Dudes, here it is. The next chapter. Why did I make you guys wait so long for the chapter if it was finished May 1, during lunch? Hmmm . . . I liked the feedback and I don't want you guys to get used to having me write a bunch on one story very quickly? Yeah, I like that answer . . .


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Part .04

Instead of the numbing disbelief one might hope for, Logan felt immediate acceptance of the source's words.
It seemed so obviously -- idiotically, even -- simple. Of course, to make certain that there were no rescue attempts for Max they would fake her death. It was thorough. D*mn them.

For half a second, he wondered who had been cremated and mourned over.

"Thank you, you have no idea how much you have helped me," Logan reached over and shook the source's and before he got up and walked quickly away. It would be best not to stay too long with the woman. He would contact her later; he knew that he'd need to get most of the papers she had.

Stopping about half a block down, Logan reached into his left jacket pocket and withdrew his cellphone. "Normal?" he asked the tiny black phone. "Great, now this is important, okay? Tell Original Cindy to call me. This is about, erm, those tests she had done -- Normal don't get any of her blood on you, hear?"

* * ~ ~ * * ~ ~ * *

Original Cindy was stretched out on the floor, studying the photocopies Logan had gotten from the source. She and Logan had been looking at the papers for three hours. There were literally hundreds of pages copied from the notebook. After looking at the pages for a while, the woman's shorthand became similar to a second language to them. Apparently, the source had gone about once a week to copy the papers -- and it took an entire notebook, even then. Logan was willing to bet that a couple of three day only papers -- that is to say papers where her husband had been the middle man, not the addressee -- had slipped past her system.

"Reindoctrinated . . . unsuccessful . . . insubordinate . . . d*mn, boy, she ain't goin' easy on them! Look at the b!tch of a time she gave them here . . . almost made it," Original Cindy passed him the paper. "So close."

"How could we not have known?" Logan asked.

"Well, boo, when she died, you literally had us steal the corpse and cremate her at your friend's. None of us wanted to see Max without life, so we didn't see the body . . . plus there wasn't time. Thank God you had
a private memorial service -- which you didn't attend, boo -- done by Herbal. What if 'Deck had gotten wind of the service and raided it or something?"

"We were so careful. It's exactly what Max would have wanted -- and exactly what Lydecker was planning on," Logan said bitterly. "I have to send notice to Zack."

"How 'bout an Eyes Only piece . . . how 'bout . . . . X-5s, the b!tch is back. Leaders of both parties concerned please contact me," Original Cindy gave a great wave of her arm and then dropped it suddenly. "Well?" she
asked Logan.

"Yeah," Logan picked up some papers. "Let's start on the tape."

At the end of an hour, they had a tape completed. After they pixalated it, Logan and Original Cindy viewed it with satisfaction. The sound was static'd out and sounded perfectly Eyes Only normal. After his introduction finished -- Original Cindy loved his introduction -- Logan began speaking in earnest.

"This is for those in the group known simply as X-5. Four years ago, a woman was taken away from her life. Her family and friends believed X-5 332 to be dead from a horrible car accident. I have recently obtained information telling otherwise. I need the leaders of those who created 332 and took her back, and also those of her group, to contact me. You know exactly how. This is in memory of X-5 332 -- who is alive. Keep fighting your antichrist, 332. We're on our way."

"Too bad you couldn't call her Max, but that's a giveaway for smart norms," Original Cindy remarked. "Bargaining chips are no problem. You got the dirt on them to expose them. Of course, it would mean --"

"Certain death for me," Logan said cheerfully. "Manticore would fall, but many people would hunt me down. But I'm on borrowed time as it is, with all I've done."

"That's right, suga. Can Original Cindy add a part to tell her boo hey?" Original Cindy crossed her arms, something that had worked on everyone she knew except for Logan and Max. As always, Logan ignored the offensive posture.

"When we're sure this is gonna work, you can send one. Now, just put this on superspeed," Logan clicked a button, "and it'll look like a TV sound glitch. Only people with superhearing will be able to slow it down and
listen to it. Therefore, only Manticores will hear it. Hopefully, Lydecker has kids on hand with television access. If he doesn't contact us, we run my introduction on normal speed and then fast forward the message. That'll catch his attention."

"Yeah, he's got everyone on alert for your broadcasts there, according to these here papers," Original Cindy said. "So, we gonna get our b!tch back?"