"We're late!"  Vlad confidently went forward. In front of him was a long, stone corridor lined with bookcases. A dim light, illuminating the corridor somewhere ahead of, have become much brighter. You continue to go, Vlad is less and less able to distinguish their surroundings. At some point he stopped seeing at all and, stopping, tried to get used to the bright light. In the area sounded foreign voices. Lifting his gaze, the guy realized that he was in some kind of spacious, white room. The hall was made in the form of a semicircle, and it led as many as five passages. Inside the hall there were first-year students. At least twenty-odd people filled it. In the center could see a strange exaltation, and it elongated pyramid, with a height of not more than a meter.

"It seems," Fang walked forward, looking around thoughtfully, "that's the end of our work together."

"Yes..."

"Vlad," next sounded a familiar voice. Turning his head to the right, Vlad saw Jan and Yan. He wasn't even surprised to see the two of them together. Brother and sister quickly came up to the Russian's.

"A test you, too, in one team passed?" not without irony asked Vlad.

"Don't be silly,"  Yana muttered sourly.

Suddenly across the floor flashed a strange sound resembling a squeak. All the disciples on the floor were silent. There was a silence, then a creak.

Vlad glanced in the direction from which he had come. Suddenly the ceiling started to go down the grating that served as a divider of the corridor and the hall. The same thing happened with the other four passages, until the first years were completely locked in this place.

"What is it?" Yan frowned.

"The grate," Vlad said, but he felt a blow to the gut. Yana at such a time was merciless.

"Thank you, wise guy."

All the bars were lowered, and again there was silence. Jan looked down at his wristwatch. The hand already showed two o'clock in the afternoon.

"I take it the time is up."

Jan pouted. She didn't like the whole situation at all. Opening her lips, she softly repeated the learned phrase: "Punctuality above all."

Again came the oppressive silence. Not understanding, that is happening, first-year students gradually began to worry.

"What is it?"

"What's next?"

"Are we locked?"

Vlad turned his gaze to the strange pyramid that stood in the center of the hall. And the thought of this control panel did not come to him alone.

A pleasant female voice with a slight Oriental accent began to be heard from the speakers fixed above the ceiling.

 "Welcome!" The strongest of you have reached the last task, thus becoming part of the annual test of the school APSIS. Since then, the new school year has almost begun.

The voice died away, and again there was silence. The first years began to look at each other. It seems that the confusion has subsided, and in the course finally went to generate ideas. Now there was no doubt, and all eyes stared at the pyramid, on each side of which were put forward a different color buttons, combined with the color of the form of their representatives.

"I think I understand," said the girl with the brown stripe on her sleeve. She was of medium height with Asian features, long and straight black hair that went down to her waist.

"Ritsuko?"  a man's voice was heard, but before the speaker could continue, the girl walked on, straight to the pyramid. For it, from every psychology went even a few representatives. Black, brown, blue and green buttons looked at the team representatives. The four guys who came forward stood in a circle and looked at each other. Thought they were clearly one and the same. In addition to Ritsuko, Lucien, Elias and a beautiful black girl from the science Department, Frederica Bruni, came to the center.

Ritsuko held out his hand to the button.

"Three."

"Two," Lucien said.

"One," Elias commanded, and the four pressed the buttons at once. A familiar squeak sounded and behind it one of the five gates began to rise.

***

After opening the door the disciples, the whole crowd headed for the exit. The corridor brought them to the academic building, and from it all the guys on the street began to see off the second and third years. In the end, the whole crowd of disciples near the old rusty fountain, which surprisingly finally got.

"So," thoughtfully handed Vlad, "these buttons include a fountain? A peculiar beginning of the year in this school."

Ian stood next to the Russian squinted irritably, glancing at his brother. Next to him stood two girls, who, apparently, were with Ian on the same team.

"Coped!"

"Not everyone here knew every corner of this school," a girl with dark skin, pleasant features, and long black hair woven into a braid grabbed Jan's hand, almost hanging over him. "You're the exception."

Seeing how the opponent grabs Jan's hand, the girl with typical Asian features also grabbed him. This charming representative of Mongolia smiled broadly.

"You're a pretty nice and incredible exception."

"Really?" judging by the tone Jan was happy to hear that. Mechanically lifting the gaze upwards, he noticed a Sizzling gaze of his sister. Yana was ready to run and attack both girls. The most frightening thing was that she could actually do it, and that would be very inappropriate. Yan stepped back a little. "Excuse me, I think my name is..."

The guy walked around the girls and then walked over to Yana. Sister even say anything did not, and it was much worse than her screams, because it meant that at home, she will arrange another dressing.

After only a few minutes, the rumble subsided. Large iron gates began to slowly run vzyataya each other black cars, the noise of engines was deafening. And the picture was this: no one could say a word, all the students had already gathered around the fountain, representatives of the student Council stood in front of everyone.

About ten elite and insanely expensive cars stopped at the entrance of the school APSIS. As if they had already rehearsed several times, they stopped at an equal distance from each other. And no one even said a word — everyone was waiting for what would happen next. Even the Almighty Stefan Loen — smiled and watched the scene, but on the face of his best friend Anita ran through the emotions of anxiety. The question arose: who was the object of her anxiety?

Motors stalled, and from each car began to leave solid, nicely dressed people. They were of different ages, different nationalities, women and men, who were respected here most of all. All of them lined up waiting for something, and just a few seconds later a woman came out of the last car closer to her forties, dark-haired and quite tall. In a strict, black dress, velvet gloves and black glasses, taking off that she said:

"Elizabeth Loen, Director of Art Political Scientific Information School. Greetings to all the survivors of the first year."