Max was walking alone down the street. It was dark and cold. She checked her pager; Logan had called twelve times today. She shoved the device into her pocket and refused to look at it. She still wasn't ready to confront him. Without thinking, Max bumped into a woman who was walking past her.
"Jeez, I'm sorry!" She said hurriedly.
The woman just looked over her shoulder and smiled sympathetically. "No problem."
She looked familiar. Too familiar. Max watched the woman turn away; she was holding something in her arms.
"Hey!"
The girl turned back around, this time she looked a little nervous. "Yeah?"
"Do I know you from somewhere?"
The young woman's face paled at the question. She took a few hesitant steps back. "No, I don't think so."
Max stood motionless, "I have seen you somewhere."
"No, you haven't." She was very nervous now and looking down the alley way to her left. She turned completely around now, still carrying a small bundle closely to her chest.
Max knew for sure she had seen this woman. Her soft features, her gentle eyes, and short hair were all too familiar. "No, I never forget a face." Max insisted. Then she realized where she had seen her, but rather than blurt it out- Max simply said, "It's in my genes."
The young woman's eyes locked on Max finally. "What did you say?"
"You heard me."
The woman stopped, she seemed to relax a little. Her brows knit together in thought. "I know you too."
Max took a few steps forward; she lowered her voice, "You X5?"
The woman shook her head, "No, X6." She shifted her weight. "You were in the breeding program weren't you?"
"Yeah." Max nodded. "Name's Max."
The young woman smiled, "I remember." She nodded. "Drove Renfro nuts that one of her precious little X series wouldn't forget her identity."
Max smiled softly, "What's your name?"
"Gem." She answered. "I live on Oak Street, with a few more like us. Normal's won't go near the place because there was some toxic spill a few years ago."
"Oh yeah?" Max continued, "You talkin' bout' Terminal City right?"
Gem nodded, "Yup. Share a pad with a kid, Dalton. He helps me out a lot around the place. What with the baby and all."
"Baby?"
Gem came closer to Max; she peeled back part of the blanket that covered a chubby cheeked face. "Born just last week, can already open her eyes and lift her head. Starting to coo a lot more too."
"She's beautiful." Max murmured as she looked over Gems shoulder into the girls face.
Gem smiled, "I see you lost your weight pretty fast. I've still got another twenty to loose before I'm back to normal."
"I didn't have a kid." Max told her.
Gem's eyebrows raised, "Sure you did."
"Nope."
"Huh," Gem started as she wrapped up the baby once more to keep out the cold. "Renfro was telling one of the fertility doctors that every case was a success."
Max felt coldness spread through her flesh. "What?"
Gem nodded, "Yeah. I mean, a couple of the females had to have the surrogates. Like what they usually do to produce more X series. I remember because I saw them from time to time in the pregnancy wing."
"Manticore lost millions when the DNA lab exploded, how did they get the funding for surrogates? If they could do that- why have the Breeding Program?"
Gem shrugged, "I dunno. May be they didn't have enough money for a whole unit of surrogates but could afford a few to come in. I mean, having only five or six come in is a lot cheaper than a hundred, you know?"
"Yeah." Max said softly.
Gem shrugged, "I dunno, they kept us pretty sedated the last few months, I could have just heard her wrong."
"Yeah." Max repeated.
Gem looked up, "You ok?"
"Of course." Max shook forced a smile.
Gem smiled, "I gotta put the little one to bed. She's been sleeping for the past hour but she's gotta be some place safer than with her mamma on the street. Come by some time, we're in Block 22, second story. I'm usually running around helping out the other moms."
Max nodded, "I'll do that."
Gem smiled softly in goodbye and turned to leave. Max did the same. Then Gem stopped and turned to Max one last time. "Stay on Oak Street Max."
"Why? Was I goin' anywhere else?"
Gem shrugged, "Just lettin' you know. Terminal City isn't the only home for people like us. We've caught a few trans-humans and anomalies running through our streets. They're pretty territorial about the place, so just- be careful."
Max nodded, "Thanks. I will."
Gem turned around and turned the corner on her block. Max turned around and made her way down the street. Her heart was beating at a plunging rate. It felt as though the organ was beating against her rib cage. Those nightmares, they were real. They had happened. What the hell did this mean? But Gem could have been wrong, easily- right? There was only one way to find out. Max slipped into the nearest phone booth. She slammed in a couple of quarters and punched the keys. The phone rang only once before a familiar voice answered.
"Max?"
Max choked down her pride, "I need you to do something for me."
Logan could hear the intensity in her voice, "What- what's wrong?"
"I ran into somebody from Manticore." Max began, then she lied, "She's got some questions about the Breeding Program."
"Breeding Program?" Logan had never heard about this.
Max cut him off, "Just, do your hacker thing and find out exactly how many were involved in the program. I need to know about everything Logan." She paused, "I'll be staying with a friend tonight, you can slide the stuff under the door."
"Tonight?" Logan asked. "Why don't you just stop by?"
"Considering what happened last time, I don't think I wanna be stoppin' by for a long time." She snapped.
There was silence. She was afraid she'd lost her only line to the truth.
"What's the address?"
