Cruel
Twists of Fate
2020
Max strugged against the
shackles binding her wrists.
"Stop struggling, 452. Those restraints were designed specifically for
X5s. You're wasting your energy. You can't escape them."
Lydecker announced with a sense of self importance. Finally, he had
managed to capture one of the more elusive X5 runaways. Manticore could
say whatever they liked about his past failures. With 452 and Loren, his
safety and prestige were assured.
"You can have me. Just let him go. Why do you even want him?"
Max spat as she cast a wary glance at
Logan.
Lydecker followed her gaze
and smiled cruelly. "Well, that was actually Loren's idea. You see,
I merely wanted to poison you and haul you in for reprogramming. I would
have done just that if she hadn't intercepted you at the hospital. I'm
actually glad she did. Loren reminded me of your past
insubbordination. She's actually an incredibly intuitive woman...so much
like her father." He pulled himself from his memories with a laugh.
"She suggested that we bring him along as a bargaining chip. You can
withstand torture, we trained you for that. But, him...I don't think
you'll last long in interrogation if he's the one suffering for your silence, do
you?"
"Go to Hell, Lydecker.
She's not telling you a thing." Logan hissed from his own side of the
transport plane.
"We'll just
see about that. 316, watch them. I'm checking with the pilots to see
how much longer this is going to take." Lydecker commanded as he
disappeared into the front cabin.
"Yes, Sir." X4-316 saluted him and turned a blank gaze toward his
prisoners.
"Max, I'm sorry."
Logan whispered. "I didn't
know..."
"It's all right. You
couldn't have. You thought you could trust her. You did what you
thought was right. We'll get out of this." Max tried to put on a
strong face, but even she had to admit that their situation looked
grim.
"I just don't understand
it." Logan continued in a perplexed tone. "The Loren Davis I
remember would have never done something like this. She had a mischevious
streak, but over all, Lori was an
angel."
Max and Logan were too
involved in their conversation to notice the X4's reaction to Logan's
comment. X4-316 closed his eyes firmly against the sudden pounding in his
skull. 'Loren Davis...Lori was an angel.' Lori...Lori...Lori.
The images flashed on his eyelids like scenes of a movie, but they were too fast
to distinguish. He shook his head and forced his eyes open as Lydecker
emerged from the cabin.
"We'll be landing in thirty minutes."
X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4
RX turned away from the
car window to stare at his foster mother. They'd been on the road for what
seemed like an eternity. That afternoon, they had packed up a few
suitcases and promised to follow Lydecker to the Manticore facility in Gillette,
Wyoming. He didn't know how long they'd been driving, he just knew it felt
like forever. "Lori?"
She
glanced at him before turning back to the road.
"Yeah?"
"You aren't mad at me, are
you?" He asked hesitantly.
"Why would I be mad?"
"Because I
told them Deck was your Godfather."
Lori looked at him again and sighed. "It couldn't be helped.
Besides, as it turns out, it doesn't matter anymore. Max and Logan are
both on their way to Manticore. Who really cares if they know about my
father's misplaced loyalties."
"I
hope you know what you're doing." RX mumbled.
"If there was any other way, do you
think I would have resorted to this?" Lori asked in
exasperation.
"I guess
not."
"I don't like hurting people,
RX. I'm a doctor. I'm supposed to *heal.* But, I've got to
take a chance this time."
"Why?" The teenager watched her with an unsteady gaze. This was the
woman he admired. The woman he loved like a mother. He had never
dreamed she would resort to working for Manticore.
Never.
Lori closed her eyes before
she remembered she was still driving. "He's alive, RX. All this
time, I thought he was dead...and he's not. Nick is
alive."
The boy's stunned expression
spoke volumes. "I thought you were bluffing when you told Max and Logan he
was operational again. You weren't, were
you?"
"No." She pulled the car
to the side of the highway and leaned her forehead against the steering wheel as
the tears threatened to steal her vision from her. "They brainwashed him
using *my* program."
"Your
program?" RX's eyes widened in shock. "You gave them Lethe?
Loren!"
"I gave it to Deck so I
could gain Manticore's trust." Lori explained as she restrained her
sobs. "Deck trusts me already, but Manticore hasn't forgotten about
Nick. How could they?"
"You
wanted to work for Manticore all this time?" RX stared at her
blankly. "Why did you keep turning them
down?"
"I couldn't seem to eager,
RX. If I was, they would know something was wrong. I had to take it
slowly. Give in just a little at a time. When we found Max, I knew
I'd bided my time long enough. I knew Lethe would work. It would
secure my position in Manticore. I didn't know he was alive. I
didn't know they'd use it on Nick! He tried to attack me the other night,
RX. He tried to mug me all over
again."
RX unbuckled his seatbelt
and scooted across the seat to tentatively wrap his foster mother in a
hug. He knew better than to speak. No words could console her
now.
"He apologized." Lori
whispered, finally looking up to meet his gaze. "Nick actually
apologized! Do you know what that
means?"
"Your brainwashing program
didn't work. I thought it was
foolproof?"
Lori sighed and sat back
against her car seat before she started the car and began driving again.
"I thought it was, too." She answered after a time. "Lethe was named
after the mythological Greek river of forgetfullness for a reason. The
drug is supposed to build a chemical wall around old memories so they can no
longer be accessed. He shouldn't be able to remember anything that
happened after his childhood training. If it was anybody else, I would say
it was impossible to beat the strength of that chemical compound. But...I
know what Nick is capable of."
"Is
that why you turned Max in?" He inquired in a soft
voice.
"Yes. Before, I just
wanted to work for the company. Together, you and I could have come up
with a way to bring them down, to save the remaining Manticore kids. Nick
changed everything. I can't leave him there."
"We'll get him out, Lori. I
don't know how. But, we'll find a way to save him. I promise."
RX declared firmly.
Lori
actually smiled. "You know the last thing he said to me,
RX?"
"No, you don't talk about him
much, and I don't like to bring it
up."
"He compared himself to
Orpheus. He said, 'I'd go to Hell and back for one night with you Lori,
you have to know that.' " She halted the car and pointed at a complex
straight ahead. "It's ironic don't you think? *I* am actually the
one venturing into Hell to get *him* back. I won't make Orpheus's mistake,
though. No looking back. We're not leaving this place unless we have
Nick with us."
X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4*X4
"Dr. Davis, welcome to
Manticore." The man who comprised her welcoming party looked like a lab
rat. His bald head was ringed by a layer of white hair; his blood shot
brown eyes appeared a brilliant red; his sharp nose, small mouth, and bristly
mustache made him appear to have whiskers. RX mumbled something about the
rats of NIMH before Lori delivered a swift elbow to the teen's
ribs.
"Thank you, Dr...what did you
say your name was?" Lori covered
quickly.
"Dr. Petruso, M'am.
I'll be one of your main working associates here at
Manticore."
"Well, it's nice to meet
you, Pete. Please call me Lori. Do we get to start with a grand
tour?" She asked as she looked around the empty
lobby.
Petruso flinched at the pet
name she had chosen for him, but he seemed too afraid of her to object to
it. He bit his lower lip and frowned at the diminutive teenage boy
standing beside her. "Most of our projects are
classified..."
"RX is
trustworthy. You might actually find him a helpful resource. He's a
regular computer genius."
Although
he seemed unhappy with the situation, Pete led her through the labyrinthian
corridors of the Manticore facility on 'tour'. He was careful to point out
the security keypads at each door. "You're going to be given a Q
clearance. That means your password will lock all doors, except the red
ones." He explained. "If you try to open the red doors with you
password an alarm will sound at the main security
office."
"Where do you keep the
soldiers?" RX forced an adolescent curiousity into his
voice.
Petruso sized him up before
answering. "The barricks are in a separate building. We don't have
much contact with them unless they need medical attention...and that doesn't
happen often. Would you like me to show you to your rooms
now?"
"Actually, Pete, why don't you
show RX our living quarters. I need to go track down Deck and see about
making some arrangements. RX, honey, I'll meet you in the canteen in an
hour, all right?"
"Sure thing, mommy
dearest." RX muttered with a roll of his eyes "Don't worry about
me. I'll be just swell!"
"Pete, you have my permission to subject that child to whatever medical tests
you can dream up. He's a regular menace to society." Lori winked at
the rodent of a doctor and left. She had carefully stored the layout of
the building in her photographic memory as Petruso showed them around. She
could easily remember the route to Lydecker's small office. She wrapped
lightly on the door and entered unannounced. "So, how did things
go?" She asked as she ensconced herself in a chair in front of his
desk.
Deck looked up from a
paper he was filling out. "Pretty good, actually. 452 is going to be
difficult, but your idea will help us crack her
sooner."
Lori grinned. "So,
Donald Duck, is this going to get you your promotion?"
Lydecker sat back in his chair and laughed. "You haven't called me that
since you were nine."
"I haven't had
much oppurtunity to, Deck. When dad died..." She fell silent and
looked away.
Deck pushed up from his
chair and walked around the desk to place a reassuring hand on her
shoulder. "Listen, Lori, I know you miss your father. I do,
too. He was a good man. He saved my life in combat once...did I ever
tell you that story?"
"At least a
hundred times."
"Want to make it one hundred and
one?"
Lori shook her head and
ventured to look into her Godfather's eyes. "I want to see
X4-316."
Deck stiffened. "I
can't do that, Lori. I'm sorry. I can't. It just wouldn't be
wise."
"Why? Deck, I told you
that it was all a big mistake. I had no idea he was an X4. I was
deceived. I was lied to. Hell, Deck, you could even say that...that
thing raped me! Physically and emotionally. I want closure. I
want to know that...monster is never going to bother me again." Lori was
struck by the deja vu of that comment and almost laughed out loud.
Instead, she added a more desparate note to her voice. "Please. It
will be the perfect test for Lethe. If he doesn't remember me, than my
drug really works. You know I'm
right."
Lydecker puzzled over her
observation for a moment and sighed. "Go eat some breakfast and I'll set
up a meeting with him for this afternoon. Just don't make me regret this,
Loren."
Lori jumped from her chair
and hugged him. "I won't, Deck. You can trust me."
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