Life at Manticore was tough. It was supposed to be, to make them tough, make them strong, make them into soldiers. X5-599 knew this, knew that to survive he had to be the best soldier, tough, smart, strong, and capable. As long as he did whatever the trainers and handlers and techs told them to, he could survive. That's what they were built, designed, and created for.
But Manticore didn't count on one thing. They programmed and enforced loyalty to Manticore, and loyalty to one's unit. But they forgot to teach them which came first.
As CO of his unit, it was his responsibility to look after them. He led them, guided them, and protected them. In turn, they followed him, watched his back, and supported him. Manticore said this was a duty, and it was, but it went far beyond that. Manticore had made them into a unit, but they turned themselves into a family.
To Manticore, he was a soldier. A weapon. Designation X5-599.
To his unit, he was a person. Family. Zack.
X5-599 was the one who reported to Lydecker and received orders, who led his unit through a minefield, through flooded tunnels, through the endless exercises meant to break them down. X5-599 directed X5-493 to take point on a live-fire mission, ordered X5-471 to fall back when she was injured on an exercise, sent X5-701 on a scouting mission. X5-599 watched as X5-732 panicked and drowned in the water tank, looked on dispassionately when X5-524 was dragged off shaking by the guards, when X5-452 was taken to PsyOps for evaluation. X5-599 did what he was told, no questions asked, like a good soldier.
Zack was the one who encouraged Ben's stories late at night when they couldn't sleep, who hushed Jondy's nightmares after a trip to the basement. Zack slipped Brin some of his own rations when hers were held back as punishment, and tried to help Jack when the convulsions took him. Zack held back his own tears as Syl and Krit mourned the loss of Jack; he was the one who tried to comfort Max as she shook harder and harder during the night. They were his family, and Zack did his best to protect them.
Which was why when they realized how bad Max's tremors got that night, that the guards were coming to take her away like they did Jack, X5-599 didn't make the call. Zack did. X5-599 knew that soldiers were expendable, that their lives were controlled by their superiors. Zack was tired of losing family.
Zack crept out of bed and shook Eva awake. She was his SIC, the only one he had revealed his thoughts of escape to, and it only took one look at him before she rolled out of bed and started to quietly wake the rest. Zack went to Max's bunk, where she lay trembling slightly. Sometimes he pitied her the shark DNA in her cocktail – nights were the worst, and she could never sleep through them, probably why the shakes hit her so hard.
Leaning over her, he shook his favorite little sister awake. "We're escaping."
He had to help support her down the halls, Ben on her other side. Eva took point, taking the gun away from the barracks guard after she took him out. The rest of their family trailed behind in formation, scared but determined, trusting in Zack.
A sudden flash of light stopped them in their tracks. More guards, and Lydecker, guns aimed. They froze, uncertain. They could take them; the X5's had been trained very well. But to assault a superior was something they were forbidden to do, ever.
Eva moved first. Setting her feet, she raised the gun in both hands, bracing herself for the shot. Zack wanted to yell, to tell her to put it down, but Lydecker's gun fired before he could open his mouth. They heard the report, the way the bullet smacked into her chest and pierced through flesh and bone. They watched her fall, the way blood spurted and blood around her on the freezing concrete floor.
Zack looked at Lydecker, and knew. He wasn't going to lose any more of his family.
Shoving Max onto Ben, Zack blurred forward, grabbed Lydecker's wrist and twisted it around. The second shot took out the handheld spotlight in a bright acrid flash, momentarily blinding the guards. "Go!" Zack shouted, using all his strength to throw Lydecker into the guards. They tumbled to the floor as the glass window shattered under Brin's feet, cold air whipping around them as the X5's immediately dived for the opening.
Zack came back to Max's side, caught her arm and together they darted for the window. The sharp winter air stung their exposed skin, the snow biting under bare feet, but they were used to it. As soon as they hit the ground, they ran, heading for the perimeter fence. Didn't really matter where they were going, just away.
Escaping was nothing like their exercises or maneuvers. There was no plan, no direction, only away, and in the confusion and chaos they all split up. Zack chanced a look back, saw the alarms going, the floodlights sweeping the grounds. The guards were yelling, accompanied by the barking of tracking dogs. They'd be after them soon, and if they were caught, they'd all be sent to PsyOps for the doctors to dissect out what went wrong with their automatons.
There was no going back now. They were committed. Turning his back on Manticore, Zack gazed ahead to his escaping family, signaling for them to split up and scatter. Together they were strong, but apart they would be safe. No matter how much it hurt.
Before he turned to distract the guards, Zack met Max's eyes one last time. Big brown eyes gazed back solemnly, knowing, and she nodded once before sprinting away. Zack smiled to himself. He could do this, as long as Max would be safe.
Max didn't tell Logan where she was going when she disappeared for a couple days. She just filled up her Ninja and left Seattle, gunning it on the highway heading into the country, wind whipping her hair back as she let the ride soothe her.
It took five hours for her to reach the farmstead, partially because she stashed her motorcycle two miles up the road and made the rest of the journey on foot over furrowed fields. This always reminded her of the exercises at Manticore, creeping overland to an enemy stronghold, and never failed to elicit a small smile. Not for the good old days at Manticore, hell no, but for the memory of a young Zack leading the way.
Now, sitting on the crest of a small hill concealed from view, she looked down on Zack, or, as he was now known, Adam. But to her he would always be Zack, her protective big brother. The soldier X5-599 was gone, replaced by this man who laughed and smiled and was . . . driving a tractor?
Max really couldn't stop the huge smile on her face. Zack was perched atop a tractor wearing jeans and a plaid work shirt, bellowing along to some godawful country song as he towed a seeder across the fields. If only Lydecker could see him now . . .
Soldiers and farmers didn't have that many skills in common, but both required hard work and determination. Zack had those in spades, which was what made him a good farmhand. Finishing up his row, he threw a switch to shut down the feeder and started to swing the tractor around. A distant chiming caught Max's attention, and Zack's too. He immediately grinned and steered the tractor for the path along the fence, heading back for the barn.
Max let him get a good ways away before she discreetly followed him back to the farmhouse. A woman stood on the porch wearing an apron and ringing an honest-to-God triangle to call everyone in for dinner. Max shook her head, amused by the stereotype and the big guy who came up behind her to give her a kiss on the cheek.
Zack stowed the tractor in the barn and headed for the house with a beaming smile for the woman. She grinned back and snapped her apron at him, sternly ordering him to go wash up. He chuckled and pressed a light kiss to her head before disappearing inside the house, following the delicious aromas of home-cooked food.
Max watched him go, her smile turning melancholy. She wanted to go down there, to see him again, to see the affection on his face, to feel herself enfolded in his big arms in a rare hug, to hear him call her "little sister" again. With all the loss she'd experienced and been witness to lately, she wanted that little piece of her family back, the only good thing Manticore had ever given her.
But she couldn't. He had a new life, a new identity, and didn't remember her or their family. And she had to keep it that way. For him to stay safe, they had to stay apart.
Her hand crept to her chest, feeling the heart beating under warm flesh. Zack's heart, which he had given up for her to live. He had protected her all his life, given everything for her.
Taking one last look at the warm house, Max turned and headed back for her hidden motorcycle. Zack had spent a lifetime watching over her. Now it was her turn, to return the favor. To protect her family. Just like Zack had taught her.