AN:

A big thank you to monad_damon on twitch for the help on the chapter.

If you want to come and have a chat while I write these chapter, find me on twitch: littlemissrose85. I'm usually there around 20.30 CET.

Chapter 15: Enjoy the show

Jordan smirked as he watched Mandi freeze in place and then slowly turn around. 0010 was lounging back in his chair observing their little talk while also keeping half an eye on 001's mission. Mandi gulped and started to shuffle a bit towards him as if he could protect her if the agent decided to go on a killing spree. He chuckled at the absurd idea of him stopping a double-0.

"Careful Jordan, you're spending too much time with us if you start getting enjoyment out of startling your companions like that." 0010's voice, smooth as silk, was coloured with amusement. Jordan winced a little because amusement to a double-0 meant bruises for him in the training room.

"True." He admitted with a grin.

Then a voice came over the speaker that had previously been off. "Jordan, I need you in here. Bring the others if they can keep quiet." Q's voice echoed through the room alerting him.

"Yes, Sir." He answered, his previous mischief immediately forgotten and without looking at the others walked into the department. His station had been set up right before the main screen that, just like in the old set-up in HQ, showed an overview of all their activity. Unlike HQ, Q had a desk of his own, right beside his. It was covered with 4 monitors that he had set up as a monitoring station. One showed the security feeds from inside the building, one kept track of all happenings on the server and the other two he was currently using for his mission. Jordan sat behind his desk and logged in.

"What do you need?" He asked as he opened a prompt screen in anticipation of Q's request. He didn't know if he would need it, but it didn't use up a lot of memory and he could always close it later.

"Personnel is trying to make a new account on the server. I need you to make it look like it failed due to a common error." Q didn't look up from his work as he made his request but Jordan hadn't expected him to. Common courtesy had no place when you worked as hard as Q did. "I don't know who they are making an account for and I want to run a background check before we let them make it but I don't have the time right now… 001, two coming from the right-hand corridor ahead of you. The room to your left is unlocked and empty, please make use of it."

"Yes, Sir." Jordan said and had a bit of a think. How could he make it look like the server couldn't make the account? He couldn't simply crash the server, like if he forced an update, because it was needed for so many other jobs. But maybe he could force an error in the account registration procedure. First things first. He searched the logs for the IP-address of the computer that was making the account. He needed to know where they were in the registration procedure. Thinking a bit more he decided that if Q wanted to run a background check he needed as much information as possible. Running through the procedure mentally he remembered the last step was password creation. Jordan grinned. There was a lot that could go wrong with that. He got to work quickly because personnel were almost done already.

Luckily it required very little. Just a couple of digits. He opened the scripts, looked for the password procedure and scanned carefully for new password creation, making sure to leave the changing password procedure intact. He found the entry requirements and changed them. Normally a password required at least 10 characters with 3 capital letters and 2 numbers and a special character. Jordan simply placed a zero extra behind all those numbers making the password requirements simply too ridiculous to imagine. It also didn't change the requirements shown to the user because that was in another script. So, personnel would be stuck on what was wrong. Perfect. He quickly saved the changes and closed the code, activating it just in time.

"Got it." He reported. "They're unable to make a password to give access, but will still be able to save all the data for us to run a background check."

"Good." Q replied and refocussed on 001 who was very near her target. Jordan looked over his shoulder. Ophelia was standing with the other hackers, talking so quietly to them that Jordan couldn't hear them. Figuring he wasn't officially on duty at the moment and could be missed he got up to join them.

Jason walked into the department in awe. The monitors were showing some of the most complicated coding he had ever seen. He'd thought his work for the mafia had been top notch but it was nothing compared to this. No wonder MI6 was considered the top spy-agency in the world. And this was where he was going to work. He couldn't believe his luck.

This day was turning out to be one of the most stressful in his life and he'd been on the run from the mafia so that was saying something. After spilling all his secrets to MI5 he had waited nervously for the man to return. The lawyer had been called away but had assured him he had seen the contract and that it was good. Luckily, he'd only waited for a minute before the door opened and the woman walked in. She had apologized that the man, who was apparently named Q, had been called away to deal with an emergency. She dealt with the paperwork with an efficiency that would put every secretary to shame before leading him back to the other room.

The girl had been gone when he got there. Worry had flashed through him. She was so young. He just hoped they would treat her well. There were three men in the room beside the one he knew. The gentleman was obviously part of MI6 and judging from the familiar folders lying on the table the others were his new colleagues. Then followed a whirlwind of things because apparently GH0ST was hacking which led to all of them assembling here. Then the guy Jordan -who apparently worked here, bloody spooks- had been called inside to work his magic. He was good, Jason thought. Quick. Efficient.

"This is awesome." Mandi whispered excitedly. A woman chuckled as she walked up to them.

"Thank you." She said. "We do our best, although we are rather understaffed at the moment so we're very glad you're here. Ophelia Warner, department head." She introduced herself quietly and shook hands with everyone.

"Good to meet you." Matias, call me Matt, Willis answered warmly. "The work you do here is amazing."

"We have Q to thank for that." Warner answered.

"Q?" Jason asked.

"He is head of Q-branch, or he should be and we just keep treating him as such until the government pulls it's head out of it's arse and reinstates him. You would know him as GH0ST."

"What?!" Mandi's voice echoed through the room gaining her a lot of angry looks though the two men up front didn't seem to notice. Mandi blushed and continued her freak-out on a much lower volume. "You mean to say I've met him? I met GH0ST. And I didn't know." Two of the men behind the computers chuckled as they heard what she said but otherwise didn't comment. Jason however was sharing the sentiment. That man who had given him a chance had been GH0ST.

"I wouldn't know but if you met Q then yes you did." Warner answered warmly.

"Oh wow." Mandi looked a little faint. "I met GH0ST." She whispered. "I met GH0ST and he said I impressed him. This is the happiest day of my life." That last sentence she almost squealed and she very silently performed a happy dance. Jason chuckled along with the others.

"What are our job requirements going to be?" The serious man who had introduced himself as Zachary Steinberg asked.

"Our original plan was to develop handler teams to guide agents through their missions like Q is currently doing with 001." Jason felt himself go pale and glanced behind him to where the double-0 agent was lounging against the wall near the door. The thought of talking to and giving orders to one of those killing machines did not appeal at all. It meant that he would see people die and maybe even order the agent to kill them. Even the thought of it went against everything he believed in.

"Don't worry too much. You won't have to deal with the double-0's." Warner assured them warmly. "Q and R have already said they would take those missions. No, you will only deal with B and A-level agents. Besides you are not expected to lead the agent. We will hire people qualified for that. You will provide them with the information they need quickly, no matter what the source is. This is why your hacking skills will be crucial." Jason still had serious doubts but didn't voice them. He had signed a contract after all. He wouldn't go back on his word now. But Warner wasn't done.

"Unfortunately, the current situation has required us to put those plans on hold for now. However, like I said we are currently very understaffed and your contributions in other areas will certainly be helpful." Jason frowned wondering what situation she was talking about but Warner didn't elaborate further.

Jordan, done with whatever GH0ST had asked him to do, walked up to them.

"Enjoying the show?" He asked looking at Mandi in particular. The young girl started poking him again.

"You didn't tell me. I made an ass of myself in front of my idol. You're mean." She pouted again but her eyes were twinkling brightly. Jordan winced as the girl poked him rather hard in the arm but he was grinning.

"Yes well, I thought it best if you met him first before you went all fangirl on him. He really doesn't like it." He answered. Mandi scowled.

"Stop being so rational I still want to be mad at you." She said giving him one final poke. Jordan chuckled.

"Anyways. How about I give you a tour. There's much more to see here." Jason nodded along with Matt and Zachery but Mandi hesitated, looking longingly at the big screen up front.

"Or you can stay here with us and watch." Warner said warmly, smiling at the girl who lit up like a candle. Jordan chuckled again and motioned them to follow him.