Chapter 2
Q has everything prepared and can begin on the weekend. Q's plan is to use the serum on himself as a test. Then and only then would he use it on M.
He finalized his mental checklist and...
"Beep...beep...beep"
"What is that infernal beeping?"
Oh...an internal alarm in the MI6 system...an attempted breach.
His attention diverts back to his job, Q isolates an external attempt to hack the system. This one delves deeper than the usual attempts of the Chinese or Middle Eastern hackers but to no avail.
They have some extremely talented young technical masterminds at Q branch.
"Beep...beep..beep"
"Again?"
He hit his intercom "What is going on...REPORT!"
A young man with ridiculously careless hair and glasses came over to his work area with a pad and showed him another more focused attempt to hack into some specific files.
Q alerted M's office.
Q's phone rang. "Yes, Ah Mr. Tanner...Yes,Yes we will be up immediately."
"You, there...come on we have to go up top."
"Yes, sir!" The young man fidgets nervously.
M's seated behind her desk and Tanner stands beside her as they entered.
She looks up and with a slight smile. "What has happened?"
Q takes the lead and begins the report, as he ushers the young man forward with a tablet and points at the display wall in M's office.
While he gets the information on the monitors in her office, Q takes a moment to look at her...just because he can.
"We have detected and intervened two attempted hacks into our system. The first was completely deflected but the second delved deeper into the system towards more specific information."
"What information?"
"It seems like personnel files but there is other information we have to sift through. It's a security sensitive area and require your clearance as well as mine."
"Very well, you will have it. I can't give you blanket clearance for everything so how should we proceed?"
"Ma'am...maybe Q could isolate the information on a laptop and then it would be for your eyes only so to speak." Tanner said while looking at the young man with the moppish hair operating the display.
Q looked at Tanner and nodded his consent "Yes...quite. I will get on it now."
Tanner handed Q a laptop and he turned to the boy and held out his hand for the pad.
"You can go now." Q said.
The youth fled the office as if on his hair was on fire.
M shrugs her shoulders and looks at Q and Tanner "I will never understand the fashion of the youth of today."
Tanner chuckles and turns to leave the two alone to finish the task. "If that is all M I would like to leave for the night."
M waved at Tanner dismissively. "Yes...yes, I will see you tomorrow Mr Tanner."
Q needs to download the information to the laptop from the deluge of files in the mainframe. He entered his security code and then stood close behind her chair while he shows her what the information is and it prompts her to enter her own code. He politely turns to give her privacy even though she had not asked him to.
Q relishes the smell of her perfume and his close proximity while they wait for the information to transfer.
When done, she sighs and looks at the time. It's half six already.
Q saw this and decided to risk it.
"It is getting late...have you had dinner?"
"No, not yet"
"Would you like to get a bite?"
M pauses and smiled at him. "Yes, I think that would be nice."
Q's old heart leaped. "Good then, shall we?"
M walks across the room to grab her coat and bag. He powers off the laptop and places it in a bag.
M points to the floor. "Oh you can just leave that on the floor by Tanner's desk and we will see to it tomorrow."