Max had left HQ to see Alec once she had hung up the phone. She had gotten to the stations office just as Alec's first came smacking down into the soundboard.
"Alec?"
Alec spun to face her. "X5-453, Go away." He snapped.
Max shook her head. "Alec what's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"Let me help you Alec." Max sighed. "Tell me."
"I said it was nothing."
Max sighed and slumped up against the board. "Alec."
"Leave me alone." Alec began to flee the room, as an afterthought he turned to Max. "Meet me here next show time in the main room."
"Won't you be working?"
"No I'll cover that. I need to take a break." Then Alec dissapeared.
****
That had been Friady, now it was Monday and no one had seen or heard from Alec. That was what everyone thought but Alec had actually spent some some time with Joshua training him to take his place for a night and then he had actually given himself a complete break from TC society all together.
****
Max was early. Well Max was on time at least, Alec was late. Alec popped up as if out of nowhere right infront of Max who jumped.
"I didn't mean to startle you." Alec smirked back to his old self.
Max bristled. "You didn't. You're late."
"Whatever." Alec shrugged.
"Don't you have a show to start?" Max defended herself by changing the subject.
"I've got it covered." Alec grinned slyly.
"Alright." Max shrugged in a huff. "So what are we doing?"
"Listening to the show and taking a break from our roles for the night." Alec answered.
Max looked around the room and saw no radio. "How?"
Alec pulled a radio from his backpack and grinned setting it on the table and turned on the show.
"Isn't that Logan's radio?" Max asked.
"Yes." Alec grinned sheepishly. "Storm one of the X7's is ... uh fixing it. Logan missed the end of the last broadcast too."
Max simply shook her head and hopped up on to the desk next to Alec with the radio between them. A group of transgenics and X's milling around HQ stopped what they were doing and gathered to listen to the show.
"Welcome to WTGX Transgenic Radio's third broadcast." Mole's voice floated out of the speakers from his station in the backroom of HQ. "Tonight Alec needed the night off from the pressures of life as a disk jockey so answering the phones tonight will be TC's own Joshua. Say hello Josh."
"Hello." Joshua growled softly.
"Well lets hear from our first caller Josh." Mole urged.
"First caller Jondy." Joshua chuffed.
"Jondy nice to hear from you again." Mole laughed. "Got a thirst for music. huh?"
"I love pre-pulse music." Jondy agreed. "Listen Mole I wanted to request The Glass Prison by Dream Theater. It reminds me of my fallen brother Ben. I miss him." The last part was whispered softly and only would have been picked up by TC's inhabitance's good ears.
Mole sighed. "Glass Prison goes out from Jondy in memoriam of her brother Ben. Ben wherever the good place you found is I hope you hear this and know your family misses you."
Mole nodded to Joshua. Joshua keyed up the song and hit the play button. Two buttons went down at once, the song squealed out at a high-pitched fast-forward. Joshua growled and screamed covering his own ears. All of the show's listeners cringed.
"Josh what the hell are you doing man?" Mole screamed over the noise.
Jhosua fumbled droping a stack of tapes and Cd's and crowled again. "No,no."
Mole moved to the resque. "Just pus the green button."
"Okay, Mole. Sorry Mole, sorry." Joshua apologized and cued up the song again.
"Sorry there listeners," Mole spoke up. "WTGX normally does not take a part in sonic soundwave torture. We appologize for tgis inconvience."
Mole nodded to Joshua who nodded back and smiled then pushed the green button carefully.
"Cunning, Baffling, Powerful
Been beaten to a pulp
Vigorous, Irresistible
Sick and tired and laid low
Dominating, Invincible
Black-out, loss of control
Overwhelming, Unquenchable
I'm powerless, have to let go
I can't escape it
It leaves me frail and worn
Can no longer take it
Senses tattered and torn
Hopeless surrender
Obsession's got me beat
Losing the will to live
Admitting complete defeat
Fatal Descent
Spinning around
I've gone too far
To turn back round
Desperate attempt
Stop the progression
At any length
Lift this obsession
Crawling to my glass prison
A place where no one knows
My secret lonely world begins
So much safer here
A place where I can go
To forget about my daily sins
Life here in my glass prison
A place I once called home
Fall in nocturnal bliss again
Chasing a long lost friend
I no longer can control
Just waiting for this hopelessness to end
Run - fast from the wreckage of the past
A shattered glass prison wall behind me
Fight - past walking through the ashes
A distant oasis before me
Cry - desperate crawling on my knees
Begging God to please stop the insanity
Help me - I'm trying to believe
Stop wallowing in my own self pity
"We've been waiting for you my friend
The writing's been on the wall
All it takes is a little faith
You know you're the same as us all"
Help me - I can't break out this prison all alone
Save me - I'm drowning and I'm hopeless on my own
Heal me - I can't restore my sanity alone
Enter the door
Desperate
Fighting no more
Help me restore
To my sanity
At this temple of hope
I need to learn
Teach me how
Sorrow to burn
Help me return
To humanity
I'll be fearless and thorough
To enter this temple of hope
Believe
Transcend the pain
Living the life
Humility
Opened my eyes
This new odyssey
Of rigorous honesty
Serenity
I never knew
Soundness of mind
Helped me to find
Courage to change
All the things that I can
"We'll help you perform this miracle
But you must set your past free
You dug the hole, but you can't bury your sole
Open your mind and you'll see"
Help me - I can't break out this prison all alone
Save me - I'm drowning and I'm hopeless on my own
Heal me - I can't restore my sanity alone
Way off in the distance I saw a door
I tried to open
I tried forcing with all of my will but still
The door wouldn't
Unable to trust in my faith
I turned and walked away
I looked around, felt a chill in the air
Took my will and turned it over
The glass prison which once held me is gone
A long lost fortress
Armed only with liberty
And the key of my willingness
Fell down on my knees and prayed
"Thy will be done"
I turned around, saw a light shining through
The door was wide open."
Max glanced over at Alec and saw a muscle in his jaw twitch.
"What is it?" Max asked patting his hand.
"Nothing."
"Alec?"
"Ben." The word burst out of Alec's mouth like a curse as he struck the desktop hard. "I'm sick of living in his shadow."
"No one thinks that." Max tried to soothe him.
"No, everyone thinks that!" Alec raged. "And everyone only thinks of Ben and I." Alec took a deep breath. "Sam looked just like you... There were thirty soldiers in my squad, just like yours started out with. Twelve of us were supposed to replace the escapees. The scientists did not want to simply scrap the data they had on you. Only they didn't realize, didn't count on the fact that we were different." Contempt filled his voice. "We were genetic copies; clones but we weren't you twelve. Your squad's survivors saw it right away. We never meshed. We were individuals yet we were our own family, as you like to call it. I can't replace Ben I'm no good at telling stories" Alec looked away from Max.
"No one's asking you to Alec." Max shook her head. "It's just hard."
"It's hard for you?" Alec scoffed. "You think I don't see my squad every time I look at you and Krit and Syl and all of the others? Even Zack, all of you. Only my squad is still fond numbers to me. I'm the only one that got a name." Agony played across Alec's features.
"I didn't realize--." Max started.
"You wouldn't." Alec snapped.
Max was stunned into silence.
Mole was quiet for a moment, Jondy's song had made him think of Alec's outburst last broadcast.
"Mole. Talking time." Joshua spoke softly over the headset.
"Oh." Mole cleared his throat. "Who's our next caller?"
"Caller's name Locke." Joshua answered. He then switched over to the caller but only got a dial tone on the line. "Locke gone. Sorry Mole."
Mole sighed and lit up a cigar. "To go home you sometimes have to leave home. Alright I've had a request I've wanted to send out since I started this show. I need to thank Max, I think we all do. This song reminds me of how we got TC started, the night after the standoff when we raised the flag and started Freak Nation and the future fight of Terminal City itself. I'm going to play Invincible Legend Of Billy Jean by Pat Benetar and with this song goes my renewed pledge to keep Terminal City rocking."
As the song started Mole spoke to Joshua through the two-way headset. "Josh see if you can get that caller back."
"Sure thing Mole." Joshua laughed at his own bad imitation of Alec.
"This bloody road remains a mystery
this sudden darkness fills the air
what we waiting for?
wont anybody help us
what we waiting for?
We cant afford to be innocent
stand up and face the enemy
its a do or die situation
we will be invincible
This shattered dream you can not justify
we're gonna scream until we're satisfied
what are we running for?
we've got the right to be angry
what are we running for
when there's nowhere we can run to anymore
We cant afford to be innocent
stand up and face the enemy
its a do or die situation
we will be invincible
and with the power of conviction
there's is no sacrifice
its a do or die situation
we will be invincible
wont anybody help us
what are we running for
when there's nowhere, nowhere we can run to anymore
We cant afford to be innocent
stand up and face the enemy
its a do or die situation
we will be invincible
and with the power of conviction
there's is no sacrifice
its a do or die situation
we will be invincible
We cant afford to be innocent
stand up and face the enemy
its a do or die situation
we will be invincible
We cant afford to be innocent
stand up and face the enemy
its a do or die situation
we will be invincible."
Alec stared un-blinking mouth agape at Max. "Mole's right." He said it softly without a trace of his characteristic sarcasm.
Max blinked and shook her head. "I never asked for this responsibility."
"You became our leader when you triggered the fire alarm." Alec took her hand.
The group gathered around them and the radio murmured their agreement.
Max sighed. "So much for taking a break from our respective roles." Max shrugged pulling her hand away from Alec. "At least I got to listen to the show."
Alec looked into her eyes but Max was lost in thought.
"453." Alec cleared his throat. "452."He shook his head and tried again. "Max what are you thinking about?"
"Zack." Max said sadly. "He was invincible but now the SIC is in command."
Alec sighed and knew that there was nothing he could say to comfort her because he didn't know enough about the situation. If Alec didn't talk much about his unit Max no longer talked about Zack at all after his 'death'. Max sighed and her face looked confused and lost. She seemed mentally crushed if only for a second.
Mole's voice came back on the air. "Joshua do we have that lost caller back?"
"Yes Mole. Locke found." Joshua answered.
"Good." You could almost hear the smile on Mole's face.
Max's face changed to a look of puzzlement. Could this Locke be their Locke? Locke was an X5 from her family. Locke was odd, turned by the scientists into a nomalie for the purpose of understanding their seizures. Locke was their team's nomalie but he still wasn't a nomalie, just different. X5-137. When Locke came back from the infirmary Locke had been changed. He was slower, more reserved yet more appt to snap and lash out and the guards seemed to allow him some freedom. He was allowed to lash out and wise cracks and nonsensical comments were tolerated from him. Locke made strange comments to the authority figures. He spoke to himself even when they were supposed to maintain radio silence. He spoke to and even named his firearms. He constantly challenged Zack's authority. He could not be controlled; he laughed and cried freely many times for no reason that the others could detect. The whole group was threatened but Locke was fun in his own way. He'd steal cigarettes from the guards and smoke them on the barracks roof. He played games hiding things of importance from the authority figures. He had an obsession with sleeping in the nude. He ate with his hands and often complained of the blandness of the food or a smell none of the others could smell. He was allowed to let his hair grow long. It had previously been blonde but it grew in with a greenish tinge. The guards blamed that on the chlorine in the tank water but Locke just said it made him special. Locke had volunteered to be a distraction during the escape and had still managed to make it out of the complex himself.
"Locke sorry we lost you." Mole said.
"No worries." Locke laughed. "I'm in an oddly good mood tonight and wanted to hear my favorite song Sugar High by Cyote Shivers."
"Okay Locke we'll get your song on the air." Mole said.
"They all said life's just a bowl of cherries, but
sometimes it seems like anything but
think again
sometimes reputations outlive their applications
sometimes fires don't go out
when you're done playing with them
I feel so funny deep inside
I wanna kiss myself goodbye
sugarhigh..
gotta have it really need it to get by
sugarhigh..
wanna feel it can't conceal it
sugarhigh
I could go out and not even leave the house
a TV set and a bottle of wine, just fine
crashing out on that old pull out couch
watching saturday night live
I guess that's why
I feel so funny deep inside
I wanna kiss myself goodbye
sugarhigh
when I think about my life
I wanna kiss myself goodbye
sugarhigh..
sugarhigh
alright, [guitar solo]
I have travled far and wide
I've explored the deepest caverns of my mind
to try and find an explanation why
I get this funny feeling deep inside
when I think about my life
I wanna kiss myself goodbye
sugarhigh..
gotta have it really need it to get by
sugarhigh..
I wanna feel it can't conceal it makes me high
sugarhigh..
need it now I've got to live until I die
sugarhigh..
can you feel it, can you feel it
sugarhigh."
Halfway through the bouncy song Alec grabbed Max pulling her of the desk. "Lets go girl."
"Huh?" Max was on her feet stunned and shaken from her thoughts.
Alec held tight to Max's hands spinning her around the room. "Dance with me." Alec spoke breathlessly.
Manticore had taught him to dance. Max had learned to dance through her freedom. The two disciplines met, mixed and mingled making the two a strange display as some of the younger ones in the room joined in. Max couldn't help but laugh and squeal enjoying herself and loosing herself in the movement. She spun around the room dancing with Alec. Max was overcome by the moment and the joy she found in the fact that Locke was still alright.
Alec seemed suddenly carefree and freed from his pervious hang up with Ben and the daemons surrounding it. His time in Manticore and his mission involving Rachel had conditioned him to be highly responsive to music of all types.
Mole came back on the air after the song was through with the next caller already on the line. "Syl what did you want to hear?"
"I wanted to hear Fever by Madonna. I wanted to send it out to my best friend and little brother Krit, he'll know why."
"Okay here's Fever by Madonna going out from Syl to Krit. Syl seems to want you to turn up the heat Krit." Mole laughed.
"You give me
You give me fever
Never know how much I love you
Never know how much I care
When you put your arms around me
I get a fever that's so hard to bear
Listen to me baby, hear every word I say
No one can love you the way I do
'Cause they don't know how to love you my way
You give me fever, when you kiss me
Fever when you hold me tight
Fever in the morning
Fever all through the night
Sun lights up the daytime
Moon lights up the night
My eyes light up when you call my name
'Cause I know you're gonna treat me right
Bless my soul I love you, take this heart away
Take these arms I'll never use
And just believe in what my lips have to say
You give me fever, when you kiss me
Fever when you hold me tight
Fever in the morning
Fever all through the night
Everybody's got the fever
That is something you should know
Fever isn't such a new scene
Fever started long ago
You give me fever, fever
You give me, you give me fever
You give me fever, when you kiss me
Fever when you hold me tight
Fever in the morning
Fever all through the night
Romeo loved Juliet
Juliet, she felt the same
When he put his arms around her
He said Julie baby, you're my flame
He gave her fever
Sun lights up the daytime
Moon lights up the night
My eyes light up when you call my name
'Cause I know you're gonna treat me right
You give me fever, when you kiss me
Fever when you hold me tight
Fever in the morning
Fever all through the night
Fever, with his kisses
Fever when he holds me tight
Everybody's got the fever
That is something you should know
Fever isn't such a new scene
Fever started long ago
Captain Smith and Pocahontas
Had a very mad affair
When her daddy tried to kill him
She said, daddy oh don't you dare
He gives me fever
With his kisses
Fever when he holds me tight
Fever, I'm his Misses
Daddy, won't you treat him right
Fever, when you kiss them
Fever, if you live and learn
Fever, 'til you sizzle
What a lovely way to burn
What a lovely way to burn."
Syl smiled coyly at Krit, they were intertwined on his couch. Krit raised his eyebrows questioningly at her. Syl nodded softly and pressed harder up against him.
"Syl?"
"Yes." Syl purred and nodded. She had told him everything he needed to know in one simple motion. Syl was in heat and she needed Krit by her side now more then ever. Krit wrapped his arms supportively around her and kissed her softly on the lips running his fingers through her hair.
****
Max laughed out loud startling everyone in the room. She had long ago moved herself slightly away from Alec and was sitting perched on the edge of the desk again.
"Oh my God. Syl's in heat." Max managed to get the words out through her hysterical laughter.
"Good for Krit." Alec grinned.
Max swatted at him. Typical Male.
"What did I do? Alec asked innocently.
"You know." Max simply shook her head. "This was fun Alec, but I gotta jet." She hopped off of the desk. She headed out to her bike, she needed some time to herself to think.
****
Mole came back on the air with what had become his standard WTGX mandated sign off and then Joshua came on over the air and chuffed/growled his own farewell.
"Good show. Had fun. Maybe Joshua make a request next time. Good Night Terminal City."