Ben10 & Digimon Tamers

Heroes and Humanity

Part 01: Heroes and Humanity

Chapter 13

Originally Written: Saturday, January 07, 2012 6:23PM to Monday January 9, 2012 2:34AM; Monday, January 9th, 2012 2:35AM to 4:36AM; Monday January 9, 2012 5:00AM to 5:26AM

Albedo stared down at the test paper. The pencil eraser repeatedly bounced into the air from the end of the pencil he flicked up and down. This test process droned on and on, in a convoluted process Galvan would have climbed over each other to optimize just for fun. He grabbed the eraser from the air. The middle aged woman on his right looked at him as she gave him a smirk. Albedo shrugged his shoulders and looked back at his test. He flipped the page and resumed bouncing the eraser off the end of his pencil.

He glanced up at the time. He still had three hours left. Who put only one hundred questions on a test!? Blasphemous. Were humans really this stupid and slow? He technically was the youngest human here, and he was already-"

"Mr...Lowenthal?"

Albedo continued as he was, sighing softly.

"Mr. Lowenthal."

Was there anyone with the last name Lowenthal...? Albedo continued flipping the page of the test. He stared at the desk. He looked up at the proctor, still bouncing the eraser on his pencil. The proctor, a middle aged black haired male, was staring at him.

"Is there an issue Mr. Lowenthal?"

Albedo resisted banging his head against the desk. This test was making him stupid. Lowenthal was the last name he had come up with for the exam application. "Is there really only one hundred short answer questions? Granted they all have five or six individual questions within each question, but I'm bored. I have completed them already." He was still bouncing the eraser.

The proctor raised an eyebrow and waved Albedo forward. Albedo caught the eraser and stood. He grabbed his test and booklet and walked up to the proctor's desk.

'They're only human. They can't help but keep their eyes glued to superiority.' Albedo thought in response to the other examinees looking at him. The proctor diligently went through the exam.

"Name...every question answered. These are some detailed notes..."

"I had a feeling I'd finish faster than normal." Albedo stood stock straight. The proctor looked up at him. Albedo shrugged his shoulders, "I'm aware of my intelligence. I don't need a test to tell me that."

"Return to your seat Mr. Lowenthal."

Albedo nodded once and then did as told. The proctor stood and left the room holding Albedo's test. Albedo resumed hitting the eraser with his pencil.

"How droll." He muttered. Jenrya made a much better confidant than these tests and proctors.

"Exams are first given a run through by the on hand proctors. Then they're double checked by the Chief Board of Education within the prefecture. Results will be given in four to six weeks." Jenrya read off the procedures on a copy of Albedo's application. He looked at Albedo, "No issue here. What are you worrying about?"

Albedo folded his arms. Jenrya's sunglasses fell onto his nose. He frowned and pushed them back onto the top of his head, "I don't think they believe I finished fairly."

"Well...you did finish a five hour test in two hours."

Albedo grumbled, "How is it my fault that no one else finished until four hours in? They had me sitting there for another two hours, taking another version of the same test. I still finished within two hours. The notes I left were just as extensive as the first time. Humans don't know intelligence when they come across it."

Jenrya smirked. He leaned his head against Albedo's shoulder. "Don't be so cocky now."

"I'm not cocky. I know I received a perfect score. No less will be expected or accepted."

"Naturally."

"Exactly. You understand me. You are a cocoon of stability compared to these idiots." Albedo wrapped an arm around Jenrya's side. "If they're going to make me take another exam they could at least have the decency to make sure it's more challenging than the first."

"Only you would find College level calculus easy."

"I can't wait for the physics exam." Albedo rubbed his hands together. He had to admit that the more he laid in Jenrya's bed, the more comfortable it seemed. "Watch them make me take a second test for that as well."

"I don't think they believe you're cheating. You can't cheat on 100 long answer questions and still finish as quickly as you did."

Albedo smirked, "Then they're too stupid to recognize my intelligence level? Or perhaps too arrogant."

Jenrya looked at the computer. In quiet voices. T.K. and the Digimon Emperor scuffled in the Digimon Emperor's base.

"He should have pushed him out."

Jenrya covered his mouth to stifle his laugh. "Don't say such things. You're so mean."

"Scratch that. They both should be thrown out." Albedo muttered. "Acting like brats. Gracious knows T.K., with his PTSD with the-" Albedo wiggled his fingers and rolled his eyes, " 'Digital World's evil' shouldn't be there. Who's the buffoon who said his strongest trait was hope?"

"Spoiler-," Jenrya was all grins as he whispered in Albedo's ear.

"Oh just great. So he turns into a little whiny sap doesn't he?"

"Ken actually becomes a bit of a bad ass."

Albedo rolled his eyes, "Yea, he'd be bad at getting his ass out of a paper bag."

Jenrya kicked the bed while laughing, "Just what does that even mean?"

"Why is Cody the only one who's head is not attached to his rear?"

Jenrya pushed Albedo off the bed. The application copy landed on Albedo's stomach. "Because he's more likely to pay attention to detail, rather than jump to assumptions."

Albedo stared at the application papers, "And just what is that supposed to mean?"

Jenrya shook his head, "Nothing."

Albedo frowned. Humans. Just why did he put up with them? He climbed back onto Jenrya's bed. Good thing no one was home. Time spent with just Jenrya was oddly comforting.

Jenrya folded his arms over his stomach.

Albedo kept his eyes on the application copy. 'Perhaps I should study...' He mentally shook his head, 'There's not a test these humans could give me that I would fail.'

Albedo sat slightly annoyed. The chair was too cushioned for his liking. Mr. Ishiyama kept staring at him as though he were debating with himself on whether or not he was really here. The physics exam he was taking, the second one that is, just started getting slightly challenging before a high ranking proctor or someone like that said that the whole ordeal was ridiculous. Albedo held in a smirk as the same proctor called to Mr. Ishiyama-

"Are we Japanese so shallow that we cannot accept that in this day and age, an American has turned out to be a genius!?"

"I'm just going through procedure, Mr. Mazaki."

"They want a procedure? Give him an IQ test. Or raise the difficulty of the exam for him. Anyone can see he's not being challenged. If anyone who believes he has cheated is correct, it will come out with his inability to teach and answer student's questions."

Mr. Ishiyama shook his head, "Do you know how many people were involved in that incident?"

"I've heard and read the reports."

Albedo stood quietly. Mr. Ishiyama just turned from him. Albedo crept towards the doorway.

"That boy is not a cheater. He is a genius. We'd be stupid to reject another Einstein because of accusations of cheating."

"I will take it to the board."

"The board hardly knows what they're doing anymore."

"They're still in charge, Mr. Ishiyama. The boy doesn't even have a Diploma. It's a wonder that he even got here."

Albedo pressed his ear against the now closed door. Their voices were muffled, but they were loud enough it didn't matter. 'Why do they think I cheated? I've nothing to lose and nothing to gain from such nonsense.'

Despite the many times he tried to convince himself otherwise, learning and teaching, discovery...passing off the knowledge was a passion for him. Even when he was less than a hundred human years, he always loved learning. Azmuth, the fool that he was, saw it, and nurtured it. It blossomed within him. Even those he tutored saw it, despite him trying to keep it hidden. Azmuth had taught him that well at least.

Albedo pressed his back against the door. He glanced at another proctor. One specifically chosen to watch him as he took the second physics test by himself. Just as it had been for the mathematics test. "I'm not impressed."

The proctor nodded in understanding, "You have to admit, that it's hard to believe anyone would have finished as quickly as you had and still receive a perfect score." The proctor covered her mouth, "Dammit."

Albedo folded his arms, 'Humans need to learn to recognize and accept superior natural skill.'