Call to duty

Allen spent the seven days with his sister which passed without accident and were by far happiest memories siblings enjoyed after their parents died.

Allen was now standing in front of a gate.Elena was also with him right now.Today he got a letter from the institute.

It was a reminder and told the location where he had to report.It said to report at the main entrance.

As previously he was only informed that he had to report to the institute.Not exactly where in the institute he had to report.

The reason for that is unknown to him.

But now that he was standing in front of the gate,he could not see where he had to report.

Institution only lets invited people in and not even relatives could go in the institute without permission.

So Elena said goodbye to him and did not insist on staying here ,and left him all alone.She had gone towards Austin institute.

Looking at the institute's gate again, it did seem magnificent and no matter from which angle he views it,he does not fully understand the reason for a research institute needing it.

He entered the gate after passing the security measures set in place and saw no one guarding the area.

They must surely have their own methods to deal with any emergency.

Afterall the research institute Allen was now part of was literally considered the World's best.Not only compared to its own but other fields as well.It was more famous than organisations like Institute of Ancient History, Classical Civilisation, Economics, Geography, Philosophy, Religious Studies, and Sciences and many more due to its contribution to humanity.

And it was the only institute whose name was not known to the common people.It was only called as a Research institute by them.

It is not known which "Genius" suggested it,but strict policies were implemented to prevent spread of the institute's name.And due to the "Genius's" suggestion ,institute's name is only known to people who have visited it.

And it is on private property.So you can only go if allowed۔Otherwise you will be jailed to say the least if not hanged.Thats how much serious an offence breaching private property of institute is.

And the only institution which received this "Honour" up to date is the aforementioned institute.

According to the "Genius" this would glorify the name of the institute.Well,I guess different people have different views.

He soon entered a place which seemed like it was made for recreation.

He saw only one person there.He was too young to be called old,but too old to be called young and describing him as middle-aged did not seem right.

He neared the man and before be could say something,the man talked"Keep going forward and you will arrive at your destination"

He was astonished at how the man could guess intentions.

So he asked to satisfy his curiosity "How did you know I am here to report?"It might have been because the man had seen many like him today.As most others would have also reported today unlike some who reported when their holiday had not even ended.

The man turned towards him and replied"Hmm what are you talking about?I was just thinking about a quote.If you do not need anything from me,do not disturb me"

Allen was a little embarrassed at his misunderstanding but he had to report to the institute.

And he could not do it if he did not know where he had to go.

So he asked"I am to report starting today.It would be helpful if you could provide me directions"

"Oh that thing,you just need to go straight ahead for that"

"Dammit" Allen thought.If he had not questioned and just walked straight after hearing the old man,he would not have been embarrassed.His curiosity got the better of him.

But he still thanked the man and disappeared from that place like a tornado.Meanwhile the man had a glint in his eyes.

Allen soon understood why the man simply said go straight.He had to walk for a while.He did not walk fast as it was his first time here and he might get lost.

After a while he saw a plain gate.It was not really plain,but compared to the main gate he saw it was severely lacking.And there were no digital screens above showing the name of institute.Only a simple old signboard with little to no decoration which read"EXCEL".

It decreased its grandeur.

But seemed to give the institute a mysterious feel.Like an old man filled with wisdom donning simple but neat clothes.

The person who founded the institute did not name the institute Excel to show his strong conviction in it.But because he believed that research was a process gradually unfolding.

He was inspired by the latin name Evolvere which coincided with his ideas and was gonna name institute Evolution,but because of mindless rejection to the name he ended choosing Excel.As it seemed to show his intentions in his view.Allen learned about all this from the book about the institute.Though in that ,the name of institute was never mentioned.

Allen neared the gate and it opened automatically.He walked through unfazed.He finally saw a person after so long.He seemed to be busy with something behind the counter.

Allen neared the counter and said in greetings"Hello"

The man lifted his head when Allen's patience was at its limit.He said"How may I help you?"

Allen replied"I am here to report to the institute"

The man replied"Give me your identity card"Allen complied and waited patiently.

This time the man was faster and gave his identity card back in little to no time.

There was changing to the identity card.Not that its colour changed or they sucked off its materials to make it shrink.But there was more added to his personal information.He was appointed as a researcher of research institute.The name of institute could not be told to everyone.But the problem arises how would one give proof that he is a researcher of institute?

Wouldn't there be many imposters?So people would doubt even the authentic ones.

The solution to this was simple, a logo.A cool logo fitting for World's Best Research Institution.That can not be replicated,destroyed easily because it is made of world's finest materials.

But there is no such thing as absolute in the world,at least not about this.

Though ,even if you make a duplicated logo ,it is gonna cost you so much money that is enough to feed seven generations of a family.

And even that duplicate could perhaps only trick a drunk person.

in simple terms the drawbacks outweigh the benefits

Allen observed his identity card and saw the rank the institute had given to him.And to his astonishment ,the rank was not the lowest.It was a little above the lowest.

He was curious about why he was not given the lowest rank as according to his knowledge the test he had given did not matter here.Whether he had topped or barely passed the exam,the result would be the same.

But he had learned from the previous example and was not gonna make a fool out of himself again.And by no means did he have a fetish in which he got excited by being embarrassed.

The man behind the counter seeing Allen suppressing his curiosity laughed"Looks like you got a trauma with Walker.

The reason you have been given a higher rank is because you passed the previous test.The founder of the institute believed that the first thing a researcher needs is neither brains nor brawn.But curiosity.And being straightforward about it at that.

So he invented that test.And it has been passed as a tradition.

And by test I mean your encounter with Walker who was in the garden,if you had not thought why he would know your purpose you would fail and if you did not deem it a worthy question you would still fail and would receive the lowest rank.

Though the difference between both ranks is also not too different,as they are within a single division.

And you would know further as you work.So,good luck newbie."The man did not tell his name,but it could be seen from his nameplate which read"Sam".

Allen thanked him for his explanation.Sam gave Allen a simple map of the Excel institute and bid him goodbye after telling him the department he will be working for him.

He gave Allen a map ,as the institute does not appear on GPS.It is hidden for various reasons.

Observing the Map,he was in a location where only main activities going in the institute would be reported.That explains Sam's lax attitude towards him.

And all of this was written in a manual attached to the map.

There were different departments,but he was only given clearance to his own department and cafeteria.He could also gain clearance to living quarters in the institute for free,but he would have to undergo some procedures.

He was strictly prohibited to go into areas of which he had no clearance.Though he did not know what would be the punishment,surprisingly he also did not want to know this time.

By following the old map,he finally reached the location where he was supposed to be right now.

There he recognized some people who had passed this time alongside him.

Other applicants seem to be distributed evenly in other departments.Every department would have different types of assignment.After all biology is a broad subject.

He did not know if he was the last to come, but he walked to the side after seeing other fellow researchers just standing there.