Command Center, Terminal City
January 11 2022
Max sat lazily in one of the swivel chairs and watched the bank of screens, Dix sat beside her and was staring intensely at the computer screen frantically pressing keys. Max looked over curiously "What are you doing? You going break the keyboard if you hit those keys any harder" she peered over his should only to find he was playing 'pac man' she grinned and slapped him across the head "You should be working not playing those stupid games"
"Sorry Max" Dix quickly shut the game off and picked up a circuit board he had been working on
"Hey" Mole came up the stairs "My shift now. Logan's looking for you" he nodded his head in the direction of the door where Logan was standing.
"Thanks" Max got up and went down the stairs "Hey you" she said softly and gave him a kiss
"Hey" Logan smiled "We need to talk" he looked down at his feet
"I don't like it when you say that" Max followed him down the hall out into the faint sunlight. They walked the grounds of Terminal City silently until Max couldn't bear it any longer "Ok what is it? Or did you drag me out here just for a bit of exercise"
"You know how I told you about the archive" Logan stared at the ground
"Yeah, it's just out Shelby on the other side of the mountains..."
"Well I didn't tell you everything" Logan shoved his hands in his pockets, Max looked at him suspiciously, "The town where the archive is..."
"What?" the air was so cold her breath turned into white mist
Logan took a deep breath "That's where Zack ... I mean Adam is" Logan and Max's eyes met
"Zack?" she said quietly
"Remember, he lost his memory after you shocked him to stop him from killing me"
Max nodded and turned away "Are you sure that's where he is?"
"If he is still working for Buddy, then yeah" Logan kicked a pebble around waiting for her response
After a long silence "Can you contact Buddy?" she asked staring off into the distance
"I've tried I couldn't get through, but I'll keep trying" he put his arm around her
"He always wanted a normal life. Is there anyway we can get in and out of there without seeing him?"
"I thought you would want to see him" Logan led Max back towards the building that housed the Command centre
"Not if it means destroying what he's got and putting you in danger again. How long has it been?" Max looked up at Logan
"About 6 months" Logan sighed
"Let me know if get hold of Buddy" Max smiled weakly and walked back to the command centre leaving Logan by himself
"Sure" he said to himself and turned towards Medtronics.
Buddy's Ranch
January 11 2022
"Hey Zack, hows my bike going?" the young woman yelled from the beat up truck, she jumped out and walked over to the machinery shed where Zack was working
"I thought I told you not to call me Zack in public" Zack picked up a spanner and loosened some nuts on the engine
"We're not in public" She pushed her dark hair away from her face and leant on the door frame
"Someone could have heard you" his voice was hard and his stare like ice
"I'm sorry I won't do it again Adam" She smiled at him sarcastically "You're not at Manticore any more you don't have to be so uptight"
"I like it here, and I don't want my cover to be compromised. I'm waiting on some spare parts, you haven't seen a muffler lying around anywhere have you Leah?" Zack scanned the dark shed in search of the muffler
"No sorry, have you checked the boundary fence lately, I was out riding today and noticed the gate in marsh paddock was down"
"Yeah that's next on my list. Buddy told me that you're doing the round up tomorrow" Zack smiled
"Yeah, he wants me to take out the new horse" She looked over at the yard where the big black horse was pacing the fence
"You're game" Zack smerked and lifted the cover away from the motor
"He can't be that bad. How much longer on the bike?" Leah asked
"Another day or two and it should be done"
Crash
January 11 2022
Max walked down the stairs into the bar she scanned the room for her friends "Hey Max over here" Sketchy was waving his arms around, Original Cindy grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back into his seat "What are you the town crier or somethin?"
Max made her way over to the table, "Hey guys" she flopped back into the chair
"Hey, what's up wit my girl, you look like hell" Original Cindy handed her a glass
"Just been doing a lot of thinking" Max filled her glass from the jug
"Do you workout while you think"
Max smiled "Remember Zack"
"The brotha that went locco and tried bump off Logan"
"Yeah that's the one. I know where he is"
"What's the problem" Original Cindy looked confused
Max thought about it for a minute and shrugged her shoulders "I dunno. I want to see him but..." Max looked down and played with her glass "but I don't, ya know"
Sketchy emptied the last drop of beer into his glass "Looks like we're all out"
"Next round is on me" Max got up and took the jug to the bar, she was halfway there when her pager went off, she turned and went back to the table "Sorry guys duty calls"
"That's aiight it's probably time Original Cindy got her fine ass back home for some sleep" OC said
"Yeah I better get home too" Sketchy added. The three friends left the bar together
"See you later Boo" Original Cindy gave Max a hug
"Later my peeps" Max grinned and bumped fists with Sketchy and disappeared into the night.
Buddy's Ranch
January 11 2022
Buddy sat at the head of the table, while Mary his wife dished up their dinner. "I'm glad you stayed for dinner, it will give me a chance to catch up with my favourite cowgirl" he smiled
"How I could I refuse with Mary's famous stew on the menu" Leah smiled
Mary tried to keep the huge grin of her face as she dished up the stew "What did you do today Za... Adam?" she sat down looking a bit flustered
"It's ok you can call me Zack. I've been working on Leah's bike" Zack started to eat his stew
"Well sounds like you've been busy did you get around to fixing the gate?" Buddy dished some more stew into his bowl. The phone rang, Mary got up "I'll get it" she said cheerfully while the others continued their dinner "Hello ... yes, I'll get him, just a minute... Buddy it's for you"
Buddy got up and pushed through the swing door to the kitchen "Hello?... Logan how are you... that's good to hear" Zack sat up and tried to listen to the conversation but Mary kept asking him questions "So how much longer until Leah's bikes is in working order?" She smiled
"It needs a new muffler but I haven't got all the parts yet" Zack replied
Logan's Apartment, Medtronics
January 11 2022
Logan sat at his desk fingering the keyboard waiting from someone to pick up the phone on the other end
"Hello?" a cheerful voice came through the phone
"Mary? Hi, it's Logan, is Buddy there?... Thanks" Logan got up and started to pace to calm his nerves
"Hello?" Buddy's voice sounded surprised
"Hi Buddy it's Logan"
"Logan how are ya"
"Yeah not to bad. On my feet still" Logan replied
"That's good to hear. What can I do you for?"
"I thought I might check up on how Adam has settled in" Logan said trying to sound cheerful
"Adam... " Buddy paused in thought "oh... you mean Zack"
"Zack?" Logan tried not to sound too surprised
"Oh yes, Dr Carr told us that he might get some of his memory back. He started remembering a few months ago..." he paused for a moment "In fact about the same time Leah showed up"
"Does he remember everything?"
"Nooo just bits and pieces, he doesn't really talk to Me and Mary about it but he spends hours with Leah reconstructing memories"
Logan sat down "Do you know if he remembers anything about the few days before you picked him up?"
"From what I can tell he doesn't remember much about the few months before he came to us. I tell you what, I'll have a chat with Leah and see what she'll tell me, although Zack's pretty guarded about something called Manticore, so – "
Logan cut him off before he could finish "Manticore... I really appreciate this Buddy, there is one more thing" Logan thought about it for a minute
"No problem Logan"
"When you talk to Leah... umm could you ask her if Zack remembers anything about Max or ahh... me"
"Sure thing Logan, I'll get back to you as soon as I can" the gruff voice at the end of the phone answered then hung up
"Yeah, thanks" Logan mumbled to himself before dialing the phone again "Hey Sam it's Logan... you busy tomorrow?... yeah 10 is fine, see you then" When Logan hung up he sat there for a minute staring out the dusty window before getting up and heading for bed.
Buddy's Ranch
January 11 2022
Mary cleared the table and Buddy resided to the couch in front of the television. Leah set her mug of coco on the table and looked at Zack "What are you looking at?" Zack asked suspiciously
"What were you so interested in when Buddy got that phone call before?"
"I don't know what you're talking about" Zack avoided eye contact
"Don't give me that, I can tell when your eaves dropping"
"It was nothing really" Zack looked her straight in the eye but she just stared right back
"Don't try those old Manticore intimidation techniques on me you know they don't work. Just spill will ya!"
Zack thought about it for a moment "It was Logan... on the phone"
"And..." Leah waited for the punch line
"He's a friend of one of my sisters, Max... and when I was back at Manticore they brainwashed me to kill him" Zack held his gaze and Leah knew she wasn't going to get any more out of him
"Oh I see" Leah looked down at her mug "I hope you don't still have that tendancy"
"If I did he'd be dead"
"Hmm I suppose you're right. I better get going, long day tomorrow" she stood and headed for the door.
Terminal City
January 12 2022
Max hugged her arms in close, just another beautiful winter day in Seattle. Though it was morning Terminal City was buzzing with energy, transgenics were hovering around busily. Max walked into a building that now served as a sort of cafe. They had worked hard to get the place looking descent, tables of different shapes and sizes were arranged in a seemingly ordered fashion. Most of the chairs were lab stools but the aromas that came from the lab turned kitchen was enough to bring transgenics from all over terminal city. Max weaved her way through the crowded tables and found herself a seat at the bar. "Hey Max, what can I get you?" a young female X6 stood on the other side of the bar
"What ever you got cooking back there, it smells great" Max smiled hungrily
"Sure thing, one cheese and tomato toasted sandwich coming up" the X6 disappeared into the kitchen
"Maxie there you are" Alec strode up and sat in the vacant seat next to Max
"I can never get away from you can I" Max smerked
"I know you love me" Alec smiled sarcastically "Any news on the archive?"
Max shrugged "Nope" she turned around a surveyed the room of noisy transgenics, she saw a small group of young X-series girls sitting around a table in the corner, they were whispering and looking over at Max and Alec "You should start your own fan club" Max nudged Alec
He looked over his shoulder at the group "What can I say I'm irresistible"
"Yeah right" Max rolled her eyes and turned back around "If you're so popular why haven't you hooked up with anyone yet" The X6 waitress came out carrying Max's breakfast
"You know what X-series girls are like, they only want one thing. I'll have one of those sandwiches" Alec nodded to the waitress
Max gave him a surprised look "I never thought I would hear those words come from your mouth, and hey I'm X-series and I'm not like that" Max started her sandwich
"You're different, you got out early, you weren't surrounded by X's on heat every second week. One minute they can't get enough of you the next they can't stand the sight of you" Alec sighed
"You still love that Berrisford girl don't you" Max looked at him
"I moved on" Alec tried to hide the sour look that came on his face "You know..." Alec looked at Max "I envy you and Logan... you've got something real"
"It's not as peachy as it looks" Max played with her food
"It never is but at least it's real, not some one night stand"
Max shook her head "I'll never understand you" she smiled
The X6 waitress set down Alec's order, and they finished their breakfast in silence.