MAX
Cruising through the streets of Seattle isn't as bad as it sounds. Thanks to the Pulse, there is little to no traffic and hardly any cops to slow ya down. Okay, Zack should be around here somewhere, he said near the ports.
This has to be the first time Ihe's/I called Ime/I. Hey, in a way, I don't blame him. Maxy, his rogue little X-5. The one who doesn't follow orders. So what? Bite me.
What the f**k? Okay, a helicopter just flew above, thanks for the signpost Lydecker. Okay, put my bike away, and run the rest of the route down to the docks.
LOGAN
The equipment is set up, and my anti-tracking equipment ready. Fran is back in her room, if she weren't so mature, I'd say that she was sulking.
Okay, hacking into his system isn't too difficult...let's leave my calling card into his mainframe that should get his attention. That was quick; he's ready to talk...
"This is Eyes Only. I need information." Okay, kind of dumb thing to say, but I haven't got time to p*ss about.
"Oh, and what would the great Eyes Only want to know?" He voice came in loud and clear over the speakers, so much so that the immense sarcasm in his voice could be detected.
"I want to know what the flaw is with Fran"
A large pause. He didn't expect that.
"What do you know about X-57484?"
"That she is experiencing strange seizures, I want to know what is wrong with IFran/I"
Another large pause. I am not being too tactful about this...
"How do you know her...oh I see. Max is one of your 'contacts,' and as a friend of Max's, you care about her, so in turn you care about Fran. You are in way over your head Eyes Only. Fran is different then the other X-5's. Tell me where she is. Now."
At this point I see that this is going nowhere. And Lydecker is quickly tracking me down, so I pull the plug. Damn.
MAX
There he is. I climb slowly up the building, to get a better view. Five soldiers, two jeeps, one helicopter. Ready, set, go...
I jump off the second storey of the building, and land on two of the five soldiers. Zack, who was cornered by the Manticore men, leaps over and breaks the leg of one while I knock out the two I landed on. With a high leap, I kick one of the guys in the head, and wind him in the chest. Zack deals with the one left over, and gets into one of the now empty jeeps. He hotwires it, and yells for me to get in. The helicopter above zooms over, and releases rounds of machine gun ammo at us. Zack pulls the jeep in one direction, then the other, and with a screech of the tires, goes off down the alleyways of the buildings.
FRAN
My head is hurting again; I can't sort out who is in my head this time. This has gone too far; I am fed up of being weak and useless.
Out the window I go, using the door is so cliché! Hell, Logan is knocking.
"Come in"
Logan wheels in, with a worried look on his face.
"Fran. As a friend I care for you. Please tell me what...is the matter with you"
I feel tears arise in my eyes. I turn around from the window, and drop onto the bed.
"Logan, you have been really kind to me over the past few days...okay. You wanna know?"
Fran took a deep breath, and started her story.
"It started back in Manticore, obviously. When I was very young, about 7 or 8 I think, Lydecker took me apart from the others. He asked me whether I had been hearing strange things. But he said not from the people around me, but in my head. At this time I had no idea what he was talking about. But like a good little soldier, I told him that I would tell him if such an advent happened.
Then, a year later, I was in the middle of listening to an instruction lecture by Lydecker, a strange...feeling hit me full on. Then I heard all the other X-5's, talking away in my head, literally. Lydecker took me to Medical, and held my hand all the way through the procedure to correct it...he was always like that, around me. But, the correction didn't last long. When it started again, Lydecker took me apart from the others again, and told me what it is"
Fran paused; she could feel that Max and Zack were coming. She had to get this done soon.
"He said, that there was a flaw in my design. The chip, which is placed in every X-5's head at birth, had malfunctioned. Somehow, it had connected itself to different parts of the brain, and fused with them. Also...it had started to act as a one-way radio, in a way.
You see, all the other X-5's chips 'pick up' thoughts and ideas that are not stored in the long term memory part of their brains; so, afterthoughts are stored in the chip, and when an X-5 dies, it is removed, and the brain activity examined.
But...all chips operate on a frequency; it emits a large EM field, which my chip picks up. So the chip, in turn, places their thoughts and ideas in my short-term memory. Causing...havoc. I can't sort out whose thoughts are who's and which are mine...it is, killing me."
LOGAN
I can't help but be amazed. This 'flaw' was bigger then I thought...no wonder Lydecker wants her back in.
"Fran, from what I can tell from what you've told me, this flaw looks like..."
Fran interrupted, with angry tears in her eyes.
"Just another Manticore experiment. They couldn't risk breeding a whole line of kids with this new chip in their heads, so they tried it out on me...it's had some interesting side-effects too...the chip seems to be stimulating different parts of the brain that effect speed, strength and agility. How...I don't know. All I want is for it to stop..."
I really felt sorry for her, the pain written across her face was reflected in her eyes...she had curled herself up, and I could see her trembling.
"I want to be alone, please Logan"
Fran really was a child stuck in an adult's body. I guess that she needs to think things over, so I leave, and hope that this...flaw, somehow fixes itself.
FRAN
DAMN YOU ALL! The voices will not go away, no matter how hard I try...why don't you all just shut up...
I open the window again...Logan sidetracked me, and so did Max.
Out into the alleyway, everything is quiet...no, wait. A helicopter is circling above, Max and Zack are coming. No matter, I won't be here when they arrive.
Cruising through the streets of Seattle isn't as bad as it sounds. Thanks to the Pulse, there is little to no traffic and hardly any cops to slow ya down. Okay, Zack should be around here somewhere, he said near the ports.
This has to be the first time Ihe's/I called Ime/I. Hey, in a way, I don't blame him. Maxy, his rogue little X-5. The one who doesn't follow orders. So what? Bite me.
What the f**k? Okay, a helicopter just flew above, thanks for the signpost Lydecker. Okay, put my bike away, and run the rest of the route down to the docks.
LOGAN
The equipment is set up, and my anti-tracking equipment ready. Fran is back in her room, if she weren't so mature, I'd say that she was sulking.
Okay, hacking into his system isn't too difficult...let's leave my calling card into his mainframe that should get his attention. That was quick; he's ready to talk...
"This is Eyes Only. I need information." Okay, kind of dumb thing to say, but I haven't got time to p*ss about.
"Oh, and what would the great Eyes Only want to know?" He voice came in loud and clear over the speakers, so much so that the immense sarcasm in his voice could be detected.
"I want to know what the flaw is with Fran"
A large pause. He didn't expect that.
"What do you know about X-57484?"
"That she is experiencing strange seizures, I want to know what is wrong with IFran/I"
Another large pause. I am not being too tactful about this...
"How do you know her...oh I see. Max is one of your 'contacts,' and as a friend of Max's, you care about her, so in turn you care about Fran. You are in way over your head Eyes Only. Fran is different then the other X-5's. Tell me where she is. Now."
At this point I see that this is going nowhere. And Lydecker is quickly tracking me down, so I pull the plug. Damn.
MAX
There he is. I climb slowly up the building, to get a better view. Five soldiers, two jeeps, one helicopter. Ready, set, go...
I jump off the second storey of the building, and land on two of the five soldiers. Zack, who was cornered by the Manticore men, leaps over and breaks the leg of one while I knock out the two I landed on. With a high leap, I kick one of the guys in the head, and wind him in the chest. Zack deals with the one left over, and gets into one of the now empty jeeps. He hotwires it, and yells for me to get in. The helicopter above zooms over, and releases rounds of machine gun ammo at us. Zack pulls the jeep in one direction, then the other, and with a screech of the tires, goes off down the alleyways of the buildings.
FRAN
My head is hurting again; I can't sort out who is in my head this time. This has gone too far; I am fed up of being weak and useless.
Out the window I go, using the door is so cliché! Hell, Logan is knocking.
"Come in"
Logan wheels in, with a worried look on his face.
"Fran. As a friend I care for you. Please tell me what...is the matter with you"
I feel tears arise in my eyes. I turn around from the window, and drop onto the bed.
"Logan, you have been really kind to me over the past few days...okay. You wanna know?"
Fran took a deep breath, and started her story.
"It started back in Manticore, obviously. When I was very young, about 7 or 8 I think, Lydecker took me apart from the others. He asked me whether I had been hearing strange things. But he said not from the people around me, but in my head. At this time I had no idea what he was talking about. But like a good little soldier, I told him that I would tell him if such an advent happened.
Then, a year later, I was in the middle of listening to an instruction lecture by Lydecker, a strange...feeling hit me full on. Then I heard all the other X-5's, talking away in my head, literally. Lydecker took me to Medical, and held my hand all the way through the procedure to correct it...he was always like that, around me. But, the correction didn't last long. When it started again, Lydecker took me apart from the others again, and told me what it is"
Fran paused; she could feel that Max and Zack were coming. She had to get this done soon.
"He said, that there was a flaw in my design. The chip, which is placed in every X-5's head at birth, had malfunctioned. Somehow, it had connected itself to different parts of the brain, and fused with them. Also...it had started to act as a one-way radio, in a way.
You see, all the other X-5's chips 'pick up' thoughts and ideas that are not stored in the long term memory part of their brains; so, afterthoughts are stored in the chip, and when an X-5 dies, it is removed, and the brain activity examined.
But...all chips operate on a frequency; it emits a large EM field, which my chip picks up. So the chip, in turn, places their thoughts and ideas in my short-term memory. Causing...havoc. I can't sort out whose thoughts are who's and which are mine...it is, killing me."
LOGAN
I can't help but be amazed. This 'flaw' was bigger then I thought...no wonder Lydecker wants her back in.
"Fran, from what I can tell from what you've told me, this flaw looks like..."
Fran interrupted, with angry tears in her eyes.
"Just another Manticore experiment. They couldn't risk breeding a whole line of kids with this new chip in their heads, so they tried it out on me...it's had some interesting side-effects too...the chip seems to be stimulating different parts of the brain that effect speed, strength and agility. How...I don't know. All I want is for it to stop..."
I really felt sorry for her, the pain written across her face was reflected in her eyes...she had curled herself up, and I could see her trembling.
"I want to be alone, please Logan"
Fran really was a child stuck in an adult's body. I guess that she needs to think things over, so I leave, and hope that this...flaw, somehow fixes itself.
FRAN
DAMN YOU ALL! The voices will not go away, no matter how hard I try...why don't you all just shut up...
I open the window again...Logan sidetracked me, and so did Max.
Out into the alleyway, everything is quiet...no, wait. A helicopter is circling above, Max and Zack are coming. No matter, I won't be here when they arrive.