"Wow, calm down, girl, it's just a name, not that big of deal."
"No, no, no," I replied, shaking my head. "Your mom is…Jace? Right?"
"Uh…yeah…"
"And she named you after her friend named Max?"
"I believe that's what I said," she replied, somewhat warily.
"My mom is the Max you were named after!"
"What?"
"Okay…listen to me here," I nearly panted, breathless from the excitement. "Your mom is named Jace?"
"I just said that…"
"And she named you after her friend named Max?"
"Am I hearing an echo?"
"How much did your mom tell you about this friend of hers?"
"Not too much," Max admitted.
"Manticore?"
"Manti-what?" I sighed, running my fingers through my hair. Couldn't she understand? Didn't Jace tell her anything? I mean, after last night, I knew as much as my mom did-possibly more.
"Sit down," I told her, motioning to the space on the bench beside me. We both sat down, facing each other, with my faithful bike waiting beside me. "Did your mom…or dad…ever tell you anything about a secret experiment in which they were involved?"
"Yeah…my mom did, but my dad doesn't live with us. He's in Wyoming, I believe."
"And did your mom say what this experiment was about?"
Max appeared to be thinking as she paused, raking through her mind. "Something about soldiers…killer soldiers, that's all I remember though." Then, looking directly at me, "Why? How does this affect you?"
"Listen to me, those killer soldiers in that experiment? They were our parents."
She looked closely at me, trying to determine the truth behind what I said. "How would you know?"
"My mom, she was there, she told me. Do you have, like, any special talents?"
"What?" she asked, probably confused out of her mind.
Sighing because I couldn't seem to get through to her, I stated the question again, adding in examples of what I meant.
"Yeah, actually I do. My mom told me that one day I'd find others 'like me', but I never knew what she meant. Are you all flipped up too?"
"Unfortunately, yes." Yet, not wanting to dwell on myself, I directed a question at her. "Like, what can you do?"
Max sighed. "They're not like, physical talents, I guess you could say-"
"Say what?" I interrupted, becoming rather excited if she really was the genetically engineered human she claimed to be. Ok, I claimed her to be.
"Like music, for example. It just clicks with me. Give me any instrument in this world, and I can play it after a minute. Play it perfectly. And, I mock any sort of note. Tell me what note to play and I can play it-without the instrument. I can sing it, actually. And, memorization. Like, I've already memorized your license plate number-"
"That's not that hard."
"Yeah? Well, you got a license to ride that bike?"
"Uh-huh," I replied, reaching into my back pocket to pull out my wallet, digging out the picture. "This is it."
"Show it to me," she said with a nod. I handed it to her. She looked at it quickly, less than a second, then gave it back. "Your phone number in California was 653-9987, you are the height of exactly six feet, born on December 13, 2020 in Seattle, your eye color is green and-"
"Okay, okay," I interrupted, "that's enough. I get your point."
She grinned at me, pleased that she was able to prove her reasoning. "And what about you?"
"Me?"
"Yeah you. If you claim to be the daughter of a killer soldier than you have to be somethin' special."
"Well…" I began hesitantly and rose to my feet, glancing around to make sure nobody was watching. "You see that street over there?" I asked, pointing to it, about a football field length away.
"Uh-huh," Max said.
"I'll go from there and back here in less than twenty seconds."
"Give me a break."
I raised my eyebrow, questioning her. "We'll see. Here," I said to her, tossing her my watch, which had a built in stopwatch. "Time me."
"Ready," she stated, her fingers poised on the buttons. I was poised as well, my muscles coiled and my fingers clenched. God, I hoped I could live up to my boast.
"Go!" she shouted. In a flash, I was off. Never before had I ran so fast, my legs were pumping, pounding across the unmowed grass. I hurdled over garbage that lay strewn across the lawn. Abruptly, I turned back, speeding towards her. My body was screaming at me. It'll be over soon.
The next thing I knew, I had whizzed by Max. Slowing down, I literally had to dig my feet into the ground before stopping and turning around. "Well?" I asked.
She stared at me, open mouthed and shocked beyond all belief. "It's impossible," she told me, shaking her head.
I walked towards her, hands on hips, breathing deeply as sweat trickled down my rosy cheeks. What was the time? She had to tell me.
"What was the time?" I asked her.
"You're not going to believe this…"
"Yeah?"
She looked up at me, her eyes wide. "Seven seconds."
