Learning the Ropes

Gemma wasn't the only secret agent in the making to arrive at the nondescript looking building she had been sent to at 8 am on the dot the next day. There were five other claimed women there - Sophie, Sarah, Tania, Natalie and Heidi. All of them seemed like nice, regular girls, who were around her own age and, until a couple of days ago, had been working in similarly mundane jobs to her. Gemma had been partnered with Sophie, a super cute and sweet natured brunette with a tanned complexion who stood at barely more than five feet in height. Nobody could have looked less dangerous.

The situation the budding agents were in was set out quite clearly to them from the outset. Since the release of the documentary about the curse a few days back, and the realisation that it was genuine, the scramble to claim Petersen women (code named 'Hollys' after the one in the documentary) had been intense. Many had quickly been claimed simply by guys who wanted a beautiful woman to command at will, for obvious reasons. Those Hollys were basically considered harmless and out of the game. But others were being scooped up by various organisations that wanted to put their almost unlimited abilities to use, to various ends. Alpha's urgency in claiming Gemma had not been without reason. It was explained that, had the UK Government not got to her first, she could easily have been claimed by an organised crime gang, Russia or some other potentially hostile state. In fact, for many of those girls who had not been deemed suitable for the Governments needs, trusted civil servants had been given the details to claim them and the instruction to "treat them kindly" in order to stop them falling into the wrong hands.

Gemma was quite flattered she was one of the few selected for this line of work. It had been deemed unethical by the British government to alter the personalities and potentially dangerous to raise the IQ's of the Hollys it had acquired. Therefore, they were targeting women who were naturally smart, trustworthy and seen as being able to thrive in the role they had been chosen for, once they had been given their new skills, without mental adjustment. Gemma was asked if there were any red lines she would not cross in her new line of work and the answer she gave was exactly as expected - she was not willing to kill anyone. It was explained that was not at all the nature of her role. A few Hollys had been recruited as master assassin's, but Gemma had been seen as a much better fit as a spy and, unless it was necessary to save an innocent life, there should be no need for her to resort to such measures. She was asked if she would be willing to seduce targets for information. After thinking about it for a while, Gemma was surprised to find herself answering in the affirmative, within reason. It was the right answer. It seemed that would be an important tool in her weaponry.

Over the next few hours the six super sleuths in training were equipped with all the skills Gemma had been promised by Alpha the previous evening - a photographic memory, expert body language reading, the ability to understand every language under the sun and the like. The most remarkable new ability she had acquired was called Morph and allowed her to transform herself at will into anyone or anything she wished. At Alpha's request, Gemma had first become a perfect clone of Sophie, before turning herself into a black cat and then a potted plant. None of the transformations had felt uncomfortable or unpleasant in any way, but there was a catch to Morph - her clothes could not change with her. That meant that, for all missions, Gemma would need to be nude. At first the idea horrified her, but it was quickly explained that the perception of others could be altered so that she would always be seen as fully clothed. She could break the illusion simply by revealing that she was, in fact, naked - important for her love life but awkward, she thought to herself, if she had to announce it every time.

Gemma's fears about the danger she might be placed in had been quickly allayed, for the most part at least. She was now bullet proof, could withstand explosions and, should she be captured, had the ability to effectively turn herself into an invisible ghost and walk through walls without being seen. The only real danger to her seemed to come from other Hollys. It was explained they could be given powers which, if not properly guarded against by masters, could be used on other cursed women. Gemma had been given those kinds of skills herself, for example the ability to read minds and, her personal favourite, bunnify. This could neutralise a hostile Holly instantly by transforming them into a harmless white rabbit. She had tested it on Sophie and felt like Harry Potter while doing so. Unfortunately though, these kind of powers could only work on Hollys and not regular enemies. She had been told to expect all major crime gangs and hostile states to possess Holly's at this point, and to always be extra vigilant against them.

At the end of the days training, Gemma was sent home with the instruction that she and Sophie would be sent on a dummy mission together the next day. It would be a pure test run, with absolutely no danger involved, but she still felt nervous. She was surprised at just how excited she was by her new role. She had gone from being an accountant to a kind of magical Jane Bond within a matter of days. It was important to her that she was not only competent but excelled in her new job, and she wasn't yet confident she would be able to. Tomorrow she could prove to herself and everyone else that she was made for this.