Rogue Read Free Page B

said. ‘You know how she hates to be interrupted when she’s working. Are you sure we need her to be there?’
    ‘Quite sure,’ Darkdoom said quietly.
    ‘Very well, I shall pick her up on the way,’ Nero said. He could already imagine what Raven’s reaction would be to being taken off-mission without any explanation, but he knew that Diabolus would not insist if it was not entirely necessary.
    ‘Good, I’ll see you tomorrow,’ Darkdoom said. ‘And Max, watch your back.’
    The screen went black. There was no doubt about it, something was seriously wrong.

.
    Chapter Two
    ‘His performance was acceptable?’ Sebastian Trent asked, staring through the toughened glass.
    ‘Yes,’ the assassin called Ghost replied, her expression unreadable through the white faceplate of her helmet. ‘He did not show any hesitation.’
    On the other side of the window Otto lay on a bed surrounded by medical monitoring equipment. There were several jet black tubes attached to his neck and torso, and his pale skin was covered in a fine tracery of black lines.
    ‘Is his body still showing signs of rejecting the Animus fluid?’ Drake asked the elderly man in a white coat who was examining a terminal on the other side of the room.
    ‘No,’ the man replied, ‘it appears that the fluid is now fully integrated with his nervous system. The small measure of resistance that he exhibited during the early stages of the process has ceased. I very much doubt that anything of the child’s original personality remains.’
    ‘Nevertheless, I would like to continue with the programming, Doctor Creed,’ Drake said. ‘The boy is too dangerous to take any chances.’
    ‘Of course,’ Creed said with a small nod, ‘though I suspect that it will not be necessary for very much longer. The obedience routines that are running within the Animus fluid are quite powerful. In his weakened mental state, he would have little chance of being able to subvert them.’
    Trent smiled slightly as he thought about the opportunity that the boy represented. Every other human test subject that had been exposed to the fluid had died a horrible, agonising death. Certainly, at first there had been some resistance to the procedure, but over time the boy had become more and more compliant and now he was Trent’s to command as he wished. Animus was the world’s first organic supercomputer, self-replicating and invasive, capable of taking control of any digital system where it was implanted. It seemed that Otto Malpense’s unique abilities, while granting him the uncanny ability to control electronic systems, also made him a particularly suitable host for the Animus. The boy’s performance over the course of his recent assignments had been living proof of that. Malpense was now quite simply the most valuable weapon in H.O.P.E.’s already considerable arsenal.
    ‘I want him prepped for deployment immediately,’ Trent said, turning to Creed. ‘There will be no room for mistakes on his next mission.’
    ‘It’s risky to keep putting him in the field,’ Creed replied, frowning. ‘Just because he has exhibited no ill effects yet does not mean that we should overstretch him. His body is still being placed under extraordinary strain for a child his age.’
    ‘Your concern is noted,’ Trent said. ‘Get him ready.’
    Trent turned and left the observation room with Ghost.
    ‘Is everything else ready for the next attack?’ Trent asked as the pair of them walked along the spartan concrete corridor.
    ‘Yes, we have a confirmed target location, thanks to the data that Malpense was able to retrieve from Madame Mortis’s network,’ Ghost replied. ‘The strike team is ready and everything is proceeding according to plan.’
    ‘Very good,’ Trent said. ‘I shall inform the rest of the Disciples of our status. This may be our best opportunity to deliver a final crushing blow to G.L.O.V.E. We can afford no mistakes. We may not get another