Chapter Six
Max's head was killing her. She had been sitting at her desk, staring at the blank pages in front of her trying to formulate a plan, a program. Something, that would help her explain, help her tell everyone what had happened, and what she planned on doing.
White could not be allowed to continue, but they didn't really have the resources to fight him. He had the upper hand, the upper ground, and while they might have superior numbers, attacking now would just be seen as justification for the cult's campaign to kill them all.
Max had no idea what to do. She knew she had to tell them; tell them the truth, but she didn't know how. She had been trained to be a soldier, not a leader. To follow orders and improvise when needed.
"Improvise," she sighed, resting her forehead on both hands with her elbows on the table. Huffing in frustration and resignation she stood and exited the alcove, drawing several sharp glances. They all knew she hadn't slept last night.
"Gather everyone in the center of the city," she told Mole.
"What fer?" he asked, rolling the cigar in his mouth.
Max thought about how best to answer. "There are some things that I need to explain," she finally said softly.
"I don't know where Joshua is," Mole started to turn away, throwing the comment over his shoulder.
"I do, and he already knows - don't worry about him, just get everyone else where they can hear and see me."
Her words gave the Transhuman pause as he turned to look at her critically, but apparently he didn't think it was worth talking about. He just did as he was told.
Man, that girl looked like a sick cat, Mole thought shaking his head as he left the head quarters. She had dark circles under her eyes, her hair was a mess, and she was emotionally spent. He could tell by the way she spoke softly without any challenge or sarcasm. Something was up. Something big.
He hoped it was something with White - he wanted to punch that guy. In the gut. With a shotgun. Repeatedly.
Maybe he'd get a chance here real soon.
About an hour later everyone was assembled in the middle of Terminal City, wondering what was up. Asha was there as well, her self elected nanny/chaperone standing beside her protectively after having dragged her there as a way to keep her safe from further harm, even though Asha had fought as hard as she could to not go.
Logan stood among the front lines, having a human's hearing; he nodded in encouragement as Max mounted the steps of the small platform that had been erected soon after she had asked for them all to be rallied for a meeting. He didn't know what she was up to, but he knew that she needed all the support she got.
Max nodded in recognition of Logan's support, her eyes running over the crowd swiftly, getting a feel for their mood as she reached the top and stood for a minute, gathering her thoughts.
"You are my family. All of you; Transhuman to Transgenic, there are no such distinguishments. We are all Manticore. Born and bred to be soldiers, to fight, to withstand. Survive, no matter the odds. Triumph, no matter the cost. We stand together, and we fall together; we don't lose comrades, we lose brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers. We are family," she saw most of them nodding along, focusing on her. They were intrigued, wondering where this was going. Honestly, Max had no idea.
"We recently lost one of our family members; Alec, X5-494. But he is not dead," she paused to let that bombshell rock the group. She saw Logan start with shock, opening his mouth to say something. "Please, hear me out! I'm not lying, I'm not joking. He is, literally, physically, alive. Right now. White didn't kill him. White drugged him, setting it up so that we would fool ourselves into thinking he was dead."
Many of them were beginning to grumble, to nay say. Fine. She could handle this; she could do this.
"Who saw the kill shot?" she challenged, stepping forward to the edge of the platform, grateful to whoever set this up that the group was fanned out in front so she could face all of them at once without having to constantly turn. "Who saw White kill him? I heard a shot, then saw a body being taken away in a van. Did anyone else hear or see something different?"
She stayed silent for a full minute, letting them think it over. "No," Mole was the first to verbalize it, several others following suit.
"No one saw him die, because he's not dead. I've seen him, I've talked to him - and I know, you all are going to be mad at me, but I only found out last night," she hurriedly told them. "White did something, tried to do something, to him - and then when Alec escaped, a mob got hold of him. A friendly in the city found him, took him to her place and saved his life. She had to do massive internal surgery to save his life, and she and Joshua weren't sure if he'd survive so they didn't tell us in case his survival turned into a false hope.
"Joshua did what he thought best, which is the best any of us can do in the situation he found himself in. Trusting a stranger, lying to friends, in order to save a life and spare hearts. He did what he thought was best, and that is the best thing any of us can do when put on the spot."
Almost every single one of them were nodding, though several were frowning while they did so.
"I know this is a lot to take in, but bear with me, please," she crossed her arms and rocked onto her heels, pursing her lips to formulate her next thought. "White has something planned," she finally said. "I don't know what exactly, but I know it involves Alec, and it's bad. Possibly Biblically bad for those who aren't genetically engineered to be immune to most every plague or virus on Earth. Humans. Ordinaries. The cult is bent on world domination, and the humans are an obstacle they're sick of dealing with. We are the second obstacle in their path.
"But we need to make ourselves the first obstacle," she stepped back, pacing a few times. "White has us exactly where he wants us right now. Locked behind a fence, unable to defend or attack lest we are annihilated by the people we are trying to protect - I'm not going to play that game anymore."
That made the crowd shift and murmer. They all seemed to lean forward, waiting with bated breath for her next words.
"I'm sick of playing White's game by White's rules. We won't win that way - we can't win that way. I'm writing my own rules. I'm writing them as I go, and I may write some of them in the blood of you who are standing here today. I don't want to - I may have to. If we don't stand up and fight for our freedom, our equality, then we will never be free! Because we will still be in that fence, in the shadows established by Manticore. We are Manticore! And we need to stop being so afraid of the world; I know, it's hard to be fearless.
"I'm not asking you to be fearless. I'm asking you to stand up, heads high, and step into the light with me. Courage is not being unafraid, courage is feeling fear and pushing through it! Harnessing our fear and channeling our terror! Manticore taught us to fight; they didn't teach us how to die. And I refuse to die!" she stopped her pacing and faced them all, eyes alight. "I will not let White win; and I'm sick of hiding in the shadows, of letting everyone else be happy and live in peace. I want to live in peace too! But if I have to fight for that, if I have to die for that so that those that come after me can live in the light I died to secure, then so be it!" she held her right fist high, gaining an instant response from the crowd as they mirrored the gesture.
"We are not going to let the Cult run this game anymore!" her words echoed off the buildings, bolstering the electic feel in the atmosphere even more. "They fear us! And they have a right to fear us! We beat them once, we can do it again! I don't know how, or where, but I know why. Because we are better. We are not stronger - an elephant is stronger than a mouse, yet the mouse scares the elephant. The man is stronger than the poison, yet the poison kills the man. We are not better because of blood, or tissue, or strategy. We are better, through love, and heart.
"Without a heart, a body cannot function - without love, a person has no need to live, and therefore no need for their heart. The heart is what loves, the heart is what others learn to love. It is the fire in each of our souls that makes us stronger, faster, smarter, better. We were born in shadow, some say we were made for darkness. I do not believe that. I believe we were made by a man who had a dream; his dream was about equality, and acceptance, and the fact that all deserve to live, no matter what. That is an ideal we may never live up to; but it is one I want to try to live up to, to enforce. The fire in our souls will not be quenched by water, for water does not phase us. It will not be quenched by blood, for blood is what feeds it. The blood of our bodies, the blood of our friends. Our hearts may stop, but our fire will never be gone!"
They answered with a thunderous roar, raising their fists once again.
"White thinks we're on the run. And we were. But no more! I have a plan - it's a small plan, simple. Hard though. It's very hard."
Various shouts of 'what' came from all over, them begging her to continue.
"Find White. Capture him. Turn him. Hunt the Cult down and expose them. We've been trying to find them, to stop them. We cannot find a trace or sign of them. But they are out there. White is one of their top soldiers; he knows their game plan, their safe places, their beta strategies. If we can find him, and catch him, then we will have a chance. But!" she cut the instant chatter off, not done yet. "We must not ignite a war with those of Seattle, or any other city. Our war is with the Cult, and it is the Cult we need do battle with. No one else, nothing else -"
"Down with the Cult, in with freedom!" a random Transgenic shouted, starting a chant.
Max smiled, raising her fist one last time. "We may not win this next battle, but we will not lose this war. We won't let ourselves. To peace, and to freedom!"
"Freedom, freedom, freedom," the crowd picked up the chant, pumping their fists.
Max breathed a sigh of relief as she got off the platform. That had gone better than she'd expected. She smiled tiredly as Logan approached, grinning from ear to ear.
"Did you plan all that, or just improvise?" he asked good naturedly.
"Honestly? I made it up as I went - and I meant every word," she smiled in return, sighing and rolling her shoulders.
"So," Logan looked at the ground and scuffed his shoes. "Alec's alive, huh?"
Max nodded mutely, not sure how he'd react.
"Good, I mean, I'm glad," he looked up at her, a shadow in his eyes.
"It really was a lie, Logan," Max assured him. "The fact that me and Alec were seeing each other, I told the truth when I said it was a lie. We weren't, and we aren't going to start. I love you."
The shadow disappeared as fast as it had appeared, his smile returning with a flash. "Ridiculous of me to doubt you, I know."
"A little ridiculous, yeah," she laughed. "Yeah Mole?" she turned to face him patiently standing behind her.
"Alec's really alive, eh?" he asked, his usual harshness lacking from his tone.
"Yeah - he was severely injured, he is still recovering, and . . ."
"And?" the edge creeped back in.
"He's blind," she said softly. "But I don't want everyone to know that yet; if they ask about how badly he was hurt, tell them, if not. They didn't ask, they didn't get answers. I'm sorry, it may seem harsh, but-"
Mole chuckled. "That? Harsh? Makes perfect sense. Is he gonna regain his sight?"
"No idea," she fought a yawn, only half succeeding.
"You look exhausted, Max. You've been through a lot lately, and that wasn't any penny and dime speech you just gave. We all can sit down and start planning while you get some shut eye; you too, Cale," Mole pointed a finger at the scruffy man fighting a yawn.
"'Kay," Max waved a farewell, turning to walk with Logan to where their quarters were - she didn't even bother arguring with him. Mole was right; neither she or Logan were in any shape to plan right now. And neither of them could stop yawning.
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Asha's heart was racing as she drifted away from the platform, surrounded by Transgenic that were absolutely buzzing with energy and ideas after that speech. That electric speech that Max had given.
Alec was alive. And Max knew where he was.
Asha couldn't get her heart to cooperate with her wish to stay calm and keep breathing evenly, deeply.
Alec was alive, and there was a bomb in her head that would go off if she didn't tell White the truth about that.
Crap.
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Meanwhile, Alec had gotten out of the bath, albeit quite reluctantly and on the condition that they find the warmest clothes possible for him to put on immediately after he was dry enough.
Now he was sitting on the couch after a delicious lunch of pancakes with warm syrup and ice cold milk considering having Joshua help him to bed so that he could sleep properly. He was currently cradled by Joshua, who was acting as a living, breathing heater for him which was actually quite pleasant. Right now though, Alec just wanted to be alone - he had a lot of things to sort through.
First off, the conversation between Shirley and Joshua that niether knew Alec had heard was still echoing in his mind, chasing it's own tail and refusing to let him just box it up and ignore it, which is what he really wanted to do to it.
Then there was the fact that he was blind. He had accepted the fact, but it was more of an acceptance through necessity - he hadn't really stopped and thought about it yet. Shirley was very careful to cater to his needs, Joshua did the same thing, Max hadn't really said anything - she had most likely still been processing it when she left last night - but what really bothered Alec was the fact that he knew he was blind, he just, didn't know what to do about that.
He knew he couldn't fix himself, obvoiusly, there was nothing anybody could do to 'fix' this - his vision would either return, or it wouldn't and he'd be blind for life. And that right there is what he hadn't really confronted yet. What was going to happen if his vision didn't return?
Rely on Joshua the rest of his life, anchor the poor Transhuman to himself? No. He knew Joshua would do that willingly without a second, or even a first, thought as to what that would mean for Joshua's life, but Alec refused to accept that he would become an invalid, a burden. He was a soldier - he did things, he acted, he fought, and fought well. He didn't sit around the house, eating three full square meals a day, sleeping as long as he wanted, and doing nothing but wandering around a house and relying on everyone else to do everything for him.
He couldn't live like that. That wasn't a life. But he was terrified that that was the only option open to him right now.
Even if blindness was the only issue he had right now, learning to cope - and getting everyone around him to let him learn to cope - would be hard enough, but blindness wasn't the only issue he had. Shirley said most of the internal injuries were healed, and Alec believed her. There wasn't any internal bleeding that was going to kill him - his bones were healing well, his balance was improving, and Shirley knew all that. She'd told Alec all that.
What Alec didn't tell her was that whenever he moved he felt an ache; mostly in his abdomen, the area around his ribs and spine. His head also throbbed sometimes, although it was more like a pressure that would suddenly come and wrap a band around his head. It didn't really hurt, it just felt . . . confining. Limiting. Weakening. Everything that made every fiber in his being, body and soul, want to scream from frustration and fear - he hated feeling helpless, dependent.
Manticore had engineered him to be superior, to be better, healthier, faster, smarter, stronger. To be independent, capable; but oddly, they had bred in him a dependency that rivaled that of a drug addicts. The dependency on his independence; he relyed on being being able to take care of himself so heavily, that when that was taken away, he was completely lost. He'd been lost when Rachel was taken away, but Manticore had reprogrammed him, given him a purpose again; wiped him clean and fixed him up. This though.
There was no Manticore to rescue him from this - no cursed black to cover it up until he felt ready to dredge it up and deal with it. No Manticore to give him a magic pill to return his strength to him.
Because his strength wasn't returning. It didn't feel like it, at least. He could stand and walk on his own, but he felt shaky and like he was going to fall down at the next step. His balance was on hiesta, and his hearing seemed . . . dulled; as did his taste and smell. Touch on the other hand, felt like it was on overdrive. Every bump felt like a pinch, every brush of a hand on his skin felt like a hot stone - yet he craved that heat. He wanted warmth, needed it, because warmth kept him in control. The second he felt a chill crawling down his spine he could feel his muscles gathering, twitching, stretching. Readying themselves to throw him on the ground, helpless and defenseless, at the mercy of whoever was closest.
He was, quite frankly, terrified of his own body right now. Because it wasn't his body. He felt like a stranger that had been transplanted into a foreign country while he slept, but everyone kept trying to convince him that he was still at home.
Alec shivered slightly, jerking when he felt something move behind him. Joshua's instant assurance relieved him, but he stayed tense - trying to distance himself from this.
This wasn't him. This dependent, helpless, kitten he had become practically overnight. It wasn't who he wanted to be, and he had no idea how to accept this new life that had been forced upon him while he slept.
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Max stood by the tunnel twitching impatiently as Logan watched. She drummed her fingers against her leg, paced in a short line back and forth for five minutes, then began drumming her fingers and bouncing her leg. She was just about to start back towards the HQ building to hunt Mole down when he appeared with the selected members of the population in a group behind him.
After the Transgenics had assimulated the information that Alec was alive and White had something planned, they all came to a unanimous decision that they needed to take action, now. The best way to plan any course of action was to get all the information they could on what White's plans were. And the only person who could possibly know that was Alec - he was the one who had been kidnapped, after all.
Mole was coming for security, Max was obviously the leader, Dix had some know how on memory tricks - Alec would no doubt have suppressed some of it - and Dalton along with a handful of others were coming along to escape cabin fever and serve as backup if they ran into trouble. Most of them would stay at Shirley's to provide security in case White discovered where Alec was hiding.
Distributing the disguises Max donned her own baggy coat and too big hat on that she wore the night before, leading the Transgenics into the tunnel. When they reached the exit she balanced on her heels and looked back.
"Remember - don't get spotted and don't draw attention to yourself. If you get spotted backtrack to the fence and jump it. Don't come back through this tunnel - Luke probably won't have it secured until tonight so for now it's a weak point if it's found," she reiterated what they'd gone over in HQ. Better a fresh memory and healthy heart than a spotty recollection and intact pride.
They all nodded, Mole verbally mumbling 'yeah'. His disguise hid any head movements he might make.
"Move out," Max stepped out of the tunnel mouth with Logan beside her after carefully scanning the area to ensure she wouldn't be spotted; the others would follow when they judged it safe enough.
Asha stood in the shadows watching the group of seven Transgenics enter the tunnel after donning their disguises, her conscience warring with her heart. There was a secret entrance and exit into Terminal City - and it didn't look secured. If she told White about it, he would slaughter them before they knew what hit them.
Looking over her shoulder she bit her lip, White's words ringing in her head.
If she didn't deliver Alec he would kill her family - but he hadn't said anything about Terminal City. Coming to a decision she turned and left the area, carefully skirting to a neglected portion of the fence to slip out of the city unobserved. Making her way around the fence until she came to where she guessed the tunnel came out she settled down to watch for one of the Transgenics to emerge in order for her to tail them.
She hated this. But, and she hated this too, she didn't see any other choice.
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Joshua sat comfortably with Alec cradled against him for warmth, listening to his friends steady heartbeat. For a while Alec had been awake, but he had stayed quiet and made no effort to have a conversation so Joshua had left him to his thoughts. Trying to move slightly startled Alec, and it took a while for him to settle again, but when he did he fell almost instantly asleep.
Shirley popped over to check on them every once in a while, but she was pretty busy in the kitchen right now. It looked like she was cooking for more than three tonight too - maybe Max was coming over with Logan or something.
It would be a good idea to get together and discuss strategy on what to do about White, but that was Max's area, not Joshua's.
Hearing a soft knock on the door Joshua fought to keep from tensing, knowing that doing so would panic Alec. Shirley smiled in assurance of him and went to the door, opening it to let Max and Logan step inside.
"More coming?" Shirley asked without prelude.
"Yeah," Max nodded, scanning the room quickly. She smiled and waved at Joshua, frowning in concern at the limp and pale form sleeping next to him. Snapping her attention back to Shirley she smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry, I'm being rude," she turned to Logan. "This is Logan, he's a friend."
"Hi," Shirley shook his hand, taking the bulky coats from the couple and setting them on separate tables. Joshua had briefly explained about the genetic virus carried by Max engineered to kill Logan.
"Hi," Logan returned her greeting, smiling cordially. Honestly he felt a little awkward, though he was glad Max was including him in this strategy session. Following Shirley's invitation to enter the house and settle themselves around the kitchen table or in one of the arm chairs in the sitting area Logan felt his breath catch at the sight of Alec, still and pale, on the couch next to Joshua.
Max had said he had been badly hurt, but Logan had been thinking a few bruises, maybe a broken rib or two; badly hurt in human measurements, basically.
Alec looked like a porcelain doll, inanimate and painted china white with pale, blue-white lips.
Max seemed similarly shocked by his appearance. "He didn't look that bad last night," she seemed confused.
Shirley wiped her hands on her apron nervously. "He's fine - no bleeding, the bruising is healing, bones have been knit for a while now . . ."
"But . . .?" Logan asked softly.
"He's very cold. And I'm speaking in human terms of below normal body temperature, I have no idea how that compares to Transgenic, but quite honestly . . ." Shirley took a breath and shook her head. "I'm worried."
Max nodded, swallowing. "Worried he's gonna die, worried, or just waiting for this to stabilize itself worried?"
"Well, right now it is kind of stable, I just don't know what long term affects such a low temperature will have on his body. The average human temp is 98.6, Josh told me the average Transgenic temp is around 100 to 103. Right now Alec's is between 95 and 97. I say in between because it's been different each time I've taken it," Shirley shrugged. "The hot bath seemed to help, and he certainly enjoyed the warmth, so I think that'll become a daily thing to do."
"Has he said anything about it?" Logan asked.
Shirley shook her head. "He listens to what I say, smiles and says he'll be alright, and then goes back to doing whatever he was doing before - mainly sleeping or twiddling his thumbs."
Max snorted quietly. "That is so Alec - stubborn idiot -"
"I recall this stubborn idiot saving your life a time or two," a muffled mumble came from the couch.
"Uh-huh," Max smoothly accepted him into the conversation. "And how many times have I saved your hide?"
"Umm, once or twice?" he offered, stretching like a cat as he yawned.
"Try five or six," she retorted.
"What?!" he yawned again, opening his eyes and slowly sitting up. Joshua took the opportunity to stand up and stretch. "When, did you ever save my life five times?"
"Well, I got you out of Manticore didn't I?" she walked over closer to him as Shirley went to the door.
"Granted," he nodded, pointedly focusing on Max as the other Transgenics filed into the house.
"Then there was the incident with a bomb in your head, then, let's see . . ." she crossed her arms, thinking about all the times she'd saved his life. "When you first met Zach I recall him suspending you in the air by your neck; then there was the time you took hostages in Jam Pony that I had to straighten out, and wasn't there an incident with you being arrested for a murder? Who exactly broke you out of there anyway?"
He was grinning by this time, glad to hear her joke and josh with him. "Well, now that you name specifics, I dimly recall that it was a spunky and sarcastic brunnette by the name of Max."
She chuckled, ruffling his hair. Turning to the new arrivals she was glad to see that they had all made it. "Any issues getting here?"
Mole shook his head. "We were clear the entire time."
"Good," Max nodded. "Shirley, these are friends, again, obviously. Mole, Dalton, Dix, Gunn, (in honor of Richard Gunn, who played Sketchy) and Vage ( in honor of John Savage, who played Colonel Lydecker) . Everybody, meet Shirley."
Shirley dipped a curtsey politely, sniffing suspiciously. "Oh! my biscuits!" she ran to the oven and pulled it open, grabbing two hot pads to pull out the tray of brown, on the verge of too brown, biscuits.
Mole sniffed appreciatively. "You're feeding us?" he asked, clearly surprised.
"I wouldn't dream of not feeding you," she kicked the oven door to make it shut as she set the tray down, picking up a ladle to stir the pot of soup on the stove. "Just two pots of soup, some biscuits, and all you can drink of water and milk I'm afraid, but it's good quality - made from scratch."
"Smells wonderful," Dalton offered, wandering over to watch her put the final touches on the soup.
"One pot mostly meat, one pot mostly vegetables - I don't know if there's preferences, but they're both filling and tasty."
"They're fine; we're an easy crowd," Alec started, standing up. His knees immediately rebelled at the idea of standing however.
Max caught him as much as she could, Joshua moving the coffee table so that Alec didn't crack his head on it. Alec's body wasn't done though, shaking uncontrollably in waves.
"Crap," Shirley set her towel down, running to the end table and opening a small case. Mentally scolding herself for not insisting more firmly after lunch she made sure there was no air in the syringe as she carefully knelt beside the convulsing Transgenic. "I think it's past time for this, Alec - this inhibitor helps, it really does . . ." she tried to take his arm but she couldn't hold it still long enough. She didn't know if he was willfully fighting her or if the seizure was just that bad.
"Shh," Max cradled Alec's shoulders and head, holding him as still as she could. "Don't fight them, it doesn't help," she sighed in frustration when Alec avoided her hand on his forehead. "Alec, believe me; I dealt with seizures most of my life outside of Manticore before they 'fixed' me after my recapture. Fighting them doesn't work - just relax, relax as much as possible."
"Let Shirley help," Joshua captured Alec's arm, holding Alec still as Shirley quickly injected the medicine and withdrew the needle as smoothly as possible.
Mole walked over to stand by Dalton, who was fixedly ignoring the drama in the sitting room, stirring the pots of soup. "You okay kiddo?"
"I know what's it's like, having your world fall down on your head," Dalton quietly whispered. "Audiences don't help in dealing with it. Especially for a guy like Alec; he never relied on anybody, and now . . ."
"It's not that he didn't rely on anybody, it's just that he hid his reliance from everybody. Including himself," Mole answered, equally quiet.
"What do we do to help?" Dalton looked at Mole with haunted eyes.
Mole was taken aback at the hurt and pain in the kid's eyes, suddenly wondering just what had brought the kid's world crashing down that had left such a mark on him. But, they were all marked by some tragedy in their past - living at Manticore, serving them. There was no way to avoid those memories. "Right now, we help him adjust as best we can."
They both turned to look at the now still Transgenic, helpless and powerless, supported and surrounded by his friends.
"Stand by and be the silent helper, eh?" Dalton said somewhat bitterly. "That never works; and doing it sucks."
"What do you suggest, upstart?" Mole's tone gained his usual acerbic edge to it.
"Confront him; force him to confront what he's hiding from," Dalton didn't flinch, meeting Mole's glare eye to eye.
Mole snorted. "You let me know how that works out for you, kiddo."
