[12 am, F.A.T.E headquarters]

Oliver barely made it to the F.A.T.E headquarters in time. He was out of breath, tired and hungry from the light breakfast he had.

"I really gotta stop overestimating myself!" Oliver said, trying to catch his breath.

As he looked up at the building, he saw an intimidating structure that couldn't even be considered a building anymore. An eight-sided compound with five floors stacked on top of eachother, reaching a height of three hundred feet. He had seen pictures of it before, but seeing it in person really made him feel like an ant. The architecture was very sterile too, even a speck of dust would stand out amongst clean white. Looking around the area, most of the other buildings in the area followed the same type of design, as if the building had infected its corporate brutalism into them. He didn't know why, but Oliver felt as if he didn't belong here. Even still, he continued inside, not wanting to waste any more time. The inside of the building was even more intimidating, but this time it wasn't because of the architecture, but because of the people. Men and women in suits holding briefcases with who knows what inside come and go like cars on a highway. Everyone's expression was either comparable to a dead fish, or joyful to the point of mania. At this point, Oliver wondered what had made them like this? He knew this kind of job wasn't easy, but what world did he find himself in. Still, he was determined, this was his dream after all. He wouldn't end up like these people.

With the help of the front desk lady, he managed to find his way to the examination hall. 

"Geez this place is like a labyrinth... How do people find anything here? At least I made it in time... With ten minutes to spare at that," Oliver said with a sigh.

He put his hand on the door handle and pushed it down. As the door opened, he saw a room filled with young people just like him. All of them had the same look of determination in their eyes. Once he stepped foot inside, everyone turned to him. As if examining new prey, they glare at Oliver. The pressure and aura they exerted intimidated Oliver, but he wasn't going to let them stop him. He walked further in and took a seat wherever he could. Everyone continued to look at Oliver until the next person came in.

"Finally these lions stopped looking at me!" Oliver thought to himself, feeling relieved

But as he finally felt relaxed, someone took a seat next to him. Oliver turned to them, only to be met with a smug grin.

"You're late," Oliver's twin sister Olivia said, definitely enjoying herself.

"Ah yes, this girl. The lil shit that I've been stuck with since the womb..." Oliver thought to himself.

"Why are you looking at me like that? You look stupid," Olivia said, chuckling to herself.

"It's only stupid cause I'm looking at you..." Oliver said in response.

"Ha ha, so funny... Geez how am I related to you?" Olivia said, crossing her arms.

"Yeah, sometimes I wonder if you're just a parasite that grew legs," Oliver said, sticking his tongue out.

"You jerk!" Olivia said, smiling slightly.

"Nye nye," Oliver said, covering his ears and turning away. 

The two began laughing, before Olivia playfully punched Oliver in the shoulder.

"Dummy... you know I was really worried you died or something... I mean I wouldn't be surprised, but I was still worried..." Olivia said.

"Me? Die? Today's the most important day in my life! I wouldn't let myself die," Oliver said, chuckling to himself.

Olivia said with a smug look and a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah right, 'most important' day. If it was that important you wouldn't be late," Olivia said.

"Oh shut up!" Oliver said, rolling his eyes to annoy her.

Suddenly, the person sitting beside them stands up and begins yelling.

"Could you two shut up for one second!" he said, sounding pissed.

Apparently their playful banter has made this man upset. But their reactions are completely different from each other.

"O- oh I'm sorry..." Oliver said, sounding rather embarrassed.

"Huh? The fuck? You think you're my dad or something?" Olivia said, sounding rather scary.

The man sighed before walking away rather angrily. Olivia crossed her arms and laid back into her seat.

"Geez what was with that guy, damn bastard..." Olivia said, pouting.

"Sis, why do you always have to be rude to others..." Oliver said to her, sounding disappointed.

Olivia turned to him for a second before turning her head away from him. 

"He was rude first!" Olivia said, sounding like a child.

Despite being the older twin, Olivia seemed to be the least mature of the two, at least in the courtesy department. But in every other aspect, she was an improvement to Oliver. She always got good grades in school, everyone liked her and she always knew what to do in a bad situation. So in some regards, Oliver hated his sister. But he'd never admit to it. I mean, what kind of person would he be if he did? If she knew he envied her, he'd lose one of the few people who actually believes in him. So for now, he'll keep his feelings to himself. Even if it hurts.

Oliver sighed and looked away from Olivia. He looked at the crowded room and felt a bit nauseous. Not due to sickness or anxiety, but due to the sheer number of people.

"All these people are just like me... They desperately want to be a part of F.A.T.E. But why exactly do they do it?" Oliver said as he looked at the sea of people.

Oliver Rand had always had the strange ability to tell a person's desire. When he was in preschool, he always knew what others around him wanted. Whether it was a crayon, some of his food, or maybe just to talk, he knew what they wanted, as if they had a sign above their heads.

"That guy with the yellow shirt, he definitely wants to join because he thinks it'll get him a girlfriend. That girl with braids, she wants to join to support her family. That brown haired guy, he wants to join cause he wants to beat up monsters...." Oliver inferred.

Oliver did not feel as if their desires were wrong, but he felt a little bad. Because he himself did not know why he wanted to join F.A.T.E. Sure he was a fan of F.A.T.E, he always watched any fight that came on TV as a kid, even collected memorabilia in the form of replica operator "attachment units", but in all honesty, he hated fighting, or any hard labour in general. The thought of fighting larger than life monsters who could destroy entire cities... was terrifying to him. Yet something inside him wanted to be just like the F.A.T.E specialist that protected his country.

"Why? Why do I want to become an investigator…" Oliver asked himself as he faced the ground.

Olivia noticed her brother's mumbling, causing her concern. She stood up then flicked his forehead.

"Hey, lift your head up, I don't wanna be seen with a loser," Olivia said, putting her hands on her hips.

Oliver laughed awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his head.

"S- sorry..." Oliver said, forcing a smile.

Hearing him say sorry caused Olivia to get upset for some reason. She didn't understand why, but she was mad at him.

"Tsk... Your apologies are too easy to come by... Besides, it's not like you did anything bad..." Olivia said, storming off.

Oliver was left dumbfounded as he wondered "Did I do something wrong?"

But he didn't have time to dwell on that question, as the exam instructor and a few other staff had entered the room. The instructor seemed to be an old man with battle scars wherever skin was showing. This man has definitely gone through hell and back, but for what reason? That's what Oliver wondered.

"Now children... Shall we begin the examination?" the old man said, his words were rather ominous.

Oliver stood up and sighed. He took a deep breath before getting himself ready.

"No time for thinking, I'll show them why I'm worthy of being an investigator!" Oliver thought to himself.

All the would-be recruits gathered into the examination hall's first evaluation exam, the physical test. From just the starting line alone, Oliver could tell this test wasn't going to be an easy one. At that moment some of his confidence got knocked down a peg, as he wondered if he could really do this....

The instructor stood in front of the crowd of recruits and began explaining how the test works.

"This test will evaluate your stamina, problem solving skills and general fitness by making you all go through a gauntlet of obstacles. These factors are very important traits to become an operator. Super class monsters can give even an A tier Investigator some trouble, so it's important for us to find recruits who can withstand the pressure. Now then children... You have exactly one hour to get through the obstacle course... Don't die," the instructor said, laughing a bit as he left.

"D- did he just laugh?" Oliver said, feeling scared.

One of the staff responsible for the recruits' well-being assured Oliver that he was perfectly safe and wouldn't die.

"Senior Investigator Kiel loves to uh...scare new recruits. I promise you this test is 100% safe. There hasn't been a single death in 10 years. Although accidents are more prone to happen due to the competitive nature of the test," she said, trying her best to calm him down.

Oliver just nodded, still feeling a bit uneasy. 

All the recruits walked towards the starting line. Some did stretches, some talked to the other recruits, some just looked straight on at the obstacle course. As they waited, the feeling of unease grew in Oliver's stomach. He was scared of the obstacle course, sure... But something seemed off. It was incredibly quiet outside the hall, and nobody had heard a word from any staff other than the ones already inside.

"I'm sorry children but due to some.... technical difficulties, the gates will open in 30 more minutes..." the voice of the old man said through the speakers.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and sighed audibly. They all seemed to be upset, but Oliver became even more paranoid. What kind of technical difficulties were causing this? Did something bad happen? All these thoughts ran through his mind. But as quick as they came, they left almost instantly as he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Are you okay?" A female voice asked.

Oliver turned around and saw a dark purple hair haired girl with light magenta eyes. Oliver felt a bit embarrassed that his paranoia was seen by someone, so he apologized for bothering her.

"You're not bothering me... I was just wondering why you looked so uh... constipated? I'm sorry I don't know how else to refer it to..." the girl laughed.

"C- constipated? Y- yeah I guess my sister says I look that way when I'm stressed..." Oliver said, rubbing the back of his head.

Hearing him say sister seems to have piqued her interest.

"Oh you have a sister? What is she like?" The girl asked.

"Oh she's actually right there. We're twins you see..." Oliver said, pointing at Olivia who's surrounded by her so-called 'fans'.

She turned to Olivia and smiled a bit.

"I knew it..." she said softly, making sure Oliver couldn't hear.

She turned to Oliver and smiled.

"Do you believe strength is something you're born with from chance, or something you have to earn through hard work?" The girl asked him.

Oliver raised an eyebrow.

"Excuse me? I don't quite understand what you mean..." Oliver said, scratching his head.

"Hmm let me re-contextualise it for you. Let's say two people are born. One is born with incredible power and strength, but the other is born normal. But the one who was born from mediocrity, worked hard to gain their abilities, and achieve the same status as the one born with strength. So let me ask you, who's truly the strong one? The one who had to push themselves to achieve their goals, or the one who was born with greatness?"

She asked, sounding a bit scary.

The question hurt Oliver's brain a bit, but there was only one conclusion he could come up with.

"Well they would both be strong. The one born with nothing has to work tirelessly to achieve strength, which is extremely admirable. But to say the one who was already born powerful was not strong would just be a lie. They both are strong in different ways, but in the end, the only difference is how they got there. I know it barely makes sense, but it's the only thing I could think of..." Oliver said.

The girl paused for a moment before shaking her head.

"Understandable. My question was extremely flawed actually, so I actually admire that you could come up with a rational answer to my question" the girl said.

Oliver was a bit confused for a while, but then realized he forgot to exchange names with her.

"Oh by the way, my name's Oliver. Oliver Rand" Oliver said.

"Katherine.... But my last name, well... It's a secret for now" she said, smirking a bit as she left.

Oliver was weirded out, but he actually enjoyed talking to her a bit. Though she kinda scared him for some reason.

As Oliver patiently waited for the gates to open, he wondered back to Katherine's words.

"What does it truly mean to be strong?"