"I have to admit, I'm impressed. From what I understand, you have managed to ally yourself with Polaris in record time. All this effort just to talk to me. You could have simply made an appointment." Max didn't really appreciate the snark from this guy. It made her want to cave in his face, but she knew that any heavy violence would come back to bite her in the ass. But she also couldn't just punch the wall instead because the people who worked here didn't deserve to have that kind repair job. So she just clenched her hand tightly, to the point that she could swear she heard straining mechanisms inside her arm.

"Don't. You know something, and you're going to tell me what it is. We'd both be saving ourselves a lot of trouble if you just came out with it now."

Rachel had her stun pistol trained on him and was clearly eager to take a shot at him. "C'mon, one little blast in the chest. That should get him to spill everything."

Unimpressed, the president just scoffed. "Please. Clearly neither of you is exactly familiar with the fine art of torture and interrogation. This is embarrassing."

Max crouched down so that she was more at Wells' eye level. "Let me spell something out for you here. In a situation like this, you want somebody who knows what they're doing. Me? I'm a worst-case scenario. Some military guy, he'd know exactly how to take one of your fingers and snap it, just so, to cause you a lot of pain and get you talking. But me, I don't have a clue what I'm doing. I might end up ripping your pinky off completely. In an attempt to break your arm, I might send you into shock, or even just straight-up kill you. It would be poetic in a way, getting murdered by the monster that you allowed to be created." She stood back up and started to saunter away. "Because that's the thing, right? You didn't do this to me, not really. But unless you explain to me how this happened, I'm still going to assume that you have a lot of blame. So if you want to avoid losing a pinky, or your life, I would recommend giving me something I can use. It doesn't end here. It doesn't end until I get some justice."

Rachel's hand started to dip and she stared at Max in shock. "That's not... really how Polaris works, Max..."

She turned on her heel, glaring at the blonde. "Maybe not. It's not how I work either. But I need information, and right now I don't have the energy to pretend I'm some kind of professional. If you're uncomfortable with this, you're free to leave."

There was a brief pause where she seemed to legitimately consider the offer before raising her pistol once more, aiming at the president. "I'm here. Just... do whatever you think you should."

Surprisingly, it was Wells who spoke up next. "Jesus Christ, I can't deal with all this moralizing about whether or not you should kill me. It's simply not worth all the fucking cloak and dagger. The man you're looking for is Dr. Mark Jefferson. He was one of my best until the madness set in. He started doing some really unethical things in his lab that I didn't need getting back to me. But he was confident the things he could do would make Zephyr into the number one name in leading technology. So... I gave him somewhere more discrete to do his work. By the time I found out about all the human experiments, he was several years in and several degrees more insane. And, of course, he had the kind of blackmail that could bring the company down around us." He sighed, and Max could swear that she heard some legitimate sorrow in there somewhere. "I closed down an entire factory for that asshole to hide in. Even has his own team of security goons. If you wanna go after him, you can find him hiding out at one of our old R&D facilities, Factory 42 in the northern part of the third ring."

Rachel withdrew a small recording device from the pocket of her jacket, grinning from ear to ear. "Maxine, you were worried. You're quite the actress after all!"

Max beamed at the compliment, only further delighted by how confused Wells looked. "Well, it helps when you have such an excellent scene partner."

"It was a goddamn bluff? I'm so fucking... Oh hell..."

Giggling, Rachel put her pistol away and wandered over to give him a gentle pat on the head. "Maxine here is a pussycat, a teddy bear. I'm just an actress. And you? Well... you're the putz that gave us everything we need and then some." She passed the recording device to Max who happily slipped it into her pocket before sauntering out the door with a friendly wave. "Ta!"

"You won't get anywhere with this. No jury will convict based on evidence obtained through illegal means!" Wells was now struggling against his chair, although it obviously wasn't doing much. "Let me go, Caulfield! Free me now and I won't bring the entire wrath of ZephSec against you!"

Max just chuckled softly and made her way out onto the balcony. "Stay calm, Mr. President. We'll be sure to send someone along to set you free once we're all a safe distance from the hotel. Have a nice evening!" She didn't stick around to hear any more of his angry shouting. Instead, she pushed herself up onto the railing and then making a flawless jump across to the rooftop where Victoria was waiting. She went almost straight into her arms where Victoria kissed her on the lips. "Woah! Don't get me wrong, I like your way of congratulating me on a mission well-done, but I'm confused as to what gives."

The woman's face was pretty damn red, and she looked suddenly very guilty. "I... kinda got a little paranoid that you and Rachel were flirting and I felt the need to assert my dominance in this situation."

"Pffft, way to make a sweet gesture sound like something out of a documentary." She stole one last kiss for good measure before putting a call in to Chloe.

"Hey, are we happy?"

"We're very happy. We're about to make our way back to the Lighthouse to initiate Phase 2."

"My favorite phase. See you soon."

With such solid info to use, everyone got the call to come back to base. Max was looking around the main meeting room at just how many people were around and seemingly ready for a fight. "I appreciate the fact that you guys want to do this, but I think it would be best for me to do this alone. I can get in easier that way, and I'm sure this Doctor Jefferson guy wouldn't want me getting hurt if things get dangerous."

Victoria scoffed. "What, so you can get captured again and go through another five years of torture and experimentation? No dice. I'm going too."

"If she's going, I'm going. I'm not missing out on a rumble."

"Okay well... if you two are planning on getting into a shootout, then someone needs to be there with a med pack." Kate's brow furrowed together tightly, the worry clear as day on her face.

That was about the time things really spiraled. Taylor was the next to speak up. "Kate, you're only trained in basic first aid. If people get anything worse than a stubbed toe, we'll need someone around with more experience."

Courtney glared. "Someone has to watch your backs while you're patching wounds."

Within moments, practically everyone was volunteering themselves for one job or another. Brooke's drone, a weapon that Mina was testing out, Hayden's sheer brawn, even Daniel was willing to take up arms. Max might have felt uncomfortable with letting everyone else fight this battle for her, but it wasn't as if she could talk them out of it. These were people who fought against Zephyr every day, for no other reason than moral imperative. She wasn't going to convince them in five minutes. As they went to crack open the Polaris armory and get geared up, Max just stood there and sighed quietly to herself.

She was pulled out of her internalizing as Daniel touched her gently on the arm. "Max, if you have a moment?"

"Uh, yeah, what's up?"

He looked down at the floor sadly for a moment. "I... heard a part of your conversation with Miss Chase the other night. I didn't mean to, but sometimes my ears just do it of their own volition. The thing is, I'm an artist too. I was an attendant at a resort, and when I wasn't taking angry complaints from guests, I did a lot of sketches. It started with lifelike drawings, the kind any android could make. But over time I learned how to do more abstract images, but that scared my owners. Before they could send me in for reprogramming, I ran away. Over time, I found others like me, and sympathetic humans, and suddenly we were an organization."

He sighed, adjusting his posture slightly but still not looking in Max's direction. "All that is to say... I didn't really think before getting excited about you being here. I didn't consider how you might react. It would be... mighty hypocritical of me to make you be something that doesn't feel natural to you."

Max let out a sigh that she had probably been holding for almost 24 hours now. It was a bigger relief than she was expecting to hear something like that. "Thank you, Danny Boy. I think Polaris is an amazing group and I don't mind helping you guys with what you do. But... well, maybe the best option is to not even have a poster child, ya know? You have so many amazing people here, it would run counter to everything you stand for to lift up just one person." Everyone was slowly filtering back in with various weapons and armor, and she gave Daniel an understanding smile. "I think that's our cue."

Considering almost the entirety of Polaris was approaching the warehouse, there was basically no way to be stealthy. Not that it mattered, anyway. The main loading door was open, and inside was a crew of Zephyr security goons leaning up against various crates and boxes, some of them smoking and shooting the shit as if they were on break. Even as Max walked through with her companions, only one of them stood and actually regarded them, flicking away his cigarette casually.

"Holy shit. Look at this stellar crew of hardened warriors and fearsome combatants. I'm shaking in my boots."

Max could see Victoria tense up, not even bothering to hide it. "Prescott? How the fuck did you get a command position?"

He chuckled softly and pulled an intimidating gun from his back holster. "I learned how to do my job and not ask questions. I showed dedication and loyalty. You wanna know why you never got promoted? Look at who your allies are and you'll have your answer."

She stamped her foot, for a moment turning into a petulant child. "This isn't about promotions and ranks, you idiot! Zephyr is bad, unquestionably, undeniably, awful, terrible, no good. And the asshole you're guarding is the worst of the worst. So you're going to stand down and let us deal with him, or you're going down with the ship."

"You heard the lady." He motioned to his underlings, who all stood up and readied their weapons just as casually as he did.

And then, things exploded. Bullets were flying, lasers shooting sparks everywhere. Brooke's drone was hovering above the chaos, sniping from a convenient hiding spot in the rafters. Everyone ducked behind whatever cover they could find. Without any kind of traditional weapon, Max took her time moving from one bit of cover to the next until she could get within range of someone to hit with her fists.

Naturally, this brought her face to face with the officer Victoria had been arguing with, Prescott. But Max figured if she could take down the commander, that might put a damper on the rest of the team's resistance. Curling her hand into a fist like Chloe had taught her, she shot it out lightning fast at his chest.

Then, he caught it, retaliating with a kick that sent her flying back into the wall. Cement cracked and steel bent with a series of horrible noises. The chaos of the battle died down as everyone turned to see the cyborg getting countered so viciously. Prescott laughed, low and throaty. "Yeah. You're not the only one with upgrades."