Her nails rake across my flesh like the shivs of a cat. Blood pools and eddies, cutting paths along the stubble on my cheeks. A damp sponge touches against the back of my neck and I tense for the jolt of electricity which is sure to follow. My teeth clamp down on the shock and I come all too close to biting off my own tongue.
"Poor canary won't sing. Doesn't need to sing cause soon mommy will have what she wants. My dearest little sister will come and I'll take her blood for my tea."
She'd been rambling on in this vein for some time and it was starting to grate on my last nerve. Not only did she seem to be bent on using me to capture the woman I loved, but she was torturing me for absolutely no good reason. I'd had enough of this mindless torture to last me a lifetime back in psy-ops. Although I had to admit that she was a great deal more inventive than Manticore had ever been.
"Give us a kiss Tiger." Gathering up the last of my strength I spit blood in her face. She chuckles that god damned insane laugh again. Leaning over me she smashed her fists into my kidneys and delicately lapped my blood off of her lips.
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"You're being completely irresponsible Max." I just glared at Mole, not bothering to reply.
"For god's sakes Max you're our leader you can't do this. Let me go in your place at least."
"They asked for me specifically. If it's anyone else, they'll kill him. I can't risk his life."
"But you can Max." Biggs spoke at last. "You're our leader and a part of that is putting your life above those you command. You're the Chosen One, your blood might be the key to saving the world. Alec is a soldier, what do you think he'd do in your position?" Tears fill my eyes, I know that they're right, but it's Alec. "In the end we're all soldiers. In the end, he's just a soldier."
"In the end, he's the man I love." They're eyes widen in comic shock, and for once Mole seems to be at a loss for words.
"I don't think that I could deal with not having him, and I don't think that you want a distraught leader on your hands." I give them the barest hint of a feral smile. Argue as they might, I knew that I'd won. I would rescue him, and I would have help.
"Okay Max, alright, but if we are doing this, then you have to promise me two things. One that you'll let us bring in discreet backup, and two, that you'll let me and Mole plan this thing because I don't think that you're going to be able to do this rationally." Any angry retort almost breaks through my lips, but then I realize that they're probably right.
"Thank you guys, this means a lot to me." Both of them look dumbfounded. "If I'm not allowed in on this, then I think that I'm going to go to bed, get some rest for tomorrow cause I'm sure I'll need it."
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After leaving Mole and Biggs, I just lay staring at the cracks in my ceiling and wondering if the roof would leak when it rained. I wasn't sure how long I'd been laying there when I heard it, a deep, husky laugh which echoed off my poor walls. Wondering if my next door neighbors were having a little too much fun next door, I swung my legs off of the bed and went to rise.
Moisture clung to the souls as I stood, not the chilly dampness of water but a lukewarm, viscous substance. I couldn't bring myself to look down at the floor. It was another dream, it had to be. Pointedly looking straight ahead, I followed the sounds of the laughter out the door and down the hall to another apartment. As I approached the door the liquid on the floor grew thicker and deeper.
My hand froze on the knob as I heard beneath the laughter, the barely perceptible sound of another person whimpering. Screwing up my courage, I banged the door open. "Alec!" It was him god damn him, I'd never had these horrific, gory dreams about anyone else.
"Maxie?" The call came from the next room. Throwing caution to the winds, I dashed towards the sound of his voice. His blood stuck my feet to the ground and my progress was achingly slow. Finally crossing the room I shoved aside the dividing curtain, and found myself in a lushly appointed bedroom, Alec was nowhere in sight.
I made to turn around, and then the laughter started up again, this time though it seemed to be only inches away from my ear. "Welcome my sister." It was as though his blood had frozen me, I couldn't move. The woman's dainty hands grasped me in a tight wrestlers hold, and she dragged me unceremoniously across the room, dumping me on the bed. My first look at her wasn't much of a shock, before me stood the dark woman from my dreams.
"Who are you lady?" My voice is rough as though I've been gargling Drano.
"What a question to ask, I am your sister of course."
"I've already got a half a dozen of those thank you, and I sure as hell ain't one of your familiar bitches."
"Oh I can assure that I feel no kinship with those familiar bitches as you call them. Besides, the two of us share a much closer connection than you do with your other so called sisters."
"I don't share anything with you." My voice quavers in desperation, I know where this is going and I don't like it one bit.
"Don't you? We have shared the handsome little boy waiting for you in the next room, we have shared his blood as we share our blood." I shake my head violently. "I know it isn't a pretty thought for you my lovely, but now is the time to face facts. When that traitor Sandeman started project Manticore he stole a few things. I mean, why build super soldiers with simple human DNA, when you have access to the best? You and all of your people share common blood with the people you so hate. That is why Ames was so determined to slaughter all of you. By our doctrines you are impure and unclean, and yet you share your DNA with us. It was an enormous affront to his sensibilities.
"So then you're saying that they made me with a bit of you? How the hell are you so sure that I'm not the product of another of your sisters?" This is definitely not good. Dream though this may be, it has a horrible feeling of reality.
"You do know what you are don't you?" I nod my head mutely. "You are the Chosen One, the one whose blood carries the antigen to cure the familiar's plague. Sandeman wasn't really a fool, in time he would have made many more of you, but unfortunately for humanity, the familiars caught up with him first. He "disappeared" before he could complete his work and so the world is left with one little girl as their savior."
"So why you? What's so special about you?" For the first time she steps fully out of the shadows and my breath catches in my throat. Rimming her cheeks like a Maori warrior, are a smattering of the same ruins that have been appearing on me.
"The Chosen One must defend herself. Let us say that a common ancestress of ours had a very bad temper and a willingness to use it on other people. The first Sandeman bred me as the catalyst for destruction. Over centuries the woman of my line have been selectively bred for this gene which causes the runes. I am the last key necessary in the day of glory for the familiars. On my body will be written the information which will complete the snake toxin. The runes on your body will spell out the cure."
"Thanks for the tip bitch." I expect her to show fright at having given away this secret, but instead she laughs again.
"Oh but I haven't told you what the catalyst is yet. The runes are the product of a special chemical found in our bodies, one that codes for selective pigmentation. In order to activate the chemical, an enzyme catalyst is required. The enzyme has traditionally been passed down in the Sandeman line as a part of their genetic code. What was not realized until recently, is that Sandeman the elder manipulated White's DNA at his birth, so that he no longer produced the enzyme. So that you would have a source of the enzyme available to create your runes, he put it into another transgenic. Your eventual mating was written in Manticore's database since before your conception. To cover his tracks, Sandeman created a whole listing of suitable matches for each soldier that he created, but yours was the only important one."
"He's the catalyst. That's why White was so determined to capture him too. That's why you went through all of this trouble to kidnap him. Without him, the ruins will disappear and I'll be useless to the cause."
