Mentoring

Bella's POV

23rd May

I'd been woken up early. I thought they'd be giving me a new mission. But I'd been led down to Victoria's room, not the briefing room.

"I done something wrong? You never call me down early unless I have, Vicky. I've been a model recruit. Girl Scouts honour."

Holding my hand up, I smiled across at her.

"Take a seat, Isabella. We have important business to discuss."

I sat, lifting one knee over the other, my hands folding together. I was curious. This had never happened before. I had no idea what was about to happen.

"As you know, the other recruits are close to being ready to be sent on missions. They have all the required skills."

"They're okay."

"Whilst they might be physically ready, they aren't mentally prepared. Starting today, they will take a new class. One that will teach them about missions. What to expect, how to prepare, how to manage situations and how to get themselves out of trouble. Due to your experience, it has been decided that you shall teach this class."

I kept my face blank, not showing my surprise. Leaning forward, I stared across at her.

"What if I don't want to?"

"Obviously we cannot force you to teach the recruits anything. However, I thought that you would choose to teach them instead of them going out unprepared."

She knew that she'd got me there. Whether I taught the girls or not, they'd be going on missions soon enough. And I couldn't let them go out there without knowing what they were doing. I remembered my first mission. If someone could have prepared me, I'd have wanted them too.

"I'll teach them. But I want to do it my way."

"That won't be possible, Isabella. Your classes have already been planned and set for you. We only need you to deliver them."

"Then I'm not doing it. I'm sorry, Victoria, but you haven't a clue what it means to go on a mission. Have you even left the dark of this place since you got here?"

She sat back in her chair, flicking through her notepad.

"What would you want to do with the recruits if you could have it your way, Isabella?"

I sat back, relaxing as I thought about it. I knew I'd have to obey some guidelines as to what I could do. But there was no reason I couldn't have some fun with it.

"Of course, I would prepare them for what it is really like being on a mission. Something that only a few really know. I'd need a little assistance from your wardrobe. And I'd like to run a few simulated missions. I have a few ideas already. Nothing that requires any danger, but it would be best if the recruits don't know that."

I spent the next three hours discussing plans with Victoria. She then took me down to the briefing room where I riffled through the clothes.

Third Person

The nine recruits had sat down to what they expected to be their Chem class. But the usual teacher wasn't the one to open the door. They recognised the man as the one in charge. They'd never been told his name. He'd lurked in the shadows on occasion and been present during some of their sessions with Victoria. Whilst they knew little about the man, the only important thing to know was that they should fear him.

"Each of you have been selected from the Upper class because of your potential. You've spent the last five months training harder than any other recruit in preparation for your first mission. You should be happy to hear that I have been pleased with your progress. Some of you have surprised me more than expected, whilst others have lived up to my expectations of you. Your hard work hasn't gone unnoticed. But that doesn't mean you can stop now. Whilst you are ready for missions, you aren't prepared for them. After discussions with Victoria and Mr Pineda, a new class is to be introduced. Mission Prep. Everything you learn will be useful when you are out on a mission, whether that be in groups, or alone. I advise you all to pay close attention in this class. If you get into trouble when on a mission, there is only so much we can do to protect you. I don't want to have to terminate any recruit because they have caused trouble for themselves and for us."

Each of the girls had become nervous. Caitlin had been the only one excited by the thought of going on a mission. But with the possibility of going out growing stronger, she was becoming more anxious.

"We've brought in a new instructor to lead this class. Ms Carlson."

The door was opened, and a stunning blonde strode into the room. Stilettos clicked on the flooring. A purse rested in the crook of her elbow. Her right wrist held a gold watch and selection of bangles, a gold ring on her pointer finger. She wore a short, tight red dress, her large breasts pushed up to accentuate them. A stiff gold ring necklace lay around her neck, a gold chain with a diamond pendant lay underneath that. Her long, straight blonde hair framed her makeup covered face. Her bright blue eyes were perceiving and sharp. She placed her hand to the man's shoulder, her long manicured fingers stroking his shirt.

"Thank you, Sebastian, I can take it from here."

"Enjoy."

He turned and walked from the room, the door closing tightly behind him. Ms Carlson leaned back against the desk at the front of the room, glancing round at the recruits.

"I'm sure you are all wondering who I am and what makes me qualified to teach this class. Of course, you have every right to wonder that. But the fact that I am standing here, and you are all sitting there is enough of an answer. There is much that all of you need to learn before you will be ready to go on a mission. Each mission you are assigned will be different to the last. Things will be expected of you that you won't want to do. You'll find yourselves in situations which will require you to think quickly. I have a tough task ahead of me. And I had hoped that at least one of you would have recognised me. But the looks on your faces tells me you clearly do not. Sebastian thinks you are ready for your first mission. He's ready to send you out tomorrow. Until you learn the power of observations, you'll never be ready."

Lifting her hand, she wrapped her fingers around the front of her wig, pulling it backwards. The recruits' eyes widened as they realised that the woman before them was Isabella. She pulled her brown hair out of the wig net and shook it out.

"I thought you girls had learnt more in the last five months."

Taking her hoop earrings out and pulling off all the jewellery, she stepped out of the stilettos.

"You guys have a lot to learn."

She walked around the desk and pressed her hand against the call button. The door was then opened, and a trolley was brought in. On the bottom shelf was a large box of miscellaneous objects. On the top was a big black piece of card.

"Push your tables to the wall and line your chairs up in the middle of the room."

They all sat still for a moment, scared.

"Get moving."

In an instant, they were up and doing as she said. As they lined their chairs up, side by side, Issy placed the black screen onto the desk, standing it upright to obscure the view behind it.

"Alright, I'm going to place five items behind this screen. I will call you one by one to step forward. You'll have five seconds to memorise the items. I will then rearrange them, and you will have twenty seconds to tell me what three differences there are."

She lifted a rubber duck, an orange, a bowl, a shoe and a little elephant trinket behind the screen. Looking across the line of recruits, she gave them a cunning grin.

"Ciara. Why don't you do first?"

Silently standing, she took one step closer.

"A couple more steps, Ciara. I'm not going to hurt you, I'm on your side."

She moved closer and let out a breath.

"Okay. Ready?"

With a small nod of the head, Issy lifted the screen, counted to five out loud before dropping the screen. Watching Ciara's face, she swapped the orange for a banana, took away the duck and put the elephant in its place. Picking up the screen again, she placed it to the side of the desk.

"You have twenty seconds, Ciara."

"Um. There was a duck… Uh… the shoes a different colour."

"Time."

She put the screen down and turned to the whiteboard. Scrawling Ciara's name down, she stroked one mark down.

"It was a good enough start, I guess. It wasn't fair to make you go first. You'll get another go later on. Hayley, you're up next."

Going through each of the girls twice, none of them got more than two points a round. The changes she'd been making weren't overly subtle. It was only difficult because of the time pressure. But when they would walk into a new room, they would have just seconds to make as many observations as possible. This exercise was the starting blocks to the challenges she had planned for the next few weeks.

Each of the girls had been given three turns memorising five items. Issy wanted to ramp up the difficulty of the task and add in an element of teamwork.

"In a minute, I'm going to ask you all to turn around. I will place twenty items to the desk. When I say, you will all turn back around and have ten seconds to memorise the items. As we have done so, I'll move them around, swap them out for other items. Anything to change their configuration. You'll then have five minutes to write down every change I've made. Whilst you're facing the back, you can decide how you're going to carry out the task. You can all memorise everything. You can divide the task into groups. Anything. It's up to you. But you will only have until I tell you to turn around when your ten seconds begin. Does everyone understand what I'm asking for?"

The recruits all nodded their heads. The only times they'd spoken in this class had been when relaying their answers. Even though Issy was their instructor, they were terrified that this was a bigger test than what they'd been let in on.

"Okay. Stand up, turn around, and begin discussing."

Once they'd all turned around, Issy started lining up five items along the front of her desk, another five behind them, then five more and five more.

Facing the back of the room, Caitlin took command.

"Each of us take two items, and Sophie and I will take the extra one. Ciara, you're number one. Emma number two and so on till Sienna is number nine. So Sienna, you take the last two items."

"Turn around."

They each spun around quickly, some of them becoming confused by the items not being in one line. Caitlin realised she hadn't thought about this possibility. She'd assumed all of them would be along the front. Her numbering system wouldn't work because it wasn't clear where the first item was.

"Okay. Face the back."

More slowly than ten seconds ago, they all turned back. A little stressed, they stood in silence. For the first time in weeks, none of them were sure how the task would end. They hadn't been told the fail mark, so they didn't know how many changes they'd have to get right to avoid punishment.

Issy moved every single item in one way or another. She swapped items on the desk; she took some away leaving nothing in their place. She exchanged items with ones left in the box. And finally, she turned the apple, positioned in the middle of the front row, 180 degrees around. It was the most subtle change she'd made all class. But to a trained eye, it was obvious. If not for the slight change in colouring of the apple, but for the direction of the stalk.

"Your five minutes begin now."

The recruits all turned to face the unrecognisable organisation of items, their eyes widening.

"You can clean the whiteboard and use it for notes, and answers."

Moving to the side of the room, Issy sat herself on one of the cleared desks, waiting and observing how each recruit would handle the task.

"Um… so if each of us write out what we remember, we can then figure out the changes."

Caitlin lifted the whiteboard marker and drew a five by four grid out. Filling in three of the original items, she let the others write out what they could remember. Nine of the squares were left empty.

"Anyone have any ideas?"

"I thought the blue shoe had been there, but I'm not sure."

Ciara had spoken up, contradicting Sophie's placement of the shoe. Issy was a little surprised. She didn't think any of them would challenge other recruits' decisions.

"I thought it was too."

With Ruby's seconding of Ciara's choice, Caitlin turned to the girls.

"Does anyone think it was where it had been written?"

Even though they all knew Sophie had written it up, Caitlin didn't call her out. Five months ago, she most likely would have. But Issy had taught her a great deal in that time. And that decision hadn't gone unnoticed by Issy. Her respect for Caitlin grew.

"Okay, we'll move it here then."

Making no fuss, Caitlin rubbed its placement off and moved it.

"Anyone remember anything else?"

No one said anything, each thinking hard and beginning to panic.

"Right, why don't we start working out what changes have been made and mark those out. Maybe something will become clear. Ciara, Emma, why don't you stand in front of the desk and tell us the order of each item, starting from the front left corner and going along the line, and then starting from the left on the next line up. Hayley, Sophie and Ruby why don't you guys start on a list of all the original items that you remember. If you think of any that we haven't placed yet, it might jog something. Sienna and Summer, you could make a list of the items you know weren't on the table at the beginning. Paige, you can help me keep track of changes."

Issy had expected Caitlin to take charge. The way she was going about it wasn't demanding though. In high pressure situations, decisions had to be made quickly. There was no room for niceties. Nothing in the way she spook was demeaning, and she assigned the tasks to each of the girls, having considered their performance in the three individual rounds.

"Thirty seconds left."

The recruits were in constant conversation and debate, trying to fill in the remaining three squares left empty. They felt somewhat confident with the items that they were missing, but the discussion was about their specific placement. None of them really knew, which was the problem. In the last ten seconds, Caitlin scribbled down the items before stepping back.

"Stand in front of the desk. I'll walk you through the changes."

Nervous, they lined up as Issy moved behind the desk. She placed the cardboard box by her bare feet and lifted a red whiteboard marker. Randomly working through the grid, she moved the items back to their original placement, mentally making a note of whether they had been correct or not. They'd done okay. Some of the items they'd been certain off were incorrect, one being Caitlin's. But she didn't point any fingers. The shame each girl would feel would be enough. Issy didn't need to cause issues between the recruits. She'd be reporting back individual assessments to Victoria and Trey anyway.

Having moved all items back to their original place, but one, she placed her hands to the desk and looked at each of the girls.

"By not telling you the specific layout of the items before you turned around, I made your plan ineffective. When on a mission, tasks may not be able to be divided individually. As twenty is a number easily divided by two, it would have been more effective for you to split the items in half between four of you. The fifth person could have been assigned the middle portion in general. Usually it is the collection of items in the middle that is most easily ignored or forgotten as the eye is drawn to either end. Despite the panic I saw, you girls have done well enough. But there is one more change that none of you have identified. Before I tell you, can anyone point it out to me?"

The recruits looked confused as they looked back down to the items. Giving them a few minutes, Issy reached her hand out and slowly turned the apple back around.

"Sometimes the smallest of changes can cause the most issues. On a mission, you have to be aware of every security camera and whether it is pointed at you, or not. It may not be at first, but it could move at any time. It's only a slight movement, so is unnoticeable to an untrained eye. But it's something we must be acutely aware of."

A little shocked by the small detail, they all suddenly felt nervous. There was a lot they didn't know. They'd learnt a great deal, but nothing that would prepare them for how to deal with people. Issy had the experience that they would eventually learn over time themselves. But the help was appreciated by them all.

"Okay. That's all for today. I guess I'll see you all soon enough."

Lifting her shoes, she walked from the room, Max leaning against the wall outside. He'd arrived a few minutes ago, waiting to escort Issy back to Victoria. Other ghosts arrived to take the recruits to their next class.

"Sebastian wasn't too impressed with the recruits performances."

"No. I expected a little more from them too. But it's a benchmark. I told you they weren't prepared for missions."

"Caitlin didn't get a perfect score, but she showed authority and command over the other recruits. You'll make it clear she's at the top of the leader board."

"No. Ciara is at the top. For now."

"She wasn't top of the memory tests."

"She went first, so was at a disadvantage. But she showed confidence to speak up in the group task. Even though it could have got Sophie in trouble, she spoke against her. Which she was correct in doing so. She got them an extra point. She also helped fill in most of the items in the middle section of the arrangement. Those are most often forgotten. At some point I'd like to test something with her."

"What are you thinking?"

"I've seen it in other classes too, but her brain seems to operate both her left and right side equally. Somewhat like me."

"Her Father is an aerospace engineer and her Mother a wildlife photographer. There may be some hereditary elements."

"I'd like a file on them and any testing you've done on her so far."

"You aren't privileged to such information."

"I can't help then."

"I'll speak to Sebastian. Now tell me about Sophie."

"She was the calmest through the task. Her body temperature hardly changed through the class despite the increased stress of the tasks. She'll do well in changing-situation missions. Her observational skills in the individual rounds were good. She was joint top with Ruby and Emma. But as you saw, she was confident about that blue shoe, which was clearly wrong. Even though her confidence was knocked, she did a relatively good job of moving on. I'd be interested in seeing her in a simulated mission scenario. Sienna and Summer were the opposite. They didn't do so well individually, but they were some of the more useful components in the group task. I've noticed in our other classes, that they aren't so confident when working alone. But they apply their abilities more when in small groups. They'd benefit more from private classes along with the whole ones."

"I can have them pulled out of one of the other classes for twenty minutes every few days to work with you."

"Do the same with Ciara and Paige."

"What about Hayley?"

"She was probably the best overall performance wise. I'd rate her fourth in the individual challenge, behind Sophie, Emma and Ruby. But third in the group task. She didn't do poorly in either."

"What are your rankings?"

"For the individual task, Emma, Sophie, Ruby, Hayley, Ciara, Caitlin, Paige, Sienna then Summer. Based on performance in the group task, Ciara, Summer, Hayley, Paige, Sienna, Caitlin, Emma, Sophie then Ruby. But to fill out a leader board, I have to take into consideration their overall approach at completing each task. So, it would be Ciara, Caitlin, Hayley, Paige, Sophie, Emma, Summer, Ruby then Sienna."

"I'll have that noted and the overall leader board updated."

"We agreed that this class wouldn't be part of the leader board. I agreed to ranking the recruits at the end of each class, but it wouldn't be a pass or fail situation."

"Sebastian didn't agree."

"I refuse to rank the recruits in any future class then."

"I'm sure he'll have a word with you about that. But for now, you have reports to fill out. Then you'll be taken back to your room. You'll no longer participate in usual classes. You shall train alone with Mr Pineda. Between training, you will plan classes for the recruits, and monitor their progress in their other classes. You know them better than we do. You have their trust. We can't send any of them out on a mission before they are ready. It will set the program back otherwise."

"So its official. I'm one of you."

"In a way. Welcome to the team, Isabella."