WARNING: descriptions of violence and themes of mind control.

This one is set in series 3, episode 22: Buried Treasure. A slightly alternate take on Brains's journey to free The Mechanic.


No Way Out

'Mechanic, if you can hear me, there's only one way out of this, but it's a risk.'

Brains snapped his headset over his eyes, plunging himself back into the digital world in a swirl of blue and white lights. There was DigiMAX, writhing under the assault of an electric red beam. In his current condition, he was powerless to do anything. The giant looming over him was going to win – not just the current fight, but complete control over the Mechanic if they didn't do something now.

With his eyes and his mind now firmly placed in this strange world of code and processing units, Brains had to reach for the right buttons blind. But hitting the wrong button wasn't what he was worried about. He'd designed these systems, knew every inch of them. He'd practiced this procedure over and over again until he could do it in his sleep. Rehearsed every scenario but the one played out before him because it simply shouldn't have been possible. But still, he knew what he had to do. He reached for the button…

Press it, he thought. Just press the button.

He could feel his fingers hovering just over it, millimetres away from their goal. But suddenly he couldn't move. A tingly sensation had taken over them. It reminded him of the static images that you sometimes got on vintage TV shows. Then it jumped up his arm, spreading to his wrist, to his elbow, and finally his shoulder. His entire right arm was immobilised. Brains grunted, trying to do something – anything. Nothing happened.

The sensation was spreading further. Through his collarbone and down all the muscles in his other arm. It flooded down from his shoulders into his back and his chest, falling further still to his stomach, his hips, and finally both legs. Once it had reached his toes, it shot back up like a pebble from a slingshot that had first been pulled taught and was then released. It crashed into the top of his skull, then trickled slowly, painfully, down the rest of his head, finishing at last in the brain.

'Well, well, well.' The voice sent shivers down his spine as it bounced around his skull. 'This is an interesting turn of events.'

Suddenly, the bright lights of the digital world were swallowed by an all-consuming darkness. Brains cried out, terrified as it took him with it. For a moment, he was completely weightless. He couldn't feel a thing, either. Not the headset over his eyes, nor the controls in his hand. He was floating in complete oblivion.

Slowly, it all started to come back. Not the feelings, but the things he could see. One arm faded into view through the inky blackness, and then the other. Then his torso and his legs, and slowly, he drifted down to the floor. Standing back on his own two feet, he noticed a glowing yellow light coming towards him. Steeling himself as best he could, he clenched his fists. He had a pretty shrewd idea of who was behind that yellow glow.

The man himself stepped into view, mechanical eye still glowing ominously. Taunting him, reminding him who was in control. A cold smirk rested triumphantly on his face. The Hood believed he had already won.

'I have to say, I'm impressed by your attempts,' The Hood said, 'misguided though they are. It's a real pity Jeff Tracy got to you first, but no matter. I have you now.'

'O-oh, you r-really think so, d-do you?' Brains asked. In all honesty, to his own ears he sounded far braver than he actually felt. And The Hood must have been taken aback by the tone too, judging by the way he flinched. Just the tiniest amount – so small that Brains almost missed it entirely.

'I know so,' the villain replied, straightening the front of his suit jacket.

'Well, I d-don't.'

The Hood laughed. 'Perhaps you are not as smart as people say.'

'You can't p-possibly have the p-processing power to hijack the minds of t-two people at once,' Brains declared. 'I-in fact, doing so might just be your downfall.'

'We'll see.'

The yellow glow brightened, clearly an attempt to speed up the process of the hijacks. But, of course, that had been Brains's intention. Because the more power that went into the hijack, the more stress on the system. The more stress on the system, the more likely it was that cracks would appear. And with The Hood distracted, it was easy enough for Brains to focus some of his own energy as well. Just enough to move his finger.

'Let's hope these new software code patches can do the trick,' he mumbled.

The Hood didn't hear him, to engrossed in his own assumed victory. 'Only a few more seconds, and that traitor's memory will be permanently wiped. And yours too. Then I can have two puppets, nestled safely in the heart of International Rescue, just waiting to be activated. This time I win! This time you lose!'

Just before the man's horrid laughter could begin, there was a loud crash. Brains's stomach dropped, and he cried out again at the sensation of falling. The digital world exploded into view around him, and the sensation of the headset and the tablet returned. He was back. Now it was time to make good on his promise to The Mechanic.

Before his eyes, DigiMAX grew, larger and larger until he was the same size as The Hood's sentry bug. On paper, it was a much fairer fight. But Brains knew his technology was superior. In a few well-coordinated swoops, the bug was taken down. The giant DigiMAX turned his attention to the control centre and, with Brains's command, smashed the thing to pieces. It was risky, but it was the fastest way to take away The Hood's control. A loud scream pierced the air, but it faded out of existence as quickly as it came.

'Yes!' Brains punched the air. He snapped the headset off and raced to check on The Mechanic.

He'd done it. He'd kept his promise. The Mechanic was free! And so was he.