Code Name Firestorm by Simon Cheshire Page B

dragonfly, spider, centipede, mosquito… And this broken one’s a beetle. Looks like he interfered with my circuits, and they zapped him right back. Still, we’ll soon have him put to rights.”
    Blackwater switched on the machine. Parts of the tube began to glow in sequence. A sharp, bright beam of blue light shot down through the energy barrier and engulfed Hercules.
    Slowly, his legs began to straighten. Power pulsed through his circuits. His systems began to run through a rapid self-repair cycle.
    “What’s happening to him?” said Morph.
    “I detect energized particles inside that light beam,” said Nero. “They’re triggering his circuits to break down and then redirect the molecules in his mechanics. In short, he’s being repaired.”
    “Not even Professor Miller at SWARM’s lab can do that!” said Sabre.
    Suddenly, the robots heard a crackle on their communications network. It was Hercules.
    “R… R… Reboot…”

6:40 p.m.
    “Ms Maynard, you’ve got to see this!” cried Simon Turing.
    In the laboratory at SWARM HQ, Queen Bee turned towards the large screen on the wall. Simon clicked a link on his tablet. The display showed an online video-sharing site.
    “This was uploaded to GoggleVox a few minutes ago,” said Simon. “It’s Firestorm.”
    The video began to play. A silhouetted figuresat in front of a moving image of the Earth revolving inside a ball of flame. A slow drumbeat and the sound of a howling wind played in the background.
    A series of names began to scroll up the left-hand side of the screen. Underneath each name were brief descriptions of top-secret spying operations carried out in the past three years.
    The silhouetted figure spoke. His voice has been heavily disguised and it came out as a deep, terrifying growl.
    “Governments of the world, please listen carefully. The names you can see are MI6 agents operating in Western Europe. You know what was taken from MI6 headquarters in London. You know this is real. You also know that this is just a tiny sample of the data I possess. These names will cause severe embarrassment for the UK government. They reveal who Britain has been using to spy on her friends in Europe. Think how much worse it’ll be when I reveal the names and activities of every MI6 agent in China. Or every spy mission carried out by the West in North Korea.”
    Professor Miller and Alfred Berners came to stand beside Simon Turing and Queen Bee. All of them stared in horror at the screen.
    “If any move is made against me,” continued the voice, “all the data will be released. If any attempt is made to take down this video, the data will
all
be released. If MI6, or anyone else, tries to silence me, the data will all be released. I hope that’s clear. The Firestorm is here! The countdown to your destruction has begun!”

6:45 p.m.
    Blackwater dragged the trunk he’d filled across the floor of the garage. He paused to tap a series of commands into his PC. From inside the speaker, none of the SWARM robots could see what he was doing. The final command read:

    Then he looked over his shoulder at the table. The repair beam was still shining brightly into the domed energy barrier, busily fixing Hercules.
    “Pity,” he said to the robots trapped inside the speaker. “I wish I could have kept you.” He looked around at all the equipment in the garage. “And I wish I could have kept more of this too. Still, there’s only so much room in one car, I guess.”
    “What exactly has he got in that trunk?” said Morph.
    “Scans would suggest some kind of basic survival kit,” said Chopper. “There’s a small but powerful electrical generator, compressed food rations, clothing, some kitchen equipment and other essentials. There’s also a large collection of his gadgets and weapons, plus computers. He’s carrying all the data that was stolen from MI6, and all the money stolen earlier on.”
    Blackwater dragged the trunk from the garage and out of sight.