Alex Rider: Life goes on

Smithers

The rest of the journey was quite uneventul for Alex other than a wrong turning causing him to drive round in circles for a while.
Just under two hours after leaving the complex Alex arrived at a large house enclosed by a high gate and perimeter fence.
Alex clambered out of the car and began slowly walking towards a small, what looked like a control box at the side of the gate.
Once he reached it he found there were no pin code buttons or options to select, just a blank box.

Having no idea how to open the gate he shouted up the trail towards the house knowing it would be pointless.

"Access granted" a computerised electronic voice said from the box that Alex had been trying to work out.

Voice recognition! Alex thought marvelling at how lucky he had been and glad that he did not have to attempt to climb the steel fence which was almost certainly mounted with all kinds of gadgets and gizmos to prevent people from getting in.

The gate swung inwards.

Alex climbed back into the partially destroyed car with its rear lights hanging of and smashed to pieces.
He drove through the gate.

The first thing he noticed was how normal the house looked. If it wasn't for the fence he would have guessed it to be the house of a rich family or businessmen.
He parked the car on a gravel area at the front of the house and quickly climbed out the car.
He walked slowly towards the front door unsure of himself and alert for any danger.

Just then the door opened and Smithers strode out smiling broadly.
"Alex, thank god you got here safely I heard you ran into some trouble on the way here"
"Oh nothing major" Alex laughed.
"Just had a run in with the origination"
"We'll I'm glad you got here safely" Smithers replied.
"You have the key card?"
Alex removed it from his pocket and showed it to Smithers.
"Fantastic!", "Then we have no time to lose!"
Smithers plucked it from Alex's hand and rushed inside.
Alex followed him in, however he took his time. There was something off about Smithers, he wasn't sure what it was but there was definitely something. A sneaking suspicion in the back of his mind was telling him that something wasn't right.

He banished the thought from his head and followed after the great fat man as he lumbered down the hall.