Fortunately, the next few stops were normal. Jacks had Seth and Kong stop by the IT department to register for an ID card and account creation. The account would be used to access the Federation database to help with inquiries or questions that they may have. The access they were granted was limited to the most basic level.

Their next stop was the supply storage where Jacks was grabbing a few extra garments and tossing them to the boys. Acquiring them turned out to be a simple task as Jacks simply had to sign his name on a form listing what and how many items were taken. They were given easy to move clothing and then ordered to get changed and meet out back.

***

That was how ten minutes later, Seth found himself behind the Federation Building and on a field of pavement.

“-over there is the garage. That’s where most of the vehicles are stored. If you boys are good, I might even let you sit in one of them,” Jacks laughed as he showed Seth and Kong the facilities behind the Federation Building. The ‘garage’ that Jacks had pointed out was not the typical family garage that fit one or two cars. It was a hangar that could have easily fit at least 20 vehicles with room to spare.

There were a few other hangers that Seth and Kong were told that were either ‘experimental’ or to ‘stay clear of’. Jacks had laughed it off when the Seth asked why. He merely said “This place isn’t a playground. If you walked into a place unknowingly, you might end up missing a limb or two. However if you’re still curious, then go ahead. It's your life you’re risking.”

There was nothing to say to that, but to quietly take note and stayed clear of the places that Jacks mentioned.

“Of course, there is security since this is a Federation base. There will be security guard crawling all over the place once the alarm sounds. The important places are well guarded. I’m only showing you the most basic of places.”

“Are you telling me experimental facilities aren’t important?” Seth asked in incredulous tone

“The ones I'm showing you are testing small stuff. Small weapon modifications and the likes. Nothing too dangerous if the information gets leaked out. Speaking of testing, here’s one of them.” Jacks lifted the mechanical sphere in his hands for the boys to see.

It was an orb with the front being completely flat. There was an opening on the right side with a small antenna. The back had a flap which Jacks had open and was messing with.

“This is a All-purpose scouting drone. The full name was D-1 ...something, something, something. We just call it Scout when we use it so I don’t remember the full name. Used to explore unfavorable terrains and investigate unfamiliar territory. This toy got all kind of useful features. Now ...if I could only get this to work.”

Jacks continue tinkering with the back of the machine before he heard a beep. “ There we go!” Jacks said, closed the flap and put the machine on the floor.

The front of the machine lit up showing a white circle as it floated up to meet Seth’s height. A voice came out. “Greetings. I am Scout unit D-356. How may I be of service?”

“Hey Scout. I need you to watch over these two boys record their data. I’m going to have them run on the track field a couple of laps.”

“Orders confirmed.” a mechanical voice acknowledged Jacks.

“Hey I didn’t hear anything about running! That’s not the reason I came here. Why do I need to run?” Kong exclaimed.

Jacks scratched his head and said “ You don’t need to run if you don’t want to. It just that I need to figure out what level you guys are at. If I don’t get a good read, then I can’t really let you guys go experience some of the more “fun” stuff.”

“What do you mean by “fun” stuff?”

“Eh, typical Federation missions. Letting you use the practice room, experimental testing, and other things. They do have some cool gadgets that they let you play with time to time. However that’s only after they know you can handle it. If we can't tell how good you guys are, then I can only give you desk jobs to do, and they’re no fun. Oh right, we can let you guys go pass the wall once we get a good measurement of you guys.”

Seth ears perked up at the sentence. As a citizen of Oasis city, he was never allowed past the city walls once. He heard the stories of the monster were outside the city and seen the videos online of them. Evolution had a way with animals that made them seem to want to kill every human on site.

“Do you guys know level you guys are at? Do you even know what I mean by levels?”

“Somewhat? It was covered in school, but there was no way measure a person’s ability. The school frowns upon it, saying it was discriminatory against Awaken and non-Awaken. It says it also leads to challenging behavior.”

“I’m just going to ignore that since schools don’t know how to handle Awaken. Stupid Education Board thinks that keeping kids ignorant of themselves would put a lid lover the problematic behaviors instead it only becomes more trouble in the end. Scout go over the level classifications”

“Orders confirmed. Level classification is a broad measurement to evaluate the powers of an Awaken. The classification is separated into 5 levels. They are:

Class 1-the ability to harm or kill one to ten individuals.

Class 2-the ability to harm or kill a group of less than 100 individuals.

Class 3- the ability to harm or kill up to or less than 1000 individuals

Class 4- the ability to destroy or severely damage a walled city.

Class 5-the ability to destroy or severely damage several cities.

Please note that individuals are classified as non-awaken.”

“Thanks Scout. That’s the general classification of power levels. We use a similar classification for threats. Only difference is that the threat level can be based off an individual or group. An average Awaken is automatically a Class 2. Destructive ability is the basis of all classification. That’s what the Federation cares about and is the easiest to judge. “

“How does running help then if they usually judge by destructiveness?”

“That’s where scout comes in! It does all the readings and measurements. Don’t ask me how it does it because I'm not too familiar with the science behind it. You need to ask the R&D department. Just know that when you run, it’ll be assessing your capabilities and energy readings. You’re free to use your abilities to keep yourselves running.”

Kong apparently still wasn’t convinced. “ That still doesn’t explain why I need to run.”

“You can go if you want then. Just know that if you leave now, thing might become a tad bit difficult for you out there.”

“Are you threatening me?”

“Nope, just saying. I was notified how you may be uncooperative, so I was told certain steps were needed for your cooperation.”

“DAMN IT!” Kong walked off to the track field to begin jogging.

Seth was curious with what Jacks was talking about and decided to ask Kong later as he followed the other boy to the field.

“Right, a minimum of 50 laps is needed for a level 2. Try to run as long as you can. Have fun!”