Rating:R
Max stood at the perimeter fence of Vivadyne Laboratories, surrounded by
towering razor wire and armed guards with rottweilers, who were currently growling at
her feet and threatening to snap free from their leashes. |Always hated the damn things.|
For the moment, there were only 4 guards present. There was still time to back out. It
wouldn't be that hard to take out 2 or 3 of them and break away before anyone knew the
better. She looked past the fence to see an officer and a group of ten heavily armed
troopers equipped with riot gear marching towards the gate. She inhaled deeply. She had
to go through with this. |Didn't come all this way to back out now. How the hell did I talk
myself into this?| No time for that now. She just hoped that this was a damn good idea.
And that the others did their job right and came through when it counted. |They'd better. I
have no desire to get stuck in this shithole all over again.| The massive, 12 foot electronic
gate opened with a screech as wind tussled her hair and made the fur of the dogs stand on
end. She could hardly feel it through her thick and stifling uniform, a hellish black suit
which made her feel like a machine, cold, lifeless, artificial. The officer approached her and
spoke. "You are to come with us, X5-452. The director wants to see you immediately."
She gave no signs of resistance as they formed a circle around her and marched her
straight into the gaping mouth of hell.
When she was sure they weren't paying attention, she spoke into the small
microphone hidden in the collar of the uniform. "I'm in."
Logan sat in the van they had acquired from the South Africans weeks
before. He stared intently at his laptop. An eerie silence filled the air as her words came
through the speaker. Although they had went over the details again and again, so much so
that the whole plan was ingrained into each of their memories, he was still terrified of what
they had sent her to do. | Relax.| He told himself. |She can handle herself, we went over
every possibility, just stay calm and focused and do your part and everything will turn out
fine.| Despite both reassurances from both himself and those closest to her, he was still
scared out of his mind. He could not, would not stand losing her again, not when he got
her back so recently, not when things had seemed so bright, when it seemed they could be
together again. "Dude, you're sweating." Zane pointed to the trickle of moisture dripping
down his brow. Startled, he wiped it away, cursing himself for being so jumpy. "She's
going to be alright. She knows what she's doing." "Does she? Because right now I don't
know what the hell she's doing." "Trust me. This is going to work. She's going to go in
there, get Krit, and get the fuck out before those bastards figure things out. Just make sure
you can shut down their power when she gives us the signal. Try to block communication
in every way you can. Everybody stays cool, does what their supposed to, and everything
will be okay."
"And if things don't work out?" "They will." Brin stated firmly. "When the
bombs go off, most of the security on base will rush to the scene to fend off what they
think is an attack. And with the power out, and everyone separated and not knowing
what's going on, the whole facility is going to be in an uproar. I'm talking total chaos
here. The wing they hold the recaptured subjects will be mostly abandoned by the guards,
leaving only a few Max has to deal with. The rest we'll be keeping busy at the other end of
the base." Logan stared deep into her eyes, yet could not perceive any glimpse of
treachery or emotion. "He spoke to Zane. "You sure we can trust her?" "Way I see it, you
have to. You don't have a chance in hell of pulling this off without me. I know the place
better than anyone here, and I know how their people operate." He diverted his eyes to
Syl, who was busy reading their weapons for their upcoming task. As nervous
as he was, he couldn't possibly imagine what Max must be going through at this very
moment.
As she passed through the halls, a sense of deja vu assaulted her as a wave
of dread flowed through her entire body, icy fear tingling her spine. |Just chill Max. Stay
focused. Concentrate on the mission.| She remembered walking down this hallway before,
a lifetime ago. A time when they never knew of the world outside of this place, when
Manticore was all there ever was to their universe. A place of pain, fear, fathomless depths
of despair and horror. Her footsteps seemed to echo forever across the halls of the
damned, their icy blue black walls almost exactly like the color of the images now flowing
through her frozen mind. She had walked down this hallway before, and it unleashed
another pained memory from her childhood.
They were marching down the very same hallway, single file, like always,
faces void of all expression. Just the way they were always taught. None of them dared to
speak or make any noise at all, because they were often hit and screamed at when they did.
Max saw the boy in front of her begin to tremble, his face beginning to contort in a spasm
of pain. His legs shuddered ever so slightly as he struggled to place one foot over the
other in the practiced fashion they were all accustomed to. One step. Another step, this
time shaky and uncertain. Another, slower and done through a tremendous amount of
effort, though driven by fear, the boy tried futilely to hide it. Max soon noticed that the
boy had suddenly stopped moving. His entire body, arms, legs, were rapidly shaking, the
tiny movements getting bigger and accelerating with alarming quickness. The guards
ordered the rest of the line to stop as well. The boy lifted one foot into the air in a final
desperate effort, as if in fierce denial at what was happening to him, and that if he could
just keep on marching like everyone else it would go away. He continued to struggle in
vain as the shakes grew stronger and stronger, and found that the muscles were not
responding to his commands.
Seconds later, the seizure hit full force and the foot hit the ground along
with the rest of his body. Arms and legs flailing wildly, spasming uncontrollably, a look of
doom spread across the boy's face like wildfire. He knew what was going to happen next.
The lead guard gave an order and the others carried him out into the open air. The rest of
them were told to continue marching. The little girl that was X5-452 fought back her tears
as a gunshot echoed from the field just outside from the corridor. She knew that that boy
could have been her, Jondy, Zack, or any of the others of her squadron. It could have been
anyone of them whose corpse was now headed for the dissection table....
The memory slipped out of her mind almost as quickly as it had entered,
and she came to her senses once more to find herself sitting in front of the door to
Renfro's private office. A hand pulled open the door and she was ushered inside. She
fought rigidly to control her rage upon the sight of the platinum blonde mane and those
insidious blue eyes. Renfro just smiled a bit and deepened her gaze at the mysteriously
recaptured subject before her. "Well? Report." She laid back in her chair and folded her
arms behind her head, smirking ever so slightly. "We were en route to base when X5-736
stopped the vehicle and stated that she wished to speak to me for some unknown reason.
Upon stopping the vehicle, she ordered the two guards out of the van. When I got around
to asking her the purpose of such actions, she tazered me in the throat and rendered me
unconscious for an indeterminate amount of time."
"When I regained consciousness, I found myself being held at the site of the
raid on Eyes Only, and the two recaptured subjects we carried were freed. X5-736 was
evidently turned, and she and the two other rogues attempted to turn me as well. I
pretended to cooperate with the process and eventually escaped when I saw the
opportunity." Renfro was silent for a moment. She stared long and hard into her eyes,
attempting to discern just how trustworthy her words were. The empty almond brown
orbs stared directly ahead into space, betraying no feeling whatsoever. |If she's lying, then
she's certainly hiding it well. But I would expect no less.|
Renfro's voice took on a stern, harsh edge when she spoke again. "Look at
me when I talk to you soldier." The almond brown pupils shifted their gaze to meet her
own icy, crimson blue spheres. "Have you told me the truth, the whole truth and nothing
but the truth, about everything that has transpired since you and 736 vanished two weeks
ago?" "Yes sir." Renfro peered harder and sharpened her tone. "And how do I know that
you're not trying to fool us all, that they haven't actually managed to turn you like they
did with others in the past? How do I know that loyalty to this organization is really what
brought you back to us? "I assure you that I was and still am, and forever will be
completely loyal to manticore and to you. If you ask for proof that I am not working for
the enemy, then I'm afraid I don't have any. You'll just have to take my word for it."
Renfro stared at the younger woman before her, examining features that were stony and
unreadable.
She glared almost contemptuously at her. Then her face stiffened and she
sat back up in the leather covered chair. "Very well then. You better not be lying to me, or
you won't be the only one to pay... I could always take things out on your family, now
couldn't I? Especially that one we're just starting to reindoctrinate..." A gleeful spark of
pleasure ignited inside her black, twisted soul and she could not help but let it show
through her face as Max's eyes contorted uncomfortably and her body trembled ever so
slightly, as if in a sudden, although barely noticeable rush of fear. "Dismissed." Max
walked somewhat unsteadily out of the room as crippling panic began to settle over her
thoughts...
Renfro sat at her ornate mahogany wood desk and pondered what her next
course of action should be. More accurately, she wondered what the hell she should do
with X5-452. |There is no evidence that she's lying or that she'd been turned somehow,
but...| She frowned and crossed her arms on the desk, resting her chin on them.
|Something isn't right. I don't feel safe about letting her wander about unsupervised and
letting things go back to normal... she's changed, that one. I don't know how I know, but
I just do. She's spent two weeks on the outside, for christ's sake! No telling what's really
going on in that head of hers...| The cruel blue eyes flashed angrily as she made a quick
and pointedly decisive movement to her left, picking up the phone at the left corner of her
desk.
Max was told to report back to the X5 barracks and wait for further
instructions. She started to walk her way to that location, though it was a little ways off
from where they were holding Krit. She still wasn't sure if she should go through with the
plan. She walked slowly. |Need time to think...| About 3 quarters of the way to the
barracks, she made up her mind. |Didn't come here for nothing... got to go through with
it.| Even if it meant another of her family could end up like Tinga... maybe even worse.
|Besides, I don't think she'd really kill off another one... what is she going to say to her
bosses? Besides, even if she can come up with a believable excuse, she probably needs us
too much to be killing us off at will.... or does she? Either way, it's too late to turn back
now. It's now or never. This is the only chance we'll ever get. I leave and I'll blow my
cover permanently and we'll probably never see him again.| She just wished she could
bring the others with them. Quietly slipping from the sight of nearby guards, she began
rapidly move towards the grayish building to the west of the base.
Detention block 8 was a dark, dreary structure with endless, winding
corridors that were almost like a maze. A maze jam packed with guards at every corner,
and a state of the art security system loaded with alarms, cameras, motion sensors,
invisible laser tripwires, and every form of security measure one could think of. Even alone
she couldn't sneak into this building and get out again undetected, much less with Krit
following behind her, assuming they hadn't drugged him so badly he would barely be able
to walk. Which they must have done. She had climbed through a small office window on
the second floor. Leaping up and latching onto the ledge had been easy enough, and
seeing no occupants in the room, she used some of her cat burgling tools to carve a hole
through the glass, which she delicately removed, and quickly as she dared unlocked the
window from the other side and crawled in. All the while attempting to be as silent as
possible. Hugging the wall, she stuck her head out the open door and took note of the
guards and cameras scattered about the hallway just outside. She didn't like what she saw.
|Bastards got this place covered inch by inch. Too risky to go it alone. Time for that little
diversion to take place.| She crept her way to the corner of the room and whispered into
her microphone.
A minute later, the east side of the base was rocked with a massive series
of explosions as about 3 guard towers went up a eruption of blinding light and scorching
flame. Burning shards of wood and metal showered half of the massive compound like
hailstones from hell, along with the flaming, charred, and messily dismembered body parts
of some of the tower's occupants. Every guard and soldier on that side of the compound
was rushing to the scene seconds afterwards, some carrying fire hoses, desperate to stop
the deadly blaze that was rapidly engulfing a nearby structure. Others were carrying out
the wounded on stretchers, who were struck by debris or set ablaze somehow. Officers
stood in the middle of the mess, shouting out frantic orders and adding to the general
atmosphere of chaos and panic. And just then the power went out throughout the entire
installation, and unseen attackers opened fire on the entangled mass of troops from the
cover of the trees.
Logan grinned in his chair while listening to the sound of the mess they
made from intercepted radio transmissions. A torrent of screaming, shouting, and the
rushing of feet accompanied by spouts of weapons fire, the sound of sizzling flames, and
intermittent bursts of static. Cries of pain spewed forth from the troops hit by the lethal
and unexpected barrage of hot lead coming from the surrounding woodlands, courtesy of
Zane, Jondy, and Brin. There came the deafening boom of a grenade launcher
releasing it's explosive load into some large object, followed by the sound of a second
explosion accompanied by the sound of a dying vehicle's creaking and sputtering.
"All units, report to the eastern perimeter! We are under attack! Repeat!
All units to eastern perimeter! We need some backup NOW, goddammit!"
From the safety of the room she hid in, Max whispered once more into her
comm. "Fucking guards here aren't leaving! I'm gonna need some more intervention
before I can go with it."
Logan began to furiously type, fingers skittering across the keyboard. "No
problem." Seconds later his voice came over the speaker of detention block 8. "All
security in detention block 8, report to perimeter defense immediately. Repeat, report to
perimeter defense immediately!
One guard outside the commander's office directed a questioning look
towards his friend. "Director said she'd have our asses if we leave this post. What do you
think?" "Fuck it. Let's go. What does she think, that the prisoner is just going to get up
and leave with all the shit they pumped into him?" Soon enough, almost all of the guards
had left the building, leaving only two behind guarding the door to the ward where Krit
was being kept.
About a minute after all the others had left the building, Max emerged from
the corner and punched one of the remaining guards in the lungs, cracking the bone and
sending him to his knees gasping hopelessly for air. The other, naturally, never had time to
register what was happening before she knocked him out cold with a blindingly fast
roundhouse kick. She brought her fist down on the back of the other one's neck before he
even had time to draw in the first breath, flooring him like a sack of bricks. She stepped
cautiously into the room closing the door behind her.
Max stared at the bed in front of her. The unconscious form, restraints and
all, was underneath a huge set of covers and was completely hidden from her view, so she
wasn't quite sure who it was. She checked the medical chart located on the side table. It
was an X5 in the bed alright, and it was Krit's barcode listed on the chart. So it must be
him. |But something's seriously whacked here. I don't know what it is, it's just this bad
feeling.... Ah hell, it's probably nothing. Better get him out of here while I still can.| She
pulled back the bed covers.
And found Eva lying in the bed with a gun aimed directly at her head.
|Stupid, stupid, stupid!!!!!!|
"Looking for someone Maxie?"