The Selection

Chapter 2

- Section one: palace

Tony always hated this time of the year, the selection period, it was always stressful, approving the tests, the transportation, the admissions, there was always some sort of problem, but nevertheless Tony always liked to oversee the selection to ensure that everything was perfect. Due to his personal oversee, his selection director that he proudly nominated, frequently come to him to disclose some sort of problem that would arise and both of them would work together to solve the issue.

The selection process was divided in two parts, one the exam itself and the other was when the selection occurred. Upon doing the exams they would be taken to section one again for them to be graded, this process would take a week. After that week, they would know who was the students that scored high enough in the test and therefore got selected. So after Tony approve them, the selection committee would go back to section two to transfer the students to the academy in section one.

It was a complicated process but a necessary one, without that number of children arriving every year the population in section one would be always decreasing, but this way they manage to stabilize the situation and give to a couple of kids a chance for a better life.

Although no one in section one knew, but due to the low birth rates, there was an incredible lack of children in section one, almost every family faced that problem they lacked an heir, which was a major problem especially for families with big businesses that sooner or later would need to retire and didn't have an heir that could continue the family legacy.

For that they could adopt a select child that had come from section one, one that had been groomed in the academy to be able to fulfill that families need of an heir.

Tony knew that he would have to adopt a child. As a king, him more than anyone else needed an heir, and without a wife that process was impossible. His dear wife died a long time ago victim of a disease without a cure, since then he was incapable of loving another woman that could provide him with a child of their own. So, without that possibility he would have to choose his own heir, one that he could love as his own, that share the same interest as him.

But each year that he looked at the children's profiles he couldn't relate to any of them, none caught his eye. He wanted a child that he could talk for hours without getting bored, that he could show his lab, and none of the profiles he had seen fit that.

He tried so hard to find a student that fit him that he made a commitment that every year he would oversee the exam at a random school although no one in section two knew about this, it was a tradition that he made himself, in his opinion it added a personal touch to the process.

"Doctor Banner, which school are we going this year?" He asked his selection director that had entered his office

"Midtown, King Stark, it is reported that no one has been selected in years" The director reported.

In truth, it was not unheard of schools that don't manage to have any students to get selected, each year they only select a handful of students to balance their population, and for that they only want the best, the smartest, the ones that will be able to make contributions to the country, and for that they need to be in section one where the tools can be provided.

- Section two: midtown

"Sweetie, remember that I love you" the aunt proclaimed, hugging her nephew.

Today, was the day that everyone, but particularly Peter feared of, the selection day. It was a tense day for every parent and child that was submitted to the testing, afraid that they would be taken from each other and never see them again, or for others afraid that their children would fail the exam and not be selected and not be able to be given a better life