anna nearly burst into tears. Even when she embraced her, she did not hold her as tightly as she usually did.
The four of them reached the foot of the research bureau. They had been granted one-time access; facial recognition was all that was needed to enter.
The instant they stepped into the lobby, the smooth marble floor lit up with electronic arrows, guiding them toward their destination.
Perhaps the working day had ended, for they did not encounter a single employee along the way.
After walking for roughly ten minutes through the empty, maze-like building, a door suddenly opened in the side of a seemingly seamless passageway without any doorframe. The arrows on the floor vanished before it.
The room was dark gray, windowless, and perfectly cubic. The wall tiles emitted their own light.
A long stone table stood in the middle of the room, with four chairs arranged on the side nearest the entrance. A middle-aged man was already seated at the far end.
His head was almost square in shape. He wore rimless glasses, and a conspicuous black mole rested above his lips.
Though he appeared stern, he rose of his own accord when the four young people arrived and shook each of their hands in turn.
“Wang Shuokang, current director of the Records Management Department of the Research Bureau. There is no need for you to introduce yourselves; I have already reviewed your field-exercise recordings and personal information in detail.
“You are an exceptionally capable group of young people. Please allow me to apologize to you on behalf of the branch bureau below.
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“We have now suspended and begun rectifying the branch bureau where the incident occurred. All personnel guilty of dereliction of duty will receive severe punishment.”
Only after bowing did Director Wang sit down again.
Aside from Rodi, the others had all been harboring some resentment. Their time at school, combined with the director’s sincere apology, had already dispelled most of it.
Of course, they would still have to see what sort of compensation followed.
Director Wang withdrew four documents from his briefcase and handed one to each of the young people opposite him.
“These are your field-exercise reports and final evaluations. Please check whether there is anything you object to. If everything is in order, sign in the final column. The results will be entered into your personal records tomorrow.”
When they received the first field-exercise reports of their lives, everyone was more or less excited.
The documents recorded the entire experience in detail, listed each individual’s “effective subjective actions” separately, and included evaluations from the Research Bureau’s experts. Their final ratings appeared on the last page, calculated according to the relevant scoring rules.
“Yes! I actually got an S-minus!”
The class monitor raised her fist high, as though proclaiming some kind of victory.
“Wow, I got an S-minus too!” Anna was delighted. A result like this would greatly ease the pressure of getting into a good high school. She immediately linked fingers with the class monitor and nearly leaped out of her chair.
“S!”
Even Gao Yuxuan, who usually disliked speaking, cried out in surprise.
His rating was even higher, largely because he had applied acupuncture in actual combat and remained calm at the critical moment, managing to call the special emergency line.
The others then turned their attention to Rodi, who sat at the far end and had yet to say anything.
“Hey, Rodi~ You must have gotten an S too, right?”
Rodi did not answer. Instead, he displayed the final page of his field-exercise materials on the table.
【S-plus】
It represented the highest possible field-exercise rating.
According to statistics, only 1.3 percent of high school students who underwent field exercises received a rating of A or higher. Those who managed to surpass A and reach the level of S were rarer still.
The light shining from the class monitor’s eyes seemed even brighter than when she had seen her own score.
“Wow! S-plus! I’ve never seen one before. Rodi, can I look at your evaluation materials? I want to see how you managed to get the highest rating.”
Rodi merely shook his head, closed the document after signing it, and returned it to Director Wang.
The class monitor did not take offense. She turned instead to sign her own document.
Once Director Wang had received everyone’s signed papers, he continued, “I must say, all of you are truly outstanding. Every one of you survived an accident of that magnitude. As an apology—and as an expression of our central bureau’s regard for talented individuals—this is the compensation plan we are offering.”
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A red-headed official document was placed on the table.
Based on the compensation recipients’ classifications as “high school students,” “ordinary flesh,” and “excellent,” as well as the severity of the field-exercise failure, the central Research Bureau had provided four compensation options.
1. One complimentary internal prosthetic modification through the central bureau, applicable to limbs or organs without restriction and permanently effective.
2. A permanent position with the Municipal Research Bureau, provided that the recipient completes the normal educational path and achieves grades of good or higher in every subject.
3. Ten million rubles.
4. An entry-level Corner artifact, either a monster or an anomaly.
The first three options were perfectly normal. Only the final one made all three of the others frown.
The class monitor immediately became serious as well.
“Director Wang, is the fourth option a printing error? I remember that these things are supposed to be restricted to people over twenty. For students like us, they can cause considerable side effects and may even affect our physical and mental development.”
“That is correct. Corner artifacts were once restricted to users over the age of twenty. However, in recent years, with advances in technology and the needs of the nation, we have begun attempting to have younger people accept artifacts and adapt to them in advance. Judging from the current data, the overall results have been fairly good.
“Moreover, the artifacts provided by our central bureau are entry-level and restricted in type, consisting primarily of external-use artifacts. Their effects on the individual can therefore be reduced to a minimum.
“If you choose this option, an adaptability test will be arranged immediately. Should your compatibility prove insufficient, the artifact will not be given to you.”
At that point, Director Wang suddenly leaned his head forward and spoke with a grim expression.
“Finally, and most importantly, the reason we have included the fourth option is that we believe this ‘accident’ may have had something to do with you yourselves, rather than being entirely accidental.
“After all, the branch bureau responsible for simulating anomalies has always performed well. It has even secured a considerable amount of national funding and resources for our city. Before your group, it had conducted more than twenty field exercises without incident.
“It is possible that one of the four of you possesses some unusual trait—a quality invisible and intangible—that makes the occurrence of ‘accidents’ more likely.
“That quality may not disappear when the field exercise ends. In other words, compared with ordinary people, you may face a significantly higher probability of encountering ‘accidents’ in your daily lives from now on.
“For these reasons, our central bureau has provided this option. So long as you can control the artifact, your chances of surviving another accident will increase substantially.
“Whether it is our bureau, the central authorities, or the nation as a whole, what we value most is talent.
“Only talented people who survive can contribute to our cause.
“Now, make your choice.”
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