Max had been staring at the file folder for nearly an hour. Alec was sleeping on the recliner just to her left, snoring and snorting. Inside that stupid manilla file was the answer to one of her latest and most burning question:
"Are my nightmares the memories of what happened?"
She took a sharp breath, with eyes squeezed tightly Max flipped open the folder and spread the contents out over the coffee table. Now she'd have to look at them, in the least to put them away again before Alec found them. She slowly opened her eyes.
"They're just papers," Max whispered to herself, "Why are you so scared of paper all of a sudden?"
With trembling fingers she flipped through the pages. There had to be about a hundred of the color printed documents. All of it was on the Breeding Program. The first page had a list of the contestants for the program and the pairs involved. The second page had a list of the surrogates who had been recruited. All of the carriers were between the ages of nineteen and twenty-two. Then something caught her eye. Max's eyes raked over the information, then slowly, things started to come together.
She began to have flashes of her past.
"452 extraction was smooth."
"Good." Renfro's voice. "Is it the last of them?"
"Yes."
"Start implanting the surrogates, now. Put 452 on heavy sedatives and close surveillance."
Max felt a cold sweat running down her spine. She pulled out more things from the pages. Code names of the surrogates, after all everyone inside of Manticore had a number- not a name. Her heart skipped a beat when she found a chart listing all of the paired units with surrogates.
X5452 w/ X5494: SUCCESSSEROGATE : 6112348
NOTES: 5 embryos implanted
SURVIVAL: 1 expected to survive
Max glanced over at Alec her nerves shot. This had been too much to take at once. Suddenly she felt very unclean, Manticore had forced her to produce children without her knowledge and then taken them before she even noticed. But did Alec know? May be he didn't have to know. May be he shouldn't know. May be….
Her thoughts were interrupted, "What the hell are you doin' Max?"
She slid the papers back together, in no particular order and slipped them back inside of the file.
"Nuthin." She answered quietly.
Alec watched her through sleep-filled eyes as she walked to the counter and replaced her leather gloves. "I'm gonna jet."
"Huh?" Max glanced over at the clock. "Max, it's like six AM. We aren't due at Jam Pony until eight."
Max shrugged, "I'm callin' in sick today. Somethin's come up."
"What?" Alec sat up now, he scratched his chest and squinted his eyes. He always did appreciate a good nap once in a while.
"See ya later." Max turned towards the door.
"It was in that file your friend brought over huh?"
Max didn't turn around, suddenly she had to go see Gem; her hand was already on the doorknob. "Thank's for lettin' me crash here."
And with that, Max left 494 to his own thoughts and curiosity. After she left Alec got up and moved himself back to his sofa. What'd he care if she left? It was his home anyway and he was perfectly comfortable being alone. Alec propped his feet on the coffee table. Something caught his eye. A paper; a piece of paper that had been left forgotten. Alec leaned over and grabbed the stray sheet. Confused, he read the words allowed.
"Breeding Program Units." His eyes skimmed the rest of the page. A list of barcodes with other barcodes. All had little checks next to each row, each unit.
What was Max doing reading about this stuff? Alec folded the paper and set the empty milk jug on it. He flipped on the television and tried to forget he'd ever seen it. It wasn't his problem, it wasn't his issue. But there the paper lay, taunting him until he went to work an hour late.
