Chapter Six - New Skin
She pushed open the bedroom door and stepped in as if she was walking into a church. The bedroom was just as it always was - neat and it smelled of Logan. The only piece of clutter was a black sweater hanging off the edge of the bed. She approached it cautiously as if it would spring to life and smother her. Part of her wouldn't mind.
She sunk to the floor and reached out for the sweater. She touched the sleeve then ran her hand over the fabric before pulling the garment into her lap. She cradled it gently in her arms as if it were a small child. It seemed so right, but so terribly wrong at the same time. She could feel the soldier within her stirring. She pulled off the sweater James had given her and slipped on Logan's sweater. It was too big, but somehow felt exactly right.
Suddenly filled with new vigor, she got to her feet and set on her task. She went to the top drawer in Logan's dresser - the one that had somehow become hers. Inside it were a few pairs of clothes and the outfit she had been wearing before she and Logan had gone to Thomas's office - her catsuit. She laid the suit on the bed then frowned. She stared down at the outfit and felt her Manticore training begin to spark in the pit of her stomach. She knew she could very well lose herself entirely after it was all over, but she was too exhausted to care.
She left the bedroom and returned to the destroyed computer room.
"You really screwed yourself on this one," she said quietly and stepped into the room.
Bits of computer pieces and glass crunched under her feet as she walked. She went to the large metal shelf in the corner of the room and inspected the contents. If she knew Logan at all, she knew there was a spare computer screen. She found it tucked away in a box on the bottom shelf. She unpacked it and connected it to the computer. Once the computer was up and running again, she searched Logan's files for the information she wanted.
Once she had memorized all she needed, she thought about deleting the informant net. Logan's instructions were to delete it, but… she couldn't. It was his life's work, hell, his life. She exited the files and left them safe and sound on the hard drive.
Now that she had the information and supplies she needed, she returned to the bedroom and stared down at the catsuit. The spark in the pit of her stomach was growing and was setting the rest of her ablaze. She changed slowly, methodically, almost sacredly into the catsuit. She zippered the vest over Logan's sweater and felt as if her life was playing in slow motion. She watched as the last dim rays of sunlight bowed gracefully out, allowing a dark and cloudy night to sweep over the rain drenched city.
A new fire burned within her, turning any last remnants of her sanity and compassion into a fine gray ash. She slid on her gloves then slipped on her own shoes and examined her reflection in the mirror that hung on the wall. Her body looked as it always had, but her eyes were different. They were without life, without spark, without passion - they looked just as they had when she was in Manticore. Her eyes were as empty as she felt inside. They didn't even betray the rage burning deep within her.
She would destroy Thomas Maconick.
She left the apartment and headed for the parking garage. Her precious bike was parked next to an empty parking spot. The car that should have been parked next to her bike was clear across the city in the parking lot of the building where the worst day of her life had begun.
She slid onto the bike and sat for a moment before starting it. She felt satisfied as the machine rumbled smoothly underneath, but she wasn't happy. She revved the engine then flew out of the parking garage at eighty miles an hour.
Due to traffic and checkpoints, it took her longer than she would have liked to reach the Maconick Chemical Corporation building. She hid her bike behind a dumpster in the back of the building then examined her options.
She chose a window on the second floor as her entrance point. She climbed the fire escape and pried the window open without much trouble then slipped in. The building was dark and quiet. According to a clock on the wall, quitting time was three hours ago.
As she roamed the halls and peered into the dark, empty offices, she wondered if any of the people who inhabited the spaces knew what kind of sick dealings Thomas was involved in. She guessed some of them did and she felt like they should die right along side him, but she couldn't bring herself to care about them. She only had eyes for Thomas.
She eventually made it to the floor where Thomas's office was located. She stopped in the doorway and looked around. A room at the end of the hall had its door closed, but a light shone from the crack under the door. Voices and chuckles came from inside the room.
"Who you going for on the game?"
She could hear the sound of a spoon hitting the edge of a coffee cup.
A second voice answered the first. "Ah, I dunno. I didn't look over the stats or anything. Hey, did you check the first floor?"
"What for?" the first voice said.
The two men laughed and Max walked past the room, confident that she could dispatch the two men (she assumed security guards) if she had to. She slipped into Thomas's office and closed the door quietly behind her.
The very sight of the room made the soldiers held deep within her grumble and stomp around. She could feel them moving again, ready to burst out of her and destroy her.
Instead of trashing the room like she wanted, she went to sit in front of the computer. She started it up and wasn't surprised to find everything password protected. She pulled a floppy disc from her vest and kissed it before inserting it into the drive. It was a program of Logan's creation and she was glad she had the foresight to grab it before she left the penthouse. With a simple keyboard command, the program began running. It automatically began trying combinations of passwords and within ten minutes had cracked the code. The program inserted the correct password, allowing Max access to Thomas's desktop.
Throughout their phony business meetings, Max had taken note of the activities Thomas had performed on the computer. From what she gathered, he controlled everything through the machine. Honestly, she didn't blame him. After all, would he really want just anyone from the company accessing his business dealings?
She typed another command on the keyboard and a small box popped up on the screen.
ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO ERASE ALL FILES?
Max sneered and clicked 'Yes.'
The program then went to work destroying everything housed in the computer.
After it had finished, Max removed the disc and placed it back in her vest. Feeling not quite satisfied, she bent down to the computer's tower and removed the cover. She contemplated on just what to do, then decided to rip every bit and piece from the machine then smashed them on the floor. In some cases it may not have helped any, but it sure felt good.
The Maconick Chemical Corporation empire was almost crumbled.
There was only one other place where there might be back-up files.
A/N: I've completed writing the story, so never fear - you'll get the whole thing soon. :)