- Agreement

[3 days later, London]

Rebecca and the man from the pub were discussing their options as they sat behind a two-way mirror. All 6 of the candidates had now been interviewed and were patiently waiting for the results.

The two observed a doctor talking to Arthur, before he finally opened the thick metal door to where Rebecca and the man sat, leaving Arthur behind and closing the door after himself "Ms Monroe, Mr Sullivan", he noted. "Doctor", they both replied in unison.

"Interesting set this year, I can see why six of them got through screening. Three were fairly average, but the other three are worth some consideration". "Go on", Rebecca urged, her anticipation palpable.

"Well firstly there's Jane Air. She displayed some serious fighting skills in her testing, as well as reflexive critical decision making, but she's simply not a team player. During the team building exercises she seemed physically incapable of working with her partner. Psychologists would have a field day describing her, but in layman's terms she's just a fucking wacko". "How professional Doctor…", Sullivan muttered. "Forgive my crude terminology but it's true" he said with a cold look in his eyes.

"Secondly there is Finn McManus, who has incredible strength and worked well enough with his partner. Being 6 ft 8 does have its benefits as well as it drawbacks, and if we were to go with Finn we'd get bonus' from the McManus family"

"But…" Rebecca asked, sensing that the Doctor was about to start tearing poor Finn to shreds.

"But he suffers from crippling shyness", he continued Rebecca's sentiment. "During personality testing I couldn't gauge him at all, and frankly I don't think he's the right fit to replace Elijah". "Hmm", Sullivan concluded, "We did want a stealthier hunter this time, McManus' kid will stand out too much…"

"And finally…" asked Rebecca. "Finally there's Arthur White, the 'attenuated' candidate. Obviously he hasn't undergone the physical tests yet, but so far he's interesting", Rebecca smiled at this development.

"He was able to draw the most out of Finn during the team exercise, who didn't say a word the entire time. He also impressed during the interview with unique answers to the quiz. He was charismatic enough throughout our conversations and was enjoyable to be with, at least compared to the others. He also performed the most stable during the decision-making trials".

"Stable?", asked Sullivan. "The most consistent", replied the doctor. "During the reasoning tests he provided strong logical trains of thought. For example, when we asked him if he could shoot a dog, he asked questions like 'do I know it?' and 'does it benefit me?'. He seems like a winner compared to Jane who said she'd actually receive pleasure from killing the hypothetical dog. Arthur was dynamic enough to adapt, yet consistent enough to stay sensible".

"Okay…" muttered Rebecca, getting the impression that the Doctor had developed an affinity for Arthur. "Due to the fact that we have permission to skip the main hunter's test for now, the best course of action is to tell him what's really going on, and see if he fancies doing a mission first, he fits the bill perfectly for what we need" said the Doctor. "What do you reckon Sullivan?"

"He seems alright, maybe a little chubby but there'll be some good muscle below it, nothing a bit of training can't fix. If he dies before we get to the main test we'll just use McManus' kid instead", he replied.

"I'll go and break the good news to him then…" Rebecca said as she stood up and headed towards the door.

Opening it, she was met with a surprised look from Arthur. "Ah, good to see you again, I never got your name last time?", she was taken aback at his apparent casualty. "Rebecca, Rebecca Monroe" "Arthur White", he smiled as he stood up briefly to shake her hand, before they both sat down.

"Look kid I'm gonna drop the ruse now, this isn't really an audition for a TV show. The vampire stuff is actually real, and we reckon you're a good candidate for it", she waited eagerly for his reply.

Arthur simply smirked however; "I've already told you I could barely act, and now you want me to method act as well? Come on, I mean I doubt I really am the right person for this".

Rebecca slipped a piece of paper towards him, "Sign this please". "Isn't this like an NDA?", he asked inquisitively. "It's really more of an 'If you utter even a word of this to anyone you shouldn't we'll wipe you off the face of the planet'", she replied as her face adopted a deathly expression, which made him grab a pen off her and give his signature.

"We're not asking you to act, there's no TV show, no directors, no auditions, no nothing" she firmly reinforced this point. "There is however a whole world full of things not meant for your eyes, things you can't currently explain, with complexities you can't even imagine, hell I don't even think I can imagine".

"Right…?", he uttered the word slowly as he was deciding if the girl in front of him was currently functioning on all cylinders or not.

"We're just one small cog in a much larger machine, specifically we handle recruitment. There's really a whole process but special little you gets to skip it for now, we're short staffed and we need to fast track a recruit for an ongoing mission".

"Hm", Arthur made a small sound as a satisfied corner of his mouth turned upwards, "Explains why you had me doing all the weird tests actually", he continued to mull over his thoughts after he spoke out loud.

"Fair enough, I'll do it". "Really?", Rebecca thought it would take much more convincing, but then again she hadn't told him the negatives yet.

"It's my responsibility to inform you that death is a very real possibility, even on your very first mission", she said gravely. "Will there be collateral for my parents and stuff like that" "What?", she asked with a nonplussed look on her face.

"What is in place in case I do actually die, I just wanna know". Rebecca was surprised at the sheer lack of emotion displayed by Arthur as they talked about a possible sensitive topic. She judged that he must not have had the best of upbringings.

"They'll be paid well for their loss, and the salary itself is nothing to turn your nose up at. We recognise that such a dangerous job requires sufficient compensation".

Seemingly pleased Arthur dropped the subject, "Okay then I'll do it".

"We'll call you soon", Rebecca stood up and led Arthur out of the room, by this point the Doctor and Sullivan had already gone, she guided him to the front of the building.

As she watched Arthur head out of the large revolving door, before continuing down the street, she pondered over what actually caused him to agree so quickly. Was he desperate for attention, trying to repent for some sort of past sins, or was he just plain unhinged?...