MF1.0 - 27 - The Second Test

Stef was pretty sure she heard the buzz cut slapping himself in the head. With a courage that usually only came with severe sleep deprivation – the kind of courage that made her walk out in front of traffic – she turned to Taylor.

‘Was that satisfactory?’ He silently fumed, so she pressed the issue. ‘It was never stated to go over the wall, just to get to the other side. Was it a poorly worded instruction, or one open to interpretation?’

Taylor tensed, and as he did so, he seemed to get bigger. He turned and stalked into the next room. She raised her eyebrows and turned to Ryan. ‘Was that a pass or not?’

‘A pass, though…’ he his dropped as he approached. ‘My suggestion would be to give Agent Taylor a wide berth from now on?’

‘I just asked for clarification…’

‘You acted outside of expected parameters.’

‘Um, if you haven’t…’

‘Trust me, Miss Mimosa, I have noticed. Outside parameters for you seems to be normal.’

She smirked again. ‘I think there was a compliment somewhere in there.’

‘Go through that door for the next test.’

She felt something that might have been disappointment – she wasn’t sure though, it wasn’t an emotion she was used to. Then there was fear. ‘I’m going to be a in a small room with him?’

‘Taylor won’t be present for the next test either.’

She set her physical emoticon to “greater than – underscore – less than”. ‘Please tell me you’re not locking me and the ADFA dropout in a room with knives and we have to fight for the honour of being accepted?’

‘Jones is administering the next test.’

This brought a smile to her face and she ran into the next room. There were three desks and two computers, Jones stood behind the one at the front of the room whilst the buzz cut sat at the computer to her right. The way he stared at the keyboard gave her the impression that he typed with two fingers.

She slid in behind the spare computer and Jones nodded. ‘In front of you,’ the tech agent said, ‘is a simulated system for you to breach. You have thirty minutes to get as far as you can.’

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm">The buzz cut raised a hand. ‘This isn’t what I signed up for.’

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm">Jones stared back. ‘All potential recruits are tested on all facets. It helps us decide where to place them.’

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm">‘Well, I guess this is what you’re for,’ the buzz cut said as he turned to her.

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm">She glared back and clicked into the only icon on the screen.

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm">Twenty minutes later, she’d cracked the entire system open, and was rewarded with a large image of a smiley face. Rewards such as those made life worth living.

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm">She looked over at Jones, who was reading from two blue folders. Likely their profiles. Two much slimmer red folders lay unopened on the desk – those she had no idea about. The tech agent looked up and saw her looking.

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm">‘Finished?’

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm">‘Of course.’ She shot a withering look at the buzz cut. ‘And by the number of pop-ups I’ve been hearing from over there, I’m assuming he’s using the internet for what Avenue Q says it’s for.’

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm">‘Am not,’ the buzz cut said quickly.

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm">‘Do you even have any idea what I said?’

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm">‘…no.’

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm">Jones indicated to a door. ‘You may both proceed.’