---transcend---
chapter4: identity
It was well past lights out and a lonely guard walked through the halls, lazily sweeping his flashlight from side to side. He wasn't frightened of the almost superhuman prisoners held in each room. The whole complex was computer automated and it wasn't like anyone who wasn't there willingly had a way to get out. That is unless they could shoot lasers out of their eyes to pierce through the six inch steel door.
A nervous laugh left his lips. 'Then again who knows what kind of genetic freaks they got in here…' Almost instinctively he felt for his gun. The cool feel of metal on his fingers helped to sooth his nerves but he still found himself quickening his pace toward the hall that held the regular human prisoners.
Finally the guard turned the corner and the glow of his flashlight faded. XI5-603 waited patiently in the air conditioning vent until he could no longer hear the guard's foot prints, even while focusing his hearing. When the guard was out of earshot he pushed the grate out. Careful to place it down on the ground, so as not to make a noise that may have drawn unwanted attention. Moments later he was standing in the hall, staring at the steel door that separated him from Max. What was he doing here? Why did he have this insane urge to clarify to Max who he really was? She was like gravity.
He double checked his watch. He would have a good fifteen minutes before a guard would pass by again. Plenty of time.
From his pocket he produced a small device only slightly larger then a credit card and inserted one end into the keypad outside Max's door. He watched patiently as the numbers on the display rolled by each number taking only a mere second to lock down. The door lock released and the thick door barely creaked open. He kept it closed as he waited a few more seconds for the device to delete its tracks from the record. That done, he pulled it out and placed it back in his pocket.
A quick look to his watch ensured that the camera looping code he had set up was well underway. Excellent.
Upon opening the door he was greeted with a fist to his jaw, and a knee he was barely able to deflect from his groin. Max had been waiting for whoever was opening her cell, and now she was trying to make a break for the open door.
But such a simple hit did nothing to slow XI5-603 down and he grabbed her arm and pulled her back into the cell. He did it with such strength she stumbled and fell to the floor. Regaining himself he stood and watched her get back to her feet, coming at him with a few pitiful punches and a weak kick to his side, all of which he easily blocked. Her coordination was slow and awkward, and her speed and strength were anything but extraordinary. It seems they were still inhibiting her inborn strength with injections of some kind.
Between each of her short bursts of energy to charge through him to the open door, he tried to calm her down with his words.
"I'm here to help you!"
Max paid his words no attention and attacked once more. She was no stronger then an average nineteen year old and he could have dealt with her easily, but he did not want to hurt her. What good would his words be if his actions spoke the opposite? Instead he blocked and parried each of her strikes.
"You're not Zack."
"I'm not pretending to be—" He used the bottom of his foot to push her away.
She stumbled backwards and hit the wall. "They are sending you to me to fool me somehow."
"But I showed you my barcode to prove that I wasn't this Zack," he felt the back of his neck, "Doesn't that mean anything?"
"Then why do you keep wearing his face?"
"If you would just let me explain I…" He did not finish his sentence before she attacked him again. She punched at his face again, but he caught her fist and pushed it back. "I don't want to hurt you…"
Max only responded with a sweeping kick he easily jumped.
'I don't have time for this' he thought to himself. Next, as though it might actually do him harm, she threw her left knee up in the air for momentum, jumping off her right foot then aiming that foot at his face. Again the attack was slow and he caught her foot easily with both his hands and wrenched it to the side, flipping Max to land on her front.
Though she absorbed some of the fall as she was taught with her arms, she still hit pretty hard. Before Max could recover XI5-603 grabbed her wrists together in one of his hands and leaned into her back with his forearm, effectively pinning her down.
Beneath him she fidgeted, a pitiful attempt to break free. "I am XI5-603. The only surviving member of an invitro gestation experiment. My family was supposed to be Manticore's X5 generation, but when I was the only on to live they decided to start again how they had always done it, and brought in the mothers."
He could feel her begin to calm down and in response he lessened the pressure on her back. But just as he was ready to let go completely Max would feel her impending freedom and struggle once more.
XI5-603 leaned into her back again. "I have his exact genetic makeup, but I'm not Zack and I'm not pretending to be."
Again he could feel Max relax but he could not yet tell if it was his words that calmed her down, or her acknowledging that she would not win against him. But he let go of her nonetheless. It took a moment for Max to register that his weight was off him, but when she did she wasted no time crawling to a corner and hugging her knees, just like the night she first saw his barcode.
The only sound to fill the room was her heavy breathing. Her eyes, now only ablaze with a dying ember of a long forgotten fire, stared out at him. Following his every move like a wary animal.
That was it. That is what she acted like. This deprogramming was stripping her down to the most animalistic part of her DNA. Just a moment ago she was fierce and determined, even under such impossible odds, and now she was timid and shaking like a frightened kitten.
He had recovered many people to be indoctrinated, and he knew what happened and what the prisoners go through. He had even taken part in the process. But seeing Max this way made his gut churn. What was it about her that made him want to risk his very life just to see her?
"I brought you some food," he said, pulling some rations out of a pocket. "It's a little dry…" It sounded like he was trying to lighten the mood, but really he was covering. Truthfully he was scared out of his mind to be in her presence. Around her he couldn't be himself. Even being on the same premises as her was wearing away the rough soldier Manticore had built him to be.
Max hesitated at first, never taking her eyes off him, but soon she snatched the food out of his hand. Of course she would, she was starving. It was standard procedure. Still suspicious she sniffed the food, but her hunger overtook her and she bit in.
Looking up she caught him staring at her. After a large gulp which freed her mouth of most of her food, she spoke. "Why would you help me?" she spat out, but this time with less anger. A filling stomach seemed to dull her hate.
"You are the family Manticore has kept me from all my life," he said truthfully. After finding out that he had been separated from what could have been his group, he felt robbed. "For 24 years I have been alone." His voice filled with what could almost be called sadness.
"How is it possible we have never met? This base isn't that large…"
"I…I think one time we have." XI5-603 thought back to a strange incident from the past. "It was back when I was around ten. So you would have been six. It was in the forest at night. I remember a girl, stepping out of the bushes and signaled for me to follow her. I think that was you. I signaled that you should continue without me and that I had things to finish. You nodded and left."
"I think I remember that. I remember Zack made it to the rendezvous point long before me, and I never knew how that was possible."
He smiled, sitting now, leaning against the far wall, "I got a good beating for straying from the planned path."
Max remained silent, chewing on more of the ration he had given her, her eyes studying his face as though trying to find something that would distinguish him from Zack.
After a few unnerving moments the silence was broken by a soft question.
"What is your name?"
"XI5-603."
"That's your designation, but what's your name?"
"I read that the X5 gave each other names. I had no one…"
Her expression finally softened. He could not hide in his voice how he truly wished to have a family to call his own. Before she could muster some sort of comforting words he glanced at his watch and spoke again.
"I have to go, another guard will be passing by soon. I'll try to be back tomorrow … with more food." He stood, making no sudden movements, and peeked out the door. Satisfied there were no guards he turned his head and spoke over this shoulder. "And I think I might know how to get you out of here."
"Wait, I can't just call you XI5-603…"
He was still poised to leave, but he turned his shoulders so he could see her. "What would you call me?"
Max stared at those icy blue eyes. For a brief moment she wished that he had never shown her his barcode. She would have been happy to believe that he was Zack. But Max knew that was foolish.
Now here he was asking her to give him a name. She didn't have to think too long.
"Evan," she put the name out timidly, afraid he might be disgusted by the name, "for Eva. Zack would have wanted it."
He only agreed to take on a name to satisfy Max, he himself never thought it would be strange to call someone by their designation. But he didn't realize how he would feel to be given a name. "Then my name is Evan." It was like somehow, he finally belonged. He was no longer alone.
*****
The next morning the X5 gathered around Lydecker who was still strapped to an old rusty hospital bed, blindfolded. Avery, standing to Lydecker's right, went straight to business pulling out a Colt M1911A and releasing the safety so Lydecker would hear.
"Well Deck," she began, taking full control of this interrogation, "Tell us what you know."
"I've told you everything you need—"
Avery pulled her left fist back and punched him across his face before he could finish his sentence, then pushed her gun against his temple. "So it must have slipped your mind that there were three other DNA labs?!"
"I only knew of the—"
Avery cut him off again. "That's fucking bullshit." She pulled back her fist again.
"Avery, calm down," Jondy, who was standing beside her, put a hand on Avery raised arm. "He won't be able to tell us what we need if his jaw is broken."
Jondy maintained a straight face despite the wicked scowl Avery threw her way. She backed down, lowering her arm and placed the gun none too gently back on Lydecker's temple.
"We wanna know everything this time Lydecker." Syl spoke up this time.
"What more do you need?"
Avery leaned down to Lydecker's ear, "I want every access code in that squishy little head of yours."
"What does it—"
Avery used her free hand and wrapped it around his neck, "That doesn't sound like a combinations of alphanumerics to me."
Krit looked to his sister, "Avery, enough! He's turning blue."
Avery eyes shot icicles his way, her hand still gripping Deck's neck. "Why are you all going anti-pain on me here? You know who this is right? You remember what he did to us, don't you?"
Lydecker's voice was strained as he forced out the words. "I've gone AWOL remember? Manticore would have wiped me from their database by now, which includes my access to anything and everything."
Avery let go in disgust as though she had just touched a rotting carcass. "Then tell me everything else. Who will be on base and when, weak points in your security," she pulled off the twist of fabric that was covering his eyes, so he could see as well as hear how serious she was, "And I hope for your sake I believe you."
The hatred in her eyes and her gun still pressed to his head, he had a gut wrenching feeling that she was beyond serious now.
"Tell me what you need," he said, knowing that after withholding the information about the other DNA labs he had lost what little of Syl and Krit's trust he had gained. He would have no chance of survival unless he fully cooperated. And if Avery was still as good at interrogations as she was when she was nine, he would not be able to hide anything.
Krit wanted a turn. "Where in Seattle is the safe terminal that links to Manticore's Data Annex."
Lydecker closed his eyes, he scraped the recesses of his mind to try and recall the location of the computer that was directly linked to the data annex, meaning there would be no firewall to surpass, "I can't remem—"
Avery couldn't stand watching Lydecker fumble with his words and lifted the Colt M1911A from his head. "Try." She said and faster then any of her super human siblings could react, she aimed her gun at Deck's leg and pulled the trigger. A solitary bullet pierced Deck's skin, and his scream of pain rivaled the ringing in their ears from the gunshot. No one knew how to react to that sudden show of violence.
"You shouldn't have done that." Zane said rather blandly, his german sheppard was spooked, and was now lightly whining at his feet. Calmly he ripped some of the bedspread and tied off the wound to slowdown some of the bleeding. He wasn't at all surprised Avery would resort to such drastic measures so early in the interrogation. He saw in her eyes that she was just barely holding onto her civility. It must have taken all her will power to not send a bullet through his skull. And if she did that, well, he feared for her soul. Avery looked like she was about ready to cross that line and embrace the killer inside her. And it was that part of themselves, more then Manticore, that all the X5 have been running from.
"That's why I did it little brother. He taught us everything we know, we need to mix it up a little." She turned back to Lydecker who was now struggling with his restraints, his breathing became hoarse. "How's your memory?"
"I think…an internet café … the I-Bar… on fifth and Main." He managed to speak, despite his jaw being clenched in pain. "back corner… by the fireplace should give you direct access."
"Do you see what kind of game I'm playing here? Now tell me when the X7's will be gone from the base."
"Next week, virtually no one except for a few X4's and X3's. I swear it."
There was no violent reaction from Avery this time as she could tell Lydecker was telling the truth, at least to the best of his knowledge. Getting Krit, or even Logan to that computer terminal would confirm that soon enough.
"I'm done with him. Anyone got any questions? Because now's the time to ask." Avery offered.
Krit spoke in a steady and even tone. "Who are the XI5?"
"How did—"
"It doesn't matter how we found out. Are they stronger or faster then us?"
"But they are dead. I saw them all die…" Lydecker's whole body slumped, it was like he was so lost in his thoughts he forgot all about the pain.
"He's telling the truth," Avery put in, amused that Deck was kept in the dark about this.
"At least one survived, XI5-603. Didn't you know?" Krit was taken aback by Lydecker's lack of knowledge
"They told me he had died… They showed me his body." He was like a father learning that a long thought dead son was still alive. He had felt betrayed by Manticore before but this was too much. He had poured his heart and soul into the XI5, and when they died he had fallen into a deep depression. To find out one had in fact survived was almost too much.
Only Avery did not soften at the obvious distress and sadness in Lydecker's voice.
"They are no stronger. You have the exact same genetic make-up save for the barcodes on your necks."
"That's all we need to hear." Syl called an end to the interrogation. "I'll go with Zane and get Logan to that terminal. Krit, Jondy, Avery, you stay here and wait for a download."
Avery pushed Deck's temple harshly with her gun before pulling it back and placing it into its holster. She could feel her heart thrumming for revenge, how simple it would be just to shoot him right here.
As the others turned and walk away, she stood there staring at this demon, trying to bore into his skull with her gaze.
*****
They were well away from the body, all of them seeming to relax more the further they got from Lydecker. Krit and Jondy made their way to the upper level, while Syl and Zane headed for Logan who was sitting on the sidelines typing away at something on his computer.
"Logan, Jondy was right, there was a terminal in Seattle. You should be able to hack in easily with no firewa—"
"No!" Avery's scream startled them all. Her voice was filled with fear.
Behind them for the second time in so many minutes, the thunder of a gunshot echoed eerily in the abandoned warehouse.
chapter4: identity
It was well past lights out and a lonely guard walked through the halls, lazily sweeping his flashlight from side to side. He wasn't frightened of the almost superhuman prisoners held in each room. The whole complex was computer automated and it wasn't like anyone who wasn't there willingly had a way to get out. That is unless they could shoot lasers out of their eyes to pierce through the six inch steel door.
A nervous laugh left his lips. 'Then again who knows what kind of genetic freaks they got in here…' Almost instinctively he felt for his gun. The cool feel of metal on his fingers helped to sooth his nerves but he still found himself quickening his pace toward the hall that held the regular human prisoners.
Finally the guard turned the corner and the glow of his flashlight faded. XI5-603 waited patiently in the air conditioning vent until he could no longer hear the guard's foot prints, even while focusing his hearing. When the guard was out of earshot he pushed the grate out. Careful to place it down on the ground, so as not to make a noise that may have drawn unwanted attention. Moments later he was standing in the hall, staring at the steel door that separated him from Max. What was he doing here? Why did he have this insane urge to clarify to Max who he really was? She was like gravity.
He double checked his watch. He would have a good fifteen minutes before a guard would pass by again. Plenty of time.
From his pocket he produced a small device only slightly larger then a credit card and inserted one end into the keypad outside Max's door. He watched patiently as the numbers on the display rolled by each number taking only a mere second to lock down. The door lock released and the thick door barely creaked open. He kept it closed as he waited a few more seconds for the device to delete its tracks from the record. That done, he pulled it out and placed it back in his pocket.
A quick look to his watch ensured that the camera looping code he had set up was well underway. Excellent.
Upon opening the door he was greeted with a fist to his jaw, and a knee he was barely able to deflect from his groin. Max had been waiting for whoever was opening her cell, and now she was trying to make a break for the open door.
But such a simple hit did nothing to slow XI5-603 down and he grabbed her arm and pulled her back into the cell. He did it with such strength she stumbled and fell to the floor. Regaining himself he stood and watched her get back to her feet, coming at him with a few pitiful punches and a weak kick to his side, all of which he easily blocked. Her coordination was slow and awkward, and her speed and strength were anything but extraordinary. It seems they were still inhibiting her inborn strength with injections of some kind.
Between each of her short bursts of energy to charge through him to the open door, he tried to calm her down with his words.
"I'm here to help you!"
Max paid his words no attention and attacked once more. She was no stronger then an average nineteen year old and he could have dealt with her easily, but he did not want to hurt her. What good would his words be if his actions spoke the opposite? Instead he blocked and parried each of her strikes.
"You're not Zack."
"I'm not pretending to be—" He used the bottom of his foot to push her away.
She stumbled backwards and hit the wall. "They are sending you to me to fool me somehow."
"But I showed you my barcode to prove that I wasn't this Zack," he felt the back of his neck, "Doesn't that mean anything?"
"Then why do you keep wearing his face?"
"If you would just let me explain I…" He did not finish his sentence before she attacked him again. She punched at his face again, but he caught her fist and pushed it back. "I don't want to hurt you…"
Max only responded with a sweeping kick he easily jumped.
'I don't have time for this' he thought to himself. Next, as though it might actually do him harm, she threw her left knee up in the air for momentum, jumping off her right foot then aiming that foot at his face. Again the attack was slow and he caught her foot easily with both his hands and wrenched it to the side, flipping Max to land on her front.
Though she absorbed some of the fall as she was taught with her arms, she still hit pretty hard. Before Max could recover XI5-603 grabbed her wrists together in one of his hands and leaned into her back with his forearm, effectively pinning her down.
Beneath him she fidgeted, a pitiful attempt to break free. "I am XI5-603. The only surviving member of an invitro gestation experiment. My family was supposed to be Manticore's X5 generation, but when I was the only on to live they decided to start again how they had always done it, and brought in the mothers."
He could feel her begin to calm down and in response he lessened the pressure on her back. But just as he was ready to let go completely Max would feel her impending freedom and struggle once more.
XI5-603 leaned into her back again. "I have his exact genetic makeup, but I'm not Zack and I'm not pretending to be."
Again he could feel Max relax but he could not yet tell if it was his words that calmed her down, or her acknowledging that she would not win against him. But he let go of her nonetheless. It took a moment for Max to register that his weight was off him, but when she did she wasted no time crawling to a corner and hugging her knees, just like the night she first saw his barcode.
The only sound to fill the room was her heavy breathing. Her eyes, now only ablaze with a dying ember of a long forgotten fire, stared out at him. Following his every move like a wary animal.
That was it. That is what she acted like. This deprogramming was stripping her down to the most animalistic part of her DNA. Just a moment ago she was fierce and determined, even under such impossible odds, and now she was timid and shaking like a frightened kitten.
He had recovered many people to be indoctrinated, and he knew what happened and what the prisoners go through. He had even taken part in the process. But seeing Max this way made his gut churn. What was it about her that made him want to risk his very life just to see her?
"I brought you some food," he said, pulling some rations out of a pocket. "It's a little dry…" It sounded like he was trying to lighten the mood, but really he was covering. Truthfully he was scared out of his mind to be in her presence. Around her he couldn't be himself. Even being on the same premises as her was wearing away the rough soldier Manticore had built him to be.
Max hesitated at first, never taking her eyes off him, but soon she snatched the food out of his hand. Of course she would, she was starving. It was standard procedure. Still suspicious she sniffed the food, but her hunger overtook her and she bit in.
Looking up she caught him staring at her. After a large gulp which freed her mouth of most of her food, she spoke. "Why would you help me?" she spat out, but this time with less anger. A filling stomach seemed to dull her hate.
"You are the family Manticore has kept me from all my life," he said truthfully. After finding out that he had been separated from what could have been his group, he felt robbed. "For 24 years I have been alone." His voice filled with what could almost be called sadness.
"How is it possible we have never met? This base isn't that large…"
"I…I think one time we have." XI5-603 thought back to a strange incident from the past. "It was back when I was around ten. So you would have been six. It was in the forest at night. I remember a girl, stepping out of the bushes and signaled for me to follow her. I think that was you. I signaled that you should continue without me and that I had things to finish. You nodded and left."
"I think I remember that. I remember Zack made it to the rendezvous point long before me, and I never knew how that was possible."
He smiled, sitting now, leaning against the far wall, "I got a good beating for straying from the planned path."
Max remained silent, chewing on more of the ration he had given her, her eyes studying his face as though trying to find something that would distinguish him from Zack.
After a few unnerving moments the silence was broken by a soft question.
"What is your name?"
"XI5-603."
"That's your designation, but what's your name?"
"I read that the X5 gave each other names. I had no one…"
Her expression finally softened. He could not hide in his voice how he truly wished to have a family to call his own. Before she could muster some sort of comforting words he glanced at his watch and spoke again.
"I have to go, another guard will be passing by soon. I'll try to be back tomorrow … with more food." He stood, making no sudden movements, and peeked out the door. Satisfied there were no guards he turned his head and spoke over this shoulder. "And I think I might know how to get you out of here."
"Wait, I can't just call you XI5-603…"
He was still poised to leave, but he turned his shoulders so he could see her. "What would you call me?"
Max stared at those icy blue eyes. For a brief moment she wished that he had never shown her his barcode. She would have been happy to believe that he was Zack. But Max knew that was foolish.
Now here he was asking her to give him a name. She didn't have to think too long.
"Evan," she put the name out timidly, afraid he might be disgusted by the name, "for Eva. Zack would have wanted it."
He only agreed to take on a name to satisfy Max, he himself never thought it would be strange to call someone by their designation. But he didn't realize how he would feel to be given a name. "Then my name is Evan." It was like somehow, he finally belonged. He was no longer alone.
*****
The next morning the X5 gathered around Lydecker who was still strapped to an old rusty hospital bed, blindfolded. Avery, standing to Lydecker's right, went straight to business pulling out a Colt M1911A and releasing the safety so Lydecker would hear.
"Well Deck," she began, taking full control of this interrogation, "Tell us what you know."
"I've told you everything you need—"
Avery pulled her left fist back and punched him across his face before he could finish his sentence, then pushed her gun against his temple. "So it must have slipped your mind that there were three other DNA labs?!"
"I only knew of the—"
Avery cut him off again. "That's fucking bullshit." She pulled back her fist again.
"Avery, calm down," Jondy, who was standing beside her, put a hand on Avery raised arm. "He won't be able to tell us what we need if his jaw is broken."
Jondy maintained a straight face despite the wicked scowl Avery threw her way. She backed down, lowering her arm and placed the gun none too gently back on Lydecker's temple.
"We wanna know everything this time Lydecker." Syl spoke up this time.
"What more do you need?"
Avery leaned down to Lydecker's ear, "I want every access code in that squishy little head of yours."
"What does it—"
Avery used her free hand and wrapped it around his neck, "That doesn't sound like a combinations of alphanumerics to me."
Krit looked to his sister, "Avery, enough! He's turning blue."
Avery eyes shot icicles his way, her hand still gripping Deck's neck. "Why are you all going anti-pain on me here? You know who this is right? You remember what he did to us, don't you?"
Lydecker's voice was strained as he forced out the words. "I've gone AWOL remember? Manticore would have wiped me from their database by now, which includes my access to anything and everything."
Avery let go in disgust as though she had just touched a rotting carcass. "Then tell me everything else. Who will be on base and when, weak points in your security," she pulled off the twist of fabric that was covering his eyes, so he could see as well as hear how serious she was, "And I hope for your sake I believe you."
The hatred in her eyes and her gun still pressed to his head, he had a gut wrenching feeling that she was beyond serious now.
"Tell me what you need," he said, knowing that after withholding the information about the other DNA labs he had lost what little of Syl and Krit's trust he had gained. He would have no chance of survival unless he fully cooperated. And if Avery was still as good at interrogations as she was when she was nine, he would not be able to hide anything.
Krit wanted a turn. "Where in Seattle is the safe terminal that links to Manticore's Data Annex."
Lydecker closed his eyes, he scraped the recesses of his mind to try and recall the location of the computer that was directly linked to the data annex, meaning there would be no firewall to surpass, "I can't remem—"
Avery couldn't stand watching Lydecker fumble with his words and lifted the Colt M1911A from his head. "Try." She said and faster then any of her super human siblings could react, she aimed her gun at Deck's leg and pulled the trigger. A solitary bullet pierced Deck's skin, and his scream of pain rivaled the ringing in their ears from the gunshot. No one knew how to react to that sudden show of violence.
"You shouldn't have done that." Zane said rather blandly, his german sheppard was spooked, and was now lightly whining at his feet. Calmly he ripped some of the bedspread and tied off the wound to slowdown some of the bleeding. He wasn't at all surprised Avery would resort to such drastic measures so early in the interrogation. He saw in her eyes that she was just barely holding onto her civility. It must have taken all her will power to not send a bullet through his skull. And if she did that, well, he feared for her soul. Avery looked like she was about ready to cross that line and embrace the killer inside her. And it was that part of themselves, more then Manticore, that all the X5 have been running from.
"That's why I did it little brother. He taught us everything we know, we need to mix it up a little." She turned back to Lydecker who was now struggling with his restraints, his breathing became hoarse. "How's your memory?"
"I think…an internet café … the I-Bar… on fifth and Main." He managed to speak, despite his jaw being clenched in pain. "back corner… by the fireplace should give you direct access."
"Do you see what kind of game I'm playing here? Now tell me when the X7's will be gone from the base."
"Next week, virtually no one except for a few X4's and X3's. I swear it."
There was no violent reaction from Avery this time as she could tell Lydecker was telling the truth, at least to the best of his knowledge. Getting Krit, or even Logan to that computer terminal would confirm that soon enough.
"I'm done with him. Anyone got any questions? Because now's the time to ask." Avery offered.
Krit spoke in a steady and even tone. "Who are the XI5?"
"How did—"
"It doesn't matter how we found out. Are they stronger or faster then us?"
"But they are dead. I saw them all die…" Lydecker's whole body slumped, it was like he was so lost in his thoughts he forgot all about the pain.
"He's telling the truth," Avery put in, amused that Deck was kept in the dark about this.
"At least one survived, XI5-603. Didn't you know?" Krit was taken aback by Lydecker's lack of knowledge
"They told me he had died… They showed me his body." He was like a father learning that a long thought dead son was still alive. He had felt betrayed by Manticore before but this was too much. He had poured his heart and soul into the XI5, and when they died he had fallen into a deep depression. To find out one had in fact survived was almost too much.
Only Avery did not soften at the obvious distress and sadness in Lydecker's voice.
"They are no stronger. You have the exact same genetic make-up save for the barcodes on your necks."
"That's all we need to hear." Syl called an end to the interrogation. "I'll go with Zane and get Logan to that terminal. Krit, Jondy, Avery, you stay here and wait for a download."
Avery pushed Deck's temple harshly with her gun before pulling it back and placing it into its holster. She could feel her heart thrumming for revenge, how simple it would be just to shoot him right here.
As the others turned and walk away, she stood there staring at this demon, trying to bore into his skull with her gaze.
*****
They were well away from the body, all of them seeming to relax more the further they got from Lydecker. Krit and Jondy made their way to the upper level, while Syl and Zane headed for Logan who was sitting on the sidelines typing away at something on his computer.
"Logan, Jondy was right, there was a terminal in Seattle. You should be able to hack in easily with no firewa—"
"No!" Avery's scream startled them all. Her voice was filled with fear.
Behind them for the second time in so many minutes, the thunder of a gunshot echoed eerily in the abandoned warehouse.