Alex Rider - Blind

Chapter 2

A heavy silence hung in the air and Alex froze. He wasn't moving much before but at those words he tensed. It was true, yes it was very true but he hated that truth.

"I'm sorry Alex." Ms. Jones said, her voice sad and once again holding that rare tone of worry. "You're just not safe enough. You leave as soon as you can. Go to Smithers, he has a few things for you. Dismissed." He heard a sigh and stood up, careful not to hit the desk in front of him.

Leaving he traced his hand down the hall to the stairs that were just past the elevator. He hated elevators, the feeling of not being in control of yourself falling or rising scared him. He would never admit it though. He counted the stairs as he walked down them, as to stop on the right floor. He reached the bottom floor and heard Ben finish going down the stairs behind him, he turned and knocked on the door closest to him.

"Alex my boy! How are you? Hello Agent Daniels." Smithers voice boomed in the quiet hall and Alex felt a smile across his face. "Do come in."

Alex flinched as a hand caught his arm to lead him into the room, he was pulled in a zig zag ish pattern across the floor. There must have been a project layed on the floor that he would have hit. He frowned briefly at the thought that he wouldn't be able to see what it was but dismissed it just as quickly.

"What do you have for me, Smithers?" His voice was happier than it had been for a while and Alex just then realized how much he liked the fat man that seemed to be the only kind person in the building besides Ben.

"Well, I have a few things for you as well as Agent Daniels. For Agent Daniels we have a flip phone that will take pictures, and any picture that after you take and hit the # button three times will be sent here to me. Any other picture will be saved like a normal photo on a phone. The call app has my number under 'Gadget Guy', Mrs. Jones is 'Peppermint', and the MI6 switchboard can put our call to anyone else and they are under '6 Board'. The last one is less creative but still functional. You also have a dart click pen. If you just click it it's a normal pen, three clicks in a row shoot a dart. They are tranctdarts and each lasts for 10 minutes on a grown man. There are three total darts. In the pen. You have new shoe laces, the laces have diamond pieces in them so they can cut through about anything with enough time. I kind of stole that idea from the Americans but it works well." There was the sound of scrapping and pings as the previously said and explained items were handed to Ben and put into his bag.

"Now it's your turn Alex. I have a few things for you. A watch, it's a normal watch but when you press the lugs where the band connects to the face of the watch a quiet voice will say outloud what time it is as well as the date." Alex felt something in his hand and it was indeed a watch, he clipped it onto his wrist. "Next we have a ring. I know it's not quite your style but it scans the surrounding area and alerts you to any item you might hit while walking or running. The ring connects to a pair of earrings and they will tell you when something might be in your way or how far it is." The ring and earrings were placed in his hand and he slipped the ring onto his right hand ring finger. He tried to put the earrings in but only got the left one, the right one kept stabbing him instead of going in the whole. Someone, he assumed Ben, stepped forward and did it for him but only managed to remind him how useless he was. Again pushing back that thought he turned back to Smithers. "I also have this for you." In his hands a moment later was what felt like a torch but it was shorter and had a silicone grip. "That my boy is a laser cane. It's like the ring but more effective, it has a grid that appears when you hit the button. It's small so it fits in your hands but if it scans anything that isn't flat it buzzes so you know if you're about to hit something, if there are stairs it buzzes still but in an on, off pattern. I also have eye drops that change your eye color back to their original brown from the grayish white they are now. They last for about 12 hours so make sure to put them in every morning and night." There was a shuffle and Alex's hands now held a small bottle that did indeed feel like a bottle of eye drops. "That's all I have for you now boys. Have a safe trip and be safe!" Smithers called after them.

Ben grabbed Alex's arm and guided him back to the door. It shut and they started their way back to the building's exit.

"Stairs. 3 feet." Alex jumped at the female monotone voice that sounded in his ear.

"You alright?" Ben asked, he must have noticed Alex's sudden movement.

"Yeah." Alex took a deep breath to calm himself. "I'm just not used to a voice in my ear. That was all."

"Makes sense, is it helpful though?"

"Yeah. It is." Alex seemed reluctant to admit it, but the gadget did help him.

"Come on, let's go."

They traveled up the stairs at a much slower pace then Ben would if he was on his own. He didn't want Alex to trip so he slowed his pace to match the teen's beside him. They traveled out the door and back to Alex's house. Alex slowly got used to the voice in his head and tried to walk with the laser cane. The lazer did seem to be more effective but was more obvious so he opted to take it with him but not use it if he could. After all, no one knew he was blind and he planned to keep it that way.

"Ready?"

Ben's voice called from the kitchen, it was easy to pack to go to Brecon Beacons. They just brought a few personal items and a change of clothes for whenever they leave since uniforms were provided as well as anything else they would need. They each had a single, small backpack with the bare necessities as well as Smithers gadgets and their own personal weapons. Ben had most of the weapons but Alex did have a single knife though he could never use it.

"Coming." Alex called back down the hall as he headed towards the kitchen. He was a little worried about going to the SAS again because navigating his own home was one thing but a camp full of always moving soldiers? A completely new thing.

They grabbed their bags and started the over 3 hours long drive.

hello my friends, hope you enjoyed this chapter. Have a wonderful day!

- AOP