THE SAME AFTERNOON AT MANTICORE
Max was staring at Sera, her old friend who had so many times put her life on the line for her, trying to hide Max's condition. It hasn't been very
easy to do it then, with her uncle watching closely every move Max made. Max didn't know why he was acting like that with her. For all those times
she didn't follow orders, he never did anything to jeopardize her life. And Eva had made a single mistake, and she'd found herself with a bullet
in the head. 'I guess, besides the seizures, he didn't like her very much.' Max had told herself then.
"I feel very weak Sera," said Max, having to take all the strenght she had within herself to speak and move her fingers, "and I
can't move much." She felt like an animal in a cage.
"I know. They gave you Praxydin, a muscle paralyser." Sera looked at the I.V. that Max have pluged into her veins. "I don't know
if they put something else in there though. It's a Dextrose 5%, it basically means it's sugar, but they didn't put it just for nurisment and
for you to be hydrated, I'm sure." She touched Max's leg. "Do you feel my hand?"
"Yes, I do, but it's a weird sensation, like it's numb or something." I don't like it...
" It doesn't stop the blood flow, don't worry, you'll be walking in no time after they stop giving you medication." Sera tried to make
her feel less scared.
Max made an OK sign with her head, she felt drowsy, kind of like she was drunk.
" I'm not feeling very well..." She started to be nauseated, and she had cold sweat.
" It's the medication Max, but I can't stop it, or Lydecker will kill me." Damn, I hate to do this! "He thinks I'm here to take a look
at you, and make sure everything's going as planed. I'm talking to you right now, because I know he's not on the other side of the mirror
here." She pointed the big glass that was in front of Max, about 6 feet away, "Looking at you." Sera stoped talking, opened the
door, and she told the guard that she was fine, the subject couldn't move, so she was safe alone. 'Go grab a bite or something.' He stared at her and
said. 'Fine m'mam.' and went away. She came near Max, and smiled. "I have a surprise for you." As she said those words, the door opened
and Brin came in.
"Hi! Max! " Said Brin to her, happy to see her.
"Brin?" Max asked, confused. "But...but Lydecker said that you were reprogramed..." 'What the heck is going on?' She thought.
"Deck knows nothing Max." Brin started to say. "He's not as smart as we thought him to be when we were young. In fact, we are a lot
smarter than him, than all of them." Brin sat besides Max, she was in better shape than the last time Max saw her, and they didn't cut her hair
as well. "I made them believe I was a perfect soldier Max, that's all."
" But how?..." How did it happen?
" You see Max, Deck and is technology are bull. Our mind is so strong Max, we can do whatever we want to do with it, they can't play with it if
we don't allow it to happen, and that's what Sera came to tell me when you and Zack bring me back here."
"I'm so sorry Brin." Max managed to say, feeling so guilty of what she had done.
" Oh! Max, don't be...I know you did it only because I asked you to do it!" Brin wasn't holding any grudges on them, in fact, she was
alive because of her and Zack. "You gave me back a life Max, you know I wont stay here forever! I'm just happy you're here, this way it will get
easier for us to escape." Max looked at her in surprise.
"But how? I can't move Brin, my mouth is the only thing I can manage to move." She can take me in her arms, but still...
"That's when Sera pitch in Max, when we'll be ready to go, she'll give you an antagonist, for reverse the effects of the drugs they're
giving you. We already talked about it, when we learned you were here." Brin looked at Sera with a smile. 'She should come with us.'
Brin thought, but knew she probably wouldn't. 'Too risky.'
"Why didn't you try to escape before Brin?"
"Because I had a sort of metal detector in my head, and if I crossed the Manticore territory, I was going to get desactivated. But I pass the 4
months test, and it's been removed for having obeyed so well, so now I'm ready to go into the field, and work as a soldier for Lydecker. But I'll
be long gone by then!" Brin sat up and walked closer to Sera.
"We have to go now, but fight whatever they put in front of your eyes Max, some of it isn't true, so don't beat yourself up. Your mind is
stronger, remember. And my guess is that we'll go tonight, so hang on." They were about to leave when Max think of something.
"Wait!" Max said to them. "Can you call a friend of mine, I'm sure he and Zack are plotting something to get me out of here."
Sera and Brin looked at each other.
"Zack?" They asked awkwardly.
"Yeah...what's wrong?" Why are they staring at me this way?
" Isn't he dead?" Sera asked first.
"What? Dead? Zack? What are you talking about?" Max started to be scared all of a sudden.
"Well, Max," Brin said, "when Zack was here, he escaped and got caught by Lydecker's man, and he got stuck into a car that bursted
into flames. Lydecker wrote a full report on this." Sera said.
"I help Zack get out of here, so I KNOW he's alive." Max told them.
"Why did Lydecker lied then?" Sera asked.
"To cover his a$$." Max said. "He screw up once again, and wanted to make the superior believe he succeed. I guess he wrote something
like Tinga and me escaped, but that Zack got caught by him later?"
"Something like that." Sera thought for a sec. "So he's shaking in his pants our dear Deck?...That could be interresting..."
Always good to know!
"So, who's that guy you want me to call Max? Brin can't do it because she doesn't have outside access of the base."
" His name is Logan." She doesn't need to know his last name, it's irrelevent. " Tell him when you think you'll want to do this, he
could be of great help." Sera stared at her intensively.
"Are you sure we can trust that person Max?" We can't take any chance.
"With my life Sera, I swear. He knows everything about me, and this place. He never told anyone. Trust me." Sera wasn't sure about it.
"Fine, if you swear, I'll trust you, and him. What's his number?"
"555-3219." Sera repeat it in her head lots of times to remember it, since she couldn't write it anywhere...papers, you always loose them.
And here isn't the place to loose something!
"Be prepared for the ride of your life Max!" And they got out of the room B-265 before anyone could see them. Max saw the guard looking
through the door's window to make sure everything was fine, so he stood there like he was never gone.
Sera got into her appartment towards 7:00. She was about to do Logan's phone number when she thought that her phone might be wired. 'With them...
who knows?' So she got out and walked near the public payphone, around the corner of the street. She dialed the numbers. Someone answered, it was a man's voice.
"Hey!" It only said, sounding quite nervous.
"Am I speaking to Logan?" She asked.
"Yes, it's me...Who are you?"
"My name is Sera. I'm a friend of Max. She gave me your number for me to call you." There was a pause, nobody talked, he probably was suspicious. "Look, I know I can't
offer you much right now, but I'm trusting you, and I could get into big trouble for this. Max told me she trusted you with her life, so it's good enough for me."
"Who are you?" He repeated.
" I'm someone who helped Max when she was 9 years old, and who's willing to help her again." Please believe me...
"I'm listening." The man finaly said to Sera.