Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Max sat alone in her room looking out the window. She felt really upset over everything. Manticore was gone, but that was about the only good thing in her life. It was raining, she STILL didn't know where any of her siblings were, and worst of all she still couldn't touch Logan.

Max remembered her days back at Manticore. She remembered her last lessons, the ones where she got to chose where she would work in Manticore. Yes, she would have been a soldier, but there were a few options. She could have been working in the medical field, or she could have been a weapons expert.

She always knew who would pick what. Eva would have made a wonderful undercover operative. Zack wouldn't have picked any of them, opting to stay as the CO. Jondy would have made a great weapons expert. Raav would have made a kick ass doctor.

"Raav could have beat this thing," said Max, "But I don't know about Raav. I don't know if she made it or if she lived through Manticore."

Max lowered her head and began to think about her beloved older sister.

*+*+*

Gillette, Wyoming, 2005.

Training Forest

"Deploy!" shouted Lydecker. Nine X5s moved in a perfect march behind Zack into the forest, their guns held out in front of them, ready to shoot down things. Once inside the forest, Zack motioned for them to make a circle.

"All right," said Zack, "Half of us will follow Max, half of us will follow me."

"I don't want to shoot anything," said Eva, dropping her gun. Raav bent over and scooped up the gun and handed it to her.

"We have to Eva. I hate guns as much as you do," she said with a smile.

"Liar," said Eva, poking Raav in the shoulder.

"Quiet," barked Zack, "Max, you pick your team."

"Brin, Raav, Tinga, and Ben."

"That leaves me with Kurt, Krit, Eva and Zane," said Zack, "Now move out!"

"Follow me," motioned Max. The four other X5's followed their leader until they reached the clearing. Tinga walked out first, followed by Max, Ben, and Raav. Brin took up the lead, but she hit a snag when she snared her leg in a trap. A sickening snap followed the trap and Brin stifled a scream.

"Oh my god," said Brin, holding her leg.

"No one move," said Tinga, "More traps."

"Unfriendlies!" yelled Ben. He raised his gun and shot one bullet, which took out a machine in one of the trees, but not before it injured both Max and Ben.

"MAX!" shouted Tinga who lunged forward, and got her ankle stuck in a trap.

"Disable it!" shouted Brin. Raav raised her gun and took out a second machine with regulated the underground traps. Then, with blinding speed, she leapt to Brin's side and reached into the hole.

"This is gonna hurt baby sister," said Raav. Brin bit her lip, then nodded. Raav reached down and pulled Brin's leg out, but she left behind a good chunk of skin.

"AH!" whined Brin.

"It's okay," said Raav, "It's okay. It's gonna be okay. This is nothing, I can fix this!"

"It hurts…" whimpered Brin.

"Ben, how about a story?" said Raav as she took her knife out of her pocket and untied the bandanna from around her wrist.

"A story?" said Ben.

"To take her mind off this!" mouthed Raav as she held the knife up.

"Yeah!" said Ben, and he launched into a long story about a princess and her prince. All the while, Raav was holding Brin down and prying metal spikes out of her leg. Brin whimpered a lot and kept kicking Raav off her until Raav finally snapped.

"Listen to me Brin! Either you stop fidgeting or I am going to cut your leg off. The stiller you stay the shorter this will take. Do you understand me X5 734!"

"Yes Raav," said Brin sheepishly. Brin took out her bandanna and began to bite down on it as Raav finished dressing her leg. Raav then quickly moved onto Tinga's ankle, then Ben and Max.

Later that night, the five of them sat around in the cold and dark, waiting for the first light so they could keep moving. Max had agreed to take the second last watch so Raav could have the last one, but in her heart she had other plans.

As Max moved into her position as sentry, Raav shivered. Raav's clothes were drenched in the blood of her siblings. A thin trickle of blood from her own head was left unnoticed because she was to busy trying to help the others. She had done a wonderful job on Brin's leg. Max had checked it over and seen that it was healing already. Max's own wound was very well dressed, better than most of the doctors would have done. Max really loved her sister Raav.

Raav was one of the weaker X5's when it came to strength. Raav was no weakling, but when it came to a straight out brawl she couldn't hold out as long as, say, Kurt or Zack. Jondy often mused that they had given Kurt some of Raav's strength, but doubled Raav's brain. She was always a bright child, always the best tactician, and an amazing medic.

Max sat propped up against a tree next to where Raav was sitting and shivering. Max saw her and took off her jacket to give to her. She laid it on top of her, but Raav didn't stop shaking. Raav began to violently jerk from side to side, her hands clenched into fists. Max didn't know what to do so she did was Raav always did when one of them was hurt. She took her head in her lap and held it, making sure that she didn't swallow her tongue.

The shaking stopped after a few minutes, but it scared Max. She didn't know what to do but stroke her sisters sweat soaked brow and gaze up at the stars.

"I'm okay Max, really I am," said Raav, even without getting up.

"What happened?" said Max.

"It's called an epileptic seizure. It's because of a chemical imbalance in the brain. Not enough Seritonin.

"What?"

"I've got the shakes."

"How long have you had them for?"

"About a year. Kurt finds ways to hide them. They would take me away if they knew."

"I'll help you hide them Ravioli."

"Don't call me that. It's Raav."

"Why Raav?"

"Initials."

"Of what?"

"Do you remember when you were really little, there were other little kids with you?"

"Yeah. Jondy and Krit and Syl."

"I had Aria, Anise and Rico. They were all shot during a live ordinance drill."

"Oh."

"So I took the name Raav."

"R-A-A."

"Yeah."

"What's the V?"

"My name."

"Which was?"

"Another time Max."

"Okay," said Max as Raav drifted off to sleep.

*+*+*

"Logan!" called Asha as she entered the apartment, "Logan I may have a way to help MAX!"

"What?" asked Logan as he rolled out into the computer room.

"I need to see this tape so I can contact Anise."

"Anise?"

"Anise DiGregrio," said Asha as she handed Logan a picture of a brunette girl in her early twenties, "One of S1W. Old timer. She sent me her latest underground paper on Genetically Implanted Retro Virus's."

"You think she can fix Max?"

"I haven't spoken to her in a six months. She up and left San Francisco after something spooked her. I think it was around the time that you first helped the X5's."

"Oh," said Logan, "Where is she now?"

"She sent me a video, and told me to watch it," said Asha as she popped the tape into the VCR. It began to play, and Asha watched as the video turned into that of three twenty-something's jumping into a room. Suddenly, gunshots rang out and two went down. Then, the face of a girl appeared.

"Asha," she said, "If you're watching this, you need my help. And I know that Cricket wouldn't give you this is you didn't really REALLY need my help. The picture you just saw is what I've been up to. You see, I did a favour for a friend and I ended up being stabbed in the back. Well…. Shot in the back by people who've been after me and Curtis since we were kids growing up in the Bronx."

"She's one of the original members of S1W," said Asha as Anise rolled herself back so her lab could be seen in the shot.

"So here I am, in a place far away from the comforts of my home in San Francisco. I'd tell you where I am, but then I'd have to have you drowned in a bucket of bullets."

"Old joke," said Asha.

"Curtis and I are here with our kids. They miss Uncle Ralph, Curtis' older brother, a lot, but we're dealing. They wish I could walk, but they're glad I'm alive. The third person in the scene was Curtis' other brother Ricky. Ricky is brain dead now. Completely brain dead. We're keeping him alive in the hope that SOME of my research could help him, but stuff ain't looking good. I'm on the lookout for my baby sister Jana. She has the same blood type and I may be able to fix him.

I know by now you want to know how to contact me, and it's simple. You can't. I can't risk letting anyone know where Curtis and I are hiding. All I can tell you is I will be in Seattle on October 7th. I've got to see a man about Curtis' nephew. You want me, find me. My oldest son, Dan, will accompany me. He and I will be around. If you find me, I'll help. If not, I won't. I wish you luck and I hope you find me."

"That's it?" said Logan.

"Anise's husband is a man by the name of Curtis, thought she calls him Kurt. I always wondered about him, though now I believe he may be one of Max's crew. He has a barcode; he doesn't talk about anything before '09, and he's SO strong. He's tough, but he loves Anise to pieces," said Asha, "So are you going to help me find Anise?"

"Max…"

"No," said Asha, "I don't think Anise will like that. Anise will only come see me. Curtis has been running for his life since he was 10, and she's been by his side since she was fourteen."

"Fine," said Logan, "You and I will hunt this girl down."

"She'll likely be found around the Space Needle. She said she's always wanted to see it."

"The 7th…that's tomorrow!" said Logan, "Asha, she better be worth it."

"Logan, you want to be with Max, right?"

"Right…"

"Then you need to help me find Anise."

"Fine," said Logan, grumbling.

*+*+*

"What do you mean we're going to Seattle," said Dan as his mother turned her green jeep left onto the Seattle off-ramp.

"I mean I have business in Seattle," said Anise, "And that's that."

"Dad told me that the most important thing is to follow the mission."

"You're dad is whack when it comes to our safety."

"Dad is just looking out for us."

"He's safe and so are we."

"We're not safe."

"Yes we are. Between your fighting ability and my skills as a diplomat, we're FINE Dan."

"I do not like this."

"Your displeasure is noted and ignored," said Anise, "Now be quiet."

"Why are we going to Seattle."

"I have to test an old friend."

"Who?"

"Asha."

"Is she the one in S1W?"

"Yes."

"Isn't she the one who sent you, dad and Roc to that place?"

"No. THAT was your uncle Ralph."

"X5-599."

"I really wish your father didn't teach you all that Manticore shit."

"It's not shit."

"Don't swear."

"I'm a soldier."

"You're my son, that's all."

"Mom…"

"Don't MOM me. You are Dan Digregorio, my son."

"I am 270581092366."

"And that makes your designation what?"

"G2 366."

"G2 366?"

"My father was an X5, which makes me Generation 2. Hence, Generation 2 number 366."

"Your name is Dan."

"My father had a name too. Dad is X5 584, but he was called Kurt."

"I wish I could erase that damned barcode off the back of your neck. Then maybe you wouldn't be ten going on twenty. Your father got out of Manticore so you would never have to face any of this, and yet you cling to it like glue."

"Uncle Ralph did."

"Uncle Ralph DIED," said Anise, "And so will you if you keep up this soldier crap."

"You do know that all of us have barcodes."

"And that's why I don't let you cut your hair short."

"Eva wants short hair."

"DAN!"

"Sorry," he said, hanging his head in shame. The silence lasted for about a minute, when Anise began to feel sorry for him.

"So you say all the kids have designations?"

"We all do. Dad and Aunt Jondy teach us stuff about them."

"Fine. State your barcode and designation, as well as those of your unit."

"My name is Dan. I am G2-366. My barcode is 270581092366. Next in command is Jack. G2-475. 423439070475. Along with G2-475."

"Don't call your brother G2-475."

"Sorry. Jack's equal is Eva. G2-532. 423439070532. Then there is Trigs, G2-894, 348705050894. Then there is 423439070409, also known as G2-409, or Kat. Lastly are the twins. G2-624 and G2-426. Drake and Nami. 423439070624 and 423439070426."

"You know all their names and barcodes."

"Mom I have to. I'm big brother. I have to protect them."

"Between your father and I they're in good hands."

"Mom…"

"No buts."

"Mom, do you have a designation?"

"No Dan."

"Oh…Do you have a barcode?"

"DAN!"

"Sorry."

"You're so inquisitive."

"If you think about it, it's your fault."

"How?"

"Mom, you're the smartest person I know, except in this current situation."

"So?"

"You and dad made me, and if you think about genetics, I was bound to be smart."

"You sound like your aunt Brin."

"Dad said I sound like my aunt Max."

"Okay…"

"You never met her?"

"No…" said Anise, "Now lets find a place to stay the night."

"Sure."