Title: Total Recall, Chapter 6

Author: redwing/csiphile

AN1: Ahhh since the last one was so short, I figured I'd get this other super short one out too.

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Chapter 6: Torture and Realizations

She was sleeping when her cell door opening pulled her from some pleasant dreams. Despite her annoyance, Max is on her feet in a second, prepared to fight. When the two guards approach her, she throws a punch at the closest, making contact with his jaw. Before she can even turn to the other one, though, sharp pain courses down her back.

Tazer. Again.

She tries to stay standing, but the guard keeps the wand in contact with her body until she finally gives in and sinks to the floor in a hazy state of consciousness. They drag her out and down a long hall; she is unaware when she passes Alec's cell.

And promptly loses her fight to stay awake.

Waking up, she finds herself strapped to a bed in a stark white room. Doctors attaching monitors to her chest. Almost immediately, she starts struggling against the leather restraints -- a strong hand on her chest stopping her movements.

She looks up at the man whose hand is keeping her immobile, and says nothing, groaning inwardly.

"452, I might suggest that you not try to get away. 494 already learned the hard way that's not the direction to go."

Her eyes narrow slightly. What had they done to him.

"He's fine, no need to worry about your other half." Olivet grins evilly and cocks his head to one side. "Though I think he might be a bit sore in the morning."

She sighs in annoyance. "He's not my other half -- why the hell should I care what happens to him? If he tried to escape, that's his damage." To her own ears, she sounds convincing. But that expression of smugness never leaves Olivet's face, making her neck hairs stand on end.

"You know what's funny, 452? I know you're full of shit. You can try to play the part of the bitch all you want, but I know the truth."

"Oh yeah? What truth is that?"

He leans into her and smiles. "That you and 494 are best buds, friends…maybe a little more. You know how rumors are."

She swallows; it's the tone he said it in. He knows -- somehow, he knows.

"Yeah, they are called rumors for a reason. Where do you get your information? Did a little birdie tell you that?" she snorts at him.

His reaction is instantaneous; he reaches out and grabs her hair, roughly. "More like a little rat. Little rat, little human, little cat….Same for her as him."

He releases her hair, and she closes her eyes, hearing him walk away from her bed. Jason….that bastard.

Terminal City

Mole looks around at the dozen or so transgenics around him. It has been three days since Max and Alec disappeared; sometime around hour 24, he knew they weren't coming back. They had to figure this out, had to find them. He didn't care at this point how much more attention it brought them. Their leaders were gone, and if there was one thing Manticore taught them…it was never leave your squad behind.

He clears his throat, and starts talking loudly, authoritatively. He had become the temporary leader in the absence of their true ones. The day he and Dix had told the rest of the transgenics, it had been…hard. There were calls for a blood-letting, a true transgenic uprising against the ordinaries to find their brethren. In the end, common sense had won out; there was no guarantee the humans had them.

Mole had reluctantly called Logan earlier that day in western Canada, and the other man had confirmed what the lizard had found out: Max and Alec weren't taken by the police, FBI, or any other human organization. Which left one option in his mind…White.

"Ok, folks, here's the deal. We know for sure now that our ordinary friends out there don't have them. Which leaves White. I want three X5 or higher volunteers to see what intel they can get. According to sources, White has been congregating to the south of us. If he has them, I bet they are there. Hands?"

Not unexpectedly, several hands shoot up. Mole picks the three he feels to be the best, and gives them directions to the area. "Be careful…recon ONLY. I don't want those familiar assholes to know we are onto them.

"Yes, sir," the largest of the three responds, and immediately turns to the other volunteers, making final plans for their job.

Mole smiles slightly; this is where his kind excelled -- it's what they were created to do. He has no doubt that they will find Max and Alec -- he's just not sure if they will still be alive when they do. The lizard turns to the others in the group and assigns them all duties, duties usually handled by their leaders. But TC has to continue to run, or else it's not just Max and Alec's lives on the line.

Mole turns back to the computer bank and finds one more transhuman looking at him, expectantly. He frowns slightly, and tries to come up with something for the rat-like creature to do. The kid had always kinda given him the creeps, and that's saying something considering Mole's appearance. It wasn't so much what it looked like as the feeling that the little guy was always up to something. 'Must be the beady eyes,' he thinks to himself before speaking.

"Jason, go see if you can help Dix and Luke with the transmission lines."

"Yes, sir."

Three Days Later

Manticore

"Sir? Sir?"

His assistant's voice finally cuts through Richard's thoughts, and he turns to the younger man. Jacob is not an imposing figure by any means compared to Olivet, but still capable. He stands a few inches short of six feet, with sandy brown hair and deep blue eyes. Very physically fit, his muscles are visible under the green Polo shirt he sports. Behind all that, however, is a quick mind with a PhD in psychiatry; Jacob was the closest they had to a transgenic forensic psychiatrist. He's read all the files on every one -- the techniques they used to keep them in line and the results.

"Yes?"

"It's not going as quickly as we had anticipated. Both are resisting the program."

Richard sighs; he had expected this. But he hadn't expected them to hold on this long. "All right. More drastic measures are to be taken." He stands and thinks a moment. "I want them both wiped, but first her -- and see if you can break 494 using her. I want that boy destroyed."

Several minutes pass before Jacob speaks up. "He does have a strong attachment to the girl, and that would most certainly break him. But sir, no one's been wiped before; you could end up killing her or removing all her training."

"I'm willing to risk it. Prep her."

tbc……………………………