Alex woke slowly. Sound returned first, though there wasn't much to hear. His head felt foggy, and there was a shooting pain between his eyes.
Slowly, steadily, vision began to return.
The room was dimly lit, and incredibly cold. He looked around.
Ashlyn Corby stood completely still, watching him with glittering black eyes. Her arms were crossed, and she was leaning casually against the wall. Her brilliant dyed-red hair stood out fantastically against the bright white of the wall, while the rest of her seemed to almost blend in, she was so pale. There was no smile, no sharp teeth showing, but she still looked deadly.
In shock, Alex tried to stand up. He found himself falling backwards, his stomach lurching as the concrete behind him started to rush towards his head…
Ashlyn was behind him in an instant, lifting his chair back into its upright position, and him with it.
She sighed, exasperated. "Don't do that again." She ordered.
She walked back to the wall calmly and leaned against it once more, as though waiting.
Alex swallowed. "Where are we?" he demanded. "And…" He looked down. "Why am I tied to a chair?"
She laughed humorlessly. "Why else? You're a spy for MI6. Alex Rider."
Alex swallowed, then decided it was better to remain 'ignorant'. "I don't know what you're talking about."
She rolled her black eyes. "Don't play dumb with me."
He realized it wasn't going to work. He was caught, and he knew it. "What do you want?" he demanded.
She smiled. "It's not what I want, Alex. It's what The Director wants. She's very keen to meet you."
"Who is The Director?"
She chuckled. "You're not the first to ask that question. All of the others ended up dead. That will probably be the case for you."
"What-"
She glared at him. "Enough."
Alex found himself silenced by her gaze. There was something incredibly different about Ashlyn Corby. She looked relatively the same, but she was holding herself with a more determined stare, a bolder look. She looked more robotic and artificial than ever, and at the same time seemed more relaxed. As though her human look had just been a disguise, and this was the real creature inside. There was something even more lethal and terrifying about her, something dangerous, something harsh and cruel.
And that wasn't all. Her already brilliant black eyes had changed as well. There was nothing human in them anymore.
And was he imagining things, or was there really no whites in her eyes? Were they really all black?
"Ashlyn?" The door opened above a small set of stairs. Alex's eyes narrowed in hate. It was Lance.
"He's awake." She called back, not even bothering to look at him, looking instead at her nails. Alex shivered; those looked dangerous as well, filed to an edge that looked like it could slice through skin. "She can see him."
Lance nodded and disappeared for a moment. Finally, he came back through the door, a woman followed him. She had long, brown, wavy hair that hung barely past her shoulders, and glistening brown eyes. She walked down the stairs slowly, then stood in front of Alex. Her eyes searched him disapprovingly.
"This is Alex Rider?" She asked doubtfully. Ashlyn nodded.
"He doesn't seem like much." She said disdainfully.
Ashlyn smirked. "Most children don't. But we can be completely lethal."
The woman turned to face Ashlyn, then winced and turned away quickly, her face pale. She took a deep breath, as though the mere thought of the unnatural child was revolting.
"What does he know?" She asked at last, keeping her eyes locked on Alex.
"Not much."
"Anything about the Project?"
Ashlyn chuckled as Alex's eyes lit up, though he tried to hide it. "Nothing."
"Nothing?"
"He's completely ignorant, Director. He doesn't even know what the paper meant. Or the gun, for that matter."
Alex felt a wave of despair wash through him. They had found the paper that he kept in his pocket, the one with the numbers on it, the one meant for the Project. And they knew about the gun, also meant for Project 314.
Ashlyn smiled as she saw the emotion passing across his face. "No worries, Alex." She pulled out the gun that he'd given her earlier. "Project 314 got your little gadget, and the paper."
Alex looked at her in confusion. "What?" If she was holding the gun, then the Project couldn't have gotten it.
The Director raised an eyebrow. "He really doesn't know."
Ashlyn laughed. "Totally ignorant."
"I am not ignorant!" Alex couldn't handle it anymore. "Would someone just tell me what's going on? And where's Rose?"
Ashlyn glared at him.
"Rose?" The Director asked.
"One of the children who applied for the job." Ashlyn explained.
"Ah."
"Where is she?" The question that had once been an afterthought was now blazing in his mind.
"Dead, if you must know." Ashlyn said coolly.
Alex's heart dropped into his stomach.
Suddenly, a flash of rage and anger that he'd never known before went through him. He started muttering random things, finding he could no longer control his own words. "Murdering, lying, traitorous…"
He never finished. "And your MI6 is so much better?" Ashlyn demanded. Her voice was soft, but filled with such loathing and rage that it made her words shake slightly.
"She's right." The Director said coldly. She turned to Ashlyn again, trying hard not to flinch. "Show him."
Ashlyn nodded once, as though she didn't trust herself to speak. She pulled something out of her pocket and placed it in front of Alex's face. "Recognize her?"
Alex looked at the photo for a long time before he realized who it was. It was the girl in the picture Alan Blunt had shown him, the girl he believed to be Sandra Anderson, before Blunt told him that Ashlyn Corby was the person these people really kidnapped.
"Sandra Anderson." He replied, playing dumb.
Ashlyn laughed, a humorless, harsh laugh that was laced with pain. "They don't even get the name right." She said softly.
"Indeed." Said the Director, her eyes calculating and thoughtful. "You believe that we kidnapped this 'Sandra Anderson', correct?"
Alex nodded.
Ashlyn rolled her eyes. "Look at the picture, Alex. I mean, really look at it."
Alex did as ordered. The girl was beautiful, and had soft grey eyes that were no longer blurred and indistinct, and no longer held any fear. She was smiling, a bright, happy smile that shone brightly. Black hair fell past her shoulders.
But slowly, he realized. The resemblance was slight, but there. The grey eyes were now black, the black hair now a flaming dyed-red color. Her teeth and nails were now sharpened into points. Her natural, healthy, human look had disappeared, changing into this plastic creature in front of him, unnatural and strange.
Something terrible had happened to Ashlyn Corby. Because 'Sandra Anderson' really was Ashlyn Corby, and not just by situation or name.
Because the girl in the picture was Ashlyn. There was no doubt in Alex's mind.
What had happened to her? What had changed her so badly, what had created this monster in front of him?
"Beautiful, wasn't she?" The Director asked regretfully. "Before you're precious MI6 got a hold of her."
Alex swallowed. "I never said they were precious." He growled, unsure what to say. "But they don't murder for no reason!"
"Murder!" Ashlyn barked a resentful laugh. "What is death compared to this?"
Alex stared at her in shock. Ashlyn seemed like a person who held herself high above others, someone who saw her inhumanity as a good thing, something that separated her from the weaklings, that made her better. He had no idea that maybe, just maybe, she hated what she was.
"But… but we're talking about countless murders! Lives lost! Children dying for no reason!" Alex protested.
"D-Death is nothing!" Ashlyn shrieked, hate and rage and pain in her metallic voice. Her sharp nails were suddenly next to Alex's face. "N-Nothing compared to th-this!"
Alex wondered briefly where the stutter had come from, but he had no time to really think about it as The Director gently took Ashlyn off of him, saying in a soothing voice, "He doesn't know, Ashlyn, it's ok, he doesn't know."
"Doesn't know what?" Alex demanded.
Ashlyn glared at him resentfully. "He's so blissfully ignorant."
"Well, Ashlyn, if you'd like to put him out of his misery, be my guest." The Director snapped.
Ashlyn looked like she really did want to do as the Director suggested, but didn't dare. She compromised by glowering at Alex as she leaned against the wall.
"But you really don't know, do you?" The Director asked, looking directly at Alex.
He raised an eyebrow. "What don't I know?" he demanded.
"Think about it, Alex. What is the only theory that makes any sense?"
"Theory about what?" Alex roared, unable to take their condescending tones and faces any longer.
The Director rolled her eyes. "Project 314, of course." She replied coldly.
"I have no theories! Only…"
"Orders?" Ashlyn's cold voice joined the conversation once more.
Alex didn't know what to say. Of course, they were technically orders, but that implied that he meant nothing to them, that he was just there to obey commands…
You've been replaced, Alex. Smithers' words rang in his head suddenly. He swallowed.
"Basically." He said grudgingly. The corner of Ashlyn's lip twitched upwards.
The Director sighed deeply. "Think about it, Alex. Just think. MI6 told you that Sandra Anderson, who you now know is Ashlyn Corby, had been kidnapped by us. Correct?"
Alex nodded, unsure where she was getting with this.
"You were also told that a certain project was inside our operations and gathering intelligence."
He nodded again.
"You had no idea what this Project was. Just that it terrified anyone who heard it mentioned, correct?"
"Yes."
"Anything else? Did anyone say anything to you?"
"No." He lied.
Ashlyn smirked. "Really? Because it was my impression that Smithers told you to…" She took a deep breath, and recited her words in a voice that sounded exactly like Smithers', "Listen to me. Don't take this mission. Please, if you value your life, stay as far away from this as you can. Run. Hide. Do whatever you have to, but stay away."
Alex felt the blood drain from his cheeks. "How did you…?"
"He still can't figure it out." Lance sneered.
Hate flashed through Alex. "Then tell me!" he demanded.
The Director ignored them both. "Think, Alex. We knew from day one that you were here. How else would we recognize you?"
"Think about the paper." Ashlyn intervened, waving the sheet in front of its eyes. "What does it say?"
Alex swallowed. "It's a code."
Ashlyn sighed, exasperated. "What kind of code, Alex. What code is made of zeroes and ones?"
It hit him like a slap to the face. "Computer code." His mind strained to understand. "So… the Project's a computer?"
Ashlyn sighed again, placing the paper at her side. "The Project got your little gun and paper, remember?"
"So?"
"You're just a child!" Her voice had returned to sounding like Smithers'. "Just a child. Just like her."
She pulled out a knife. "Your precious MI6 created Project 314." She sliced into her hand, opening the semi-closed gash that Christie had given her hours before. "They created something perfect. Far too perfect."
She held up her hand. Blood flowed down it. But, hidden there, was the glittering of metal.
"They created the p-perfect s-s-spy." She replied, stuttering angrily.
"They changed a y-y-young girl." She continued, tying up her hand and putting away her knife.
Her brilliant all-black eyes landed on Alex's.
"They created a t-t-traitor!" She continued. Lance and The Director smirked; the betrayal was obviously not against them.
"They c-created…" She leaned in next to Alex's face, so that her too-perfect nose was almost touching his, her shark-like teeth a bright white as she smiled, a twisted smile of hate and malice. "A monster."
She stood up. "They created me, Alex."
Alex knew what she was going to say, even before she said it. He knew, without knowing how he knew. But everything in him whispered of this girl's hideous past, her darkest memories, her brilliant, midnight-black eyes that radiated pain, her hatred and rage. Everything in him told him what he had failed to see, despite how obvious it had been.
Her black eyes glittered, and she towered over him, triumphant.
"I am Project 314."
