Chapter Two: Shadows of a past life. (Some demons never give up.)
Max heard Jessie get out of the shower but she ignored the fact. She would get a shower later. After a while Jessie came out of her bedroom brushing her wet hair.
"Y'hungry Kay-Kay?" Jessie asked.
The question made Max's stomach rumble. Sighing, Max stopped trying to meditate and stood up. "You know me, I'm always hungry. What have we got?"
Just then a news bulletin cut off the TV program that had been playing. Max would have ignored it but an image that she only half saw caught her attention.
"... Donald Michael Lydecker apparently tortured the hostages for over five hours before a sniper was able to take him down. Lydecker died on the scene. One of the most unfortunate victims was cyber journalist Logan Cale who is still in critical condition..."
"Kay..."
"Shhhh!" Max moved closer to the television as the reporter continued.
"...Other hostages say that Donald Lydecker frequently accused Mr Cale of being Eyes Only and of being involved with something called 'X5'. He also made numerous comments demanding the location of an unidentified woman..."
That was all that Max needed to hear. Jessie looked on in shock as Max raced into her room and started packing a light bag. Max kept half an ear on the TV but there really was little more information on Logan. She shoved the bag on her back and, grabbing her beloved motorbike, started heading for the door. The red Kawasaki might not be the 'baby' that her black Ninja had been but she loved it all the same. And anyway, the Kawasaki went faster.
"Kayla where are you...?"
Max grabbed some bread and three apples off of the kitchen counter and a bottle of water out of the fridge. She gave Jessie an apologetic look as she shoved them in her bag. "My name's not Kayla." She said looking at her feet. "It's Max. Look, I'm not who you think I am Jessie. I can't risk that Logan worked out where I am. I can't risk that Lydecker got it out of him, that Lydecker's men know where to find me. It 's better for everybody if I move on."
"Kayla, what are you...?"
Max cut her off with a look. She walked over to the confused girl and showed her the barcode that screamed what she was. "You see this? Do you know what it means?"
"Kay..."
"It means that I am government property. A biosynthetic soldier to be exact. Or should I say 'an escaped biosynthetic soldier'? They own me. They made me. I'm engineered. This barcode is in my DNA, I can't get rid of it, I've tried. I escaped but I can never stop running. I've stayed still too long. What happened to Logan... I chose the name Kayla Logan because of Logan Cale. Because of Eyes Only and how much he helped me."
In a state of shock, Jessie just stood there doing a very good imitation of a fish.
Max had to fight back tears as she mentioned his name. But she kept talking. "If Manticore's caught onto Logan then they'll be looking for variations of that name. Kayla Logan has to disappear before she's disappeared. Goodbye Jessie. Tell everybody I'm sorry. I won't be coming back."
With that Max grabbed another apple and, taking a bite out of it, quickly made her way out of the apartment, forever. She didn't know why she'd told Jessie the truth (well some of it at least) but Jessie deserved an answer. Max didn't look back. She couldn't. A single tear was the only thing that betrayed her outer calm. Only the Moon however was witness to her moment of weakness. She didn 't know where she was going. She just knew it was time to go.
TBC...