James finally found his way to what appeared to be a make shift main hall and a light on in the office upstairs. There were no guards in sight. That was not a good sign for James, too easy.
He quietly went up the stairs and found the controller sitting on the desk in the office and the door was open. He noticed a map hanging in the office, a map of a village he had no idea where it was. He heard people coming towards him and found a hiding place.
The man in the suit was yelling angrily at his gunmen and then noticed the controller sitting on the desk unguarded and continued yelling at them for not putting it away. He took the controller and placed it into a secure suitcase. It was probably bulletproof.
Dang.
James was also out of exploding pens. Now what?
"007?" Q piped up in his ear again. James tapped his earpiece to acknowledge that he heard Q.
"The man in the suit has a suitcase and the controller is inside it." James tapped again.
"Can you get to it?" James tapped again for another yes.
"Good, in your phone, there is a program that deciphers locks like the digital one on that suitcase. It needs a good 20 seconds to get in and hack the suitcase." James tapped to confirm.
20 seconds. He could do that. He might get shot in the process but he could do it.
For Queen and Country right?
James leapt out of his hiding spot and shot two of the bodyguards. He jumped onto the suitcase and slammed his phone against it. The man in the suit grabbed him by the ankle and threw him off the table. James tried to punch him but the man's belly took the punch and the man smiled at James. Next thing he knew, James was being lifted and thrown across the table, knocking over the suitcase and his phone that he had left on it.
James grabbed the phone and kept it as close to the case as possible so that it could crack the case open. The phone beeped and James threw the suitcase at the man in the suit's face.
The man fell to the ground and the controller fell out of the case. The man in the suit lunged for it but James had a gun in his hand.
James fired his gun and ran out of the room.
The man in the suit had tensed up, expecting to get shot, but nothing happened. Instead, the controller in his hands was smoking. It was fried.
James could hear the man scream even though he was halfway out of the complex.
"Where is Mark now?"
"I think I've spotted him near the exit you made earlier."
"Let's hope I get there before he gets too far."
"James… there is something you need to keep in mind when you find him."
"What?"
"He's just had someone take over his body and use him to hunt the very person trying to get him out of there. He's not likely to be in a good mood."
"I'll just be my charming self then." James said wryly.
"That's precisely what I am afraid of." Q said.
"I'll go easy on him." James promised.
James found Mark wandering down the street, barefoot and cold. Fortunately, all the guards were focusing on the main building and were not searching the grounds yet. James came up behind him.
"Mark?" Mark spun around, he was scared. James couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor kid. Mark took a step back but seemed to relax a bit.
"Look, I am so sorry for what happened back there." He started but James put up his hand to silence him.
"Don't worry about it. I understand what happened. Those nano bot things were in control and not you."
"How do you know that?"
"I have a friend who was filling me in on your scenario while you were erm, looking for me." Mark breathed a long breath and looked away. He had shame written all over his face.
"You couldn't control it, I'm not mad at you. I just want us to keep moving so we don't get caught again." James put his hand on Mark's shoulder but Mark pulled away from it. He walked onward with his head down.
"I have a car waiting just around the bend there. Let's get you out of the cold at least." James offered. Mark nodded once but kept his head down. This was going to be a long trip back to the hotel.