Chapter 87 Chapter 87 Welcome to the IMF! ...
They discussed the USB drive for a while, focusing on points like "Ilsa had originally told them it was a list of Syndicate members," and "but that power plant was a secret British overseas facility." Mycroft, however, clearly disliked the telephone, a method of long-distance communication prone to leaks. He politely requested they meet in London for a detailed discussion and hung up early.
"So the Syndicate is a monster created by MI6," Benjy complained. "They probably knew that all along!"
"Them?" Elio asked.
"All of them," Ethan said expressionlessly, picking at his fries. "The top brass of British and American intelligence agencies should know this. That's why, when I was so determined to track down the Syndicate..."
"Not only did they dismantle the IMF," Benjy gushed, "and portray you as a criminal who's been setting and putting out fires all over the world, but they've also held all of us captive there, giving us heaps of useless, tedious work and weekly lie tests—not that I'm complaining, Ethan, but seriously—they're the ones begging you to come out of your seclusion here when your ass is on fire!"
At this point, Benjy excitedly waved his arms around, nearly bumping into Elio, who was secretly touching an Oreo cookie nearby. Ethan quickly pulled him back, and Elio choked and coughed into his hand.
"—they're the ones who, once their butts are safely tucked away on expensive sofas, think of doing this to you!" Benjy complained. "How hard can it be to just tell us, 'Forget the Syndicate. It's the British mess. Let them clean it up themselves!'"
Ethan wordlessly patted the back of Benjy's hand.
"I'm not..." Benjy calmed down and hung his head in frustration. "Ethan, I just feel sorry for you."
"I know, Benjy," Ethan said gently.
"I want to interject," Elio, who had just taken a swig of soda, raised his hand. "Just one thing. If you're considering a new job, our fraternity would welcome talents like you."
There was an eerie silence. Benjy, wiping his eyes, stared at the assassin in shock. Ethan seemed to be hesitant to speak, making Elio almost suspect he was playing the role of the friend who said, "Then you two should break up." But as soon as Benjy opened his mouth, Elio understood why he was so surprised.
"Are you a mutant?" Benji asked in disbelief, then quickly explained, "Wait, I'm not - I mean, I just, I've never met a mutant, although I know there are actually quite a few of you -"
Elio interrupted him expressionlessly, "Not that fraternity."
Ethan, standing beside them, covered his face with his hands and laughed as they argued again on the topic. Then he cleared his throat, drawing Benji and Elio's attention back. "That USB drive. Let's read it and see what's inside."
This USB drive, in their wild speculation just now, was the key to everything. Whether it was what Ilsa wanted, what the Syndicate wanted, or what MI6 wanted, once it was opened, the truth would be revealed. But when Benji inserted the USB drive into the computer and prepared to read it, they encountered a new problem.
"It's a red box." Benjy frowned.
"What's the red box?" Elio asked.
"The Red Box is a unique British method of storing secret information." Ethan stood up and walked behind Benjy to look at his screen. "It has triple biometric encryption, requiring a specific subject's fingerprint, retina, and voice password."
Elio looked at Ethan's serious expression and realized something. "Whose biometrics do we need?"
"The British Prime Minister's." Benjy leaned back. "So what now?"
Elio was lost in thought. The moisture in his body had evaporated from the previous chatter. A breeze blew in from the window, and the assassin, with half his back exposed, suddenly felt a chill.
"We don't really need to know what's inside, do we?" Benjy asked. "Even if we wanted to, we can't open it."
Ethan was also thinking silently, without saying anything. Benji looked up at Ethan, then turned back to look at Elio. "Honestly, we can't possibly kidnap the British Prime Minister, right?"
But Elio and Ethan still maintained the silence that frightened Benjy. What frightened Benjy even more was that Elio raised his eyes, looked past him, and looked at Ethan. And when Benjy suddenly raised his head to look over, Ethan was also looking at Elio.
"We're not going to kidnap the British Prime Minister," Benjy said, forcing a smile. "Right?"
"We have no motive to kidnap the British Prime Minister, Benjy," Elio finally spoke. "We don't need to know what's inside. We just want a result."
Benjy looked at him uneasily. Ethan placed his hand on Benjy's shoulder and continued, "But the Syndicate will kidnap the British Prime Minister for the contents of this USB drive. Ryan took advantage of Ilsa's urgency to break away from the Syndicate, driving her to get the USB drive from the British, and indirectly taking advantage of me as well."
"But we still have the USB," Benjy said, puzzled. "Ryan didn't get it. Did he think Ilsa would give it to him?"
"Ilsa probably won't give it to him. She'll go straight back to England, hand the USB drive to MI6, and think her mission is over," Ethan said. "But MI6 won't let her go."
"They proposed the 'Syndicate,' illegally launched it, and then failed to allow it to grow." Elio hurriedly stuffed another compressed biscuit into his mouth and said vaguely, "They just want everyone who knows about it to die."
"They'll ask Ilsa to return to the Syndicate," Ethan said. "And Ilsa can't disobey their orders, so she'll have to return to Ryan with the USB drive. Ryan had anticipated this, because he was once a member of this system."
"...and Ryan got the USB drive." Benjy swallowed. "He'll kidnap the British Prime Minister for it." Benjy immediately understood the eye contact between Elio and Ethan. Although he didn't know Elio well yet, Benjy knew Ethan all too well. He turned around and looked at Ethan.
In order to prevent the British Prime Minister from being kidnapped by the Syndicate, he would kidnap the British Prime Minister first!
"But Ilsa didn't get the USB drive." Ethan squeezed Benjy's shoulder and looked at Elio. "Right?"
"She probably took a spare USB drive from my coat," Elio said, wiping his mouth and standing up from his chair. "Ryan will find out sooner or later that it's not what he said."
"And then," Ethan also picked up his coat from the back of the chair, "he will come looking for us. Benjy, pack your things, we have to get out of here."
"But where are we going?" Benjy asked, frantically gathering the equipment on his desk. He unplugged the USB drive and shoved it into his bag before realizing no one was answering his question. Benjy looked up and saw Elio staring at his bag, and Ethan staring at Elio.
"I'm going to London," Elio said.
"'We're' going to London," Ethan told him.
The flight from Casablanca to London took another three hours. Elio sat in one aisle, his arms folded and his eyes closed. Ethan sat in the other aisle, his head down flipping through the in-flight magazine. Benjy, sandwiched between them, clutching his bag, finally broke the silence. "Why aren't you talking?"
"I want to sleep," Elio said.
"He's a little embarrassed, just ignore him," Ethan said at the same time.
Benji was confused. "Huh?"
Elio opened his eyes immediately. He turned his head away. "Am I embarrassed?"
"You're embarrassed," Ethan said affirmatively.
Under his gaze, Elio silently turned his head away again and stopped talking.
"Is there something going on that I'm not aware of?" Benjy wondered, "but we've always been together."
Elio closed his eyes and pretended not to hear. Ethan laughed secretly.
"Well," Benjy drawled, "I have a guess, but I'm not sure I should say it."
“I’m going to tell him, Elio,” Ethan said.
Elio pretended to be dead silently. But the assassin's fingers emerged from his pocket, picked up a golden card, and handed it to Benjy.
"No way," Benji took it and said exaggeratedly, "Is there really something I don't know?"
"Your guess might be correct." Ethan leaned forward and tapped the card. "That's why Elio must rush to destroy the Syndicate." He briefly explained the card's curse to Benji's bewildered look. "But as long as we have the USB drive, you and I, the IMF, won't be in a rush to attack the Syndicate."
"You can just sit back and wait for the Syndicate to take the bait," said Elio. "You can even use it to negotiate with the British."
"Oh," Benjy said, understanding. "So that's why you tried to take the USB drive from me?"
Elio opened his eyes quickly. "Is it obvious?"
Agents Ethan and Benjy, who had performed countless "Mission Impossible" missions and were already in their forties and fifties, looked silently at this young man who was only in his twenties. But seeing Elio's embarrassment, they had the magnanimity of seniors not to tease him further.
"You saved my life, Elio," Ethan said simply. "I won't let you die like this. Seriously, look me in the eyes, do you believe me?"
Elio looked away a little sheepishly, then looked back into Ethan's serious eyes. They stared at each other for a moment, then Elio smiled helplessly.
"I won't let any of my friends die in front of me." Ethan whispered, "Believe me."
"You helped save Ethan's life," Benjy said. "You're my friend too. Ask Ethan, I'm loyal to my friends too!"
"Are you sure you want to do this for me?" Elio asked.
Ethan laughed and asked, "Can you do it alone?"
Elio covered his face. Benjy smiled, too, and, putting an arm around both of their shoulders, whispered to Elio, "Welcome to the IMF!"
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The author has something to say: Oreo: No, are you the only two left in the IMF? (Shocked)
Off topic: I checked the ages of Ethan and Benjy in Disc 5. Ethan, who was born in 1964, should have been 51 when the movie was released in 2015. Tom Cruise, who was born in 1962, was actually 53 years old during the filming (how could anyone tell that...); Benjy's age didn't seem to be mentioned, and the actor himself was 45 years old at the time (is this true? I feel like they were both beautiful...)
So the young man Oreo, who was just in his early twenties:?
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