The Exiled Gem

Two Types of Examiners

"The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams."
-Oprah Winfrey

Alexandra would love to say that her whole training went as good as the first day did. Because, it didn't.

She was right away accepted. Upon her performance in the first test, called "Overpowering the Stalker", which she had indeed done. She was accepted. But then, began the trouble.

'You need to be lithe. And fast. Physically and mentally. That being said, you can take a lot of example from a panther. The way it hunts.' Said Master George, to the new group of recruits who had gathered around him, the new first year batch.

'O-okay, but where is the Panther?' Alexandra asked, a bit giddy with triumph.

'Don't be purposefully dense, girl! There is no Panther here, unless you want one, which we could provide, certainly!' The Master boomed, fixing her with his stern gaze- terrible enough to make burly men pee in their pants.

'No, no. I guess I shall manage.' She managed, as the boys all looked at her, their eyebrows raised as if they were noticing her for the first time. That was a little counterproductive, because her very first impression had become of an impertinent lass.

Not that Alexandra cared, in any case.

'Very good! Now, you seven, are the top twenty percent of all the people we had shortlisted. Make sure you do good. This is your first year. Here, we will prepare you for the challenges ahead. However, just because it is a preparatory year, you must not take it lightly at all. Unless the base is strong, the building will be as weak as a house of cards. And you all MUST help each other in times of need, because here, you DO NOT compete. You all must be a chain and strengthen each other. Remember, boys - and girl: A chain is only as strong as its weakest link!' He said and waited, for the words to have their desired effect. Alexandra knew that was a famous quote - chain being strong as the weakest link. The boys, six of them, looked impolitely bored. She knew that feeling: everybody was waiting for some action.

'Go there now, in the Health Test, all of you!' He then said, dismissing them all.

There, they asked Alexandra a lot of things, about her general health, made her run twenty miles, and then do some other basic things - like sit-ups and hops and lunges and rolls. Fifteen medics in white uniforms rushed about. They raised their eyebrows at Alexandra, so she grinned at them. Perfect non-violence, she couldn't knock out everybody's teeth. With that, the first day was over.

They had to sleep in the dormitories. It was the housing center for all the students. There was a separate room for her, while two boys shared one room. According to that stalker-boy, whose name was Sander, this year, apart form her, there were Watson, Hans, Venly, Gergs, Paul and Owen.

All boys, without doubt. This year was particularly low joiners. But Master George said that it always happened once in a while.

Sundays were off. One task everyday, one bit of test, one bit of work to do. They were marked upon it, if the job was satisfactory, it was a pass. If it wasn't, a fail. Three fails in a row, would land them in Detention.

First they were taught to swim, because swimming was, as Master George put it, "an easy and indispensable thing to learn,". They would have get up in the mornings at three, a time Alexandra found torturously early, when even the sun had not woken up. Right in front of their Dormitory was the Mess, they had breakfast at four.

There was a huge training ground, spread over acres and acres of land, right in the middle of the campus. To the lower right corner of the Ground was the a lake. Deep, very deep and, at nights, scary. That was where, for six hours each day, they learned to swim - something which Alexandra found quite simple to do.