Alice smiled at Alan. "I guess your wards are a bit tougher than most." she said. He smiled back at her. "The Pinel house is a noble lineage of both knights and mages. It flows through the veins, so it is nothing to be that proud over." he explained. "Well, I hope you have a good time learning things your family would be proud of." Alice said in a pleasant tone. There was nothing wrong with making nice with a noble. If he wanted to be on good terms with her, that was more than fine. She checked the time on her watch. There was going to be a break before her archery assessment. She was going to go watch all the pilots do their assessments if possible. She asked if Alan wanted to accompany her. He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't have much to do. This was my last assessment for the day." he said. "Great. Let's go." Alice smirked. They walked over to the hangars together. Alan kept looking at her like he wanted to ask something. She looked at him every once in a while. Alice did not care what he had to ask. If Alan could not get it out, there was obviously nothing too important. They got there.
There was indeed an assessment taking place. It was the nobles doing them. This assessment was for the single pilot mechas. They had to get in a machine to test their aptitude. If they could reach a certain threshold inside of it, the student could pilot the mecha. From what Alice had observed none of them had been in one yet. It had all been practical lessons learning how it worked. Those that could do it would then began to use the test pilot simulation programs. It was all a matter of how high they scored though. None of the mechas were for the feint of heart. These machines were all calibrated towards the 15 foot class mechas. Those were for military police units and SWAT teams for civilian police forces. You needed and 50% synchronization rate to pilot. There was a handy bar that lit up to show it with a easy to read meter. The bigger 75 foot class was for suppressing enemies on the battlefield. One needed a 67% synchronization rate. The 150 foot class was for sieges. They were too massive for one to handle alone. You needed to be able to partner up with someone for it to work.
Both Alice and Alan watched as they got in the machine and were measured. Some did not meet the threshold to pilot. Most got between 55-64%. A few were so good as to get in the 70s. That was very exciting. Alan asked "Do you want to pilot, Clara?" Alice looked at him and nodded. "It looks really cool, but no one had a centaur in mind when making the equipment. Only humanoids can do it." she said. Alan looked a bit nervous. "If it's all the same to you, I really can't stand heights. I love having my feet on the ground." he admitted. Alice blinked. "I see. Sorry to hear that." she said. "It's quite alright." he waved off. When it was time for Alice to get ready for the big archery assessment, she turned to him. Alan looked up at her. "It was really nice spending some time together, Alan Pinel. I have to go. See you around the campus." she said before galloping at full speed towards her next objective. It did not leave him a chance to speak. Alice did not really care what he would say to her. She had somewhere to be. He could find her if it was important to him. Alice made it to the opposite end in time.
