Somewhere else,

Somewhere else, in the midst of his own thoughts, Normal was interrupted by strong banging on the door to his office. He was still at Jam Pony, due to a lack of things to do, and work to be done.

He sat at the old wooden desk, papers strewn in front of him and stared at the door for a moment, wishing they would go away, who ever it was.

He mumbled to himself, thinking about the good old days, when everything was still functioning. When the society was functioning. When there weren't all these damned brownouts.

His eyes caught on the single burning candle in the room, from which light and heat radiated through the room. The knock had caught him off guard.

"We're closed!" he yelled, hoping they'd go away.

The banging came again, a little more fierce this time.

Finally Normal stood up, opening the door quick enough to put out the candle on his desk. Lights shone from outside his office however, from flashlights that were in the hands of four men.

One shone right in to his eyes, and he blinked, trying to get his eyes to focus. A man stood there in a fairly neat appearance, short brown hair and eyeglasses that surrounded just his eyes. He looked tough, although he was thin. Experienced and trained. Ex-Military or Marine, Normal guessed. His eyes fell on the others around him, three men dressed in black garb clothing with guns in their hands.

"What do you want?" he asked stiffly, trying not to let his voice tremor.

The man in front held up a picture, "We got this from a security camera across the street, we're looking for this person, recognize them?" he asked in a crisp voice.

Normal looked at the picture, studying it.

"Of course I recognize her," he said, "She's one of my employees, what'd she do?"

"Not at liberty to discuss that, sir." the man replied. "You know where she's currently residing?"

Normal shrugged, "I don't stalk my employees home, no."

"No idea?"

"No." Normal said, in a tone that was final.

The man before him seemed to sense that he was getting somewhat pissed.

"She'll be in tomorrow, starts at eight," Normal offered. "If she's on time."

The man nodded, dropping the picture. "Expect us then, but don't say anything to her." he ordered. Normal nodded.

And as soon as the men had arrived, the were again gone. Normal went and lit the candle once more. "Knew that girl was trouble..." Normal muttered. "Hangin' around with Max, the girl's gotta be trouble. Damned kids." He said to himself, then settled back in to his chair, soon forgetting about the meetings, and went back to his work.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Logan sat in front of the girls, deciding as the lights came back on.

"We have to try." Max urged. There was no more argument from Bree, who had obviously given up, not wanting to resort to violence.

Logan rolled over to his computer as Max blew out the candles. Bree sat, staring at the wisps of smoke that rose from them. Watching the tendrils dance gracefully in to the air. He took position at the computer as It finished powering up, then he clicked a few times with the mouse, setting something up.

Hope filled Max's heart when she saw he was preparing Eyes Only video footage.

"This is a streaming freedom video bulletin. The cable hack will last exactly 60 seconds. It cannot be traced, it cannot be stopped and it is the only free voice left in the city." He began, then continued. "This is a message that concerns any of you known formerly as X-Fives. Your family is in trouble, and a war is brewing. They are requesting your help. You will know the number to call. It is safe." Logan hit a button and stopped the recording.

Max watched him fiddle with a few more things, editing the clarity and some other things while adding other effects.

"How will they know the number to call?" Bree asked from behind.

Max waited for an answer as well, then Logan turned around, playing the message on the screen to the left of his central one.

The video seemed clear, but it quickly flashed twice during the proceedings. And at the end, Max and Bree both knew the number. They repeated it, then looked questioningly.

"Subliminal Messaging." Logan explained.

"Won't that tip off just anyone?" Bree asked.

"No, not if it's not seen more than five times. The Manticore brains process things as quickly or as slowly as possible. Very efficiently it takes the information apart and gives the full meaning. It's what makes you so good at problem solving." Logan explained, "So only someone with a genetically enhanced brain will see this messaging."

"Smart." Max approved. Bree nodded as well.

"Now all we do is wait." Logan replied, playing the message publicly.

"Great, the hardest part." Bree muttered, taking a seat by the window and staring out in to the night.

Somewhere else, Lydecker swore under his breath, hitting the desk with a fist as he saw the broadcast. Still, he continued to listen, again wondering why this guy was helping his kids.

This had to be about the X6. X6-544. That's all she'd ever been called. The other kids in her group hadn't conceived names for each other as the X5's had. But she had to have a name by now. It didn't matter. As long as he got the girl back before anyone else. The technology that was in her. The stem cells she held, were more capable of anything than he'd ever had. She was his personal success. The one he'd spent most of his time designing. For optimal fighting and thought process. She was able to do anything quicker than anyone else in her group was. Until she'd suddenly stopped. And escaped, he thought bitterly. Staring at the end of the Eyes Only message. His fingers drummed on the table top as he started to think.

She didn't yet know that they were waiting for her at work. There was no way the cavalry could rush in that fast. Unless every single one of them were watching at this very moment and close enough. Only twelve had escaped.

He thought of it. Thirteen of his trained soldiers, his kids, fighting them. Immediately he called in to base, demanding more man power.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~