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Disclaimer: The characters, Manticore and whatever you recognize from DA are not mine.
Always
Chapter #1
I'll rise, but I refuse to shine!
Max's POV.
"Wake up sleepy head." I simply moan at the sound of Syl's voice. I know that I'm super human and all, but how do they expect me to wake up at four in the morning? E.ve.ry.day. Come on How come the others can do it? I barely get to sleep thanks to the shark DNA.
"Rise and shine Maxie." There she goes again.
"I'll rise, but I refuse to shine" I reply.
Days at good old Manticore are always the same. We get up, way too early. Eat a pathetic excuse for a breakfast, and then do a 30 mile run as warm up for training.
Later, in a perfect straight-line lead by Zack, my unit enters a dark room. We all stare straight ahead waiting for orders. Lydecker does his little yelling thing - which he has perfected over the years - and we pretend to actually be listening. Then he puts us in hand-to-hand combat. At first it was kind of fun. Getting to kick ass and be rewarded if you won. But now Lydecker makes me fight with either Jondy or Zack. Jondy is a real street fighter; don't really know where she picked it up. But since they would never approve of that here, I always win. And Zack is the perfect big brother: he's gotten pretty good at letting me win and pretending I did it all by myself.
But I always seem to forget everything when my favorite hour and a half of the day. Lunch. The mess hall or cafeteria, as we like to call it, is pretty much a giant room with lots of tables. You wait in a long line while old, funny smelling women serve you equally old and funny smelling food. But you gotta love the mashed potatoes. "So you're telling me that if you could you would turn your hair green?" Syl, Jondy and I like to sit on our own and just talk. Not about training or seizures or other Manticore crap. Just talking.
"Syl, come on! You have to admit it would look great on me!"
"Now I can honestly say you're insane, Jondy."
Trying to ignore my sisters and their little scene, I start surveying the room. That's when I see him. Yep, there he is. He walked in with his very cocky, very sexy grin. Ugh! When I get like this, I even disgust myself. I really wish I could blame it all on heat, but we've been in treatment for that since we turned fifteen.
I don't know what it is, but every time he comes within eyesight, my body shivers and I get this thing in the pit of my stomach. Not a bad feeling, like the awful one I get when someone's about to attack. But a different felling, a...a good felling.
"Uh...Maxie, if you don't stop drooling were all going to drown here"
"What?" I try to feign ignorance. Obviously it doesn't work.
"Max, it's me, Jondy. I know you better then anyone ever has and probably ever will."
"And the point is?"
"Ever since God knows how long, you've been just a tiny bit obsessed with him!"
"Jondy what are you talking about! And who's him?"
"Don't pretend to be innocent with us Maxie. You know who we're talking about, 494." Jondy turned to look at where I was gazing, even during their attempted intervention.
"You guys are nuts! I never said I was-- I don't even-- Were not lik-- " Why do I even bother? They know me too well.
"Look Max, I know that he's cute and everything but anything with him wouldn't be right. It's just something you don't do. You know" Syl looked at me with pity eyes. But I wasn't watching her. My eyes were still completely locked on him. Jondy and Syl have a point, though. Our unit has always been the better one, always the teacher's pet. And we earned it. Not that the other X-5 weren't good, it's just that they didn't stand out like us. I guess we have Zack to thank for that.
494 use to be the greatest in his unit. So good that even our Zack started to suspect they were planning on transferring him in to train with us. But then about two years ago, he went on a DC solo mission and apparently did something very wrong. Now he's known as the rebel, the outcast. He and his friend, 296, would do almost anything to get under Renfro's skin. They've made it their duty to piss her off.
Something happened on the outside that made him not care about Manticore anymore. Maybe that's why I can't stop thinking about him. We're so alike in not caring, but in other ways too. We both have twins.
I had Sam. And he has 493. It's amazing how they can be so alike and yet so different at the same time. 493 isn't the soldier type either, but he's not like his brother. He's always the quiet one. Always shy. And he's constantly reading a book. I don't know why he would be reading: the very few books Manticore allows us to read are as dull as hell. 493's in his own little world. I kind of envy those two sometimes. There's this connection between them that no one else seems to have.
I'm jolted out of my reverie by 493 suddenly getting angry with his brother and storming out. That's when I realize that Syl is still talking.
"So, we have a deal then, Max?"
"Um... Yeah, sure. I gotta blaze."
(Same day, Alec's POV)
"Al, hurry up! We have to go" Ben always says that as if there was something good to look forward to, something to wake up for. There isn't. Not for me anyway. Not anymore.
"Alec.Rise and shine buddy" He won't stop till I roll over and look awake. "I'll rise, but I refuse to shine" I reply, my eyes still clamped shut. Suddenly, my body is assaulted by very cold water. I turn and open my eyes to find Biggs holding a just emptied bucket of water. "I'm. Going. To. Kill. You."
"Hey man, you wouldn't wake up.I had to do something!" He always has that annoying grin on his face. Ben says I have it too. Its funny, Biggs and I act, talk and walk the same way, but Ben and I are the ones that look exactly alike.
We're two complete opposites, my brother and I. But I still love him.
Love.
Don't even ask how I know the meaning of that word.
Everyday, it's the same thing in this little hellhole I call home. I'm running out of ways to get into deep shit around here.
"So, what are they putting you through today?" Biggs has never had a real reason for being the rebel he is. He didn't go through what I did. But he tried his best to understand, which I always appreciate. "Well, let's see. First I gotta beat my record in the tank, then retake every class we've ever taken in the last decade and last it's off to good old Psy-Ops" I got out of my re-indoctrination treatment about two months ago. After the Berrisford mission, they put me in severe punishment for about six months. Then a year in Psy-Ops. And a long time in solitary.
"I'll see you guys at lunch" I head in the direction of the tank. In a weird way I always liked training in the tank. My record was the best in my series. Even better then 599's. But now, holding the Manticore record works against me because I have to beat that record every week. Supposed to make sure I'm getting stronger as time passes. But I know its just another one of their stupid attempts to break me. It won't work. Never does.
There's nothing like a day of torture to get your appetite going. The cafeteria's not so bad: you get use to it after a while. And I can't get enough of their mashed potatoes.
Biggs as always is flirting with one of the newest nurses. Ben's reading one of his books. I don't know how he does it. He must go through nearly seven books a day without even looking up. "Hey guys"
"Hey man" Biggs replies, still staring at the nurse.
"You never give up do you? Hey Ben... Benny.... Hey Ben, you awake?" He looked up at me surprised.
"Hi. I didn't see you come in, what's up?"
"Not much. Decker says that a couple more months and I'm back to regular training."
"About time." Biggs mumbled finally giving up and turning to face me.
"What's the deal Alec? You ever plan on telling us?" I shivered at Ben's question. I haven't told anyone what happened with Rachel. Not even Renfro knows the particulars. And all that Biggs and Ben know is that I disobeyed orders and got severely punished for it. "Tell you what, Benny?" avoiding the question as usual. "The same thing you haven't been telling us for two years now."
"Why do you suddenly care?"
"Please tell me you're kidding." This time, Biggs face turned serious. Serious, and kind of creepy. Then Ben speaks up again. "It's not at all of the sudden. You go out there acting fine. Like you always do.You come back, and you're acting like a zombie, not even talking to us. And now, out of the blue, you start acting like everything's okay again. We've waited for you to get over whatever it is that happened to you on the outside, but it looks to me like that's never going to happen."
I put on my best poker face and look at them emotionlessly. "I am over it." Ben looks at me the same way as I look at him. Biggs shrugs, knowing that there is no telling us apart, and crosses his arms on his chest waiting for the starring contest to end. "Then tell us what happened." Ben says in a monotone voice. I never expected this question from him. I look straight at him, coming up with a lie that I would feed my twin brother.....
I can't lie. Not to him. But I can't very well tell him the truth, so I look away from his gaze to let him know that I wouldn't say a word. He seemed puzzled at first, then quickly stands up and leaves the room.
"That was harsh man." I look at Biggs again and then back at my now cold plate of mashed potatoes, trying to forget another thing in my crappy life.
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