Chapter 15: Shifting Tides

The following day, Logan gave me a call and told me the documents were ready to be picked up, so I went by his place after work to pick up the documents. Reading through the doctor's notes, the cure had been found on Max's side; the doctor had attempted to isolate the virus by trapping it in a protein coating of antibodies. Unfortunately, the virus mutated and ate through the coating, making it active again after several hours.

What better way to counter Manticore technology than with more Manticore technology, I thought. I decided I would try giving Logan a retrovirus that would activate specifically upon coming in contact with the viral DNA strand. This retrovirus would extract the viral DNA and render it harmless. As I thought more and more about this theoretical solution, I believed in it more and more. My current research was put on halt as I began working on this theory.

Weeks passed as I continued my research. I had to stop by Logan's place to pick up a blood sample, reassuring him that I would soon have results. The transgenic situation in Seattle was not getting any better as more and more appearances became public. Things took a turn for the worst when a blind girl was kidnapped and later found killed through a snap of the neck – a superhuman act. They suspected a dog-man, who looked similar to Joshua. It wasn't looking good for the transgenics.

I never spoke much to Joshua, but Sandeman told me a lot about him – he learned so much from his first specimen. He always spoke so fondly of Joshua, which made it hard to believe Joshua was the murderer. Then there was Issac, another transhuman resembling Joshua, yet I was under the impression that both of them were gentle creatures. Of course, Manticore has its ways of turning good things bad, and vice versa. I couldn't be sure.

As the weeks turned to months, I came closer and closer to a cure, but the situation only got worse. Seattle reached its peak when Ames White exposed Manticore and announced that the transgenics were a threat, turning the public against them. I was surprised by this action, since I knew the government intended on keeping things under wraps, no matter how useful it may be for the public to "help" end the "transgenic threat".

Then came the Jam Pony hostage crisis, where transgenics took several hostages to prevent them from capture. Max stepped up as the leader, working with police to return the hostages safely. I was impressed that it went as well as it did – no human blood was spilled. The situation ended with the transgenics barricading themselves inside Terminal City. Within moments, the National Guard had the place surrounded. It won't be long now before the fate of Manticore's creations are decided.

The media went crazy with this sudden change, and before long, every news channel around Seattle was covering Terminal City. I had, by now, perfected a cure, and was in the process of conducting a few more trials to ensure it worked, but Logan was long gone, stuck in Terminal City after helping Max during the Jam Pony situation. I sent him an email, letting him know of my progress. I also kept up with the news, hoping the situation wouldn't break into a war.

A week passed and everything was still as it was before. The situation had died down some and the National Guard was more focused on keeping the crowds from rioting than preparing themselves for a fight against the transgenics. The public media war continued, with more negative news than positive news, but occasionally, there were interviews from the Jam Pony hostages who gave their account of the situation. Normal, the Jam Pony dispatcher, even announced he had delivered a transgenic baby and said they were no different than anyone else.

What is it about human nature that allows us to remember the negative aspects of things and forget the positive? The constant media of the crowds only seemed to remind people of the transgenic "threat". The lynchings reported by the news have brought some sympathizers, but only a small percentage of the population is willing to help.

About two weeks after the barricade, with the situation still unchanging, I received an email from Logan. Max had a team of X5s and X6s sneak two of Max's friends and himself out of Terminal City to prevent exposure to the toxins from causing too much harm. With his penthouse destroyed in a raid conducted by Ames White, Logan was now working at a new location, which he gave me the address to so we could meet.

"Rough times are ahead," I began after the basic greetings were exchanged.

"Don't remind me," Logan muttered. "Eyes Only has some work to do."

I could see that he was putting together his next hack as we spoke to give the transgenics some positive light, but we both knew it wouldn't help too much.

"I see you're up and running again. How did you manage to get all this new equipment so fast?"

"There was a lot of advanced stuff left over in Terminal City. With a little bit of scrounging and tweaking, you can find some pretty good stuff, and I had some help from Manticore's transhuman technicians."

"You managed to sneak out all that stuff out of Terminal City without getting caught? Manticore really did train their soldiers well."

"Yeah, well, let's hope they won't need to use their training to spill any blood."

"Of course. I've been watching the news. It's getting ugly."

"Yeah...they're going to need all the help from the public they can get, which is what Eyes Only is going to need to do."

"You're doing a good thing for them."

Logan shrugged. "This used to be Sandeman's house, you know?"

"Really? I would not have guessed."

"Joshua found it. Do you know Joshua? Unfortunately, he's made it to headline news already for a murder he didn't commit."

"I saw that. Sandeman spoke fondly of him, but I never had a chance to meet him. I know he was Sandeman's first...creation, so he was certainly special."

Logan smiled a bit as he thought about Joshua. "Yeah, Joshua's real great. He's really gentle, but you don't want to get on his bad side."

"Maybe I'll be able to meet him someday."

"I think he would like that. He has a lot of questions concerning Sandeman."

"Well, I'll be happy to answer what I can."

"Speaking of which...about a few weeks ago, runes started appearing all over Max's body. Since you created her...I was hoping you could tell us more about them. I've determined that they're Minoan in origin, and I've deciphered the meaning to be something along the lines of 'When the shroud of death covers the face of the Earth, the one who's power is hidden will deliver the helpless.'"

I frowned. "Can I take a look at the runes?"

Logan brought up digital images of the runes. "Here they are."

"Sandeman did mention that this would happen...but he never told me what they meant."

"Well, have you ever heard of anything about a selective breeding cult?"

"Not that I can remember."

"OK...well, this is going to sound crazy, but..."

Logan told me the story of White and his cult history, as well as what they recently learned about Sandeman's involvement in this cult.

"We think Sandeman created Max to stop them from some type of world domination when something goes wrong."

Still trying to comprehend everything, I was certainly surprised. I knew Sandeman had some agenda behind the creation of 452, but I had no clue it was this...great. He did, however, leave me with some instructions and guidelines, as well as some people to contact when the runes started appearing. Of course, it seems that Logan Cale has already solved more of the mystery than I ever could have.

"I knew Sandeman had specifically designed Max for something special, but I didn't realize it had to do with some cult. He never told me, but some of the earliest lessons Max had with Sandeman involved a language I had never heard of. I knew it was Minoan in nature, which struck me as odd, but I figured it was just some part of their soldier training to learn multiple languages. Of course, now that I think about it, Sandeman was never involved with their soldier training, so such an assumption was obviously incorrect. Sandeman left me some contacts for when the runes would start appearing, but I don't think he anticipated their escape in '09, which made it impossible for me to keep up with Max's development. Still, perhaps these people will know more about what to do. He also left me a copy of the translations for the runes, but you seem to have found your own way of translating them fine, so I don't know how much use that book would be, but I could give it to you as well. Perhaps it will make things easier."

"I think the book would be quite helpful. It may narrow down the various meanings and make it easier to translate."

"I'll send it over as soon as I get back then, with the list of the contacts as well."

"That'll be great."

"Sandeman mentioned that there would be some testing times after the runes appear. I would assume that these contacts may be involved in this breeding cult you mentioned as well. Now that White knows who she is, she is in even more danger than before. These contacts will know more about what will come than I would, and they should be able to tell her what to expect. Her death will be the cult's priority if they want to prevent her from destroying them."

"I'll look into it."

"How's Max doing in Terminal City, being the leader and all?"

"It's tough. There's still some contrasting views floating around and a lot of restlessness from being trapped in the city. I'm afraid that if things aren't resolved soon in a civil way, she won't be able to control their actions."

"She's a great leader. I'm sure it'll turn out ok."

"I hope so."

I smiled. "The cure – I believe I've found a solution to your problem."

"That's great."

I explained how the cure worked and told him I was still running several more tests to ensure it would work, but so far, it has worked perfectly.

"Well, there's no rush," Logan suddenly sad rather sadly.

I looked up surprised. "What do you mean no rush? You two love each other."

Logan looked away, not really wanting to get into the topic.

"Every couple has a fight now and then. It shouldn't get in the way."

Logan sighed. "This is really none of your business, but she's seeing someone else now, alright?"

I looked up, surprised. "Someone else?"

"Yeah. You've met him. Alec."

I laughed before I could stop myself. "I'm sorry, Alec?"

"I'm glad you find this amusing," he said bitterly.

"Logan, Max would not give you up for someone like...Alec."

"Well, she told me right to my face, that they're together."

"I've seen the two together, from when they first met at Manticore to when we went to save Kim. They're good friends, at most. Alec knows she loves you and that you love her. He wouldn't take her from you – he's not that kind of guy."

"Max wouldn't lie to me."

I sighed. "Maybe things will change when you get that cure."

Logan shrugged, but his eyes showed a glint of hope. "When will it be ready?"

"Before the week ends."

He smiled. "Can't say I'm not anxious."

"I'll give you a call when it's ready and we can set up an appointment. Here are the details of the procedure and cure," I explained, giving him a folder of my research.

"I'll take a look at it."

"Well, I guess it's time for me to get going." I stood to get up. "Let me know if you need anything else."

"You've done quite a lot, thank you."

Later that day, I sent Logan a package with the Minoan translations as well as a listing of the contacts Sandeman had told me to give Max. I pondered where I would head off to next once this was over. I certainly wasn't going to stay in Seattle. I took enough risks by sticking around.

Logan looked at the list of contacts, searching them one by one. One of them had been Elizabeth Renfro, which he knew was deceased. The others were hard to track down as well. Very few appeared in the searches and if they did, he later found that they had died. This wasn't looking good.