Act 8: Victor
Manticore
[As Victor made his way through the corridor, he glances to his left. Through a cracked glass square window of a door, he sees the girl he met not too long ago. Immediately, with a worried look on his face, he slides his Security Card into the slot, keys in the correct access code, and goes over to her.]
Victor: [Concerned] Jesus Christ!
[Reaches into to his pocket to take and takes out a handkerchief]
Victor: What are you doing to yourself?
[He looks at her bleeding hand and attempts to clean it up]
Max: [Looks at his I.D. and then his face] Victor.
Victor: [Looks at his I.D.] Yeah. That's me. 3D and in color.
Max: [Small tone] Help me.
Victor: Alright, I'll get Dr. Ryder.
Max: [She screams] No. Not him. Please.
Victor: [Confused] I can't help you. I don't know how to help you. [Getting nervous] I fix things, not people. I'm no doctor.
Max: This...here...this place is the problem.
Victor: What? [Not quite understanding]
Max: Please. [She begs]
[Out of nowhere, Dr. Ryder comes out of the blue.]
Dr: Ryder: What do you think you're doing?
Victor: [Turn around to face the door] Dr. Ryder. [Stands up] I saw her hand was bleeding, I came it to help her.
Dr: Ryder: [Looks at the cracked window] I understand. The last I remember, you're a technician, not a saint. Next time you come across a problem like this, you notify me or the lab team. Is that understood?
Victor: Understood sir. It'll never happen again.
Dr: Ryder: Good, now go.
Victor: [Looks at Max] But sir, her hand?
Dr: Ryder: [Stares blankly at Victor]
Victor: [Getting the point] Yes sir. [Max hands him back his handkerchief]
[Halfway down the corridor after he exited her room he made a left to the Men's room. He takes out the bloody handkerchief, heads to the sink preparing to wash it, but with the sudden shock that appeared on his face after reading what was written on the piece of cloth, written in Max's blood was Jace's name. Suddenly, his insecurities and curiosity grows.]
[Exiting the Men's Room, he overhears Dr. Rider's conversation with his Lab Assistant]
Dr: Ryder: We have a problem.
Assistant: Is it serious?
Dr: Ryder: Nothing major. Just some Lab Techie who happens to comes across X5-452.
Assistant: Should we notify Renfro?
Dr: Ryder: Not necessary. Prepare to transfer her back to Cell LP-24
Assistant: Yes Doctor.
[With several other Lab assistants, they drag Max out of her room and puts her in a more closed off area. An area where only the who's who of Manticore are allowed to pass through. But unfortunately for them and fortunately for Victor, he knows just about every entry way, passage, corridors of this facility. He decides to check it out.]
Around Midnight
Victor: [Crawling through the tight spaces of the ventilation system] LP-24 [He keeps repeating to himself] Where the hell are you?
[10 minutes of endless crawling he finally finds Max]
Victor: [Praising the sign of relief] Thank you. Damn girl! Your hard to find. [He says, whispering]
Max: [looks halfway up] Vic.....
Victor: [Cuts in] Don't look up [He advises] Face the wall to your left and then start talking.
Max: [Understanding] Vid cam. I get the plan.
Victor: First off, you're looking well. Secondly, there is no plan. I don't know you, but you know Jace and you seem to be very important to a lot of people here.
Max: What else is new?
Victor: Where's Jace?
Max: She's fine.
Victor: Fine. [Frustrated] That's it. She disappeared like 8 months ago and that's all you can say. She's fine.
Max: Be grateful it isn't "She's dead." Well...there is one thing...Jace coming to term soon, other than that, I think she's doin alright.
Victor: Term [Shocked] Jace is....
Max: [Finishing his sentence] Yeah. She is.
Victor: Is that why she didn't come back.
Max: She didn't come back for a lot of reasons, but mostly it was for the safety of her baby, which by the way, on a side note is named after me.
Victor: Really?
Max: Yep, and ain't nothing gonna change that. So your gonna help me or not?
Victor: [Still shocked] Whatever. [Touches his temples] I'll do everything I can.
Max: Thanks, now get out of here before one of us gets caught.
Victor: By what? The mousekateer. [Max remains silent] Fine.
Max: Wait
[Still whispering]
Victor: Ok. Now what?
Max: Can you get outside the compound?
Victor: Yeah, I leave for Idaho to visit my family in a couple of days. It's torture how long they keep us couped up here.
Max: You might want to change your plans, I need you to find someone for me.
Victor: Who?
Max: A friend. [Referring to Logan]
End of Act 8: Victor
Writers Notes: I love this part. Too bad we can't see a visual. I very much enjoyed writing this chapter. It had pretty good Victor adrenaline in it. This is pretty much the start of Max's attempted escape from Manticore. Victor plays a large part in it