"I don't see how you can do recon in jeans and a sweater."
"It's comfortable, plus I once did recon wearing a chicken costume, but that's not something I'm going to get into."
Max just stared at Ire.
"Now I'm sorry I mentioned it."
Ire started to walk toward the kitchen. Max zipped her jacket and followed.
"Tell me about the chicken costume recon." Max said.
"Uh, no." Ire said.
"Oh come on. Tell me!"
"Tell you what?" Logan asked, coming into the kitchen.
"Ire won't tell me about her chicken costume recon." Max told him.
"Ah, I see." Logan said, even though he didn't. "Well, you two better get going."
"Yeah." Max said, then turned to Ire. "Hey, how did you know where he lives?"
Ire tensed up. "We should go."
Before Max could ask anything more, Ire had already left the penthouse. Max just shrugged to Logan, then followed Ire.
As they climbed onto her bike, Max was tempted to ask Ire more about the situation, but Ire seemed tense and Max decided to forget it. As long as they got back from their recon mission alive, Max didn't care if Ire had once tried to kill the guy, but Max realized that could have very well been the problem after all.
Max hid the bike in the middle of the woods, then followed Ire. Ire was twisting and turning through the trees, obviously knowing her way.
'Like she's done it before...' Max thought. 'No. Ire wouldn't...then again...'
Max's thoughts were cut short when they came to the edge of the woods. Ire turned to Max then signaled her to be quiet, then pointed out a teenage-looking boy who was prowling around.
Max was confused, so she gave Ire a questioning look. Ire mouthed 'guard' and looked back at him. Max wondered why the guy would need a guard walking around the outside of his house, then she remembered he was from Manticore.
Ire signaled and Max followed. As they silently twisted their way through the trees, Max knew Ire had definitely done this before. Ire slipped behind a big oak tree and Max followed. Max was definitely going to talk to Ire about this.
Ire picked up a stick off the ground and glanced at the guard. Snap. Max looked wildly at Ire, the look on her face plainly saying 'Why the hell did you do that?' Ire just waved off Max's concern, her face plainly saying, 'I meant to snap the twig. Relax.'
The teenage guard started walking slowly closer. Max got a good look at his face and realized that he must he must have been the same age as Ire. Max was getting more and more confused by the minute.
As he came closer, Ire got ready to pounce. Max realized what was going on. Ire was going to knock the guard out, giving them free rein to do their recon in peace.
When he came near the tree, Ire jumped at him and punched him right between the eyes. Max remembered that move. It hurt.
"What?" Ire asked.
"Just bad memories." Max mumbled. In spite of the situation, Ire smiled.
"Well, he'll be out for a little while." Ire whispered.
"So, recon in peace?"
"Yep." Ire whispered with a smile.
"So, which way mon capitain?"
"That's funny." Ire said quietly. "This way."
Max followed Ire to the back of the house. There was a window, which Ire was looking at intently. Ire grabbed a garbage can and placed it under the window. Ire looked at Max and signaled her to do the same. Ire climbed on top of her garbage can, followed by Max.
It was a kitchen. They were looking through a kitchen window, but they weren't looking at the kitchen. They were looking into the next room, the dining room, where three people were sitting and eating dinner.
Max recognized the man from the picture. Wye. But who were the two others with him? A woman and a girl. Max then realized that this must be his family. But people from Manticore, they just didn't have families. The people at Manticore were monsters, not people. Especially not people who went home to a real family. Max saw Wye smile at his daughter. Smile? Manticore people weren't allowed to smile. Max wondered why this Manticore monster was trying to impersonate a real person.
Ire wasn't satisfied with their lack of not being able to hear the conversation inside, so she noiselessly opened the window just a crack. She and Max both adjusted their hearing and listened intently.
"Okay, okay." The daughter said. "I'm going to do my homework."
"All right." Wye said with a smile. The wife, as Max and Ire had penned her, only smiled.
After the daughter had left the room, the wife turned to Wye. Her smile was gone and she was looking slightly grave and worried.
"How - how are things going at work?" She asked.
Wye sighed and became serious.
"The X1s have all been eliminated. The committee intervened just before I got to the X2s. They said to wait a bit before I went on. Honestly there is no time. The sooner Manticore disappears, the better."
"But I don't see how eliminating them all will help make it disappear."
"It will help greatly. They have no use to anyone. They're nomalies. I told you about the nomalies. Useless. They don't deserve to exist. There is no meaning to them. They just live in a cage. It's a service to them really, putting them out of their misery."
"I suppose." The wife said vaguely. "But what about the others?"
"The rogues? Oh, they will be the sweetest of all. Their lives have no purpose either. They never did what they were made to do. They've been softened by the outside and will always be a risk."
"But what if you could make them loyal again? Surely it would be better than destroying them all."
"No. Even if I could make them loyal, I wouldn't. My job is to erase Manticore and just make it go away."
"You're just going to destroy lives? They are human in ways." Max began to like the wife, but just a little.
"They're not human. They're just a mess of DNA. They were trained to kill, and they have. I've read the reports and I've seen the pictures. They were trained to kill. Messes of powerful DNA that can kill. Do you want that free on the streets?"
"No." The wife said with a hardened expression. Max didn't like her anymore.
"I tell you, when Manticore is erased -"
"Dad?" The daughter had reappeared.
"Yes, pumpkin?" Wye asked and Max shivered. He was just talking about killing people and now he's Mister Good Dad? It didn't seem right to her.
"Can you help me with my homework? I can't get these math problems."
"Of course. Come on." Wye said and stood up. "And Mom'll help too, won't you?"
"Well, of course." The wife said. "You know your father is horrible at math anyway. You'll need me."
"I resent that." Wye said with a smile.
Then the three disappeared into another room. Ire hopped down from her garbage can and Max did the same. Ire started walking towards the woods and the bike.
"I'm satisfied with what I heard. What about you?" Ire asked as they walked along.
"Yeah. At least now we know what has to be done." Max said.
"Hmmmmm." Ire mumbled, obviously deep in thought.
Just as they reached the middle of the yard, someone grabbed both of them from behind.
"It's comfortable, plus I once did recon wearing a chicken costume, but that's not something I'm going to get into."
Max just stared at Ire.
"Now I'm sorry I mentioned it."
Ire started to walk toward the kitchen. Max zipped her jacket and followed.
"Tell me about the chicken costume recon." Max said.
"Uh, no." Ire said.
"Oh come on. Tell me!"
"Tell you what?" Logan asked, coming into the kitchen.
"Ire won't tell me about her chicken costume recon." Max told him.
"Ah, I see." Logan said, even though he didn't. "Well, you two better get going."
"Yeah." Max said, then turned to Ire. "Hey, how did you know where he lives?"
Ire tensed up. "We should go."
Before Max could ask anything more, Ire had already left the penthouse. Max just shrugged to Logan, then followed Ire.
As they climbed onto her bike, Max was tempted to ask Ire more about the situation, but Ire seemed tense and Max decided to forget it. As long as they got back from their recon mission alive, Max didn't care if Ire had once tried to kill the guy, but Max realized that could have very well been the problem after all.
Max hid the bike in the middle of the woods, then followed Ire. Ire was twisting and turning through the trees, obviously knowing her way.
'Like she's done it before...' Max thought. 'No. Ire wouldn't...then again...'
Max's thoughts were cut short when they came to the edge of the woods. Ire turned to Max then signaled her to be quiet, then pointed out a teenage-looking boy who was prowling around.
Max was confused, so she gave Ire a questioning look. Ire mouthed 'guard' and looked back at him. Max wondered why the guy would need a guard walking around the outside of his house, then she remembered he was from Manticore.
Ire signaled and Max followed. As they silently twisted their way through the trees, Max knew Ire had definitely done this before. Ire slipped behind a big oak tree and Max followed. Max was definitely going to talk to Ire about this.
Ire picked up a stick off the ground and glanced at the guard. Snap. Max looked wildly at Ire, the look on her face plainly saying 'Why the hell did you do that?' Ire just waved off Max's concern, her face plainly saying, 'I meant to snap the twig. Relax.'
The teenage guard started walking slowly closer. Max got a good look at his face and realized that he must he must have been the same age as Ire. Max was getting more and more confused by the minute.
As he came closer, Ire got ready to pounce. Max realized what was going on. Ire was going to knock the guard out, giving them free rein to do their recon in peace.
When he came near the tree, Ire jumped at him and punched him right between the eyes. Max remembered that move. It hurt.
"What?" Ire asked.
"Just bad memories." Max mumbled. In spite of the situation, Ire smiled.
"Well, he'll be out for a little while." Ire whispered.
"So, recon in peace?"
"Yep." Ire whispered with a smile.
"So, which way mon capitain?"
"That's funny." Ire said quietly. "This way."
Max followed Ire to the back of the house. There was a window, which Ire was looking at intently. Ire grabbed a garbage can and placed it under the window. Ire looked at Max and signaled her to do the same. Ire climbed on top of her garbage can, followed by Max.
It was a kitchen. They were looking through a kitchen window, but they weren't looking at the kitchen. They were looking into the next room, the dining room, where three people were sitting and eating dinner.
Max recognized the man from the picture. Wye. But who were the two others with him? A woman and a girl. Max then realized that this must be his family. But people from Manticore, they just didn't have families. The people at Manticore were monsters, not people. Especially not people who went home to a real family. Max saw Wye smile at his daughter. Smile? Manticore people weren't allowed to smile. Max wondered why this Manticore monster was trying to impersonate a real person.
Ire wasn't satisfied with their lack of not being able to hear the conversation inside, so she noiselessly opened the window just a crack. She and Max both adjusted their hearing and listened intently.
"Okay, okay." The daughter said. "I'm going to do my homework."
"All right." Wye said with a smile. The wife, as Max and Ire had penned her, only smiled.
After the daughter had left the room, the wife turned to Wye. Her smile was gone and she was looking slightly grave and worried.
"How - how are things going at work?" She asked.
Wye sighed and became serious.
"The X1s have all been eliminated. The committee intervened just before I got to the X2s. They said to wait a bit before I went on. Honestly there is no time. The sooner Manticore disappears, the better."
"But I don't see how eliminating them all will help make it disappear."
"It will help greatly. They have no use to anyone. They're nomalies. I told you about the nomalies. Useless. They don't deserve to exist. There is no meaning to them. They just live in a cage. It's a service to them really, putting them out of their misery."
"I suppose." The wife said vaguely. "But what about the others?"
"The rogues? Oh, they will be the sweetest of all. Their lives have no purpose either. They never did what they were made to do. They've been softened by the outside and will always be a risk."
"But what if you could make them loyal again? Surely it would be better than destroying them all."
"No. Even if I could make them loyal, I wouldn't. My job is to erase Manticore and just make it go away."
"You're just going to destroy lives? They are human in ways." Max began to like the wife, but just a little.
"They're not human. They're just a mess of DNA. They were trained to kill, and they have. I've read the reports and I've seen the pictures. They were trained to kill. Messes of powerful DNA that can kill. Do you want that free on the streets?"
"No." The wife said with a hardened expression. Max didn't like her anymore.
"I tell you, when Manticore is erased -"
"Dad?" The daughter had reappeared.
"Yes, pumpkin?" Wye asked and Max shivered. He was just talking about killing people and now he's Mister Good Dad? It didn't seem right to her.
"Can you help me with my homework? I can't get these math problems."
"Of course. Come on." Wye said and stood up. "And Mom'll help too, won't you?"
"Well, of course." The wife said. "You know your father is horrible at math anyway. You'll need me."
"I resent that." Wye said with a smile.
Then the three disappeared into another room. Ire hopped down from her garbage can and Max did the same. Ire started walking towards the woods and the bike.
"I'm satisfied with what I heard. What about you?" Ire asked as they walked along.
"Yeah. At least now we know what has to be done." Max said.
"Hmmmmm." Ire mumbled, obviously deep in thought.
Just as they reached the middle of the yard, someone grabbed both of them from behind.
