Project 314 found the blueprints next to the bed the next day. They were obviously for a tank. She was right; it had been modified. Evan had known how she would attack it, and adjusted it accordingly. The prime minister would have been clueless to that fact, but it would be easier for her to destroy the machine.
But that didn't mean she trusted him.
The prime minister would expect a driver to come out of the tank to shoot her, if she dodged the larger gun. This tank had no driver. But Evan could have fixed that. If there was something human with that machine, she would have been able to win so much faster.
Evan might think he was doing the right thing for her, but he was wrong.
She snarled and crumpled the blueprints into a ball, tossing it into the trash can with perfect aim.
"I d-d-d-d-d-d-don't f-f-f-forgive." She whispered.
Alan blunt entered the room. "Hello, Project 314."
"I h-h-h-have a r-r-real n-n-n-n-name, you kn-kn-know."
He just looked at her. "Not anymore."
She spat out a single, ugly, swear word, not bothering to mask her hate.
He sighed. "Really. That won't get you very far in life."
She glared at him, wondering how long it would take for the alarms to go off if she smashed his head into the wall.
Evan came in behind Blunt, wiping his handkerchief across his forehead. "Hello, Project 314. How are you this morning?"
She turned around, refusing to look at him. She held her hand out, still bloody from the day before, the skin still gone, revealing the metal bones. "L-L-L-L-Like you c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-care." She spat.
Evan sighed deeply. "I'm… I'm sorry."
"S-S-S-S-S-Save it for s-s-s-someone who b-b-b-b-b-believes you." She hissed.
Evan swallowed. He looked like he was about to say something, but Blunt cut him off.
"You have one week, then we're sending you one your first mission." His eyes were hard. "You'd better be ready."
Once again, she contemplated slamming his head into the wall. "A-A-A-A-And if I'm n-n-n-not?"
His eyes narrowed. "Then you will have no further use."
She glared at him. "You kn-kn-kn-kn-kn-know nothing, B-B-B-B-B-B-Blunt. N-N-N-N-N-Nothing."
"His name is Alex Rider. He works for MI6."
"And you're sure it was him, Ashlyn?"
"Positive. I'll never forget that face."
"Very well. We'll have to kill him."
"No. Not yet."
"Oh?"
"I've heard of Alex Rider. He took on Scorpia itself. Twice. Now, we have to make him think he's winning."
"And how do you propose we do that?"
"From what I know, he's trying to give something to Project 314. If we let him, we'll know what the Project is, and he'll think he's won."
"Good point. Very well. We let him give the item to the Project. And then we kill him."
Alex crept out, shivering crazily. It was two in the morning, the night that… artificial girl (if she could really be called a girl; it sounded too human for her appearances) had agreed to meet with that other man.
He snuck inside, glad to be away from the wind. He hurried into a corner, hidden by shadow.
The door opened to let in someone Alex could not see. The darkness was complete, smothering all images.
Until a flash of bright blue light danced across the room for a split-second. It was in a pattern of a computer chip, almost, pipes and spots decorating it, in two small areas, like unnatural and strange eyes.
It disappeared in a second. The sound of footsteps grew closer, then stopped abruptly. He heard a floorboard squeak, then silence.
After a few minutes, someone else entered the room. "Ashlyn?" A voice whispered.
"Back here." Came the reply. The voices clearly belonged to the people Alex had seen.
The man sighed and flicked on a flashlight. The figure of the girl was illuminated in the beam.
"Subtle." She remarked.
"How else am I supposed to know where you are?" He shot back.
"By turning on the light, perhaps?" She replied coolly. "A flashlight is more suspicious than a normal one, wouldn't you agree?"
He sighed through his nose and turned off the flashlight. Alex hurriedly found a more hidden spot as the man turned on the larger light above.
For the first time, he really looked at the man. He had dark brown hair and sharp, hawkish eyes that darted around nervously. They finally landed on the girl, staying still as they stared at her. Clearly, he held the same revulsion to her that Alex had; he could see him repressing the shiver and the look of distaste.
She sighed. "She told me we need a new recruit. And, seeing how well children are working out…"
He raised an eyebrow. "She wants another child in our operations?"
"A spy, to be specific. One who won't mind killing. One who can forge documents and such. Routine matters."
"Do you have anyone in mind?"
She shrugged, her too-perfect shoulders rising and falling in a seemingly unnatural motion. "Not really. But we need to send word out. That's where you come in."
The man nodded once. "Very well." He looked at her. "Usual place?"
"Yes. Over the next few days. We'll test them there, find out if they're… worthy candidates."
"And then?"
She shrugged. "How am I to know what she wants? We play it by ear."
He nodded. "Fine." He turned to the door. "You coming?"
She shook her head. "I have to… retrieve something, if you know what I mean."
He looked at her for a long time. "Be careful, Ashlyn."
She rolled her midnight black eyes. "Who do you think I am, Lance? An amateur?"
He sighed. "Reckless, actually."
And he left before she could say anything.
She glared at the spot where he'd just been before switching off the light. Alex shivered as he heard the sound of metal against metal.
"I know you're here." She whispered. "Come out."
Alex stayed put.
"You're interested in the job, I get it." She breathed. He heard the metal against metal sound again, and felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise as he realized what it was.
She was gently tapping a knife against some of the metal foundations in the building. Tall poles, railings, nothing was safe. He even heard a dull thump as it struck wood.
"It's all right." The knife scraped against something, sending small sparks. "I won't hurt you."
He sincerely doubted that, and his suspicions grew as he heard the knife carve something into wood.
"Look. If you want the job, just say so."
Alex found his lips moving in a small whisper. "I want the job." He didn't know why he'd said it.
Evidently, she'd heard. He saw those unnaturally pointed teeth glint in the moonlight as she smiled. "Good. I think you have potential." The knife continued to carve into the wood. "After all, Lance didn't even know you were here."
He heard something clatter to the floor. "I'll be waiting to hear from you." She said, her voice cold as the moonlight shining through the windows. He heard the door open, then close as she left.
He waited for a minute to see if she was really gone, then turned on a small flashlight that had been in his pocket.
He pointed it everywhere, finally certain that she'd left. He turned the beam to the floor, where he saw the wood she'd been carving into, saw what had clattered to the floor.
It was just a piece of wood; maybe a lid from a crate or something. This building had parts that were being reconstructed; maybe it was from a crate or spare piece of wood there. But there was a message crudely carved into it, an address.
Alex hurriedly memorized it. He had a pretty good idea as to where it was.
This… Ashlyn… had said something about a job. A job as a spy. Someone who could kill, someone who could forge papers, etc, etc. He still remembered some of his Scorpia training, hopefully enough to get him inside the operations.
He smiled. This could work out better than he'd thought.
The house was old. It looked abandoned, but shadows crossing the windows told Alex otherwise.
He walked to the door and knocked. It swung open to reveal Lance, the man he'd seen last night.
"I'm looking for Ashlyn." Alex said, hoping he looked braver than he felt.
Lance raised an eyebrow. "And you are…?"
"Felix." Alex replied. "Felix Arkson."
Lance smiled. "Original. Very good." He opened the door wider. "Come on in. Ashlyn will be here in a while."
Alex entered, finding two other people inside.
"This is 'Rose' and 'Jerry'." Lance said, indicating to each in turn. They glared at Alex. He glared back.
"Ashlyn will be here in a few minutes," Lance continued. "To give you the… information you'll need." He smiled and left the room. Alex caught the barest hint of a telltale bulge under his shirt, concealing a blade or a gun.
His eyes passed over Rose and Jerry for a moment, and he noticed other telltale signs of killer instincts. Rose hadn't even bothered to conceal the knife in her belt. Jerry was more cautious, but Alex still saw the bulge under Jerry's shirt.
Alex hoped his own gun was concealed better than that, but he somehow doubted it. Jerry was more of a professional than Alex was in the assassination field; he'd have more practice hiding weapons.
Everyone jumped and Rose pulled out her knife as the door closed again. Alex whirled around to see a too-perfect smile under black eyes and flaming red hair.
Ashlyn chuckled. "Well, I see you all have the natural paranoia. It can save your life, you know." One perfect eyebrow rose. "It can also destroy it."
The knife went back in Rose's belt. "I take it you're Ashlyn Corby."
Ashlyn nodded. Alex smiled slightly, glad of the last name he hadn't known. "And you are Rose Serkin, Jerry Lawrence, and Felix Arkson. All false names, I take it?"
Rose and Jerry nodded, and Alex quickly did the same. He suddenly realized what Lance's praise of 'Original' meant. His name was meant to be fake.
Ashlyn looked at them all. She was still smiling, that too-perfect smile that couldn't be human, keeping Alex's earlier description of 'artificial' still intact. Her lips curled slightly over her pointed teeth, which made him shiver slightly. The very sight of her unnerved him in the worst ways.
Ashlyn regarded them all thoughtfully. "I was expecting a few more…" She muttered out loud. "But then, I suppose children that are also hardened criminals are very rare…"
Rose rolled her eyes. "Not where I come from." She murmured.
Ashlyn's eyes whipped to Rose. "Oh?"
Rose shrugged. "Thieves and druggies, mostly. Hard to find real killers, but anything less…" She shrugged again.
Ashlyn smiled. "We'll keep that in mind."
"What's the interest in children, anyway?" Jerry asked, his eyes narrowed suspiciously.
Ashlyn turned to him. "Because people underestimate us." She retorted. "When we can be some of the most powerful people on the planet." She smiled, walking back and forth in front of them.
"Have any of you ever heard of Scorpia?"
Rose's knife slid out slowly. "You could say that." She replied, a note of pain in her voice, hidden by hate.
Jerry nodded as well. "Spies, assassins. That sort of thing. Highly powerful organization, until a few months ago. No one really knows what happened."
Alex thought it best to agree as well. "They worked in Venice, didn't they?"
Ashlyn's glittering eyes flickered to him for a second, and for a heart-stopping moment, he thought he'd revealed too much. But after a moment, she nodded. "It's common knowledge that Scorpia, while they worked in many different areas of the world, were centered in Venice." She smiled. "And I know what happened, Jerry." She told him, turning to him.
Jerry raised one skeptical eyebrow.
She chuckled, a sound that was too perfect to be human. "Scorpia was utterly destroyed, their operations compromised and their pride demolished by one person."
Rose's eyes gleamed. "Who?"
Ashlyn smiled at her. "A child, Rose. Much like you and I. A spy for MI6 who was only fourteen years old."
Rose's face broke into a satisfied smile. "No less than they deserved." She growled.
But Jerry remained skeptical. "A child spy? MI6 would never…"
"It's true." Ashlyn said. "Insane as it sounds, MI6 recruited a child. A boy named Alex Rider."
Rose grinned. "I'd like to meet him. Brought down Scorpia!" She breathed. An excited gleam entered her eyes.
But Alex's mind was racing. He expected that criminals would have learnt of him if he brought down Scorpia. But he didn't like that they knew his name. He also didn't like the information he was receiving in such an indirect way, information countering what Blunt had told him.
Information that showed that MI6 had lied to him once again.
Blunt had told him that he was going back into Scorpia. He'd said that a girl, Sandra Anderson, had been kidnapped by them. He'd said that Alex was there to rescue her.
But this wasn't Scorpia. Scorpia no longer existed.
Rage flowed through him, blazing like an icy flame. He should have expected this. He should have known this! Blunt had said the word Scorpia, and Alex had been all battle ready, prepared to destroy the company that had taken so much from him. Blunt had played him like a violin, saying the exact words that would trigger exact memories…
"Now, here's what's going to happen." Ashlyn said, breaking him from his thoughts. His mind snapped back to the conversation. "We're going to keep you in a hotel room, just for tonight. You're expected to get up early tomorrow morning, and be prepared for any tests we throw your way."
"The tests begin tomorrow, then?" Rose asked.
Ashlyn nodded. "We need the light, and of course, the time." She said, indicating the setting sun. "I hope you all understand; this was a complication that we hadn't expected…"
But they all nodded.
She smiled. "Good. Now, if you'll all follow me…"
She led them to a waiting car. Alex sat next to the window, Rose on his other side. Her eyes narrowed as she watched him, but he pointedly ignored her. She smiled approvingly and looked away at last.
The drive was short enough; perhaps a half hour, but it seemed like an eternity. One wrong word could bring Alex to an early grave, and he was completely aware of the fact.
The hotel was a welcome sight. Alex smiled. He was completely aware of the fact that criminals often got the better end of the deal; he'd seen millionaires in Scorpia and had spent the night in hotels that were nothing short of palaces. On first sight, he could see that this was the case for the hotel they were coming up to.
The car parked in front, and Ashlyn took them each to their rooms. Rose's was across from Alex's, Jerry's was to the left, and Ashlyn's was to the right.
Alex marveled at the room. It could hardly be called a room, as indeed there was more than one there. Alex quickly took a small tour around it. Four rooms, to be exact, and one large bathroom. The shower was a welcome sight, but Alex had something else he needed to see first.
He took the tour again, this time with more caution. His eyes darted around, and he looked in every place he could think of where a bug could be hidden. He found them everywhere, behind pictures, in lamps, even one pointing at his bed in plain sight; right on the ceiling.
He smirked and raised an eyebrow at each of them that he was certain was a camera instead of a simple listening device. For those that were listening devices, he's said, "Testing, testing, one two three, is this thing on?", hoping to get his message across.
There was a small refrigerator in his room, and he looked at it carefully. It wasn't one of those that they charged you for each item, though Alex was sure that whoever Ashlyn worked for would take care of it if it was.
He took out a water bottle and sniffed it carefully, then tasted it. Not poisoned, not laced with any type of drug, as far as he could tell. His head wasn't swimming in the slightest. That was good.
He relaxed slightly and went off to take a shower. To make sure, he'd even sniffed the shampoo and conditioner bottles, careful to note if he was even slightly tired. Thankfully, his head stayed clear. He smiled and walked into the steaming shower, hoping to make sense of everything he'd learnt today.
One thing was certain, though. He had a very important phone call to make.
