Mind Games Read Online Free Page B

Zac roughly by the arm. ‘The head of MindLab, Jimmy Shady.’

CHAPTER
NINE
    Zac looked around for help. Surely there’d be security guards at the Games Convention? Surely they wouldn’t just let a whole lot of goons march him away in broad daylight?
    But then Zac remembered. MindLab was sponsoring the Games Convention. If there were security guards, they worked for MindLab. They’d be no help at all.
    Zac needed a plan. But at the rate the goons were dragging him through the hall, there wasn’t much time to come up with one. He’d have to think something up on the spot!
    â€˜This way,’ said the man from the front entrance, yanking Zac towards a glass office overlooking the entire convention centre.
    Magically, the door slid aside. There at a desk was a very short, very ugly man. His thin hair was scraped back against his skull with shiny hair gel. His skin was clammy and pocked like a toad’s.
    The ugly man stood up and nodded politely. It was like he and Zac were about to sit down to a friendly game of chess.
    â€˜Before I kill you,’ said the ugly man, ‘let me introduce myself.’
    Zac knew that a spy must never show fear. Even when his stomach was flip-flopping wildly.
    â€˜I’m Jimmy Shady,’ said the man.‘Take a seat. I’ll tell you all about my operation.’
    When he was a kid, Jimmy Shady would’ve been the last one picked for the footy team. The one who never got invited to anyone’s birthday party. The one who ate his lunch all by himself.
    Now, Zac could tell Jimmy Shady felt important at last. And he couldn’t wait to tell Zac exactly how powerful he really was. In fact, Jimmy Shady was so thrilled with himself, his eyes misted over. He didn’t even notice Zac switching on his iPod. That suited Zac just fine.
    â€˜Being a GIB spy, you’ve no doubt worked out I’m recruiting games whizzes to help me hack into your precious World-Eye satellite.’
    Zac nodded. ‘Why would you want to hack into WorldEye? You’re head of a games company, not an international spy,’ Zac said. The more Jimmy Shady told him, the better.
    â€˜Once I control WorldEye, I’ll be able to spy on stupid kids like all the ones out there. I’ll be able to find out what they like and don’t like. That way, I’ll get them all hooked on even more of my super-addictive games!’
    â€˜How close are you to controlling WorldEye?’ asked Zac.
    â€˜One line of computer code away.’
    Jimmy Shady consulted his notes. ‘We know the second-last line is H=//t+13, but we haven’t cracked the last line yet. The kids I’ve recruited today are doing tests right now.’

    Zac said nothing.
    â€˜Untold riches will be mine! And the funniest part is, I’m using the kids themselves to get even more kids hooked on my games!’ Jimmy Shady laughed an evil laugh.
    It was all Zac needed to hear. As casually as he could, Zac stretched his arms up. Just the way he’d planned it, something rolled down his sleeve and into his hand.
    A stink bomb.
    Zac always kept one up his sleeve, just in case. It wasn’t anything clever or high-tech. But as Zac was learning, sometimes the old-fashioned gadgets are the best.
    With all his might, Zac chucked the stink bomb at the wall.

    It exploded.
    Instantly the room filled with gas.
    Jimmy Shady coughed and spluttered. So did his goons. The gas smelt worse than 10,000 dog farts!
    Zac sprang to his feet. Before anyone knew what was happening, he’d raced out the door.
    He’d managed to secretly record Jimmy Shady admitting his evil plan on the mini-video camera in his iPod. Zac had all the evidence he needed to arrest Jimmy and stop the hackers cracking the final line of computer code.
    But how, in a room crawling with Mind-Lab goons, could one 12-year-old arrest the head of MindLab?

CHAPTER
TEN
    Zac tore through the Games Convention towards the main