F•A•S•T//r.s.l.❣

0.4

"What are we doing?"

"Starting your make-over" David pushed open the doors to possibly the biggest spa room I had ever seen. My eyes widened at the fancy swirls on the teal wallpaper, matching the extravagant chandelier hanging at the centre of the room.

"Here we will completely change your identity- physically at least. However you have a say in everything we do" he told me. "That also explains why you have that hospital-gown looking dress"

"Okay" I laid on the stretcher he pointed at and clasped my hands together.

"Hi, Athena. My name's Violet, and I'll be in charge of your hair and personal details. My teammates Aidan and Kim will be in charge of everything else" a girl with bright blue hair and glasses looked down at me, a tablet in her hands. "First, are there any details about yourself you'd like to change, like your name or something.. The only thing you cannot edit is your age"

"I think I'll stick with my own name" I smiled politely and she handed me the iPad.

"You can scroll, see what you want to change whilst I do your hair. I see you have some really nice blonde hair, how would you feel about dying it all a deep purple colour?"

I hesitated, but agreed.

"Really?" David smiled, impressed at my boldness.

"Yeah! New identity, right?" I grinned and relaxed down. It had a deeper meaning, but I allowed that sentence to remain unsaid.

+++

"Holy crap" I gasped, looking at myself in the mirror.

It's been 14 hours since I last properly saw myself, and I'm impressed. My eyes went from a boring brown to a mixture of brown and green with gold specks (eye surgery) and my hair hung in loose dark purple curls.

And my eyebrows were on fleek.

David stood behind me with a hand on my shoulder. "Your free to go show off your new look, model"

I smiled at him and got up from the stool opposite the mirror.

The spy compound was like a really big school, but more welcoming. It buzzed with people around my age, or slightly older. It was rare to see middle-aged or even older people here, I believe they had their own area. It was kitted out with an immense garden and a lot of recreational activities (there's a sports centre, gym etc.). They also had educational areas, but I was only going to start school here tomorrow.

I walked down to the gardens, crowded with people in this sunny afternoon, most of them playing some sport. A breeze blew, and a lock of my hair flew in my mouth.

As I got busy trying to remove hair strands from my mouth, Ross approached me. "Athena, is that you?"

"Yeah" I replied, putting my hands in my pockets.

"I see you've gone through stage 4 out of 6 of training. Well, brace yourself for stage 5, because it nearly made me want to quit" he said as we started to walk through the gardens.

"What do you have to do for that?"

"Physical training, build muscle and stamina basically" he explained. "Then it's mental training, sharpening your reflexes and making you a thinking machine. Then you're off for your first mission which is both scary and exciting"

Silence. "That wasn't very helpful of me, was it?"

"Not really" I chucked.

"Let me help. I can help you beat your phobia of water"

"One out of four"

"Four?!"

"Fear of being alone, fear of water, fear of embarrassment and fear of failure"

"We have some work to do" he raked a hand through his hair. "But it's do-able"

"Let's all hope so" I smiled nervously. "But can we start with the ones that do not involve water, please?"

"Whatever makes you comfortable. Now, care to play a round of badminton with me?"

I shrugged, then nodded. "One of the few things I'm actually good at- so I can kick your butt"

He laughed. "You wish!"