Backslide

"What'd Lydecker do to him?" Max asked, her voice barely a whisper.

Brin sighed, she really didn't like conveying all this information because Max had been seen as the enemy for so long. Yet it wasn't like Max deserved to be kept in the dark on the subject. "He came here this morning. Somehow he was able to sneak into the building unnoticed. He had gotten almost everybody out, but a couple of the kids…I mean, you know how talented he is at that stuff…"

"Uh-huh," Max agreed.

"He was just about to get the last person out…I don't even remember who is was, but that doesn't matter. I remember Lydecker was on the phone, calling abortion agencies or something like that, searching for you nonetheless because he still thought you were alive. Anyhow, Lydecker got to Zack, gunned him down and immediately took him in the lab for all kinds of tests." Brin rolled her eyes sympathetically. "They did so many tests on him, I lost count after two hours-"

"Two hours of tests!"

"Yeah, not fun. Lydecker was trying to find out where you were by using all kinds of torture devices...poor Zack… Finally, Zack admitted that you had committed suicide because you couldn't handle raising the child," Brin raised an eyebrow. "I'm not going to ask about that one."

"Not now."

"Well, Lydecker was pretty ticked. He ranted and raved for a long time, and then finally ordered that they go and 'fix Zack up a bit', or so Lydecker called it. Usually, when they brainwash the people, they'll throw them in the big tank, but Zack escaped from that…not like it was doing any good anyhow…I was outside when I first heard the screams." Brin shuddered, remembering. "Zack screamed and screamed and screamed. My God, I'd never heard him scream before like that. Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever heard him scream."

"Neither have I," Max agreed.

"But," Brin shuddered again, "those were certainly the most horrific screams I have ever heard. He would call Lydecker a nasty name every once in a while, only to be followed by more screaming. Actually, it eventually became a harsh, scratchy, bellow. Not pleasant. Everyone in the building must've heard it. Finally, he was quiet, but after that, I just knew that something awful had been done to him."

"Do you know what they did?"

"No, I don't. All I know is that Zack is like…well…how should I put this?…He's like Lydecker's evil puppet. Lydecker says fight, Zack fights. Lydecker says kill, Zack kills. And the horrible part about all of this was that Zack was such a powerful person to begin with. Now with all the stuff Lydecker did to him, it just helped, I guess you could say that, helped him even more. Like I said, he may look like Zack and talk like Zack, but it's not him."

"There has to be a way to save him."

"Only Lydecker knows how."

Max thought about this for awhile and noticed Brin staring at her. Changing the subject she asked, "So, how'd you get to be out here?"

"Well, after I got better, Lydecker let me work with the soldiers, thinking I could once again become them. I tried to escape once, but I began to age rapidly and began to feel so weak, that I actually came back to him-sad, I know."

"You had no other choice."

"Yeah, well, that's what I'd like to think. Anyhow, Lydecker knows I'm not going anywhere. I leave I die. At least here I can live. Besides, I'm useful to him, being a 'powerful' X-5 and all."

"I'll get you out of here, I'll get you all of here," Max told her.

"No," Brin said.

"What? You can't tell me you actually like it here. You can't tell me the others enjoy it here."

"Look, Max we survive. That's all there is to it. No more. Ok? Just please leave before you get hurt."

"I'm not leaving-"

"Without us? Max, we'll be fine."

"I can't just let you guys stay here. I can't live knowing that I could've done something to prevent the lives you're living."

"Max, listen to me," Brin snapped and grabbed Max by the shoulders, so that they met, eye to eye for the first time in a long time. "I want you to go. I know the others do too. We all want you to go and live your life as happily and wonderfully as you could. Live it like a normal person, Lydecker's not going to come after you-he thinks you're dead."

"Stop talking like this!" Max bit. Brin turned away and took a deep breath, her pale skin illuminated by the harsh light of the moon. Her eyes, two radiant stars against the night sky, twinkled far away, remembering the blissful taste of freedom that she would no longer have, but wanted Max to always be able to eat.

"You've escaped, Max," she said so quietly it sounded as if she was on the verge of tears.

"What are you talking about?"

"You have a life. Friends, a job, a boyfriend, or so I hear, an apartment, a normal life. Lydecker's never going to be hunting after you again. You can live normally. You've escaped."

"Escaped what?"

Brin sighed, and turned to face Max. Indeed, crystal tears had coated over Brin's almond eyes. "The rest of us couldn't escape. But you did. Don't you see Max? You've managed to elude it all, managed to slip between Lydecker's greedy little fingers. You escaped the backslide."