My thirteenth birthday was a quiet affair. I got to sleep in, then spend the rest of the day with my small family, playing laser tag and driving go-karts. It was nice, especially since the adrenaline rush of skidding around a curve at high speeds or dodging incoming lasers distracted me from my growing anxiety about the next day. The day of my Targent Test.

Uncle Leon was not the only Targent member with children. Since it would be a shame to waste the opportunity to gather talented new recruits, these children, including me and my siblings, were trained, starting at the age of thirteen, in the two areas we displayed the most aptitude. Ana, who had become a full member only weeks before, studied Tech and Leadership, while Nat was following the Leadership/Intelligence track with Leonard. I had yet to learn how I'd be trained, though I was sure it would be something along the lines of fighting.

Still, I was extremely nervous as Uncle Leon drove me to Targent headquarters for the first time since that day when I was seven.

"Uncle Leon, I don't feel good." I hugged my churning stomach, grimacing.

"You'll be fine. You're just anxious." His words seemed dismissive, but his voice was soothing, and it helped my head to feel a little less fuzzy when I replied.

"But what if I get put on the Leadership track? Or even worse...what if they want me to study on Intelligence!" I hated the idea of wasting the next seven years perfecting my non-existent people skills or studying uninteresting subjects and spending my days with the boring Azran.

"Emmeline, you'll be fine. Just keep telling yourself that."

I muttered the phrase under my breath for a few moments. "I'll be fine...I'll be fine…" Mouth still dry, we pulled into the parking lot just as I was saying "It isn't working."

"Then just breathe."

That's exactly what I did as we made our way into the headquarters, to Underground Level Two, and Uncle Leon showed me to a room just outside the elevator. My breaths were shaky, and uneven, unable to overcome my nerves.

After all, my actions of the next couple hours would determine how I would spend the rest of my life in Targent.

I buried my face in my uncle's chest as I hugged him. "Good luck." He whispered into my ear, before tousling my hair.

"Thanks." I pulled away and smiled, watching as he left the small room.

"Hi, Emmeline. I'm Sarah, and I'll be giving you your test today." I looked at the college age girl who had been standing there with a smile on her face, and felt a comfortable recognition, as if she'd helped me feel safe a long time ago.

"It's Emmy." There was a pause while I tried to remember the circumstances of our last meeting. "Do I...know you from somewhere?"

"I was just thinking the same thing…" Her eyes widened. "Oh, wait! Are you the little girl who got lost and watched me fighting with Mark all those years ago?" I smiled as the memory resurfaced.

"Yeah! I remember that now! I was about seven." I chuckled as I remembered how entranced I had been, and how little I was.

Sarah smiled. "Well, now that that's out of the way, are you ready to get started?"

"No." She chuckled slightly at my honesty.

"Would you feel any better if I let you pick where we start?" Her kindness was relaxing; I'd been imagining someone mean who would force me to sit in a room and answer questions all day.

"Could we do whatever test you have for the Muscle track?" My question was hesitant, but I already felt much better.

"Sure." Sarah grinned again. "Now, if you'll just follow me and take your shoes off…" I did, and we made our way to a room with padded walls, like a smaller version of the place where we had met all those years ago. On the side was a scale that measured both weight and height, rather like the kind doctors used. "Could you step up here for a moment? And stand up tall." She took the measurements, and we moved on.

By the time we had finished with Muscle testing, which consisted of her analyzing my fighting style and skill, I had relaxed, and was ready to move on to Intelligence. That was basically just a giant test, which I'm pretty sure measured my IQ, and some simple logic puzzles. I breezed through the whole thing.

After those two, I got to take a break for lunch. Apparently, there was a cafeteria in the back of the second above-ground floor. Sarah took me up and let me pick whatever I wanted, which was a real treat since I didn't get to go out to eat often.

Even though I was still happy from lunch, the technology and leadership tests were hard. First, I had to follow a set of instructions and use a little creative thinking to set up a simulation. I then had to go through this for the leadership test, making decisions as a leader of various groups, beginning with toddlers and ending with arguing adults.

Finally, after what felt like forever, Sarah reached over and turned off the screen. "Alright! I just have one more question." I nodded my assent. "Which two of these tests did you enjoy the most?"

"Well..." I began. "I loved the Muscle test. I've always enjoyed fighting. And the Intelligence test was easy, so I guess that was okay." There was a pause before I caught where this was going. My next words rushed out. "But I really don't want to study on Intelligence because its just like school and I'm really terrible at school and it's always miserable and-"

"Whoa, Emmy!" Sarah gave a slight chuckle, which I would have found frustrating had it been anyone else, but was strangely different coming from her. "First of all, you're really smart."

"Yeah right. My teachers would certainly disagree." I looked down.

When she began, her calm, slow speech was in stark contrast to my own. "No, Emmy. You're really smart. It takes most people an hour to finish that Intelligence test. It only took you thirty minutes." I gasped. "Perhaps the reason you don't succeed in school as much as you'd like is that they don't teach in your learning style."

"But I'd still have to learn about the Azran." I protested, though less adamantly than before. I was still in shock; it was the first time someone other than Nat had told me I really was smart, despite my pessimistic view of my abilities. I had never believed him, but now I began to wonder if he had been right.

She thought for a moment. "Well...I'm actually qualified to be your tutor if you choose Muscle and Intelligence. You're right in that no matter what you would have to study the Azran. But I think I could manage to make that fun." She winked. "How does that sound?" When I didn't respond right away she added "Take your time."

And I did. I thought about all the tests I had taken that day, and how I'd really struggled with tech, which would have been my choice. I thought about how I'd enjoyed being with Sarah all day, and how it was her encouragement that made everything easier.

After a few minutes, I'd made my decision.

I smiled. "That sounds great."

Author's Note: Wow, that took a LOT longer than I expected! This was the chapter, though, when I truly figured Targent out. I had to decide how to portray them, their history, their methods...all of that in much more detail than other chapters. I'd planned to use it now, but I think I'm going to wait until a better time. :)

In addition, I had a really busy week, since I was trying to make sure I had nothing to do last weekend because of AZRAN LEGACY! (Finally!) :D I've already beaten the story...It was amazing, even though I spoiled it. ;D

About my ending of the chapter...If it sounds strange or anything please let me know. I'm bad at conclusions, whether of an essay, a paragraph, or a chapter. :)

Hopefully it won't take quite this long for the next chapter! :D