"What's going on?" Max asked as she went into Logan's apartment. As usual, he was in front of the computer. She laughed when she saw the confused and puzzled look he had on his face as he read the information on the computer screen.
"I found some information on our mystery girl." He said. "But a lot of things don't match up."
He gave her some printouts.
"According to these files from Manticore, there was a large group of people who were transferred from a pharmaceutical research base in Lake Orwell, Virginia, a year ago. Among these were several civilians. I did checks on all of the personnel transferred and from those, I narrowed the field down."
"And?"
"And only three were left." Logan said, tapping.
"Ellen Johannes, German bioengineer." She said. Then she flipped a page. "Eric Divans, biologist. And Byrn Pierson." She frowned. "What did Byrn Pierson do?"
"That's what doesn't make sense. No career is listed under her name, and she's not even registered in any databanks. Its like she didn't even exist."
"So she could be our girl." Max said, slowly nodding. "Could she be one of my sisters? We don't have a picture, do we?"
Logan shook his head wearily. "Not yet. I'm working on that. But it would make sense for Manticore to transfer a team of kids and put them under aliases."
Max nodded. "Thanks." She said. Then her mind went back to before, when she almost ran into that girl leaving Jam Pony.
"Hey." She said. Logan looked at her. "Could she be in town?"
Logan shrugged. "No way to tell. She might know Lydecker was in Seattle, so maybe not. But if she didn't know, then after LA, Seattle would be a pretty good city to get lost in." He said. And he shrugged again. "As I said, no way to tell. There are a dozen cities from here to LA she could be in. She might even have even left the country, if she was lucky enough."
"I saw a girl this afternoon. She was leaving the shop. She had a tattoo on her left wrist."
Logan sighed. "It's a long shot. There are a lot of tattoo parlors between here and wherever she might've been before. Do you have a picture or a description?" Logan asked.
"Well, since I didn't stop to pull out a camera…she had black hair. Like the girl we're looking for, that's how I remembered. And she looked like she was really far off. Distracted somewhat."
Logan nodded. "I'll see what I can do."
"Wait. Sector police. They might have footage from patrols."
Logan started to type. The clacking filled the air. "Definitely. We could at least try to narrow it down. I'm entering the criteria on the basis of where the messenger company is, including all possible entrances to that side…did she go left or right when she left the building?"
Max tried to think. "Left I think. Yeah, left. Because when she went out, I was coming in. and I remember she had to go around me."
"And then what?" Logan asked. "Do you know if she went left or right after that?"
"Sorry. Couldn't help you there."
"Do me a favor. Talk to some of your friends. They probably saw her too."
"Consider it done." Max said, getting up to leave.
Logan gave her a wave.
When Max went back to Jam Pony, Original Cindy, Sketchy, and Herbal were crowded around the circular table. It was obvious that Sketchy had their attention.
"-And she went into the alley. And I followed her, and then she disappeared. It was weird, man."
"Hey, what's up?" Max asked. Sketchy looked up and his eyes flinched. Max made a mental note of that.
"Sketchy here has a trippin story." Original Cindy said. "So you're sayin that there's a chick walkin around and you almost hit her and you followed her?"
"Have you been dippin into the company tea again, man?" Herbal asked, tapping Sketchy in the head. "I know you like the women, my friend. But the ones who avoid the military…"
"I didn't like her." Sketchy said. "I don't even know her name."
"What did she look like?" Max asked.
"Tall. Long, black hair. Really pretty." He said, smiling.
"Uh huh. Not likin her." Original Cindy said, shaking her head.
"Did she have a tattoo?" Max asked again.
Sketchy nodded. "On her left wrist. It was a circle…some kind of pattern."
Max nodded. "Thanks."
"You know, when I met her, she reminded me of you." Sketchy told Max.
"Really? How?" Max feigned casual interest.
"She was really quiet. I dunno, like she was always looking around. No offense. And she looked like she could snap my neck with her pinkie."
Max almost smiled at that last comment. But Sketchy's information intrigued her too much for her to listen.
"Thanks." She said absently.
"What do you think you're doing here?" Robinson asked.
"Nothing. Just hanging around." She said, and sat down.
"Lydecker's in town. You can't be seen here." Robinson sat down across from her.
"Relax. I can take care of myself. That and I just found someone interesting." She thought of the employee she almost ran into. She recognized her briefly.
Aaron looked up. "Who?"
"Not sure yet. But it's all right." She smiled. "It's all all right."
"It better be." He said, smiling a little bit. "Now I know where the streak of fearlessness comes from." He sighed. "I still can't believe my sister was involved with Manticore."
"Believe it." She said, suddenly looking solemn. She looked at her watch. "I'll be back later. Don't wait up for me."
"Bye." He said, waving. When the door clicked shut, he picked his cell phone up from the large desk and pushed a number.
"Yes, hello. I'd like to speak to Donald Lydecker please."
"New leads." Logan announced as soon as Max came back in.
"Here too. I have a description." Max said.
"Won't need it. I have an ID from sector police surveillance." Logan said. "Is this her?"
Max took the photo printout Logan gave her. She looked at it for a minute.
"Yeah, that's her." She said. "Is she-"
"Yeah. Byrn Pierson. 19 years old, transferred from Lake Orwell last year…she must've escaped since then."
"Are there any others like her?" Max asked.
"Not sure. As far as I can tell, she's the only one in this transfer who was a part of the projects. And I don't even know if she was the same type of test you were. She might be another prototype."
Max nodded. "She looks capable."
"Definitely. What did your friends say?"
"Sketchy said that she looked like she could break someone's neck with their pinkie finger."
Logan smiled. "Sounds like someone I know."
Max looked at him. "Good to know." She said.
Her pager beeped. "I have to learn to shut this thing off." She said.
"Gotta blaze." She said, seeing it was Original Cindy.
"See you later." Logan said. "I'll try to get more information. I'll page you when I do."
"Don't be surprised if my beeper's off." She smiled.
"Normal's goin through the badly painted roof, Max." Sketchy said as she came in.
"What's his deal?" Max asked as she dismounted.
"Somethin about the girl Sketchy talked about." Herbal said. "Who is that girl?'
"I have no idea." Max lied.
"And where did she get that cash?" Original Cindy asked. She nodded towards Normal's window, where he was sitting at his desk, staring at some dollar bills.
"Money?"
"Yeah. She dropped off a big load of cash to Normal." Sketchy said. "He's been staring at it ever since."
"Who's runnin the shop then?" Max asked.
"That's what you're here for." Original Cindy asked. "As much as I like to keep Normal within a 10 foot radius, the job aint getting done. And when it aint getting done, Original Cindy ain't getting paid."
"True that." Sketchy said.
"Even the most pious need to feed his spiritual growth." Herbal said, tapping his book. "And I've stopped growin."
"Don't sweat it." Max said. She went to the window. "Hey, Normal?"
He tore his eyes off for a moment to look at Max. "What do you want?"
"Just wonderin if you have a job for me." She said.
"What?" He said. He looked around and all the packages lying around. "My god, what happened here?"
"You know, as employees of this fine institution, we care about our employer." Sketchy said, coming up from behind Max.
"So we've designated ourselves to helping you out, man." Herbal said, smiling.
"I'd rather you not." Normal said.
"We'd rather we do." Original Cindy said, tapping on his window.
"Here. Send this stuff." Normal said. While he designated jobs, Max crept into the tiny office and scooped up the money. She counted the bills and put them back into the open pack they came in. She moved a few boxes aside.
"Is that Centra-"
"Center. Center street." Normal said.
"I swear you said Centrafi, man." Sketchy said.
"There is no street named Centrafi in Seattle." Normal said.
Behind him, Max was hiding the cash behind some old newspapers.
She raised a thumbs up to Original Cindy and in a matter of 10 seconds, all of them had disbanded. Without packages.
"Whatever that was…I don't want to know." Normal said, and turned back to his money. And it was gone. He shook his head and stuck it out the window. "Anyone have aspirin?"
Lydecker sat at his desk, a thoughtful glance on his face. He placed his hands on the keyboard and entered a command. A few moments later, he found the file he was looking for.
"Peek-a-boo. I see you." He muttered. His eyes glowed as he looked at a surveillance shot from sector police files. It was in the middle of a street, overlooking a few citizens and some homeless people around the corner. Even through black and white photography, the streets held a dirtiness about them. Typical of a third world economy such as this.
"We need to leave town." Robinson said, pacing back and forth in the hotel room.
"Why?" Byrn asked, closing her eyes. The pacing was driving her insane.
"Because Lydecker's here. And where he is, you know the troops always follow."
"Not this time." Byrn said, looking down.
Aaron stopped pacing and stopped in front of her. "What do you mean?"
"Did it ever occur to you why I stopped in Seattle? I mean, use that FBI brain of yours. I could've stopped in San Francisco or Sacramento. Why did I go all the way up to Seattle?" She said, shaking her head. "Sure wasn't for the weather."
"What's here?" He asked.
"I-" She paused. "I'm not sure yet."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" He asked, frustrated. "You come all the way up here, right into the Lion's den, and you expect me to trust you on the assurance that you came here for something, but you don't know what?!?"
"Well, when you put it that way…" Byrn said, rolling her eyes. She looked out the window. The last sliver of sunlight was disappearing behind dark night clouds. "I'm gonna go for a ride."
"On what?" Robinson asked her. "You don't have a car."
Byrn looked back at him and smiled as she put her leather jacket on.
"Don't want one."
"I found some information on our mystery girl." He said. "But a lot of things don't match up."
He gave her some printouts.
"According to these files from Manticore, there was a large group of people who were transferred from a pharmaceutical research base in Lake Orwell, Virginia, a year ago. Among these were several civilians. I did checks on all of the personnel transferred and from those, I narrowed the field down."
"And?"
"And only three were left." Logan said, tapping.
"Ellen Johannes, German bioengineer." She said. Then she flipped a page. "Eric Divans, biologist. And Byrn Pierson." She frowned. "What did Byrn Pierson do?"
"That's what doesn't make sense. No career is listed under her name, and she's not even registered in any databanks. Its like she didn't even exist."
"So she could be our girl." Max said, slowly nodding. "Could she be one of my sisters? We don't have a picture, do we?"
Logan shook his head wearily. "Not yet. I'm working on that. But it would make sense for Manticore to transfer a team of kids and put them under aliases."
Max nodded. "Thanks." She said. Then her mind went back to before, when she almost ran into that girl leaving Jam Pony.
"Hey." She said. Logan looked at her. "Could she be in town?"
Logan shrugged. "No way to tell. She might know Lydecker was in Seattle, so maybe not. But if she didn't know, then after LA, Seattle would be a pretty good city to get lost in." He said. And he shrugged again. "As I said, no way to tell. There are a dozen cities from here to LA she could be in. She might even have even left the country, if she was lucky enough."
"I saw a girl this afternoon. She was leaving the shop. She had a tattoo on her left wrist."
Logan sighed. "It's a long shot. There are a lot of tattoo parlors between here and wherever she might've been before. Do you have a picture or a description?" Logan asked.
"Well, since I didn't stop to pull out a camera…she had black hair. Like the girl we're looking for, that's how I remembered. And she looked like she was really far off. Distracted somewhat."
Logan nodded. "I'll see what I can do."
"Wait. Sector police. They might have footage from patrols."
Logan started to type. The clacking filled the air. "Definitely. We could at least try to narrow it down. I'm entering the criteria on the basis of where the messenger company is, including all possible entrances to that side…did she go left or right when she left the building?"
Max tried to think. "Left I think. Yeah, left. Because when she went out, I was coming in. and I remember she had to go around me."
"And then what?" Logan asked. "Do you know if she went left or right after that?"
"Sorry. Couldn't help you there."
"Do me a favor. Talk to some of your friends. They probably saw her too."
"Consider it done." Max said, getting up to leave.
Logan gave her a wave.
When Max went back to Jam Pony, Original Cindy, Sketchy, and Herbal were crowded around the circular table. It was obvious that Sketchy had their attention.
"-And she went into the alley. And I followed her, and then she disappeared. It was weird, man."
"Hey, what's up?" Max asked. Sketchy looked up and his eyes flinched. Max made a mental note of that.
"Sketchy here has a trippin story." Original Cindy said. "So you're sayin that there's a chick walkin around and you almost hit her and you followed her?"
"Have you been dippin into the company tea again, man?" Herbal asked, tapping Sketchy in the head. "I know you like the women, my friend. But the ones who avoid the military…"
"I didn't like her." Sketchy said. "I don't even know her name."
"What did she look like?" Max asked.
"Tall. Long, black hair. Really pretty." He said, smiling.
"Uh huh. Not likin her." Original Cindy said, shaking her head.
"Did she have a tattoo?" Max asked again.
Sketchy nodded. "On her left wrist. It was a circle…some kind of pattern."
Max nodded. "Thanks."
"You know, when I met her, she reminded me of you." Sketchy told Max.
"Really? How?" Max feigned casual interest.
"She was really quiet. I dunno, like she was always looking around. No offense. And she looked like she could snap my neck with her pinkie."
Max almost smiled at that last comment. But Sketchy's information intrigued her too much for her to listen.
"Thanks." She said absently.
"What do you think you're doing here?" Robinson asked.
"Nothing. Just hanging around." She said, and sat down.
"Lydecker's in town. You can't be seen here." Robinson sat down across from her.
"Relax. I can take care of myself. That and I just found someone interesting." She thought of the employee she almost ran into. She recognized her briefly.
Aaron looked up. "Who?"
"Not sure yet. But it's all right." She smiled. "It's all all right."
"It better be." He said, smiling a little bit. "Now I know where the streak of fearlessness comes from." He sighed. "I still can't believe my sister was involved with Manticore."
"Believe it." She said, suddenly looking solemn. She looked at her watch. "I'll be back later. Don't wait up for me."
"Bye." He said, waving. When the door clicked shut, he picked his cell phone up from the large desk and pushed a number.
"Yes, hello. I'd like to speak to Donald Lydecker please."
"New leads." Logan announced as soon as Max came back in.
"Here too. I have a description." Max said.
"Won't need it. I have an ID from sector police surveillance." Logan said. "Is this her?"
Max took the photo printout Logan gave her. She looked at it for a minute.
"Yeah, that's her." She said. "Is she-"
"Yeah. Byrn Pierson. 19 years old, transferred from Lake Orwell last year…she must've escaped since then."
"Are there any others like her?" Max asked.
"Not sure. As far as I can tell, she's the only one in this transfer who was a part of the projects. And I don't even know if she was the same type of test you were. She might be another prototype."
Max nodded. "She looks capable."
"Definitely. What did your friends say?"
"Sketchy said that she looked like she could break someone's neck with their pinkie finger."
Logan smiled. "Sounds like someone I know."
Max looked at him. "Good to know." She said.
Her pager beeped. "I have to learn to shut this thing off." She said.
"Gotta blaze." She said, seeing it was Original Cindy.
"See you later." Logan said. "I'll try to get more information. I'll page you when I do."
"Don't be surprised if my beeper's off." She smiled.
"Normal's goin through the badly painted roof, Max." Sketchy said as she came in.
"What's his deal?" Max asked as she dismounted.
"Somethin about the girl Sketchy talked about." Herbal said. "Who is that girl?'
"I have no idea." Max lied.
"And where did she get that cash?" Original Cindy asked. She nodded towards Normal's window, where he was sitting at his desk, staring at some dollar bills.
"Money?"
"Yeah. She dropped off a big load of cash to Normal." Sketchy said. "He's been staring at it ever since."
"Who's runnin the shop then?" Max asked.
"That's what you're here for." Original Cindy asked. "As much as I like to keep Normal within a 10 foot radius, the job aint getting done. And when it aint getting done, Original Cindy ain't getting paid."
"True that." Sketchy said.
"Even the most pious need to feed his spiritual growth." Herbal said, tapping his book. "And I've stopped growin."
"Don't sweat it." Max said. She went to the window. "Hey, Normal?"
He tore his eyes off for a moment to look at Max. "What do you want?"
"Just wonderin if you have a job for me." She said.
"What?" He said. He looked around and all the packages lying around. "My god, what happened here?"
"You know, as employees of this fine institution, we care about our employer." Sketchy said, coming up from behind Max.
"So we've designated ourselves to helping you out, man." Herbal said, smiling.
"I'd rather you not." Normal said.
"We'd rather we do." Original Cindy said, tapping on his window.
"Here. Send this stuff." Normal said. While he designated jobs, Max crept into the tiny office and scooped up the money. She counted the bills and put them back into the open pack they came in. She moved a few boxes aside.
"Is that Centra-"
"Center. Center street." Normal said.
"I swear you said Centrafi, man." Sketchy said.
"There is no street named Centrafi in Seattle." Normal said.
Behind him, Max was hiding the cash behind some old newspapers.
She raised a thumbs up to Original Cindy and in a matter of 10 seconds, all of them had disbanded. Without packages.
"Whatever that was…I don't want to know." Normal said, and turned back to his money. And it was gone. He shook his head and stuck it out the window. "Anyone have aspirin?"
Lydecker sat at his desk, a thoughtful glance on his face. He placed his hands on the keyboard and entered a command. A few moments later, he found the file he was looking for.
"Peek-a-boo. I see you." He muttered. His eyes glowed as he looked at a surveillance shot from sector police files. It was in the middle of a street, overlooking a few citizens and some homeless people around the corner. Even through black and white photography, the streets held a dirtiness about them. Typical of a third world economy such as this.
"We need to leave town." Robinson said, pacing back and forth in the hotel room.
"Why?" Byrn asked, closing her eyes. The pacing was driving her insane.
"Because Lydecker's here. And where he is, you know the troops always follow."
"Not this time." Byrn said, looking down.
Aaron stopped pacing and stopped in front of her. "What do you mean?"
"Did it ever occur to you why I stopped in Seattle? I mean, use that FBI brain of yours. I could've stopped in San Francisco or Sacramento. Why did I go all the way up to Seattle?" She said, shaking her head. "Sure wasn't for the weather."
"What's here?" He asked.
"I-" She paused. "I'm not sure yet."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" He asked, frustrated. "You come all the way up here, right into the Lion's den, and you expect me to trust you on the assurance that you came here for something, but you don't know what?!?"
"Well, when you put it that way…" Byrn said, rolling her eyes. She looked out the window. The last sliver of sunlight was disappearing behind dark night clouds. "I'm gonna go for a ride."
"On what?" Robinson asked her. "You don't have a car."
Byrn looked back at him and smiled as she put her leather jacket on.
"Don't want one."