Renfro, after snooping around Lydecker's personal files and more, came back to Tinga. She closed the heavy door behind her tightly, just so that no one would be listening in on her conversation with the girl and locked it for added security. Then, pulling up a floppy folding chair, she sat down in it, her pains of the car accident pushed aside for the moment.
Tinga waited for Renfro to speak. She, too, wanted to sit down because, after all, she had been standing at attention for over an hour. Her legs were starting to shake from muscle fatigue, while the soles of her feet were burning. But, she kept her mouth shut and waited with a soldier's dutiful patience.
"Do you know who X5-452 is?" Renfro asked Tinga, examining her nails where one had been torn in the accident.
"Yes, ma'am. X5-452 is the enemy, ma'am."
"And what are you to do once you find this enemy?"
"I am to tranquilize X5-452 and bring her to you, ma'am."
"Very good. Now, let's say that I know where she is, would you go and get her for me?"
"Yes, ma'am."
Renfro nodded, pleased with the willingness that Tinga answered her questions with. Perhaps the death of X5-734 wasn't going to be a total loss after all.
She leaned forward in her chair so that it appeared that she and Tinga were doing nothing more than sharing a harmless bunch of girltalk secrets. But, girltalk didn't involved ruining people's lives by the use of military force.
Tinga blinked, waiting for Madame X's next order as she tried to sort out the jumbled pieces that had become her mind. She had waited, in darkness, for an hour, trying to recall exactly who this Zack person was. Finally, she had remembered.
He was tall, a little bit taller than she was, with shaggy blond hair that seemed to be always in his eyes. His face hardly ever showed any signs of happiness or contentment in his rugged life, which led to always an extremely harsh, jagged face on his part. After seeing him in her mind again, the thing that finally snapped Tinga's muddled mind was that he had not only been her commander and leader, but her brother.
Her brother.
Now, with Madame X staring her down, Tinga tried to push such optimistic thoughts away and concentrate on the mission. The mission, which was to try and capture her brother and this other girl, whoever she had been. Maybe her brother had done something so bad that he needed to be punished for it. But, on the other hand, why did Madame X seem slightly afraid of this man? Was he really that dangerous?
"Lydecker, your most lethal enemy, has ordered that X5-452 to be put with the anomalies."
"The anomalies, ma'am?"
"Yes, genetic deformities. They're hideous beasts that'll kill you if you get to close to them. Apparently, 'Deck thinks he can scare X5-452 into becoming a soldier for him once again." Renfro snorted angrily. "Bullshit, that girl'll die before she becomes a soldier for him anytime soon."
"The order, ma'am?"
"You are to go down the floor where they keep the anomalies…the basement, I believe, and capture X5-452," Renfro said, rising slowly to her feet so that she could keep on moving. After all, sneaking the X5-656 down into the basement would be enough of a problem, not to mention avoiding 'Deck and his men in the process. "It is of maximum importance that you get this girl who is-"
Foolishly, Renfro's last sentence had given Tinga all of push she needed to regain most of her memory of Zack and this other girl. Tinga interrupted Madame X's words without a second thought.
"Who is Max…my sister," she said, more to herself than to anyone else.
In a flash, Renfro slapped Tinga so hard across the face that the other girl fell to the ground, holding her burning cheek.
Enraged, Renfro grabbed Tinga by the collar and hissed into her face, "No! X5-452 is the enemy! Not Max! Not your sister! You never had a sister named Max! Do you understand me?!" When Tinga didn't answer at first, Renfro shook her so violently that Tinga's head bobbed on her neck. "Do you understand me, soldier?!"
Blankly, Tinga nodded, which led Renfro to stand up, brushing off her long coat. She walked to the door, ready to leave, then turned back to Tinga, who was still lying on the floor. "You try another stunt like that, soldier, I'll feed you to the anomalies…personally." And with that, she slammed the door shut so heavily that the sound echoed throughout the room.
But, Tinga was gaining back more of her memory than should have been possible. She now not only remembered Zack, but Max as well.
Another stunt like that would take her to the anomalies, Madame X had said to her. No, Tinga thought defiantly, rising to her aching feet, I'll take that bitch to the anomalies.
