Chapter Text
*rrrring* *rrrrring*
- Mr Harris?
- Yes. It’s me.
- Hello, sir. Pleased to meet you. *shakes hands* My name is Darren Taylor. I’m working for the government and I would like to talk to you about your friend, my colleague, agent Alex Rider.
- Come on! Really?… Well, if you are who you say you are, you will I’m sure understand why I’m going to need more than your word and an official-looking plastic-covered card before I even think of telling you anything, let alone allow you into my apartment.
- Of course. I would be pretty worried if this wasn’t your initial reaction. Sadly, Alex is abroad at the moment and unable to corroborate my claims in person but you can see me with him on this photo taken a few months ago during training. I could also mention that you and I already met a few years ago, when your school was attacked by Julius Grief. I was part of the squad sent to neutralize him. I have also been authorized to call Mrs Jones and allow you to exchange a few words with her on the phone. She thought you might remember her clearly enough to allow her to vouch for me.
- I’m not sure I’d be able to act as politely and deferentially as she would like during that conversation but yes, talking to her would definitely dispel any doubt in my mind.
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- Would you like something to drink?
- No, thank you. I’m not allowed to drink when I'm working.
- Naturally. I hope you won’t mind if I do.
- Not at all. This is your home and you have no lesson to give until tomorrow afternoon, at 2.15 I believe. So you’re certainly allowed a drink.
- Is this supposed to scare me? You knowing where I work and my lesson schedule. Really? *unimpressed look* I already know it’s the kind of things you people do, trample citizens' right to privacy as if they don't apply to you.
- I totally understand why you would feel your privacy is being encroached upon, sir, but it was unavoidable. Besides, that’s partly the reason why I came to see you today. As you probably suspect, routine checks are regularly made on each of our agents' partners, family members, close friends, and even mere acquaintances if, for some reason, they raise a flag. Whatever you may think of the loss of privacy these investigations entail, and it seems you have a lot to say about it, they are a necessary precaution, not only to protect agents themselves but also to protect the people they know and care about and who could somehow be used against them. You could say that in this instance we invaded your privacy to protect you as well as agent Rider. Moreover, you are now considered in that context to be so close to Alex that you require further attention. I won’t bore you with the intricacies of how this is assessed, you could even say calculated, but after an extensive analysis, you are now designated in Agent Rider’s file as being his “main partner”.
- What? That’s ridiculous! We’re not partners. I’m not even…..
- Please don’t be offended or feel the need to protest. We know “main partner” is an ugly phrase with no real meaning. It's actually of no importance to us whether you are romantic partners or just good friends, whether you have sexual intercourse or not. None of this is relevant. What this designation means is merely that your relationship with Mr Rider has reached a level of exclusivity and a duration that would clearly single you out as the primary target for any enemy agents trying to put pressure on him. Your flat is the only civilian dwelling he’s used for at least two years and he spends most of his downtime with you. These are just measurable facts that anyone putting a tail on him would be able to gather as easily as we did.
- You’re obviously entitled to gather all the facts you want about Alex, especially if it’s for his own protection. As you certainly know, he has long accepted that his life is no longer his alone..... but I’m still not sure what you're hoping to achieve by telling me all this.
- I'll get to it then. Being known by our service to be a staunch anti-establishment contrarian, I’m not sure how happy this will make you but you have been deemed not to be a threat to MI6 in this particular context. Although you are vocal about your dislike of most of the ways this country is run in general and of how Agent Rider has been recruited in particular, it appeared obvious to our psychologists after studying your file that your first allegiance will always be with agent Rider and that you would never knowingly put him in any kind of danger. So, momentarily at least, you should consider us allies of sorts and we should work together in order to reach a common goal, which is to protect him from outside influence.
- Well, when you put it this way, I suppose it makes sense.
- Besides, this means mostly good things to you. What we are offering is to establish a more direct line of communication between you and us. It would basically be a simple telephone number programmed in your cell phone, with a slight encryption. You could use it to reach us or we could use it to reach you if necessary. All you would have to do is think of some kind of innocuous-looking name in your contacts whose purpose would be known only to you. A distant relative for instance, to whom you never speak.
- Would this mean you could notify me if something happened to him? As some kind of next-of-kin maybe? If so, I’m all for it. I’ve been worried for years that someday I would find myself without any news for such a long time that I’d convince myself he had died, without having anyone to confirm it. In that scenario, Alex dying in mission I mean, I’m sure you wouldn't tell me. I'm not even sure you would have the decency to tell his adoptive family or Jack.
- I can confirm Miss Starbright and the Pleasure family are the other primary contacts we have on file for agent Rider, but since he's considered an adult now, and taking into account the four individuals you mention currently live in a foreign country and haven’t actually met Agent Rider in person for more than two years, they are ranked lower than you in our list of contacts as it stands at the moment. So, the answer to your question is no. Most probably none of them would be contacted. In fact, I know for a fact they wouldn’t since Alex doesn’t mention them in his mission protocols.... I don’t think I’m revealing anything too sensitive by telling you that it’s actually up to agents to make a list of the individuals they want notified if they were to die in mission.
- And I suppose that list doesn't mention me either.
- Indeed it doesn’t.
- The absolute bastard! *pause* I should kill him myself then, just so I’m actually in the loop.
- Please don't....... Besides, the connexion we are currently trying to establish could be useful in that context. Your being able to contact us would allow you to ask us for updates in case of a long absence, and if Alex had indeed died and his mission was no longer classified or a matter of urgency, we would at the very least be able to inform you of it, without going into any specifics obviously.
- Obviously… That would be something I suppose.
- Also, if you’re willing, we would like to install a video camera in your apartment. Nothing too intrusive, just to get 24/7 video footage of the main entrance door from inside your apartment. The idea is just to check whether any kind of unwanted intrusion occurs during your absence. That camera would not be monitored around the clock by our service. Indeed it would most probably not be monitored by an agent at all, but it could be used retroactively to ascertain how safe your apartment is for Agent Rider if we have any reason to believe you have been somehow compromised or targeted. It’d also be a rapid and efficient way for you to update us on your status. If you accept, all of this will be explained to you in more detail but I can tell you for instance that if you were to face the camera and stay heels joined without moving your legs for five seconds or more, our algorithms would interpret that as you telling us everything is fine. And the same pose facing the other way would be understood as a call for help. This has been proved to be useful in case of homejackings or in hostage situations. In addition, your being Agent Rider's main partner means that any burglary attempt on your apartment would be a priority investigation, undertaken either by us or the police. Video footage would obviously be an asset in that scenario as well.
- I’m not sure what to make of all this... Is Alex supposed to come back to London soon? I would like to talk to him.
- Sorry, sir. I wouldn't be allowed to tell you even if I knew..... If you have no other questions, would you allow me to call in a few days to get your answer about this proposition? If you accept, the measures I mentioned could be put into effect within a few days.
- OK. I'll think about it.
- That's all we can ask of you. Also, I'm legally obliged to remind you before I leave that you are not to tell anyone about what we discussed today, although I'm sure you already knew that.
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- Mr Harris? Darren Taylor calling. I was wondering if you had come to a decision about what we talked about a few days ago.
- Yes I have. It goes against everything I believe in but purely for Alex’s sake, I'll work with you on this.