They had been four hours in the air now. Kat rubbed her hands, causing the chains to clink together. Around her son's wrists the shackles were rubbing red circles. She could still hear Zack's voice over and over in her mind: 'You would let them do that to our son?', 'I can't stop you', 'How will you defend Cole's humanity when they strip you of your own?' The phrases cycled over and over again in her mind. But what haunted her most was the desperation in Zack's voice as he screamed for her and her son.
The blades were loud so she pretended not to hear, because she knew if she looked back she would have had doubts about what she was about to do. Couldn't he understand she had no choice?
Below them, the forest they had been flying over for the last half hour was now opening to a clearing where a solitary building stood like an isolated temple.
Manticore.
Now her first apprehensions about her decision came to mind. What would lie for them beyond those grey walls? There would be no escape this time. ' 'How will you defend Cole's humanity when they strip you of your own?' '
*****
Max's first instinct was to kick the girl in the face, but she stopped herself. She wasn't capable of defeating the girl, there was no use in trying, so she turned her attentions to Zack. "What did you do to him?"
"Max, he needs more of his pills. I did nothing to him. Please, trust me." Max still stood blocking the door, obviously not trusting of this 'daughter' who had just tried to kill her a day before. "What can I do to convince you that I have nothing to do with Manticore any longer? I don't want that life."
A war raged in Max's mind, but there was truly no point in fighting the girl. If she was affiliated with Manticore there was nothing Max could do now. Keeping Zack alive was what was important at the moment. "Lay him on the couch." Max's eyes still lingered on her with suspicion. Seeing how she tenderly lay him down on the couch, Max was satisfied enough to go to the washroom and retrieve the stash of pills she left at Logan's. There were only two left.
"What happened to him?" Max knelt beside Zack holding his shoulders as he began to shake again.
"I don't know. He just started to shake when he was trying to chase down Kat and Cole. They were taken to Manticore."
Sorrow pulled at her heart, but only for a minute. Kat said she would go, and she did. Max had to concentrate on her situation now. Zack lay before her, with such tremors that she had never experienced before. This X-6 knelt at her side, her voice filled with concern but could she be trusted?
They fed him the pills but he didn't have enough control to swallow. "He has been struggling all night. He took down half a bottle of these and is still like this."
"I don't have anymore... half a bottle?" An image floated to her conscious thoughts, of a weakening Brin, her face wrinkled with age, spots forming on her hands. 'Zack couldn't develop the syndrome. He was too strong. ' her mind refused to accept the possibility.
Across the way there was a sound outside the door and the handle turned. It was Logan and Bling. 'Finally ', Max thought in the recesses of her mind, 'Logan can make this all better. '
The smile that was on Logan's face disappeared with one glance at what lay before him in his living room. "What is this? You..." He never expected to see the girl for a while again, let alone in his apartment. Zack was right, the X-6 had found them.
Tracing his line of sight she saw his concern. "She brought him here. Logan, Zack is seizing. He needs something, anything." From the pleading look in her eyes he could tell that she wanted him to fix the situation. But there was nothing he could do.
"Then I have to break into the hospital and get some more tryptophan."
"You can't just go in there the day after you were shot, and run around stealing things." Though he spoke to Max he kept his eyes on the girl as though she might pounce on him at any moment. Her hair was still tucked tightly into a ponytail, just as it was yesterday morning.
"I don't think we have a choice here..."
"What about her?"
"Zack is going to die, he has been like this all night but she took care of him. I have a feeling she is on our side here."
"A feeling? This girl-"
"My name is Raven." The interruption was sudden and caught everyone off guard. There was something human in her voice that Logan didn't expect.
"Logan," Bling quietly interjected into the silence, "What about your shots? The doctor said it contained neurotransmitters."
Zack pulled his knees up into fetal position as his body continued to betray him.
"Give it to me," Max demanded rather harshly. Logan, filled with doubt, handed over the bottle, warm from being in his pocket. "I need a needle."
Bling reached behind Logan into the pack that hung on his wheelchair, retrieving a small needle.
"Please let this work," she mumbled to herself and she filled the needle with fluid. She pointed the tip to the ceiling and flicked it, pushing the plunger until all the air was out of the chamber. "Raven, could you please."
Silently the X-6 obeyed, unfolding Zack's body from its compressed position. His held his arms tight to his chest, tears of pain streaming from his eyes, but with her strength she easily extended his limb. Finally the crook of his arm was exposed and Max plunged the needle into the very veins that saved her own life, infusing the clear liquid into Zack's blood.
Max didn't care about Raven's presence now. For all she knew a tact team from Manticore could be closing in on them. Even a squadron of X-6 could be swooping in to bring them back to Manticore, but right now it didn't matter. If Zack died what would happen to the rest of the X-5? He was the only one who knew where the others were. She pushed back the strands of hair that were plastered to his face with his sweat.
Finally the concoction took effect and Zack's breathing became less labored, his muscles relaxed and Max let out a breath that she wasn't aware she was holding.
*****
The helicopter landed with a slight bump and Kat could see a group of soldiers awaiting their arrival at the edge of the landing pad. They were perfectly aligned in two rows of three, each row exactly two meters apart. Cole held tight to Kat's hand as they stepped down from the helicopter. The clinking of the chains that bound their hands and feet grew more noticeable now as the blades of the helicopter slowed.
The soldiers stared forward with empty eyes, as Kat and Cole were led toward the compound. In the pit of her stomach, Kat felt a knot of fear. She looked on the soldiers, their heads were shaved in the typical military style. Stripped of the only thing that could have hinted at individuality, they stood like soulless shells of humans. No, not even human, manticore. At a deliberate pace she was lead between them and as she came closer, her heart skipped a beat.
"Brin?" she ran to the first girl in the left line. Reaching up with a tentative hand she tried to touch her sister's face, but her eyes darted to the next soldier and the next. "Alic? Von?" Turning around to face the other line she saw more X-5: Dawn, Hawk, Oz. They were her family but the stared past her, through her very being, and didn't even show a glimmer of recognition. She expected as much from the ones who never made it past the perimeter that fateful night, they continued to live their whole lives as soldiers the memory probably wiped from their minds. But Brin…
Kat looked back at Brin, but the tears welling in her eyes distorted her baby sister's image. She clutched her son tight, as they were lead further into the heart of the concrete beast known as Manticore. The sterile walls pressed in on her, and she could feel her own soul quiver with fear.
*****
Within minutes Zack was standing, walking around to stretch out the muscles that had been tense for so long. It was strange though. He should have been too sore to even move but he was up and about punching and kicking at the air like a kick boxer preparing for a fight. Max stared at his movements, a little shocked at what she saw.
Zack's movements were uncommonly quick, even for an X-5. The fast mock-blows rivaled the speed and agility of an X-6. "Damn, Logan, what is that stuff?" he asked, "I've never felt this charged before." Just to get his point across he darted to the other side of the room with such speed he was only a blur. A smile crept to his lips, it was obvious he was enjoying the feeling.
"It's just something the doctors gave me for my back."
Max was confused, "Why does it have neurotransmitters in it?"
There was the slightest of hesitations as Logan considered what to tell her. "I was having spasms again, and he gave me these shots."
"But that doesn't make any sense-"
He cut off her so she couldn't voice her opinion. "I didn't pay to much attention to what he was saying. He just mentioned they were experimental, and there was a zero percent chance of side effects. I trust Sam."
A more timid Max responded, "Okay." Logan didn't mean to cut her off so severely but he couldn't let her call him on his bluff.
"Well, whatever it is, I've never felt stronger." After a pause he laid challenging eyes on Raven. "Hit me."
"Zack, what are you doing?" He paid Max's inquiry no attention.
"Hit me," Zack said stepping closer to the X-6. Raven looked to Max, then to Logan, and even sent a questioning look to Bling. She didn't know Zack at all and by the confused expressions they offered her it was apparent they didn't know him too well either. But she wouldn't back down from a challenge. If he wanted to be hit, she would give him what he wanted. Though, granted, she wouldn't hit him too hard.
With a quick step she aimed for his stomach. To her surprise he caught her hand. She tried again with the other hand and he easily deflected her aim. 'What was in that shot? 'she asked herself and she tried to punch him again but to no avail. Even though she was now attacking with all the speed Manticore had given her, Zack, who she had beaten easily just a day before, was now seemingly impossible to hit. To mix it up she even threw in a couple kicks, which he easily blocked with his forearm. 'How was this possible? The X-6 were built stronger and faster... '
She barely had time to duck as Zack's fist came at her face. Taken so off guard she fell to the ground, a look of fear in her eyes. Raven had never had such an experience before. Even among the X-6, no one reached her level of hand to hand combat.
"Zack, that's enough!" Max stepped between them, her body blocking Zack's fierce glare. Of all the bystanders in the room she was the only one willing to intercede. "What are you trying to prove?"
"Now she knows."
"Knows what?" Max said, helping the girl to her feet. The experience left Raven stunned and it was in this state that she actually looked her age.
"She is no longer a threat."
*****
The rest of the day and well into the night, Raven kept a wary eye on Zack, though knew the reasons for his actions. Since her credibility was questionable, Zack proving himself stronger than her would ensure that she kept in line. Essentially it was all about proving his dominance. Raven accepted that as she herself went through the trials of becoming a leader and understood the importance of dominance. Maybe she truly was her father's daughter.
Max, though still suspicious, was much kinder. Asking her with a gentle voice, questions about Manticore, Brin, and Lydecker. She explained how she had seen a recently captured 5b. That agent was currently being reintegrated into the program. At that a cloud of mourning passed over Max's normally fiery eyes.
"What about Lydecker?" the one they called Logan asked.
"He was shot in the heart and his lung was also punctured, but he is recovering." She tentatively lifted her food and sniffed it. Satisfied that it contained no drugs she placed it in her mouth. For some reason she knew that they wouldn't hurt her but it was force of habit.
"How is that possible?" Logan pressed on.
"At Manticore they are currently growing him new organs. He should be fully recovered in a couple months."
"Who's leading the ranks?" Now it was Max.
"Currently it's Major Mathews. Which should be good for you considering he never thought the X-5 were a top priority. He believes that the search is draining Manticore of much needed funds." Raven placed another forkful in her mouth. It seemed no one else was eating, but she had never tasted such flavorful food before.
"So then the X-5 are safe?" Logan said, a smile of relief coming to his face. One reached the lips of Max as well.
"For now," Zack locked eyes with Logan. Though he answered for Raven, it was what she was thinking anyways. 'Why had they stayed in the states so long? Manticore had operations all over the world but they were concentrated in America. Why live so close to the den of the beast? '
"How did you escape?"
"Major Mathews believes I am on a mission to seek out and recover the X-5." They all tensed at her words.
"How do we know you aren't trying to complete that objective now?" Max's voice was strained.
"None of you will trust me will you? I left Manticore; to seek out the one's who escaped. Not to capture you but to join you. There must be something better than a soldier's life..." Though the words spewed from her mouth, she rarely believed what she was saying. But she had to gain their trust so they would lead her to the others.
"Do you have a tracker on you?" Logan asked, and they all looked to her for the answer. It seemed that none of them had thought about that until now. 'Strange, it should have been their first concern. '
"No. Though, considering the X-5, placing tracking devices in us would make sense. However if anyone were to find a correlation between our locations and the murders and assassinations, it would not only endanger ourselves but Manticore as a whole. Besides, if someone wanted Manticore technology, they would hunt us down with ease if they could simply call up our positions from the nearest laptop." She could tell no one was fully accepting of her explanation but it was true. Lydecker would rather have his prototypes running free than in the clutches of some foreign government.
The rest of the night continued on, with them asking her questions, her replying with the most honest answers she was willing to give. It was around seven when Bling left for his own apartment, and close to midnight, when Logan finally retired to his room. The tension had begun to fade, and it almost seemed that Max and Zack trusted her reassurances that all she wanted was to be free of Manticore. It probably also had something to do with Zack and his new found strength. Major Mathews would be interested to hear that the X-5 had the potential to become just as strong as the X-6. With them reintegrated into the program, they could handle more operations, and Manticore would get the cash flow needed to bring it to stage 3.
The blades were loud so she pretended not to hear, because she knew if she looked back she would have had doubts about what she was about to do. Couldn't he understand she had no choice?
Below them, the forest they had been flying over for the last half hour was now opening to a clearing where a solitary building stood like an isolated temple.
Manticore.
Now her first apprehensions about her decision came to mind. What would lie for them beyond those grey walls? There would be no escape this time. ' 'How will you defend Cole's humanity when they strip you of your own?' '
*****
Max's first instinct was to kick the girl in the face, but she stopped herself. She wasn't capable of defeating the girl, there was no use in trying, so she turned her attentions to Zack. "What did you do to him?"
"Max, he needs more of his pills. I did nothing to him. Please, trust me." Max still stood blocking the door, obviously not trusting of this 'daughter' who had just tried to kill her a day before. "What can I do to convince you that I have nothing to do with Manticore any longer? I don't want that life."
A war raged in Max's mind, but there was truly no point in fighting the girl. If she was affiliated with Manticore there was nothing Max could do now. Keeping Zack alive was what was important at the moment. "Lay him on the couch." Max's eyes still lingered on her with suspicion. Seeing how she tenderly lay him down on the couch, Max was satisfied enough to go to the washroom and retrieve the stash of pills she left at Logan's. There were only two left.
"What happened to him?" Max knelt beside Zack holding his shoulders as he began to shake again.
"I don't know. He just started to shake when he was trying to chase down Kat and Cole. They were taken to Manticore."
Sorrow pulled at her heart, but only for a minute. Kat said she would go, and she did. Max had to concentrate on her situation now. Zack lay before her, with such tremors that she had never experienced before. This X-6 knelt at her side, her voice filled with concern but could she be trusted?
They fed him the pills but he didn't have enough control to swallow. "He has been struggling all night. He took down half a bottle of these and is still like this."
"I don't have anymore... half a bottle?" An image floated to her conscious thoughts, of a weakening Brin, her face wrinkled with age, spots forming on her hands. 'Zack couldn't develop the syndrome. He was too strong. ' her mind refused to accept the possibility.
Across the way there was a sound outside the door and the handle turned. It was Logan and Bling. 'Finally ', Max thought in the recesses of her mind, 'Logan can make this all better. '
The smile that was on Logan's face disappeared with one glance at what lay before him in his living room. "What is this? You..." He never expected to see the girl for a while again, let alone in his apartment. Zack was right, the X-6 had found them.
Tracing his line of sight she saw his concern. "She brought him here. Logan, Zack is seizing. He needs something, anything." From the pleading look in her eyes he could tell that she wanted him to fix the situation. But there was nothing he could do.
"Then I have to break into the hospital and get some more tryptophan."
"You can't just go in there the day after you were shot, and run around stealing things." Though he spoke to Max he kept his eyes on the girl as though she might pounce on him at any moment. Her hair was still tucked tightly into a ponytail, just as it was yesterday morning.
"I don't think we have a choice here..."
"What about her?"
"Zack is going to die, he has been like this all night but she took care of him. I have a feeling she is on our side here."
"A feeling? This girl-"
"My name is Raven." The interruption was sudden and caught everyone off guard. There was something human in her voice that Logan didn't expect.
"Logan," Bling quietly interjected into the silence, "What about your shots? The doctor said it contained neurotransmitters."
Zack pulled his knees up into fetal position as his body continued to betray him.
"Give it to me," Max demanded rather harshly. Logan, filled with doubt, handed over the bottle, warm from being in his pocket. "I need a needle."
Bling reached behind Logan into the pack that hung on his wheelchair, retrieving a small needle.
"Please let this work," she mumbled to herself and she filled the needle with fluid. She pointed the tip to the ceiling and flicked it, pushing the plunger until all the air was out of the chamber. "Raven, could you please."
Silently the X-6 obeyed, unfolding Zack's body from its compressed position. His held his arms tight to his chest, tears of pain streaming from his eyes, but with her strength she easily extended his limb. Finally the crook of his arm was exposed and Max plunged the needle into the very veins that saved her own life, infusing the clear liquid into Zack's blood.
Max didn't care about Raven's presence now. For all she knew a tact team from Manticore could be closing in on them. Even a squadron of X-6 could be swooping in to bring them back to Manticore, but right now it didn't matter. If Zack died what would happen to the rest of the X-5? He was the only one who knew where the others were. She pushed back the strands of hair that were plastered to his face with his sweat.
Finally the concoction took effect and Zack's breathing became less labored, his muscles relaxed and Max let out a breath that she wasn't aware she was holding.
*****
The helicopter landed with a slight bump and Kat could see a group of soldiers awaiting their arrival at the edge of the landing pad. They were perfectly aligned in two rows of three, each row exactly two meters apart. Cole held tight to Kat's hand as they stepped down from the helicopter. The clinking of the chains that bound their hands and feet grew more noticeable now as the blades of the helicopter slowed.
The soldiers stared forward with empty eyes, as Kat and Cole were led toward the compound. In the pit of her stomach, Kat felt a knot of fear. She looked on the soldiers, their heads were shaved in the typical military style. Stripped of the only thing that could have hinted at individuality, they stood like soulless shells of humans. No, not even human, manticore. At a deliberate pace she was lead between them and as she came closer, her heart skipped a beat.
"Brin?" she ran to the first girl in the left line. Reaching up with a tentative hand she tried to touch her sister's face, but her eyes darted to the next soldier and the next. "Alic? Von?" Turning around to face the other line she saw more X-5: Dawn, Hawk, Oz. They were her family but the stared past her, through her very being, and didn't even show a glimmer of recognition. She expected as much from the ones who never made it past the perimeter that fateful night, they continued to live their whole lives as soldiers the memory probably wiped from their minds. But Brin…
Kat looked back at Brin, but the tears welling in her eyes distorted her baby sister's image. She clutched her son tight, as they were lead further into the heart of the concrete beast known as Manticore. The sterile walls pressed in on her, and she could feel her own soul quiver with fear.
*****
Within minutes Zack was standing, walking around to stretch out the muscles that had been tense for so long. It was strange though. He should have been too sore to even move but he was up and about punching and kicking at the air like a kick boxer preparing for a fight. Max stared at his movements, a little shocked at what she saw.
Zack's movements were uncommonly quick, even for an X-5. The fast mock-blows rivaled the speed and agility of an X-6. "Damn, Logan, what is that stuff?" he asked, "I've never felt this charged before." Just to get his point across he darted to the other side of the room with such speed he was only a blur. A smile crept to his lips, it was obvious he was enjoying the feeling.
"It's just something the doctors gave me for my back."
Max was confused, "Why does it have neurotransmitters in it?"
There was the slightest of hesitations as Logan considered what to tell her. "I was having spasms again, and he gave me these shots."
"But that doesn't make any sense-"
He cut off her so she couldn't voice her opinion. "I didn't pay to much attention to what he was saying. He just mentioned they were experimental, and there was a zero percent chance of side effects. I trust Sam."
A more timid Max responded, "Okay." Logan didn't mean to cut her off so severely but he couldn't let her call him on his bluff.
"Well, whatever it is, I've never felt stronger." After a pause he laid challenging eyes on Raven. "Hit me."
"Zack, what are you doing?" He paid Max's inquiry no attention.
"Hit me," Zack said stepping closer to the X-6. Raven looked to Max, then to Logan, and even sent a questioning look to Bling. She didn't know Zack at all and by the confused expressions they offered her it was apparent they didn't know him too well either. But she wouldn't back down from a challenge. If he wanted to be hit, she would give him what he wanted. Though, granted, she wouldn't hit him too hard.
With a quick step she aimed for his stomach. To her surprise he caught her hand. She tried again with the other hand and he easily deflected her aim. 'What was in that shot? 'she asked herself and she tried to punch him again but to no avail. Even though she was now attacking with all the speed Manticore had given her, Zack, who she had beaten easily just a day before, was now seemingly impossible to hit. To mix it up she even threw in a couple kicks, which he easily blocked with his forearm. 'How was this possible? The X-6 were built stronger and faster... '
She barely had time to duck as Zack's fist came at her face. Taken so off guard she fell to the ground, a look of fear in her eyes. Raven had never had such an experience before. Even among the X-6, no one reached her level of hand to hand combat.
"Zack, that's enough!" Max stepped between them, her body blocking Zack's fierce glare. Of all the bystanders in the room she was the only one willing to intercede. "What are you trying to prove?"
"Now she knows."
"Knows what?" Max said, helping the girl to her feet. The experience left Raven stunned and it was in this state that she actually looked her age.
"She is no longer a threat."
*****
The rest of the day and well into the night, Raven kept a wary eye on Zack, though knew the reasons for his actions. Since her credibility was questionable, Zack proving himself stronger than her would ensure that she kept in line. Essentially it was all about proving his dominance. Raven accepted that as she herself went through the trials of becoming a leader and understood the importance of dominance. Maybe she truly was her father's daughter.
Max, though still suspicious, was much kinder. Asking her with a gentle voice, questions about Manticore, Brin, and Lydecker. She explained how she had seen a recently captured 5b. That agent was currently being reintegrated into the program. At that a cloud of mourning passed over Max's normally fiery eyes.
"What about Lydecker?" the one they called Logan asked.
"He was shot in the heart and his lung was also punctured, but he is recovering." She tentatively lifted her food and sniffed it. Satisfied that it contained no drugs she placed it in her mouth. For some reason she knew that they wouldn't hurt her but it was force of habit.
"How is that possible?" Logan pressed on.
"At Manticore they are currently growing him new organs. He should be fully recovered in a couple months."
"Who's leading the ranks?" Now it was Max.
"Currently it's Major Mathews. Which should be good for you considering he never thought the X-5 were a top priority. He believes that the search is draining Manticore of much needed funds." Raven placed another forkful in her mouth. It seemed no one else was eating, but she had never tasted such flavorful food before.
"So then the X-5 are safe?" Logan said, a smile of relief coming to his face. One reached the lips of Max as well.
"For now," Zack locked eyes with Logan. Though he answered for Raven, it was what she was thinking anyways. 'Why had they stayed in the states so long? Manticore had operations all over the world but they were concentrated in America. Why live so close to the den of the beast? '
"How did you escape?"
"Major Mathews believes I am on a mission to seek out and recover the X-5." They all tensed at her words.
"How do we know you aren't trying to complete that objective now?" Max's voice was strained.
"None of you will trust me will you? I left Manticore; to seek out the one's who escaped. Not to capture you but to join you. There must be something better than a soldier's life..." Though the words spewed from her mouth, she rarely believed what she was saying. But she had to gain their trust so they would lead her to the others.
"Do you have a tracker on you?" Logan asked, and they all looked to her for the answer. It seemed that none of them had thought about that until now. 'Strange, it should have been their first concern. '
"No. Though, considering the X-5, placing tracking devices in us would make sense. However if anyone were to find a correlation between our locations and the murders and assassinations, it would not only endanger ourselves but Manticore as a whole. Besides, if someone wanted Manticore technology, they would hunt us down with ease if they could simply call up our positions from the nearest laptop." She could tell no one was fully accepting of her explanation but it was true. Lydecker would rather have his prototypes running free than in the clutches of some foreign government.
The rest of the night continued on, with them asking her questions, her replying with the most honest answers she was willing to give. It was around seven when Bling left for his own apartment, and close to midnight, when Logan finally retired to his room. The tension had begun to fade, and it almost seemed that Max and Zack trusted her reassurances that all she wanted was to be free of Manticore. It probably also had something to do with Zack and his new found strength. Major Mathews would be interested to hear that the X-5 had the potential to become just as strong as the X-6. With them reintegrated into the program, they could handle more operations, and Manticore would get the cash flow needed to bring it to stage 3.