Troubled Souls
Part .13
smells like teen spirit
nirvana
Even the best of the plans fail. A story would not be realistic if Cinderella arrived at the ball and fell in love with the Prince, who she eventually married. That is why this isn't a Disney fairytale. If this was a Disney fairytale, Logan would be carrying kitty litter in a kind, thoughtful reaction to Max's cat DNA; Original Cindy would be happy, not gay; and . . . well, where the hell is my damn glass slipper?
load up on guns and
bring your friends
Zack's face was grim. He and the other Manticores were about two miles away from the first facility. They were certain that it was where Max had been originally held. They were equally certain that Renfro had the brass to keep her in the same place, a sort of brazen thumbing of the nose toward them from her.
it's fun to lose
and to pretend
Original Cindy was perched precariously on the roof of their motel, trying to tie into a satellite that was haphazardly mounted there earlier by Krit. From below, Logan called out encouragement, his eyes fixed to the screen in front of him.
she's over bored
and self-assured
"Little to the left, Cindy," he called when the picture blurred and the earpiece in his ear crinkled alive with static and mayhem.
"I know, Logan, I know," she snapped. "Original Cindy got a wigpiece, too, 'member?" She was, of course, referring to the headset that she had secured under her bandana.
"Right," Logan said, looking at the viewpoint on the screen labeled KRIT. "Krit, your hair is blocking. Move your cap up on your head." Logan heard an okay and then the camera view tipped forward as Krit nodded. A hand went up to smooth the hair under the cap and pulled it forward.
Logan had given them tight fitting caps that would serve the purposes of keeping their hair up and putting the mics and earpieces in. They were simple black, but Krit had remarked casually, "Nicest I've ever looked going into battle," before flashing Logan a dull ten-watt smile. Original Cindy had given Logan a huge wink behind Kit's head while Zack had looked at his shoes. Logan had busied himself as best he could by dropping his cold coffee into Syl's lap.
oh no, i know
a dirty word
Cindy grinned while she shimmied down into the room from her unhealthy seating point on the room. Her cheeks were quite bright from the cold win.
hello, hello, hello, how low?
hello, hello, hello, how low?
"We're in business," she remarked. She got a chorus of affirmatives from those not in the room while Logan nodded in her direction.
hello, hello, hello, how low?
hello, hello, hello, how low?
Zack's eyes were dry. He blinked them once, then once gain. He fixed his gaze on the road to the right of him. The snowdrifts to the side of the road were filthy, yet he and the others had been trudging on in them for the past seven minutes, their pace unchanging.
The facility came into view. It was not as impressive as Zack remembered the Gillette facility being. Perhaps it was because he was older; perhaps it was because he was entering instead of leaving. Zack thought it might be because he had outgrown fear.
with the lights out
it's less dangerous
His heart was not beating wildly, his breath was not coming out in ragged gasps. This was familiar: a mission to be completed. Zack watched as the sun made her final gleaming show of power before she disappeared beyond the forest horizon, a candle blown out
here we are now
entertain us
Zack made a rough signal indicating that Syl was to go to his right. Her eyes fixed on him, she complied wordlessly. Krit remained on Zack's left and Seana fell in behind him without command. Zack wondered whether to be angry at her brashness or proud that she realized where she should be.
i feel stupid
and contagious
They reached the fence. The chain links were decidedly set higher than Logan would have been able to scale, with his fear of heights. Carefully, though, the Manticores cleared it in one bound. Catlike, they landed on the moss-covered concrete and moved cautiously forward in the darkness. They had no idea who would be watching them from the depths of the shadowy woods.
here we are now
entertain us
Zack moved forward slowly, his eyes sweeping the dense shrubbery with intense dislike. He mouthed the words, "Too easy" before glancing to his left where he saw something moving in the brush. Grabbing the gun he had strapped to his leg, he made careful aim of the bush. Krit moved back to give good distance between Zack's target and himself. Seana and Syl had moved closer to Zack, covering his back while he turned toward the shrubs.
a mulatto
an albino
A squirrel ran out of the bush. Zack narrowed his eyes at the creature, almost considering shooting at the high, bushy tail that was there just for the hell of it. Shaking his head, he turned forward. Krit moved back into position.
Then he saw it. Lowering his body into the ground, he knew that the others were imitating him perfectly. There was a young child passing back and forth about twenty feet ahead of him. The child moved slowly and cautiously, almost as if it were on a guard more careful than before and didn't wish to be seen.
a mosquito
my libido (yeah)
Zack soundlessly got up and closed the distance between himself and the child. If there were a sort of alarm sounded, he would be in between a rock and a tight spot. He walked closer and closer until he could reach out and touch the child. Quickly, before he could change his mind, he did just that, snapping the neck. Turning the child over, he saw that it was a young female with large, luminous eyes now empty of life.
i'm worse at what i do best
and for this gift i feel blessed
It was Max. Yet it wasn't. Max was quite a few years older than this child, who looked barely seven, yet he remembered exactly how Max had looked at that age and it was Max. They had produced a clone of her? That was impossible.
our little group has always been
and always will until the end
Krit walked forward, toward the body that Zack was staring it. It bothered him to see him hold the body, almost as if the chimera had been a sibling. When he saw the face of the child, he nodded to himself, not at all as disturbed as Zack.
hello, hello, hello, how low?
hello, hello, hello, how low?
It was like them, he reasoned, to keep experimenting with the same basic batch of soldiers. Once you get the general look of the car down pat, you work on the engine until it purrs. Krit took the child roughly by the shoulders and turned it over, pointing the barcode. It wasn't Max's . . . except for the last three digits. It was an upgrade. How ironic that Zack had killed it; killed her.
hello, hello, hello, how low?
hello, hello, hello, how low?
Krit pulled Zack away from the body and motioned toward the left and the right, effectively telling Zack that where there was one, there was another; and another; and another.
with the lights out
it's less dangerous
There were more. They made a sweep of about one hundred feet in either direction, taking out four more. They were young Angela; young Fred; painfully, young Eva; and, strangely enough, a young Ben that didn't have his barcode correctly numbered. It was one higher than Ben's. Syl had taken him out and seen that the numbers were wrong. She wondered if Ben had been originally twinned in the first grouping and been placed in another grouping of X-5.
here we are now
entertain us
Finally, Zack moved them forward. They came to a clearing. Seana saw the building in better relief than previously seen and the site was almost sickening for her. Seeing any place where there were Manticores held as virtual prisoners always turned her off, but this place was a project of Manticore's. There were marks on the wall that looked to be fingernail scratchings of words in letters and symbols that she didn't understand and wasn't certain she wanted to.
i feel stupid
and contagious
Original Cindy swore when they took out the children. They were babies, she saw, in their slender builds and round features. Logan placed his hand on hers and said nothing, just kept his eyes unblinkingly on the screen while they systematically broke the necks of five young children.
here we are now
entertain us
"Did the first one, Cindy, did she have Max's eyes?" Logan whispered dully as he stared at the screen now showing the Manticores kicking a basement window, as per to the plan. Cindy jumped out of the chair and became violently ill in the bathroom.
a mulatto
an albino
Silently, Logan moved his mouse and zoomed in on Seana's view. There was something to the right of her, but it didn't seem to be catching her attention. He watched it a few seconds more before advising Seana to take a look. Without acknowledging the fact that Logan had spoken, Seana moved in that direction.
a mosquito
my libido (yeah)
The animal attacked before she had time to react. "First there were two, then . . . then nine . . . and thirteen . . . and fourteen . . . now there is one . . . one . . . one out of . . . out of fourteen . . . and now . . . there is only--" Krit grabbed the beast off of Seana, where it had been trying to remove her hair. "Leave be! Leave me be! Leave here! You'll regret it! You don't want to stay! We're the science projects pulled from the ranks only to become this! You will join us soon if you don't lea-" Krit twisted the head.
and i forget
just why i taste
"Holy . . . " Syl muttered under her breath. The animal had been . . . human? It most certainly didn't resemble anything human now. It had dark patches of thick fur on its arms. Or was that hair? The face, upon closer inspection, was covered with rough scales, as were its hands. She reached down and stroked them, and came up with a bloodied finger. Syl glanced at Seana and Krit, and noticed both were bleeding. Turning back, she continued as was.
oh yeah,
i guess it makes me smile
They had to get to the computers. They needed to find out where Max was being held. Without that information, the mission would fail. Zack didn't need a failed mission. He had never failed one yet; never. He had thought, four years ago, that he had, that Max had died, but he had been wrong. The mission from earlier is only continuing on, he thought to himself as they went up the stairwell in a single file line.
There was a lock at the top of the stairs. There was always a lock. People never left their basement door unlocked, afraid of what might climb in through their windows. Stray dogs . . . or stray cats. Or strange lizards . . . or whatever the hell that thing back behind them had been.
i found it hard
it was hard to find
"Logan," Zack murmured, "do you have the security loop into their satellite complete?" Zack tilted his head forward slightly in an attempt to have the lock seen more clearly. "We wanna make sure we got cover before we bust doors."
"Yeah," Logan said, his eyes trailing off of the computer screen. "I'd say you're safe to go right now. Should be working correctly."
"What do you mean, should be?" Seana asked in a shrill whisper. Zack glared at her. Seana glared back. "These are our lives, Logan, and you have 'should be' to appease us? I don't want should be. I want you to tell me that you have the security looped one hundred percent."
Logan stared at the screen for a few moments. He glanced at Cindy, her eyes wide and worried. She seemed to be mouthing some sort of prayer. What the hell? "I have the security looped one hundred percent," Logan told her in a flat monotone.
"Thank you," Seana said. "At least I know you care when you lie to me."
oh well, whatever,
never mind
They simply followed the signs to the computer room. There was nobody in the halls. It almost surprised the Manticores that there was a lack of security. They were doubly cautious with their movements and with the number of times they spoke to Logan and Cindy. With each and every transmition, there was even more chance that it would be picked up by something. That was undesirable.
hello, hello, hello, how low?
hello, hello, hello, how low?
The door was open, as was their luck. A man was just entering the room, his back towards the group as they stealthily worked towards him. It was swift. Krit took care of him in a few seconds and they were left with three men and three guns. Seana did a few simple kicks and those too were taken care of. Simple. Much too simple.
hello, hello, hello, how low?
hello, hello, hello, how low?
Krit took over the keyboard, sitting down and entering commands. Seana hadn't the faintest idea where he had drawn the codes and things he was using, but she was glad that he had them. She was certain that she would not have been able to keep her mind where it belonged. Even now, her eyes going from one screen to the other, her ears and concentration were in the corridor behind her. She didn't trust the calmness that had enveloped them since leaving the basement. She'd be dammed if that didn't sound like some sort of metaphor for leaving Manticore. No, not leaving; escaping.
with the lights out
it's less dangerous
The screen flashed. Syl watched as a series of numbers flashed across the black screen. Almost out of habit, Syl began repeating the numbers to herself and memorizing them. For a moment, there was no meaning to the numbers: then Krit stood up.
"That's the way to her barracks," Krit muttered, almost to himself. Zack nodded, then led a tentative company out of the room. Zack turned left at the end of the main hall, recalling from the plans which block Max's barracks should be located in.
As they walked the halls, Zack thought on what the creature had said. Its voice rebounding off of the walls of his mind as well as his uneasy misgivings about the security was unnerving. The creature had seemed mad but he wouldn't' be able to tell, would he? There was nothing to compare its sanity to.
The sinking feeling that what the animal had said was true started down near the back of his throat and worked its way downward, settling in his stomach. What if this was merely a place where they mixed and easy baked your DNA and you were left to look like leftover casserole or melted GI Joes?
Or maybe the beast had been insane and was merely babbling on and on in a delusional state of mind. Then there would be no need for a large security program to guard their prisoners. The inmates would be trapped within themselves and only the decidedly insane would want to get in; only a Manticore-made product would be *able* to get in.
It is like baiting a trap with cheese for the mice. We are the cheese.
here we are now
entertain us
Doors. They went through four doors. Shouldn't the next one be the entryway to the barracks? Krit looked down at the dried blood on his hands and torso, then at the knife he was holding. He had wiped it clean on his pant-legs but he could see streaks of dried blood on it. Well, they hadn't wasted any bullets and they had managed to find a several keycards in his pocket, each labeled in numerical order from eight to fourteen.
i feel stupid
and contagious
There was the door. It looked as if it had about a dozen locks on it -- were they missing any keycards? Zack did a quick count as his heart started pounding heavily in his chest with anger at his stupidity if he hadn't all of the keycards. Not that it looked as if they couldn't blast the door away -- it looked to be there mainly to keep the chimeras in -- but it would draw attention.
here we are now
entertain us
Which card to use in which lock? Seana went up to each of the locks in turn and glanced at them. Written carefully on each of them was a letter. There was no apparent order in which the letters were written. She glanced at Zack, unsure on how to proceed. C U I N O R A. What on
Earth did it mean?
a mulatto
an albino
Syl stared at the locks. There was something there that she wasn't seeing. What was it? She looked at the letters again, certain that there was a meaning to the order. Was it a word that was scrambled? If she could only find the correct way to arrange the letters into a word she would be able to open the door.
a mosquito
my libido
Krit checked the hand grenades he had. He liked big guns and big noises. He was certain that this grenade would make up for the lack of big gun-ness with the noise it was going to make. He was ready to prep a grenade as soon as Zack told him to. Personally, he had no idea what the lettering meant and he didn't care. He wanted to blow something up. Surreptitiously, he brought a hand up to his mouth and wiped the bloody fingers on his lips.
a denial
a denial
It wasn't an English word. Zack was almost certain that it wasn't an English word. They had already wasted approximately fifteen seconds staring at this door. Idiotic. He should just -- wait.
o-c-ho
n-u-eve
d-i-ez
o-n-ce
d-o-ce
t-r-ece
c-a-torce
Spanish. It was writing in Spanish, using the second letter of the numbers. How silly of them -- it was in order. The obvious answer had seemed to easy and now Zack wanted to hit himself and yell and scream and punish himself. However, now was not the time.
a denial
a denial
Logan and Cindy watched the computer screen with rapt attention. There was a problem, or there wouldn't be the hold-up at the door. What Logan wouldn't give for an inside view of each and every Manticore's thoughts at that moment, as they were paused. After about seventeen seconds of almost no movement from them, Logan was ready to speak until Zack beat him to it.
"Move," he ordered. Krit, Syl, and Seana backed up and out of Zack's view screen. Logan and Original Cindy both jumped inwardly. It was one of the few vocal commands Zack had given that night. The door came closer on the screen as Zack strode forward and swiped each of the cards in order. "Translate the numbers into Spanish and take the second letter."
Logan's view of Zack's IQ went up several hundred notches.
The door opened quietly and slowly, the image faltering a few seconds while it was doing that. Logan made the view screens smaller and opened up the program that was running his satellite hack in the background. Crap; they had found the hack.
"Big Brother is trying to watch."
a denial
a denial
The Manticores moved with renewed energy. From inside each of barracks that they passed on their way toward Max's cell number, they heard muffled moans and undistinguishable words. As they came into view, several unidentifiable animals threw themselves at whatever was serving as their windows and howled.
Three more cells. Three more cells. That one sounded as banshee must have sounded. Krit wondered if Manticore was experimenting with recreating fabled monsters.
Two more cells. Good God, that one in there looked like another child. It looked like a young boy and it most certainly looked human. Seana wondered if he had eyes in the back of his head or something else equally interesting.
One more cell. There was somebody just staring out of the window on the door into the barracks corridor. It was disturbing, the way the eyes didn't blink. Syl turned and watched for a few moments, never breaking eye contact.
This was Max's cell. Zack stepped up to it and typed the command to open it. The door unlocked and they stepped into the room.
Max wasn't there.
a denial
a denial
From seven places came a cry: in a forlorn whisper; an anguished moan; a pitiful and defeated tone, "Logan."
a denial . . .
Part .13
smells like teen spirit
nirvana
Even the best of the plans fail. A story would not be realistic if Cinderella arrived at the ball and fell in love with the Prince, who she eventually married. That is why this isn't a Disney fairytale. If this was a Disney fairytale, Logan would be carrying kitty litter in a kind, thoughtful reaction to Max's cat DNA; Original Cindy would be happy, not gay; and . . . well, where the hell is my damn glass slipper?
load up on guns and
bring your friends
Zack's face was grim. He and the other Manticores were about two miles away from the first facility. They were certain that it was where Max had been originally held. They were equally certain that Renfro had the brass to keep her in the same place, a sort of brazen thumbing of the nose toward them from her.
it's fun to lose
and to pretend
Original Cindy was perched precariously on the roof of their motel, trying to tie into a satellite that was haphazardly mounted there earlier by Krit. From below, Logan called out encouragement, his eyes fixed to the screen in front of him.
she's over bored
and self-assured
"Little to the left, Cindy," he called when the picture blurred and the earpiece in his ear crinkled alive with static and mayhem.
"I know, Logan, I know," she snapped. "Original Cindy got a wigpiece, too, 'member?" She was, of course, referring to the headset that she had secured under her bandana.
"Right," Logan said, looking at the viewpoint on the screen labeled KRIT. "Krit, your hair is blocking. Move your cap up on your head." Logan heard an okay and then the camera view tipped forward as Krit nodded. A hand went up to smooth the hair under the cap and pulled it forward.
Logan had given them tight fitting caps that would serve the purposes of keeping their hair up and putting the mics and earpieces in. They were simple black, but Krit had remarked casually, "Nicest I've ever looked going into battle," before flashing Logan a dull ten-watt smile. Original Cindy had given Logan a huge wink behind Kit's head while Zack had looked at his shoes. Logan had busied himself as best he could by dropping his cold coffee into Syl's lap.
oh no, i know
a dirty word
Cindy grinned while she shimmied down into the room from her unhealthy seating point on the room. Her cheeks were quite bright from the cold win.
hello, hello, hello, how low?
hello, hello, hello, how low?
"We're in business," she remarked. She got a chorus of affirmatives from those not in the room while Logan nodded in her direction.
hello, hello, hello, how low?
hello, hello, hello, how low?
Zack's eyes were dry. He blinked them once, then once gain. He fixed his gaze on the road to the right of him. The snowdrifts to the side of the road were filthy, yet he and the others had been trudging on in them for the past seven minutes, their pace unchanging.
The facility came into view. It was not as impressive as Zack remembered the Gillette facility being. Perhaps it was because he was older; perhaps it was because he was entering instead of leaving. Zack thought it might be because he had outgrown fear.
with the lights out
it's less dangerous
His heart was not beating wildly, his breath was not coming out in ragged gasps. This was familiar: a mission to be completed. Zack watched as the sun made her final gleaming show of power before she disappeared beyond the forest horizon, a candle blown out
here we are now
entertain us
Zack made a rough signal indicating that Syl was to go to his right. Her eyes fixed on him, she complied wordlessly. Krit remained on Zack's left and Seana fell in behind him without command. Zack wondered whether to be angry at her brashness or proud that she realized where she should be.
i feel stupid
and contagious
They reached the fence. The chain links were decidedly set higher than Logan would have been able to scale, with his fear of heights. Carefully, though, the Manticores cleared it in one bound. Catlike, they landed on the moss-covered concrete and moved cautiously forward in the darkness. They had no idea who would be watching them from the depths of the shadowy woods.
here we are now
entertain us
Zack moved forward slowly, his eyes sweeping the dense shrubbery with intense dislike. He mouthed the words, "Too easy" before glancing to his left where he saw something moving in the brush. Grabbing the gun he had strapped to his leg, he made careful aim of the bush. Krit moved back to give good distance between Zack's target and himself. Seana and Syl had moved closer to Zack, covering his back while he turned toward the shrubs.
a mulatto
an albino
A squirrel ran out of the bush. Zack narrowed his eyes at the creature, almost considering shooting at the high, bushy tail that was there just for the hell of it. Shaking his head, he turned forward. Krit moved back into position.
Then he saw it. Lowering his body into the ground, he knew that the others were imitating him perfectly. There was a young child passing back and forth about twenty feet ahead of him. The child moved slowly and cautiously, almost as if it were on a guard more careful than before and didn't wish to be seen.
a mosquito
my libido (yeah)
Zack soundlessly got up and closed the distance between himself and the child. If there were a sort of alarm sounded, he would be in between a rock and a tight spot. He walked closer and closer until he could reach out and touch the child. Quickly, before he could change his mind, he did just that, snapping the neck. Turning the child over, he saw that it was a young female with large, luminous eyes now empty of life.
i'm worse at what i do best
and for this gift i feel blessed
It was Max. Yet it wasn't. Max was quite a few years older than this child, who looked barely seven, yet he remembered exactly how Max had looked at that age and it was Max. They had produced a clone of her? That was impossible.
our little group has always been
and always will until the end
Krit walked forward, toward the body that Zack was staring it. It bothered him to see him hold the body, almost as if the chimera had been a sibling. When he saw the face of the child, he nodded to himself, not at all as disturbed as Zack.
hello, hello, hello, how low?
hello, hello, hello, how low?
It was like them, he reasoned, to keep experimenting with the same basic batch of soldiers. Once you get the general look of the car down pat, you work on the engine until it purrs. Krit took the child roughly by the shoulders and turned it over, pointing the barcode. It wasn't Max's . . . except for the last three digits. It was an upgrade. How ironic that Zack had killed it; killed her.
hello, hello, hello, how low?
hello, hello, hello, how low?
Krit pulled Zack away from the body and motioned toward the left and the right, effectively telling Zack that where there was one, there was another; and another; and another.
with the lights out
it's less dangerous
There were more. They made a sweep of about one hundred feet in either direction, taking out four more. They were young Angela; young Fred; painfully, young Eva; and, strangely enough, a young Ben that didn't have his barcode correctly numbered. It was one higher than Ben's. Syl had taken him out and seen that the numbers were wrong. She wondered if Ben had been originally twinned in the first grouping and been placed in another grouping of X-5.
here we are now
entertain us
Finally, Zack moved them forward. They came to a clearing. Seana saw the building in better relief than previously seen and the site was almost sickening for her. Seeing any place where there were Manticores held as virtual prisoners always turned her off, but this place was a project of Manticore's. There were marks on the wall that looked to be fingernail scratchings of words in letters and symbols that she didn't understand and wasn't certain she wanted to.
i feel stupid
and contagious
Original Cindy swore when they took out the children. They were babies, she saw, in their slender builds and round features. Logan placed his hand on hers and said nothing, just kept his eyes unblinkingly on the screen while they systematically broke the necks of five young children.
here we are now
entertain us
"Did the first one, Cindy, did she have Max's eyes?" Logan whispered dully as he stared at the screen now showing the Manticores kicking a basement window, as per to the plan. Cindy jumped out of the chair and became violently ill in the bathroom.
a mulatto
an albino
Silently, Logan moved his mouse and zoomed in on Seana's view. There was something to the right of her, but it didn't seem to be catching her attention. He watched it a few seconds more before advising Seana to take a look. Without acknowledging the fact that Logan had spoken, Seana moved in that direction.
a mosquito
my libido (yeah)
The animal attacked before she had time to react. "First there were two, then . . . then nine . . . and thirteen . . . and fourteen . . . now there is one . . . one . . . one out of . . . out of fourteen . . . and now . . . there is only--" Krit grabbed the beast off of Seana, where it had been trying to remove her hair. "Leave be! Leave me be! Leave here! You'll regret it! You don't want to stay! We're the science projects pulled from the ranks only to become this! You will join us soon if you don't lea-" Krit twisted the head.
and i forget
just why i taste
"Holy . . . " Syl muttered under her breath. The animal had been . . . human? It most certainly didn't resemble anything human now. It had dark patches of thick fur on its arms. Or was that hair? The face, upon closer inspection, was covered with rough scales, as were its hands. She reached down and stroked them, and came up with a bloodied finger. Syl glanced at Seana and Krit, and noticed both were bleeding. Turning back, she continued as was.
oh yeah,
i guess it makes me smile
They had to get to the computers. They needed to find out where Max was being held. Without that information, the mission would fail. Zack didn't need a failed mission. He had never failed one yet; never. He had thought, four years ago, that he had, that Max had died, but he had been wrong. The mission from earlier is only continuing on, he thought to himself as they went up the stairwell in a single file line.
There was a lock at the top of the stairs. There was always a lock. People never left their basement door unlocked, afraid of what might climb in through their windows. Stray dogs . . . or stray cats. Or strange lizards . . . or whatever the hell that thing back behind them had been.
i found it hard
it was hard to find
"Logan," Zack murmured, "do you have the security loop into their satellite complete?" Zack tilted his head forward slightly in an attempt to have the lock seen more clearly. "We wanna make sure we got cover before we bust doors."
"Yeah," Logan said, his eyes trailing off of the computer screen. "I'd say you're safe to go right now. Should be working correctly."
"What do you mean, should be?" Seana asked in a shrill whisper. Zack glared at her. Seana glared back. "These are our lives, Logan, and you have 'should be' to appease us? I don't want should be. I want you to tell me that you have the security looped one hundred percent."
Logan stared at the screen for a few moments. He glanced at Cindy, her eyes wide and worried. She seemed to be mouthing some sort of prayer. What the hell? "I have the security looped one hundred percent," Logan told her in a flat monotone.
"Thank you," Seana said. "At least I know you care when you lie to me."
oh well, whatever,
never mind
They simply followed the signs to the computer room. There was nobody in the halls. It almost surprised the Manticores that there was a lack of security. They were doubly cautious with their movements and with the number of times they spoke to Logan and Cindy. With each and every transmition, there was even more chance that it would be picked up by something. That was undesirable.
hello, hello, hello, how low?
hello, hello, hello, how low?
The door was open, as was their luck. A man was just entering the room, his back towards the group as they stealthily worked towards him. It was swift. Krit took care of him in a few seconds and they were left with three men and three guns. Seana did a few simple kicks and those too were taken care of. Simple. Much too simple.
hello, hello, hello, how low?
hello, hello, hello, how low?
Krit took over the keyboard, sitting down and entering commands. Seana hadn't the faintest idea where he had drawn the codes and things he was using, but she was glad that he had them. She was certain that she would not have been able to keep her mind where it belonged. Even now, her eyes going from one screen to the other, her ears and concentration were in the corridor behind her. She didn't trust the calmness that had enveloped them since leaving the basement. She'd be dammed if that didn't sound like some sort of metaphor for leaving Manticore. No, not leaving; escaping.
with the lights out
it's less dangerous
The screen flashed. Syl watched as a series of numbers flashed across the black screen. Almost out of habit, Syl began repeating the numbers to herself and memorizing them. For a moment, there was no meaning to the numbers: then Krit stood up.
"That's the way to her barracks," Krit muttered, almost to himself. Zack nodded, then led a tentative company out of the room. Zack turned left at the end of the main hall, recalling from the plans which block Max's barracks should be located in.
As they walked the halls, Zack thought on what the creature had said. Its voice rebounding off of the walls of his mind as well as his uneasy misgivings about the security was unnerving. The creature had seemed mad but he wouldn't' be able to tell, would he? There was nothing to compare its sanity to.
The sinking feeling that what the animal had said was true started down near the back of his throat and worked its way downward, settling in his stomach. What if this was merely a place where they mixed and easy baked your DNA and you were left to look like leftover casserole or melted GI Joes?
Or maybe the beast had been insane and was merely babbling on and on in a delusional state of mind. Then there would be no need for a large security program to guard their prisoners. The inmates would be trapped within themselves and only the decidedly insane would want to get in; only a Manticore-made product would be *able* to get in.
It is like baiting a trap with cheese for the mice. We are the cheese.
here we are now
entertain us
Doors. They went through four doors. Shouldn't the next one be the entryway to the barracks? Krit looked down at the dried blood on his hands and torso, then at the knife he was holding. He had wiped it clean on his pant-legs but he could see streaks of dried blood on it. Well, they hadn't wasted any bullets and they had managed to find a several keycards in his pocket, each labeled in numerical order from eight to fourteen.
i feel stupid
and contagious
There was the door. It looked as if it had about a dozen locks on it -- were they missing any keycards? Zack did a quick count as his heart started pounding heavily in his chest with anger at his stupidity if he hadn't all of the keycards. Not that it looked as if they couldn't blast the door away -- it looked to be there mainly to keep the chimeras in -- but it would draw attention.
here we are now
entertain us
Which card to use in which lock? Seana went up to each of the locks in turn and glanced at them. Written carefully on each of them was a letter. There was no apparent order in which the letters were written. She glanced at Zack, unsure on how to proceed. C U I N O R A. What on
Earth did it mean?
a mulatto
an albino
Syl stared at the locks. There was something there that she wasn't seeing. What was it? She looked at the letters again, certain that there was a meaning to the order. Was it a word that was scrambled? If she could only find the correct way to arrange the letters into a word she would be able to open the door.
a mosquito
my libido
Krit checked the hand grenades he had. He liked big guns and big noises. He was certain that this grenade would make up for the lack of big gun-ness with the noise it was going to make. He was ready to prep a grenade as soon as Zack told him to. Personally, he had no idea what the lettering meant and he didn't care. He wanted to blow something up. Surreptitiously, he brought a hand up to his mouth and wiped the bloody fingers on his lips.
a denial
a denial
It wasn't an English word. Zack was almost certain that it wasn't an English word. They had already wasted approximately fifteen seconds staring at this door. Idiotic. He should just -- wait.
o-c-ho
n-u-eve
d-i-ez
o-n-ce
d-o-ce
t-r-ece
c-a-torce
Spanish. It was writing in Spanish, using the second letter of the numbers. How silly of them -- it was in order. The obvious answer had seemed to easy and now Zack wanted to hit himself and yell and scream and punish himself. However, now was not the time.
a denial
a denial
Logan and Cindy watched the computer screen with rapt attention. There was a problem, or there wouldn't be the hold-up at the door. What Logan wouldn't give for an inside view of each and every Manticore's thoughts at that moment, as they were paused. After about seventeen seconds of almost no movement from them, Logan was ready to speak until Zack beat him to it.
"Move," he ordered. Krit, Syl, and Seana backed up and out of Zack's view screen. Logan and Original Cindy both jumped inwardly. It was one of the few vocal commands Zack had given that night. The door came closer on the screen as Zack strode forward and swiped each of the cards in order. "Translate the numbers into Spanish and take the second letter."
Logan's view of Zack's IQ went up several hundred notches.
The door opened quietly and slowly, the image faltering a few seconds while it was doing that. Logan made the view screens smaller and opened up the program that was running his satellite hack in the background. Crap; they had found the hack.
"Big Brother is trying to watch."
a denial
a denial
The Manticores moved with renewed energy. From inside each of barracks that they passed on their way toward Max's cell number, they heard muffled moans and undistinguishable words. As they came into view, several unidentifiable animals threw themselves at whatever was serving as their windows and howled.
Three more cells. Three more cells. That one sounded as banshee must have sounded. Krit wondered if Manticore was experimenting with recreating fabled monsters.
Two more cells. Good God, that one in there looked like another child. It looked like a young boy and it most certainly looked human. Seana wondered if he had eyes in the back of his head or something else equally interesting.
One more cell. There was somebody just staring out of the window on the door into the barracks corridor. It was disturbing, the way the eyes didn't blink. Syl turned and watched for a few moments, never breaking eye contact.
This was Max's cell. Zack stepped up to it and typed the command to open it. The door unlocked and they stepped into the room.
Max wasn't there.
a denial
a denial
From seven places came a cry: in a forlorn whisper; an anguished moan; a pitiful and defeated tone, "Logan."
a denial . . .
