Agent S 2.0

Chapter Nine

Huge plot change. The FBI, CSI, NSA, CIA, and every other federal agency still exist. The Agency is just another federal agency. Please stick around though. Also ID Cards don't exist anymore, they were replaced with Transmitters in Chapter Three. The upload schedule also changed. I'll be publishing at least one new chapter every week.

I walk into the room with EDIBILITY scetched in silver above the door. There is a man all in black that looks to be in his forties. His sleek black hair is kept long so that it is able to touch his chin. He etches things onto a clip board then looks up at me. He has a gentle smile that shows his age more than anything. "Agent S," He tells me, walking up to me. "here again, aren't we?" Mr. Robin says with a small chuckle.

He's a gentler instructor rather than the other classes because his class isn't as serious as classes in the Combat section because his class is a more defensive class rather than offensive . He holds his clipboard in one hand with the other holding its wrist. I just nod my head with a smile. Edibility is my worst class in training. I just can't differentiate between berries, or really anything.

"Well let's get started." He says going to a table in the corner that holds a barcode scanner and a tablet with a filing cabinet below the table that holds all the notes he takes. I pull up my barcode from my Transmitter and he scans it. "Please look up at the camera for ten seconds, keeping as still as possible." He tells me. I look at the camera in the corner and pull a face clean of emotion. The ring of lights around the camera light up as a single red dot makes it's way across the whole circumference of the camera until it hits the center where twelve o'clock would be and I look away. The scanning of my barcode gives him data he sees on a tablet which he now has. The camera was doing a facial scan so that my classes are recorded. Basically all scanning is for data to get in and out of the system.

"Alright, everything is set." He says happily. He looks at the tablet and swipes his finger down the screen. "You know you give yourself less credit than what you're due for." He says as he keeps scrolling. He looks up from the tablet, pulling a forced smile. He then points to a computer in the corner opposite from the table that holds all of his things, gesturing for me to walk towards it. I sit in the chair in front of the computer.

"This is a quick Toxicity Test. Just click on the item that is dangerous." After I nod the computer pulls up just two pictures of different plants. I easily click through the first five questions. After the first five I find myself spending a bit more time between pictures. After the first ten questions I find myself spending a lot of time as some plants look exactly the same. I finish the test and he looks back at his tablet. "Hmm." He says simply. I wonder how badly I did but he's already giving me instructions for the next test.

"The next test is a Toxicity Gauge. Click from least to greatest in toxicity." He tells me. This time five pictures on the screen show up and I find myself having an extremely hard time gauging toxicity even thought the test just started. They bring up familiar looking things like apples and oranges on the same screen as a leaf that could be from the tree just outside HQ. I have such difficulty answering these fifteen questions that I sigh in relief when I finish. Mr. Robin looks at the answers and lets out a low whistle which either means he's amazed at my accuracy or inaccuracy, probably the latter.

He walks me to the other side of the room where a seemingy empty piece of flooring is, but after a few minutes of typing into the tablet a plethora of plants come from the flooring that has lowered then suddenly arrived with a feast of fresh food. Most things in that feast is toxic though. He goes to his tables and pulls leather gloves from a drawer. He puts them on and pulls from the muted rainbow of vegetables, herbs, fruits, roots and whatever else grows, two sprigs of white snap dragons. He walks back to me. "One of these is poisonous," he tells me. "You cannot touch it, or smell it." He says sternly. One snapdragon only has flowers growing on one side of the stem while the other sprig has flowers blooming all over it. One sprig also seems to have a more hollow look to all its flowers. It's like every flower is growing around a pocket of air. I point to the sprig that has the more hollowed out flowers. "Good. What is this plant called?" He says, gesturing to the toxic one.

"Foxglove." I reply. He gestures to the other. "Snap dragon." He pulls a smile. I do this many more times with different plants all the colors of the hushed rainbow. Some I get wrong but most I get right.

Afterwards he lines up a few different plants in order of toxicity. He explains to me why some plants are more toxic than others and what to look for. He tells me these things because I apparently failed the Toxicity Gauge Test. I had to go through two hours of learning and memorizing all these characteristics. Near the end I ask him a question.

"Mr. Robin?"

"Yes Agent S." He says putting his hands behind his back from putting all the plants back onto the floor that disappears with all the plants and reappears with nothing.

'Why am I the only one here?"

He pulls a kind and gentle smile. "Agent S I've seen your scores in Projectiles, Melee, Mental Stability and more. You are so profound in all those areas." I smile at that. "However," the smile is instantly wiped off my face. "a gun, throwing knife, or good unarmed combat won't get you a meal in a jungle and as of now you'd get yourself killed if you ate a berry." He chuckles. "Don't take this the wrong way, S," he then puts a hand on my shoulder. "but you need to have a personal class when it comes to Edibility." We then both chuckle. "That's time. Go on now." He says shooing me away teasingly out the door. I'm glad I was able to have Mr. Robin's gentleness before Ms. Clad's ruthlessness.