“The Lord watches from above”

Byron Grimm was not happy. He wanted Grace not this goth-assed punk kid that was brought to his chamber. And yet, he had been watching everything that had just happened above the river Thames. He noted the boy's ability to manipulate Avatara protocols while in avatara form. At least that's what his right hand man Spector told him.

He accepted a call via his watch, after which the timepiece projected a real time small holographic image of one of his lieutenants.

"I'm sorry sir! The other male avatara took Grace Shelley away at the last second, sir!" Grimm got the bad news after the blazing light of the gamma gun firing disappeared from the screen. The voice of the lieutenant croaked as he spoke and this pleased Grimm. It was important to him that his minions feared failure.

"You fool, you are not meant to use real names over the airwaves," said Grimm.

"Sorry I mean the target sir, sorry sir."

"Lieutenant 005, bring yourself back to headquarters so we can discuss the form of your punishment," Grimm said gleefully.

"Yes sir," the lieutenant quivered. And after that the holographic image zapped out.

Grimm was not in the aircraft carrying the gamma gun that was above Grace, Knightmare and Walker at the river thames. Lieutenant 005 led the actual mission. Grimm watched all the events unfold from the comfort of his laboratory at sheldrake enterprises. On a large screen he had seen Knightmare fire bullets that explode like bombs on the embankments of the Thames. The gun locked onto him and Grace after she grabbed him and then the screen went white after the gun was fired. It puzzled him that she managed to escape.

"Lord Grimm, it would be remiss of me to say given your current mood but gamma plan simply was not ready for execution. It was an unfocused beam and it took too long to lock onto the target, giving the target time to flee."

The thin, pencil necked man, endowed with a large bald head, dressed in a suit with a transparent visor as his spectacles was one of Grimm's most trusted advisors, but even he had to be careful not to be too loose with his language.

"Spector, are you trying to make me angry?" said Grimm.

"Certainly not sir," said Spector, who walked to face the screen of the now avatara free Thames alongside his boss. "There is an unlikely advantage to using an unfocused gamma beam. If the beam is super focused it simply captures targets with super accuracy." Spector chuckled with a geeky joy as he said this. He would not have chuckled so much if he realised that Grimm was thinking about whether or not to cut off his head.

"However if the beam is slow and unfocused the energy spread out more. Acting more like a torch than a laser, if you want to picture it in your mind. Anything that catches even a glimpse of the beam would be tagged by it and its signature recorded by our systems."

"So you can trace her?" said Grimm.

"However if the beam is slow and unfocused the energy spread out more. Acting more like a torch than a laser, if you want to picture it in your mind. Anything that catches even a glimpse of the beam would be tagged by it and its signature recorded by our systems."

"So you can trace her?" said Grimm.

"Yes," said Spector. "After we unscramble the data we got back from the gun sensors. It tagged millions of things, not just her. But the supercomputer will chew through data looking for patterns and we will find a match and then track it down through surveillance systems."

"You mean her, not it," said Grimm. "But I guess you have never experienced the flesh of a woman. And Grace is no ordinary woman. Her skin is smooth like silk, her hair is red, like the blood that flows through my veins. Yet her eyes are the deep blue of the ocean. She has the dainty hands of a duchess, and sliding up her tiny wrists, past her lithe arms, we find her sleek shoulders. And her neck! Oh her neck, so inviting, so flexible, I could just…"

"Lord Grimm, are you ok? I think you are dribbling from your mouth. We might have to mop the floor so you don't slip." Spector facial expression remained neutral when he said this.

"I can't tell whether you are serious or taking the piss," said Grimm. "Anyway what of the boy, has he recovered from the solidification?"

"He should be ready now Lord Grimm," said Spector. "It has been several minutes."

"Good," said Grimm. "He better be able to talk or I'll put that big head of yours on display in a museum."

Spector gulped.