"So Alex, what do you see?"

Alex Rider stared at the card held by Dr Steiner. The Rorschach test. He knew he was supposed to interpret the blots on the card in his own perception, but the blots simply looked like... random ink blots. A gigantic blot in the center of the card, with a series of smaller ones by the side; a circle with an object attached or pointed to it...hell, it could be anything ranging from a splash of paint to a deflated football.

"It looks like a deflated foo..." Something stopped Alex from completing his statement. He glanced at the card again, strangely unsettled.

A circle with an object pointed at it... the circle solidified, giving an appearance of a three dimensional ball—a person's head... with a gun pointed to it. Features formed on the head and suddenly, Alex was staring into the resigned eyes of the late General Sarov just before the gun went off. "Goodbye, Alex..."

Alex gasped involuntarily. Abruptly, the fog in his mind disappeared and he was back in Dr Steiner's white-washed examination room.

"Something wrong, Alex?" Dr Steiner queried, looking concerned.

"N...Nothing. Can we skip this card first? Please?" Alex pleaded. Dr Steiner frowned slightly, but graciously let it pass. "All right then," he fished out another blotted card.

This card was no better than the first. Alex' first impression of it was a man with a backpack flying through the sky, but as he looked, the man's face morphed into Conrad's terror-filled scarred face as the numerous metal plates in his body were attracted to the strong electromagnet and he flew straight into it, crushing every bone in his body...then suddenly Conrad's face was replaced by Damien Cray's horror-etched face as he was wheeled off the plane...

"No! Stop!" Alex cried out as he was forced to relieve his worst memories.

"Alex? Alex!" Dr Steiner snapped his fingers twice, once more pulling Alex out of his delirium. "Alex, is there anything you'd like to tell me?" Dr Steiner gently cajoled the stricken boy.

"I...I..." Alex was fully prepared to launch another big lie, but for once, he hesitated. Why should he lie about the awful images he saw when his entire life was already one big lie? MI6 had taken everything away and fed him with one lie after another, which he in turn, had fed to his friends, distancing all his relationships. Hatred and determination welled up deep within him. No, he would not be MI6's pawn again. This time, there would be no more lies, no more deceit.

Alex calmed himself and drained his face of all emotions. "On the first card, I initially saw a deflated football, but a moment later I saw one of my more... unfortunate memories—a man who shot himself in front of me. The same thing happened for the second card, only this time the memories of the dying scenes of people I had killed for MI6 were revoked." He was relieved to find that his voice betrayed no hint of emotion.

Dr Steiner nodded thoughtfully. "I see. What about taking a breather? I'll postpone the vitamin booster for now. You are in pretty good shape already; perhaps it's not that necessary. Now off you go."

Alex gratefully took his leave, giving little thought to the contemplative eyes latched on his retreating figure.