The Greatest Mecha

There was a long silence that stretched for minutes within the hall, to the five hundred and thirty eight participants of the prestigious Zen Utopia competition for mech designers who had passed the third test they were now faced with another challenge. Only two hundred of them would be needed to advance to the next stage. This meant that over three hundred who passed would still fail. Priscilla looked at the holographic screen before her worktable loading their results. She looked over at Alto who seemed unusually calm in such a pressing moment, he was always carrying a calculated look in his eyes, to her she felt he knew he would pass regardless. After all the internals he had worked on did not show any flaw and they fit perfectly with her work on the externals.

"Alto, where are you from?" She asked in a soft, low tone, her eyes showing great curiosity. She had never thought she would ever be interested in another person and most especially not a name less stranger. For someone to be so calm and collected in a situation where others would shit their pants, it showed how much confidence they had in their self. Truthfully she felt a bit anxious at times but Alto showed none, if he did then he was good at hiding it, that made him even more interesting to her.

Alto looked at her, his eyes searching through hers for an a reason or interest in them but eventually saying. "I’m sorry I can’t divulge that information anyway, but it’s some nameless planet in the middle of nowhere."

Priscilla smiled inwardly as she thought to herself. "No giving out your information in such a place where you could make enemies is a wise choice Alto, I’m surprised you ever thought that out. Even I would not be willing to tell anyone my true identity. You seem like a special character from a mysterious background but seeing your clothing and from my first experience meeting you I can tell that you not special. Or you claim to be, your eyes always tell the same story. You want to win, I would really love to face you in the finals and I believe you can make it."

Their results displayed before them in green with a simple number eleven. Alto’s eyes shifted slightly, "Number eleven? Is that our rank?"

Some others screens were displayed in red. Justin McClaire clapped his hands to silence the already rising mumurs, "Behave yourself children, those of you who passed should have recieved a green screen and the numbers given to you will determine your placement in the next test. In this moment I would like to congratulate you for reaching the top two hundred qualifiers, from this point forward the real competition begins. Return back to your rooms and wait till tomorrow because you will show your skills in the grand mech arena. For those of you who have failed, you have contributed greatly to the success of this test leave here immediately."

Alto looked at Priscilla’s part of the team where she also received the same number as he did, "It seems we will be in the same team." She said with a smile.

"It seems so", he smiled back and gestured with a nod. The doors opened up and they all walked out of it and headed to their rooms while those that failed were sent back to their rooms.