Note: Special thanks to my beta, Sea Siren!!!! You are awesome. Well, this is chapter 2. Hope you like it. These - /// - mean that it's a flashback.
Episode 1: Story Of The XX5
Chapter 2: Reliving
*****
July 25, 2021
Sarren Island, Alaska
Hallway in front of UX-5/452's room
The sounds of UX-5/452's crying barely traveled through the soundproof door. Only a trained X5 guard, like the one posted outside her door, would be able to hear it. Soundproof doors were part of the over-the-top security that Manticore had provided for the little UX-5. Other parts of her extreme protection program were: electronic locks that need eye, fingerprint, and voice identification, 5mm wide and tall security cameras hidden in the lights down the hallway, in her room, and outside her window, a scanner in the doorway to find any weapons, and laser grids on the floor and walls which sound alarms if someone crossed them. And of course, her own bodyguard/caretaker posted outside her door.
The guard, X5-454, didn't mind standing there the whole night, but she didn't understand why she couldn't just sit in 452's room and watch her there. X5-454 and her unit were cloned from the original X5 series. The X5 she was cloned from was X5-452, so UX-5/452 would technically be 454's niece. DNA histories were very confusing. Maybe Manticore reused DNA just to make everything sound complicated, X5-454 mused.
As soon as she heard her crying, 454 turned to 452's room.
***
656-599 was in shock. Things whirled through his head: thoughts, words, memories, and phrases that he recalled… all in a meaningless jumble. His advanced mental capabilities did nothing to help him regroup.
Finally a comprehendible memory appeared in the mess, and he was forced to remember it.
///It was their first mission. XX-5s had to be sent because there was a shortage of available soldiers. One of the Manticore facilities had been shut down because all the transgenics escaped. But 656-599 thought there was something else that he wasn't told...
It seemed like such a simple job. Sabotage. Colonel Travers told them that they would be going to the University of Genetics in London. The University was on the brink of learning how to control genetics, which meant that they could start making genetically enhanced beings very soon. Manticore, of course, could not let that happen. The whole unit of XX-5s went. The plan was that they would sneak into the labs the experiments were being done in, and change the information slightly enough so they would be delayed, but the errors wouldn't be noticed. Manticore would then have time to get some X5s or X6s to finish the job.
They sneaked in at night, when everything was closed and people were gone. Everything was so quiet, no one's ears heard a thing. He should have known something was wrong then. Why would everyone be gone at 12:00am? Shouldn't there be at least one professor or scientist who was too absorbed in his work that they stayed longer to finish some work? There was some really big lab equipment, wouldn't they make noise? The questions he should have been asking then he asked now.
656-599 paired them off into seven groups to search each of the 13 possible labs. How brainless. He didn't have to send all of them. There was no hurry. He could have kept half of them outside in case something went wrong. The only reason he sent all of them was to get it done quick so the Colonel would be happy when they came back early with the mission completed. Should have stuck to the more cautious plan.///
***
454 put her hand on the pad by the door. The pad beeped in approval. She leaned over and put her face in front of the pad. A laser beam went straight into her eye for a retinal scan. It beeped again. She stood straight up again while the door scanned her for unauthorized weapons. It beeped a third time.
An electronic voice commanded, "State your designation."
"X5-454"
There was a slight pause as the computer examined her voice. Finally, "Access Granted."
She entered.
***
///452-599 partnered up with him. 656-599 was more protective of her than anyone else, because she was the youngest, and because they both had DNA from the original X5 commander. She was one of the best and sometimes beat 656-599 and 210-493 in training exercises.
Both of them were about to open the steel lab door to LAB #8 when they heard gunfire in another hallway. 656-599 sent 452-599 to investigate. She left, but came back seconds later clearly distraught.
"There are unidentified hostiles in the building! Heavily armed," she said frantically. "798-673 and 429-735 are down. Shot by hostiles in Lab #4."
656-599 grabbed his comm. "All units! Assemble in designated emergency area within 15 minutes. Those who are not present will be left behind. Go." He tightened his grip on his gun and ran to find the exit with 452-599.///
***
As soon as X5-454 entered she sensed something different. She concentrated on all the smells and sounds in the room, seeking the thing that hadn't been there before.
***
///On the map of the lab building that they studied, there were ten exits that the Colonel said they could use. In the actual lab building, they were nonexistent. The doors and windows that were approved by Manticore as emergency routes were actually just walls. One was covered by hefty lab equipment. There was no time to move the stuff out of the way. Guards were close. There were at least 10. 656-599 and 452-599 did not want to fight them.
They reached the end of the hallway. There were two doors. They each tried to open them, but they were locked. The guards were close. When they got to them, the XX-5s would have to fight.///
***
There! X5-454 found a new sound and smell in the room. It was coming from over her head, the air vent. She pulled her taser out. She didn't want to use guns around the baby. Besides, guns were loud. Why should she make a scene about something that could turn out to be as harmless as the guy who cleans the vent?
She silently crept to the part of the vent that allowed maintenance workers to enter. The thing seemed to be right on it. How convenient, she thought. When she opened it, whatever it was would fall right out.
She pulled the entryway open.
Episode 1: Story Of The XX5
Chapter 2: Reliving
*****
July 25, 2021
Sarren Island, Alaska
Hallway in front of UX-5/452's room
The sounds of UX-5/452's crying barely traveled through the soundproof door. Only a trained X5 guard, like the one posted outside her door, would be able to hear it. Soundproof doors were part of the over-the-top security that Manticore had provided for the little UX-5. Other parts of her extreme protection program were: electronic locks that need eye, fingerprint, and voice identification, 5mm wide and tall security cameras hidden in the lights down the hallway, in her room, and outside her window, a scanner in the doorway to find any weapons, and laser grids on the floor and walls which sound alarms if someone crossed them. And of course, her own bodyguard/caretaker posted outside her door.
The guard, X5-454, didn't mind standing there the whole night, but she didn't understand why she couldn't just sit in 452's room and watch her there. X5-454 and her unit were cloned from the original X5 series. The X5 she was cloned from was X5-452, so UX-5/452 would technically be 454's niece. DNA histories were very confusing. Maybe Manticore reused DNA just to make everything sound complicated, X5-454 mused.
As soon as she heard her crying, 454 turned to 452's room.
***
656-599 was in shock. Things whirled through his head: thoughts, words, memories, and phrases that he recalled… all in a meaningless jumble. His advanced mental capabilities did nothing to help him regroup.
Finally a comprehendible memory appeared in the mess, and he was forced to remember it.
///It was their first mission. XX-5s had to be sent because there was a shortage of available soldiers. One of the Manticore facilities had been shut down because all the transgenics escaped. But 656-599 thought there was something else that he wasn't told...
It seemed like such a simple job. Sabotage. Colonel Travers told them that they would be going to the University of Genetics in London. The University was on the brink of learning how to control genetics, which meant that they could start making genetically enhanced beings very soon. Manticore, of course, could not let that happen. The whole unit of XX-5s went. The plan was that they would sneak into the labs the experiments were being done in, and change the information slightly enough so they would be delayed, but the errors wouldn't be noticed. Manticore would then have time to get some X5s or X6s to finish the job.
They sneaked in at night, when everything was closed and people were gone. Everything was so quiet, no one's ears heard a thing. He should have known something was wrong then. Why would everyone be gone at 12:00am? Shouldn't there be at least one professor or scientist who was too absorbed in his work that they stayed longer to finish some work? There was some really big lab equipment, wouldn't they make noise? The questions he should have been asking then he asked now.
656-599 paired them off into seven groups to search each of the 13 possible labs. How brainless. He didn't have to send all of them. There was no hurry. He could have kept half of them outside in case something went wrong. The only reason he sent all of them was to get it done quick so the Colonel would be happy when they came back early with the mission completed. Should have stuck to the more cautious plan.///
***
454 put her hand on the pad by the door. The pad beeped in approval. She leaned over and put her face in front of the pad. A laser beam went straight into her eye for a retinal scan. It beeped again. She stood straight up again while the door scanned her for unauthorized weapons. It beeped a third time.
An electronic voice commanded, "State your designation."
"X5-454"
There was a slight pause as the computer examined her voice. Finally, "Access Granted."
She entered.
***
///452-599 partnered up with him. 656-599 was more protective of her than anyone else, because she was the youngest, and because they both had DNA from the original X5 commander. She was one of the best and sometimes beat 656-599 and 210-493 in training exercises.
Both of them were about to open the steel lab door to LAB #8 when they heard gunfire in another hallway. 656-599 sent 452-599 to investigate. She left, but came back seconds later clearly distraught.
"There are unidentified hostiles in the building! Heavily armed," she said frantically. "798-673 and 429-735 are down. Shot by hostiles in Lab #4."
656-599 grabbed his comm. "All units! Assemble in designated emergency area within 15 minutes. Those who are not present will be left behind. Go." He tightened his grip on his gun and ran to find the exit with 452-599.///
***
As soon as X5-454 entered she sensed something different. She concentrated on all the smells and sounds in the room, seeking the thing that hadn't been there before.
***
///On the map of the lab building that they studied, there were ten exits that the Colonel said they could use. In the actual lab building, they were nonexistent. The doors and windows that were approved by Manticore as emergency routes were actually just walls. One was covered by hefty lab equipment. There was no time to move the stuff out of the way. Guards were close. There were at least 10. 656-599 and 452-599 did not want to fight them.
They reached the end of the hallway. There were two doors. They each tried to open them, but they were locked. The guards were close. When they got to them, the XX-5s would have to fight.///
***
There! X5-454 found a new sound and smell in the room. It was coming from over her head, the air vent. She pulled her taser out. She didn't want to use guns around the baby. Besides, guns were loud. Why should she make a scene about something that could turn out to be as harmless as the guy who cleans the vent?
She silently crept to the part of the vent that allowed maintenance workers to enter. The thing seemed to be right on it. How convenient, she thought. When she opened it, whatever it was would fall right out.
She pulled the entryway open.
