Independent Study (The Testing 2)

Raffe leans back in the chair. “I came to offer Cia my help.”

“So you can report back to your father and Dr. Barnes that she can’t handle her assignments?” Will asks.

“Why would I do that?” Raffe’s eyes glitter with anger.

“Maybe because you don’t like the idea that a colony student was picked to work in the president’s office instead of you? You wouldn’t be the first one around here I’ve heard sounding bitter about that. Griffin won’t shut up about it.”

“I’m not Griffin.”

“No.” Will nods. “But you aren’t a colony student, either. So why are you here, offering to help Cia?”

“Just because someone is from the colonies doesn’t mean he can be trusted, Will.” Despite the aid he rendered me during Induction, distrust fills my voice.

Will looks at me. I see surprise, sorrow, and regret flicker in his eyes. “Maybe not,” he says. Then the cockiness I have always known returns. “But some of us are worth keeping around because of our sparkling personalities and handsome faces.”

His words make Raffe laugh, and while I want nothing more than for Will to leave, even I am forced to smile. Will has that effect.

“As much as I appreciate that,” I say, “your sparkling personality is keeping me from getting this work done. If the two of you both leave, I can get back to it.”

“I’m not leaving until he goes.” Will picks up some papers and takes a seat on the small couch.

I look at Raffe, who raises his eyebrows at me. The expression is almost identical to one Zeen gives when I try to convince him to do something he has no intention of doing. It makes me want to stick out my tongue like I used to do when I was little.

“Hey, this report is about Madison Colony.”

I turn to reach for the papers Will’s holding, but the naked longing on his face makes me stop. Reading about my colony made me feel closer to those I love. As much as I want to hurt Will for all that he has done, I can’t deny him this glimpse of home.

“These plans are about the railway expansion,” I explain. “Four departments involved drafted opinions on how best to build a train system to the colonies that aren’t part of the current system. I’m supposed to review them and report to President Collindar on which ideas have the most merit.”

“Well, whoever drew this map should be pitched off the project.” Will holds up the diagram of Madison Colony. “The paper mills are over here.” He points to the outskirts of the city, where the report shows only unrevitalized buildings. The perfect site to build the train station. “And this area is all farmland. And why do they think we have corn and soy farms in the middle of the city?”

Raffe laughs. I sigh. “The Five Lakes Colony maps are wrong too. If both the Madison and Five Lakes maps are inaccurate, the others must be as well. I can’t give the president a recommendation if the information I’m basing my judgment on is wrong.”

Less than a day into my internship and I have already failed. So much for thinking I would get this assignment done quickly enough to strike out on my own.

“I can help,” Will says.

“Me too.”

Will rolls his eyes at Raffe. “Have you ever been outside Tosu City?”

“No.” Raffe shrugs. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t find people who have. Give me the maps for the other colonies. I’ll find students from those colonies who can look them over and tell us the things that are wrong.” When I hesitate, I see that glint of passion fire up again in his eyes. “Trust me. I can do this.”

Perhaps it’s because I see my brother in Raffe that I consider his request. This is my assignment, but it’s sheer folly to rely only on yourself when you don’t have the knowledge required. My father and Magistrate Owens delegate work all the time. If anyone questions Raffe’s assistance, I can say I was only doing the same.

But then I realize I don’t need to.

The mistakes in the reports about Five Lakes bothered me, but I could reason them away. Five Lakes is the smallest colony. The most distant. The least communicated with by the leaders here in Tosu. But Will’s observations about the flaws in the Madison Colony reports are not so easily explained. Every day the departments that created these reports make decisions that affect citizens across this country. I find it impossible to believe that a project so important would be treated with so little care. Or that the president would put so vital a task in the hands of an untried first-year University student.

I think back to the night Ian asked me to meet with him. He said his own internship was filled with writing summaries of old reports. As an intern, he was being tested on his ability to identify which facts and ideas were most important. The work wasn’t real. It was a test.

Just as this must be.

I look at the papers scattered across the room. While paper is utilized more frequently at the University and within the United Commonwealth Government buildings, it’s still precious. Ian’s internship tests were based on documents that already existed and were being recycled for his task. These reports, with their incorrect facts and mislabeled maps, could not possibly have been used before. They were created just for me.

Why? What purpose does this test serve? Did the president want to see if I would rely solely on my own knowledge or search for assistance on the colonies that I have never seen with my own eyes?

No, my gut tells me this test is not about teamwork or being confident enough to ask for assistance when it is warranted. There are ways to determine those skills that don’t involve wasting what at my school in Five Lakes would be a year’s allotment of paper.