T-minus 2 weeks until D-day
They heard the notification come in on their work phone. Thankfully, they'd removed all of the makeup, so he was presentable for a video call - rare, but a possibility. Finished towelling his hair dry, Yassen threw the towel into the laundry bin (he would burn the contents before leaving) and picked up the phone to see a message from an unknown number.
Dear winner,
Congratulations! You've won a one-day trip to London in precisely two weeks! This prize is only available on this date, so act quickly! Click the link below!
To anyone outside of SCORPIA, it was a badly-executed scam attempt, sent to hundreds of thousands of phone numbers, something to be deleted as soon as read. If anyone did click on the link, it would lead to a credential harvesting site, where the organisation wouldn't hesitate to milk the witless fool of everything they had. It may be small fry, but SCORPIA hadn't gotten to where it was now by turning its nose up at easy money.
To SCORPIA operatives, it was an order.
Avoid London for a day in exactly two weeks. Someone is doing something there, and you don't need to know.
An order Yassen found easy to comply with, given that he had no intention of going to London any time soon.
T-minus 6 days until D-day
It took Yassen a second to find the phone the notification was coming from (he had 3 at any time - one for work and SCORPIA, a second for Sub - and Point Blanc-related issues, and the rarely-used one for personal reasons).
Hi Tasya,
It's Alex Friend from the centre.
So, it turns out that I'm getting Married in less than a week - six days - in the Grand Marriagorium of London, and I need a third Witness (a relative and Julius make up the other two).
Would you be able to come?
If you're unavailable or can't make it, I understand. There isn't much notice, and you could have other plans.
I hope you can make it, though.
He blinked.
There were several things wrong with the message.
First was the name. He knew Alex Friend didn't exist: it was Alex Rider. He looked just like-
Yassen wrenched back control of his mind, dissipating the unwanted thought.
Second was the date: Alex's Wedding was on the same date and in the same place that Yassen was supposed to avoid. An optimistic person would pass it off as a coincidence.
He wasn't an optimist.
Third was the mention that Alex had already invited Julius, which showed an unconscious lack of trust in his "Dom".
Considering the "Dom" in question was Blunt, Yassen couldn't blame him in the slightest. There were rumours about the man and his "use it until it breaks" attitude (he managed to keep those rumours from most of his employees - those that found out ended up on the wrong side of someone's gun).
There was every chance it was a trap, that Blunt had told Alex to invite "Tasya".
Fourth…
I hope you can make it, though.
It had the hallmarks of a lonely child, uncertain of their worth.
Yassen would have thought Alex would be popular - he certainly had been among the others in Point Blanc. Young, athletic (handsome) - he should be able to make friends wherever he goes.
Though Alex had reacted almost too positively to Yassen's compliments when he'd been teaching the teenagers self-defence. Since his fa- parents were dead, his uncle probably raised him. The files he'd been able to access on Rider, Ian had described the man as "concise - doesn't say words he considers unnecessary".
Some of those "unnecessary" words could have been complimenting his nephew.
If Alex had grown up not being provided with many declarations of love from his caretaker, it could leave him vulnerable to exploitation; willing to latch onto anyone who showed a speck of interest in him, he'd ignore any red flags.
It left people in vulnerable positions, powerless.
(He had first-hand knowledge of this.)
Fifth… actually, SCORPIA wasn't an issue for once.
Yes, they had explicitly ordered him to stay away from London the same day Alex asked "Tasya" to be a Witness, but they didn't know about "her".
Yassen had paid an unemployed thespian he was as close to certain as he could be that they didn't work for SCORPIA to teach him how to dress, act, be like a woman (though he usually used they/them pronouns when referring to himself if he was dressed as a woman). When working, he used those skills rarely, keeping them as his ace up the sleeve.
It was doable.
The only question was if he wanted to do it.
T-minus 40 minutes until D-day
In the few seconds before Alex spotted them, Tasya thought he seemed unfeeling, like a statue. Their eyes swept over the other people in the room, taking in the overall atmosphere.
Tulip Jones and John Crawley were trying to appear excited; Ian Rider seemed worried; Blunt had an air of barely-restrained excitement; the pastor was examining his nails, and the vaguely-familiar Witness was trying to conceal their impatience.
They palmed the listening device as Alex bounded over, transferring it to his shoulder when they patted him during their greeting.
They'd come to two possible conclusions about the Wedding.
One: it was fake, a believable excuse to get Alex into Point Blanc as a spy (there was a high chance MI6 had connected the two newly-wed, late Doms to their "Subs" having been sent to the centre).
Or two: it was real, and Blunt intended to make Alex Rider his.
During their quick sweep of the room, they concluded that Tulip, John and Alex believed it was option one, while Ian, Blunt and the pastor seemed to lean towards option two, and the almost familiar Witness wasn't leaning either way. If the way Blunt spoke to Alex indicated how the Marriage would pan out (they noticed the almost-repressed flinches at Blunt's touch), they were glad they'd decided to come and were relieved Julius had been invited.
Tasya stepped in to distract Blunt when the man didn't appear to believe the doppelganger story, which allowed Alex to escape to the corner with Julius acting as bodyguard. The AI was unsuccessful in dissuading Alex from going ahead with the Marriage, and the pastor announcing the start stopped his efforts.
Witnesses usually stayed for the whole Wedding, though there was the rare occasion when one had to leave for some reason. Blunt's third left once their part was done, though Tasya noticed they looked at their watch before leaving. They listened to the man walk over to the door, walk out, shut the do-
The man's pace changed. The gap between each click shortened once he left the room, and the sound faded slightly.
Amateur.
One of the phones buzzed.
T-minus 30 minutes until D-day
They reached into their handbag (big enough to carry the SCORPIA phone and bits of makeup) and pulled it out.
Dear winner,
Bad luck! You weren't quick enough! Ian Rider and Alan Blunt are the two winners receiving their rewards in thirty minutes. The prize will be delivered by our team member, Nile.
Better luck next time!
That message was only sent (encrypted using AES 128-bit) to inform those SCORPIA thought wouldn't be getting out of their Contract, wouldn't spill their guts at the first application of knife to the skin, and had shown loyalty to the organisation. The number of people who saw these messages outside of the Board was fourteen (the fifteenth had died recently).
Despite the list one had to be on to even receive the notification and the (as close to) unhackable encryption, SCORPIA still obfuscated the message behind that of a scam. Admittedly, they didn't put a lot of thought into the obfuscation - Nile will kill Ian Rider in thirty minutes at the request of Alan Blunt was the actual message. It didn't take a genius to decode the message once one knew the context.
They looked around, the door the Witness had exited through visible in their peripheral vision, before looking back at the phone. Attending a Marriage a few feet away from his target was the type of impulsive and arrogant behaviour they expected from Nile. Once his face was covered by makeup, Nile could easily blend into a crowd. Mind made up, Tasya told Julius to keep an eye out using the pre-programmed hand signals. Only after receiving a nod did they wave at Alex and slip out of the room through the same door as (they suspected) Nile.
Mentally cursing the weapons they couldn't carry due to the form-fitting dress, tiny bag and metal detectors while stripping off the clothes, Yassen walked over to the corner created by the open door (unconcerned by his brief, almost nudity). He grabbed the clothes out of the bag, efficiently putting on the clothes packed within while using the time to think of an available weapon nearby. The evaluation led to him returning to grab one of the heels he'd been wearing a few minutes previously.
Only the twinge of his instincts when emerging from the Marriagorium prevented Yassen from getting cut across the face. He ducked under the swipe of the first shuriken while stepping to the side to avoid the second. Though he had long since been left to live where he wanted when Nile had "willingly joined" (as much as they all had) SCORPIA, he had made a policy of learning as much as possible about as many of the organisation's operatives as possible.
Nile had willingly torn up his Contract, removing any hope of leaving SCORPIA except by shuffling off the mortal coil. There were also (unconfirmed) speculation that he was sleeping with someone on the Board (his money was on Julia Rothman since she'd tried to "encourage" him to sleep with her). The man may favour swords and have the flexibility of youth (Yassen was already beginning to notice twinges in places where there had been none a few years ago). Still, he had over a decade's extra experience on his side.
Along with a decade of extra practice with keeping his composure (and mouth shut).
"I'm surprised to see you here, Cossack. You ignoring a direct order from our employers will have consequences - the Board won't be best pleased," declared Nile between swipes of the shurikens.
Yassen ignored the man, primarily concerned with keeping his body from contact with the shurikens. A heel was not the best weapon to bring to a fight, but if it was that or nothing… well, best get used to it quickly.
He couldn't get close enough to inflict any damage for another five minutes, and the turning point in the fight came when he heard Ian Rider's voice at the entrance of the Marriagorium.
Nile was momentarily distracted, drawing his hand back then forward, launching one of the shurikens through the air, cutting through Ian's artery. Yassen had almost reacted fast enough to intercept it but wasn't fast enough (he felt the air move past his outstretched hand). Job done, Nile's priorities changed to disengaging from the fight and escaping, but he was preventing this. If the man tried to leave now, his back would be exposed, and he wouldn't give others such a large target.
Since it was one shuriken against one heel, the fight had shifted closer to being more likely to be ended by an unlucky turn of the dice for the loser.
Yassen ignored the argument going on behind him, seeing an opportunity to end the fight due to a slight incorrect foot placement by Nile (idly noting that Blunt had ordered Alex like one would a disobedient dog). Instead of dodging the man's next swipe, he caught it behind his parted arms that were in a boxer block, the man's elbow in front of his left arm and his wrist behind his right arm (1). Simultaneously jerking his right arm back and left arm forward, Yassen broke the man's arm before he had a chance to use the shuriken. He also stabbed Nile in the stomach with the heel to be sure he would be unconcerned with the fight for a while, yanking the shuriken out of the man's hand.
Unfortunately, Blunt's deputy stepped into the path of the shuriken while it was flying through the air. Julius' attempt was also unsuccessful, prolonging Blunt's life for a few months at least since the man would probably go into a safe house, only leaving when he could be accompanied by at least ten subordinates to act as (cough cannon fodder cough) bodyguards. Yassen made a mental note to call Hugo on his second phone to tell them about Julius' death as he grabbed Alex, preventing him from trying to harm Blunt and make himself a criminal. He was already a criminal, so he didn't mind if a few more crimes were added to his rap sheet.
They ran out of the courtyard, Blunt's clichéd declaration following close behind.
(A.N: So, next week, I'll be in Paris! (If the strikes don't affect my flight). The next upload may or may not be late, so… advanced warning? *shrugs*
(1) The symbols below hopefully illustrate what I'm talking about. The long slanted line is Nile's right arm, and the two l's are Yassen's right and left arm.
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l\
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\l
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