Cluedo, the Naked Version

It turned out the next training mission was a lot higher stakes than Gemma had initially anticipated. She and Sophie were the red team, and would face off against the two other partnerships - Sarah and Tania were blue while Heidi and Natalie were Green - in a single, competitive mission. The performances of the three duos would be scrutinised by the six handlers and their superiors, and a decision would be made afterwards as to who would be assigned to which missions in future. Gemma couldn't help but feel they were using this exercise to determine their A, B and C teams. So no pressure there.

The whole thing was essentially to play out like a **** mystery weekend - except they needed to determine who the intended **** target was, the person planning to kill them, and neutralise the fake threat before it even happened. Whoever got there first won. To add a touch of levity to the proceedings, each of the six suspects and potential targets was based on a Cluedo character.

Distractingly, as she was aware her fellow spies in training were also fake clothed, it meant that all five appeared naked to Gemma, including her team mate Sophie.

Gemma had hit it off with her new partner incredibly well, but at first struggled to see why Sophie had been chosen for this. She was certainly bright and enthusiastic enough, but seemed so incredibly harmless. For her day job she had been a social worker, and Sophie was quick to point out that not only meant she had been willing to venture into potentially dangerous environments that even the police wouldn't touch without backup, but that her diplomatic and people reading skills had already been high. Gemma had not initially seen Sophie possessing the ruthless streak needed for this job, but she was soon reassessing that.

"First off, I say we track down the other teams and I frogify 'em all" Sophie suggested, referring to the equivalent transformation spell she had been equipped with to Gemma's rabbit making ability "They won't be expecting it, and it would give us a clear run at this. Plus, we don't have to worry about getting morphed ourselves if we hit them first"

As part of this exercise, all six Hollys had been stripped of most of their usual defensive buffers to give them a free run at using their powers creatively on each other. But Gemma felt sure that had been a trap to trip them up.

"We aren't supposed to use our abilities on other Hollys offensively unless we absolutely have to" Gemma reminded her friend "They will usually be total innocents being controlled against their will, remember?"

"I know" Sophie shrugged "It would have been fun though. So where do we start?"

"Let's go with Professor Plum first to see what kind of information he has" Gemma suggested as they stood in the lobby of the vast building where the entire game would be played "His office is on the second floor. One of us should sneak in there first to monitor whatever happens and provide back up if needed, while the other should disguise ourselves as someone who can be let into the room to speak with him legitimately"

"I love being sneaky!" Sophie announced and, after scanning her surroundings to check she wasn't being watched, she shrank herself into the form of a brown field mouse and scurried past security and towards the stairs.

"Shit" Gemma muttered to herself in annoyance. Her partner had quickly taken the easy role and left her with the far more complex one. She would have to disguise herself as someone who could gain access to the Professor's office, subtly pump him for information and, potentially, even seduce him. Everyone involved in this exercise, outside of the spies in training, were actors. She would certainly not be expected to actually fuck anyone, at least she hoped not. But she was aware her limits may be tested here.

Since the Professor himself was fake, Gemma figured there was no point imitating anyone real, so she instead came up with a false identity of her own whom he might have an interest in talking with.

She was to be Professor Zoey Reynolds, a senior administrator at Cambridge University who was keen to offer the Professor a lucrative contract as a lecturer there. That ought to get her foot in the door, she figured. Gemma also saw from the Professors file that he had a thing for redheads - so that is what Zoey became. Each of the six main characters had at least one vital piece of information to be obtained and Zoey was hoping she could get the Professor to talk via a combination of charm and stoking his own self interest.

Once she looked the part, her outfit an illusion as was usually the case, she approached the reception area. Everyone she would interact with during this exercise, aside from Sophie and the other spies, would be an actor who had been told to behave as realistically as possible. She walked up to the pretty young woman on the front desk and found herself explaining her improvised story in an impressive sounding upper class accent. The actress happily called up to the actor playing the Professor, who agreed for Zoe to be allowed upstairs to visit him. The game was on.