The Modern Knight

Valentine and Implants

The 4th of June, 2014

"Congratulations on making it to the final six candidates," Harry praised, "Your test results were even better than I could've hoped."

"He knew what he was doing in Secondary school. He just didn't seem to care enough to show it," Nicolette said with a knowing smirk and crossed arms.

"Oh, sod-off," Eggsy said jokingly to Nicolette.

Before any conversation could continue, there was a knock at the door. Harry pointed at the door, as if to tell Eggsy that knocking was indeed the proper behavior before entering a room.

"Come in," Harry called.

Eggsy rolled his eyes as the door opened and Merlin entered the room.

"Oh, Eggsy," Merlin said as he closed the door, "I need to have a, private conversation, with Nicolette and Harry. You're dismissed."

"Nonsense," Harry chimed in, "Let him observe. Might learn a thing or two."

"As you wish," Merlin said before sending information onto the screen in the room, "Take a look at this."

Merlin then played the feed that he and Nicolette had been analyzing earlier.

"Oh for God's sake, I've barely touched you," Harry's voice said in the recording while Professor Arnold's cries of pain also rang out, "Oh, man up!"

Professor Arnold's head then exploded, surprising only Eggsy.

"Fuckin' hell," Eggsy said in shock, "That is rank, Harry," Eggsy then leaned forward to look around Merlin and Nicolette at Harry, "You blew up his head? It's a bit much, innit?"

"Actually, the explosion was caused by an implant in his neck," Nicolette said, having gotten that memo from Merlin via her glasses before she'd retrieved Eggsy.

"The implant was here," Merlin zoomed the paused video in on the scar on Professor Arnold's neck, "Under this scar."

"Did my hardware pick up the signal that triggered it?" Harry asked.

"Fortunately, yes. Unfortunately, the IP address I traced it to is registered to the Valentine Corporation."

A person profile of Richmond Valentine, the CEO of the Valentine Corporation, then appeared on the screen.

"That's not much of a lead. He has millions of employees worldwide," Harry said in dismay.

"That Richmond Valentine is a genius," Eggsy mused.

All three Kingsman Agents in the room looked at Eggsy in surprise. He returned their look with one of confusion.

"Did you not, see his announcement today?" Eggsy asked.

"No, Eggsy. As you can assume, we've all been a bit preoccupied," Nicolette said, sarcasm lacing her tone.

Eggsy gave a crooked grin before grabbing the tablet clipboard Merlin was holding. He then pulled up a video of what was assumed to be the announcement that Valentine made earlier that day.

"We each spend on average, two-thousand dollars a year on cellphone and Internet usage," Valentine started as he began to pace a small circuit on a stage, "It gives me great pleasure to announce, those days, are over. As of tomorrow, every man, woman, and child can claim a free SIM card compatible with any cellphone, any computer, and utilize my communications networks for free. Free calls, free Internet, for everyone. Forever."

Applause then broke out on the video as it showed Valentine walking off the stage before ending.

Merlin took the tablet clipboard back from Eggsy, only to have Harry take it from him. Harry then rewound the video briefly before zooming in on Valentine's assistant.

This showed that, while it was a great deal more faded than Professor Arnold's, she also had a scar on her neck, likely from the placement of an implant.

"Valentine's assistant has the same implant scar," Harry noted aloud, "I think Mr. Valentine and I should have a tête-à-tête."

Merlin gently took the tablet clipboard back from Harry, only to have it taken from him again, this time by Nicolette. She pulled up a calendar filled with notable upcoming events; something she had put together in her free time, as big things often happened during large events.

"Looks like he's having a gala dinner next week," Nicolette muttered.

"I'll get you an invitation," Merlin said simply.

"You need to be careful, though. Since you've been out, hundreds of VIPs have gone missing. No ransom notes, exactly like Professor Arnold."

"Then I suggest you make my alias something worth kidnapping," Harry said without a second thought.

"Be very careful, Harry. Last time a Kingsman dealt with the mercenaries who took Professor Arnold, and most likely have taken all the missing VIPs," Nicolette paused, "It didn't end well."

"I'm well aware, Nicolette," Harry said before turning to face the young woman head on, "I will make sure to take the utmost care and have a high level of caution."

There was a brief silence in the room before Nicolette broke it.

"Right, well, Merlin, I'm sure you have much to catch Harry up on. I'll take Eggsy back to where the other candidates are," Nicolette said while handing the tablet clipboard back to Merlin, "Come on, Eggsy."

Without another word, Nicolette turned to leave the room, Eggsy and J.B. following behind her. Silence sat between the two young adults as they walked down the hallway.

This time, Eggsy was the one to break the silence.

"Nic, what did you mean when you said things didn't end well last time the Kingsman faced these 'mercenaries'?" Eggsy asked.

"Simply that. It didn't end well for Kingsman," Nicolette said, her voice flat.

"Yeah but, what happened?"

A heavy silence sat in the air for a moment as Nicolette thought over her words carefully. She then let out a heavy breath before she spoke,

"Remember how you're here to replace Lancelot? And what you found out the other day about the agent who proposed me?"

Eggsy didn't say anything at first, trying to remember everything that he and Nicolette had talked about yesterday. Then it seemed to click when he spoke again.

"Lancelot was the one that faced those mercenaries last, wasn't he?" Eggsy asked.

Nicolette simply nodded her head.

"He died, didn't he? And that's how he died?"

Nicolette didn't say anything at first. After drawing a long breath, Nicolette started to speak again,

"Again, that's a story for another day. But, that being said Harry's like family to me, just like Lancelot."

"And you're just gonna let him go through with this?"

"I can't exactly stop him, Eggsy. This is our job."

Eggsy stopped walking and stood there in silence.

Nicolette saw this, stopped, then turned to face Eggsy.

"Eggsy. You saw what Harry could do before you ever came here. Don't tell me you're planning on ducking out now."

"No, no. That's not it," Eggsy muttered, "Just, need a second to process everything."

After a moment, Nicolette looked down at her hands, "Yeah. I guess it is a bit much to take in at once."

"But, it's worth it, yeah?" Eggsy asked hesitantly.

"I believe so, yes," Nicolette said, "Beats working at McDonald's."

Eggsy couldn't help but let out a small laugh at the joke Nicolette made.