Hey everyone! Since you had to wait so long for Chapter Seven, You can have Chapter Eight as well! Enjoy!

Chapter Eight

Project Resurrection

Alex had had enough. He lay in a hospital bed, in a public ward. It was empty except for a boy who had fallen out of a tree, and a girl who had no visible sign of injury, but would not speak at all.

He had decided. He would never work for MI6 again. He had nearly died twice, and was probably clinically dead anyway, the amount of doctors notes he had been given by MI6.

He was called into the Royal and General at one pm the following day. He thought about it, but decided enough was enough.

Then, one of the nurses switched the television on for him, and MI6 and everything else was forgotten.

The letter came at two that day.

CASE NAME: SHADOW BRINGER

AGENTS: AGENT RIDER, AGENT BENNETT

SUBJECT: Dr. J R KING

CASE DESCRIPTION:

Dr. R J King has been in our sights for some time. We have had reports of him performing highly dangerous experiments involving artificial light. Our sources tell us he is trying to concentrate light in order to assist his experiments. We believe this has something to do with his most recent outgoing, "PROJECT RESSURECTION". We do not know much about this, but we know that he cannot just take light when he needs it. We need you two to enter as apprentices. We are aware you are not old enough to work in a scientific environment, but we will sort something out.

THE FOLLOWING IS FOR THE BENEFIT OF AGENT ALEX RIDER, AND SHOULD BE VIEWED BY HIM ALONE.

Dear Alex,

With regards to the recent mission at the Businessman's Club, you wished not to be involved, so as soon as the CIA found an agent, we pulled you out as per your request. The reason we have sent you on this mission, though, is because, unknown to the CIA, we think the two cases have a connection. You will be given gadgets, and, since they were not used, asked to return your old ones. If it really matters to you, you can keep them, and the new gadgets can be used at a later date. I know it's not like me to get emotional, Alex, but I feel I am the only one to really worry about you. I'm sure your friend Tom, and Jack, worry about you all the time but only I really know the full extent of it. I was just 19 when I was pulled in to my first mission. In a way, that's very different to being fourteen, but in another way, it is very much the same. Let me assure you, many members of MI6 regret their decision. I'm not trying to make it seem all right, I'm just trying to encourage you.

Vicky Bennett, your partner on this mission, is from the CIA. She picked you up in the helicopter, and managed to leave the man who stabbed you in a coma. Your friend, Sabina, has been taken home, and until yesterday, was in hospital for shock. I'm sorry, Alex, buy it was you who brought her into all this. Of course, I'm not blaming you, I'm just stating. For now, I have things to organise. Some details from one of our agents has come in about a place in Iraq, called the Zagros Mountains. It's a big place, and at one point, we may need your help. A lot of our agents are less than half as efficient as you. That's a compliment, Alex.

Hope you recover soon enough,

Mrs. Jones

Co. Manager

Royal and General PLC

Seeing the letter, Alex knew he had no choice. But he had seen a side of Mrs. Jones that he had never seen before. He was starting to see her point, and even though he hated it, he saw the logic behind it all. And now he knew, she did worry about him. She had children, and he knew now that she had feelings. He had always thought of her as an enemy. Blunt was still not his friend, but maybe Mrs. Jones was.

Though he didn't like to admit it, maybe he was getting used to being an agent, working in the field. Maybe Mrs. Jones was right.

She had told him her first name. It seemed like years ago, but it was only a couple of months. Tulip. Maybe she was getting emotional. People always say spies can't get emotional. But when Alex thought about it, being emotional had saved his life. And now, Mrs. Jones was getting emotional. Maybe at some point, she would pull him out. Maybe at some point, she would decide enough is enough. Maybe at some point she would let him live his life.

There was one man in the room when the agent entered. The man was tall, thin, with piercing green eyes and a long, crooked nose. His face looked as if it had been cut up into sections. All across his face were deep grooves that separated the other sections of his face. He was revolting. Also, his features were displaced, with one eye slightly higher than the other, and his nose twisted slightly, as if it had been broken several times, and was fixed in that position. Overall, he looked like something from a horror movie, a real life mad scientist, conducting strange experiments.

He had never told anyone what had happened to his face. It had happened, and only he could know. The agent, agent Simms, had thought it was some sort of freak accident, an explosion, or a car crash, but no one would ever know.

The room was entirely made from metal. The man was working at a metal desk as the far wall. The door was steel, as was an operating table, and toolbox in the centre of the room. There was also a large sunlight generator against one metal wall. There was only one thing that was not metal, other than the windows, and even then the shutters were metal. There was a small glass tank in the centre of the room. When he had been given the post by MI6, the first ting Dr. King had mentioned was that he was never to touch the tank. Inside was a semitransparent green liquid, and two metal chargers, hooked up to something Simms couldn't see. That part of the tank was clouded. Only Dr. King would ever know what was inside.

It was in this moment that agent Simms realised how many secrets he had from the world. His face, his tank, his sunlight generator. The more he thought about it, the less, he realised, he knew. But then again, no one knew anything about him really. MI6 had provided him with a biography of the doctor, but it only said about his life. Also, there was nothing about the accident, it only went up to 1992. Although, after that, Dr. King seemed to disappear for two years. Another secret.

"Yes, Dr. Grant?"

"I have the results on the sunlight reactor, as per request."

"Good. Are they compliant?"

"Enough. We should start immediately."

"No. I have other plans. I will be away for a week or so. I am looking for apprentices until then, and you'll need to be in charge. I'll know if you look in the tank." It was as if the doctor had read his mind. "Though you don't know what's in there, I would like you to maintain it. If at any time the water turns purple, pour water into it until the purple drains away, and the water is green again."

"Okay, sir."

He turned to leave, but never made it to the door. There was a zapping sound, and the man's brain was instantly fried. Of course, Dr. King knew the man was from MI6. He could use the man for experiments.

He emptied the tank, and binned his experiment. It was dying anyway. But now, he could try his experiment again. He smiled to himself.

MI6 were wrong. The sunlight thing was a decoy. He needed sunlight, but only for Project Resurrection to work better. It could work without it, if he wanted it to.

He smiled again, at the genius of Project Resurrection. Nothing had ever been tried on this scale before. Then he turned on the tap, and watched as his turned the flowing water green.