"I Will Test Your Mental And Physical Abilities"

Changying sat at the white table alone during lunch looking at a schedule she had been given. Basically, her day was broken up by the four mealtimes observed in the facility. At six she had breakfast, and then she would work with one of the men for four hours then Lunch was at ten thirty followed by another fours hour session until tea time at three thirty and a final session finishing at eight for dinner. The half an hour break times to eat and go to the bathroom did not seem very long until she had sat here alone idly playing with her food as she perused the schedule Francesco had given her.

There was a loud crash of a tray being dropped and the accompanying sound of china breaking at the kitchen end of the dining hall and Changying looked up noting a woman wearing orange and bending down to pick up the debris. Her view though was obscured as Nero came to stand in front of her.

"Are you ready?" he asked in a friendly informal way. "We have plenty to get through today."

"Yes Marshall," Changying said standing and gathering her tray to return it to the kitchen.

"Leave the tray the kitchen staff can deal with that," he said.

"The signs say not to, and I don't want to be seen as lazy on my first day so I'd rather not if that is okay. The receptacle is just over there it will only take me a moment," she hurried over and deposited her trash and the tray before he could answer. She then returned to his side noting his dissatisfied expression.

"Follow me," Nero said in a clipped tone and walked through a left-hand side door to a corridor and entered a surprisingly large and spacious office. "Close the door," he said over his shoulder once he was sure she had followed him within. "Kneel here," he pointed at a spot in the middle of the room and retrieved a file from his desk turning to perch on the edge of it facing her and waited until she was settled on the floor.

"While you seem to be able to pick up the protocols for using our titles of respect, it would seem that you haven't quite grasped your place within this facility yet," he addressed her with a cold hard voice. "My earlier casual tone may have led you to believe that you could negotiate what I asked of you under the guise of politeness but make no mistake if I ask you to do something I expect you to do it without hesitation."

"I'm sorry Marshall," Changying immediately apologised. "I was just..."

"Without hesitation do you understand?" Nero cut her off.

"Yes, Marshall," Changying responded and dropped her head.

"While you are here at this facility you are a servant. You do as you are instructed by any of the Battaglia. You do not decline, negotiate or prevaricate. You do not explain yourself unless asked to do so. That is your role here, to follow orders and prove your worth as a member of one of the twelve families. The consequences for not following orders can be as severe as failing your trial and being asked to leave not only this facility but the family that has sent you to us." He pressed the gravity of her situation onto her.

Changying looked up as he spoke taking in the seriousness of not only his words but his voice and body language.

"You have been given only a short time with us, so it is imperative you don't make the mistake of thinking you are here as a guest who has choices. You are here under trail conditions to prove your worth and value to us. Do you understand the gravity of your situation?" Nero asked.

"Yes Marshall," Changying answered wanting desperately to explain that she had no idea what she was doing or what was expected of her in reality. All she knew was based on books and little snippets she had gleaned from talking with the family.

"Good. I would hate to have to punish you on the day of our first meeting. Now that we understand each other, I will be your case worker and doctor while you are here. I will test and judge your mental and physical abilities over the next few days, and we will work on areas of deficit from there," he spoke absently flicking through the file he held in his hand. "I see that Doctor Jack Wei has done a superb job in running all the medical tests required over the last six months. That will save us a great deal of time."

"Tell me of your academic history," Nero ordered and picked up a notebook.

Changying spoke about everything from the first school she attended as a five-year-old right through to graduating university and the minimal research training she had received at the publishing company she worked at that time. She didn't embellish at all claiming to be an average student who won no prestigious awards. She did not speak of being bullied, or what an introvert she had become during her high school years she just kept to the facts.

"So reading between the lines, you were a decent student who studied hard to achieve. You were not popular at school, but neither were you an outcast. Possibly bullied somewhere in there though I have the feeling it is not something you associate with school. You enjoyed University and grabbed any opportunity given to you with both hands. I would even go so far as to suggest you remain friends with at least one of your lecturers. Does that sound about right?" he asked knowingly.

"Yes Marshall," Changying didn't hide the surprise from her voice that he had pegged her so accurately. She wondered what exactly was in that file that sat on his desk.