A/N: I'm posting the character profiles after this note and going with Ty3's suggestion of adding character descriptions. Hopefully it will help some of you remember the characters better. It's mostly meant as a reference for the next few chapters until they get names. I've added a (CL) to the chapter title to indicate the character list is posted in this chapter, in case anyone wishes to go back to this chapter to refer to their profiles.


Profiles: Unit 9

Series: X5

Designation: 134

Gender: Male

Unit History: Unit 1

Specialties: tracking, navigation, and communications

Known Acquaintances: 729

Physical Characteristics: Blue eyes, blond hair, light weight with toned muscles, peachy complexion

---

Series: X5

Designation: 157

Gender: Male

Unit History: Unit 3

Specialties: encryption, computer/software programming, hacking, coding, hardware, engineering

Known Acquaintances: 863

Physical Characteristics: Green eyes, brown hair, medium build, tanned complexion

---

Series: X5

Designation: X5-863

Gender: Female

Unit History: Unit 3

Specialties: weapons (particularly guns), general combat, tracking

Known Acquaintances: 428 (after 428 rescued her during a mission), 321, 261, 409, 157

Physical Characteristics: Blue eyes, black hair, light build, peachy complexion

---

Series: X5

Designation: 729

Gender: Female

Unit History: Unit 1 (2015), Unit 4 (2015-present)

Specialties: stealth, recon, combat

Known Acquaintances: 134, 536 (former Class Alpha Member)

Physical Characteristics: Brown eyes, brown hair, light build, lightly tanned complexion

---

Series: X5

Designation: 645

Gender: Female

Unit History: Unit 5

Specialties: stealth, recon, tactical analysis

Known Acquaintances: none

Physical Characteristics: Dark brown eyes, black hair, average build, light complexion

---

Series: X5

Designation: 536

Gender: Male

Unit History: Unit 6

Specialties: combat, weapons, stealth & recon

Known Acquaintances: 729 (former Class Alpha member)

Physical Characteristics: Brown eyes, dirty blond hair, medium build, light complexion

---

Series: X5

Designation: 428

Gender: Female

Unit History: Unit 7

Specialties: aquatics (highest scores), engineering, underwater demolitions, field med

Known Acquaintances: 863 (after rescuing 863 on a mission)

Physical Characteristics: Hazel eyes, blond hair, light build, short-from-pale skin

---

Series: X5

Designation: 261

Gender: Female

Unit History: Unit 8

Specialties: field med, communications, general technology

Known Acquaintances: 409, 321, 863

Physical Characteristics: Dark brown eyes, black hair, medium build, dark complexion

---

Series: X5

Designation: 321

Gender: Male

Unit History: Unit 8

Specialties: stealth, recon, sniping (perfect marksmanship score)

Known Acquaintances: 261, 409, 863 (known to pull pranks on 863 to win her heart)

Physical Characteristics: Green eyes, black hair, light weight, tanned complexion

Other: Sent to solitary numerous times for pulling pranks on Manticore personnel as well as fellow soldiers

---

Series: X5

Designation: 409

Gender: Male

Unit History: Unit 8

Specialties: demolitions, combat, vehicles

Known Acquaintances: 261, 321, 863

Physical Characteristics: Green eyes, brown hair, medium build with well-toned muscles, light brown complexion


Chapter 8: CO

Alec walked over to her side and placed a hand gently on her shoulder. He could see now why she hadn't bothered to acknowledge his presence. She was crying.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him, trying her best to sound annoyed. She wiped away her silent tears before turning slightly to face him. "Renfro said the breeding program was over."

Why was he here? Alec wasn't even completely sure. One moment he had been talking to 536. The next moment he was wandering around the halls of Manticore. "I missed your late-night company," he said with a grin.

Max tried a smirk as she replied, "I don't miss yours."

"Ouch. Now that hurts. You've got to be nicer than that if you want people to follow your orders."

Max turned around completely to face him now. "Does everyone in the god damn facility know?" she asked bitterly.

Alec shook his head. "Not everyone, but 536 came to me to tell me he was being transferred to Unit 9. I told him not to give you a hard time; you can thank me later. Anyway, everyone knows Unit 9 doesn't exist, so I had a good guess who was leading it when I heard it was new."

Max sighed. "How?"

Alec grinned, "And you say I don't have brains."

Max punched him in the shoulder, but it barely had any strength in it. She was far to depress to really mean it. But that didn't stop Alec from pretending.

"OW! Just because you're a CO too now doesn't mean you can just go around punching me."

Max grinned slightly and sat up. Alec had already cheered her up by being here. "Spill then," she demanded, raising her fist to strengthen her demand.

Alec held his hands up in surrender. "Machiavelli and Hitler. That textbook you had – it's from a leadership course only commanding officers are given. I thought it might have been a fluke and didn't think much about it, but when 536 said he was being transferred, I knew it had to be you. Besides, once I realized Renfro's plan, it made perfect sense. I didn't think the woman had it in her."

"Looks like you have some brains after all," she mumbled.

Alec frowned. "I have plenty of brains."

"Sure. Maybe when you start to use them more, I'll start to believe it," Max quipped. She suddenly turned silent and sighed, pulling her knees to her chest in an attempt to comfort herself. "Alec, I can't do this."

Alec took a seat next to her. "Sure you can."

"No, I can't. I can't lead a unit. I'm not a leader."

"You're more of a leader than you realize, Max."

Max scoffed. "Since when did you think I could be a leader?"

Alec shrugged. "If you can kick ass, then what's to stop you from being a leader? Isn't that what Machiavelli suggests?"

Max rolled her eyes. "You know, people like Machiavelli have a lot of enemies."

"How's that different from your situation?"

Max glared at him, but he was right. She had isolated everyone for the past month, hoping to leave Manticore before forming any real attachments. Resultantly, everyone kept their distance. Being a traitor in their eyes made it even easier. "I can't do this," she simply repeated.

"It's not that hard. You just go and boss people around. You seem to have no problem doing that with me. Just do it for a few more people."

Max smiled slightly, but it quickly disappeared. "It's not really the leadership I'm worried about, Alec."

Alec wrapped an arm around her, unconsciously pulling her closer to him to comfort her. "I know," he said softly. "Renfro knew what she was doing. She had it planned all along."

Max looked at him, slightly surprised. Did he really understand what she was going through – that this change of events may very well keep her here in Manticore? Did he really know her that well?

Alec just smiled reassuringly, seeing the look of suspicion on her face, as well as surprise. "You know, Max, you underestimate me. I told you – once I figured out Renfro's plan, it made perfect sense. I do see the whole picture, you know."

"Tell me something I don't know then," she said in disbelief.

"I'd rather you find them out on your own," he said with a wink. "You're kinda cute with that look on your face."

Max shoved him away, sending him tumbling to the ground. "Get out."

"Aww, come on Max. I'm just messing with you."

"How did you get in here anyway? Doesn't Manticore keep us locked down?"

Alec grinned. "Like I said, you underestimate me. I've got a few things going with the guards."

Max rolled her eyes. "Why am I not surprised?" She reclined on her cot and stared at the ceiling, hoping to just disappear. "I don't want tomorrow to come. I don't want to deal with this. When things go wrong, they're going to be punished," she rambled. Then it occurred to her that Alec was really in her cell, possibly attempting to...comfort her? That couldn't be it, could it? She pushed the thought away. Why would he care for a traitor like her? "Why are you here again?" she asked him.

"Thought maybe you could use a few tips from Manticore's best CO," Alec replied with a confident grin.

Max's lips twitched. "What was that I said about you having a big ego?"

"But it's true. Unit 6 is the best Manticore has."

"Really? If you ask me, Unit 4 and Unit 6 seem equally matched. There's been about an even number of wins and losses, with maybe Unit 6 holding one or two more wins, but that doesn't make Unit 6 Manticore's best."

Alec laughed. "You didn't look at the scoreboard before you joined. We were kicking Unit 4's asses until you came along."

"Oh," Max couldn't help a small blush from appearing at the indirect compliment.

"Yeah...Unit 6 wasn't happy when you knocked me out that first day. We were inches away from victory."

Max smirked. "Well, you were going to take me out. I couldn't just let you walk away without some payback."

"Yeah, well, now that you're a CO, I'm not letting you get away that easily. It would not work well for my reputation."

Without really thinking about it, Max couldn't let the challenge slide by unnoticed, especially when it came from this egotistic asshole. "Well, maybe you'll want to kiss that reputation goodbye. I think Unit 9 is taking the lead," Max said with a sudden determination.

Alec frowned. "Are you challenging us?"

"Are you accepting the challenge?" Her eyes twinkled daringly.

Alec grinned, "You'll never beat us."

"Bring it on," Max dared. She was smiling now, finally accepting what had happened, and what she would have to do – beat Unit 6. Although she doubted she'd have any chance in doing so – he had plenty more experience than she – at least she had a goal now. At least she now had a reason for staying in Manticore.

"Well, I guess this means no tips for you," Alec said as he got up to leave.

Max shrugged. "I'll manage. Besides, your tips would be no match for what I've got in mind."

"Guess we'll see then," Alec said as he headed out the door. "Good luck, Max."

"I don't need it, but you will." She smirked before wishing, "Good luck Alec. I look forward to crushing you."

"You can try, but you won't succeed," Alec replied with a grin before leaving. He smiled to himself as he replayed their conversation. At least Max had come to terms with what happened, and would make the best of it. Unit 9 will start off rusty, since the members are coming from various units and barely know each other, but as soon as they learned to trust each other, that's when the challenge would really begin, and Alec would be ready. He knew Max would have no problem leading them. Every X5 had some leadership potential. They were made that way. But Max, coming from the escaped series, living on her own, and gaining the independence she did – she was definitely a leader. It was just a matter of getting them to listen to her after Manticore had brainwashed them into believing the escapees were traitors.

Max knew she would not be able to leave Manticore now, but she vowed she would not give up on that goal. Manticore would not win. Renfro would not win. They will think they have won, but she knew better. Max was still just playing along, and when the right time came, she would once again be gone.

Another wave of sadness hit her as she recalled everyone whom she had left behind in her past life. The memories flooded back to her when someone had jammed a weapon during one of the field exercises and made a fuss about it. Cindy, Normal, Sketchy, and everyone else from Jam Pony were unlocked, as were her times at Crash and anything else related to the Jam Pony crew. Yet she still couldn't remember the person she had considered her significant other. She knew it had to be because she was desperately trying to protect him. Otherwise she wouldn't have gone through such lengths to forget him. She had faith she would eventually remember who he was and why he had been so special. She had faith.

After her short journey through memory lane to remind her exactly who she was, Max spent the rest of the night figuring out exactly how she would deal with her new unit. The first matter she would have to deal with was their distrust. That would be the biggest obstacle. Max looked at Unit 9's schedule for the first time that night. After roll call on the training grounds at 0500, she would have access to the hand-to-hand combat training area until 0700. Since they were a new unit, they had free practice until noon for the first week, which would allow them to practice together doing whatever the CO decided as they learned each others' strengths and weaknesses. From 0700 to 0900, they had access to the gym and swimming pool. Between 0900 and 1100, they would have access to Field C, which held an obstacle course and forest grounds used in field training exercises.

After lunch, they would have the standard lecture courses. The following week, they would begin field training exercises with Class Delta, which was actually composed of X6 units. If things went well, they would move to Class Charlie until the Skills Assessment Period (SAP) came, where the units would compete against each other in various exercises to allow them a chance to move up and down the classes. That was only two months away, so Max didn't have too much time if she wanted to move her unit out of Class Charlie.

After she finished reading the schedule, she noticed a manila folder underneath. Inside were papers listing the standard responsibilities of being a CO. She skim read those and was surprised to find what awaited her next. A sticky note with cursive handwriting noted, "452, to even the odds, you might find these useful."

She took off the sticky note and smiled as she was looking at a detailed profile of X5-134, transferred from Unit 1 to Unit 9. Renfro had given her everything she would ever need to know about her unit, before she even met them, from their specialties to any infractions they committed. So Renfro wasn't giving her this assignment completely empty handed. Why? Max wondered.

Training Grounds, Manticore

Max didn't sleep that night as she continued reading through their profiles. By the time she had to leave for roll call, she could already predict who would give her trouble, and she knew exactly how to deal with it. The soldiers she had been given weren't necessarily bad soldiers, but they were not exactly the most favorable either. Most of them had few acquaintances in their former units and even fewer friends. They were the outcasts.

After roll call, she led Unit 9 over to the combat training area and instantly paired them up. Only three of them moved. She recognized the three to be 536, 729, and 645. 536 and 729 had been in Class Alpha with her; they seemed to hold some respect for her. 645 – Max didn't understand why 645 moved, but at least that was one less person to deal with. Everyone else refused to do anything. It was time to sort things out.

"Were my orders not clear enough?" she yelled, not the least bit perturbed by their inaction.

An X5 with black hair whom she recognized as 321 spoke up, "We're not taking orders from a traitor," he said defiantly.

Max smiled. "Suit yourself. When you all fail because you didn't listen, Manticore's going to be punishing you, not me."

The group that was ready to follow orders watched anxiously as 321 stood up to their CO. They too were not fond of the idea of being under 452, but they had their reasons for following orders.

"Guess you didn't read the CO handbook, 452. The CO is responsible for his or her unit – its successes as well as its failures. If the unit fails, the CO fails and is subsequently faced with the consequences of failure," 321 clarified.

Max knew he was right...under normal circumstances, but these were not normal circumstances. She shrugged. She wouldn't mind this guy getting put in solitary for acting out. Although from his profile, she knew he had already been in there more times than the average for pulling pranks on the Manticore personnel.

"How confident are you in what the Manticore handbook says?" she asked. "After all, they did put me in charge. Ever think that maybe I can pull some strings?" Not that she would have to. Renfro had made it clear what would happen if she failed. The strings were already pulled.

321 scoffed. "You're bluffing. They wouldn't listen to an '09er," But even he was starting to doubt himself a little. "We've got eleven years of training on you. We could take you out easily. There's no way you could possibly know what we know in the time you've been back."

"You think knowledge and experience are the only things that make up a commanding officer, 321?"

321 was surprised. He didn't introduce himself. How would she know who he was? "How did you know my designation?" he asked, annoyed.

Max smiled, "There's a lot of things I know about you 321. Would you like me to start listing them or would you rather settle this on the mat? I know you're just dying to show off," she sneered. "I'll make you a deal. If you win, I'll go right to the Director and tell her I'm not capable of this position because 321 has proven himself to be more suitable."

321 glowered at her and stepped up to the mat. "I see a promotion coming up."

Max looked for an X5 to referee. "729, referee. 3 points."

"Yes, ma'am."

Max stepped up to the mat. 321 came charging right at her, clearly ready to aim a series of punches. Using a technique she had learned from 319 that first day, she easily caught the first punch he threw and tossed him over before he had a chance to throw a second punch.

"Point," 729 called out when the 321 landed with a loud thud.

321 kicked up in rage and blurred again, aiming a jump kick at her chest. Max rolled out of the way and swept him to the ground as soon as he landed. Another point was declared when he landed on the mat, not even aware of when or how he had lost his balance. 321 waited before attacking this time, seeing that every time he attacked first, 452 had the advantage.

Max grinned as she blurred. She feigned an attack, side stepping at the last minute to avoid his reach. With his back turned to her, she came up behind him and placed him in a choke hold. "Do you give up yet, soldier?"

321 answered by leaning forward to throw her over him. Max curled up into a roll and was back in a fighting stance when 321 blurred to send some more punches at her. Max met each of his punches with a block. When he slowed down to the right pace, she ducked and landed a punch to his stomach. The impact of it sent him back a few feet. Max then continued with a jump kick to his chest. 321 blocked just in the nick of time but was not ready for the punch to the face that came immediately after, sending him to the ground for a third time.

"Point," 729 announced. "End of match."

Two of 321's buddies came by and helped him off the mat. They were from the same unit as 321. "Anyone else think they can beat me?" she challenged.

She was met with silence. "Then pair up and free spar. I want to see how good you really are. I would be disappointed if 321 was your best fighter." She could see 321's glare out of the corner of her eye.

The unit broke up into pairs. 321 sat out, still a bit winded from the match, so Max paired up with the odd one out. They weren't all that bad, but she had seen better. Then again, she had been working with Class Alpha for the past month. When she finished giving pointers to 645, she moved on to watch the other pairs spar, leaving 645 to practice on her own techniques and forms.

When their allotted time on the mats had ended, Max had finished mentally documenting their strengths and weaknesses and given them pointers to improve. They would have to work hard if they were going to try for Class Alpha. Although they were not aware of her goal for them yet, she was certain they would agree to it.

There was still a wave of uneasiness throughout her unit; she could still feel it and see it in their eyes, but at least they were following orders. Now it was all up to her to determine which direction things would go.

Mess Hall, Manticore

"Manticore is getting slack if they're giving leadership to a traitor," 321 grumbled after downing some applesauce. He was sitting with 261 and 409 for lunch before their lecture courses would begin. The three of them were the only ones in Unit 8 not in the infirmary or redeployed after a failed mission a few weeks before.

"You're just mad she kicked your ass," 409 teased.

321 squeezed the empty milk carton in his hand and crumbled it into a ball. "Shut up 409."

"Oh come on," 261 interrupted. "You have to admit, you didn't even score a point against 452. She's not bad for missing eleven years of training."

321 glared at 261. "You're warming up to a traitor already? Did Manticore teach you nothing?"

"Calm down 321. Remember, Manticore was the one that gave her that position," 409 reasoned.

"Yeah, well, maybe she can fight, but can she really lead?" 321 questioned.

261 and 409 had no answer for that.

"I don't want to get on her bad side," 261 admitted. "321, you fight better than me. I stand no chance against her."

"You don't have to be alone 261," 321 reminded. "There's ten of us and one of her."

"Yeah, but 3 of them were ready to follow her orders, remember?" 409 pointed out.

"That still leaves seven of us, and we can take out those three if we need to."

"Well, you can count 134 out. He's hanging out with those two from Class Alpha, 321," 261 observed.

"Don't you think if they had a reason to disobey her orders, they would have already? They're the ones who know what's going on," 409 observed. "They are at the top of the class, after all."

"Well, we thought Command was also smarter than putting an '09er in command, didn't we? If Command's going to start messing with things and Class Alpha isn't going to do anything about it, I say it's time we step up and do something about it."

261 and 409 exchanged uneasy glances. They had a bad feeling about this.

"Come on. Let's see what the others think," 321 said as he got up and moved to the other table where several other Unit 9 members were conversing.

157 and 863 were both from Unit 3, so they stuck together, although they didn't talk much. Due to 428 and 863's past mission, 428 hung around the two former Unit 3 members.

"321...what brings you here?" 863 asked, clearly remembering the prank he pulled and the revenge she vowed to take.

"I hope you're still not sore about what happened a few months back," 321 began. "I was just hoping for some more attention."

"321, if you're not here for something important, you'd better leave or we're both going to be in solitary for a fight you're going to lose."

"Calm down, 863. I was just wondering what you all thought of our new CO."

"Once a traitor, always a traitor," 863 answered.

"I was hoping you'd say that," 321 began. "We're not that fond of the snake ourselves. I was thinking we could show her how we crush rats."

"We'd be put in psy-ops for going against a CO," 428 pointed out.

"Don't forget what the Director said though. She told us specifically to show them what we thought of our CO," 321 reminded.

"Yeah, but even if we do her dirty work, she still might put us in psy-ops for doing that just to set an example," 863 argued.

"True...we'll have to be subtle about this," 321 realized. "How about we discuss this during dinner time?" he suggested, noticing it was almost time to leave.

In another area of the mess hall, 729, 134, and 536 had formed their own group. As former members of Class Alpha, 536 and 729 had practiced together on occasion. 134 was once in the same unit as 729 until 729 was transferred five years ago. They all had their doubts about 452, but they would wait to see how things went before acting. They could see that 321 was plotting something with the others though. He was always one for trouble.

Max watched from a distance as her unit had broken down into separate groups. She had dismissed them early so they could have a longer lunch break, informing them she had some other errands to run before classes began. She had done this on purpose, however, to see which groups would form. She wasn't surprised to see 321 with other members from Unit 8. She suspected that 536 would socialize with 729 since they were both in Class Alpha together, but she didn't know how the other X5s would regroup. She looked around the room for 645, not seeing her in any of the groups. She finally spotted her seated by herself away from the crowds.

Max knew very little about 645. Her record was free from infractions, except for a few from when she was really young, which involved talking back to the trainers. She had no known acquaintances. She was a complete loner. Her specialties were stealth, recon, and tactical analysis. Her profile indicated that her performance in all other subjects were above average; however, so she wasn't particularly bad at anything Manticore threw at her. She just wasn't excellent at it.

Max suddenly noticed 645 was looking at her, so she looked away. She was interrupted from her assessment of her unit when someone sat down next to her.

"Kick anyone's ass yet?" a cheerful Alec asked.

Max smirked, "He was asking for it."

Alec grinned, "See? It's not that bad. You get to kick ass and boss people around. Kinda fun, isn't it?" As if to prove his point, Alec called out to someone in his unit. "Hey 511, can you give me some napkins?"

511, a table away, raised his eyebrow at his CO's request, especially when he saw him with 452. 494 never did something like that. He was 494's second though, so he just grinned as he crumbled the napkin into a ball and threw it right at 494, hitting him squarely in the head.

Alec frowned as Max laughed.

"Looks like I'll have to kick some ass again," Alec muttered.

"Well, he did give you napkins," Max reasoned. "So technically he followed your orders."

"Who's side are you on anyway?" Alec asked.

"Just trying to be fair."

"Speaking of fairness, how are they treating you?"

Max shrugged. "It's just the first day, so it's hard to tell. They're following orders, but I did have to do a bit of ass kicking beforehand."

"Who was the victim?"

"321. He's probably bad mouthing me now with his other Unit 8 buddies, if not plotting revenge. Hmm...he just went to join the another group. I hope they're not plotting something," she observed with a frown.

"321, he's a cocky one." Alec laughed as he began telling a story, "Every time there's a prank and the culprit can't be found, he's in solitary the next day because someone overheard him bragging about it."

Max laughed. "Well, I guess I should watch out for any pranks he might pull. I have a feeling he won't let it go so easily."

"Prank him before he pranks you," Alec suggested.

Max smiled, "I'll do that."

A bell rang, signaling the end of the lunch period.

"Well, I guess it's time for me to put 511 in his place," he grinned, referring to the hand-to-hand combat course next.

"I'm off to hear them babble about military theory."

The two separated ways. Max went to join her unit as they headed to the appropriate lecture hall, while Alec headed outdoors to the training field.

"Something going on between you two?" 511 asked, approaching Alec from behind.

"What do you mean?" Alec asked.

"I mean, you and 452 have been spending a lot of time together, and 452 doesn't talk to anyone, except apparently you."

Alec shrugged. "We're...friends, I guess."

"Just friends?" 511 asked in disbelief. "Everyone in Unit 4 and Unit 6 know you two were paired off as breeding partners. Everyone also knows you were the only one with enough guts to approach her while she was being a bitch to everyone else. Then there were the times you two occasionally shared lunch together, like today. They're starting to talk, 494."

Alec sighed. "They're nothing going on. We never did anything."

511 was surprised. "But you reported..."

"I know what I reported, OK? But really, nothing happened. We just talked. This stays between you and me, by the way."

511 grinned, "You really do like her."

"What?" Alec asked, confused.

"That's why nothing happened. You don't want to ruin your chances with her."

"That's not it," Alec immediately defended. "It's complicated." He didn't want to tell him about his mission from Renfro, though.

"Sure..." 511 replied, still grinning. "Well, if that's really the case, you might want to tell her before she finds out from a third party."

"Hmm...yeah...I'll let her know."

"By the way, where has she been? Was she transferred to another class? I haven't seen her around the whole morning. Come to think of it, 729 and 536 were missing as well."

"She was transferred to a new unit," Alec informed.

"Who's?"

"Her own."

"What?!" 511 did not understand.

"She's commanding Unit 9."

"Unit 9 doesn't exist."

"It does now. 536 and 729 were transferred to Unit 9 as well. My guess is that they took one or two soldiers from each unit and put them together to form Unit 9."

"Considering I didn't know, how many people do know?"

Alec shrugged. "Pretty soon, all of Manticore will know. I found out when 536 came to inform me of his transfer orders. I'm guessing the other COs found out in a similar manner. It won't be long before word spreads. Unit 9 will also probably join one of the classes soon, once they prove they can work as a unit."

"Exactly when did you plan on telling us about Unit 9 and 536's transfer orders?"

"When someone asked, like you just did now."

They arrived outside to the training grounds and fell in line for class.

"Well, you just told me. I'm sure everyone else will want to know."

"Umm...yeah, after class," Alec replied, nonchalantly. He had other things on his mind.


A/N: Well, I hope you liked this chapter, and that Max's short moment of weakness was concluded adequately enough...The last chapter was actually written after this chapter was written. I thought it would be a good idea to give the characters a better introduction than the one I did, so I wrote it as an add-on. I don't really have much else to comment on in this chapter though, but I'd love to hear what you all think!

The next three chapters will be uploaded roughly 6-7 days apart because I'll be leaving for another country in a few weeks (studying abroad) and won't be able to update until I settle down (and I'm not sure how long that will take). There's also some things that happen in a certain chapter that I would like to get up before I leave. Also, once school starts, I'll be spacing out my updates more due to time constraints. Just a heads up.

Also, if anyone's interested, I made a Manticore wallpaper. Links can be found on my profile since I can't seem to post it here. Comments/Criticism appreciated for that as well...

Thanks for reading and please review!

For my anonmyous reviewers:

Kayla: I'm glad you liked the chapter about the other characters! I was afraid it would might be a slow read for most people. I'm glad that wasn't the case for you! I'm flattered to hear I'm becoming one of your favorite authors. :-) Thanks for reading and reviewing; I hope you enjoyed this new chapter!

random person: I hope it hasn't been too boring. ;) Glad you liked the ending with Max. I hope its conclusion meets your expectations! Thanks for reading and reviewing; I hope you enjoyed this new chapter.