ological evaluation wing. The heavy oak doors clicke

nt ancestors lined the walls. Their painted eyes seemed to follow her

from Pippa's private care facility. The screen displayed a warning of an impending a

thumb hovered over the screen for a second before she put the phone away. Th

ing in. Individual mahogany desks were spaced evenly across the Persian rug.

the front. He began distributing thick, sealed test boo

tion examination," he stated, his voice devoid of inflection. "

first page. Her eyes rapidly scanned the dense blocks of te

iphasic Personality Inventory. But it was heavily modified. The standa

mily member. Maya paused. A normal person would say yes to show integrity. Maya calculated the exa

d to appear as a perfectly submissive, highly competent, and emotionally detached employee. She marke

er pages with arrogant speed. She wanted to intimidate the room. The

ately answered a few low-stakes questions wrong. A perfect score would look artif

wn exactly on the second. She did not rush to fi

pers without a word. He fed the thick stacks into a high-spe

Albright. Ms. Chen. Ms. Rodriguez. Ms. Peters. And Ms. Vance. Security will escort you out. Thank you for y

a silent breath of relief. Her muscles relaxed

ning room. The long table was set with priceless antique porcelain and hea

ice, circa 1780. The porcelain is Meissen. Each cup is valued at more than your annual salary. You will serve one perfect cup of te

flawlessly. Her posture was perfect. She shot Maya

art. Her bones ached from exhaustion. She pushed th

er shifted. The woman deliberately bumped the serving cart with her hip.

up slid toward the edge of the table. It tipped over

t with lightning reflexes. Her fingers clamped around the

perfectly level. Her wrist locked into place. She

ur gasped loudly. She stepped back, h

porcelain made a soft clink. She poured the tea perfectly. She stepped ba

d. She noted Maya's incredible crisis reflexes. She also not

the family interview are," she announced, pausing for effect. "Ms. Diane Adler

he hall. "Ms. Flores. You are last. Wait here until you are called.