Higher Institute of Villainous Education Read Free Page A

‘alternative’ forms of education, would be discreetly informed about the facility and the unique opportunities it offered. Some of the parents were former pupils of H.I.V.E. themselves and some simply wanted their children to continue in the ‘family business’. The children would all have been monitored over the course of a year to see if they had the necessary gifts for a future education at H.I.V.E. Secret tests were administered or staged opportunities for villainy were set up for them, in order to see how they would respond. Should they, unbeknownst to them, pass these tests, their parents would be informed and, upon transfer of a significant sum of money to a secure Swiss bank account, they would be enrolled.
    The parents were under strict instructions that none of the new students should be informed of these future educational arrangements. This policy had been introduced after there had been several unfortunate incidents in the early years of the institution involving successful applicants who had excitedly shared news of their future at H.I.V.E. with friends, despite specific instructions to the contrary. Indeed, one particular incident of this kind had led to the school being transferred from its original location in Iceland to its current home on the island. From that point onwards the rule of strict secrecy was enforced and so the unaware students had to be retrieved discreetly by Nero’s operatives at the start of each new school year.
    At least that was what normally happened; clearly Wing Fanchu’s retrieval had been anything but discreet, which was bad for business, especially the type of business that H.I.V.E. was involved in.
    ‘What happened, exactly?’ Nero asked, deactivating the screen on the lectern.
    ‘As I understand it, sir, the retrieval team were following standard operating procedure. They had hit the boy with a sleeper as he walked alone in the gardens of his family home. One can only assume that the strength of the charge had been set incorrectly, since the boy managed to disable two of our men after he had been hit. He injured one more operative when he awoke in the ambulance on the way to the assembly point and attempted to escape. You should be aware that on this occasion it took two more sleeper shots to subdue him.’
    Nero turned to Raven, raising an eyebrow. ‘Meaning it took three hits in total to eventually subdue this boy, a total charge which should knock a child out for a week and yet already he appears fully recovered? He almost seems more suitable for the Henchman programme. Do you know if Colonel Francisco has reviewed his file?’
    ‘Yes, sir, but the Colonel said that he scored too highly in the mental aptitude tests for enrolment in the programme and he should be in the Alpha stream instead.’ Her expression hardened – like all of the staff at H.I.V.E. she disliked reporting failed operations to Nero. ‘Rest assured I intend to keep a particularly close eye on him.’
    ‘See that you do, Natalya, and make sure that Security are informed of his apparent resistance to standard pacification measures.’
    ‘Of course, Doctor. Is there anything else?’
    ‘No, you may go. Report any suspicious activity related to those two directly to me.’
    ‘Yes, sir.’ And with that she slipped her mask back on and disappeared into the cavern’s shadows.

.
    Chapter Two
    Otto looked around the room they had just entered. The walls of now familiar highly polished black rock were dotted with screens displaying maps and charts. The room was completely dominated, however, by one central feature, a single huge table. The table must have been ten metres long and was made from a dark wood. Inlaid into its centre was a silver fist and globe symbol, just like the sculpture in the entrance cavern. Around the table were two dozen large, high-backed black leather chairs, all of which, with the notable exception of the seat at the far end, were empty.
    Seated there, at the head of the