Disclaimer: I do not own CHERUB

Sammie started walking down the corridor, passing empty rooms that were just like in the books. There were a few people wandering the hallway. Everyone must be at lessons, except for the people who just got back from missions. She tried making eye contact with a few people but they ignored her.

Can't talk to orange shirts.

The rule was necessary but annoying, she had so many questions. She was waiting for the elevator, next to another girl, with short brown hair. She realised it wasn't a dream, she couldn't just imagine a person like that.

They stepped inside the lift and Sammie tried to make conversation,
"Hey, I know you can't talk to me, but what day is it?"
The girl looked at her but didn't speak.
"Come on, what day it is won't tell me anything about CHERUB. I just want to know before I see Mac."
The girl stared at her, obviously shocked how she knew the reason she couldn't speak to her and what to call Mac.
"I mean, Doctor McAfferty."
The girl got over her shock and spoke, "It's Tuesday."
They arrived at level one. "Thanks, I won't tell anyone you talked to me." Sammie said as the doors opened and they stepped out.

There was no one outside Mac office, so she sat down on the chairs outside. In less than a minute, he came out and asked her in.

He invited her to sit by the fire,
"Hello Samantha, as you've probably guess, I am Dr McAfferty. You can call me Mac though."
"And you can call me Sammie," she said, shaking his hand, "How did you know my name, if I wasn't in an orphanage?"
"Ah, that is all part of the story of how we found you, I can tell you if you like. But first, I have to ask you some questions." She nodded and he continued, "I understand you have read the books by Robert Muchamore?"

"Yes, I loved them. I read them all three times."

He smiled, "I haven't read them. Robert was an agent when he was your age but he was a trouble maker and managed to get kicked out. We couldn't stop him, so he wrote the series. We made him agree to make it out that it was not real, did you ever think CHERUB existed until now?"

"I always hoped there was a place like it, but they were just stories and I knew it wasn't real."

"That's good, or he would be breaking his contract. We ensured they were never published in Europe. He was to tell people that there was not enough funding to internationally publish his books, if anyone asked. We chose not to allow any of the staff or students here read them, or know about them as it could influence their decisions on missions and in other areas. How did you manage to get a copy? We found a copy of one of the books called Shadow Wave with your other belongings, that is how we knew your name, it was written inside the cover."

"Oh yeah, I remember now, but I thought I threw it out. I had been reading it for the fourth time but got sick of hearing about the character's nice lives. I grew up in Australia and moved here when I was 9, I brought the books from over there." Samantha remembered that move. She left all her friends behind and could never make any new ones in England.

"Yes. Well, we had a team watching you for just over a week. One of our agents was on a mission but we were stuck. She saw you singing on the street and had a fantastic idea. She told her mission controller who told me. I was the main one watching you and I was glad when I saw the book, because the staff are not allowed to know about it. We needed someone like you for the mission. However, you are not a part of CHERUB yet."

"I would love to be a CHERUB. You've seen my life before it. I don't need the two days to consider."

"Those books have told you a lot. We could not give you two days because we need you on the mission as soon as possible; however you do need to take the five tests."

"The tests. Right. What happens if we fail one of them?" She was worried about the test of moral courage. Sammie wasn't up to killing a chicken with a biro.

"Depending on which one, you may or may not be allowed into CHERUB, but we need you so I'm not sure. That doesn't mean you will pass every test. Ready, Sammie?"

"Yes. I'm ready." Sammie knew what the tests were really assessing and was sure she could pass them, but she was not very confident for her test of moral courage.

As they drove across campus to the dojo, Sammie asked about the mission but was told she couldn't know anything until she was a CHERUB.

As they walked past the class of thirty kids doing martial arts and into a smaller room with spring blue floors, Sammie became nervous. She calmed down a bit after telling herself that all she had to do was submit to stop the fight.
She saw a girl across the floor with straight dark hair. As they got closer she noticed she was a navy shirt.

"Take off your shoes and socks, Sammie." She did what she was told as Mac explained the rules. "Sammie, this is Kerry. Kerry, Sammie. Shake hands. Do you both understand the rules?" The girls shook hands and nodded. Sammie knew she had no chance of fighting Kerry and decided it would be best to keep up her defence as much as possible. The girls prepared to fight. "Ready. Fight!"

Kerry launched herself at Sammie, grabbed her wrist and flipped her over. Sammie was not focusing on putting in a hit, so realised she was in the air quickly enough to land. She landed in a position that seemed familiar to her. She realised it was a bridge. She was a pretty good artistic gymnast before she ran away and this floor was perfect for it. Her parents got her involved in lots of after school activities so they didn't have to look after her as much. She kicked her legs up over her head, held a handstand for a millisecond and stood upright. Kerry was surprised by this, thinking she had her opponent knocked down.

She didn't like looking bad, especially in front of Mac, and went in for a punch. She grabbed Sammie's shoulder to distract her from her other hand coming towards her face. While she was doing this, she also hooked her foot around Sammie's ankle and tossed her onto her back. Sammie was surprised by this, with three things happening at once and put her hand up to protect her nose from being broken. Kerry's hand collided with Sammie's mouth. She tasted blood from where she was lying on the ground. "I submit," Sammie said and felt her teeth with her hand. Good. None missing, she thought.

Kerry helped her up, "Are you ok?"
"Fine," Sammie said. If she had lost a tooth, she would not be happy.

"Ready. Fight!" Mac said, once he checked Sammie's mouth was ok.

Sammie decided to use another gymnastics move to distract Kerry this time, and try to get a shot in. As soon as Kerry moved forward, Sammie did a round-off and was out of the way before Kerry realised. She saw an opportunity as Kerry had her back to her. She wanted to use a move she got from the books.

She quickly ran up behind Kerry and was about to kick her behind her knee so she would fall forward but Kerry heard her coming grabbed her wrist in a lock. She twisted it hard.
"I submit," Sammie said, before the pain was too bad. Sammie realised that She would not be able to beat Kerry and would just continue getting hurt.

"I would like to withdraw. You're too good." Sammie smiled at Kerry and looked Mac, "Is that allowed?" Mac nodded. Sammie was very smiling on the inside but didn't let it show on the outside. She knew she had passed the test.

"Where did you learn to do those flips?" Mac asked.

"I used to do gymnastics, I haven't done anything in over three months but that was nothing" Sammie smiled as she remembered the feeling she used to get when she was training.

Flipping through the air and landing perfectly. She knew she was going to miss her old coach. She was supportive and kind, but there were worse things in her old life.
Mac nodded, "Ready for the next test?"

Sammie knew she had to try hard in the intelligence test. Her best subject at school was science. She was all right at school because she found it hard to fit in and no friends to talk to in class, so she concentrated and studied hard, and was rewarded with good marks. She didn't finish the last page but was satisfied with her attempt. She wasn't ready for the next test. Moral courage. She had to pass the test to get into CHERUB but she didn't want to have to kill something.

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