Hey hey! Wow I knew I'd be busy on Friday, but sorry I've taken so long to do another post! Royal Wedding celebrations carried on late into the night and I've been moving back to Uni after the holidays so it's been epically busy at the moment. Anyway today I'm going to do all three chapters I missed in one go, so prepare for a long one.
Chapter 6: Nine Frames Per Second
In this chapter, we see Alex returning to school: something we don't often see as he's usually on some kind of mission. It doesn't seem all that important, maybe it's just to show him in a different environment, but he gets caught not listening (which happened to me once - I had completely tuned out in a Music lesson and the teacher said my name about three or four times, my friend kept nudging me and I didn't respond... epic cringe =S), he gets told they're going on a trip to some GM place. That's the second time we've heard mention of GM crops so I'm guessing that'll come into play significantly later.
It gets really interesting later, when Alex is walking home from school and goes through the cemetry where his Uncle is buried. He is confronted by these three dodgy-looking Chinese men who say that Major Yu (the bad guy from his last mission) sent them (even though he's dead). They seem a bit strange because they obviously want to kill him and, as Alex points out, the could have sneaked up behind him and done it. In retaliation Alex does his Kung Fu moves on them, knocking them out and being generally awesome. However as he walks away, Horowitz changes stance and reveals to us that there is someone else in that graveyard. Someone taking photographs of the entire encounter. Hmmm. Dodgy. That's pretty much all for that chapter - it's not long and except for the end there doesn't seem to be much significant stuff in it, but maybe I'll be proved wrong...
Chapter 7: Bad News
We find out soon enough who this person taking photos was. Alex is back at home with Jack and there's a knock at the door. It's the man who took photos and I took an instant dislike to him. He was very arrogant and just sauntered in without being asked. It turns out that he's a freelance journalist and heard rumours about MI6 using a boy to do their dirty work, did some investigating and found out about the missions Alex has been sent on. He wants to write a book about it, guaranteeing that it will sell millions, make Alex famous and make them both rich. He offered to be his manager, to take 50% of his earnings and to help him make the most out of the awful trials he's been through.
It was strange for both us, the audience, and for Alex: to be almost on the brink of international fame, to be one word away from it after all he'd done. There were lots of times previously when the Prime Minister had asked to meet him, when he'd been offered a medal, but Alex just refused. It seems he wants to forget what has happened to him: he doesn't want it to be part of his life, doesn't want to be reminded of it constantly. It made me wonder how this will affect him in the long term. What job would he get when he knowswhat happens out there, when he knows how 'good' he is at saving the world? How can he ever settle back to a normal life? (Actually this reminds me of the companions in Doctor Who who get left behind).
Alex is not sure about Harry Bulman's (that's his name) offer - MI6 made him sign the Official Secrets Act so they wouldn't be happy about it - he doesn't want to be famous, and I was worried that surely it would just be advertising himself to his old enemies. It could potentially be very dangerous for him. He tells Bulman that he'll think about it, but then after he leaves, Alex and Jack agree that the only thing yhey can really do it go to MI6 and ask them about it: not their advice, but ask them to stop Bulman from publishing anything without Alex's permission.
Chapter 8: The Lion's Den
It was in a way quite emotional reading Alex return to MI6. He hadn't actually been to their headquarters in a while: last time he'd been there he got shot, and there were a lot of unpleasant memories. We've been seeing it throughout the book so far, but here especially we really see how much MI6's manipualtion of him has damaged him. The nerves it took for him to go back there when he knows that his presence will merely remind them that he's still available - or at least alive - and they can use him again were strongly felt.
He goes up to talk to Mrs Jones and Alan Blunt, Jack isn't allowed to come which was suspicious, and I was shocked at how unconcerned they were about the reporter. I knew they don't have much interest in Alex's life outside MI6, but this would affect them too. I thought they'd be worried about the exposure, worried that other organisations might copy their idea or that there'd be such an outcry that Blunt and Jones would be forced to leave or something, but they weren't bothered: they simply said that they'd deny it. That was the worst thing, because the repercussions on Alex would be awful: if MI6 denied using him, people would see him as an attention-seeking child who wanted to be James Bond or something, and he would become a laughing stock... maybe a little like a certain Rebecca Black who's recieved so much - criticism, shall we say - recently. It just shows how disposable he is to them.
However, of course Blunt is prepared to negotiate. He has come up with something that he needs Alex to help with. Again. It's a place called Greenfields - an GM crop company. HA! I knew it would come up! And, oh, so convenient that Alex has just found out that he's going there on a school trip. Coincidence? I think not. Blunt must have somehow arranged it so that Alex could go there. Know what, knowing him, he probably changed the entire curriculum to include studying GM crops. That sounds like something he'd do. All Alex has to do is get in there, find the man in charge's office, stick a USB in the computer and download all the files. Simples. But of course we all know it's going to go horribly wrong. Alex has no choice but to accept, as he needs theor protection.
He gets sent to see Smithers who is possibly my all-time favourite character in these books. He's the gadget man and gives Alex some awesome ones: everything's hidden in a lead-lined pencil case because security is tight around there and he may well get searched. He has explosive pens, a USB concealed in a rubber - that's an eraser if you're American ;) - and it can work through the password and everything so Alex needn't worry, a pencil sharpener that's also a diamond edged knife that will cut through anything, and a calculator that will jam any security cameras around him.
I really love all the creations of Smithers, and I love Horowitz's imagination: he makes sure that all are plausible which serves to make the story more realistic and I enjoy that very much!
So Alex is all set to go on his next mission, and I can't help but feel that what is apparently simple will turn out deadly.
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