Author Note: You have no idea how many times I have picked up this chapter with every intention of posting it, then dissatisfied with my final final proof-read, it's gone back into the pile of 'things to fix up one day'. That particular pile is a really bad place to end up. Most stories simply get ignored for all eternity. The really unfortunate ones get treated to the rewrite of a sentence or two. Of course, that turns into a complete 'makeover' of the entire thing. Before you know it, I've add in parts that are no longer consistant with the previous chapters, or the later chapters that are all ready completed (pretty much) and then I have to sit there with my head in my hands crying, 'why why why? What have I done! What was I thinking?!' as suddenly the puzzle's filled with a bunch of pieces that just don't fit! But, because I've gone to all the blumin' effort of writing the extra scenes, I'm adament that I'm gonna squish them in there anyway. URGH!. Okay, take a deep breath... All in all, the entire end and most of the middle of this story has been completed for a long time - 'cept for the segment where I haven't quite yet figured out what to do with Alec. There will be the next stumbling block where I unravel the cardigan all over again... Wish me luck.

E M P T Y . W O R L D

B y . S o r r o w . R e m i n i s c e

. x . x . x . x .

11 June, 2022

Eight days had passed since the grossly-mutated strain of Hanta virus broke free from a CDC laboratory, and the death toll in Seattle alone was now at nineteen hundred. Unlike the original strain, this virus was highly contagious, and all efforts to contain it were failing.

So far, the Centre for Disease Control had found no antigen in transgenic blood work to combat the ever-spreading disease. They had tested it against the original pathogen, with positive results. But these new cases were different, the virus evolving faster than the scientists could work on a cure.

Within Terminal City's own newly erected quarantine area, Chris, the young X6 who had only entered the small transgenic nation the previous day, had now slipped into a coma. There was no evidence of the weeping sores on his flesh, unlike all other cases recorded in humans so far, but there was little doubt that he had contracted the virus which had steadily cut it's way across America in a frighteningly small amount of time. All in all, it indicated the worst case scenario for the residents of TC: Manticore hadn't made transgenics immune to all bio-warfare agents after all.

For Max, the virus that had once threatened only Logan, had become a juggernaut; bigger and more powerful than ever before. This time threatening everyone; everyone she was in her very creation, intended to protect.

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8.47am
"We need to report his condition to the CDC. It's the only way we can know for sure -"

"Out of the question! There's no way I'm letting one of my own be a guinea pig to those bastards!"

"Max, 'those bastards' are our only hope of solving this! They need to know what's going on!"

"He's genetically engineered Logan. We know what they did with my DNA sample - what d'ya think they'll do if they get their hands on a living transgenic? Think curing the virus will be their top priority?"

"Don't be ridiculous Max. They're the Centre for Disease Control. They're not out to steal billion dollar military technology."

"How can you be so sure?"

The argument had been going on for the past hour. Although Max and Logan were behind closed doors, in a private office, their ever-raising voices were plainly heard by all standing on the other side of the door.

Alec had found himself silently taking both sides at different times throughout the hour. He understood Max's caution - he didn't like to think of handing over one of his own to a government body anymore than Max did. But at the same time, he could see Logan's point. During the night, the cyber-journalist had cracked the CDC's computer system, and found they were indeed still struggling to formulate any kind of vaccine. Any information as to the nature of the virus was crucial to them. The fact that it was triggering new and unpredictable symptoms in the X6 was vital information that shouldn't be held back.

But what if the CDC demanded not only DNA samples for their next batch of tests, but living transgenics as their lab pets? After all, they hardly cared for the best interests of the transgenics, who were deemed by many to be less than human, and therefore expendable. What better way for them to study the virus, than to inject it into transgenics and watch it's mutation process advance?

There were far too many 'what ifs'.

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9.10am
Logan was on the phone to the CDC, having won the battle - for now. As Max had predicted, the voice on the other line wanted more than a verbal explanation of the symptoms - he wanted the X6 himself. And Logan was negotiating.

Max sat on a chair across the room, glaring at Logan and wringing her hands. She remembered too clearly how it felt to leave Brin dying on a park bench, awaiting Lydecker and his men as they came to collect her. Lydecker ensured that she recovered from the advanced progeria, but he had also ensured her reindoctrine into the ranks of Manticore. The knowledge that she had given her sister back to the enemy had broken Max's heart. But given the givens, she'd almost be happier giving this X6 back to Manticore, than to give him up to the CDC.

Alec and Joshua sat on either side of Max. Neither knew the story of Brin, but they both understood her turmoil. Could they live with themselves if they allowed one of their own to be placed in the hands of scientists who'd be all to happy to have a transgenic lab pet on hand? Could they live with themselves if they held him back, and in doing so held back a possible cure for this disease?

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10.27am
In the end, it was Logan's hacking cough that had made the decision. Waving away Max's concern, Logan claimed to have merely swallowed his water too fast as he bent double at his computer desk and coughed like a pack-a-day smoker.

The realisation that she may actually lose someone close to her through all this spurred Max into gritting her teeth and agreeing to release the X6 into the hands of the CDC. She found no resistance from those within her close circle, and the silent nod from Alec confirmed they had approved of Logan's suggestion all along. They were just waiting for her to come around and accept it.

The headquarters of Terminal City was now bathed in silence, despite the half dozen people sitting within it. Each pondered the fate of the X6, as well as that of their own selves. Logan's cough had subsided, but the light film of sweat on his brow was new.

"Can I have a word?"

The voice at Max's ear caught her off-guard as she gazed out of the window and across the rooftops of Terminal City. She turned, startled, and met Alec's hazel eyes as he crouched beside her.

"What's up?"

Alec hesitated, swept his eyes across the room and glanced quickly away when he saw Logan watching them. "Best if we step outside a minute."

Once outside, they continued walking towards the block of deserted apartments a transgenic work team had begun to clear for habitation some weeks earlier. Reluctant to speak for once, Alec shoved his hands deep into his pockets as he at last came to stop inside a doorway and took a deep breath, preparing himself.

"You think Logan has it, don't you?"

Alec clamped his half-open mouth shut and scratched the back of his head. It was exactly what he was thinking, but now that Max had been the one to say it aloud, he felt a need to downplay the suggestion. "It's probably too soon…"

"No. It's what you were gonna say, isn't it?"

For once, her tone wasn't argumentative, and Alec studied his friend for a moment, taking in the weariness that hollowed out her eyes.

"Max, you need to rest…"

"Don't change the subject Alec! You think Logan has this disease, don't you?"

Her words reverberated off the surrounding buildings but Alec didn't flinch from the anger which had flared to life within her at last. He could handle her anger. It was the unspoken despair he found harder to deal with.

"Okay, yes. The thought has sprung to mind. There's the cough, the sweat. And he's had a fluctuating temperature all afternoon. "

Max looked to him in surprise. "Really? I never noticed. Are you sure?"

"Could all but feel the heat radiating off him at times when I was workin' alongside him."

Wrapping her arms around herself, Max chewed her lip and closed her eyes tight as if by doing so she could shut out Alec's concerns. "Maybe it's just nothing. Maybe it's just a cold. I can't understand how he can get sick. Not here. He hasn't been exposed to anyone…"

"He came with me to get OC and Sketch, remember?" Alec whispered the words, as if they would hurt less for being softly spoken. "We could've brushed against a dozen carriers on the journey. I'm sorry Max."

Max slumped against the doorway, and leant her head back against the brick, silent for several moments as Alec's words sank in. Finally, she murmured, "maybe he's just overworked. He's been having so many late nights…"

"Yeah, maybe." Alec gave a tight smile and tried to swallow his doubt. "We'll keep an eye on him, just in case."

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12.40pm
"OC, I don't think bringing you and Sketch here to TC was the safest option after all."

Max sat on the arm of the couch in the ramshackle apartment her two Jam Pony friends had been holed up in since their arrival the day before. Sketchy had taken it upon himself to write memoirs of his life within transgenic central and was hard at work punching out words on an old-fashioned typewriter Dix had dug out for him.

Unable to face what she felt sure would be an accusing stare, Max kept her eyes downcast and thought yet again of how she had bought this down upon everyone by escaping Manticore the second time - if not the first. Renfro had warned her that she was poison, but neither of them understood the magnitude of that statement at the time. Not until now.

"Boo, look at me." Original Cindy stepped forward, but the transgenic refused to meet her eyes. "Seems to me there's no way to hide from this bitch, and no cure. I'm a Jam Pony messenger - out there, I'd get sick as quick as I might in here. You know that right?"

At those words, Max raised her eyes, a protest hovering on her lips.

"Listen to me okay? I'd rather die here surrounded by you and Alec and everyone I've come to know and love, than out there in the cold - alone. And I'm sure Sketchy feels that way too. Right Sketch?"

"Uh huh" The amateur reporter spared Max a quick grin before returning his attention to the letter 'e' which refused to adhere itself to his sheet of paper.

Original Cindy's expression was solemn, and utterly sincere. Max shrugged off her defences and stepped forward to hug her friend, relief overcoming guilt for a fleeting moment.

"OC, I'm so afraid. I don't know if I can be strong enough for this" They were words she wouldn't dare utter to any but her closest confidante, but it was a weight she'd felt press against the inside of her chest from the first moment she'd realised Sandeman's shroud of darkness had settled itself over the world.

"Boo, you the strongest girl I know. You'll survive this bitch, don't worry about that."

"It's not my survival I'm worried about. It's everyone else's."

That was something that for the moment, Original Cindy couldn't think of an honest answer for.

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1.35pm
Mole, Alec and Dix sat around the table in headquarters and listened with sceptical interest to the words of a transgenic who had come to them with the first idea to offer any kind of hope against the virus. To restore Sandeman's laboratory.

"You're saying curing this virus is right in your area of expertise?" Alec was doubtful. He'd never heard of Manticore creating transgenics to work alongside their scientists.

Rose, the transgenic in question, was one of Terminal City's later citizens. Although she was confident that she had a good chance of cooking up a vaccine, she'd been in a state of indecision for several days over whether to share her plan. Her purpose at Manticore hadn't so much been to make breakthroughs in the creation of the latest human weapon, but rather in the creation of the latest bio-warfare agent. Not that she was eager to share that particular snippet of information anytime soon, being that it was she who had helped to turn Logan's blood into a virus which could kill him.

"I can't make promises, but I think I have as good a shot of creating a vaccine as anyone else. The dilemma lies in getting my hands on the stuff I need. A lot of Sandeman's equipment has degenerated over time…"

"So we need to make a hit on a lab?"

"It's our best chance."

Mole slapped his hand down on the table. "I'm in. Bein' holed up in this damn place is makin' my scales crawl. You in Alec? Be a nice change to take a stroll through Seattle, do some window shoppin', admire some fine as-"

"What about the risk of contamination? You gonna put yourself into quarantine when you get back?"

Mole gave Dix a withering look. "Think I'm gonna be brushin' up against any humans out there?"

The transhuman shrugged. "Well, you're not exactly inconspicuous. Maybe we should talk to Max, see if she'll go?"

"Max has other things to deal with right now." Alec stated quietly. "Mole and I will make the run."

"That's it then." Pushing his chair back with an enthusiastic screech, Mole displayed as broad a grin as a half-man half-reptile could muster, and started towards the door. "Give us a list of what you need. We'll go tonight."

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3.15pm
"No you damn well won't!" Max strode Alec's room as leafed through a stack of various building plans kept in a box beneath his bed.

"Max, I don't recall having you ask you for permission to go outside." Giving an 'ah-huh!' of accomplishment, he pulled clear the particular blueprint he had been searching for, and studiously avoided Max as he began to look it over.

"Yeah well, things have changed, if you haven't noticed. You were lucky to make it back the last time." Exasperated as he continued to ignore her, Max added a little too fervently, "I need you here Alec."

Alec raised an eyebrow, "since when have you ever needed me for anything Max?" Seeing her flat refusal to answer his question, he continued. "Or are you just pissed because we made a decision without including you?"

"If you go out there, you won't come back."

After a moment of studying the moody transgenic before him, Alec realised her concern was, for once, genuine. "We were made for this kind of thing, remember? We can handle it."

"They've imposed a curfew to keep people off the streets. How do you propose to get around that? How will Mole get half a block without someone opening fire on the 'freak'?"

"I'll sort something out with Mole. Look, I hate to be the bellringer of doom or anything, but this could be our best chance - for survival. Have you looked out at the city skyline in the evenings lately?" Max shook her head and dropped her gaze from his face to a speck of dust to his right. "They burning bodies on bonfires, as far as the eye can see. This disease could destroy us Max. And if we don't do something to save ourselves, it will."

"There's a hundred other transgenics here just as capable of doing this mission as you, why do you have to go?"

Alec thought about her question for a moment and then broached one of his own. "What's happened to the old Max? The one who believes in taking the bull by its horns? Just a few days ago you were keen to break into a government building, and now you're baulking at a mere pharmaceuticals?"

He smiled playfully to try and lighten his inquisition. "When did cat-burglar turn scaredy-cat?"

Scaredy-cat? Max's temper flared at the question and impulsively she curled her hand into a fist, ready to knock the smart-ass right off Alec's face. But it was futile. She could kick his ass around the room, and he'd still be expecting an answer at the end of it all. Thing was, it was a valid point, if she could humble herself enough to admit it.

Maybe the answer lay in Max's complete lack of control over the situation. The lack of solidity in her enemy. Manticore she could tackle. Lydecker's TAC teams had been a joke. She could walk into a building they had surrounded, and saunter out dressed as one of their own, with a child in her arms. Renfro with all her efforts to break her, had never succeeded. White had been an unpleasant surprise, but one she had ultimately stripped to his underwear and taped to a post.

The virus that had threatened the life of Logan time and time again, had shaken her to her core. It had terrorised her every time she stood in the same room and Logan. It had invaded her every cell. Still, she had found a way around it - by giving up the one she loved.

But this, this was beyond anything she had been trained for, and she had no idea how to deal with the feeling of utter helplessness it left her with.

The crux of the problem, however, lay in the phone call she'd received while Alec held council over Sandeman's laboratory. The words of Dr George had been brief, and to the point. The X6, Chris, had died within two hours of his arrival. Long enough for them to confirm he not only had the virus, but it had again recreated itself into a new form once within him.

Worse still, the results of Max's blood sample indicated that she was no more immune to the virus than anyone else.

Not only did it reaffirm the doubts she held about herself, but it proved that Sandeman had been wrong. She was not the messiah who would save the world. She had become the very shroud of darkness he had created her to prevent.

Of course, no one else would say that, but Max knew it was true.

Manticore had tried everything to bring her down, but in the end it was an anonymous, seemingly unimportant lab techie who had crushed Max's iron-cast spirit. By deciding to investigate the virus within her DNA. By discovering why she was a carrier of it, and how he could use this to his advantage. And now, as a consequence, the world suffered because of him. Because of Manticore.

And ultimately, because of Max.