Hey! Just a note to say I've edited the last chapter very slightly. Inkling has the medics, not the engineers.

See chapter 1 for the disclaimer and let's crack on.

Inkling called the remaining 15 candidates and explained the next part of the interview to them. "We need to access your practical knowledge. So, as you may have noticed, we have...Azura-"

Azura was a young-ish fox who smiled and waved.

"-Tammy-" Tammy was another artic fox, who - judging from the folded arms on her - had more of an attitude than Azura.

"-And Nadia." Nadia was yet another fox who nodded slightly.

"Your going to be split into 3 teams of 5. Individually you're going to examine one of these three ladies and pretend there left arm has been broken. Bandages and casts are over there." Inkling indicated a table. "And we'll time you. Good luck."

Peso was split into the group that was examining Nadia. They went in alphabetical order, which meant Peso was third.

The first was Georgia - a walrus - who, despite her massive flippers, managed to bandage Nadia's arm up both with precision and speed.

The bandage was removed and Ianira - a polar bear - went next. She was clearly hesitant and worked with her tongue sticking out her mouth. Peso guessed she had recently graduated med school.

Then it was his turn. "Hello, my name is Peso." He said, trying to ignore Inkling standing behind him with a clipboard and just focus on his 'patient'. "I'm a medic. Let me have a look at your arm." Of course there was nothing to actually see so he just pretended to look at it and then bandages it up at least twice, if not three times, as quick as Ianira.

Nadia nodded when he finished and he caught Inkling's eye. The octopus gave a small nod and made notes.

After Peso were two more polar-bears called Rebecca and Zachary. Rebecca was confident, but Nadia complained she'd bandaged to tightly. Rebecca frowned and said, abruptly. "Well, this is how they taught us - so..."

Peso saw Inkling do a double-take a scribble furiously.

Zachary didn't make any small talk at all, but did manage to bandage very quickly and efficiently. Nadia did attempt to make small talk and he sort of smiled and then ignored her. Goodness knows what Inkling would make of that, Peso thought.

"Candidates." Inkling announced. "Allow me to spend a few minutes and I'll tell you what my decision is. The seven with the lowest score will be going home."

Peso drew in a sharp breath and scurried off to the side...he SO hoped he'd get through...

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Bianca smiled at her 14 candidates and handed a blank piece of paper to them. "Our engineer will also be a designer." She explained. "So what I want you to do is design a vehicle that will cover ocean terrain. You have an hour and we want a detailed explanation of the parts and what the vehicle is expected to do. At the end you will be cut down to 7. Good luck." She smiled and left them to it.

Tweak grinned and picked up her pen. Easy peasy lemon squeezy, she had been designing stuff since she was 5, as a 27 year old now, that was a long time. She stuck her tongue out and concentrated...

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"Here are you camera's." Barnacles indicated a table on which were 18 simple camera's. Like, very simple, Dashi released with a sinking feeling. Children's camera's basically. "You have fifteen minutes to find a subject - which can be anything you choose - and then you'll have to explain your reasoning. Alright, off you go."

The candidates all split and went off in pursuit of the 'perfect' thing to photograph.

Dashi scrunched her nose up and looked around. A few of the candidates were taking photo's of the other groups, two of them were taking pictures of each other - which Dashi found a bit creepy. She shook her head and looked around with renewed determination. The trouble was they were on the middle of an iceberg, what could she-

Ah! She spotted Bianca sitting on her own reading a book, waiting for her own group to finish what Dashi assumed was an exam. Fair enough, Dashi thought, as she walked over. You'd want the engineer to have a decent level of knowledge.

"Excuse me, Miss Bear?" Dashi deliberately used Bianca's last name, not wanting it to be known that they knew each other already. "May I take your picture, please?"

Bianca looked surprised. "What, me? Why?"

"Well..." Dashi held the camera up. "For this, you know? And you've got quite a photographic aura about you..." She trailed off.

Bianca looked at her, then shrugged and stood up. "Well, okay then. If only to see the look on Benny's face when you present him with it."

Benny! Dashi almost laughed, but caught herself just in time and took the photo.

"Candidates, report please." Benjamin called.

Had it really been 15 minutes already? Dashi wondered as she hurried back.

"Right. I'll call you one by one and we'll discuss your choice."

Thankfully Dashi was near the top of the list - what with her name starting with 'D' and all - and was 4th.

"Dashi." Barnacles smiled at her. "What did you choose?"

Feeling slightly sick Dashi handed him the camera and said, as steadily as she could. "Well - your sister actually."

Barnacles' eyebrows shot up and he looked at her, clearly wondering if she was serious.

"She's very photogenic." Dashi said, a touch defensively. "And she was happy to be photographed."

"You couldn't find anything around the water to photograph then?"

"No, well, not without going in the water itself and these camera's aren't waterproof." Dashi explained, making an effort to modulate her voice.

That caught Barnacle's attention and he asked, eagerly. "You realised that, then?"

Dashi shrugged. "Isn't it obvious?"

Barnacles laughed, which he turned into a cough. "Well, yes, you would think- anyway. Thank you, Dashi." And he indicated for her to go.

Dashi left and had a quick look around. Now she was actually looking she saw two camera's which were damaged beyond repair, there respective owner having clearly gotten into the water. She assumed she was above them in the ranking.

It took a while for Barnacles to look at the others pictures and then make his decision, but after about an hour he called them over.

"Right." He said, adjusting his clipboard in his grip. "The good news is that 12 of you are going through. The bad news is that that means we have to say goodbye to 6 of you and those 6 are-" And he listed them off. Dashi wasn't listed and - without thinking - she punched the air in happiness.

The artic fox next to her - who didn't get in - glared and snapped. "Ya don't have to rub it in!"

Dashi gave a sheepish smile and massaged the back of her head.

"Well done, candidates." Barnacles said, smiling. "Well, it's late now, so we'll see you tomorrow." And he went to walk away.

"Eh-" A young walrus called out. "Where are we staying?"

Barnacles considered, then said. "I don't know. You'll just have to find somewhere." And walked away to join his sister.

Much muttering and echoes of disbelief were exchanged as the groups all realised that this applied to all of them.

"You've got to be joking!" A young polar bear said, stamping her foot.

"An octonaut needs to be prepared for anything." Bianca said, as she swooped past. "See you tomorrow guys!"

"Gee..." Dashi turned to see a worried-looking penguin. "I hope we can find somewhere..."

She gave him a smile. "We will." She assured him. "You're one of the medics, aren't you? Well done on getting through. I'm Dashi, I'm a photographer."

The penguin smiled. "My name's Peso. I'm a medic." They shook hands. [metaphorically speaking]

Dashi sighed and looked around. "Well. Let's try find somewhere..."