Born To Fall, Reborn To Conquer

The Final Assessment

After leaving the interview chamber in haste, Thomas went to the empty room of the State Health Department building, his mind in turmoil. The mere mention of Lucas’s name from Henry’s lips had created a bit of fear in him.

“Had Lucas really made a connection at that level?”

The possibility gnawed at Thomas. How would Lucas be a problem he couldn’t easily sweep aside?

Returning to the conference room where the other interviewers were gathered after the interview, Thomas took his seat at the head of the table, pretending to review the list of remaining candidates, though his attention was fixed on Lucas's name.

“Gentlemen,” Thomas began, looking at the panel, “I think things shouldn’t be made easy for someone who failed reexamination and wants to miraculously crawled into the police department. He seems a little… overconfident. It would be a shame if someone believed they could coast through this process on rumors of high connections. Let’s be thorough in our assessments.”

“Yes... Yes, that’s true,” all of them murmured.

Meanwhile, Lucas, waiting in the adjacent holding room, leaned back in his chair, his eyes half-closed in thought. He had noticed the flicker of fear in Thomas’s eyes when Henry called his name.

After a while, his name was called for the final assessment.

The large, formal interview hall went silent as Lucas stepped inside for his final assessment.

The lead interviewer, Director Lin, was the first to speak. “Let’s begin,” she said. “ What do you have to say about…….”.

Before she could finish what she was saying, Thomas interrupted.

“What makes you think you are capable of doing this job?"

“I believe I have the experience, skills, and dedication to make a real difference in the department,” Lucas replied, smiling faintly.

Thomas signaled another examiner, who immediately asked a more aggressive question. “Then, tell us,” she asked, “in the event of a financial fraud case that indirectly affects public health resources — such as the misappropriation of epidemic prevention funds — what steps should be taken by a health department official, and how would you collaborate with law enforcement to track laundered funds through shell companies?”.

“First,” Lucas began, a gentle smile crisped on his lips.“an internal audit should be conducted to confirm the misappropriation, while simultaneously freezing relevant accounts to prevent further fund transfers. All findings must be immediately reported to the higher authorities and law enforcement. In collaboration with the financial crimes unit, tracing the flow of funds through front companies would require a reverse investigation — instead of following the trail from the original source, we would identify which companies possess the capacity for large-scale fund laundering and monitor their financial records for unusual transactions during the suspected period.”

A murmur passed between the examiners.

Henry, sitting quietly at the end, smiled faintly.

“Well answered,” Henry commented, tapping his pen lightly against his notepad. It’s been some time since I’ve seen a candidate answer so comprehensively under pressure.”

Thomas clenched his teeth.“Then,” he said."Imagine the state suffers a dual crisis — a viral outbreak in two different cities simultaneously, with conflicting resource demands. One city holds critical industries essential to national production, while the other is a residential hub with higher population density. With limited manpower and supplies, where would you send your strongest team first?”

“I would deploy immediate containment teams to both, with priority response assigned based on the outbreak’s rate of transmission and available resources,” Lucas replied calmly. “The decision would be data-driven, not political. However, I would secure industrial city operations remotely where possible, and request national-level reinforcements for the residential hub if the outbreak proved uncontrollable within the first twelve hours.”

Thomas’s hand involuntarily touched the edge of the table, sweat sliding down his face.

Henry smiled.

“Well said,” he remarked, leaning back in his chair. “An excellent performance of both practical response and leadership priorities.”

As the interview ended, Lucas sat calm on the chair, his hands resting on the table.

Director Lin cleared her throat and gave a polite nod. “That will be all for now.”

Lucas offered a respectful bow of his head. “Thank you”. He stood up and calmly left the hall, his footsteps echoing as he walked out.

The examiners started whispering to each other.

“I have to say,” Director Lin started, leaning forward and flipping through his notes, “while his answers were technically sound, his tone carried a certain… arrogance. A candidate like that might not be easy to manage in a departmental setting.”

“Yes, yes, another examiner said, nodding his head .” And his background lacks formal public health administrative service. It’s a risky decision to push someone like him forward. Besides, we’ve all seen cases where initial brilliance hides deeper flaws”.

Thomas picked up his pen, ready to mark Lucas’s score in the lowest category allowed without raising suspicion.

But just as he lowered his pen to the score sheet, a chair scraped softly against the floor.

Henry stood..

Without a word, Henry reached for his folder and put it under his arm. Then, he started walking toward the door. As he passed behind Thomas’s chair, he paused.

“Director Thomas, do you know the reason why I came here today ?” He asked, turning back.

Thomas’s hand froze over his score sheet.

"I'm just here to support Lucas," Henry said, smiling gently. "And I think I've seen how well he did. I'm eager to see his score.”

Thomas clenched his pen between his fingers, his mind racing as his hand started shaking over the score sheet.