Codename: Sleuth and the Case of the Assassin's Sting
This was the first Strange Worlds story about Simon Doyle, AKA "Codename: Sleuth". It was improvised on March 30th, 2013.
Episode Summary
The villainous Spiderweb agent Pravda ties a young woman to a conveyor belt for revealing some of their secrets, pulling her ever closer to a deadly spinning saw blade. The young woman manages to get a hand free and pulls Pravda on to the belt, dragging them both towards the saw. Simon Doyle bursts into the warehouse and shuts down the power, stopping the saw mere centimeters from their heads. Pravda pleads with Doyle that he owes her one, but he fires all the same, killing her dead. He laments that he only meant to graze her.
Doyle meets with Doc, an old friend of his from SIS, in a private library. Despite his disgrace, Doc knows Doyle is still one of the best and needs his help solving a case (and furthering his career). He hands Doyle a file,describing a series of mysterious deaths of heads of state brought about by tiny bites. Doyle agrees to help.
A mysterious agent consults with Dr. Arachnid, a brilliant but mad nanotechnologist who has developed scores of tiny murderous robotic insects, and his son in their lab. The agent demands a million more of the creatures, which Dr. Arachnid laughs off. He places one of his newest creations on the agent, with a bite that is painless but kills in moments, and explains that the agent's bosses in the CIA have tried to infiltrate his operation before. He lovingly brushes his son's cheek, who falls dead within moments. Arachnid says that if he would do that to his own son, he won't hesitate to kill the agent...who will work for him from now on.
Doyle lies in bed with Sally, a rich heiress, at her family's home in Cape Cod. As they embrace, he notices a pair of ninja concealed in the room's drapery. He asks Sally to go look out the window. With her distracted, he dispatches the two ninja with relative ease. Sally's housekeeper Mrs. Digsby enters with her morning tea. Doyle advises her to come back with a soothing chamomile to relax Sally and explains he is in danger due to his investigations.
Doyle arrives at the offices of Senator Darling, whom he fears to be the next target. Her assistant delivers a package containing what appears to be an ornamental butterfly which soon takes flight as Doyle enters the office. He warns the Senator to be still and tosses his handkerchief into the air, which the butterfly attacks with both speed and savagery. Doyle attempts to shoot the butterfly, but it begins to multiply. Doyle grabs the Senator and runs out of the office, leading the mechanical bugs on a swath of death and destruction through the building as they make their way to the roof. They leap off, landing in a dumpster of shredded paper below. The Senator collapses into Doyle's embrace, kissing him deeply.
Dr. Arachnid's other son brings word of the botched assassination attempt and is struck for his failure. He throws one of the bugs at Dr. Arachnid, but they have all been programmed not to attack him. Instead, a swarm of the metallic creatures burrow their way under the son's skin, destroying him from the inside out. Dr. Arachnid assigns his agent to kill Simon Doyle.
Doyle meets with a friend of Doc's to help him infiltrate the electronics supplier for the bugs. They pose as a pair of German engineers who are in search of a specialized component and question the shop's owners Boris and Driselda about any others who have purchased the same. Playing along for a bit, Boris and Driselda soon show their true colors, drawing guns on the two and having the guard lock the door. Boris is revealed to be the mysterious agent, Mark Davis, who Doyle easily deduces is CIA. He questions how Doyle thinks he can take down the Spiderweb. Doyle explains that he is the one man who can set events in motion to bring the Spiderweb down. He then triggers the electronic component remotely, electrocuting Driselda and Agent Davis. The panicked guard shows them to the secret files.
Dr. Arachnid's daughter enters his lab to show off the robotic scorpion she's made. He places it in with his latest creation, The Devourer, which destroys its victim easily and assimilates its component parts, growing larger and more powerful. He tells her to go pack as he finishes crating up his creatures and stamps them with their final destination: Washington, DC!
Doyle tracks the shipments of electronics to an address in Philadelphia and breaks in with Doc. They find Dr. Arachnid awaiting them in his empty lab, who easily surrenders. A TV screen broadcasts a meeting of heads of state at the United Nations in DC. Doyle deduces that a crate had been removed from the lab recently, presumably on its way to kill its targets. But Arachnid explains that compliant politicians are of more use than dead ones. Doc and Doyle are stung as Arachnid tells them that he also makes creatures who can control minds. He commands Doc to release him, and for Doyle to shoot himself. But Doyle, a notoriously bad shot, continually misses himself, shooting first Doc and then a control box, unleashing the now much larger Devourer, augmented by Arachnid's daughter. The robotic beast assimilates Arachnid who takes control and begins pursuing Doyle and his daughter.
Meanwhile, the delegates at the UN fall under the control of Arachnid's devices and prepare to bring their nuclear arsenals under the control of the Spiderweb!
Doyle and Arachnid's daughter take refuge as the Devourer assimilates every weapon and appliance it finds, increasing to monstrous proportions. Doyle questions the young girl about where her father might have kept a control device. She leads him into the bathroom as the Devourer bursts through the door. Doyle finds the device and reverses the control circuit, depowering the robotic body and trapping Dr. Arachnid within. Doyle gloats that once Arachnid is in custody they'll be able to learn more about the Spiderweb, but Arachnid laughs and tells his daughter it's time as she opens her locket and presses a button, exploding the robot body and killing them both.
Doc visits Doyle once more, having survived being shot because of his bulletproof vest, and informs his friend how narrowly they averted all out nuclear war. Agent Davis arrives, still injured from their last encounter but beholden to Doyle for releasing him from Arachnid's service. The two agents ask Doyle if they can take credit for his heroism since he has no career left to salvage. He agrees, but reminds them both that in his future dealings with the Spiderweb, they both now owe him.
