Chapter 1: Who?

Alex! Wake up! Wake up Alex! Alex! Stay with us!

A boy with fair hair that lay in a hospital bed twitched.

Alex, you can do it! Wake up! Please…you can!

The boy gasped and his eyes fluttered open. He began to shiver involuntarily and blinked rapidly. Who am I? Where am I? What…?

"Alex! Thank goodness you're awake! We thought that we lost you!" An American girl with bright reddish hair pulled the boy into a bear hug. "Alex! You've been asleep for two weeks!"

The boy shivered again with fright. "Let me go!" He yelled defiantly and punched the girl as hard as he could, which wasn't very hard due to his weakness. He groaned in pain as his chest throbbed.

The girl was shocked. "Alex! It's me, Jack! It's me!" she said, puzzled.

"Who are you? Who am I? Where am I? Why am I here? What do you want?" the boy interrogated, frightened and hurt.

Suddenly, the door opened and two people walked in. One was a fairly tall man who wore a serious expression on his face. The other was a woman whose breath smelled of peppermint.

"Glad to see you're okay, Alex," the man said with no hint of emotion. The woman smiled reassuringly and popped another peppermint in her mouth. "We now you're tired, but we have something we want you to—s

"Leave me alone! Who are you people!" the boy screamed and threw his pillow across the room. He got up from the bed and found himself dressed in soft hospital clothes. He ran out of the room and down some stairs. The desperate boy was utterly lost.

He heard the people coming after him. In panic, the boy threw himself in a random empty room.

The door burst open. The stern man came in with the peppermint lady and American girl following. "Alex! Stop this nonsense now!" the man yelled. The peppermint lady was looking frightened.

Two large men came in the room. The boy screamed as he was carried away.

Chapter 2: Amnesia

The boy was terrified. Who are these people? What do they want with me…who am I? He shook with fear again. He had been put in a locked room for almost an hour now. There was food and water and a bed, but the boy had sat on the floor the whole time, not touching anything.

Meanwhile, in a different room, Alan Blunt and Mrs. Jones sat, talking.

"Alan…I think he isn't faking it. I've never seen that look of terror in his eyes before!"

Blunt's eyebrows furrowed as he thought. "The doctors…said that he might have suffered from a case of amnesia…"

The women gasped. "But…not Alex! How? What will we do?"

Blunt sighed. "We hope he recovers his memory. That boy is our best operative. We cannot afford to lose him…send him to SAS training again. Bring in Wolf. Bring in Sabina Pleasure and Ms. Starbright. Bring in Tom Harris…bring in anyone who Alex Rider associated with! And bring in Alex! We must question him!"

A woman was sent on the job. Blunt and Mrs. Jones talked more.

"Bring in Alex…" said Mrs. Jones hoarsely.

They sat in silence for ten minutes. Finally, the kicking boy was brought in and put in a chair. He immediately tried to run away. After several minutes of struggling, both his hands were handcuffed to the chair. His head was covered with beads of sweat and fear was within his eyes.

"Alex…" began Blunt.

"Don't call me that! Who's Alex! Why am I here? What do you people want with me?" the boy was almost sobbing with desperation.

Blunt sighed. He stared at Mrs. Jones. She nodded.

"Alex," she began slowly. "Alex, calm down. Relax. We. Will. Not. Hurt. You." She said slowly. "Can you understand that? Nod if you do." She said reassuringly.

A few seconds passed…the boy nodded once, and then twice.

"Okay…" the woman smiled. "Now, can you tell us anything about your past? Do you remember anything that happened before you awoke in the hospital bed?"

The boy swallowed and said nothing.

"Please, Alex. This is very important." She pleaded.

The boy's mouth twitched. "I-I remember…I remember…" he closed his eyes. Images flashed in his head…

A boy fell to the ground in a puddle of blood.

"Alex!" There was a call. And then nothing more.

"I-I remember…a shot. Some boy was shot. A boy…m-m-me…!" The boy shook with realization. He shivered involuntarily.

"Alex, calm down. It's okay. You're okay…can you remember anything more?" the woman asked kindly.

"N-N-No…no more. Stop…please. Leave me alone." The boy pleaded. "Who are you? Why are you doing this?"

The adults gave nothing away. "Alex, look at me. Do you remember me?" the woman asked seriously.

The boy stared at the woman's eyes. Suddenly, he laughed. "You like peppermint!" he declared. "I can smell your peppermint, Mrs. Jones! I can smell it, Mrs. Jones!" he laughed uncontrollably.

The adults gasped. He remembered…at least a little.

"And you're…Black! No…Blot? No…you're Blunt, right! Yes, you're Blunt! Alex Blunt! Is your name Alex too?" he asked, still laughing.

The man was aghast. "N-No, I'm Alan Blunt." He said quietly.

The boy shrugged. "I was close."

A few minutes later, the boy found himself back in the room. Except this time he was more comfortable. He reclined on the bed and ate a grape.

The man and woman watched him through a camera.

"He has changed…" the woman said quietly.

"Yes, he has…but he'll come back. He will. He always does." The man replied softly.