Dark Times Episode1: The New Sibling and Ally
By Kristen Coughlan
Logan was on his computer looking at messages from his allies who get him information for "Eyes Only." He came across a message from someone called "LoneDog." Logan didn't know a LoneDog. Under the subject heading it says: 'A Manicore Secret'
He opens the file and he reads it: 'There was another escape, not long from the first. It happened during the pulse. More tried to escape but only one made it.'
Logan was starting to get interested. "If this is true, Max will be interested in this piece of news."
Max was at the Jam Pony talking with Sketchy, Original Cindy, and Herbal Thought.
"Normal got to hire more people." complained Herbal. "I see a lot of people applying and Normal's always turning them down."
"Normal gotta hire more." exclaimed Cindy. "This place under employed as it is."
"I bet he wants to keep all the extra money for himself instead of paying extra people." said Sketchy. "What do you think, Max?"
"I don't know." answered Max. "When Sam was here, Normal hired him because he acted like a soldier."
"He never made any deliveries," said a voice behind them. It was Normal and he was holding a small package. "I don't need any more workers. Now who is going to delivery this package?"
Max's pager goes off. "I will take it."
She delivered the page on the way to Logan.
"So what did you get, Logan?" said Max as she entered his apartment.
"A very interesting E-mail about Manticore," answered Logan. "About a second escape."
"A second escape?" Max said confused.
"The message said more tried to escape during the pulse but only two managed to make out of the compound."
Max came back to the Jam Pony. She sees a new girl there. The girl had waist long light brown hair. She was an inch shorter than Max. Her eyes were dark green. She was wearing loose blue jeans, a white T-shirt, and a full-rimmed hat.
Original Cindy and Sketchy comes up to Max.
"Look who got hired," said Cindy. "Normal just wanted avoid a strike by the rest of us."
"Normal at first didn't want to hire her because she used to live in New York." added Sketchy. "Everyone was giving Normal dirty looks when he was ask to deny her the job."
"What's her name?" asked Max.
"Her name is Kris Colum." said Cindy. "We had to pressure Normal to hire her. She been in the city for a couple of weeks."
"Hey Kris." yelled Normal. "Prove yourself. Take this package to the tower."
Kris silently took the package and her bike and left.
"She is really quiet." said Max as she walked past the group.
"I heard of Kris Colum before." piped up Herbal as he walked in. "She used to be a photographer for newspapers and magazines before she quit. She was really good."
That evening Max came back to the apartment. Her hands began to shake. She needs her Tryptophan. Once she reaches the apartment the seizure hit. She fell to the ground. Kendra, Max's roommate saw this and ran to the bathroom to get the Tryptophan.
Pictures of the past came to Max. She was with one of the youngest of the Manticore Prototypes. The girl was different from all the others. She had both canine and feline genes in her. The girl's nickname was Loner.
Another flash came to Max. The girl was running away in the first escape and she is stunned and taken back to the facility.
The seizure stopped when Kendra got her the Tryptophan.
The rest of the night, Max cruised around the streets on her motorcycle. As she is cruising, she looks down the alleys. Suddenly she sees a Manticore van.
"Oh great." she whispered to herself.
She speeded up her motorcycle. Max looks into the next alley and sees they are chasing someone else. It wasn't Zack or any one of her motorcycle friends. She hasn't seen this one before.
His or her motorcycle was a dark green Ninja. On the top of the black helmet on above the visor was a blue wolf-like figure. The person was wearing a black cotton jacket with a white shirt underneath and blue jeans.
Suddenly the person sped and quickly turned into the alley toward Max. She saw that the vehicle was following the person still. Max turned her motorcycle around went back into the opposite direction.
Max looks back and sees the Manticore van was after her. She quickly turns into an alley and turn into the street and drives off into the traffic starting to build up. Max went in and out lanes to get ahead of the Manticore Van.
She looks back again and sees that the Manticore Van was struck in the traffic. Max proudly turns into the next street. She drove the motorcycle toward her apartment.
Max got to Jam Pony early the next day. All the other couriers were doing deliveries except the new girl Kris. Kris was sitting alone by the television, waits to deliver for a package to deliver. Max walked down there.
"Hi I'm Max." she said to Kris. "You must be Kris."
"Yep." she replied.
"I heard you're from New York." said Max. "What's it like down there?"
"I lived there for two years." Kris responded. "It's pretty nice down there. I had to leave because I ran into trouble and came here for a fresh start."
"I heard you used to be a photographer. Why did you quit?"
"It was part of the trouble I ran into."
Suddenly, a news report comes on. "The search for person behind 'Eyes-Only' is
continuing today. If anyone had any information on a conviction to the person who owns Eye-Only call your local police station."
"I would to see who that is." said Kris. "It would be really neat to meet him."
"Hey Max." a voice called behind them.
Max turns around and it was Logan. "Hi Logan."
"I got some information for you." exclaimed Logan. "How about you can come by later?"
"Sure."
"Max!" called Normal. "Quit talking. There is a package for you."
"I got to go, Logan." said Max as she took the package and got on her bike. "See you later."
"What information do you get?" asked Max when she enter Logan's apartment.
"I think I found another one of your siblings." answered Logan. "A girl with a bar code tattoo on the back of her neck got her tattoo removed last night at a downtown tattoo parlour."
"That who I saw last night." Max said quietly to herself.
"What are you talking about?" Logan asked Max.
"I was in the downtown area last night. A Manticore van was going after a person on a motorcycle. Does it mention the serial number?"
Logan goes on his computer. "The serial number is 671000158902. Do you know who it is?"
"I do but she wasn't one of the twelve that escaped. I saw her stunned and taken back to the Lab."
Logan then remembers the E-mail. He brings it up on the screen. "Remember the E-mail."
"Yeah."
"Here is the actual E mail."
Max reads over the E-mail. "I think I know who sent the E mail."
"Who?" asked Logan.
"The same person I saw last night." explained Max. "671000158902 was a loner and the soul survivor of a different experiment which added both canine and feline genes to humans. She trained with my group."
"Did she have a name?"
"No. Everyone called her Loner."
Max was out on the streets the next few nights looking for LoneDog on her motorcycle. This night, Max found her. She was sitting on her motorcycle with the helmet on.
"Hey." Max called to her
The person on the motorcycle takes off her helmet. It was Kris. "Hi Max. I need to talk to you in some place private."
Max takes Kris back to Logan's apartment. Logan was glad to meet, LoneDog. Kris was also looking for Eyes-Only. She not only has information for the other Manicore Project escapees but for the world.
"Lydecker plans to recapture all off us." began Kris. "He doesn't want to kill us anymore. He wants to continue the original project. Lydecker wants to make more of us. He's going to improve the newer ones by destroying the flaxes seen in the prototypes."
"How did you get this information?" asked Logan.
"I have been spying on Lydecker and looking through his files." explained Kris. "Before last month he didn't know I was alive. Zack knew this too. He asked me to help him to spy on them. So I wouldn't get detected, I had my barcode removed every few weeks like Zack."
"Why did come here?" asked Max. "You know you are in enemy territory."
"I answered that before." answered Kris. "I am here for a fresh start."
"What I want to know is how do they found out you were alive?" asked Logan.
THE END
Next Episode: Kris's Past
By Kristen Coughlan
Logan was on his computer looking at messages from his allies who get him information for "Eyes Only." He came across a message from someone called "LoneDog." Logan didn't know a LoneDog. Under the subject heading it says: 'A Manicore Secret'
He opens the file and he reads it: 'There was another escape, not long from the first. It happened during the pulse. More tried to escape but only one made it.'
Logan was starting to get interested. "If this is true, Max will be interested in this piece of news."
Max was at the Jam Pony talking with Sketchy, Original Cindy, and Herbal Thought.
"Normal got to hire more people." complained Herbal. "I see a lot of people applying and Normal's always turning them down."
"Normal gotta hire more." exclaimed Cindy. "This place under employed as it is."
"I bet he wants to keep all the extra money for himself instead of paying extra people." said Sketchy. "What do you think, Max?"
"I don't know." answered Max. "When Sam was here, Normal hired him because he acted like a soldier."
"He never made any deliveries," said a voice behind them. It was Normal and he was holding a small package. "I don't need any more workers. Now who is going to delivery this package?"
Max's pager goes off. "I will take it."
She delivered the page on the way to Logan.
"So what did you get, Logan?" said Max as she entered his apartment.
"A very interesting E-mail about Manticore," answered Logan. "About a second escape."
"A second escape?" Max said confused.
"The message said more tried to escape during the pulse but only two managed to make out of the compound."
Max came back to the Jam Pony. She sees a new girl there. The girl had waist long light brown hair. She was an inch shorter than Max. Her eyes were dark green. She was wearing loose blue jeans, a white T-shirt, and a full-rimmed hat.
Original Cindy and Sketchy comes up to Max.
"Look who got hired," said Cindy. "Normal just wanted avoid a strike by the rest of us."
"Normal at first didn't want to hire her because she used to live in New York." added Sketchy. "Everyone was giving Normal dirty looks when he was ask to deny her the job."
"What's her name?" asked Max.
"Her name is Kris Colum." said Cindy. "We had to pressure Normal to hire her. She been in the city for a couple of weeks."
"Hey Kris." yelled Normal. "Prove yourself. Take this package to the tower."
Kris silently took the package and her bike and left.
"She is really quiet." said Max as she walked past the group.
"I heard of Kris Colum before." piped up Herbal as he walked in. "She used to be a photographer for newspapers and magazines before she quit. She was really good."
That evening Max came back to the apartment. Her hands began to shake. She needs her Tryptophan. Once she reaches the apartment the seizure hit. She fell to the ground. Kendra, Max's roommate saw this and ran to the bathroom to get the Tryptophan.
Pictures of the past came to Max. She was with one of the youngest of the Manticore Prototypes. The girl was different from all the others. She had both canine and feline genes in her. The girl's nickname was Loner.
Another flash came to Max. The girl was running away in the first escape and she is stunned and taken back to the facility.
The seizure stopped when Kendra got her the Tryptophan.
The rest of the night, Max cruised around the streets on her motorcycle. As she is cruising, she looks down the alleys. Suddenly she sees a Manticore van.
"Oh great." she whispered to herself.
She speeded up her motorcycle. Max looks into the next alley and sees they are chasing someone else. It wasn't Zack or any one of her motorcycle friends. She hasn't seen this one before.
His or her motorcycle was a dark green Ninja. On the top of the black helmet on above the visor was a blue wolf-like figure. The person was wearing a black cotton jacket with a white shirt underneath and blue jeans.
Suddenly the person sped and quickly turned into the alley toward Max. She saw that the vehicle was following the person still. Max turned her motorcycle around went back into the opposite direction.
Max looks back and sees the Manticore van was after her. She quickly turns into an alley and turn into the street and drives off into the traffic starting to build up. Max went in and out lanes to get ahead of the Manticore Van.
She looks back again and sees that the Manticore Van was struck in the traffic. Max proudly turns into the next street. She drove the motorcycle toward her apartment.
Max got to Jam Pony early the next day. All the other couriers were doing deliveries except the new girl Kris. Kris was sitting alone by the television, waits to deliver for a package to deliver. Max walked down there.
"Hi I'm Max." she said to Kris. "You must be Kris."
"Yep." she replied.
"I heard you're from New York." said Max. "What's it like down there?"
"I lived there for two years." Kris responded. "It's pretty nice down there. I had to leave because I ran into trouble and came here for a fresh start."
"I heard you used to be a photographer. Why did you quit?"
"It was part of the trouble I ran into."
Suddenly, a news report comes on. "The search for person behind 'Eyes-Only' is
continuing today. If anyone had any information on a conviction to the person who owns Eye-Only call your local police station."
"I would to see who that is." said Kris. "It would be really neat to meet him."
"Hey Max." a voice called behind them.
Max turns around and it was Logan. "Hi Logan."
"I got some information for you." exclaimed Logan. "How about you can come by later?"
"Sure."
"Max!" called Normal. "Quit talking. There is a package for you."
"I got to go, Logan." said Max as she took the package and got on her bike. "See you later."
"What information do you get?" asked Max when she enter Logan's apartment.
"I think I found another one of your siblings." answered Logan. "A girl with a bar code tattoo on the back of her neck got her tattoo removed last night at a downtown tattoo parlour."
"That who I saw last night." Max said quietly to herself.
"What are you talking about?" Logan asked Max.
"I was in the downtown area last night. A Manticore van was going after a person on a motorcycle. Does it mention the serial number?"
Logan goes on his computer. "The serial number is 671000158902. Do you know who it is?"
"I do but she wasn't one of the twelve that escaped. I saw her stunned and taken back to the Lab."
Logan then remembers the E-mail. He brings it up on the screen. "Remember the E-mail."
"Yeah."
"Here is the actual E mail."
Max reads over the E-mail. "I think I know who sent the E mail."
"Who?" asked Logan.
"The same person I saw last night." explained Max. "671000158902 was a loner and the soul survivor of a different experiment which added both canine and feline genes to humans. She trained with my group."
"Did she have a name?"
"No. Everyone called her Loner."
Max was out on the streets the next few nights looking for LoneDog on her motorcycle. This night, Max found her. She was sitting on her motorcycle with the helmet on.
"Hey." Max called to her
The person on the motorcycle takes off her helmet. It was Kris. "Hi Max. I need to talk to you in some place private."
Max takes Kris back to Logan's apartment. Logan was glad to meet, LoneDog. Kris was also looking for Eyes-Only. She not only has information for the other Manicore Project escapees but for the world.
"Lydecker plans to recapture all off us." began Kris. "He doesn't want to kill us anymore. He wants to continue the original project. Lydecker wants to make more of us. He's going to improve the newer ones by destroying the flaxes seen in the prototypes."
"How did you get this information?" asked Logan.
"I have been spying on Lydecker and looking through his files." explained Kris. "Before last month he didn't know I was alive. Zack knew this too. He asked me to help him to spy on them. So I wouldn't get detected, I had my barcode removed every few weeks like Zack."
"Why did come here?" asked Max. "You know you are in enemy territory."
"I answered that before." answered Kris. "I am here for a fresh start."
"What I want to know is how do they found out you were alive?" asked Logan.
THE END
Next Episode: Kris's Past