Under New Management

Chapter 3

Gru woke up early the next morning. Too early. He looked at the clock. It read 5:37. He sighed and tried to sleep a little longer. When he turned on his side he saw Lucy, laying there with her eyes wide open. He pulled her to him, and she laid her head on his chest.

"Have you slept at all?" He whispered.

She merely shook her head.

"I'm worried about you." He said. "If you aren't sleeping, you're going to get sick, or worse. What if you get seriously hurt on a mission?"

"I'm trying. I just can't." She whispered.

He held her tighter, and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"Are you worried about today?" He asked, softly.

She shrugged.

A couple hours later, after getting dressed, and feeding the girls their breakfast, they headed towards the AVL. They chose to walk today. It was a nice day, and since they wouldn't be going on any missions today, they didn't need a car.

After the meeting yesterday, they had checked the sheet for their time slots. Gru's simulation was at 2:30 in one room, and Lucy's was at 2:45 in another. All agents were required to attend a meeting at 10:00, so that everyone could be briefed on what they were doing at the same time.

When everyone was seated, the two new directors walked to the front.

"So, you all know why you're here." Devin began. "Today is the day that we conduct our simulations. But, before we just throw you in there, we want to explain a couple things to you."

"Each of you will be tested individually," Carla continued. "You will enter your room, and be asked to complete a mission. You will be tested over everything that you do in that room. You will be tested over time taken to complete the simulation, and over your reactions to everything in there. You will also be tested on creativity and resourcefulness. Weapons or gadgets of any kind and strictly prohibited. Also, remember that everything in there is not real, so it will not actually touch you. You should just act as though it is, in order to do well on the test."

"Additionally," Devin added. "All of the simulations are mostly the same, with some minor discrepancies, just to change things up. Therefore, you are forbidden to speak to anyone, agent or non-agent about what happened in your room. There is a small room before your simulation, and a small one afterwards. If you would like to have someone see you off, or wait for you when you are done, you are welcome to do so. You are not tested over what happens in those rooms."

"So," Carla said, in conclusion. "You all have your time slots. Each test takes, on average, about 30-45 minutes to complete. Some will take more, some will take less. It depends on the person in the room. Are there any questions?"

Silence filled the room. This was a lot to process.

"Very well," Devin said. "You are dismissed. Those with an 11:00 time slot should report to their rooms in just a few minutes."

2:30 came around faster than either of them had anticipated, and soon, they were both standing in the room outside of Gru's simulation.

"I'll see you after you're finished." Gru said, to Lucy.

She nodded. She wouldn't be able to be there for the end of Gru's simulation, because her own test would be going on. Gru wouldn't be able to see her off, either.

"Are you ready?" Lucy asked.

"I think so." Gru said, nervously. "I just don't really know what to expect."

"You'll do great." Lucy said. "And, remember that it won't actually touch you, so it can't cause you any harm."

Gru nodded. The timer above the door beeped. 30 seconds.

Lucy pulled him to her, and gave him a kiss.

"You'll be fine. I believe in you." She said.

The timer beeped again. 15 seconds.

"I'll see you after your test." He said to her. "I love you."

She waved to him as he walked through the door.

The first thing that he saw in the room was that it was completely empty. A voice came from above.

"There are three diamonds in this room. Retrieve them all. These will be the only tangible objects in the room. Although all other objects will be holographs, you may not pass through any of them. Passing through another object will result in immediate failure. In order to complete this simulation, you must put all three diamonds on the tile at the end of the room."

He nodded. He could do that. He eyed the tile. It was the only dark tile in the whole room. Everything else was sparklingly white.

"You may begin." The voice spoke again.

Suddenly, three diamonds fell from the ceiling onto the floor. Before he could grab them, a bunch of holographs appeared in front of each one. He looked for a way through them. They made almost a complete wall. Then, he thought of Lucy, and what she would do. He ran at he wall closest to the holographs, and kicked off, right as he came to it, catapulting himself in the air, and landing behind all the holographs. He grabbed the first diamond and ran to the next one.

Another holograph appeared in front of this one, as well. It kept following Gru. Every time that he moved, it would move. It was blocking him perfectly. But, then, he saw a way in. He dropped to the floor, and slid beneath the holo's legs before it could react. Second diamond acquired.

The third diamond was towards the end of the room. As he approached it, nothing appeared in front of it. He hesitated before grabbing it. Shouldn't there be a holo appearing in front of it? Then, he realized that there were suddenly many, many more diamonds around him. His guess was that one was real, while the rest were holos. But which one was the right one? If he guessed incorrectly, he would fail automatically.

So, how to tell the difference? They all looked so real. So shiny and sparkly.

Wait, that was it! He looked at the two diamonds in his hand. They were pretty, and they were shiny, but they didn't really sparkle the way that the ones around him did. They had a little sparkle when the light caught them just right, but the ones all around him looked like they had glitter on them.

That was it. He scanned the floor, looking. Then, he saw it. He made his way carefully over, trying not to step on any of the fake ones. Then, he slowly leaned down and grabbed it. His fingers gripped the precious stone, and felt its cold, smooth surface. He breathed a sigh of relief. Then, he made his way over, and set the three stones on the tile. As soon as he set them down, he saw the door in front of him unlock, and he pushed it open.