Hidden Potential

High Tech - Part 5 - Special Agent

"Maddox, is it?"

The man in the black suit walked through the door to the waiting room, carrying a briefcase.

"Yes, that's me. Who are you?"

"I'm Special Agent Myers. Nick Myers."

The two shook hands before Agent Myers sat down across from Maddox.

"So you're a mechanic?" Myers asked.

Maddox nodded. "Yeah, I've got my own shop and all that."

"And how did you get involved with all of...this?" 

Maddox pointed to the case on the desk. "I found that thing and I almost paid for it with my life."

"Do you know what's on it?"

"Yes, I had a computer friend of mine check it out. He said it's got a bunch of stuff about some virus on it."

Myers nodded. "That's right. It is fortunate that your friend contacted us when he did. You see, the virus described on that computer is currently spreading throughout the world. It's dangerous and we've got to stop it."

"Ok, good."

Myers smiled. "Maddox, we need your help."

Maddox' eyes widened. "My help? I'm just a mechanic."

"True as that is, Maddox, you are the person closest to the mastermind of this whole plot."

"Master...what, me?"

"Yes. We tracked the goons that came to your shop through CCTV and satellite and we've been able to determine that they were sent by the entity we suspect is the mastermind. Fortunately, we were able to catch one of them."

"You did?" Maddox stood up so quickly, his chair fell over. His face turned red and his eyes widened and his fist closed. "Where is he?"

"Please, have a seat, let me explain."

Maddox remained standing.

Myers sighed. "As you wish. Through interrogation and by doing some pretty advanced scans of his anatomy, we discovered that the goon that came after you and your friend are actually wired to a small electronic parasite. We call it a sidekick."

"A sidekick?"

"Yeah, I know, maybe not the best word but it works. The bottom line is, we believe the mastermind of this virus is also controlled by this sidekick. If we can disable the sidekick, we believe we can also end this whole disaster before it gets any worse."

"How..."

Myers  held up his hand. "Follow me, I'll show you." 

Myers stood up and walked through a door into another room. As the door closed behind Maddox, he found himself in a white room with a person laying on a table, covered by a white sheet up to his neck.

Myers pointed at the man. "This is the goon we captured. We believe his name is Ralph."

"Wha, what are you going to do with him?"

Myers took out a small cylinder and held it up in the air. "This, my friend, is the cure that disables the sidekick?"

"That will disable the sidekick?"

"Yes. It's a concoction of nanites programmed specifically to attack the sidekick and destroy it."

"Nanites?"

"Yes, tiny, microscopic robots, if you will, that will do as they have been programmed to do."

"Destroy the sidekick."

"Exactly. Here, we were just about to test it on Ralphie here." Myers walked over to the unconscious man on the table and pressed the cylinder against his neck. A barely audible hiss could be heard as the liquid inside the cylinder emptied into Ralph's bloodstream.

"That ought to do it."

"Ok so how do you plan on getting this to the big boss?"

"That's were you come in."

"Me?"

"Yes." Myers produced another cylinder and gave it to Maddox. "Here, take this."

Maddox took the cylinder without thinking and looked at it. "Why are you giving me this?"

Myers ignored the question. "The plan is simple. You will administer the cure on the mastermind, just as I just did on the goon."

"I'm what? Are you out of your mind?"

"Not at all. They're searching for you, looking for the laptop. As long as they don't have it, they won't kill you."

"Kill me? Wait a minute..."

"Once they capture you and bring you to the mastermind, administer the cure and just like that, you Maddox the mechanic will have saved the world. Oh and don't worry, we'll be tracking you so that we can be right behind you in case you need backup."

Maddox looked at Myers and then at the cylinder in  his hand. "Are you sure this is going to work?"

A cough from the table interrupted their conversation. The goon on the table was sitting up, looking around, confused. "Where am I? Who are you?"

Myers looked at Maddox and smiled. "I'm sure."

#

Ok, this was a bit hastily thought up so I'm hoping this works with the other parts. What do you think? Is Maddox the man of the hour or just bait?