A hand shook her awake.
"Stacey. Stacey. Wake up. It's time to get up," a voice whispered in her ear. "You've got ten minutes to get ready. Tonton's waiting for you downstairs. Just come down in your pyjamas. Tonton wants to help you choose your clothes and do your makeup."
Stacey opened her bleary eyes and glanced at the still dark window that showed no sign that the sun was about to rise yet. Then she looked at the dark figure dressed in a warm jacket. It must be cold outside. She didn't recognise this female crew member and it was hard to make out who it was in the dim light.
Sitting up in the bed, Stacey rubbed her face and pulled back her hair to tie it up in a ponytail. Seeing that she was awake, the crew member crept out of the room and quietly closed the door behind her.
Groaning inwardly at the ungodly hour of the morning that it must be, Stacey went to the bathroom to clean herself up for the day. The clock on the wall didn't tell her anything. She couldn't even read it. Keeping her pyjamas on, she walked shivering downstairs to find a crew member waiting on the ground floor to lead her to a dressing room.
"Good morning!" Tonton said cheerfully, making Stacey rub her ears and feel that Tonton's cheerfulness was an insult to her sleepiness. "Come on, Stacey, let's get you all dressed up. I've got a few other casual clothes here besides the ones I sent up with Mindy last night. Come have a look. I think this shirt and jacket would go great with these trousers. What do you think of this design?"
"Whatever," Stacey rubbed her face, trying to wake herself up more and peering at them. Even so, they still seemed somewhat unclear to her sleep fogged eyes. "It looks fine to me."
"Here," Tonton pushed her behind a curtain. "I'm glad you like it. Get dressed quickly so that I can do your makeup. We have to be done before Aaron comes around and drags you off for more tests and stuff. Quick, quick! You can just leave those pyjamas there. What did you think of this sleepwear? Isn't it cute?"
"Yeah. I liked them," Stacey grunted in a gravelly voice while she was changing. "I was surprised you and Mindy could guess what sorts of things I would like and what my sizes were."
"I'm not an expert at my job for nothing, my dear," Tonton said while he organised his tools. "Done? Does it all fit properly? Sometimes I am amazed at my own abilities. You look nice and fresh. Didn't I choose well?"
Stacey looked at herself in the mirror and raised an eyebrow.
"Nice," she said. "I didn't know I could look so cool."
"You'll look even cooler in a moment," Tonton said. "You'll have to change into the uniform for massed training but you're not participating in that today. We'll stick to the nude kind of makeup like yesterday. I think that suits you the best."
"Yeah," Stacey agreed. "I don't think I really like wearing makeup. It makes me itchy."
"Maybe you have more sensitive skin. I'll try a different brand on you today. You need the makeup so you don't look washed out on the camera," Tonton sat her down. "Do you have a preferred hairstyle for today?"
"How about a plait?" Stacey asked.
"No problems," Tonton said. "Would you like to do it yourself? I'll focus on your makeup while you're tying your hair up."
Stacey plaited her hair and Tonton teased it a bit to give it a slightly messy look after he had finished doing her makeup. By the time they were done, Aaron was knocking on the door and poking his head in.
"We're done. She's all yours," Tonton told him.
"Great," said Aaron in a bright voice. "Good morning to you both. Come on, Stacey. You'll be meeting the other three lost kids that are with the program while you all do your music exam and fitness tests. All the other trainees already have their scores from school. You'll do your fitness test first."
He led Stacey to a small gymnasium behind the main building.
There were three other students there besides the production and camera crew.
"Hi, I'm Blaze."
"Gieger."
"Kelly."
"Stacey."
The teenagers introduced themselves.
Blaze had an asymmetrical haircut with half his head in a buzz cut with the other side in messy waves. Gieger had strings hanging loose, half done hems and holes in all his clothes. Kelly was the only other girl in this group. She wore an overall style denim dress with a yellow and black ink stained t-shirt underneath.
As for their general presence, Blaze looked like the hot headed type that could lose his temper at the flip of a switch. Gieger was gloomy with his long fringe covering his eyes, while Kelly seemed impatient.
They didn't have much of a chance to talk after their introductions because they were doing stretches to test their flexibility, running in time to beeps that gradually increased in speed, performing crunches, chin ups and push ups.
"Have a drink and catch your breath," one of the examiners told them, while the a crew member was pulling out single person desks and folding chairs out. "Your music exam will start in ten minutes."
"You guys are really fit," Stacey commented to the other three.
She had come last in all the tests with scores way below theirs. She had barely managed even one push up or chin up and they had all performed at least five or more. Everything she did just underscored how underprepared she was for this type of work compared to them. At least her flexibility had been somewhere in their vicinity.
Kelly just rolled her eyes at Stacey.
"Duh. You kinda have to be for this kind of show. You look like you're not gonna last very long."
"I suppose I'm going to have to just work super hard," Stacey said weakly. "There's so much to catch up on."
Blaze shrugged at her. Gieger didn't bother responding and chose a seat to sit in. Following his lead, the other three also took a seat.
Just one glimpse at the paper made Stacey want to bang her head against the table. It was in Tadpole and used a character and number notation system to write music. It didn't make any sense. There was obviously rules to it and a pattern but she couldn't read any of it. She rubbed her head in frustration.
On the blank side of a sheet, Stacey began the tedious work of trying to deduce the music notation system they used and translate it into staves and bars. And then she stopped. If they saw the staves and bars, wouldn't they become more suspicious of her instead? Stacey erased it and tried using letters and numbers instead, since she had no idea what the questions were asking her.
There were only a handful of questions in English at the back and Stacey didn't know what the terms they used referred to. There was a question about the bare bones of a piece she had never heard of and what the spirit of a piece in a form she had never heard of should contain. In order to answer these questions, she would need to learn the musical terms and theory in this world. But before any of that, Stacey needed to learn Tadpole. It seemed that the Tadpole language - particularly the pictogram form, was the base on which their music notation system was laid.
"Pencils down."
The examiners collected the papers.
"The four of you may go and eat breakfast now. Someone will come to inform you whether you will join the other trainees in the mainstream classes or whether you will need to join the extra tuition classes first."
Rubbing her tired head, Stacey followed the other three to the main hall where everyone gathered to eat. The day had barely begun and her brain was already felt 'full'. Add to that, she was frustrated. In completing the tests last night and today, she could see how much she didn't know. How much she needed to learn. It was like an insurmountable mountain.