AGENT 010: A SPY NOVELLA by Matthew Holmes
A young new British MI6 agent, who is out for revenge, begins to unravel a mysterious organization’s plot to take over the world.
A fan fiction spin-off story of Daniel Craig’s James Bond film “No Time To Die.”
PART I: ATMOSPHERE
2037 A.D.
California, USA
Skydivers rapidly descend through the sky and are shooting at one another with pistols after jumping out of a large military plane that explodes overhead. A free-falling British secret agent is wearing a helmet with a visor and tactical gear and has a pistol in their hand, but is without a parachute. Everyone else has parachutes, wearing helmets with visors along with tactical gear and holding pistols. The two British agents fire their pistols several times, hitting two of the other skydivers knocking them away in the air from the gunshot’s impacts. The British secret agent without a parachute maneuvers in the air in a move to connect the two agents together, taking advantage of the temporary obstruction caused by falling through the clouds, which momentarily blocks the hostile skydiver’s view of them.
Once out of the cloud cover and into the view of the hostile skydivers again, there are more gunshots that erupt. Bullets whiz by the two free-falling British agents. Now connected in a pair tandem from their time in the cloud cover, the hostile skydivers aim themselves in their direction. The two British agents ran out of ammo from firing their weapons earlier. So, one agent reaches into the holsters of the other agent from behind, pulling out two pistols and fires at the hostile skydivers. The gunshots hit their falling bodies that kill them at different moments. Only one hostile skydiver survives the barrage of gunfire. The ground is coming up fast as one agent pulls the cord to open their shared parachute. The last hostile skydiver also pulls their parachute open and lifts up above the two British agents. The higher elevated hostile skydiver aims and shoots their pistol in a downward direction at the agents. One gunshot tears into a piece of their parachute, and the other gunshots hit the agents from above. One British agent is shot in the head, and the other is shot in the shoulder.
A limp, motionless body dangles behind the other agent’s back as the only able-bodied agent begins to swing back and forth to avoid shooting their parachute. The momentum of the swinging angles the injured agent in view of the hostile skydiver. Firing one single accurate shot, the injured British agent kills the last hostile skydiver. The fight is over as the two British agents land on the ground together with their parachute fluttering above them in a desolate field. The agent behind the injured agent slouches over, and their shot-up parachute lands behind them. The other dead skydiver with an open parachute thumps onto the ground in the distance. Sitting in the field, the injured agent with two pistols in each hand has a blood-soaked right shoulder and looks around through their tinted helmet visor.
The British agent reaches up to their helmet, puts the visor up, and slowly takes off the helmet. What’s revealed is a deep breathing, injured, beautiful young woman with blood-soaked dirty blonde hair from the man’s body that’s still hooked up behind her. She looks around with tired eyes and closes them from being concussed and passes out in exhaustion.
Three days later
MI6 Headquarters
London, England
“Your first mission soars into the record books as a complete and total disaster,” Director Jean Arway dryly comments. In the director’s office at MI6, in London, England, the agency’s newest agent sits quietly while her boss scolds her. “When I say to infiltrate a U.S. domestic terrorist cell and report any developments in beautiful sunny California, that doesn’t mean to blow them up, shoot the rest as they fall to their deaths, and lose a fellow agent in the process. It took us years to get our man on the inside, and the day we introduce you to the mix, there’s death and destruction everywhere. We’re still cleaning up your mess as we try to explain and reason with our American counterparts what the hell happened over their airspace. Do you know how angry their administration is at us right now!? We have to be quiet and non-existent. Secret agents aren’t supposed to be the cause of public international emergencies! You’re supposed to be a bloody secret!”
Director Arway continues scolding the twenty-two year old female agent, who sits at attention, wearing a pantsuit with her right arm in a sling and a wrapping around her shoulder. Her face is bruised in two spots with dirty blonde hair that’s styled back in a ponytail. She’s drifting in thought, staring at the artwork of a previous director. Director Arway asks, “Have you been listening to anything I’ve been saying?” Mathilde Bond looks back down and says, “I know it doesn’t look good, Director Arway, but I have my reasons, and if Lawrence had survived, he would vouch for me.” The Director comments, “Oh, would he? And how do you know that!?” Mathilde thinks about what she’s about to tell Arway and says with determination, “Lawrence and I became close since our training days together, so I trusted him when he told me things. He was set on a plan to take out the plane at any cost, and he was waiting for me to back him up.” Arway asks sternly, “what was their plan with this plane?” Mathilde continues with a gulp, saying, “This may sound confusing, but I think….” Just then, the phone rings, and Arway says, “I should answer this.” She picks up the phone and, after listening, says, “Yes, I understand. Well, if it were me, I would not give in to empty threats, especially when there is so much at stake at the summit. It sounds ridiculous anyway. Just don’t tell the press anything and keep it between you and your colleagues who received the message. I’ll look into it immediately, as silly as it sounds. Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Prime Minister,” Arway says and hangs up the phone. Staring at her agent, she’s thinking about what the Prime Minister had just told her on a secure line as he’s attending a climate summit in Hawaii with world leaders trying to come to a deal on anything other than it being a big charade. “When you say you and Lawrence were close, how close?” asks Arway. “Close enough,” Mathilde answers and feels a bit embarrassed. She loved and cared about him, but they had kept it a secret.
The director thinks about it, knowing what the prime minister has said. “Okay, thank you for bringing this to my attention. I will look into the developing threats and forget about your and Lawrence’s past, but you still have orders,” Arway says. “Thank you, Director, but you don’t want to know my thoughts on their plan?” asks Mathilde. Arway answers, “I’ve heard enough for today, Bond. Maybe some other time. Here’s the next mission that should keep you out of trouble and allow you to heal up.”
She passes an envelope to Mathilde, who opens it up seeing her next location. “Thanks, looks fun,” Mathilde sarcastically comments. “Yes, lots of fun. Happy hunting, Agent 010,” replies Arway. As Mathilde gets up in physical pain and walks away towards the door, the Director warns, “and if you want to stay in this agency, stick to the task at hand.” I am sorry about Lawrence, but for this mission, take care of yourself first, Bond.” Mathilde nods her head in acceptance of Arway’s words and unique mission just given to her. She opens the door, walks through it, and closes it from behind, leaving the office behind.
Two Days Later
Athens, Greece
It’s nighttime at a bar in Athens, Greece, and Mathilde is out for another night of drinking and hunting for the most attractive Greek guy around for a one-night fling. Tonight has been quiet, with mostly American tourists annoying her and asking for her number for a relationship or something stupid down the road. Director Arway gave her a vacation mission to unwind and heal and made sure she’s as far away from California as possible. It has only been a couple of days, but on the televisions at the bar, the news reports that the Climate Summit on the other side of the world in Hawaii has not come to any agreement. The spectacle is on its last day as Mathilde Bond shakes her head in disgust and looks down at her usual drink of a double shot Bloody Mary. Mathilde has a photo of her and Lawrence in her hand as she looks down at it again. He’s handsome, and they’re happy together in the picture. Often spending time away from being agents, Lawrence was everything Mathilde wanted in a man. He was smart, strong, and understanding. A voice speaks up and startles Mathilde, saying, “I can’t believe they think anything will ever change. Our atmosphere is doomed. Carbon emissions, pollution, corrupt politicians, corporations, etc., etc.” As an older man sits down next to her at the bar, somehow managing to be quiet enough to not have alerted her senses. Mathilde replies, “I suppose so. And you are?” She turns to look at a man in his 60s whose facial traits look familiar. “I’m Lawrence’s father, Mosley. But family, friends, and you can call me Atmos,” the man answers calmly. Mathilde looks at him and questions, “How do I know you’re not just lying about being his father? Come on, Atmos? Is that like short for atmosphere?” Mosley chuckles and says, “Exactly. Yes, Mathilde, I’m a climate scientist, so funny nicknames happen in my field. I guess the agent numeric system is more normalized to you, though?” Atmos surprises Mathilde by knowing about the secret agent number status and what she does for work. This worries her as she asks what else he knows about her.
Mathilde questions, “What do you know about me?” Atmos ignores her question and continues talking, “here in Athens, the philosopher Plato once taught his students to believe in a higher realm of existence. Maybe that’s where we’re all destined to go someday.” Atmos notices that Mathilde takes another drink and changes the subject to a more serious matter, saying, “you know, my Lawrence talked about you being reckless in your training together, and him subsequently dying on a mission with you is a loss that I’ll never get over. You do know this, right?” She answers, “Sorry to have failed you and your son, oh great Atmos,” a hurt sarcastic Mathilde says, looking away from him.
His tone changes to anger, and he gets closer to Mathilde’s face, saying, “My son did not die for a worthy cause. He thought he could fix the world, but it’s too late. We’re already on the precipice of global collapse. We only have one earth, one life, and it would be a shame to lose it. Don’t you think, Mathilde?” Atmos smiles and waits for her answer. She doesn’t say anything but is teary-eyed and feels terrible about the conversation. Atmos gets up from his seat, shakes himself off, and stretches as Mathilde finally looks at him as he begins to walk away. Atmos says loudly to her, “I’ll see you around, Agent 010,” and he leaves the bar smiling, leaving Mathilde in shock, questioning what had just transpired in her confused mind.
As Mathilde is making sense of the encounter while sitting at the bar, a group of men walk in and motion for people to leave. The young woman bartender walks up to Mathilde and tells her, “The drink is on me. So, is this.” She slides a switchblade knife to her, and Mathilde quickly grabs it with her left hand, tucking it out of view. “Good luck,” the bartender whispers, smiling and putting her arms and hands in the air. Mathilde takes a swig of her drink and says out loud, “I don’t want any trouble here, boys,” as she thinks to herself, “How does everyone know me here?” She turns towards the oncoming group, who already have their pistols pulled out of their jackets.
The three henchmen surround her, and Mathilde asks, “I assume you work for Atmos, and he doesn’t have the nuts to do it himself?” The guy in the middle says, “something like that, sweetheart.” She smirks and opens the switchblade knife that is still out of view under her hand. The guy to her left comments, “so long, pretty little thing,” and lifts up his pistol and cocks it, pointing at her head.
Mathilde angrily throws the knife, instantly stabbing the guy’s hand and causing him to turn the pistol as he shoots, hitting the guy on the right in the chest. The stabbed man yells in pain, dropping to his knees while holding his severed hand. Mathilde immediately grabs her drink and jumps onto the guy in the middle, who has taken his eyes off her and is staring in shock at the other guys, not knowing what to do. She lands on him and smashes her drink on his head, knocking him out as they fall together onto the floor. The bartender walks around the bar and puts her hand out to help Mathilde up. “I knew you could bring a knife to a gunfight when in the presence of a British secret agent,” comments the young woman. Mathilde asks, “who are you?” She smiles and says, “oh, I should have told you earlier, I guess. I’m Lexi, CIA, at your service, ma’am.” Mathilde chuckles, “at my service or watching me in case I do anything more to your beloved country way out here in Greece?” Lexi smiles back and says, “both, I suppose.”
Out of the three henchmen, one is dead, another is knocked out, and the third is alive but lying on the ground in pain, holding his injured hand. Lexi tells Mathilde, “we need to get out of here. The authorities will soon barge in and want to lock us up, and we don’t need our governments bailing us out and getting in trouble.” Mathilde replies, “agreed.” Lexi says, “follow me to the kitchen because there’s a back way out of here to my safe house a few blocks away. From there, we need to get out of this country and probably never come back.” Mathilde comments, “damn, and I was enjoying myself here with all the Greek eye candy.” Lexi says, “yeah, I know.” The two women quickly make it out of the bar, into a back alley, and make it to Lexi’s safe house.
As they walk in, a familiar man is sleeping on the couch, holding a pistol in his hand. He wakes up, saying, “Lexi, is that you?” Seeing Mathilde, he gets up in distress and introduces himself. “Hi, Mathilde, my real name is Tommy, and I would like to start by saying I’m really sorry…” Mathilde cuts him off. “For pretending you were a Greek civilian looking for a good time?” Tommy replies, “well, yeah, but my feelings for you last night were real, so you can find solace in that,” then he smiles awkwardly. Mathilde answers, “whatever. Nice fake accent, though. You fooled me, so you’re CIA also?” Tommy says, “I’m afraid so.”
Mathilde says frustratingly, “here I am trying to get away from everyone and everything, and it seems like the whole world has followed me here.” Lexi says, “on the contrary, Mathilde, we’re here in support of you, for that matter.” A frustrated Mathilde says, “I thought your government hates me since California.” Lexi continues, saying, “that’s true, but we’re not part of the administration who’s blaming you. We have been unsuccessful in tracking the terrorist group leader, Atmos, for months now, and now it looks like your recently deceased agent could have been playing both sides with his alleged father and us.”
Mathilde feels surprised and says, “and you were following me because you thought he’d want his revenge and finally show himself to me in public.” Lexi replies, “that’s right. I managed to get a photo of him while you two were talking. I’ve already sent it to Langley, and now we’re going to find out everything we know about what he’s been up to. Their group has disappeared since the incident over the Pentagon.” Mathilde asks, “should I know about this?” Tommy interjects, “no, you don’t. That’s U.S. confidential information, Lexi.” Lexi replies, “she has a right to know there’s bigger stuff going on.” Mathilde smiles and says, “it’s nice to have someone in my corner for once. Even if their partner likes to get around the block.” Mathilde and Lexi look at Tommy disapprovingly, and Lexi says, “he’s not my type, Mathilde.” Tommy says, “ouch.” Mathilde then chuckles and looks at the television in the room. Her expression changes as the breaking news says, “British Prime Minister missing at Hawaii Climate Summit.”
One Week Later
London, England
Mathilde sits in a passenger car in the London Underground subway. A station comes up, and a large group of passengers empties out, leaving her alone in the car. The doors immediately close, not letting anyone else on, and the train leaves the station. Mathilde stands up and looks around as the track shifts to another way down a dark tunnel. The train comes to a stop, and the door to her car opens. A voice over the loudspeaker says, “Mathilde Bond, exit the train immediately.” Mathilde looks around with apprehension and walks off the train and onto the platform of the dimly lit train station. Behind her, the door closes, and the train takes off down the tube, leaving her behind on the platform.
“I hate to meet you down here and surprise you like this, but I’m afraid anonymity is appropriate for our current situation. What do you say about that?” Mathilde sees a young man approach her with thick black glasses, messy hair, and a sweater vest over a suit and tie who had been talking to her. “And you are?” asks. “Ah, yes. I’m Dax. Your eyes, ears, and occasional supplier, and you are Mathilde Bond, Agent 010,” he smiles in delight. Mathilde asks another question, “so, this is your secret lair of supplies?” Dax looks at her confused, “not exactly. I’m mainly into intelligence briefings these days, and I need to bring you up to speed about our missing Prime Minister. This way, 010.”
Dax walks towards an old, rusty metal door and takes out a bunch of keys on a chain, muttering to himself, “now it’s one of these old buggers.” He fumbles around with them as there are three locks he has to open in different spots on the door. Mathilde comments, “all the technology in the world and we’re using actual keys?” Dax says, “we’ve run into technological problems in the past. I find the old-school ways have their advantages.” Mathilde says, “yeah, until you lose the keys or somebody steals them.” Dax opens the door, smiles happily at Mathilde, and they walk into a clean, shiny elevator with bright lights. The door closes, and a red light grid turns on and scans their bodies from top to bottom.
A robotic voice calls out all around them as they begin to descend, “initiating protocol to lower headquarters. Welcome 010. How is your shoulder and arm feeling?” Mathilde gives Dax a look. He shrugs and says, “technology has its advantages too,” and smiles in delight at Mathilde. She answers the robotic voice, “I’m fine. It’s healed up enough.” The voice replies, “according to my health scan, you are in pain.” Mathilde quickly says, “yes, I’m in pain talking to a robot.” Dax chuckles again as the elevator stops and the door opens. He looks at her and says, “you are very witty, Bond. I must hand it to you. I thought I was the only comedian in our line of work. Come. This way.” Dax walks out of the elevator and motions for her to follow him.
Mathilde walks with Dax down a dark hall with lit-up side panels on the floor. There are sliding doors ahead, and as he goes up to them, the doors automatically open. He signals her to walk by as he welcomes her with a nod to MI6 Underground Headquarters. Mathilde enters a large brick-walled auditorium with several workers at computers and others working on small weapons projects. “It’s rather quaint down here, but I do miss nature sometimes,” Dax comments to her as they approach his workstation that has three angled computer screens, a wireless keyboard, a small plant in a pot, a water spray bottle next to it, and a small, thin light shining on the plant. Dax picks up the squirt bottle and sprays the plant generously. He looks at the plant in satisfaction and continues talking while standing at his station. “Now I need to fill you in on what I have figured out,” and he begins typing. Mathilde notices that both of Dax’s hands are injured with stitch scars, and they shake as he types. Also, she looks at the cute little plant he takes care of, and it brings a smile to her face. He brings up one screen of a photo of a large yacht at a dock, another screen of a photo of Atmos with a list of descriptions and history, and the final screen of two photos side by side that Mathilde is now seeing. Dax explains, “so, on the left is what your CIA agent friend took of Atmos while you were having a chat with him before we had to clean up the mess, and this new photo on the right was taken just hours ago in Sydney, Australia.”
Dax pushes his glasses up, which are slightly falling down his nose, and continues, “this video face recognition match was taken at the international airport there, but the Australians lost him in a mix-up in pursuit.” Mathilde looks closely at the photo on the right and agrees, “yes, that is Atmos. If they had only caught him.” She glances at the other screens and asks, “what does this yacht have to do with any of this?” Dax says, “I’m glad you asked. I figured I’d look into recent transactions in banks, real estate, vehicles, etc., with corporations and companies in the greater Sydney area.” Mathilde questions, “and you can do that?” Dax answers, “with our government’s capabilities paired with my high-achieving code-cracking, I can get into anywhere and find anomalies on pretty much anything that comes to mind, including things like this yacht purchase.” Mathilde comments, “that’s comforting.”
“So, what’s going on with this yacht?” She asks. Dax answers, “there was a transaction by a Mosley A. Sphere to this yachting company for twenty million Australian dollars the day after you spoke with Atmos in Athens, which was the exact day he was seen at the Sydney airport.” Mathilde looks closer at the yacht photo as it is named the Aether and says, “that guy certainly has an ego with names, doesn’t he?” Dax responds, “yes, he does, and Aether is the Greek God of space and heaven. People with an ego like this stick out like sore thumbs in my searches, bringing us to your next mission or should I say a continuation of all your missions so far as a new agent.” Mathilde asks, “does our Director approve of this, Dax?” A woman walking up to them answers, “she does,” as Director Arway is now standing at the two agents’ side with her arms crossed and a very worried look on her face.
Arway says, “we’ve been looking everywhere for the Prime Minister, but there are no leads, no ransom messages, and no group claiming to have taken him. I’ve sent our agents across the globe, and there’s been absolutely nothing.” Arway pauses and looks at Dax’s computer screens, then continues talking, “this rich Atmos character, whose plane you blew up and killed everyone in his group, is a lead we have not yet followed because we did not know where he was located until now.” Dax interjects, “yes, Arway, and I was about to tell Bond that we want her to pay Atmos a visit. If he’s there, of course.” Arway states, “and with all the luck in the world, maybe the Prime Minister is there too. Be cautious, I only want you to be going on that yacht. We don’t need anyone spooked by a massive sting operation. Understand?” Mathilde answers, “yes, Director.” The boss says to Dax, “get her what she needs and a ride to the airport where she’ll be taking my private plane.” Dax nods, and Arway tells Mathilde, “if the Prime Minister is there, make sure to save him and remember your training. Good luck.” Arway reaches out her hand and gently squeezes Mathilde’s upper arm to connect with her. Mathilde smiles and nods her head. “Thank you, Director,” Mathilde says. Arway smiles back and nods, lets their connection go, and walks towards the sliding doors, leaving the two agents standing in surprise. Dax is the first to say, “well, that was pleasant. This way, Agent 010. It’s time to equip you with the gadgets you mentioned earlier.” Mathilde follows Dax and laughs, saying, “you said you didn’t do much of the gadget thing anymore.” Dax looks at Mathilde and replies, “it’s a stereotype I’m trying to break, but yes, of course I’m still the supplier who gives you gadgets.” They walk up to a desk with a large black rectangular box on it, and Dax flips open the lid to show Mathilde what’s inside as he comments, “let’s see what we have in our jewelry department here.”
Dax pulls out two diamond stud earrings from the box and comments, “the left earring is designed to help amplify your hearing into other rooms as it has a built-in hearing aid behind the diamond. Just slightly turn the diamond either way to adjust the volume as needed. The right earring is a tracking beacon that will broadcast your location. Simply press down on the diamond, and the button will turn on so we know where you are,” as Dax hands the earrings to Mathilde and she puts them on. He continues talking, “now Bond, our rings have a bit more bang to them. Flash bangs, to be exact. It’s up to you how many you want to wear, but each ring will activate once thrown in the air, and upon contact with any surface, they will explode and emit a bright flash. I suppose just be extra careful if you take them off for any reason.”
Mathilde quickly answers, “I’ll take three,” so he gently hands her the rings, and she puts them on her hands one at a time. Mathilde comments, “they don’t fit my fingers, Dax.” He says, “wait a moment,” and after a pause, they shift and conform to her fingers. Mathilde replies, “amazing.” Dax motions her to walk to the elevator with him and says, “one more thing. Your purse with all the items a woman needs in this world,” as an assistant rushes down the dark hallway to give a black purse to Mathilde. Dax comments, “we don’t want you leaving without this.”
Mathilde asks, “Are there gadgets in here, too?” Dax replies, “I’m afraid not. These days it’s too obvious to put too many tricks in purses, but if you reach into it, there is a hidden pocket with a silver button that is coded to your fingerprint. Open the pocket up, and you’ll find a new rendition of our 9mm Walther P5 compact pistol. There is also a holster in the pocket you can put on or pretty much strap anywhere you like.” Mathilde looks into the purse, presses the button, pulls out the gun, and looks at it comfortably in her hand, smiling. Dax explains, “it has a palm print grip, so only you can fire it as well. The elevator will take you up to a hotel, and your ride will pick you up at the entrance, and you’ll be on your way to Sydney.” Mathilde puts the pistol back in her new purse and looks at him, saying, “thank you. It was nice to meet you, Dax.” He adjusts his glasses awkwardly and replies, “it was nice meeting you as well, Mathilde Bond or I mean Agent 010, and please make sure you bring back the items in one piece.” Mathilde smiles as she steps into the elevator and turns around, looking at Dax. He puts one of his shaking hands up and waves slowly to her, and she reciprocates with a wave as they both smile at one another. The elevator sliding door closes, and she begins her ascent to the surface of London.
Sydney, Australia
The government agency jet touches down twenty-four hours later on the runway in Sydney, Australia, and it’s in the early morning hours. It pulls into a discreet area off-limits to the public, and one of the pilots tells Mathilde the car outside is for her to take and wishes her the best. She opens the door of the jet and walks down the stairs. Awaiting on the tarmac in front of her is a glacier white with black trim 2020 Audi RS7 Sportback with a twin-turbo 4.0-liter V-8 engine. Mathilde looks it over while walking up to the brand new sports car and comments, “I’m going to have to break it to Dax; I’m more into the classics, but you will have to do this time,” talking to the car jokingly. She hops in and turns the engine on, and as it begins rumbling, she notices on the touchscreen the GPS coordinates are already put in to where the yacht Aether is currently docked. Mathilde adjusts the driver settings, buckles up, revs the engine up, and makes quick work to leave the airport.
Mathilde in the Audi gets on the M1 highway, passing by the cityscape and sights, heading north, weaving around whatever Sydney traffic there is in the early morning before rush hour. She pulls off, heading to Rushcutter’s Bay, where it appears on her GPS that the Aether is docked. At the bay, there is a sign for a yacht club, so she pulls the sports car into a parking space nearby and turns off the engine. Mathilde grabs her purse, slings the strap onto her arm, and from her lap, reaches into it, unlocking the hidden pocket and taking out the pistol and the holster strap. She configures the strap to be able to hold the pistol against her back and gets out of the car, putting the gun in its holster. She then closes the door to the Audi and begins to walk at a fast pace to the docks that extend out into the bay.
It’s quiet, Mathilde thinks to herself, eerily quiet as she goes from dock to dock looking for the Aether. In the distance, at the end of one, she sees a larger yacht than the others and makes her way to it. There are a few lights on, but Mathilde doesn’t see anyone on guard or walking around. She makes it safely up to the yacht and lo and behold on the back of the vessel it says the title she’s been looking for: AETHER. She quietly steps on board and finds herself on the outside deck with Atmos sitting, passing out Atmos on a couch with empty drinks and a laptop on a table in front of him. Mathilde pulls out her pistol from behind her back and aims it at Atmos, but he wakes up and looks at her with a surprised expression on his face. He says, “Mathilde Bond, you’re the last person I thought would want to come visit me. After our meeting, I got the impression you didn’t like me.” She answers, “where is the Prime Minister, Atmos?” At the same time, she asks the question, five henchmen come out from the inside of the yacht with pistols aimed at Mathilde and surround the outer deck. Atmos smiles, stretching his arm out on the top pad of the couch, and comments, “I’m afraid I can’t tell you that, as you are outnumbered again, and this time you have no backup.” He looks at one of his men and says, “go tell the captain and our staff to get us out of here.” The henchman nods in affirmation and leaves the deck. Atmos gets up and tells Mathilde, “surrender your pistol, and I’ll let you live.” She still has it pointed at him and thinks on it for a moment. Mathilde decides to slowly bring the gun down to her side as a henchman walks up and takes it, while the other three have their guns aimed at her. “There, that wasn’t so hard, was it? Please come inside,” Atmos tells Mathilde as he gets up, and the group of henchmen makes her walk to a large, fancy room inside the yacht. The engine starts up on the Aether, and other henchmen outside are untying and releasing the yacht from the dock.
Atmos, Mathilde, and the group are all standing in the large main cabin as Atmos starts talking to Mathilde again, saying, “I’m not sure how you found me, but I am glad it’s you. Lawrence would want it this way. For you to know what’s going on.” The yacht is taking off from the dock and accelerating out of the harbor, with two small metal boats with outboard engines filled with henchmen following the Aether from behind. The skyline of the city is in view as Atmos looks out the cabin windows of the yacht, marveling at the beauty of the city and the early morning sky, which has a dark orange color to it. With a deep breath, he says, “I’m just a climate scientist, Mathilde. This organization all around us right now hired me to be the face of it, a ruse to deceive agencies like yours. To be this dangerous, Atmos character pays well, as you can see. A twenty million dollar yacht is the price they pay me, but it comes at a cost: My freedom and safety. This planet is doomed to greed and politics, isn’t it?” Mathilde is stunned in her place. Atmos looks back at her, smiling with a tear rolling down his face. “I thought we could save the planet. I didn’t think they would kill my son over it. Your Prime Minister is alive. My laptop has the…” Suddenly, a loud, powerful shot was fired in the cabin. A henchman, with a hand up to his ear and the other hand pulling the trigger of his gun, shot Atmos in the chest. He falls backward by the force of the bullet and is partially laying and sitting up against the cabin wall, holding his wound. Mathilde immediately reacts by taking off one of her rings and throws it at the center of the ceiling above the henchmen while simultaneously getting down and covering her head as best she can. There is a loud bang and flash that lights up the large cabin room, blinding the henchmen and knocking them down. Mathilde gets up and runs to the guy, who takes her gun and grabs onto his arm, hand, and part of her pistol. He pulls the trigger multiple times as they fight, but no shots are fired because it’s not coded to his fingerprints. Mathilde manages to bend the guy’s hand back enough so that he drops her pistol. He reaches for his gun in its holster with the other hand. He lifts it up as the other henchmen are slowly getting up from the flash bang. Mathilde grabs his arm and puts her back to his body, aiming his extended arm at the others. Trying to shoot her, he pulls the trigger again and again, unloading the clip, but she’s aiming at each guy, hitting them and knocking them down, being shot.
Meanwhile, the metal boats full of henchmen, who have been following the moving yacht, begin to pull in closer to board it from the back, having been alerted by the flash bang. Mathilde turns and twists the guy’s arm, breaking it. He yells out, and she finishes the fight off by punching him in the face. The impact drops him to the ground, knocking him out. Mathilde looks around at the others who are either dead or lying on the floor. She sees Atmos is dead. He passed away during the fight. Mathilde is bleeding from a cut on her head from the scrum and is out of breath but alert enough to pick up her pistol. She hears the other boat engines coming up from the rear and looks out to see two boats pulling up to the yacht. All three vessels are still speeding ahead in the waters as the two boats filled with henchmen have now caught up to the Aether and are on the sides of the back deck, avoiding the center motor. They quickly unload in lines on both sides, pouring onto the yacht’s lower deck while running up the stairs to the main outside deck above, where Mathilde is now waiting for them. She is crouched behind the couch where Atmos was sitting earlier. The first wave of henchmen furiously storm up the stairs and onto the outside main deck. Using the couch as her cover, Mathilde dives down as they shoot in her direction, but they only hit the glass doors behind her. Laying on the deck at the bottom corner of the couch, Mathilde shoots three henchmen in a row. One after another, they get hit, and the force of the bullets pushes them against the railings and right over the side of the yacht as their bodies fall into the moving, churning waters below.
Mathilde gets up and immediately runs towards another place of cover behind the hot tub and jumps behind it. Three more henchmen reach the top steps with guns drawn, pointed at the couch, and begin to walk towards it cautiously. Another two henchmen behind them wait at the stairs as backup. Mathilde takes off another ring and throws it at the couch, blasting a loud flash and knocking the three henchmen down. The other two are watching the bright light in shock at the couch area as Mathilde shoots both of them from her position behind the hot tub. One drops dead onto the deck, and the other falls backward down the stairs, momentarily blocking the path for the others to come up. Mathilde now has time to run over to the couch area with her pistol drawn, but as she does, a henchman on the ground surprises her by grabbing her leg while the other two are scrambling to get their sight back.
She falls onto the deck from the leg grab and is in another fight, but Mathilde twists and snaps the henchman’s neck, making quick work of the struggle. The other two, who were flash-banged, still can’t see but shoot at the deck where they hear Mathilde. They miss her, with their gunshots hitting the dead henchman and the couch instead. Mathilde grabs another pistol on the ground and, now with two pistols, spins and shoots each of them in the head. The last of the henchmen move the body out of the way on the stairs and are now entering the deck with Mathilde waiting for them just to the blind side of the opening.
Two henchmen run past Mathilde, not seeing her to the side, and the third is following. She clotheslines him over the railing, and he falls into the fast-moving waters below. Mathilde immediately crouches down on one knee, stretches her other leg out, and with both arms extended, still holding the two pistols, she shoots the other two with one round out of each gun. They didn’t have enough time to realize where she was as they fell against the railing, dead. The yacht is littered with bodies while Mathilde walks slowly towards the couch area to look for the laptop with her drawn pistol. She finds the laptop, but it is badly shot up, with the screen being the only part not destroyed. Looking at what’s on it, there are large amounts of money transfers to Atmos from a bank in Honolulu, Hawaii. Mathilde memorizes the name, address, and what she sees, but the engine on the yacht turns off, beginning to slow down in the water. She puts the screen down and moves quickly behind the hot tub to get covered and waits. A female captain comes down with a CSA Sa vz. 58 compact assault rifle and the last henchman at her side. The woman yells out, “you! Behind the hot tub! Come out with your hands up! No funny business!” Seeing the powerful gun, two adversaries, and knowing her position is compromised, Mathilde puts her pistol in the holster on her back and slowly stands up with her arms raised in the air. “What the hell is going on!?” the captain asks loudly but slips on the bloody deck from all the dead bodies, taking her eyes off Mathilde. By the time the woman looks back up, Mathilde has already pulled her gun out, instantly turns to face the captain, and shoots the woman who didn’t even have time to fire the high-powered gun.
The last henchman drops his gun in fear and puts his arms up in the air, surrendering as Mathilde points her pistol at him, but she’s out of ammo. The lucky break Mathilde gets is that he doesn’t know it. The yacht has now come to a stop in the water with no other ships around. “What do you know?” Mathilde asks the henchman. The guy answers, “I’m an engineer they hired to make sure the yacht runs safely. They wanted Atmos to be looked after. I’m impressed you managed to survive. There were so many of us.” The engineer sees the dead body of Atmos and continues, saying, “you don’t know the kind of trouble you’re getting yourself into.” Mathilde replies, “I saw there’s a covered up jet ski. It could use some mechanical lifting. For starters, I think you can help me get into that.” The engineer shakes his head in dismay, walks over to the jet ski, and prepares it to be lifted into the calm water below. Mathilde keeps her empty pistol pointed at him as, minutes later, the jet ski is in the water. They walk across the deck and down the stairs, with her behind him. On the small platform at the water’s edge, he turns around and tries to grab her pistol. He clumsily misses, and Mathilde clocks him in the head with it, knocking the engineer unconscious on the platform. She looks around and comments, “what a pity. He was such a nice guy. And ship.” Putting the pistol in her back holster, she hops onto the jet ski, starts the engine up, and begins her trip back to Rushcutter’s Bay, leaving the yacht behind.
The water rushes by as Mathilde rides the jet ski, with the sun rising above the horizon. She is determined to follow the trail, find out who set up Atmos, and locate the Prime Minister. Scratched up and with a few bloody cuts on her face from the fighting, her warrior instinct has kicked in, and she knows time is of the essence. Once at the docks of Rushcutter’s Bay, she casually steps off the jet ski and heads to the Audi RS7 Sportback car. Mathilde gets to the car safely, puts her finger on the handle, and it unlocks. She unhooks the strap, takes the pistol and holster off her back, and steps into the car, finally sitting down unexposed. Taking the gun out and flipping the holster back into a purse was Dax’s finest moment, Mathilde thought. She smiles and sets it on the passenger seat, turns on the car, and quickly drives back to the airport where the agency jet is waiting.
Driving the Audi, Mathilde is let in by security at the airport and drives up to where the plane is still parked. She grabs her purse, gets out, and walks towards the entrance stairs of the jet. The pilots are there to greet her and ask if she’s okay. After a quick reassurance, Mathilde tells them they need to get her to Honolulu, Hawaii. One of the pilots relays Director Arway’s instructions to follow any leads and to get her to wherever she needs to go. “We’re refueled and ready to take off,” comments the other pilot. Mathilde replies, “let’s go and thank you both.” They both salute and head to the cockpit. She gets on board and makes her way to the bathroom. Looking into the mirror at herself, she can’t believe what has happened to her in the past week as an agent. Losing her training partner Lawrence, Mathilde I’d still shaken to her core, and the flings with other men couldn’t fix the hole inside her. To make matters worse, his father was dead, and part of the terrorist organization his very own son had fought. Mathilde washes her face again and again, wiping off the water with a towel, still staring into the mirror and faintly seeing Lawrence’s face behind her shoulder, but it fades away. The private jet begins to move, snapping her out of the daze. She patches herself up, then changes into black tactical pants, a black shirt, and a navy blue sweater, and sits down in time as the plane is taking off.
Honolulu, Hawaii
Mathilde got a bite to eat on board, explained the situation to Director Arway on a video chat, and then slept the rest of the way to Honolulu. One of the pilots wakes her up as the jet approaches the airport. The new Hawaiian time zone is around a day behind Australia, so it’s mid-day. Besides the bright light coming into the private jet as Mathilde shields her eyes, she notices her purse is upside down in the seat across from her, and there’s a small black zipper at the bottom. She gets up, grabs the purse, and unzips the bottom of it. There are two small clips of ammo for her pistol. Mathilde shakes her head and says out loud, “thanks for the heads up, Dax.” Looking at the clips in her hand, she continues talking to herself, “I could have used you back there, couldn’t I?” She takes out her gun, unloads the empty clip, and reloads it with a new one. Sitting back down, Mathilde knows where to go next.
The bank address on the laptop is her starting point, and she hopes it’s enough of a lead. The plane flies over beautiful oceanic sights, lands safely at the Honolulu airport, and pulls into a discreet hangar with a large black SUV and two people standing next to it. Mathilde gets up, opens the door, and walks down the stairs. She is greeted by Lexi and Tommy of the CIA. A smiling Lexi says, “Director Arway requested to continue our assignment to you, so we got the first flight out here. It looks like we’re finally teaming up.” Mathilde asks, “really? Is your government okay with that?” Tommy replies, “at the top? Not really, since what happened in California, but since it’s your Prime Minister who’s missing, you have been given clearance and authority to do what you need to do in America with our assistance and support.”
Mathilde looks at the two CIA agents and considers taking them on the trail she’s on, but she’s aware of what could be ahead. Mathilde asks, “are you sure you want to do this?” A smiling Tommy walks up to her and extends his hand to shake Mathilde’s hand and replies, “we’re with you, Bond. They showed us your training videos, and you’re awesome. I just hope you can trust me after my lies in Greece. I’m pretty handy with a gun, and Lexi was the top of our class.” Mathilde gives both of them a thoughtful stare and shakes his hand, answering, “okay. I’m sorry for thinking you were just a good-looking face, Tommy. Let’s go.” The three agents get in the vehicle with Lexi in the driver’s seat, Mathilde riding shotgun, and Tommy sitting in the back middle seat. Lexi questions, “where to?” Mathilde answers, “the Central Pacific Bank headquarters in Waikiki.”
The SUV with the three agents enters the traffic-filled H1 highway in Honolulu and is making its way to the bank. Lexi talks to Mathilde about when she was a child; she always wanted to be a superhero who saved the world. “I wasn’t into the usual go-to school, get a job, have babies, and call it a life kind of thing,” Lexi explains with a smiling face. “The CIA was a natural fit because I like the adventures, and firing guns is fun.” Tommy then talks about traveling with his close friends when he was younger. “I learned many languages on my long trips so I could better understand the world and get to be with the locals. I never knew it would help me be recruited into this line of work, but here I am. The pay is good, and like Lexi, I enjoy shooting stuff up. Besides, what else am I going to do that matters as much as this?”
Mathilde is looks ahead intently, listening to the two Americans’ stories, and decides to speak about Lawrence for the first time to anyone because she had a good feeling about both of them. “Lawrence was the kind of man who didn’t back down from our training, but at the same time, I could tell he didn’t like it. Like he was meant to be a family man and teaching kids about space, the planet, or the…” Mathilde stops talking, and Lexi finishes her sentence, “Atmosphere.” There’s a pause, then Lexi says, “Atmos, I’m sorry, Mathilde. I shouldn’t have said that.” Mathilde replies, “It’s okay. As intelligent as those two were, this organization seems to have outsmarted them.” For the rest of the drive, the three agents are quiet, thinking about their past lives. They pull up in front of a large building looking out at the ocean near the beach. A large sign above the entrance reads, “The Central Pacific Bank,” and Mathilde comments, “get your game faces on. This might not go as planned.”
Tommy asks, “and what exactly is the plan?” As they get out of the SUV and walk towards the bank entrance, Mathilde replies, “I’m going to say I have an issue with Atmos’s account, and I want to talk to his bank manager.” Lexi interjects, “what do you want us to do?” Mathilde says, “you can act as my guards as we pretend to be a part of his organization.” They enter the building, and Mathilde walks up to the customer service desk with Lexi and Tommy following closely behind. Mathilde says, “hey there, what a nice bank,” to the service desk employee, and he replies, “yes, it is. Welcome to Central Pacific Bank.” He then asks, “and how can I help you, Mathilde?” She is angrily surprised again that another person knows her name without her saying it. She says to him directly, “if you don’t give me something quick, I’m going to have you thrown in prison, and this entire place on lockdown until I find what I want.”
The bank employee casually replies, “I think you are the one who is on lock down here.” Metal doors slide across the entrance, and cage fencing moves down the windows, literally locking the three agents in the bank. Now, the people they thought were bank employees are henchmen taking out guns and getting into different tactical positions all around them. Tommy replies, “well, that’s a first.”
The shooting erupts with Mathilde taking out the henchman who had threatened her with a quick shot to the head before he could pull his gun’s trigger. Lexi and Tommy grab their pistols from belt holsters, as Mathilde did, and fire on the henchmen in the main hall. Loud bangs and missed shots streak and crash into objects, walls, and glass while the three agents defend themselves by rolling and dodging with no cover. Several of the henchmen are hit and killed in various spots. Lexi then sees an elevator in a deeper part of the building and shouts, “we need to get out of here! Over there!” Mathilde and Tommy see it and provide cover fire, shooting their pistols rapidly while reloading at alternate moments so they can run to the elevator while the henchmen are pinned down as Lexi puts her hand on the elevator door button to press it. She’s shot in the wrist as she presses it. The impact knocks her down, and she is struggling on her knees in pain. Tommy yells, “Lexi! I got you! It’s going to be okay,” but he’s anxious. Mathilde reloads her pistol, standing in front of the two CIA agents as the elevator door opens. The henchmen are coming out of their cover and making their way towards the three agents. Tommy is helping Lexi with one arm around her, getting them into the elevator. Mathilde yells, “go to the second floor and find a way out of here! I’ll hold them off!” They both shout at Mathilde to join them as the sliding door begins to close, but Mathilde stays out in front of the elevator, not joining them in retreat. Tommy tosses his gun to Mathilde, saying, “we believe in you,” as the elevator door closes.
Eight henchmen close in on Mathilde down the hallway with their pistols drawn, but she has two guns already pointed at them and shoots and kills two henchmen from a distance. A lead henchman yells to the others, “hold your fire!” He continues to yell at Mathilde, “put your guns down and surrender! There’s nowhere to go!” Mathilde is angrily looking at them with her hands and arms extended out with the two guns and yells, “where is the Prime Minister!?” They are now closer, and the lead henchman replies, “if you want to know more, surrender, and we’ll get you further up your path.” Mathilde asks, “up what path?” The henchman smiles, doesn’t answer the question, and motions her to drop the guns. Mathilde thinks about it hard, contemplates the options, and finally decides to put the pistols down on the floor.
She puts one hand on her earring, turning the diamond tracker on, and continues to put both hands up. Not knowing about the earring tracker, the henchman walks up, squats down, and whispers, “good choice, Bond” to Mathilde, giving up. He then motions for two henchmen to handcuff Mathilde’s hands behind her back. The lead henchman says, “time for us to go,” to the others, and he takes out a long black cloth and ties it around Mathilde’s head, covering her eyes. Now she can’t see anything but is still calm and collected. They lead her step by step to a back entrance, and they get in an unmarked van.
The henchmen take off for the Honolulu airport without her knowing where they’re going. Then, having clearance to get into a private runway area, they unload Mathilde out of the van and get her into a small plane. It takes off with her still handcuffed and blindfolded, with the group of henchmen guarding her and talking about getting paid extra for their troubles.
Maui, Hawaii
The small plane lands on an airstrip on the outskirts of the city of Kahului. It’s late afternoon, and there is only a highway in the distance with nothing else around. The henchmen exit the plane with their guns drawn and walk Mathilde towards three vehicles where other henchmen are waiting. Once close to the vehicles, the lead henchman unties the blindfold and takes it off Mathilde’s face. He also reaches down and unlocks the handcuffs, freeing her hands. He comments, “there’s your transportation.” Mathilde’s eyes are adjusting to see again. As her sight becomes clearer, there are two black SUVs with henchmen standing in front of them with guns drawn, but parked in the middle is a BMW convertible.
The lead henchman continues, saying, “drive and follow the lead SUV, and the other will be following you, so don’t pull any surprises if you want answers.” Mathilde gives him a stare and then walks up to the sports car. She’s puzzled about the whole situation but opens the door and gets into the car’s driver’s seat. Mathilde turns on the engine and contemplates driving away from her captors, being free again. Although nothing is making sense to her, just as the lead SUV begins to drive off the runway towards the highway. Curiosity has Mathilde wanting to know more, so she puts the BMW in gear and follows the SUV up the highway, driving towards an unknown destination.
The three vehicles drive upward for several miles on a busy road with houses, businesses, and dry vegetation for scenery. The lead SUV slows down and turns left at the National Park Entrance of the Haleakalā Volcano. Mathilde follows it, but the park is closed as the gate is shut and there are no other cars around. The two SUVs pull off to the side of the entrance as the gate starts to slowly open. The henchmen wave her on to go up the long winding road driving the BMW alone. Mathilde gives them a long stare and drives by the parked SUVs, beginning the climb. She drives miles and miles up Crater Road, with the forest and farmland slowly beginning to recede. The landscape changes from trees to bushes and eventually into a rocky surface with boulders. The road is winding around tighter turns, and Mathilde’s view is getting higher and higher from the rest of the island below.
Driving the convertible vehicle cautiously and ascending higher up the volcano, a dense fog moves in all around the car, now being up in the clouds. Turning the headlights on and starting the windshield wipers to wipe off the moisture, she drives more slowly. Mathilde can’t see how high it is anymore. After a long time of weaving back and forth through sharp turns, she makes it above the clouds and turns off the wiper blades. The desolate volcanic road looks to go on forever, but after a big turn, Mathilde is in awe of the view. Now, being above the clouds, the sun is setting in its descent downward. “It’s beautiful,” Mathilde thinks to herself, but has a growing feeling of loneliness and solitude. Also, the air is getting thin from the elevation. She feels tightness in her chest but keeps driving up.
Mathilde in the BMW passes by a ranger station, but it’s abandoned with a large empty parking lot. Continuing to look for any signs of life, a massive observatory building complex at the summit finally comes into view. There are several domed-shaped structures, with the largest being in its own area separate from the other buildings. She sees on the road ahead a booth and entrance gate to the observatory, but nobody is in the booth, and the gate is open. There are no henchmen or vehicles in sight. Mathilde stops the car at the entrance and turns off the engine. She gets out and feels a cold chill from the breezy air. The wind is the only sound Mathilde hears 10,000 feet above sea level. Looking out at a breathtaking view of the island and ocean below, the massive volcanic crater, and the never-ending sky, she begins walking towards the largest observatory building, leaving the car behind.
Mathilde reaches the front of the structure, opens the doors, and walks inside. It’s an entrance room with another set of doors just ahead. She opens them and enters a long hallway leading to a large central room where a rush of warm air and oxygen soothes her breathing. Mathilde can’t see what’s down the hall, but there’s classical music emanating from it. She turns her diamond earring to amplify sounds as Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 is playing on a speaker as a man’s voice calls out, “I know you can hear me, Bond. Please come down the hall and join us.” She walks slowly and cautiously forward until reaching the end of the hallway, looking around at what’s going on in the large room. To the left is a man with his back to Mathilde, sitting in a wooden chair, painting on an easel, and to her right are the Prime Minister, Lexi, and Tommy, who have their mouths gagged and are strapped to wooden chairs, being forced to watch the man paint.
Above the shocking scene, there is a balcony with henchmen standing guard, a staircase to the side, no windows, and a set of doors at the other end of the room.
“I haven’t given my painting a name yet, but I do like aquatic creatures,” comments the man who just finished painting a black octopus on top of planet Earth. He turns his bald head with a silver metal plate contoured on one side and stitch marks running down his face to his neck. The man smiles at her, wearing a black suit with a black collared shirt and a white tie.
Mathilde yells out, “Lawrence!” In a stunned reaction, she asks, “how are you alive? How could you be here? What’s going on!?” He stands up slowly and replies, “I’m happy to say I’m not dead because I never died, Mathilde. You had passed out in front of me, and I called my organization, and they took care of the rest. I paid off the hospital and faked my death. My organization has a lot of money. You know it can buy a lot in this world, but you can’t take it with you.” A confused Mathilde asks, “but why? This isn’t you!” He replies, “nobody truly knows anybody.” She points at the hostages and shouts, “release them, Lawrence! They’re innocent in all of this!” He puts his hand up in the air, and a henchman stops the classical music. He looks at the hostages and comments, “they’re not innocent. All three of them have a great depth of guilty actions and crimes committed, Mathilde. The Prime Minister will fetch me enough money to correct what you have done.” Lawrence stares at Mathilde and shouts, “you! You destroyed my plane with your missile launch system. You! You’re responsible for my father’s death!” He gets angrier and shouts, “I had him hidden and safe until you made me give the order! You killed dozens of my men! You ruined my organization! You’re the guiltiest of them all! I wanted you here so I can kill you myself!” Lawrence runs at Mathilde, growling with fury, and they grab each other in a struggle of strength, trying to throw the other to the floor.
Lexi, Tommy, and the Prime Minister are watching helplessly as the fight unfolds, while the henchmen from the balcony are running down the stairs to help their boss if he needs it. The struggle turns into punches as Lawrence misses connecting from her agile dodging. She kicks one of his legs out from under him. He falls to the floor, hitting his head as the henchmen surround Mathilde with their pistols pointed at her, waiting for his order to shoot. Instead, he states, “Don’t kill her. Her life is mine to take!” Mathilde replies, “if only you could get up off the floor and do something about it!” Lawrence struggles to get up as Mathilde is facing him and his men, but she’s walking backward towards the doors on the opposite side of where she entered. One of his guards asks him, “What do you want us to do, Atmos?” He gets to his feet, bleeding from the metal plate on the side of his head, and answers, “All we need is the Prime Minister. The other two were to distract her, but she clearly didn’t care, so do what you’d like with them.” The henchmen walk towards their hostages, and Mathilde yells at Lawrence, “I’m over here, Atmos!” He gives a menacing glare and runs towards her position at a new set of doors that lead outside.
Atmos tackles her through the doors, and they both fall outside onto a rocky deck on the side of the volcano. At the end of the deck, it slopes downward at a steep angle with dirt and boulders, leading to a large drop-off. The sun is setting, with cold, thin air blowing around the two of them as Atmos gets up first. They are staring at one another on the deck. Atmos yells at Mathilde, “You’ll always be the failure! You weren’t even given 00 status! Agent oh one oh, what a joke. You’re always messing up and ruining everything. But, not men like me. I am Atmos!” He stretches out his arms up in the air and squeezes his fists in triumphant anger. An angry and determined Mathilde Bond regains her strength, flips up into a crouching position, takes off her last ring, and throws it at his head.
The ring hits Atmos directly in the face. The flash bang goes off, blinding, stunning, and knocking him backward to the edge of the rocky deck. The metal plate partially explodes and is bent into his head and face. He’s charred and bleeding from the blast, completely blind, and tries to stay standing by his strength. As Atmos struggles, he says shakily, “This is bigger than you and me, Mathilde. If I hadn’t joined them, maybe things could’ve been different between us, and for that, I’m sorry.” Mathilde calls out, “Who did you join, Lawrence!? What is this organization called!?” Before he can answer, a sniper gunshot hits him directly in the chest. The loud bang shocks Mathilde as she can’t get to Lawrence in time from when the impact throws him off the deck. He lets out a gasp of pain as he falls down the steeply angled slope of dirt and rock. Mathilde runs up to the edge as Atmos disappears down the clouded, dusty side of the volcano.
She looks down where he disappeared but realizes the sniper could be aiming at her to shoot at next. Mathilde turns around and sees flashing blue and red lights reflecting off the buildings. She runs back into the building, but the henchmen are gone. In their place, there’s a Police SWAT team, Maui police officers, and soldiers of the Hawaii National Guard in the large room. They point their weapons at her, ready to shoot. Lexi shouts, “Don’t shoot! She’s with us!” An officer replies, “stand down,” and they follow the order. A SWAT officer says, “You’re lucky your friends identified you to us before my sniper team engaged in the fight back there.” Mathilde is too exhausted to argue or reply. She walks over to Lexi and Tommy, who are free from being tied down. The two CIA agents say, “You saved us,” at the same time, and look at one another laughing.
Tommy says, “Thanks to your tracker, the cavalry got here just in time, and the henchmen ran away, leaving us. We found out Atmos had set up and bought off enough people to shut this park down, among other things.” Mathilde asks quietly, “What about the Prime Minister?” Tommy replies, “he’s okay, but they got him out of here as soon as they untied us.” Lexi asks, “so Bond, is the real Atmos dead?” She painfully answers, “yes.” Mathilde walks out of the building into the cold, night air with police cars and army vehicles surrounding the area. She looks out at the flashing lights that reflect all around the top of the volcano. The moon is bright with shining stars across the night sky. Tired, sore, but still alive at the top of this volcanic mountain, Feeling exhausted, hurt, and accomplished for saving the Prime Minister and her new friends, Mathilde learned that honoring her father’s 007 legacy is not for the faint of heart, but that she can serve her country, with honor and success, as he did.
Two Days Later
MI6 Headquarters
London, England
As Mathilde is leaving Director Arway’s office, her boss comments, “Thank you for the report, Mathilde, and enjoy your time off.” She closes the door and turns to see Dax standing at attention in front of her. He says, “Hello, Agent 010, it’s nice to see you again.” Mathilde replies, “Thank you, Dax,” and hugs him with a big smile on her face. He hugs her back and asks, “Would you like to go out and get a drink tonight?” Mathilde answers, “I would like that. Maybe I could find out if you have more of a life than being a supplier?” He laughs and awkwardly says, “I’m pretty sure it’s just supplying.” Mathilde tells him, “we’ll see about that, and Dax?” He replies, “Yes?” She finishes by saying, “You can just call me Mathilde from now on.” He smiles and nods in acknowledgment as they both smile, feeling excited to go out on a date together that night.
END OF PART I
PART II: SPIES AT WAR
New York City, New York
Mathilde Bond, Agent 010, is part of a security detail at the UN Headquarters in Manhattan, New York City. Patrolling from behind the scenes had been paramount for all the secret agencies across the globe because of the magnitude of the event to establish a New Alliance of Nations. The British Prime Minister has even requested Director Arway to send the best agents to watch over their ambassador. Standing alongside Mathilde, watching the video monitors, is Lexi Garcia. She and Mathilde are close friends since they met in Greece and teamed up on a mission together in Hawaii, ending the reign of Atmos. Lexi is a CIA agent and running point on the comings and goings of everyone from dignitaries to the working staff.
The Assembly is gathered in the main hall when a dozen soldiers in camouflage uniforms, wearing British flag shoulder patches, break in from a side door armed with machine guns. They fire into the crowded room of ambassadors. It’s a panic as police officers fire back at the shooters, and people scramble to get out of the assembly area. Mathilde and Lexi see what’s happening on the security videos and bolt out of an undercover news van they are stationed in for their operation. The shooters are satisfied with their act of terrorism, killing some of the trapped ambassadors along with many police officers and UN workers, leaving from where they came from. Mathilde and Lexi run towards a side entrance as Lexi flashes her officer’s badge at a security guard, who waves them through as he’s guiding people out of the chaos.
Before entering the building, Mathilde spots the terrorists located at a back entrance and tells Lexi that she sees them. They run together at the shooters while pulling out their pistols. Three of the shooters see them from a distance and point their machine guns at the two agents. At the same time, the others open a sewer manhole cover and are climbing down in a line below the surface. Mathilde and Lexi shoot at them, first killing two of the terrorists who are about to fire their weapons. The third shooter pulls the trigger, and the machine gun sprays out bullets that fly, ricochet, and hit surfaces around Mathilde, but Lexi isn’t as fortunate. She’s hit with multiple gunshots that knock her down into Mathilde. Both women are on the ground. The terrorist stops firing, not wanting to be left behind and gets away into the sewer, closing the manhole. Mathilde is kneeling on the ground with a dying Lexi in her arms. The American agent takes her last few breaths of life, smiles warmly up at her and passes away. Mathilde Bond holds onto Lexi’s lifeless body in her embrace, not wanting to let her dear friend go….
MI6 Underground Headquarters
London, England
“The American government holds the British government responsible for what has happened at the UN. They have effectively ended our alliance that we’ve had as nations for over a century. Plus, with global satellites mysteriously shutting down, the entire world is also blaming us. All I see is paranoia everywhere online. People think we’re trying to take over the world and that we’re now a rogue state,” comments Dax, looking at Director Arway and Mathilde Bond. The Director explains, “This is classified, but on top of everything else going on, two of our lead agents have been killed in Washington D.C. The CIA believes they’re responsible for taking out American satellite capabilities, and they leave a bloody mess at our safe house, leaving no survivors. So, it looks like we got you out of the States just in time. Never could I have imagined the Americans would do this to us while denying it in public, but here we are.” Mathilde says, “they’re now targeting agents. This is terrible. What can we do to stop this?” Her boss replies, “we don’t have much choice but to stay home in England. Try to find these terrorists and if they are indeed here, prove to the world it’s them, not us. The mission is simple. You’re going to have to go it alone for this one. I can’t afford grouping up agents to work together only to be killed in one takedown. Find the terrorists, bring them to justice, or put them out of their misery.” The Director gives the two a stare, walks away, and leaves the area. Dax looks to Mathilde and says, “I’m glad you’re alright. I’m sorry about your American friend, Lexi. These times are dangerous, Mathilde, so I want to make sure you have what you need out there in the field.”
Dax walks over to a clothes rack and takes a woman’s black jacket off a hanger. He hands it to Mathilde and begins to describe it in detail: “This is a new woman’s black jacket. Notice it has a metal zipper that goes up and down, a water-resistant coating, multiple front pockets, and two lower pockets for your hands to rest in for maximum comfort.” Mathilde laughs and comments, “I can see that, Dax.” He thinks about what he was just saying and replies, “of course. Now here’s where things get interesting. The jacket is reversible and armed to the teeth.” She flips the jacket inside out, and it reveals a tactical setup with two pistols, ammo clips, grenades, and knives in pockets, straps, and holsters as Dax says, “The perfect jacket for a night out on the town. Don’t you think?” Mathilde puts it on and answers, “it’s what I always wanted.” Dax warns her, “government leaders across the globe are blaming us, so who knows who’s out there right now in the shadows. Also, my tech is down, so I’m not going to be able to do much from my station. Arway wants you to exit taking the tube. Please take care and make sure to bring the items back in one piece.” Mathilde says, “You’re coming with me, Dax.” He is startled by what she says but replies, “Arway said agents shouldn’t be going on missions together.” Mathilde comments, “she meant field agents shouldn’t be working together, and the last I checked, you’re not a field agent.” Dax thinks about it, adjusts his glasses, and says, “Okay. I’m in.”
Mathilde and Dax walk out of the main room of the deep underground headquarters and enter a hallway to an elevator. They take it for a short ride up and get out at a London Underground station. As they reach a side platform waiting for a ride, Dax asks, “Where do we start our quest? My watch says eleven.” Mathilde glances at him, looks ahead, and says, “At the top.” Dax is surprised and questions, “you’re not saying what I think you’re saying? What about just telling Arway and having her look into it? If you want to get into the affairs at 10 Downing Street, we might as well just turn ourselves in now.” Mathilde replies, “I only want to have a chat with our Prime Minister in private. I did save his life after all. I think he’ll be happy to see me.” A train pulls up, and the doors open. Both of them enter an empty subway car and stand. The doors close, and it accelerates like a rocket blasting off. They both grab a rail, holding on as it hovers off and on the rails. Dax says, “Our current speed is three times faster than it should be in this section of the tunnel.” The tube tracks shift, and the train makes a sharp turn, going in a new direction. Dax comments, “Mathilde, whatever is happening, this is a setup.” She answers, “I was afraid you’d say that. Hold on tight. Stay here, Dax.” He replies, “I’m not taking a back seat. I’m going with you.” Mathilde nods in affirmation and takes off her jacket, turning it inside out, revealing its weapons. She then puts it back on and pulls out a pistol. Mathilde asks, “Are you armed?” He grins and replies, “I’ll be all set.” The two agents begin to make their way towards the front by going through connecting doors on each car as the train speeds down the tube.
They only get a couple of train cars ahead from where they started when the train is pulling into a station. Mathilde looks out the windows and sees the armed terrorists waiting on the platform. She yells to Dax, “Get cover! It’s the UN shooters!” He dives down across the way, and Mathilde crouches on one knee just to the side of the doors as the train comes to a stop. The sliding doors open, and a large group of six henchmen wearing camouflage uniforms with British flag patches on their shoulders are standing with machine guns pointed at the opening. The lead henchman, in a South African accent, yells, “Come out, come out wherever you are! It’s all in good fun, agents!” The henchmen chuckle together. While they aren’t paying attention because of their laughing, Mathilde jumps above a seat and fires a shot that breaks through the glass and hits a henchman in the neck, dropping him down in agony. Mathilde squats back down and says, “one down, five to go.”
Dax gives her the thumbs up. The lead henchman yells, “You’re going to pay for what you’ve done!” He signals his soldiers to enter the train car, but suddenly they hear running down the escalator of the station. It’s Tommy and two CIA agents firing at them, so they return fire and battle on the platform. The gunfight goes in between columns, with bullets hitting and missing agents and henchmen. Tommy yells out, “For New York!” He fires his pistol and kills two henchmen in a row, but Tommy gets hit by machine gun fire and slumps down the side of a column. The other henchmen scramble to get into the train car for cover while looking ahead for Mathilde and Dax. The lead henchman surprises Mathilde by having his machine gun pointed at her before she can aim her pistol at him, but he doesn’t see Dax on the other side of the car who has already pressed his watch that emits a huge bolt of electricity. The power knocks the lead henchman to the floor in a spasm of pain, causing him to let go of his gun as the metal conducts more shock into him. Mathilde gets her pistol out and aims at the other two henchmen, who don’t know where to look and shoots them dead with head shots. The two remaining CIA officers arrive at the opening of the train doors as Mathilde and Dax are dragging out the injured lead henchman. The other five henchmen are all dead, but Tommy has also died.
Mathilde tells one of the CIA officers to go check who was driving the train. The American jogs up the platform and looks into the lead car. It’s empty. Walking back to where the other agents are, he says, “Nobody’s there.” Dax comments, “curious.” Mathilde gives the lead henchman to the CIA agents, and they hold him up and handcuff the captured terrorist. She walks down the platform to see Tommy’s dead body slump up against a column. Mathilde is looking down at him but hears people walking down the escalator. Turning to see who it could be and pointing her pistol at the area, Director Arway is standing on a step as the escalator is bringing her down with London Police and agents running down the parallel side. Arway says, “Hardly a day goes by without someone dying next to you, Agent 010.” Mathilde replies, “Tommy’s sacrifice was not in vain. He’s a hero. The terrorists are killed and captured, plus we have a prisoner to question down the platform.” Arway gives her a stare of confidence, then sternly walks by her side, commenting, “let’s see what this murdering lowlife has to say for himself.” Arway thanks Dax for his radio tracker glasses and then puts the attention onto the prisoner, declaring, “I’m here to personally question you. If you ever want to see the light of the day again, you will answer everything I ask.” The lead henchman prisoner speaks out bluntly in his South African accent, “there’s nothing to question. I get paid millions by the Diamond SPECT Corp. to protect their assets. I’m just a gun for hire.” Arway questions, “how did you know our location underground and take control of a train and station?” The lead henchman smiles, saying, “orders from above, Director. Orders from above.” Arway replies, “take him away.”
The London police take control of custody and begin walking the prisoner out of the station. Arway says to the CIA agents, “Go report the facts to your boss. We have video surveillance of the terrorists and will soon get a confession. Until then, I advise you to leave England.” They nod and leave the station, following the police.
Director Arway is now standing with Mathilde and Dax in silence. Mathilde is about to question what the lead henchman meant by his comment when Arway says, “Prime Minister Frederick and his wife have disappeared flying back from Paris, where he was supposedly trying to smooth our alliance over with the French. We believe he may be involved in everything from the satellite shutdown to the attack at the UN.” Dax looks at Arway in disbelief. Mathilde is frustrated and walks a few steps away with her hands on her hips. She comments, “I knew something was up with that guy. In Maui, it seemed too convenient for him to be tied up one moment and then gone the next without any explanation.” Arway declares, “he seems to be a slippery one, and now our top priority is bringing him to justice. You both need some rest. Until I figure out what our next move is, take care of yourselves.” Arway motions for the cleanup crew to get started on the bodies. Mathilde turns her tactical jacket around to the normal stylish outer jacket. Dax and her then exit the London Underground Station. It’s midnight with a clear sky of stars. Dax comments, “I’m a little shaken up, Mathilde.” She looks at him, and he’s sweating, and his hands are shaking more than usual. Mathilde asks, “How about unwinding at my place? It’s fairly close by, and I’ve got the best cold shower in town.” Dax replies, “make that a hot shower, and you’ve got a deal.” Mathilde laughs and says, “I think I can arrange that.” She puts her arm around his arm, and they begin walking to Mathilde’s flat, which is a few minutes away. She asks how his hands were injured, and he tells her he was bullied as a kid. Dax talks about the terrible event that left his hands scarred and shaking ever since the day it happened. He explains the bullies held his hands up against a school locker door and kept slamming it against his hands. They were jealous of his perfect grades, keyboard typing speed, and being half their age but in the same grade. He talks more about it as Mathilde listens. She then opens up about how she spent her childhood with only her mother and had to learn to defend herself from bullies throughout the years. They both talk about growing out of their circumstances and the crazy night they had as they arrived in front of her building.
Later on, in Mathilde’s flat, there are empty packages of microwave meals and Bloody Mary ingredients strewn out on the kitchen table, with the shower running on hot. Dax’s glasses made it as far as a hallway shelf leading to the bathroom as the two spent the night together.
The next morning, Dax is sleeping in late as Mathilde is getting ready to go to their work headquarters. She puts the rest of her clothes on and kisses him on the cheek. She gives him one more look before heading out of her apartment, having left a note saying to rest up as long as he needs to.
MI6 Headquarters
Director’s Office
London, England
Mathilde Bond sits, waiting for Director Arway to enter the office. After a few minutes, her boss briskly walks in and sits down at her desk. Arway mentions, “I hope the rest of your night was restful.” Mathilde replies, “very.” She gives her a look and says, “Right.” There’s an awkward pause. Arway continues the conversation, saying, “we’ve looked into the Diamond SPECT Corp in South Africa our prisoner is claiming to have been paid by. They seem to be a legitimate business importing diamonds to Japan. I still want you to check it out and report back to us with what you find. My staff outside will provide you with a plane ticket and the necessary details once you arrive at your destination. That is all.” Mathilde nods and gets up, walking towards the door when Arway remarks, “Thank you for last night, Mathilde. You and Dax helped put an end to those terrorist bastards.” The two women nod to one another in understanding as Mathilde leaves her office, closing the door.
Polokwane, South Africa
The British Airways passenger plane lands in Polokwane, South Africa, with Mathilde on board. She had decided to dress comfortably for the hot weather, wearing sunglasses, a soft white shirt, tan khakis, brown shoes, and a straw fedora hat she liked for the shade and anonymity. Mathilde looks like any other tourist. Once the plane pulls up to its designated gate and unloads, she proceeds to the arrival entrance of the airport. Standing on the sidewalk, looking out at the many vehicles picking up travelers, she wonders who Director Arway has made arrangements with this time. A Japanese woman walks up from behind her and stands at Mathilde’s side. She is sharply dressed in a pantsuit, with her hair being held up by kanzashi hair sticks. Young, fit, and beautiful, the woman remarks, Youu’ve come a long wa, Agent 010. I’ve seen your photo, but I didn’t catch your name.” She looks at the young woman, then casually says, Bond. Mathilde Bond, and you are?” In a serious tone, the young woman answers, “Endo. Mayumi Endo.” Mathilde smirk, and they both laugh. Mayumi says, Ourr leaders from Japan’s Ministry of Defense train us to get to know our allies, like when meeting someone new it’s important to, how do you say, ice breaking?” Mathilde says, “something like that. So, Mayumi, I want to check in on the SPECT Corp just north of here. How can you help me do this?” Mayumi comments, “ah, yes, your team requested for me to get you a ride with the fixings, and so I’m here to do just that. Follow me, Mathilde.” The two agents cross the road and walk to a parking area nearby. Mathilde says, Pleasee, anything but a minivan.” Mayumi points ahead and says, Howw about this one?” A gray minivan is sitting in one spot, but at another spot just to the right sits a brand new orange Nissan GT-R Nismo sports car that Mayumi is walking towards. She questions, Youu are pointing at the GT-R, aren’t you?” Mayumi replies, “yes, we provide our partners vehicles courtesy of Japan’s highest authority and corporate sponsors. You’ll also find that everything is fine here, but you will at least get a nice joy ride out of all of this,” as she tosses the keys to Mathilde. She grabs them in the air while looking at the Nissan and says, Thankk you. I’ll take it from here.” The young agent slightly bows in courtesy, turns away, and walks back to the airport, leaving Mathilde with the sports car and her upcoming trip to the diamond operation north of the airport.
Mathilde steps into the Nissan GT-R sports car and sits down in the driver’s seat. There is a laptop and a small case on an extended arm stand on the passenger side. She clicks the touchpad, turning on the computer. The directions to the Diamond SPECT Corp. headquarters are on the screen. Mathilde then opens the small case, and there is a Walther PPK/S pistol with several clips of ammo. She picks it up, looks at the pistol in the light, and is satisfied with the new weapon. Mathilde puts it back down and presses the ignition button on the car, and the engine revs up loudly. Following the directions on the laptop, she gets on Route 521, driving north towards the border of Botswana. The two-lane road is in decent condition, with massive game farms on both sides. Mathilde is passing what little traffic there is in the speedy sports car when, from a large farm entrance, a group of vehicles enters the road driving in her direction. She doesn’t see them as three Land Rovers, two Ford Mustang police cars, and two Toyota Tundras with a man in each truck bed begin speeding up to her sports car.
The two trucks take the lead and get side by side, taking up both lanes of the road. All the vehicles are catching up to Mathilde’s position. Before she can react to what’s happening, the men in the back of the two trucks stand up with machine guns and start firing at Mathilde’s car. The bullets hit the back of the Nissan, blowing out the brake lights and cracking holes in the rear windshield. Also, the machine gun spray is hitting the road, and sandy dirt at the sides is kicking up dust. Mathilde swerves to try to avoid the onslaught of gunfire, but there’s enough traffic where she can’t speed away. The Ford Mustang police cars put on their lights and sirens, going ahead of the trucks, getting up close to Mathilde’s GT-R. They position their cars on each side of her Nissan, and their passengers put the windows down, pulling out shotguns. Mathilde sees what they’re doing, so she slams on her brakes as both men shoot their shotguns. They just miss her car and instead hit the opposite Mustang. The force of the blasts goes right through the side doors, hitting each passenger and killing the and knocking their bodies into the drivers. The impacts push and turn the steering wheels to the sides of the road, crashing both cars and leaving them out of the chase. Mathilde replies, Nott a good day to ride shotgun.”
Taking the action of pressing down on the brakes gives the group of Land Rovers time to swarm around her car, but ahead of Mathilde, there is traffic backed up going through a flooded part of the road. She puts her car in the middle of the road with one Land Rover following behind, while the other two vehicles separate away. They drive outside the lanes of the road and into the flooded waters. There is barely enough room to squeeze through the stopped cars as Mathilde maneuvers going in between them. The chase continues with the sides of Mathilde’s GT-R scraping and smashing up against both sides of traffic. The Land Rover following Mathilde doesn’t fit in between the traffic, crashing into cars on both sides of the road. The driver isn’t wearing a seat belt and smashes up against the windshield. The other two Land Rovers are spraying water out from the front and sides, traveling through the deeper waters of the flood. The traffic dissipates as the Land Rover drivers pivot their vehicles and aim themselves at Mathilde’s car, which is on the narrow, unflooded section of the road. Mathilde has an idea and quickly turns her car 180 degreesbackwards, smoothly sliding with the help of the water on the road. Driving in reverse, she rolls down her windows and pulls out the Walther PPK/S pistol. The two Land Rovers are about to collide and ram her car from each side of the flooded road when Mathilde fires the pistol. The shots hit the two front tires of a Land Rover, flipping and rolling the vehicle in a sideways forward motion. Mathilde revs the engine of her car, speeding ahead of the other Land Rover that is lagging behind due to the floodwaters. The tumbling Land Rover, whose tires she shot out, rolls at a fast speed into the other Land Rover. The crash puts the two vehicles into deeper water, and both are smashed up from the impacts. Mathilde turns her car in another 180-degree move that quickly sets her driving forward again. She is determined to find out what’s going on and drives faster toward her destination.
Mathilde sees a large sign that reads SPECT Corp. Diamonds and pulls into the entrance with a security gate, but it’s open. She drives through and follows the road. Up ahead is a large building with a driveway that looks to be the place. There’s a half circle of black SUVs with men in suits at the sides and a man and woman in front waiting for her. Mathilde pulls up to the area, tucks the gun behind her back, and gets out of the car. She walks towards the man and woman standing in the middle of the pack of men in suits. “That’s far enough, Bond,” comments Dr. Fynos Frederick. The Prime Minister’s wife lifts her pistol and points it at her husband standing next to her. The group of men in suits pull out pistols and aim them at Mathilde. Not understanding the scene around her, Mathilde asks, Whatt is this?”
Prime Minister Frederick speaks up, Thankk you for saving me in Hawaii. I’ve been swindled into this mess by SPECTRE! Atmos, the satellites, the UN. It has been them all along!” Dr. Fynos says, Shutt up! The only mess is from you and this pain in my ass MI6 agent. I’ve been cleaning up after both of you like spoiled children. It’s so difficult being married these days,” and shoots the Prime Minister in the chest. He falls down, holding his body, squirming in pain. Mathilde pulls out her gun, aiming it at the Prime Minister’s wife. The henchmen begin walking towards her with their guns out as Dr. Fynos threatens, saying, Surrenderr now 010, and I won’t go after Arway and your supplier boytoy with the full might of SPECTRE. You need to think of others and not just yourself. I know you’ll do the right thing.” The Prime Minister stops moving on the ground, passing out. Dr. Fynos looks down at him and comments, “I guess I’m a widow now. Poor me.” She smiles, looking up at Mathilde, and asks, Whatt’s it going to be? You kill me, and then my men kill you?”
She puts her hand up and twirls it in the air, signaling for most of the henchmen to get in their vehicles, while two stay next to her, still pointing their guns at Mathilde. A sinister Dr. Fynos says, “I’m afraid this is what happens when a blunt instrument like yourself goes up against a sharp blade like me. No one knows what to do besides killing one other. I’ve had to be the British government’s advocate for so long; it’s refreshing to be free from that bullshit. Maybe you should try it on for size?” Mathilde replies, “we’re spies at war, not allies.”
Dr. Fynos comments, Ohh, Bond, you’re just like your father. A lapdog to the crown. I’m not a spy like you. You’re expendable and blind for not seeing how they use you. You should’ve stayed away from your father’s profession. I know how that ended up for him, you, and your mother. You should have gone to college like me. A Ph.D. in economics has certainly come in handy with my organization. Lawrence even saw the potential and investment in SPECTRE, but you decided to kill him.” In a quick motion, Mathilde shoots the henchman on Dr. Fynos’ right side. The doctor grabs the henchman on her left side, putting him in front of her body. It surprises him as he fires his gun at her and the bullet misses. Mathilde shoots at him but hits the henchman. Dr. Fynos is walking backward towards an SUV, still using the injured henchman as a human shield. The other henchmen in the group of SUVs open fire at Mathilde from their windows, forcing her to retreat to her car. Dr. Fynos throws the injured henchman to the ground, leaving him there. A back door of an SUV opens up, and she hops in the back seat. The group of vehicles departs with a couple of henchmen still firing at Mathilde while she’s using her car door for cover, shooting back at them.
The SUVs get away, leaving the diamond complex. Sirens turn o, and warning lights flash at the entrance and inside the building. Mathilde gets up from her crouched position inside the car door and rushes over to the struggling prime minister. Sliding down on the ground, she checks his pulse, looking at his pale face. With his eyes slightly open, his hand lifts in the air for her to hold onto. She grasps it as Prime Minister Frederick whispers, “Lake Chuzenji. You’ll find her. Crystal Crown Villa. I’m sorry,” and he gently passes away. She punches the ground next to him several times, yelling out in anger, gets up, and walks over to the henchman who Dr. Fynos left behind. Mathilde points her gun at him, but he’s dead. The building sirens are still blaring out loudly, so she decides that retreating is the best option. Grasping under the Prime Minister’s shoulders and walking backward, dragging his body to her car is heartbreaking, even though she knows he’s guilty of aiding SPECTRE in plunging the world into death and chaos. Placing his body in the back seat and getting behind the wheel again, Mathilde drives out of the complex towards the airport. With no vehicles in pursuit and a dead head of state in her back seat, Mathilde looks at him, then looks ahead, thinking about how much trouble she’s about to get into.
Mathilde is arrested fas, but it’s a painful event. At the flooded area where the wrecked cars are from the earlier chase, the police had set up roadblocks, and Mathilde decides to turn herself in to them. She steps out of the car, and once they see the dead body in the back seat along with the rear of the car blown out, they tackle her to the ground. She’s arrested, and they go to a nearby police station. At the headquarters, the officers walk Mathilde to an interrogation room as a detective takes over custody. They continue to walk down a long hallway as he puts a black cloth bag over her head, and he rushes her to the basement…
Mathilde is dragged into a basement room of the police headquarters and thrown to the ground with handcuffs on and a black cloth bag covering her head. A woman and a man in military clothing are waiting for her there. Only the man speaks and satisfyingly says, Ourr boss sends her best.” The woman smiles and takes out a short-range whip. The police henchman picks up Mathilde and holds her from behind, standing in place. The police henchwoman, Whiplash, walks up in front of Mathilde and strikes her with the whip. She yells in pain, taking a step back as the henchman holds her up. The whipping continues again and again as she takes each blow with a yell. After several devastating impacts, she drops to one knee. The henchman picks her up for the next attack from the henchwoman’s whip. She can’t see where the next torturous hit is going to land, so she focuses on training and calms her mind. The whipping goes on and on as Mathilde is getting slash marks on her body, shoulders, neck, and arms with bleeding wounds. A strike then hits her in the face, knocking Mathilde to the side. The henchman stands her up again. A couple of more whips to her body, and she finally gives out from all the blows and collapses to the floor. The henchman waves the henchwoman to leave the room with him, and they exit quickly. Mathilde is lying on the floor in excruciating pain as she is going in and out of consciousness.
Agent Mayumi Endo rushes into the basement room, takes off the black cloth hood covering Mathilde’s head, and tries to keep her awake, speaking angrily in Japanese about what Mathilde has gone through. After ensuring she’s okay, Mayumi runs out and gets help, while police officers follow up with medical gear to stop the bleeding and bandage Mathilde’s wounds. They radio for an ambulance, place her on a stretcher, and transport her out of the police station with Mayumi alongside for the ride to the hospital in Polokwane.
It’s nighttime at the hospital, and Mathilde is sleeping with Japanese agents on guard outside her room. Lying in bed, her face has a thick red scar from one of the slashes. There are other visible slashes on her arms and shoulders, while many are bandaged up beneath her hospital gown. Mayumi is sitting next to her, talking on a phone in English. The conversation wakes Mathilde up. The young agent says to the person on the other end of the call, “I’ll put you on speaker.” Mayumi switches her phone on so Mathilde can hear as Director Arway comments, “Bond? You gave us all a good scare. We’re looking into your attackers, but they’ve seemed to have disappeared. I’ll have you know that next time you’re caught with a dead Prime Minister in your back seat, you might not be so fortunate. Agent Endo has filled me in on what they know, and I’ve requested their services to get you home. That’s all we will need from yo, Agent 010, and I look forward to hearing your report in person.” Arway hangs up the phone, and Mayumi puts her phone down, looking at Mathilde. She asks, Howw are you feeling?” She answers, “sore, but I need to get to Tokyo, and you’re going to help me get there,” as she sits up and swings her legs and feet to the side of the bed. She takes off the hospital sensors and needles and as a shocke, Mayumi replies, Youu need rest!” Mathilde comments, “I can rest on the flight,” and stands up. Mayumi stands with her and replies, Okayy, but we need to get you some fresh clothes.” Mathilde says, “and a fresh weapon.”
The group of agents are scattered throughout the plane to Tokyo, but Mathilde and Mayumi are sitting in first class. The other agents discreetly wear fancy business suits to camouflage their profession in the main cabin. Some agents are crunching on pretzels and peanuts. Mayumi is sitting in a seat pod, working on a laptop in front of Mathilde, who is wearing a black pantsuit, a white collared dress shirt, and a black tie. Her dark blonde hair is tied up to the side with sticks. Mathilde is now wearing black pants, a grey shirt, and a thin dark green vest they bought from a store on the way to the airport. Mathilde’s lon, dirty blonde hair is tied back in a ponytail, keeping it away from the scar on her face. Also, being with Japan’s Secret Service, she’s allowed to carry her new Walther P99 pistol on board, in which Mayumi had given her from a security office at the airport. Relaxed but in pain from her wounds, Mathilde orders a double-shot Bloody Mary on the rocks with no garnish. A flight attendant delivers the drink to her with a celery stick in it. Mathilde is about to protest, but still being hungry after her earlier meal, she decides to let it slide. Taking out the celery, looking at it amusedly, she smiles at the vegetable and takes a bite. Then, with a sip of the drink, she glances out the window, finishes it, and falls asleep for the rest of the long flight.
Tokyo, Japan
The commercial plane lands at Haneda International Airport, and Mathilde is led by Mayumi and Japan’s secret service to a part of the airport that’s on Tokyo Bay. Waiting for them at the docks are more armed agents, three seaplanes, and pilots ready to fly them to Lake Chuzenji. Mathilde comments, “I like your style, Agent Endo.” Mayumi replies, “I thought the element of surprise would give us the advantage, like dragons from the sky.” Mathilde smiles as they all load up on the planes and take off from the ocean towards the coordinates Mayumi had researched on the trip from South Africa. It’s a 153-kilometer or 95-mile distance to Nikko in Tochigi Prefecture, where the villa on the lake is located.
Lake Chuzenji, Japan
After a short flight, the three seaplanes circle the lake as Mayumi talks to the pilots over the radio headsets about where to aim their landings. She instructs them in Japanese to approach from the north and get close enough to the shores of the villa on the southern side of the lake so they can disembark from the planes without swimming. Mathilde pulls out her pistol and nods to Mayumi as they come in closer towards the water. Suddenly, a rocket hits the seaplane to the right of their plane and explodes, while machine gun fire starts hitting the other two planes from the front. Mathilde yells, “we have to land! Put it down!” Ahead on the beach and the dock of the Crystal Crown Villa, henchmen are shooting machine guns and reloading a shoulder-held rocket launcher. The other seaplane to the left of theirs gets hit directly in the front windshield as it lands on the water. The pilot gets shot, and his body slouches down onto the steering wheel and controls, sending the plane sideways crashing into the water. The last flying plane with Mathilde and Mayumi inside makes the landing and is heading straight for the shores of the lake where the henchman is located. Mathilde opens the door of the seaplane and jumps onto the floating platform below the opening. She holds on with one hand and extends her gun out in the other hand. The henchman with the rocket launcher is about to fire his weapon again when Mathilde shoots him off the dock into the water. The remaining henchmen run from the beach and onto the dock with their machine guns firing but missing. Mayumi opens the door on the opposite side of Mathilde and stands on the other landing platform while their seaplane is driving through the water, getting closer and closer to the shore. Both agents open fire, and one by one, the henchmen are hit and fall off both sides of the dock and into the lake.
The seaplane pulls into the now-empty dock, with Mathilde casually stepping off the plane but determined to find Dr. Fynos. The Japanese agents and Mayumi, with guns aimed ahead, proceed to follow closely behind. The group of agents makes it to the low-trimmed grassy lawn leading up to the large villa when they hear boat engines start up. They turn to see a small outboard engine boat with three people in it, leaving a dock that’s further down the beach. Mathilde shouts out, Thatt has to be her! Let’s go!” They run to another dock, untie a small boat, hop in, and Mathilde pumps the gas line and rips the cord to start the outboard engine. They see the other boat traveling towards a river, leaving the lake, so Mathilde revs the engine, pulling out of the dock, and starts their pursuit.
Mayumi shouts over the loud boat motor, “they’re trying to escape down the Daiya River!” Mathilde shouts back, Whatt’s down the river!?” Mayumi replies, shouting, “the town and then Kegon Falls! It’s a big waterfall.” They give one another a concerned look and continue towards the river opening. The boat ahead of them goes out of view around a bend in the river as Mathilde and Mayumi slow down, trying to avoid rocks and rough rapids. The water is fast-moving with structures, and the landscape of trees and cliffs blocking the views ahead. Here and there, they see the boat ahead, but then it gets too far away again. Mathilde messes up a maneuver, so they bang up against two large boulders in the water, stopping them sideways. Mathilde puts the motor in reverse, and Mayumi tries kicking off the rocks to get them freed. They are stuck for a while, but it finally works, and they continue the chase.
Up ahead, there’s a scenic pedestrian red bridge above the river, but there is someone who has been strung up by a rope around their ankle, hanging upside down in the air. As they get closer to the bridge, they are shocked to see Dr. Fynos dangling in the air. Mathilde turns the engine to reverse to slow down so they are in front of her and the bridge. “You bitches!” Dr. Fynos angrily says. They both look at her and then at each other and chuckle. Mayumi replies, “I think you meant officers. This was a multinational operation. By the authority of the Japanese Government, the United Nations, and International Law, you’re under arrest, Dr. Fynos.” She yells out at them, “I’m just one piece on the chess board, and you’re still playing checkers! Atmos told me you were dumb, but I didn’t think it was this ridiculous. The two that left me here are the ones you should be going after! You know, the two that whipped you up at the police station!” Dr. Fynos grins satisfyingly, still hanging upside down in the air, and says, “you can still catch them, down river.”
Mayumi says to Mathilde, “drop me off here, and I’ll watch her. You go ahead.” Mathilde thinks about it and agrees to turn the boat towards the bank. Mayumi jumps out and waves a salute goodbye. Mathilde salutes back and angles the boat down the river, passing under the bridge and the hanging woman. “The falls are just up ahead. Lawrence had quite a fall of his own, didn’t he?” A laughing Dr. Fynos comments to Mathilde while she is directly above her.
The river rapids follow around a few turns, with Mathilde on the lookout, when up ahead, there’s a small boat on the bank of the river. She drives closer and looks into the craft. The dead body of the henchman who watched over her while she was whipped at the police station was lying inside the boat. Never having seen him, Mathilde says nothing and looks around for anyone in sight. She pulls her boat up to the shore next to it, turns the motor off, and gets out, stepping onto land with her gun drawn. Mathilde follows the side of the river, going towards the waterfall that’s ahead. Climbing up onto a deck where the large falls are pouring down a cliff, Mathilde sees a woman standing at the edge looking out at the view.
The henchwoman yells out over the sound of the falls, “they call me, Whiplash! Dr. Fynos tricked you again, but it doesn’t matter! This is where your story ends!” She turns around with a pistol and the short whip she used on Mathilde, along with the spray whipping up from the wind of the waterfall. Whiplash comments, “how about another slash or two?” The two women circle one another with the roar of the falls next to them, with guns ready to fire.
Once the henchwoman is close to the edge and her back is to the waterfall, Mathilde shoots both of Whiplash’s legs. She falls to her knees in a stunned reaction, yelling out in pain, and shoots her gun multiple times in the air, missing. Pulling the trigger until it clicks empty, Whiplash doesn’t give up and throws her gun at Mathilde. It flies by and hits the ground. She swings her short whip in the air, flailing and missing any contact because Mathilde is keeping her distance. Mathilde comments, “I think you’ve whipped your last lash.” The henchwoman turns around and crawls away from Mathilde towards the edge of the falls that’s behind her, saying, “they’ll destroy everything.” On her knees, Whiplash goes off the edge and plunges down the giant waterfall.
Mathilde walks up to the edge, looking down at the falls, having taken out her tormentor. Mathilde jogs back to the bridge and sees police officers and the Secret Service agents gathered around the area. They’re upset and look at Mathilde disapprovingly. She sees a woman hanging down from the bridge, but it’s not Dr. Fynos. It’s Mayumi hanging off the rope by her neck in the air, dead, and Dr. Fynos has escaped.
MI6 Underground Headquarters
London, England
Mathilde Bond is sitting across from Director Arway in her underground office. Arway says, “the trail went cold after Agent Endo’s death. The former Prime Minister’s wife is a stealthy one, and with satellites still down across the globe, and our government to blame, I’m afraid we may be looking at England’s ending as an established power in the world. I never thought I’d see this day in my lifetime.” Mathilde bluntly counters, “its not over yet. Why can’t we get our satellites back online?” Director Arway thinks for a moment and says, “the villainous organization, SPECTRE, has had a long history of having its tentacles in everything. Various SPECTRE bosses operated and caused chaos across the world on more than one occasion.” The Director abruptly stops her explanation upon hearing a specific chime on her computer screen. She looks over at the screen and clicks a message from British Parliament. Arway reads the message out loud, “the entire country is currently in a satellite blackout. Our military forces cannot adequately defend us. We’re unable to provide security, communications, and services to our citizens. Please provide Parliament with all updates on this dire national security situation.” Arway stops reading, looks over at Mathilde, and says, “SPECTRE is behind it.” The two women sit together in a quiet moment of contemplation. Arway breaks up the silence to say, “Another troubling development we face is that other agents are disappearing and getting killed in action at faster rates than ever before. I have to tell you, Mathilde, you’re currently my only active top agent, since I’ve been reluctant to trust anyone coming up the ranks at this point. Even the Americans are losing their own, as you well know. Our only lead is Dr. Fynos and a new threat Dax will brief you on. Your mission is to track her down and bring an end to this SPECTRE treachery.”
Mathilde Bond replies “what new threat?” Director Arway opens a file in front of her and picks up a large photo holding it in the air and says “Equinox.”
Several days later
Maldives, Indian Ocean
General Kagami is sleeping comfortably on a beach chair when a breeze wakes him up. He looks out at the clear waters of the ocean and the sandy beach. His personal bodyguards aren’t around as he takes a sip of a fruity cocktail. He’s on another vacation from being the head of Japan’s Secret Service Agency, with a woman lying on her stomach tanning next to him. He says to her, “it was a mess cleaning up what that British secret agent has done to my operation. Having to kill my own agent to free Dr. Fynos and getting her out of the country was risky, but a deal is a deal. I knew early retirement would have its rewards.” He pets and squeezes her lower back, laughs satisfyingly, and comments, “the satellite handover to SPECTRE was a much easier task.” Thinking of how he got away with it and getting to have a beautiful woman by his side, General Kagami happily takes another sip of his drink. He sets it down and leans back in his chair, putting his face up to the sunny sky. Closing his eyes and feeling powerful, he relaxes. A moment passes when he feels a cold metal object press onto the side of his head, and a gun is cocked, making a clicking noise. It’s the woman who’s been next to him. “You,” he says. “How did you find me?” Mathilde Bond says, “for Mayumi,” and shoots the traitor in the head.
Colombia, South America
Two Days Later
Mr. Rexor inspects a warehouse in the southern region of Colombia and is pleased with the operation. He hasn’t divulged to anyone his thoughts of the operation. Jeeps are parked outside the building with drivers and armed guards patrolling the surrounding area. A group of young men follow him closely, waiting for his reaction to their latest spoils of heroin and cocaine. Along the equator is fertile ground for mass-producing drugs to fund organizations, causes, and even corporations. Mr. Rexor, an older man who walks with a cane and wears a white suit, is the dealmaker for his company. “Pangea Corp.’s weekly trade of perfectly legal jewelry in full,” he says to his business partners and hands over a briefcase. Their leader, Cultrano, opens the case, revealing the contents of bright, shiny gold jewelry and large diamond rings. He inspects a few items and closes the case, replying, “until next time, Mr. Rexor.” He then signals his worker to transfer their online funds in a donation to Pangea Corp. from a laptop computer. Watching the screen transaction in the millions of dollars, Mr. Rexor comments, “no need to deal with cash these days. It’s all too easy.” Cultrano smiles with missing teeth and tattoos on his face, replying, “easy if you still have a satellite connection, Mr. Rexor.” They give one another a satisfying nod and go their separate ways. Cultrano gets back to work managing the drug operation. Mr. Rexor exits the warehouse, gets in a Jeep, and tells the driver to take him north to the city of Bogota.
The dirt road leaving the compound is bumpy due to it being partially washed out in places. Mr. Rexor is trying to type on his phone about another successful trip, but the road is proving to be too much of an obstacle. He puts the phone down in frustration and yells ahead to the driver, “are you going to run over every rock in this country, or should I drive!?” The driver stops the Jeep, and Mr. Rexor shakes his head in anger, saying, “now what!? You’re going to be fired once I complain about this to your boss!” The driver replies, “I’m afraid you’re the one who is going to be complaining.” Mr. Rexor looks out the sides of the Jeep, and on both sides, military agents in camo with assault weapons surround the vehicle as Dax smiles in the driver’s seat, who is now pointing a pistol at him. Back at the warehouse, there are workers who are being yelled at for not doing enough drug cultivation by Cultrano. He’s so angry that he takes out his pistol and points it up into the air to intimidate them. Three loud gunshots ring out, but they don’t come from Cultrano’s gun. He brings his pistol back down, looking at it oddly, having never pulled the trigger but suddenly feeling pain. To Cultrano’s shock, he falls to his knees and then to the ground because he has been shot three times and dies.
From out of the jungle, Mathilde Bond slings a rifle on her back, having just shot Cultrano from a distance as she and a large group of four-wheeler-driving Colombian soldiers enter the warehouse and attack the remaining drug dealers. Workers scramble to get out of the way as machine gunfire is being shot by henchmen and soldiers at one another. Mathilde drives the four-wheeler up the warehouse stairs to the second floor, shooting the drug lords from every direction as they try to grab and fire their weapons. She continues by driving up to the third floor in a high daring maneuver on a catwalk, shooting henchmen one by one with accurate precision with a reached-out arm while her other arm is driving her four-wheeler. She spins the four-wheeler in a slide, taking out the last group of leaders at a top office as their shots miss in the air. The four-wheeler blitz attack wins the firefight but with a few casualties of soldiers and workers. All of the henchmen are dead or wounded. The computer systems, infrastructure, jewelry, and money are still intact. Mathilde steps off the four-wheeler and gives the all-clear radio message for the Colombian authorities to move in. Dax messages on the radio, “we have Mr. Rexor in custody, and he has some information on a missing doctor I think you would like to hear.” Mathilde smiles and replies, “thank you, Dax. It’s good to finally have you out here.” She leans up against the four-wheeler, relieved they had won the battle and survived.
Jakarta, Indonesia
1 Week Later
In a high-rise fancy apartment in Jakarta, Indonesia, eggs and rice are being cooked for a midday meal in the kitchen area by Dr. Fynos. A laptop is opened with a financial account in the millions of several currencies, as well as a large flat-screen television connected to an unknown account with a text box. No one is on the screen, yet Dr. Fynos has been angrily shouting at it while pouring the eggs and rice from the stovetop onto her plate. “You assured me I would never be put in a situation like this once I took this role! Must I remind you that I was the one who had government access as the Prime Minister’s wife! I was the one who got you the satellites! It wasn’t Atmos! It was me! Where’s the respect!? After what I did for you in Japan with my connections! Why am I the one having to hide and not be allowed at headquarters anymore!?” On the television, a reply in white text reads across the screen “LOOSE ENDS JUSTIFY THE MEANS. KNOCK. KNOCK.” There is a long silence with Dr. Fynos reading the message. She then turns off the television in anger. She sits down and picks up her chopsticks and is about to take a bite of food when the door of her apartment knocks twice. Dr. Fynos gets up, pulls out her sidearm from her holster, spins a silencer on the gun’s barrel, and walks from the kitchen to the apartment door. She opens fire without even opening the door, unloading the gun’s clip until there are no more bullets left to fire. The door is shredded with holes, and she kicks it down to find no one on the other side or in the hallway of the building. Dr. Fynos walks out into the hallway, yelling up and down “I’m in charge! You work for me! Don’t forget who the boss is!” Nobody answers her, so she turns around and goes back into the apartment. Waiting in the kitchen is Mathilde, who is seated and eating her eggs and rice with chopsticks in one hand and her pistol pointing at Dr. Fynos in the other hand. Mathilde replies “I’d say you look to be self-employed now, Fynos.” She glares at Mathilde in anger and bolts out of the kitchen towards the exit door. Mathilde doesn’t shoot, even though she could have, and gets up, running after Dr. Fynos, while muttering to herself “it’s never easy.”
The chase begins through the hallway and down the stairs of the building complex with Mathilde in pursuit. Both women burst through a ground floor exit door to the bustling outside streets of Jakarta. Running hard and fast, a determined Dr. Fynos dodges and throws street vendor carts and objects to impede Mathilde while they make it through crowds of people. They burst out of the crowd onto a bridge walkway that goes over a highway crossing into the financial district. Both women are running at full speed, pumping their arms with their hair blowing in the breeze. Mathilde can only keep pace with her from about ten feet back while they cross the bridge. Once on the other side, Dr. Fynos runs out onto the side of the road and gets in the way of several motorbikes, forcing them to slow down and beep their screechy loud horns. She pushes one person off a bike, crashing them and several others. Mathilde just about catches up to her when Mathilde gets hit by another moving motorbike. In the mayhem, Dr. Fynos picks up the motorbike. She pushes the driver off and jumps on it. She struggles to get it going as Mathilde is getting up and sees what’s happening. Acting fast, Mathilde grabs the motorbike that hit her with the driver now off it right when Dr. Fynos gets her motorbike running, and they both take off continuing the chase.
Weaving in and out of traffic, both women are riding their motorbikes at top speed. Dodging and weaving through lights, near misses, and crashes all around the scene. People yelling and beeping horns with the mayhem finally get the attention of the local authorities. Dr. Fynos drives up on the sidewalk with Mathilde in pursuit, and they dodge pedestrians for a block. She then ditches the motorbike, jumps off, and runs down a narrow alley with her motorbike blocking the entrance. Mathilde slams into the obstructing motorbike, removing it from the entrance, and hops off, running after her. They exit the alley and into a large open square with fountains and gardens leading up to a central hub of high-end financial buildings with stairs. The local authorities are waiting as they surround the area but are far behind in pursuit of the alley. Dr. Fynos runs towards the stairs of the main building with her arms and hands in the air, yelling out her innocence, but they open fire on Dr. Fynos and gun her down just before she gets to the steps. Mathilde stops in shock, not knowing what to do as a businesswoman in sunglasses along with a group of suited men walk out of the main building down the stairs towards Dr. Fynos’s body to what looks like a meet up with the local authorities that were now moving in with guns holstered and appearing to not see her as a threat.
A city news van and local news team move in as Mathilde looks around confused and exhausted from the chase. Mathilde sees the building name and it’s Pangea Corp. Headquarters Tower. “What a mess,” Valentina Largo says out loud so everyone can hear The Pangea Corp. executive. Mathilde asks her “is this your mess?” As the local authorities are radioing that the suspect is down and interacting with Largo’s suited men. Valentina in her sunglasses and black suit replies “well, when we heard what was going on from the British Government, we notified the police here in Jakarta and everywhere really. They had been unable to locate this rat until you flushed her out. So thank you. And you are?” Mathilde answers “my name is none of your business.” The businesswoman gives her an impressed look. She then pauses in thought, takes a deep breath, walks towards the steps, and looks down at the dead body of Dr. Fynos. Valentina Largo walks up close to Mathilde and says quietly, “it’s Bloody Mary’s isn’t it, Bond.” As she smiles while walking away with her suited men that up close now look more like bodyguards as the police step in and question Mathilde as she watches Valentina present herself in front of the news cameras talking about bringing Dr. Fynos to justice.
London, England
2 days later
An empty bench looks out at the River Thames in London. There’s nobody around but a few birds on the ground nearby. The sky is dark and dreary, but it’s not raining. From a distance, walking towards the bench, Mathilde walks outside MI6 Headquarters to get some fresh air and space. Since returning from Indonesia, she already got the debriefing and chatter about the global hostage satellite dangers that have been plaguing the world for weeks. Luckily, no nuclear attacks or war have occurred, but governments, news media, and citizens fear the worst is yet to come. The financial markets have tanked, people are not going out, and everyone is bracing for the worst. Mathilde makes it to the bench and says to herself, “finally, a place to rest.” She looks out at the water and buildings and has a moment to herself. A small black boat makes its way around the bend of the river moving towards her. Mathilde sees it and thinks nothing of it and continues to look around at her peaceful surroundings. The boat gets closer and is pointing in her direction, speeding along with a driver and a passenger. The boat motor is the only loud noise as the city is quiet with no traffic. Mathilde sits up with her hands resting, looking out at the boat as it slows, making its landing in front of her. The small boat pulls up as a black hooded person gets off the boat, stepping onto the sidewalk in front of Mathilde. The boat motor turns off, and the surrounding is quiet again. The cloaked figure walks up and sits down on the bench next to her. Mathilde and the person sit there quietly, both looking forward. The person worriedly says, “work and play just get all jumbled together in times like this.” It’s in Director Arway’s tired voice as she pulls back the hood and gives Mathilde a look. Both women are sitting side by side on the bench, looking out at the sights of London. Director Arway pulls out an envelope and hands it to her, and continues saying, “this just came in. You’ll find an invitation in there meant for your eyes only. I have to admit Agent 010, myself and several others have already read it as it appears you have made an impression on Pangea Corp. and Valentina Largo.” She takes the open envelope from Arway, pulls out a paper, and looks at it. Upon reading it, Mathilde gives her a look and decides to read it out loud, “Mathilde Bond is requested for drinks, an oceanside dinner, and entertainment at Cape Canaveral, Florida at Pangea Corp USA Headquarters. Please bring a plus one. Our company jet awaits your acceptance at the airport. Signed, Valentina Largo.” Mathilde closes the invitation while Director Arway stands up, looking down at her and says, “Dax is already en route to the airport as your plus one. This could be the lead we need. I’d say good luck Agent 010, but we need more than just luck. We need a miracle to end this satellite catastrophe.” Director Arway nods to Mathilde and stands up. She starts to walk away going back to the boat as the sun is now shining through the clouds. As Mathilde watches, the Director points towards the road behind the bench as a car engine revs up. It’s a classic silver Aston Martin DB5 that pulls in and parks near the bench. Mathilde stands up and shouts to Arway, “it looks like my ride is here, thank you Director” and walks towards the Aston Martin. The driver, a man in a sharp suit and sunglasses, gets out of the car, buttons up one of his lower suit jacket buttons, adjusts his tie, walks over to the passenger side, and holds the door open for her. Mathilde puts on her sunglasses and comments, “why thank you, good sir,” and steps into the impeccable, classic sports car. The fellow agent closes the passenger door, gives a firm salute and nods to their Director from a distance while walking around to the driver’s side door, and gets into the driver’s seat. They take off speedily towards London Heathrow Airport to meet up with Dax and the awaiting private jet.
Pangea Corp. Private Jet
Flying over the Atlantic Ocean
The service is first class, and those who work for Pangea Corp. had been professional and kind at the airport and now on the private jet. Dax and Mathilde are the only passengers, with two pilots and only one flight attendant. The flight over the Atlantic has been uneventful. Mathilde still kept one eye on the crew, not trusting the situation, but things proved to be safe for now. Hours later, they land at a single runway somewhere on the Florida eastern coast. There are white domes and buildings around the runway and on the shoreline. They exit the parked aircraft, where black SUVs are already waiting for them to be picked up. After being searched and their guns taken by several men in black suits, there is one man with long blonde hair wearing a teal blue tie in a black suit who tells Mathilde and Dax to get in one of the SUVs. As they sit down and close the doors, he says, “my name is Dr. Yellor, and this is Project Equinox.” Dax asks, “what is the project?” Dr. Yellor replies joyfully, “This is Pangea Corp.’s global science and command center for our space operations. We’re doing some really cool things here. Capabilities and achievements that people can’t even comprehend are just on the horizon here at Equinox. My team of scientists and engineers run point on our operations from satellite coordinations to the launches of our smaller-sized rockets, which we are doing today. They’re just enough to get the job done without exposing us to much of the outside world. I work on the science side of things, and Largo keeps us clear of any government interference like you.” Dr. Yellor chuckles while Mathilde and Dax look at one another in discomfort from his laughing. The group of SUVs is driving away from the runway with Mathilde, Dax, and Dr. Yellor as passengers and is now approaching a launch pad with a rocket in place, surrounded by other launch pads and rockets in the near distance. They pull up to the center launch site, and everyone unloads out of the SUVs. Dr. Yellor motions and says, “this way,” as he walks towards the structure next to a medium-sized rocket. The group follows and enters the building with Valentina Largo standing among a group of similarly suited men, holding a drink. She says loudly, “I didn’t know if you were going to accept my invitation. Of course, you know this isn’t exactly a regular run-of-the-mill dinner party. I had to revise my schedule, plans, and replace operations officers several times because of you. I have a Bloody Mary drink here for our gloriously successful Mathilde Bond. I will tell you, you haven’t been so good for my business, but what is good for business is my satellite network.” Valentina walks up to Mathilde and hands her the drink and continues, saying, “I decided to bring you here and take care of you and your boyfriend the old-fashioned way.” Valentina laughs, and Dr. Yellor follows her lead with a laugh, too. Valentina continues, “well, more like the new-fashioned way of taking care of your enemies.” She motions for her henchmen guards to pull out their weapons and point them at Mathilde and Dax. They put their hands up slowly. Valentina proceeds, saying, “not with guns, you have earned at least that. Bond is going for a ride unlike any other, and her side piece gets to watch. Mathilde and Dax reply at the same time with different comebacks, but talk over one another that muffles what is heard. Valentina says to her henchmen, “oh, couples. It’s so cute, when they try to plead together at the same time.” She motions for Mathilde to walk to the elevator with her and a few guards and points at the others for Dr. Yellor to walk Dax to the control room on the ground floor. Valentina says, “this will shut them up.” As the two groups begin to walk in different directions.
Once inside the elevator, Mathilde, Valentina, and her entourage of guards are rising to the top section, leaving the main structure of the building. At the top, there’s an entrance to a high elevated bridge tunnel that connects to the satellite rocket. Valentina presses an earpiece radio in her ear to turn it on and says out loud, “if you can hear me, Dr. Yellor, you can begin with the countdown to launch the final phase of Equinox.” Dr. Yellor replies, “I can hear you and will start the sequence.” He’s down in the control room with Dax, being guarded but looking on. Valentina Largo says to Mathilde, “it’s so simple, really. I’ve been shutting down the world’s satellites by sending my own rockets and tech up these past few years. It hasn’t been cheap for SPECTRE, but investments rarely are, and to end all nations and to rule the world by how it’s meant to be. I’d say it’s worth it. Don’t you think, Bond?” Mathilde angrily answers, “I think you have miscalculated me, Dax, and the world. And this Bloody Mary!!” Mathilde throws the glass drink at the head of Valentina, knocking her to the side while simultaneously jumping behind her from the guards who can’t get a clear shot in the elevator with the splashing, broken glass, and bodies of the two women entangled with one other. Mathilde pushes Valentina into a guard, dislodging his gun from his hands so it drops to the floor as another henchman fires a shot, somehow missing the bodies in the tight-spaced elevator that just reaches the top floor with the doors opening. Another henchman slips on the glass and falls. Dr. Yellor’s voice over the radio is “T-minus 90 seconds to launch. What’s going on up there?” Mathilde ducks down and grabs the gun while using a bloodied face Valentina as a human shield. She then shoves her away, and they roll out of the elevator. Mathilde shoots the other two henchmen in the head while they fire back before being hit, and the shots strike Valentina in the leg and shoulder, but one of the bullets goes from Valentina’s shoulder into Mathilde’s chest, knocking them both down. Valentina slowly gets up and sees the henchmen are all dead. She grabs the badly injured Mathilde and starts dragging her across the tunnel bridge towards the open door of the satellite module. “What were you trying there!?” An angry Valentina Largo yells out, “Lawrence was fun, wasn’t he!? It’s always the good boys who are the easiest to corrupt!” As she is laughing hysterically and both are bleeding out of their bodies, face, and legs, they come to the end of the bridge at the open door to the top of the satellite, and Valentina stands up a coughing injured Mathilde.
“Time for your ride to Equinox, Agent 010!” At that moment over the radio, Dr. Yellor yells out a thirty-second countdown as Valentina reaches to push Mathilde into the satellite capsule from the open door. The loud radio voice startles and distracts Valentina giving Mathilde enough time in a last-ditch effort to grab her hands. She swings Valentina around to the open door and, throws the SPECTRE boss into the capsule. Mathilde grabs onto the door and shuts it with a locking turn. Valentina looks back at her in shock with her back on the floor in the rocket ship through the window portal. Mathilde falls back onto the bridge platform and begins to crawl on her knees away from the rocket. A ten-second countdown starts on the loudspeaker. Mathilde gets next to the elevator and slumps up against the wall, watching the scene in front of her. Through the one window portal of the door of the satellite rocket is a yelling angry Valentina Largo without any space equipment or way to survive is now standing and pounding the locked portal as the rocket fires up and launches into the sky, leaving the bridge, Mathilde, and the surface behind.
Mathilde takes a breath and comments, “so much for seeing space, I always wanted to see space,” as she passes out from the pain of the gunshot wound to the chest….
Orlando, Florida
Several days later
Mathilde wakes up in a hospital bed with Dax by her side. “What happened?” He smiles and says, “first, luckily you’re going to be okay. Second, once they realized they had sent their boss on a one-way trip to space, Dr. Yellor and the others just gave up. They didn’t know what to do. So, I simply explained to them to come clean to the authorities, let me call our support team, and they would get fair treatment. I then got to you in time to stop you from bleeding to death, and we flew you to this top-notch hospital in Orlando.” Dax gets up and turns on the TV and says, “check this out.” On the TV, there are celebrations of Unity Day globally as the world has found out about SPECTRE and the Pangea Corp. satellite blackmail scheme as they’re being shut down and arrested across the globe.
Director Arway walks in the room and says, “it’s all because of you, Agent 010. We’re all very proud of you at MI6.” She looks at Dax and Mathilde, commenting, “I hope to see you reporting for duty when able. I think you could use a partner not just at home but in the field moving forward.” Dax, who is now Agent 011, says, “that would be nice, Arway. Thank you.” Mathilde Bond smiles and says, “well, let’s get going. What are we waiting for?” As she rests in the hospital bed, laying there as the three MI6 friends laugh together. Through it all, they had made it.
END OF PART II
PART III: EYE FOR AN EYE
FIVE YEARS LATER…..
Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
Winter 2042
1:30 AM Eastern Standard Time
Classic British rock music is playing on the speakers in the background while Mathilde Bond, at the age of twenty-seven, sits at a table alongside her fellow agents of the British secret service agency MI6 in a downtown pub on a cold, snowy winter Saturday night at 1:30 AM in Quebec City, Canada. In the head seat of the table is MI6 Director Jean Arway, who fondly looks around at her group of coworkers turned friends as they gather to celebrate her retirement at the London Calling Pub in the old historic district of the city, which they rented for their all-nighter private party. There are only two bartenders, a cook, and their group in the entire pub. Besides Mathilde and Director Arway, there’s the Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service, three 00 agents, two younger personal staff members of the Director, and Mathilde’s boyfriend, Dax, who also works under Arway as an intelligence field agent of Q Branch. Everyone is dressed in business casual clothing, from collared shirts with sweaters to dress pants and dress shirts with ties. Only the 00 agents are armed with pistols in holsters, while the others are unarmed. Mathilde and Dax are not 00 Agents, with their current designations being 010 and 011, and they are unarmed. Arway had a strict policy of maintaining agency protocols and trusted her 00s to ensure the group’s security, even during this randomly chosen secretive gathering celebrating her retirement. She was also solely focused on the job of serving her country and protecting the world from the evils of her time, but this sacrifice left her without a family or even friends outside MI6.
Director Arway, feeling tired quietly drifts in thought, not knowing what retirement may look like for her, but is interrupted by one of the bartenders who walks up next to her with a plate full of scotch shots. The bartender announces that the plate of drinks is on the house since they have already gone through numerous rounds of food and beverages. He goes around the table, placing a scotch-filled shot glass in front of each person, nods, and walks away to the backroom of the kitchen. Director Arway’s boss, the Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service, picks up the scotch shot in front of him and extends it out towards Arway, saying loudly, “Speech and a toast! C’mon Jean! Let’s hear it.” Everyone hushes their small talk and reaches for a drink in front of them. Some pick up the scotch shots, and others pick up the drink they were still working on from earlier. Director Arway reaches for her pint of beer, picks it up, and, while holding it in the air and watching the snow fall outside the large windows of the pub, begins her speech as the music stops playing on the speakers.
“It occurs to me that as I proudly look around at all of you at this highly distinguished table, you are the closest thing to a family I have ever had. Maybe on some days and during some missions, we didn’t always agree or see eye to eye, but we got through the tough times together. I’m not one for big speeches; I guess that’s why I wasn’t cut out for politics, but rather for the work that you all will continue when I’m happily at home with my feet up and too many pints into my day. I appreciate the kind send-off and each of you being here with me as I take on my next mission of needing the ladies’ room. Good luck, Godspeed to MI6, and cheers.”
Director Arway’s speech wraps up, and everyone lifts their already extended drinks into the air, shouting, “cheers!” They touch one another’s glasses with warm smiles, and each person takes a good long drink of their chosen beverage. Director Arway takes a quick sip of her pint of beer, gets up from her chair, and walks to the bathrooms at the back of the pub. Mathilde sets her Bloody Mary back on the table that she just toasted with, as Dax sets his pint of beer down that he toasted with as well. 002 sets his pint of beer down from the toast while looking across at 001 and 003, who are setting their empty shots of scotch on the table that they quickly downed during the toast. The two scotch-drinking agents lightly cough as the oldest, 001, quips, “a little jagged going down the old pipeline, champ.” 002 smirks back at him and looks over at Mathilde and Dax as they quietly talk with one another. He hears a thump on the table and turns to see the Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service headfirst, passed out and lying on the table. The other two staff members of the Director, a young man and a woman, are not even in their seats but are already on the ground, knocked out.
Mathilde stands up, looks around at the scene, and notices that each of the fallen has empty shots of scotch on the table. The two 00 agents who also had the scotch realize this at the same time as Mathilde. They look at her, Dax, and 002 in a panic. 001 says, “poison. The scotch is poisoned.” He suddenly drops to the ground, holding his neck in pain. Mathilde and Dax turn around to see who’s at the bar, and there’s no one in sight. 003 shouts, “Find Arway and protect her at all costs,” then falls to his knees, violently coughing. The two poisoned 00 agents are on the floor in pain, lose consciousness, and die alongside the poisoned Chief and the two other staff members who are already dead. Mathilde runs to the back of the pub to find Director Arway. Dax and 002 are trying to revive the others in futile attempts at CPR.
Mathilde cautiously opens the ladies’ room bathroom door. She walks in and hears the sink faucet on, with water spraying out of it, and shouts, “Are you in here, Jean!?” There’s no reply as she checks the two stalls, which are empty, and then walks up to the faucet and turns it off. She pauses for a quick moment in thought, and a sudden realization comes over her that she needs to get back to the main room. Mathilde turns and runs out of the bathroom, plowing through the door, and arrives back at the table where Dax and 002 are now gone, with the five dead bodies in the same positions as before she left to try to find Director Arway. Her agent instincts kick in as she sees 002’s pistol on the floor in front of her. She rushes over to the gun, picks it up, and makes her way cautiously out of the pub and onto the snowy, ice-covered sidewalk in the middle of a cold winter night. The warmest layers Mathilde has on are a navy sweater over a white dress shirt, black khakis, thin socks, and black boots.
The falling snow makes it hard for her to focus and unable to see far along the buildings up and down the street. She looks in one direction, and there’s nothing. She turns to check in the other direction and sees a cargo van parked on the side of the road with its back doors open. She sees Dax and 002 on opposite sides inside the back of the cargo van, their hands bound, while two men dressed as soldiers are keeping them in place. Another man in soldier’s clothes is about to close the back doors of the cargo van, but he turns his head in her direction towards the pub. Mathilde doesn’t have a clear shot due to the heavy falling snow and the distance she is from them. So, she takes off running toward the van as the soldier hops backward onto the back of it, yelling for the driver to go. The vehicle takes off, and she tucks her pistol into her belt to increase her focus and running speed. Meanwhile the soldier, who’s sitting on the back edge and looking out at her, fumbles around trying to take his handgun out from his side holster because the van is trying to accelerate too fast on the icy, snow-covered street. The vehicle is traveling slowly enough for her to get closer as the van turns left. She makes a running turn, following it as it goes up a steep hill on a smaller side street. The soldier has her in view, with his gun now in his hands. He points and aims it at her, while she tries to run diagonally in a maneuvering pattern, but he’s got a clear shot at her, and Mathilde knows it.
She braces to be hit, and it could be the end, as she isn’t slowing her running speed. However, from behind the soldier, 002 kicks him, which pushes and distracts the soldier from getting a clean shot at her. A bullet whizzes by as she sees and hears gunshots flash and bang loudly in the van, where a scramble erupts in the back seats with 002, Dax, and the three soldiers fighting and wrestling with each other. The scramble in the cargo van disappears from Mathilde’s view as the vehicle takes a right turn onto another road. She runs through the right turn, pushing herself to go faster. Up ahead, she sees that one of the soldiers is on top of 002 in the back of the cargo van, pinning him to the floor with one hand holding 002’s neck, which is hanging off the back edge of the van, while using his other hand to pistol-whip 002’s head. She sees the soldier look up at her with 002 knocked out underneath him. He takes his hands off 002, cocks his handgun, points it down at 002, and shoots the 00 agent in the head. Mathilde yells out in anger while still running, as the soldier stands up and throws 002’s body off the moving van just as the vehicle takes a sharp left turn into an entrance to the Plains of Abraham battlefield park. She makes her way to 002’s body and quickly stops to check, getting down on the ground to see if there is any chance to save him, but there isn’t; with a head shot, he’s dead.
Mathilde gets up and picks up her running pace toward the left turn entrance to the park, continuing on a thin park road into a small wooded area. She hears helicopter rotor blades thumping and a loud motor noise in the distance but does not have a visual of what’s going on. So, she runs out of the wooded area and onto a huge snowy plain and sees a large black helicopter hovering in the middle of the Plains of Abraham, just a few feet off the ground, with a cargo van parked close by. She sprints toward the distant vehicles and sees the driver, the soldier who killed 002, and a soldier on each side of Dax. They’re holding him upright while dragging him up and into the helicopter because of gunshot wounds to his legs from the earlier scrum in the van. Now focused on the loud, hovering helicopter full of soldiers and Dax, Mathilde runs closer to it. Two people appear in her view, standing on the side of the helicopter, one in front of the other, as it lifts ten feet into the air.
The frigid cold wind from the rotor blades makes Mathilde put up her hand in defense as she closes in on the hovering helicopter that is out of her reach and finally stops her sprint. Looking up at the helicopter, she sees Director Arway, who is standing on the side of the helicopter and holding something that is rolled up. Mathilde and Director Arway make eye contact with a calm sadness and resolve as a gunshot rings out loudly, even over the sounds of the thumping rotor blades and the motor of the helicopter. Shot in the back and through the middle of the chest, Director Arway falls off the helicopter as a shocked Mathilde, unable to see who shot her, reaches out to try to catch her from under the ascending helicopter that is leaving with Dax onboard. Mathilde softens the blow of the fall by partially catching Arway and sets her down onto the snowy field.
The helicopter flies away as it gets darker and quieter around the two women. Mathilde is trying to stop the bleeding while Director Arway wheezes and is in immense pain. The cold suffering woman motions for Bond to stop trying to save her by taking her hand off the gunshot wound. Struggling to talk; yet, looking up into Mathilde’s eyes, while handing her the rolled up document, she says, “some retirement. Don’t listen to MI6, save Dax from Wehhss….” as MI6 Director Jean Arway’s last word trails in a mumble, her eyes close, and she dies.
Mathilde is left in the freezing snowy field, staring sadly at her deceased friend, boss, and mentor, with her boyfriend, Dax, now kidnapped and severely injured. Coming to terms with the fact that she’s now on her own. A doomed realization that what happened at the retirement party has left her with no one to trust or know, as it could be anyone on the inside of MI6 with knowledge of their location and the coordinated attack itself. She remembers she has the rolled-up document in her hand and looks down at it, takes off the rubber band, and opens it up as her adrenaline is wearing off making her hands shake and body shiver in the cold night. It’s not a document but a painting. The painting is from when she had reunited with Lawrence, also known as Atmos, when he painted an octopus on top of the world, symbolizing SPECTRE. It was the actual piece of art he had created just before his death in Maui, on top of the Haleakalā volcano. There’s a written message on the painting that wasn’t there before, so she frustratingly sees her own cold breath while reading aloud, “an invitation for 010 to come visit where this artist had fallen off his throne. Until then, enjoy the views.” For a moment, she stares at the painting and the message while holding it in one shaking cold hand. Rolling the painting back up, she commits to herself to follow the clue and go back to Maui because this painting and message are all she has from the unknown enemy. Mathilde Bond looks out from her high vantage point on the Plains of Abraham at 2 AM as the cloudy skies part and a full moon partially illuminates the scenic overlook of the St. Lawrence River and the Quebec City hinterland. With steely eyes, cold anger, and determination to avenge her friends, she yearns to find her missing partner, Dax.
20 Hours Later
Haleakalā Volcano National Park, Maui, Hawaii
5 PM Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time
After a long commercial flight from Quebec City, Quebec, with one stop in California to Maui, Hawaii, Mathilde Bond is driving a rented black BMW EV car on a winding road up a Hawaiian volcano to the last place Lawrence was alive, where the forest and farmland have already receded to give way to clouds and the early evening sunshine. The elevated landscape is rocky, with volcanic dirt, boulders, and cliffs. Driving the BMW speedily, Mathilde ascends higher up Crater Road towards the summit of Haleakalā. Before leaving Quebec City, Mathilde bought a new set of clothes and a purse to keep 002’s pistol hidden from the public. She wears black-rimmed Wayfarer sunglasses over her eyes, dressed in a thin black turtleneck sweater and dark green cargo pants, while her shoulder-length dirty blonde hair flows freely as she drives the BMW toward the location of the clue from the painting. The desolate scenic views remind her of being up here five years ago and what had happened to Lawrence. Being above the clouds, the sun begins to set beneath them as the observatory building complex at the summit comes into her view. There are several dome-shaped structures, with the largest being in its own area separate from the other buildings. Up ahead, the entrance gate to the observatory is open. There are no vehicles or people in sight. Mathilde drives past the gate, stops the BMW in front of the observatory, turns off the engine, takes the pistol from her purse, and gets out of the car. Being 10,000 feet above sea level, Mathilde feels the cold air while looking out at the breathtaking view of the island and ocean below. After a quiet moment, she jogs toward the large observatory building with 002’s pistol outstretched in her hands to cover for herself. For safety, she’s kept her cell phone turned off since the night before and hasn’t let anyone from anywhere know what she’s up to, especially MI6.
She reaches the front door, takes off her sunglasses, and opens the door with a swift kick. Entering the building with her gun drawn in front of her, Mathilde scans for intruders, Dax, or booby traps while walking through the hall toward the central main room of the building. She sees nothing out of the ordinary upon reaching the center room except for the door to the outside deck slightly swinging back and forth, making a muffled banging sound that echoes in the room. Mathilde walks to the door, going through it and out onto the deck where she last saw Lawrence. There’s no one on the deck, but there’s a fold-out metal chair with a large photo-printing device sitting on it. She cautiously walks up to the chair, looking at it in confusion. The printer device turns on, and a countdown clock starts at forty seconds while simultaneously processing a photo. Mathilde looks around, not seeing anything or anyone else on the deck, so she holsters her gun in her belt and squats down in a crouch to get closer to it. The photo finishes with thirty seconds left in the countdown, but she’s unable to turn the printer off because there isn’t a power button, control panel, or electric cord. Taking the photo from the device, she holds up a picture of the Eiffel Tower with a message that reads: “Survive this test, and you can find Dax at the next observation deck at sunset, or suffer the same fate as Atmos….”
Mathilde is lost in thought and puts the photo in her pocket while going through the options in her mind, from throwing the device off the deck to trying to physically destroy it. But with just twenty seconds left on the countdown, another photo starts to be processed by the printer. The photo comes out with no picture on it but with a typed message. She quickly picks up the blank photo with text from the printer and brings it to eye level. The message reads: “Bomb traced to your exact location. Get the hell out of there, Bond! From, M.” Looking down from the message to the printer device, which is now at five seconds from zero, Mathilde gets up, runs at full speed to the edge of the deck, and jumps off it as the observatory building and deck blow up behind her in a gigantic fireball explosion on top of the volcano.
Mathilde’s jump made her tumble one hundred feet down the side of the steep-angled volcano, with her hand around a protruding, smooth rock that stopped her from falling any further. Her grip is on the rock with one hand, and she is holding the photo in the other hand while lying on her stomach against the dirt-covered slope. Dust engulfs her sight from the explosion of the building and deck above her as she covers her face by keeping her head down. The dust settles, and the sounds of the destroyed structures dissipate into an eerily quiet breeze on the side of the volcano. She turns her head, looking down at the never-ending slope of the volcano, and then looks to her side. A dozen feet away is the corpse of Lawrence.
What’s left of his body-legs and arms with tattered clothing-is lying on its side, with his skull turned to face the other way, so all Mathilde sees is his backside, which is partially covered in volcanic dirt. She lets out a muffled yelp, “Lawrence!” She is in shocked pain upon seeing him, and tears begin to run down her face in sadness. She has a quiet moment looking at him and thinking about their life together, what he had become, and ultimately how he ended up dead and alone on the side of this volcano, except that now she’s next to him. Looking away from Lawrence, her eyes turn from sadness to resolve as she rubs her tears off with her shoulder and refocuses on her current life with Dax, who is still alive and needs her help. With her renewed determination and strength, she gets to her hands and knees, letting go of the rock above, and begins to crawl up the slope, having to leave Lawrence behind again. She stays close enough to the ground so that she doesn’t fall backward and down the volcano. Slowly making her way back up, Mathilde Bond has survived the explosion and the dangerous fall.
24 Hours Later
The Eiffel Tower, Paris, France
4:15 AM Central European Time UTC/GMC +1
In the early morning hours in Paris, there are no tourists and only a few locals milling about around the base of the Eiffel Tower. After another long series of flights, Mathilde Bond arrived in Paris and took a taxi from the airport to the famed structure, where she had just negotiated with the French guards to be allowed up to the observation deck by using her I.D., which she showed from her strapped purse while declaring an International Government Emergency. However, she still ended up with a supervised escort of two French guards. The elevator to the elevated observation deck opens as Mathilde and the two guards walk out onto the deck in the middle of the Eiffel Tower. Ahead of them, there is another metal folding chair at the edge of the tower’s platform, but she sees that on this chair there’s a different device, an electronic projector box. They walk up to the projector as it’s pointing in the opposite direction, and it suddenly turns on, causing Mathilde and the two guards to stop and see what it’s going to do. The light from the barrel of the projector aims out into the sky from the Eiffel Tower observation deck, creating a see-through screen video of Dax.
Dax begins talking through the speakers of the sound system, while the video shows only from his shoulders up to his head. He says, “hi, Mathilde. This is a pre-recorded message, but rest assured I’m still alive and being held captive. The Eiffel Tower is rigged to explode if you don’t diffuse the dynamite located above you in time. I’m told you must answer the question correctly that will show up on this projection screen at the conclusion of my message. Also, your next test will be at the Roman Colosseum with an old foe if you pass your current test here and now. I’m told you have thirty seconds. Mathilde, run!” As he blurts his warning out at the end, the message abruptly cuts off and changes to a typed question on a blank background with a thirty-second countdown that has begun above it.
The guards yell in French for Mathilde to put her hands up in angry confusion while raising their assault rifles to aim at her. She raises her hands, looking at them with a questioning expression. The guards yell for her to slowly turn around and face them. She complies, and upon turning to face them, she shakes her head in dismay back and forth, saying, “you don’t know what we’re up against. I have to try to stop this, or we’re all going to die.” The guards look at one another and then up at the projected screen that shows twenty seconds left on the countdown clock. They lower their rifles, and one guard motions for her to go ahead and do something about it. She turns back to the projection screen and looks at the projector just sitting there on the metal chair. Making a split-second decision, she grabs the chair with her hands, picks it up with the projector, and as the screen disappears from the sky, she runs over to the edge of the deck and throws the chair and projector off the side of the Eiffel Tower. She turns back, looking at the two stunned guards, and yells out, “we only have ten seconds to get off this thing! Come on!”
The guards throw their rifles down, and all three of them scramble to the elevator entrance in the middle of the deck, but the elevator is no longer on their level. So, they rush to a nearby bench, dive down, and crawl under it while closing their eyes and bracing one another for the imminent detonation of the dynamite above them. The countdown reaches zero in Mathilde’s head, but she only hears the sounds of fans blowing and music playing instead of dynamite exploding. She opens her eyes to see confetti blowing out of the fake dynamite and orchestra music playing on the sound system. The two guards follow her lead and come out from under the bench as they’re covered in red, white, and blue paper confetti that fills the air and gathers on the deck itself. They look at her in anger as one guard takes his handgun out of its holster and aims it at her while the other guard pulls out handcuffs. The upset guard with the handcuffs tells her, “you have some explaining to do, you crazy British woman.”
The Colosseum, Rome, Italy
7:45 AM Central European Time UTC/GMC +1
Mathilde arrives at the Colosseum in Rome, Italy, after a quick two-hour flight from Paris, France, and a thirty-minute taxi ride. What set her back was having to explain the kidnapping situation to the French police, who received the call from authorities above to stop the inquiry and help her on her way to Rome. She pays the cab driver to wait for her and reaches the entrance gate, where there’s only one security guard who has been eyeing her since she got out of the cab. Before Mathilde can say anything to him, the paid-off security guard says, “we open to the public in forty-five minutes; just make it fast.” He opens the gate, and she continues walking past the guard and onto the ancient grounds. She sees a folded metal chair with a sword and shield leaning against it, underneath a staging area that’s part of the structure. Mathilde walks toward the chair, and upon closer inspection, she notices a note on it.
She picks the note up and reads it aloud. “Prepare for a duel to the death. Meet me in the gladiator’s arena.” Mathilde smirks at the note and decides to go along with another test. She takes off her strapped purse and the black turtleneck sweater but is still wearing a gray fitted athletic shirt over her sports bra. She sets down the purse, with the pistol in it, on the chair, pulls out a hair tie, puts her hair back in a ponytail, grabs the sword and shield, and walks from underneath the staging area onto the platform of the Ancient Roman Colosseum, where Whiplash is waiting for her in a stance with prosthetic metal running blades for legs and holding her whip out with a shield in hand.
“So, you’ve come to finish the job!?” Shouts Whiplash. Mathilde replies, “no, I’m looking for my lost partner, Dax. Do you know where he is?” Whiplash looks confused and frustrated, saying, “you’re just trying to play mind games with me, but yes, I know where he’s being held and by whom.” Mathilde urges her to talk, saying, “tell me, please!” Whiplash responds with her head turning back and forth as a signal of “no,” rejecting Mathilde’s plea, as she cracks her whip loudly in the air towards Mathilde. The two women begin to encircle one another on the platform of the Roman Colosseum. Mathilde has her sword outstretched, with a shield blocking her weak side. Whiplash continues to taunt her by cracking the whip in the air while she holds her own shield at the side.
They move in closer to one another until Whiplash’s outstretched whip catches Mathilde’s sword and wraps around it. She pulls it out of her hand, and the sword flies through the air back towards Whiplash. She spins the whip around to release the sword next to her on the ground as Mathilde runs in to attack her with just a shield. Their shields collide and hit as they swing at each other, with loud metallic banging sounds echoing around the Colosseum. Mathilde spins, crouches down, and swipes her shield in a horizontal move that strikes Whiplash’s prosthetic blades, taking her down to the ground. The two women are furiously wrestling with the shields discarded on the ground, but Whiplash gains the upper hand by using her whip like a rope to wrap it around Mathilde’s upper body. Mathilde tries to roll away from Whiplash, but after several rotations, the whip tightens around her, and she’s tied up. Whiplash swings her body and running blades up and around in a fast maneuver, going from being on the ground to standing up while still holding the whip with her opponent tied to the end of it.
Mathilde is on her knees, tightly bound by the whip, but suddenly realizes that if she rolls in the opposite direction from what she just did, it might loosen or spin off entirely. She dives forward and barrel rolls toward Whiplash as the whip unrolls off her body. She speedily rolls by Whiplash, who is trying to kick her with her running blades but misses. Mathilde stops and gets to one knee in a crouched position with her hands on the ground. Whiplash angrily turns around, looking down at Mathilde, and with the full power of her metal running blades, jumps into the air at her. Mathilde grabs the sword from earlier, which she purposefully stopped rolling at, and brings it up, pointing the weapon into the air at the incoming opponent. Whiplash comes down at Mathilde from her high, forceful jump as her shoulder gets stabbed and skewered by the sword that Mathilde is holding firmly in front of her. Whiplash lets out a painful yell while hunched over and being held up by the sword, looking down at Mathilde in a moment of contemplation and regret.
With the sword still stuck in her shoulder, Whiplash finally divulges what she knows by saying, “his name is Wesley Cobble. He’s an MI6 dropout and has a mansion on Prince Edward Island in Canada. You can’t miss it on a map, as he’s built his wealth through cryptocurrency pump-and-dump scams. That’s where Dax has been held since Wesley’s mercenaries attacked you in Quebec City. I’m sorry, Mathilde, but he took me in and paid for my health recovery, gave me employment, and I was desperate with SPECTRE being wiped out. He just took his revenge too far for even me to be okay with it.” After she’s done talking, Mathilde rips out the sword, drops it on the ground as Whiplash falls down in pain. Mathilde assures her she’s going to send help, turns around, and sprints away from the injured woman on the Colosseum platform, back to the chair to grab her sweater and purse, runs through the grounds, and up to the guard at the gate. She pauses for a moment to catch her breath from the grueling fight and tells him to call an ambulance to help an injured woman in the Colosseum. Mathilde then runs up to her waiting taxi cab, hops in, and tells the driver to get her back to the airport as fast as possible.
15 Hours Later
Prince Edward Island, Canada
6 PM Atlantic Standard Time
Two paraplegic men in wheelchairs sit side by side, bundled up in coats, scarves, hats, and mittens, with the setting sun in the distance on an outdoor deck among a snowy backyard field of tall winter grass. On this mansion deck in Prince Edward Island, Canada, Dax sits in one of the wheelchairs, as his legs are paralyzed from the gunshot wounds he sustained in the van fight in Quebec City, and he is talking to the other man about the many changing shades of color that he sees in the sky all around them. The man sitting in the other wheelchair, listening to Dax’s voice describe the scene around them, is Wesley Cobble, who is wearing dark-shaded sunglasses to protect his eyes because he’s completely blind. While the two paraplegic men are having a conversation in their wheelchairs, three armed soldier guards-who are the same three men who were in Quebec City, poisoned the party drinks, killed 002 and Director Arway, and kidnapped Dax-are now standing behind them at the sliding door to the large deck. Wesley tells Dax what he perceives through his eyes while living with blindness, saying, “it’s black and sometimes faded shapes, flashes of light or color, and at times I experience vivid hallucinations.” Dax replies, “I’m sorry for what happened to you, Wesley, but you didn’t have to take this so damn far.” Wesley nods in silence while hearing distant, approaching footsteps crunching on the snow in his backyard field of tall winter grass.
He motions his hand up in the air for a guard to come and wheel Dax back inside the mansion. The guard does what he’s instructed and wheels Dax inside as the two other guards walk out to stand next to Wesley, looking out at the field. As the footsteps on the snow get louder and closer, they draw their handguns. Then, the crunching noise from the footsteps comes to a stop in a moment of silence. Suddenly, gunshots ring out from the field as one of the guards is shot in the middle of his chest. He drops to his knees on the deck, with blood gushing and squirting out while he unsuccessfully tries to hold it back with his hands. He falls over with a thump while lying down, bleeding to death, as the other guard rushes forward, moving into the tall winter grass field with his gun drawn. Mathilde Bond rushes at him from a side angle as she aims her pistol at his head. He turns too late to see her, and she shoots him in the head, which forcefully blows up, spraying blood and spinning what’s left of his body onto the snowy ground as Mathilde looks up towards the deck with her pistol readily aimed.
She hears someone clapping and cheering from the deck of the mansion. She cautiously walks from the field up to the deck and sees Wesley sitting in his wheelchair, clapping profusely with a big smile on his face. He yells out glowingly, “I heard two confirmed kills! You passed your final test to be a 00, right in front of me! What a thrilling surprise!” Mathilde Bond angrily replies, “you’re a monster,” as she walks up to stand in front of her tormentor, Wesley Cobble. He says, “all I want for you is to become the agent that I can never be. Do I look like a monster to you?” She replies, “no, you don’t look like a monster at all, but your mind and actions against me and my loved ones are horrifically sick. You will be arrested and brought to justice. Now, where’s Dax?” Wesley doesn’t answer her question but says, “you just brutally murdered two people in cold blood, and you’re lecturing me about sanity and morality? Isn’t the whole point of MI6 to kill people, whether you think it’s justified or not? I think you’re more blind than I am. By the way, Dax is inside, staying warm because it’s cold out here, isn’t it, Mathilde?”
Upon hearing his last comment, Mathilde runs around to the back of Wesley’s wheelchair and turns him around, pushing the wheelchair to the sliding door of the mansion. He says, “now we’re on a mission together. Cobble and Bond, together at last.” She doesn’t reply while sliding the door open, using one hand to push the wheelchair with him in it into the mansion and the other hand to hold an outstretched pistol in the air. She wheels Wesley up to a standoff inside the mansion as she aims her pistol at the last guard’s head while he stands behind Dax in a wheelchair and is already aiming his pistol at Dax’s head. The mercenary guard yells out, “they know! Our cover is blown! She probably already told her superiors who we are!” Mathilde lies and says, “that’s right, buddy.” The guard points his gun at Wesley and yells, “this is all your fault! Your stupid revenge tour got my men killed, and now there’s nowhere to hide from this!” Mathilde says, “no one else needs to die. Just drop your weapon, and we can talk this through.” The guard thinks about it while looking around as Mathilde shoves the wheelchair with Wesley forward right at him to confuse and throw the guard off. The guard shoots first, but at Wesley, hitting him in the chest, which kills him in his wheelchair. The guard looks up to shoot at Mathilde next, but it’s too late for him, as she already has him in her sights, shooting him in the head, which kills him instantly.
Mathilde runs up to Dax and hugs him in his wheelchair as he reaches up to be embraced by her. They hold onto one another, hugging while shedding tears of relief. They kiss, and she looks into his eyes, asking if he’s okay. Dax tells her he’s alive but that he can’t feel his legs. She tells him she will do everything in her power to help him recover and that they need to get to a hospital first. Dax agrees, and they stop their reunion to look over at the dead body of Wesley Cobble, slumped over in his wheelchair. Mathilde moves from being close to Dax and gets behind his wheelchair. The two of them give a final look at Wesley, and Mathilde says, “let’s get you out of here, to a hospital, and then home” and wheels Dax out of the room towards the front door to get out of the mansion and leave Wesley Cobble behind for good.
Three Days Later
An island in the Sea of Japan
Mid-day with cloudy skies
Standing on an island at a grave site, Mathilde places flowers at the headstone of her mother, Dr. Madeleine Swann. She passed away from cancer when Mathilde was just fifteen years old, and ten years before that, her father, James Bond, had passed away on the island and was given a gravestone here by the British government in his honor. Her mother’s wishes were to be laid to rest where he had died, and so that is what Mathilde and the British government have done. She’s staring at the two side-by-side headstones in thought and looks to her side, startled to see a suited older man carrying flowers walking up to the grave site.
After placing flowers at James Bond’s headstone, M walks over to Mathilde and says, “hello, Bond. I’m M, the new Director of MI6, your boss, and I’m the guy who sent you that last-second message saving your life on the volcano. You’re the hardest agent I’ve ever had to make contact with in all my years of government communications work, but I’ll let that slide this one time, as you’re now an official 00 agent with status confirmed as 001. Your approval is former Director Arway’s last order that I’m honoring, so please don’t make me regret it. On behalf of everyone at MI6, congratulations.” He hands her a mission document and continues speaking, “also, your recovering partner Dax wants to continue working for us, so when he’s ready, he’ll be placed at Q Branch. He’ll be the 00 agent Quartermaster going forward, and I don’t care what you two do outside of your jobs; just don’t let it interfere with the missions.”
As they shake hands, Mathilde smiles in surprise at all that the new Director has just said and that he’s okay with her relationship with Dax. M states boldly, “Dax is now your Q, I’m M, and you’re 001. Do I make myself clear, Bond?” Mathilde replies, “yes, M.” He looks at her with his hands on his hips and says, “and try to keep your bloody cell phone turned on once in a while.” The MI6 Director grunts and turns away from her, taking a few steps to face James Bond’s grave. He stands at attention and says loudly, “Commander Bond,” while he salutes in a moment of respect and honor to Mathilde’s fallen father, 007. M finishes the salute, puts his hand down, sharply turns around, and walks away, leaving her at the grave site. She watches M walk away, which gives her a moment to reflect. Turning back to look at the headstones and feeling a sense of sorrow mixed with a warm embrace of pride, she’s determined to be the best 00 agent going forward with a new mission in her hand. Mathilde Bond smiles with love in her heart, sheds a tear, and nods in acceptance of her parents’ fate. She turns around and walks away, following M to the boats to leave the island as the clouds part and the sun begins to shine down on the resting place of Madeleine Swann and James Bond.
THE END
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