Short chapters, short story, hopefully quick updates. The Flock will be involved in the next chapter.
Thanks for the reviews :) I had almost forgotten why I did this in the first place... but I remember now.
T-MINUS 15 DAYS
"After all this time, after you nearly killed me for impersonating you, after all that, you want me to be you?" She spits on the ground. I look at it with distaste; spitting's a nasty habit. "Who the hell do you think you are? Who do you think I am?"
I shrug. "You're me."
She shakes her head. "No. I'm not you. My whole life I was trained to believe that, but I've come to terms with it over the past year that I'm not you. I'm not Max II. I'm Maya. I'm not you."
"Maya. Nice name." I stare at the dust-covered table, and decide it's okay if I get some dust on my clothes. It's not like I'll be attending any fancy parties for the rest of my life, anyway. So I sit down, and a cloud of dust pops up, nearly shielding her expression from me.
"Okay. Just make yourself at home, then." She crosses her arms. "Why are you here?"
It's the third time she's asked that in five minutes, and I think she does deserve more explanation. So I sigh. "You might want to sit down for this."
She snorts. "I think I'll stand."
"Fine. Whatever. I don't have a lot of time, anyway. My expiration date is coming up fast." I ignore the astonished expression on her face and continue. "I haven't told the Flock, and I'm not going to because I can't face their reactions. I want you to replace me. I want you to be the leader for the Flock, because I know them well enough to know that without a leader, they'll self-implode."
Maya- it's honestly really weird to call her that- seems to be incapable of speech. She stares at me, opening and closing her mouth, her eyebrows folded together so tightly that I wonder if mine are capable of almost disappearing like that. It's a useless power, making your eyebrows disappear, but I'll take what I can get at this point.
Then she finally manages to say one syllable. And it's not the one I'm looking for. "No."
"No?"
Maya starts pacing the length of the tiny trailer. It's so small that she's basically just doing step-turns every three feet. But she has the same habit as me; she needs to move when she's agitated. Good. The more like me she is, the better it will be. "You... you can't just pop in here in the middle of the night with some half-assed plan to replace yourself with what you perceive to be nothing more than your clone. I mean... I couldn't stand to be in the company of your Flock for even one full day."
"Yeah, they can be a handful sometimes." I recall Gazzy's surprise scents, Iggy's sarcasm, Nudge's incessant chattering, Angel's tantrums, Fang's stubbornness, and I stifle a smile.
I'll miss them.
But I'm not allowing myself to think about that just yet.
"So why the hell would I help you?"
"You won't have to live in a trailer in the middle of nowhere anymore. Think about it. You'll be me. No one will want to kill you- and even if they do, they're too chicken to do anything about it. You'll be living in a safe house, protected by the CSM and even the military. You won't have to worry about food or shelter ever again. You'll have a family. No one will ever compare you to me again."
Maya falters mid-step, and for a moment I think I've got her. But then she says. "Maybe I can fool them for a day. Two days max. But they're not stupid, Max. What do you think's gonna happen when they realize who I am and what's happened to you?"
I lean forward earnestly. "That's where I come in. Your whole life you were trained to be me, but you weren't trained by me. Believe me, I am way better qualified to teach you about me than the grotty whitecoats. And if all else fails, I'll write a note."
"A note."
"Yeah."
"A note?"
"I'll be sure to cross-date it."
She crosses her arms. "This has got to be the most half-baked plan you've ever come up with."
I smile. "Yeah. Definitely."
"I almost want to call you an idiot. But I guess I'm an idiot too, for saying yes."
"Yes?"
She sighs. "Yeah. Okay. I'm in. I might as well be useful for something in my life."
"Good. Okay. We've only got a couple weeks, so your first lesson starts now." I stand up on the chair, slip a little on the dust, and grab the poker from the table. "Lesson one: never compromise. Not when Gazzy asks you to buy him lithium batteries, not when Iggy demands you taste-test his new falafel recipe, not when Nudge pesters you to get her the latest Jimmy Choos. You're Maximum-Fucking-Ride now."
I catch a glimpse of a smile on Maya's face. "If that's your real middle name, I'm dropping out right now."
