Chapter 4:

In the medical centre Pauline was greeted by a young doctor, who introduced herself as Gabrielle O'Brien, and taken to an examination room.

Three hours later, Pauline was able to leave. The exam had been the entrance exam, not the agent exam, so it had been a blood and a urine test, running for quite a while and the tests that came with it, a normal check-up, a seeing and hearing test, lots of measurements of her body and a few shots. In the next few months there would be more shots and an allergy test if she passed. Then she had met a psychologist, who had conversed with her for a while.

After an hour's break, during which she ate lunch in the teachers' cafeteria, Pauline took the exam. There were four parts: Maths, French and English Language, General Knowledge, and Situations. She had ninety minutes. Just after she had finished, her time was up. An IQ test followed, which she had 45 minutes time for and was filled with various logic puzzles.

Afterwards she was lead to an obstacle course that she had to cross and was timed on, with some parts at a considerable distance from the ground, certainly not suited for anyone with a fear of heights.

She was then allowed to return to the room she had woken up in, which she was told was located in the mission preparation building. She was given some books to choose from while waiting. After a bit more than an hour, Ewart finally called her. Pauline made her way to him. In his office he showed her the results. She was healthy and reasonably fit and had passed all her written exams. Her IQ was measured to be about 135, the average IQ for a CHERUB agent, though she was told that not the number, but only the approximate range was indicative of anything.

Then, she was offered a place at CHERUB, which she took gladly after some more of her questions had been answered. After she had signed a contract, Ewart showed Pauline to her handler, Emiko Yamagishi.

Pauline was immediately at ease when Emiko started speaking in perfect French, starting a rapid-fire conversation. Emiko took Pauline to the technical department. passing by a massive construction site on the way. Arriving at the building, she led her down the stairs to the cellar. Consulting Pauline's medical file, which contained her measurements, Emiko got out a duffle bag and a gym bag and filled them with a lot of clothing: various red shirts, sweatshirts, pullovers and some black jackets, multiple pairs of olive cargo trousers shorts, various sports outfits, a judogi and karategi, a bunch of underwear, a bunch of socks and two pairs of pyjamas, as well as a variety of shoes. Emiko then told Pauline about the T-shirt system:

"So: Orange is for visitors. Red is for kids that are unable to do basic training at the moment, usually because they are too young. Light blue is for kids doing basic training or kids who have just joined CHERUB, who are qualified to participate in the next basic training. Grey is awarded at the end of basic training. It means you're qualified to go on missions. Navy is for incredible performance on a mission. Most kids get it when they are around 14. Black is for incredible performance on more than one mission. It has only been awarded for incredible performance on one mission once, to a boy called Dante Welsh. About half of the agents get one. White is for retired agents and staff members, although not all staff members wear the shirt."

Then they headed over to the education building, taking a golf buggy to get there. Here Pauline was given a backpack and a bag full of school supplies.

They returned to Emiko's office, where they talked about Pauline's money. She would be getting twenty pounds a month, fifty on her birthday and on Christmas. She would also be getting fifty pounds to buy things for moving in from a little store on the premises.

Furthermore, they had a conversation about her name, which she was told should best be altered a little. She was given a night to sleep on it.

At the end, she left with a training plan, a rule book, a booklet with some of her information and a timetable. She was supposed to run a minimum of 40 laps/10 miles/16 km a week. There were no restrictions on the food she was allowed to eat.

Emiko showed her to her cottage – number 43. She was going to be sharing it with Reuben, August and Christian, who were 7, 13 and 16 respectively and Isabella and Evie, who were 10 and 14 respectively, though none of them was in at the moment.

She went to her room, which was lovely, and started unpacking. There, she had another look at her timetable and the list of classes, which were either based on which year's curriculum she'd start out in as a trial or on levels:

Maths 5 * English 4 * Natural and Life Sciences 5 * Social Science, Politics and Human Geography 5 * History 5 * Arts 4 * IT Level 1 * Martial Arts Level 1 * Training Level 1 * French B1.2 * Dutch A2.2 * German A1.2

It was just on a trial basis for now, until they were aware of what level she was really at.

Soon, after having explored the cottage a little - still by herself -, and tired due to the events of the day, she fell asleep.