3
Max sighed. She had said that she wanted to be informed of every new arrival and have them greet her. It was the only way she knew to keep the chain of command running smoothly and let her know exactly what was going on in her post. This way she could keep an eye on who was coming in, how many more mouths they had to feed and anyone with usable talents who cropped up. It was a great idea but with the scores that kept on arriving it was time consuming too, especially since she had something important that she wanted to say to Alec. She looked up into his blue eyes and sighed. It had to wait, as always her job had to come before personal issues.
"Ok Mole. I'm coming." She walked over to the doorway and glanced back at Alec, she bit her lip wondering whether to just say what was on her mind but decided against it just then. It wasn't like either of them was going anywhere. She turned and walked away into the heart of Terminal City's transgenic headquarters.
The huge warehouse had been the only place big enough to house all the machines, the technology and the manpower that was needed to run an operation as big as Terminal City; the security, the supply line, the surveillance system and the commanding headquarters where they made all their decisions.
Luke – a sweet non-human with a baby-like face who had been engineered to build trenches- stood in one corner surrounded by dozens of TV screens each showing a different part of the City, on the look out for any trouble, he was aided by several non-humans whose eyes flickered between newsreels, game shows and the city. The huge table in the centre of the room was filled with maps and schematics for the City and surrounding areas with special emphasis on any government buildings in the area. In a room leading off to one side was the corridor that led to the hospital wing where their med team had an almost fully functional hospital surgery set up.
Rotations of surveillance and perimeter guard duty were tacked up in the office of the chief of security along with plans for expansion into the outer limits of Terminal City and its buildings, supply details and checkpoints and other essential paperwork.
The whole area just bustled with activity of people going about their lives; it was enough to make Max's heart swell with pride.
Her family was doing aiight.
"Several kids," Mole was saying around his cigar "X series entered Seattle area this morning and snuck around the back way. They were caught by sentry duty and asked to be led to command." He smirked "That's you Princess."
Max nodded acknowledging his manner and she felt Alec come up behind her.
"Piece of shit!" she heard Dix kick something behind her in frustration and fought back a grin. Dix loved to tinker with stuff, see how it worked and try to put it back together again. The transhuman with the optic eye was great at it, but occasionally he came across something he had trouble with and it looked like this was one of those times.
"They look kinda dirty ta me." Mole went on almost talking to himself and Max sighed.
"Okay Mole." She turned away from the lizard man and moved towards the centre of the room. In front of her with their backs to her stood six children standing to attention in a way that only Manticore soldiers knew how.
"At ease." She smiled and walked around to the front of them.
"Max? Max!" before she knew what was going on she was hit by two small missiles around waist level.
"Back in line!" hissed a tall dark haired lad at them.
"Zero?" Max peered at the kid and then pushed back the two that had a tight hold on her "Ralph and Bugler right?"
Ralph turned a red colour under her pale blonde hair as she pulled Bugler back in line.
"Sorry Ma'am."
Max heard numerous chuckles from behind her and knew that the whole of command was watching this.
Great now she was going to have mother hen jokes all week.
"Its okay guys. Hey Fixit, Bullet how's it going?"
"Fine thank you Max, Sir." Zero saluted with a grin.
She walked over to him and ruffled his hair.
These children had been the first she had rescued from White's clutches back when she had first destroyed Manticore over three years ago. They really had grown up, looking now to be in their early teens, except Bugler who was much younger.
"Who's this?" Max nodded towards the small girl who hung shyly back, she had blonde hair that was fine it was almost white.
"X8- 621 ma'am." She said quickly until Fixit nudged her "Uh Icy."
"Icy huh?"
"We found her in a snowdrift up north." Ralph explained "The rest of her unit was missing."
"Sir!" Zero saluted again as he saw Alec and the rest of them followed suit.
"Hey guys." Alec gave them a little wave and smirked at Max who rolled her eyes.
"I thought you guys were headed for Canada."
Bullet shrugged "We were but then we caught a broadcast about this stronghold and we thought we might be able to be of some use."
"Can we stay?" Bugler looked up at her with hope in his eyes.
"Sure." She smiled at him. "Everyone works here though so you will be assigned some duties too, might be garbage detail might be med." She looked at them "Fixit, you excelled at diagnostics and repair right?"
The ginger haired young girl nodded.
"Hey Dix, recruit for ya." Max yelled and the fair skinned transgenic nodded and motioned for the girl to come up towards him. Fixit saluted to Max and rushed off.
"Travit can you get these guys bunked in and then you can report for duty to Mole." She pointed to where Mole was talking to Luke about the screens.
Travit was a white skinned, white haired transgenic that had been especially designed for Antarctic procedures and he was great with the younger transgenics.
"Sure thing boss." He said and motioned for the kids to follow him.
Max watched as they followed him without question and smiled as Bugler waved merrily.
"Is he an X8?" Alec asked.
"Bugle Corps." She replied "Hence the name."
"Was there something you wanted to say to me Max?" he peered at her with sincerity in his face.
She bit her lip, unsure what to say now that she was surrounded by everyone and not alone with him. It was one thing to talk to him but quite another to drop her tough guy façade before the men who respected her.
"It can wait." She glanced at him softly and walked away.
Alec stared after her with a confused _expression.
Max sighed. She had said that she wanted to be informed of every new arrival and have them greet her. It was the only way she knew to keep the chain of command running smoothly and let her know exactly what was going on in her post. This way she could keep an eye on who was coming in, how many more mouths they had to feed and anyone with usable talents who cropped up. It was a great idea but with the scores that kept on arriving it was time consuming too, especially since she had something important that she wanted to say to Alec. She looked up into his blue eyes and sighed. It had to wait, as always her job had to come before personal issues.
"Ok Mole. I'm coming." She walked over to the doorway and glanced back at Alec, she bit her lip wondering whether to just say what was on her mind but decided against it just then. It wasn't like either of them was going anywhere. She turned and walked away into the heart of Terminal City's transgenic headquarters.
The huge warehouse had been the only place big enough to house all the machines, the technology and the manpower that was needed to run an operation as big as Terminal City; the security, the supply line, the surveillance system and the commanding headquarters where they made all their decisions.
Luke – a sweet non-human with a baby-like face who had been engineered to build trenches- stood in one corner surrounded by dozens of TV screens each showing a different part of the City, on the look out for any trouble, he was aided by several non-humans whose eyes flickered between newsreels, game shows and the city. The huge table in the centre of the room was filled with maps and schematics for the City and surrounding areas with special emphasis on any government buildings in the area. In a room leading off to one side was the corridor that led to the hospital wing where their med team had an almost fully functional hospital surgery set up.
Rotations of surveillance and perimeter guard duty were tacked up in the office of the chief of security along with plans for expansion into the outer limits of Terminal City and its buildings, supply details and checkpoints and other essential paperwork.
The whole area just bustled with activity of people going about their lives; it was enough to make Max's heart swell with pride.
Her family was doing aiight.
"Several kids," Mole was saying around his cigar "X series entered Seattle area this morning and snuck around the back way. They were caught by sentry duty and asked to be led to command." He smirked "That's you Princess."
Max nodded acknowledging his manner and she felt Alec come up behind her.
"Piece of shit!" she heard Dix kick something behind her in frustration and fought back a grin. Dix loved to tinker with stuff, see how it worked and try to put it back together again. The transhuman with the optic eye was great at it, but occasionally he came across something he had trouble with and it looked like this was one of those times.
"They look kinda dirty ta me." Mole went on almost talking to himself and Max sighed.
"Okay Mole." She turned away from the lizard man and moved towards the centre of the room. In front of her with their backs to her stood six children standing to attention in a way that only Manticore soldiers knew how.
"At ease." She smiled and walked around to the front of them.
"Max? Max!" before she knew what was going on she was hit by two small missiles around waist level.
"Back in line!" hissed a tall dark haired lad at them.
"Zero?" Max peered at the kid and then pushed back the two that had a tight hold on her "Ralph and Bugler right?"
Ralph turned a red colour under her pale blonde hair as she pulled Bugler back in line.
"Sorry Ma'am."
Max heard numerous chuckles from behind her and knew that the whole of command was watching this.
Great now she was going to have mother hen jokes all week.
"Its okay guys. Hey Fixit, Bullet how's it going?"
"Fine thank you Max, Sir." Zero saluted with a grin.
She walked over to him and ruffled his hair.
These children had been the first she had rescued from White's clutches back when she had first destroyed Manticore over three years ago. They really had grown up, looking now to be in their early teens, except Bugler who was much younger.
"Who's this?" Max nodded towards the small girl who hung shyly back, she had blonde hair that was fine it was almost white.
"X8- 621 ma'am." She said quickly until Fixit nudged her "Uh Icy."
"Icy huh?"
"We found her in a snowdrift up north." Ralph explained "The rest of her unit was missing."
"Sir!" Zero saluted again as he saw Alec and the rest of them followed suit.
"Hey guys." Alec gave them a little wave and smirked at Max who rolled her eyes.
"I thought you guys were headed for Canada."
Bullet shrugged "We were but then we caught a broadcast about this stronghold and we thought we might be able to be of some use."
"Can we stay?" Bugler looked up at her with hope in his eyes.
"Sure." She smiled at him. "Everyone works here though so you will be assigned some duties too, might be garbage detail might be med." She looked at them "Fixit, you excelled at diagnostics and repair right?"
The ginger haired young girl nodded.
"Hey Dix, recruit for ya." Max yelled and the fair skinned transgenic nodded and motioned for the girl to come up towards him. Fixit saluted to Max and rushed off.
"Travit can you get these guys bunked in and then you can report for duty to Mole." She pointed to where Mole was talking to Luke about the screens.
Travit was a white skinned, white haired transgenic that had been especially designed for Antarctic procedures and he was great with the younger transgenics.
"Sure thing boss." He said and motioned for the kids to follow him.
Max watched as they followed him without question and smiled as Bugler waved merrily.
"Is he an X8?" Alec asked.
"Bugle Corps." She replied "Hence the name."
"Was there something you wanted to say to me Max?" he peered at her with sincerity in his face.
She bit her lip, unsure what to say now that she was surrounded by everyone and not alone with him. It was one thing to talk to him but quite another to drop her tough guy façade before the men who respected her.
"It can wait." She glanced at him softly and walked away.
Alec stared after her with a confused _expression.