For prompt 7: Used as an experiment
Alan Blunt never did anything in the spur of the moment. He took any advantage his opponents gave him, but he did nothing without analysing every probable – and improbable – outcome of every action. And when dealing with Riders, the improbable outcomes were always more likely than he liked.
Ms Wright placed a thin folder on his desk and left without a word. She didn't know what the folders contained, only that they showed up on her desk once a month and to only deliver them when Mrs Jones was conveniently absent. There were some things his successor wasn't ready to face yet, and she wouldn't be until she was the one sitting behind the desk, signing off on orders that went against international conventions for the sake of Queen and Country.
Blunt opened the folder and slipped over the updates on operations that did not officially exist and could not be traced back to anyone associated with neither MI6 nor the rest of the intelligence community. Operations which he kept away from the prime minister and the rest of the government because elected politicians did not have the education and experience needed to do what was necessary. The Queen could ask to see them, in theory, but it was hard to ask for something you didn't know existed.
He stopped at one of the last operations in the folder. With this 168th monthly update, it was one of the longer-running ones, though far from the longest. Some stretched back to before the second world war.
What had started as the test run of a new training program for the next generation of field agents had taken a dramatic shift a few months ago. Alex Rider had been a promising candidate, exceeding expectations in both the physical, mental, and intelligence tests they did over the years, covered up as innocent things like medical examinations, private tutoring, or holiday activities.
Unfortunately, the untimely loss of Ian Rider left their potential recruit without a handler, and after their first meeting at the Bank, it was clear that Alex would never willingly take orders from anyone else. They had lost any hope of getting a stable and reliable operative, but nothing was ever a complete loss. They had gained invaluable knowledge which would still benefit future operatives, even if Alex Rider wouldn't be part of them.
Blunt would not let all their arduous work go to waste. While blackmail was a temporary solution, Alex young age, recklessness, and rather explosive tendencies made him an invaluable, if unpredictable, weapon.
A dog didn't need a handler to hold its leash if its purpose was to attack everything in sight. It only needed to fear the stick that drove it in the right direction.
Blunt had a lot of sticks in his arsenal, and he had no qualms about swinging them himself.
He skimmed the updated mental evaluation at the end. The last Rider had survived longer than even their most optimistic predictions, but time was running out. Either a mission took him out, or they would have to consider other less pleasant solutions.
A waste yes, but the risks were becoming higher than the benefits.
Blunt wrote a few notes of suggestions for further tests before the next time they sent Alex out on his next mission. He already had one in mind. The time for pleasantries and charades was over.
If anything went wrong, well … it would be easy to burn the only copy of the file, and they would save the resources of arranging another tragic accident.
Themes: Blunt being Blunt, referenced/implied child abuse
