were it not for the surveillance cameras tracking her every movement, the fact that she wasn't in bed for her 5.30 wake up call might have ruffled a few feathers, or at the very least raised a few eyebrows. She was almost disappointed as she strolled nonchalantly into the kitchen to find everyone getting about their day as normal, not at all worried about her whereabouts. She walked over to the coffee machine, pulled out the carafe and poured herself a cup, before perching on a stool at the breakfast bar. Robin arrived a few moments later, just out of the shower, his eyes puffy and half-closed, his body still not used to the early morning starts.
'Good morning', she chirped, her uncharacteristically dapper outburst causing one of the agents in the room to glance at her, unconvinced.
'Sure', mumbled Robin, 'yeah, good morning'.
He poured himself a bowl of cereal and sat opposite Clara, his lack of eye contact for once due to his tiredness as opposed to his shyness, something that with Clara at least, was wearing off. The pair ate breakfast and as Robin began to feel more awake, they talked about the events of the last few days. They were desperate to talk about what their next piece of training was, but this was never announced until they were actually doing it. There was no itinerary to follow, no plan, or at least not one that they were privy to, and so conversation over breakfast would often start out well but ultimately fizzle out, just as it had this morning. The silence was broken by an agent walking into the room.
'Briefing room in 10 minutes, Boal wants to speak with you both.'
The pair glanced at each other; it wasn't unheard of for them to both be required for some form of training together, but a meeting with Boal, especially this early in the morning was rare. They finished their meal and headed downstairs.
The pair walked into the briefing room to find Boal in what Clara had referred to as his ' trademark pose ', which meant he was leaning against whatever piece of furniture he could find, his head facing down to his hand, totally engrossed in the Blackberry Smartphone he was holding. The thing was never away from his side, but Clara had spotted enough of it to see that this was more than the average government smartphone, security specced to the max. The thing required a pin each time Boal picked it up, but Clara was convinced that this was all for show. She could see from the various sensors, the way he looked at it and spoke to it that voice recognition, face recognition and fingerprint recognition were all in constant operation on the device, and the device would be as good as useless in the wrong hands. Whatever was on there was for his eyes only. Boal glanced up, clicked a button to switch off his smartphone screen and placed it by his side before addressing the pair.
'I'll keep this short and to the point', he said. 'You've both been here now for what, a month or so now. You've both made good progress but we still don't know if you've actually learnt anything.'
'Charming', sneered Clara under breath, rolling here eyes for added effect.
'I want to see how well you can both perform in the field. Now I want to stress that at no point will I be putting you in harms way throughout this exercise, but up until now you've only been practicing on people who already know your backstory and with no consequences. I want to see how you guys can handle a real life situation.'
He paused for a moment, as if waiting for some kind of acknowledgement or objection. Receiving none, he continued, picking up his phone and pushing a button, the plasma screen behind him suddenly showing a photograph of a casino.
'This is Hocus Pocus, a trendy nightclub and Hotel just off the strip in Vegas.'
'Team road-trip!', cheered Clara, her joke making Robin chuckle but not even registering on Boal's radar.
'They're also one of the fastest growing casinos in all of Las Vegas. Their casino has doubled in size in the last
'Good morning', she chirped, her uncharacteristically dapper outburst causing one of the agents in the room to glance at her, unconvinced.
'Sure', mumbled Robin, 'yeah, good morning'.
He poured himself a bowl of cereal and sat opposite Clara, his lack of eye contact for once due to his tiredness as opposed to his shyness, something that with Clara at least, was wearing off. The pair ate breakfast and as Robin began to feel more awake, they talked about the events of the last few days. They were desperate to talk about what their next piece of training was, but this was never announced until they were actually doing it. There was no itinerary to follow, no plan, or at least not one that they were privy to, and so conversation over breakfast would often start out well but ultimately fizzle out, just as it had this morning. The silence was broken by an agent walking into the room.
'Briefing room in 10 minutes, Boal wants to speak with you both.'
The pair glanced at each other; it wasn't unheard of for them to both be required for some form of training together, but a meeting with Boal, especially this early in the morning was rare. They finished their meal and headed downstairs.
The pair walked into the briefing room to find Boal in what Clara had referred to as his ' trademark pose ', which meant he was leaning against whatever piece of furniture he could find, his head facing down to his hand, totally engrossed in the Blackberry Smartphone he was holding. The thing was never away from his side, but Clara had spotted enough of it to see that this was more than the average government smartphone, security specced to the max. The thing required a pin each time Boal picked it up, but Clara was convinced that this was all for show. She could see from the various sensors, the way he looked at it and spoke to it that voice recognition, face recognition and fingerprint recognition were all in constant operation on the device, and the device would be as good as useless in the wrong hands. Whatever was on there was for his eyes only. Boal glanced up, clicked a button to switch off his smartphone screen and placed it by his side before addressing the pair.
'I'll keep this short and to the point', he said. 'You've both been here now for what, a month or so now. You've both made good progress but we still don't know if you've actually learnt anything.'
'Charming', sneered Clara under breath, rolling here eyes for added effect.
'I want to see how well you can both perform in the field. Now I want to stress that at no point will I be putting you in harms way throughout this exercise, but up until now you've only been practicing on people who already know your backstory and with no consequences. I want to see how you guys can handle a real life situation.'
He paused for a moment, as if waiting for some kind of acknowledgement or objection. Receiving none, he continued, picking up his phone and pushing a button, the plasma screen behind him suddenly showing a photograph of a casino.
'This is Hocus Pocus, a trendy nightclub and Hotel just off the strip in Vegas.'
'Team road-trip!', cheered Clara, her joke making Robin chuckle but not even registering on Boal's radar.
'They're also one of the fastest growing casinos in all of Las Vegas. Their casino has doubled in size in the last
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