Q

His first leg of China had been warm. He'd landed in Hong Kong and had enjoyed the warm air, but soon enough he got to work and the weather wa the last thing on his mind. He'd broken into the facility without incident but before he could complete the mission half the Chinese army, it seemed, came down on him. Caught red-handed all Britain could do was disavow knowledge and leave Bond to his fate.

Bu M was a better man than that and three days later Bond was being covertly traded. The double o was in much worse shape than the man he was traded for. They did try to clean the blood off on the plane and by the time he landed in medical Bond had been triaged and was being examined.

M made the call to not tell Q right away even though he knew the boffin was going out of his mind waiting. Bond needed to be examined and debriefed and when they had some answers it was Moneypenny who came to Q to break the news.

"You've got to understand, Q...this may be the end of him. He may not come back from this. It's his mind, you see..."