---

         Introduction/Notes.
   This story starts just after the Pulse. Before Max and Logan have 
met. It jumps around, back and forth between times, events and episodes. 
Logan is paralyzed in the beginning, then it skips a beat. 
Self-explanatory. It started as a Logan/Max story, somewhere did a lil flip-flop, 
and one of the background characters decided she wanted to live. If you 
hate the story, shoot my muse. Email is very welcome, I may not post 
the rest of the story if no one takes an interest.
   Stay free.
   

                                                Chapter One
 

   �The Coffee Shop� was a small shop that like most of Seattle, had 
seen better days. The coffee was watered down, lukewarm, and sweetened 
with something that wasn�t sugar, it was also damned expensive and served 
from the finest cracked china cups.
   Lexa stirred the stuff, watching the street from her table in a dark 
corner, her back to the wall. 
   It was a gray day, the sky was thinking about raining but didn�t 
really want to, just a rumble of thunder now and then. 
  A day to think about the future maybe, and consider moving on.
  Thoughtfully, she sipped her cold coffee, and her eyes drifted to the 
street, and took note of the figure standing across the street, just 
out of sight unless you really looked. Long coat, hat shadowing the face.
   Interesting. 
   The watcher had been shadowing her for days, just out of sight, but 
Lexa felt the presence and once she had stopped walking, and turned 
around ready to challenge the person... and found an empty street.
   Now the watcher was back.
   In her line of work, it wasn�t wise to let someone watch you for too 
long and survive to talk about it. It also stung her pride to know that 
she was apparently so easy to follow, even though lately the work was 
slow and she wasn�t actively staying out of sight.
   He could be a potential client, but she didn�t take contracts in 
person-she prefered the security of anonymity such as it was.
   Lexa frowned slightly. The watcher was approaching, and had entered 
the coffee shop.
   She looked up, watching them directly, muscles tensing.
     Easy girl, probly just a perv.
   The watcher paid at the counter, picked up a mug and headed for her 
table, straight as an arrow.
     �May I sit?� A man�s voice.
     �There are twenty tables, pick another one.� Lexa answered.
     �If I did that, I couldn�t give you a message that will be very 
helpful to you.�
   Lexa shrugged. �You can spill it standing then, and move on.�
   He put a hand into a pocket, and did it slow, watching her. A second 
later he produced a cellphone. �My employer wishes me to tell you he 
can pay you well for some assistance. If you are interested, press 1, 
tonight at 7pm.�
   She looked at the cellphone without reaching for it. �Cellphones can 
be tracked. They can also explode, resulting in a messy situation. As 
for employment possibilities, I require more info, and you call me.� She 
reached in her jacket, withdrew one of her black cards with a silver 
number on it, flipped it across the table. There was no name on the card, 
and the number was a payphone. �I�m available in the vicinity of the 
number at 7am, noon, and midnight. I decide if I�ll take your contract 
within twenty four hours, I arrange a drop for half the agreed on amount 
before I move. Understood?�
   The watcher hesitated, then dialed the cellphone himself. �Yes sir, 
as you expected. My employer would like a word with you.� He held out 
the cellphone.
   This time she took it. �Speak.�
   The voice was mechanical, echoing. Voice-synth. �I know much about 
you, Lexa. I would like to meet you.�
     �For what purpose?�
     �You are looking for a purpose. I need someone to help me find 
answers, and you are very intelligent. You need not stay if my offer does 
not interest you.�
   Lexa regarded the watcher. �I suppose chuckles will take me right to 
you, right?�
     �Correct.�
     �Who are you?�
     �My name is Sebastian.�

   Lexa was careful to memorize the area, the map to the building, and 
the map of the inner building. The watcher kept the hat on, and didn�t 
speak, which was fine with her.
   She stepped through a couple more doors and into what was obviously 
a lab. Computers, and a small clean room/surgical area that made her 
nervous immediately. 
   She came to a stop before the only occupant besides Chuckles, and 
Chuckles turned and left.
    �Hello Lexa. Please sit down.� The voice-synth came from a speaker, 
and it was obvious the wheelchair bound man was the source. 
   She scanned the room. �Just for your info, if this is some sort of 
trap...� She trailed off, seeing that he was smiling vaguely.
     �No trap. You have an interest in a friend of mine. Max. You are 
too old to be from Manticore, who are you?�
    Lexa studied his eyes, at the mention of Max every muscle tensed. 
She was careful not to let him see her reaction. �If you know I�ve taken 
an interest, then you know I�m not trying to hurt Max. What interest do 
you have in Max and Manticore?�
     �I have an interest in many things. I would like to help Max. I 
would like to help you as well, if you would explain how you are 
connected to Max.�
     �Define the job you spoke of.�
     �I need, a researcher. Someone to do my leg work. Occasionally to 
be my eyes and ears. In return I will tell you where Max is.�
     �Okay. In return for legwork for one month, I get info. Is that 
satisfactory?� Lexa told him. �I make no promises that I will remain in 
Seattle for long-it�s my way to keep moving.�
     �Yes, that will be satisfactory.� Sebastian  intoned.
    He began to explain who he was, what his interest was in Manticore, 
what info he would need.
    She went on her first �legwork� task, gathering research in a 
library�s dust-covered volumes. Easy work, nice guy. Too bad she was going 
to have to kill him, too bad he had no idea he was her real job.

    Logan Cale was sweating.
    He cursed the sweat and the feeling of exhaustion that was starting 
to overcome him despite his stubborn effort to keep pushing, keep 
going. 
     Just a twitch, just a little twitch. 
   A mental shout, at his feet, just a toe.
     C�mon!
   Nothing. His toes just remained still, dead pieces of-
   From the other room, a computer began to beep shrilly in the silence 
of the penthouse apartment. The sound meant that his global searches 
had found something interesting, it could be some scum taking advantage 
of someone, it could mean that one of his databases had come up with 
something useless - a hit on a word in a Boolean search.
   Logan reflected on the last hundred false alarms as he levered 
himself back into his wheelchair with hands that only slightly shook. He was 
already feeling stronger as he wheeled into the computer room, 
privately, he connected his body�s fast recovery powers of late to a rather 
interesting transfusion just a few months ago... a valuable donation from 
a friend.
   Glancing at the data displayed on the �hit� screen, his smile faded.
   Maybe it was time to pay his friend back.
   He sighed as the info sunk in. If he shared this, he�d lose her, 
maybe forever. Was it worth that?

    The city was laid out like sparkling diamonds on a spider�s web, 
all lights and brightness from high up-so you couldn�t see the scum on 
the streets below. 
    Not scum, enemies, Lexa corrected herself. 
    It was a ritual that made her feel safer when she moved into 
unfamiliar territory.    
   Remember your training, remember that if given the chance they will 
dissect you like a squirming bug.
    The anger, just under the surface of the calmness she ordinarily 
effected, bubbled up for an instant, only an instant, and her hand 
clenched. Something resisted in her palm for a split second, and when she 
opened her hand a broken and bent piece of metal fell onto the roof.
   She watched it fall, then kicked it into a shadow. It was from her 
harness, a small but important clamp that worked as a �brake� to slow 
her descent.
   She didn�t bother unclamping her harness, she just tore it off, 
relieving her frustration, and let it fall to the rooftop, cables still 
attached.
     It�s okay, I�ll just have to use the front door more often, 
hanging from a cable always made me feel too vulnerable anyway.
   With a shrug, she walked to the edge, automatically calculated 
distance, and jumped.
    Red hair billowing in the downdraft, she landed on the much-lower 
rooftop, and headed for the door to the stairs.
    In a few floors, she found herself in a hallway littered with 
refuse. 
    The door she sought wouldn�t be locked with more than a chain or 
perhaps a shaky deadbolt -no squatter ever received a key to a place they 
lived in, but she knew better than to actually go in.
    She walked past, her feet not making a sound, nodding at the closed 
door.
    According to Sebastian, Max�s door.
    She wasn�t interested in seeing her, at least not yet.
    The elevator didn�t work obviously, but the doors were open 
revealing to her darksight a few thick cables and some wires, it was a small 
shaft, tight squeeze. Just five or ten floors. Could be fun, besides 
getting a little dirty it would be fast, just in case. Preparation, for 
the minuscule chance she was seen.
    What�s a lil dirt, half this city looks like they forgot what 
plumbing is anyway. For once, I�ll fit right in.
    She jumped, reaching with complete confidence. Her hands closed 
around the largest cable, she slid faster than she�d wanted on the greased 
cable and her darksight informed her a little too late that this 
particular cable ended rather abruptly a few floors too soon. She made a 
grab, missed, fell hard, knocking the wind from her lungs but still ending 
up in a defensive crouch.
     Old wargames die hard, she thought, then bit her lip.
    The shakes again, damnit.
    She stood, leaned on the wall long enough to pry open the elevator 
doors and crawl out, then summoned her remaining strength and began to 
make her way home.  

    Weeks passed, and many things changed.
     Lexa had developed a friendship with Sebastian, wise or not. She 
found him to be intelligent, witty, and in many ways her superior. It 
wouldn�t have surprised her to find that he knew when she cancelled the 
contract that had been her purpose for finding him in the first place. 
She returned the payment she�d taken in advance with a smile, and let 
the client know the target was now under her protection-it was no idle 
threat on her part. The client could try to target her, or let it slide. 
She decided to watch her ass.

       �Logan. Me, hittin� you back.� Max said into the phone with a 
sultry smile. She          ignored the people, the typical noise from the 
marketplace, and the fact that returning this page would slow her down 
from the six deliveries Normal had piled on her.
       �Max, I found something...� Logan�s voice informed her, and she 
read the sounds like a map, isolating emotions, stress. �It�s about 
your family.�
    Max felt her face go pale. �I�ll be there in a few. Gotta bounce a 
few packages.�
        �Okay. Don�t be long.�
        �Right.� She replied, hanging up.

    Forty-five minutes and ten packages lighter, she rang Logan�s 
doorbell. As she waited she replayed their phone conversation repeatedly. 
Could Logan really have found one of her brothers or sisters?
     She turned the knob, saw it wasn�t locked and walked in.
       �Logan?�
       �In here.�
     There was a photo on the monitors, pretty face, red curly hair, 
eyes closed.
     Logan turned in his chair. �This is a ID scan, request for info on 
a patient with an unknown �neurological disease�. It doesn�t mention a 
tattoo or a barcode, but... there is a scar on the back of her neck. 
Does she look familiar?�
       �Where is she?�
       �She was, at Metro Medical.� Logan said, pulling up medical 
records. �She was brought in unconscious. I couldn�t give you details over 
the phone-�
      �I can get there in-�
      �No point. She�s gone, Max. She regained consciousness, and when 
they tried to hold her for observation she jumped out the window.� 
Logan smiled. �Of the thirty-first floor. Got up, and ran into the woods.�
    Max was studying the picture again.
      �Does she look familiar?�
      �It�s not Jondie, or Syl...� Max answered distantly, �but there�s 
something familiar about her. I�ve seen her.�
      �At Manticore?�
      �I don�t know.� Max said, after a long moment, remembering. �I 
remember seeing her face, she�s chained up, I think the guards were 
taking her to another section. Only saw her face for a minute. I have to go 
see if I can find her.�
 
    Lexa brushed broken glass shards from her hair, stripped off the 
hospital gown and pulled the black sweat suit on from the leather pack 
she�d stashed in a bush, pulling her hair back and jamming a leather cap 
over her head.
    Not exactly a fashion statement, but then it hadn�t been what she�d 
intended.
    She�d planned the visit to the emergency room, hoping to attract 
Lydecker, for a while he�d been getting too close to Max, and that just 
wasn�t something she was willing to watch. 
    Lydecker would know her face, would know about the scar, and would 
want her back. The plan had been to get him and his band of merry men 
to chase her into the woods, where she�d arranged an interesting array 
of traps, maybe it would cut the numbers down a little and make 
Lydecker�s post a little less attractive to future recruits.
    By the time Lydecker got out of the woods, he�d be much more 
determined to get her, and she would lead him elsewhere, she wanted him so 
pissed that he would be hunting her. 
   Lexa had wanted Lydecker, but what she got was a little more 
complicated.
   She recognized Logan when he pulled up in front of Metro Medical, 
even before Max got out. 
   She chewed on her lower lip while the two of them went into the 
hospital.
   Logan was on his feet now, but they were walking into her carefully 
engineered trap. She couldn�t spring it, she couldn�t warn them.
   The I.D. scan would draw Manticore here, that was what she�d 
intended. She had not anticipated Logan and Max showing up.
     Just when you begin to understand that life is a bitch, it has 
puppies. She thought to herself, and sprinted across the street.
   
   The hospital was crowded, which was just as well. 
   It took her five minutes to locate Logan and Max, standing with two 
emergency care doctors. A glance out the window told her it was already 
borrowed time past too late.   
   A small troop marched into the lobby, fully armed.
    Time to make a statement. She thought, and walked casually away 
from Max and Logan�s view.
   She put her head down, and running full out, not trying to keep the 
noise down she ran right into the midst of armed testosterone plastered 
soldier-boys. They looked up, as she headed off to the east skidding on 
the linoleum on purpose.
    Geeze, what�s a girl gotta do to get some attention? She thought, 
at a loss.  
      �That�s her!� Someone yelled.
    She grinned, dove for the doors and picked up some of the speed her 
body was really capable of. Bullets zinged off the steel utility pole 
near her head as she led the fools into the woods.
    The mud helped, slowing the armor plated fools down.
    She�d had to re-think her plans since she�d had to come into the 
woods from another direction. She skidded down the embankment using the 
slickness of the ground to speed her progress.
   From somewhere behind her came several voices, shouts, and cries of 
pain.
   Lexa grinned. 
      �Let the games begin.� She whispered.

    �Fifteen were taken in for treatment and released, two for gunshot 
wounds-friendly fire apparently, and one had to be cut out of a.... 
hand-made trap.� Logan said with an incredulous expression, handing Max 
the print-out a friend had emailed him on the massacre of Lydecker�s 
troops at the hospital. �Whoever she is, she ate Lydecker�s shock troops 
for lunch and I�ll wager she�s really pissed him off.�
    �I remember her, but only vaguely.� Max told him. �She was kept in 
the lock-down area, and whenever they brought her out she was so 
chained up she had to walk slow. We only saw her, maybe twice. She�s older 
than me.�
    �She doesn�t look that much older,� Logan said, glancing at the 
photo. �Why would they keep her separated from you?�
    �I don�t know.�
    �Maybe she�s one of Lydecker�s failures?�
    �Lydecker is much more likely to kill someone who disappoints him, 
than to lock them up in isolation.� Max said, scanning the printout. �I 
don�t even know who she is, why is she trying to protect me?�
    �Apparently, she knows you.� Logan pointed out. �Lydecker would�ve 
had you today. She stepped up to the plate, even if it was her fault 
that we were there.�
    
    The rain had begun again, but that was okay. The mud had pretty 
much covered her, blending her into a part of the hillside, as she lay in 
the hole near the riverbank watching the troops swarm, and eventually 
leave.
    Her body temperature dropped, as it was supposed to when exposure 
was necessary. In time, she heard no more movement, no more screams or 
shouts and she dozed off.        
   Lexa dreamed.
   Predictably, she was at Manticore, in line and at attention. 
   Vasily and Marcus were at her side, although she didn�t turn her 
head she felt them there, a comforting presence.
   On monitors in front of her were children wearing sack gowns in 
identical postures of attention. A one-way link, the children wouldn�t even 
be aware they were being observed. 
   Lydecker was in her face, as usual, spewing spit, his voice causing 
her sensitive hearing to automatically reduce the volume.
   The difference was, she wasn�t a child. 
   She hadn�t been created here, this was not her home, and it took 
more than money to own someone�s soul.
      �I own you. I copyrighted you, you�re mine.� He screamed at her.
      �I could tattoo the word reject across your ass and that wouldn�t 
raise your I.Q. any more than trying to barcode me made me yours, 
asshole.� She growled. �I wasn�t made, and you don�t own me, and you oughta 
know by now how futile tattooing me was.�
   Lydecker kept yelling, apparently he couldn�t hear her.
      �You�re meat, we will lay you out and use you for spare parts. 
You�re useless, you�re nothing.�
      �I�m more human than you are. I was bought, and I hope you got 
your money�s worth. It ends now.� She said calmly, then reached and with 
infinite ease, tore Lydecker�s throat out with her claws. His blood was 
hot as it ran down her arm, pooling on the spotless floor.
    She woke, gasping, spitting mud. The hole was crumbling slightly 
and a gush of frigid water had awakened her as she was washed out of her 
rabbit hole and dumped on her ass in the creek.
   Biting back the automatic reflex to scream, she let the mud slide 
her a few yards until she came naturally to a stop in the shallow water 
on her belly, then she stood and listened.
   Nothing but the falling rain, rushing water.
   Her watch told her it was about four in the morning.
   Time to go back to town then.
   Ringing the mud from her hair, she started west.

      �It�s addictive, yes. But that�s not the worst part of it. This 
is a designer drug, Max it was made in someone�s basement.� Logan said. 
�There have been twenty deaths, so far this week, mostly young kids who 
took it too long... this stuff fries your brain, literally.�
     �But now it�s gone from making spacers to sociopaths.� Max said 
nodding. �I�ve seen the news. What can we do about something people can 
buy for fifteen cents a hit on any corner?�
     �The ingredients are pretty easy to find, all except one...  an 
ingredient in drain cleaner, which isn�t easy to find these days.�
     �Drain cleaner?� She said, shaking her head.
     �Yeah.� Logan said, he walked to the window, watched the rain for 
awhile, then said thoughtfully. �Things get bad and people start to 
self-destruct all over.�

   Lexa was seated on the fire escape, enjoying the view.
   The sunrise had been amazing, she was really looking forward to the 
sunset.
   The only distraction was the chill of the iron under her butt that 
even the thick fabric of her jeans couldn�t pad against.
   Below, a group of local gang-members was milling about, discussing 
the merits of car-jacking as opposed to breaking and entering. They were 
aware she was up there, and she�d earned their respectful distance, 
with the price of a few busted heads and her ability to disappear in full 
view of ten of them.
   She shrugged her jacket up to her neck as a chill went down her 
back.
   She watched the sunset, then stared for awhile at the flames dancing 
in the garbage can that was being used by some people below against the 
chill of night. The flames dancing in the darkness had an almost 
calming effect, and she allowed herself to go blank, aware that if anyone 
tried to approach her, the vibrations on the fire escape would alert her.
   Looking up, she could clearly see the entrance to Jam Pony messenger 
service. That door was the reason she was perched up here damp, cold 
and tired. After the sun rose again she would get a chance to run, and 
the warmth would soon follow.
   Soon enough.

  Original Cindy didn�t need a newsflash to tell her she was in 
trouble, the fresh dead bodies strewn through the alley were clear enough. 
Men, women, children, you name it.
   The package in her hand felt a hundred pounds heavier, and she 
hugged it to herself, her mind almost numbing out.
   She ran, hearing the sound of people running somewhere behind her, 
cutting off the only way out she was sure of.
  
   A  few city blocks away, Max popped her bubblegum, idly tapping the 
handlebars of her bike, waiting.
   Jam Pony had been losing riders, so Normal had loaded everyone down 
with deliveries. The job was becoming a brick, just another sign that 
life wasn�t gonna get much better. 
    Now she was waiting in line to get into sector six, dump some 
deliveries, blaze back to spend lunch at JamPony.
    Her pager beeped, and she took a moment to check the display.
    Not a number she knew.
    Frowning, she led her bike out of the line, walked to a payphone 
and dropped change, dialing the number.
      �Max?�
      �Depends whose this?�
      �Your friend is in trouble. 119 N. Hess. Don�t spare speed.� A 
voice, female, deep.
   Max�s eyes widened. �How do you-�
     Click.
       �Damnit.� Max growled, heading away from the line and back into 
the sector she�d come out of. �Bitch better not be playing me.� She 
muttered darkly.

    Lexa watched the chase, then decided it was time to even the odds, 
just a little.
    Original Cindy had found herself in an alley, no outlet except the 
way she�d come, which was now blocked by a large group of people who 
were in the kind of party mood she liked to avoid.
    Looking around frantically she found a piece of splintered wood, 
and raised it like a club. backing up. The wall behind her was part of a 
building, no way to climb out.
     �We got Flash,� one of the spacers told her, holding out a folded 
paper packet, �party with us, sister.�
     �No thanks.�
     �Leave her alone, okay?� Someone said from one of the windows 
behind Original Cindy.
   Before she could look up something hit the ground next to her and 
she jumped into the pile of junk on her left to avoid it.
   Lexa straightened from the squat she�d landed in, facing the fifteen 
kids and motley crew of semi-adults. �I asked you to back the fuck 
off.�
   Lexa had improvised, jamming her hair under a knitted face mask to 
disguise herself. She didn�t intend to be here long enough to be 
recognized, but she didn�t want to worry about it while she got busy either.
   One of the spacers rushed her, swinging a chain. �It�s fuckin Zorro 
man, he hadda sex change.� He yelled, and swung the chain at her head.
    Taking that as a sign to attack, a few more rushed in, and Lexa 
disabled where she could, but they weren�t feeling much pain. A few were 
drooling openly.
    She worked through the ever-growing pile of  bodies to find Max had 
arrived.
    Lexa panted slightly. �You�re friend�s over there.�
    Max walked to the refuse pile, and pulled Original Cindy out. �You 
okay girl?�
    Original Cindy nodded, pulled a piece of paper from her hair and 
shook her head. �Who is that intense, chillin super-boo?�
    Max regarded the girl whose face was still hidden �Who are you?�
        �I�m Lexa.� Lexa answered.
        �Well I�m Original Cindy.� She said, shaking Lexa�s hand. �That 
mask is kinda hot, shugga. Who taught you how to kick it like that?�

      ��I was raised by crackhouse ninjas?�� Logan repeated, laughing 
so hard it took a moment to catch his breath. �She actually said that?�
     �Yeah.� Max said, sounding disgusted. �It wasn�t that funny.�
     �Max I realize you don�t have much of a sense of humor but-�
     �I do so.�
     �Okay,� Logan said, lifting his glasses to wipe his eyes. �Then 
what happened?�
     �She... took two steps and lept over the wall. I couldn�t follow 
and leave Original Cindy.�
     �Her name ring any bells?� Logan asked.
     �Some. Still workin� it out in my head.�
   Logan�s phone rang. �Logan here. Are you sure? What�s your source?�
   Max stared moodily out the window, replaying the last few days. 
Whoever Lexa was, she wasn�t going away.     
     �Max?� Logan repeated.
     �Hmm?�
   He walked into the tech room, typed in a request for a city location 
then allowed it to narrow down to a city block. �One of my informants 
tell me there�s a shipment of chemicals coming in, stored in this 
warehouse, used to manufacture �Flash�.�
   Max looked closely at the map. �What do you have in mind?�
     �The chemicals are stored all over the city. We need to put a 
crimp in the processing of the drug, the labs. The distribution of this 
drug is too organized, it�s not just the usual crap and old prescriptions 
people have been buying since the pulse.� He picked up the paper packet 
Max had given him, looking at it thoughtfully. �If we want to stop 
Flash, we have to find out who is the brains behind it.�

   While Logan and Max grew closer, Sebastian kept Lexa informed.
   Then the Reds came to town.
   Lexa had spent the evening cramming the info Sebastian had provided 
on the Red Series. It was difficult to read his expressions sometimes, 
but she was sure her request to autopsy the body of the Red Series 
soldier Max has killed, had surprised Sebastian.
   She had done the extraction of the implant, steps away from Max, who 
hadn�t looked at her at all. Lexa had been privately amused that 
Sebastian had felt the need to distract Max because in surgical greens Lexa 
was about as interesting as a piece of furniture.
   Lexa had been occupied when Max had broken into the lab to steal, 
and insert the extracted implant into her own head, but her notes had 
allowed Sebastian to help Logan when the implant had almost overloaded her 
nervous system.
   Small comfort.
   In surgical greens, gloves and mask she surveyed the corpse.
    �What are you looking for?� Sebastian asked.
    �I�m not necessarily looking for anything. But I may find something 
I missed the first time around.� She replied, distracted. The hole in 
his neck at the base of his skull was the spot the implant had been 
removed. She made the incisions larger, exposing larger sections of spine 
and skull.
    �Max put one of these things in her head?� Lex asked. �If that�s 
the case, we have more of a problem than you�d guessed... there�s an 
extensive network of-� She gasped as the wire she�d exposed extending from 
a hole in the skull moved.
    �One moment.� Sebastian replied, booting up a view of the clean 
room on his screens.
    �This thing may�ve been removed, but something was left behind.� 
She said, tossing the scalpel into the alcohol bath and reaching for an 
electric bone saw, switching it on. A few moments later she�d freed the 
back of his skull, but instead of revealing gray matter and brain 
tissue, what met the lights of the clean room nearly made her drop the bone 
saw.
   Wires. In and out, sometimes more wire than brain. 
   Her skin crawled, they were moving, shifting like fine steel worms.
   Tiny wire whips pulled out of the light and deeper into the tissues. 
Automatically her sight shifted into magnification, and everything 
except the corpse blurred out.
     �What the-,� Lex murmured. �Are you seeing what I�m seeing? It�s 
moving!�
     �I�m sealing you in there until we see what we are dealing with.� 
Sebastian replied.
   Lex ignored the sound of the doors snicking into locked position, 
and the security doors closing. She picked up a probe from her tray of 
instruments, gingerly moving aside tissue.
     �I�m going to remove the brain, what�s left of it, and seal it in 
a specimen case so you can run a scan-� She had been severing the 
spinal cord in preparation to removing the brain when the realization 
occured to her that no spinal cord should be this tough to sever. Without 
really thinking on it, her eyes shifted again to a more detailed view and 
she backed up a step. �-it�s all through the spinal column, 
infiltrating the cord. I really hope this happened after he died.�
     �Changed my mind get out of there. I�m releasing the seal, get out 
so I can burn the room.� Sebastian informed her.
   She shook her head. �What did you use to kill Max�s implant?�
     �Three hundred jueles, in direct contact with the implant.�
   Thoughtfully, she pulled off her gloves, dropping them on the floor. 
�Remember back when I gave you the story of my life... I mentioned I 
had rather unusual genomes?� She went on without waiting for his answer. 
�Alot of the tinkering they did was far from useful. For example... 
with a little effort I can blend in almost perfectly with my surroundings, 
but under certain conditions I also glow in the dark. Gotta love modern 
science...  anyway, I can also release an electrical charge.�
     �How strong of an electrical charge?�
     �That kinda depends on how long I want to stay conscious. This 
thing isn�t dead, Sebastian. I�m going to move the scanner to the table, 
gimmie a display when you get it.�
   She moved, pulling down the scanner, positioning it over the body. 
The machine hummed a few moments. A screen lit up revealing a display.
   The skull now held alot less brain, and alot more of what appeared 
to be metal filaments coming from a darker object in the brain that 
didn�t look organic. The filaments went down the spine and out of scan 
range.
    Lexa studied the image carefully, then was distracted by movement 
out of the corner of her eye, she looked back at the body and cold shock 
froze her to the spot.
    The corpse had twitched.
      �Sebastian-�
      �Come out, I�m burning the room.�  
      �I can�t do that.� She said with grim determination. �Max still 
has a piece of this fucker in her head. I�d like to offer her another 
option to removal other than bar-b-que. I�ll start with the 300 jueles-� 
She grabbed a paddle, set the portable defibrillator to 300, grabbed 
the other paddle and approached the body, trying hard to ignore the whine 
of the defibulator. �I�m gonna repeat what you told Logan, and if this 
doesn�t work I�ll try something more, but we have to solve this problem 
here.�
   It jerked when she laid the paddle on the neck and she had to settle 
for the top of the head because of the position, and the lack of skull 
bone. Careful to avoid contact with the metal autopsy table she pressed 
the buttons.
   It thrashed. The tray of instruments flew, as well as the table 
holding the alcohol bath.
   Lex was flung to the floor, and when she looked up the gorge rose in 
her throat. The body was getting up. The brain was too solid to fall 
out, but she had a clear view of it as it stood up. Eyes that were orbs 
of blood stared at her, saw her.
     �Uhm Sebastian, I think that just pissed it off.� She said, and 
got out of it�s way. �Seal the lab, I�m on my own now.�
   The doors snicked, and a steel shutter snapped into place.
   The corpse didn�t react to the sound, or maybe it just didn�t 
care-after all her options of escape were pretty slim. Thoughts of whether it 
could hear, whether it could care flitted through her head as she 
considered her options.
    Lex inventoried the lab, converting her surroundings into 
possibilities. �Anything we do has to be used on Max.� She said aloud, knowing 
Sebastian would hear her clearly. It was what you did when defusing a 
bomb, you kept talking so that whoever had to do it afterwards wouldn�t 
make the mistakes that got you killed.    
    Comforting, I�m just so full of shit. She thought, discarding 
several plans that had occured to her. Nothing in my training prepared me 
for this. What you kill is supposed to stay dead. C�mon Miss. Hunt- 
It-Down-And-Kill-It, think fast or it�ll be you that get�s cancelled this 
week.
   The corpse wasn�t very coordinated, it looked as if it was scanning 
the area, it�s head and blind eyes sweeping the area.
   She tried to ignore the obvious-that he�d probly died from that six 
inch hole and penetrating wound in his sternum. It wasn�t bothering him 
much now, but his naked body was almost gray, his back was darker-it 
was the way the blood had settled into the tissues after death.
     Enough of this shit. She thought, and stood in view, going around 
to the back of the autopsy table.
   She put both hands on the table.
     �C�mon over here big boy.� She said loudly, wondering if it could 
hear or if was just a blind, dumb, cyborg wannabe.
   It turned to her, and took a slow step. Another step. It reached.
   Summoning electricity was always a rush. It came from deep inside, 
lighting nerve endings, raising her hair in a static-filled fro, and if 
she pulled enough together, let it build, when she let it go it was 
like being blasted with a cannon-or struck by lightning.
   Blue arcs charged through the table, blackened the walls where it 
contacted, and cemented the corpse�s feet to the floor as he became a 
conduit. 
   She became one with it for an eternity, feeling the filaments 
snaking through tissue, feeling the tissue blister, the metal filaments melt, 
run, blend together. 
   The corpse�s hair burst into flame.
   The scanner sparked and fried.
   The metal instrument tray melted to the floor, and the spilled 
alcohol residue ignited.
   The lab lights went out plunging everything into darkness.
   Sprinklers came on, drenching her, and making the charge turn on 
her, and she lost contact with the table and fell to the floor her body 
shuddering and spasming. She got a last look at the tiny blue sparks 
dying on her fingertips, then her eyes closed.
     Always wondered what would happen if I did that when I was soaked. 
I�m goin� out like a wet lightbulb. Lydecker would find this infinitely 
amusing.
 
   Consciousness was up there, somewhere. She had only to swim up 
through the layers of blackness, and eventually she�d be able to open her 
eyes- if she could move the fifty-pound weights off her eyelids.
     �Ow.� She whispered.
   For a moment she wondered if she�d actually spoken aloud, or just 
thought the word.
     �How do you feel?� Sebastian�s voice synth prompted.
   She opened her eyes slowly, tried to focus and was grateful for the 
darkness. The smell of fried plastic wafted through the air. Her hair 
was damp.
    �I feel... like someone strapped me to a spoon and shoved me into a 
live electrical socket.� She whispered. �Is he uhm, it dead?�
    �Oh yeah, it�s dead. It�ll take awhile to wash it off the walls, 
but it�s dead.�
   She sat up fast, knowing who the second voice belonged to-Max�s 
benefactor, Logan Cale. She groaned as her stomach protested. �My purse? 
It�s on the desk, assuming I didn�t trash the whole lab.�
    The room swam around and she closed her eyes, which weren�t 
focusing anyway. Must be the fumes, or smoke. 
   Someone touched her arm, she flinched, opened her eyes and took her 
purse, rummaged through it, found a case, flipped it open and put on 
her glasses. Things came into sharper focus. Logan Cale indeed, now that 
was a surprise... and Sebastian.
    �You didn�t trash the whole lab.� Sebastian informed her, �Just the 
clean room. But you are lucky the doors did not short out.�
    �I hear you claim to be related to Max.� Logan said with amusement. 
�You�re not what I expected.�
   She narrowed her eyes. �Filthy, exhausted, and just knocked on my 
ass?�
    �No. Short, and near-sighted.� He said. �You don�t look the part of 
a genetic killing machine.�
    �I am many things. I�ve been called a walking organ bank, a 
bio-techie, and I�ve been a lab rat most of my life. But I�m not Manticore 
produce, I was bought for spare parts so you could say they own me...� She 
stopped talking, smiled grimly and got to her feet by force of will 
because she was so drained she could have fallen asleep standing up. �Now 
you know just as much as Sebastion, do the math.� She said to Logan, 
feeling angry for his impressions of her. She turned to Sebastian. �Our 
agreement was to not involve Max or-�
    Uncharacteristically Sebastion interupted. �Max will not survive 
unless you help us, Lexa.�
      �Get someone else.� She said, and started for the door.
    Logan stood, grabbing her by the arm. She stopped and looked back 
at him.
      �If you don�t help us-�
      �You don�t get it do you? I blasted a corpse with alot more juice 
than you used on Max. I lost control. Next to Max I�m a genetic 
dinosaur, as you so clearly pointed out-I�m not perfect. I�m one of the ones 
that came before Max, you could say I�m more of an X2. I was the source 
of spare parts, genetic tinkering involving animal genomes, I was one 
of the failures before they started to create the failures, got it? I 
can do her autopsy, quite possibly I could patch her up, but I can�t fry 
the metallic squid in her head, and believe me it isn�t surgically 
possible to just pull the sucker out either.�
    �So you�re going to let her die?� He asked.
   He released her. She expelled breath in a long sigh, and sank onto 
the couch. 
    �I don�t think killing her is part of the program.� She told them, 
after a long silent moment. The adrenaline was dissipating, her 
emotions were falling back into place as the shock wore off. �I memorized the 
files, and I would say in my opinion that whoever designed the implants 
had something else in mind.�
    Sebastion prompted: �Go on.�
      �The Red Series files state that after the 6-9 month period that 
the body could tolerate the implant, then started to suffer loss of 
motor control, ending up vegetative eventually. The handlers incinerated 
them when they began to wear out, retrieved the implant and implanted a 
new host.�
      �Correct.�
      �What if the loss of motor control was a precursor to the 
eventual metamorphosis into a cybernetic being? The implant could be retrieved 
after the body was burned-but it left parts behind if the body lived 
past the loss of motor control... parts that developed over time to take 
over as the brain. After that autopsy I don�t think it matters if the 
body is living or dead, or perhaps death is the event that allows it to 
take over, loss of motor control is just a process of switching over to 
new management.�
     �And that is what will happen to Max?� Logan asked softly.
     �I don�t know. I�m really hoping the charge killed it off... but I 
saw something in the scan, a dark-� She trailed off. �I need to take a 
look at the remains, but I doubt what I�m looking for survived.�
     �There are no remains, just ashes with some bone.� Logan told her.
     �I saw it too, a dark shape in the head. It will take some time to 
get everything working again. You fried everything.� Sebastian informed 
her.
     �Sorry. I think I panicked.� She said sheepishly. 
     �Don�t worry about it,� Sebastion told her, �it�s coming out of 
your next five paychecks.�
     �What about Max, shouldn�t you examine her or something?� Logan 
asked. �maybe a catscan?�
     �I want to wait, see what we�re dealing with.� She told him. �If 
this thing is being controlled by someone, interfering with it may get 
it�s agenda pushed up. I want to know how to deactivate it before it can 
destroy her mind. Not to mention the fact that the corpse was inactive, 
mostly, until I activated the scanning equipment, then all hell broke 
loose.�
     �You should talk to Max. Tell her who you are. She will need to 
learn to trust you.� Sebastian told her.
   She nodded thoughtfully, regarding Logan. �In my opinion I don�t 
think we should tell Max what is going down, just yet. I need to observe 
her, try to get some answers.�
     �Will she �wear out� like the reds?� Logan asked.
     �This implant has too many factors for me to guess. It could be 
fulfilling programming built into it, it could be controlled by some 
other source-or even dormant until something brings it into play. I�m not 
even certain that death is a necessary factor.� She glanced at 
Sebastian. �The bodies of the other Reds, are you certain they were burned?�
     �They were destroyed.� Sebastian told her. �I am certain.�
     �Works for me.� She grinned at Logan. �I hear the penthouse next 
to yours is empty.�
    He snorted. �You couldn�t afford a-�
     �You might be surprised what I could afford. Let�s just say I�ve 
been saving my pennies. It would allow me to remain closer to Max, and 
allow you to find me if you have to. If you prefer I�ll just hunker down 
near Jam Pony there are plenty of-�
     �How are you going to explain moving in next to me?� Logan 
countered. �Just move in and flash your barcode?�
   She leaned forward. �I don�t have a barcode. My bio-synth was done 
by people who knew what they were doing, eventually, but lets just say I 
am not top of the line. I was sold to the Genetech facility that 
Manticore developed from and I was studied, sliced and diced to create the 
X3s-who didn�t live long, the X4s who were okay on the inside but... 
let�s just say they weren�t at all pretty... the X5s were what developed 
when they began to get it right.�
      �So there�s no way to prove you are who you say you are?� He 
asked. �No records, no barcode, no proof?�
      �Don�t worry, I�ll grow on you.� She said, standing. She nodded 
to Sebastian. �I�m gonna have to run to get set up. I�ll call in a few.� 
She started out, but Logan stood up calling out-
      �Hey! I�m going to need some kind of proof before I-�
    She turned, her face serious. �I don�t have fingerprints, even if 
there were records to check. There are no photos of me.� She glanced at 
the blackened lab, thoughtfully. �Tell you what, I�ll send you 
something you can... peruse. Later.� She walked out.

   Logan walked into his front door to find Bling waiting with a 
package.
   The various stickers on the soft pack warned that the contents were 
fragile.
   He took it to the dining room, slit the end and pulled out a metal 
box, locked with a combination lock. He swore.
   The phone rang.
     �Logan.� He answered.
     �It�s Lexa. The number you are looking for is your birth month and 
day.�
     �How would you know-� He asked, then trailed off as the phone 
produced a dial tone. He hung up, sat down at the table, and moved the 
combination to 1,1,1,1. There was a snick as the tiny lock released, and he 
heard air escape. He opened the box and found two vials nestled in 
foam, artificially cooled. 
  He pulled out a vial as white wisps of coolant swirled out of the 
box. 
  Red fluid was in the vial. 
  It was labeled with: to whom it may concern: type OO.

  Logan looked up from the microscope. �Her blood is... weird. I don�t 
have a degree in bio-chemistry but I know enough to tell you the 
closest thing to parents she had was a test tube and a petrie dish. She�s got 
red and white blood cells, and something else in there that I don�t 
remember in high school biology.�
  Max took a look into the microscope, then nodded thoughtfully. �Then 
that parts true, she�s not your average human. Is it possible to remove 
someone�s organs without killing them?�
   Logan shrugged. �I haven�t got a clue, Sebastian believes her. 
Before I met you I didn�t know alot of things were possible. She asked, that 
if her �proof� passed inspection, she could move into the building. She 
wants to meet you.�
    Max laughed. �Move into this building? You are not footing the 
bill?� She asked suspiciously.
    Logan shook his head. �No, she�s using her own cash. Maybe she�s 
just had more time to work as a thief? That could pay very well, 
depending on the target.�
      �I want to meet her.� Max said thoughtfully. �How do you contact 
her?�
    Logan shrugged. �I met her at Sebastian�s. I�ll call him and see if 
he can hook us up.�

   Logan asked Sebastian to contact Lexa for a meeting.
   He and Max had waited, and the tension filled atmosphere between 
them remained, hanging in the air like a curtain. 
   Both of them had decided to eat dinner just so that they didn�t have 
to fill time with conversation, drinking more wine in the silences.
   It seemed that they could finish each other�s sentences but there 
was little else there.
   Frustration didn�t begin to cover it.
   Max downed her last glass of wine, smiled, and announced she had to 
go. 
   The tension seemed to fade a little, he walked her to the door, 
watched her board the elevator, and went to clear the table.   
   It was nearly dawn. 
   Logan couldn�t sleep. He watched the rain paint the windows, 
blurring the view in waves, thinking over what Sebastian had told him, and the 
memory of his first sight of Lexa.
      
   He�d just come out of the out of the shower, and Bling had knocked.
     �It�s Sebastian, he says it�s urgent.� Bling had told him, passing 
him the cordless phone through the door.
     �Yeah, it�s Logan.� He answered, drying his hair with a towel.
     �Logan. I need your help.� Sebastian�s synthesized voice had 
intoned. �Here.�
     �I�ll be right over, I just have to change.�   
   He�d dressed fast, broken a few speed records, and burst into 
Sebastian�s lab to find the smell of fried plastic and smoke wafting out 
through the door as he went in, not expecting what he found.
     �Are you-� He began, seeing the sprinklers still on inside the 
glass of the small surgical lab, and passing it by to see Sebastian near 
his bank of computers.
     �Logan,� Sebastian�s voice synth interupted immediately. �There is 
someone inside the lab. Please help her.�
    Logan left his cane propped up outside against the desk, and went 
into the lab as the sprinklers cut off. Inside almost everything was 
soaked. Scorch marks seemed to be randomly around the room.
      Electrical equipment, an arcing current leaves a scorch pattern 
like that. He thought, then he caught sight of something darker, 
blackened. A body obviously, so cooked the skull was exposed. If that�s her, I 
doubt I can do anything for her.
   He had opened his mouth to clue in Sebastian when something moved 
from beneath a fallen panel on the floor. 
  A leg caught his eye, very shapely, soot-stained, definitely female 
in appearence. The panel wasn�t heavy and he pushed it out of the way. 
Beneath it was a small women who looked fairly young, her red hair was 
curly and crackled with static as he pulled her up.
    Very pretty. But there is no way I�d trust my legs to carry her 
physically out of here.
    �Sebastian, maybe you should call an ambulance.� He said, his eyes 
running over her body. No blood, no visible wounds. She almost 
completely dry thanks to the panel that had covered her. �I�m not sure I should 
move her.�
    �Logan she�ll be better off out here.� Sebastian intoned. �You will 
not harm her if you drag her out, just be careful.�
   It took awhile but he drug her out, trying to avoid glancing at the 
blackened corpse. 
   He managed to lift her onto the cot Sebastian had set up in the back 
of the lab, most likely for the technicians that occasionally came in. 
She wasn�t heavy, her breathing seemed okay, and seeing her in the full 
light of the lab he revised his opinion of her age to be more than a 
teen, but vague. Very pretty, exotic features, it was the face of the 
girl that had been in the hospital emergency room, the one who�d decimated 
Lydecker�s troops while he and Max had gotten away.
     Another mystery at least partially solved, I guess I know how did 
she escaped whatever fried the other guy.
    �Who is she?� Logan asked, regarding Sebastian.
    �Sit down, I will tell you what I know.�   
   Sebastian had told him very sketchy details. 
   He�d known her longer than Logan had know Max. Her name was Lexa. 
She was fairly well versed in bio-technology, was a wizard on the 
computer, and spoke several languages. 
   The best he saved for last-this small girl was a genetic miracle, 
engineered, like Max. A cousin to her genetically. Sebastian trusted her 
completely. 
   Then he told Logan about the blackened corpse, who it had been, what 
had happened after Lexa had pulled it from cold storage to look again 
for clues. Lexa had done the original autopsy that he and Max had 
watched, they hadn�t noticed the anonymous surgeon in the surgical greens 
with all the tension. Sebastian had assisted in drawing attention away by 
distracting Max by revealing what he knew about Manticore, and the X5s.
   Logan had more questions, but before he could ask a moan came from 
the cot and he looked back at her from the chair he�d pulled fairly 
close to the cot.
   Her eyes had opened, revealing that they were an unusual shade of 
green, light jade.
     Eyes like pale emeralds, like cat�s eyes. He remembered, smiling 
slightly.
   A slight noise from behind made him turn automatically.
   Lexa stood in the half-light cast by the few candles he had 
scattered around, just two steps away.  
   Her glasses were gone, and she was wearing black jeans and a shirt 
that revealed her stomach, hair a reddish gold curly halo around her 
head. She tilted her head at his shocked expression, and as her eyes 
reflected back the candlelight his heart stopped for a moment.
      Just like a cat�s eyes reflect back the light. He thought. 
   His mouth had opened and just stayed that way, the shock had taken 
away the question on his lips. He knew suddenly that the slight noise 
had been on purpose on her part, she could have stepped up and blown in 
his ear before he�d known she was there.
    �You wanted to see me?� Her voice was deep, amused.
    �How long have you been standing there?� He asked.
    �A few moments. I also took a look around, just to be sure you were 
alone.� She smiled. �Mind if I sit?� 
   He shook himself, mentally, feeling foolish. �Would you like a glass 
of wine?�
    �Sure.� She said, and walked past him, seating herself on the arm 
of the couch looking out the window at the view. 
   There was a brown-out in progress. 
   It had been fun traveling in the darkness, her senses tingling as 
she avoided hover drones and people, her eyes had been designed for 
darkness. 
   When at last Fogle Towers loomed before her, she considered her 
options. Climbing up to pop in a window? Yeah, but the rain had made the 
building pretty slick, and she�d get even wetter on the long climb. 
   Screw it, it would make a much better impression to walk into the 
front door.
   The elevator had a swipe card slot for Logan�s floor, she knew that 
from her previous trip a few days ago when she�d dropped by to look 
around, never knowing she�d be forced to drop cover and help Max.
   Never guessing circumstances would turn out this way. 
   She�d come to respect Logan, in a few days, weeks maybe, she knew 
things could change. 
     If the situation weren�t so damned desperate, I�d never have opted 
to meet Max. I would never have allowed myself to be exposed. I could 
be the Pandora�s Box that will destroy them both.
   The brown-out had made the elevator useless of course, and the 
stairs didn�t reach the penthouse. That left the fire escape which she 
dismissed-too noisy.
   She shrugged, and pried the elevator doors open, her nails easily 
fitting into the crack of the doors to get a purchase, inside the pitch 
black elevator she ignored the open doors-they would close when the 
power came on, she pulled her backpack off, her eyes had long since shifted 
to dark-sight showing everything in ghostly green light. She located 
and slipped on her gloves, and stripped off her clothing, leaving on her 
battered worn sneakers, shoving the clothing into the pack.
   Shouldering the backpack she located the trapdoor, and leaped up, 
opening it by plowing upwards with both fists up. It banged back, it�s 
echoing report the last loud noise she would allow. 
  Her next leap sent up upwards out of the elevator, she twisted to the 
side deftly avoiding the heavy cables and landing lightly on top of the 
car. 
  She surveyed the cable, it was filthy as she�d expected, but that 
hadn�t been her plan anyway. 
    Naked catburglar found squished after power is restored and 
elevator is called to the thirteenth floor, news at eleven, with film footage.
   She chuckled silently, and lept, her hand easily snagging the 
maintenance ladder. It was steel, imbedded into the concrete of the shaft, 
and if she had to she could flatten herself enough to allow the elevator 
car to pass by. 
   She planned to be at the doors of the twenty-eighth floor long 
before then, although in her line of work the unpredictable was always 
possible. It was just as likely that she would step through the doors as the 
power was restored to greet Logan Cale in her underwear.
     Fate had sometimes added such spice to being an assassin.

   Lexa touched the windowpane. 
   The rain outside was pelting the glass, and the window felt cold.
     �The furniture works, honest. It�s alot more comfortable when you 
sit on it.� Logan told her, handing her a glass of red wine.
   She regarded him for a moment, then swung her legs over and slid 
down, seating herself with her legs curled under her, she accepted the 
wine glass with a nod.
     �I really would like to know more about you, would you mind a few 
more questions?� He asked.
     �I�ll give you one answer for an answer. I also have a few 
questions.� She countered.
   He smiled. �Okay with me. Who goes first?�
     �Go ahead.�
     �You said that you�re different from Max, do you... sleep?�
     �Yepp. Although I try to keep it at about six hours a night. My 
brain produces enough serotonin that I don�t need tryptophan.� She said, 
and drew a smiley face in the condensation of the window. �However, I 
am dependent on chemical, not surprising, I guess.�
     �What happens if you don�t get... what you don�t have?� He asked.
    She looked at him again, watching his eyes. �I start to howl at the 
moon, and run around naked.�
   The ghost of a smile crossed his features.
    �Your next question is, what chemical did my tormentors use to keep 
me caged. Just in case?�
   He kept a neutral expression. �In case... what?�
     �I don�t know you well enough to judge that, yet.� She sipped the 
wine.
     �Hmm. I�m not sure if that answers my question.�
     �I�m not able to give you that answer just yet. But if you�d like 
we can play truth or dare, that could get interesting.�
   Logan smiled and laughed. 
     �Okay another question. Why don�t you trust me?� She asked.
     �I just met you. I don�t form alliances that fast.�
     �Do you trust Max?� She asked, watching his eyes.
     �Completely. She�s saved my ass a few times.� He told her. �What 
line of work have you been in, that would enable you to buy a 
penthouse?�
     �I... did alot of things I�m not proud of, in the beginning. I 
used what I was taught, for awhile I was an assassin. I didn�t kill just 
anyone, I settled on the criminals that had too much money for the law, 
what there is of it, to take down. I didn�t accept money in payment.�
     �An assassin with morals. What did you take?� He asked. �For 
services rendered.�
     �A favor. Something the client would do for me, sometime in the 
future. It wouldn�t involve murder, or anything against the client�s 
better judgment.�
     �And the money came from?� He prompted.
     �I stole the cash from the target. The bank accounts, 
electronically. From their home as well, if I found any, and they had no 
dependents.� The past loomed up for a moment, and she squelched it again. She 
studied him a moment. �Tell me about the last time Max saved your life.� 
She asked softly.
     �I got shot, trying to be a hero. The bullet fragments lodged in 
my back that paralyzed me, were also inoperable. One night, they moved, 
shifted in my spine. I almost bled to death.�  He walked to the window, 
glancing at the rain on the glass. �After that, I started noticing that 
I could feel sensations in my legs. I could move a toe sometimes. My 
doctor thought I was crazy.�
    �Phantom pain.� She said quietly.
    �Yeah. Max transfused me again. Not long after that, I could walk, 
not well, but good enough.�
   Lexa leaned forward slightly, eyes wide. �She did what?�
   He chuckled. �It really wasn�t that dramatic.�
   Lexa frowned slightly, her expression thoughtful. �I�m more of a 
healer than a fighter. The fighter part came after Manticore decided to 
fuck with my mind. When I was made, they played around with various 
genomes and well, I guess you�d call it tinkering. I can do things, that 
take alot of energy, as a result of various genes that were... grafted 
onto my RNA. One of those things is extreme speed.�
    �Max can do that too.�
   She nodded. �I can fool the eye-not quite invisibility but close. I 
can also glow in the dark, sometimes, and deliver electrical surges, 
and... well I can see the problems in your back, it�s a kind of vision I 
can switch into- �
     �You have xray vision?� He laughed sarcastically.
     �No. Vision isn�t a precise word. Actually it�s closer to echo 
location.�
     �You have dolphin genomes?� He said, his tone sarcastic. �that�s a 
nice skill for an assassin, death by echo location.�
   She ignored the tone. �You don�t have to trust me Logan, but I think 
you ought to know, your spine is still damaged. The ability to walk may 
be very temporary.�
     �No, I don�t trust you. I think you showed up a little too 
conveniently, and I get the feeling you�re not telling us everything.� He 
said, suddenly angrily. �I think our session of �truth or dare� is over. 
I�d like you to go.� 
   She stood, smoothly putting the wine glass on the table. �I�m moving 
in next door in a few days, I�m sure we�ll meet again. Or not, if you 
wish.� She said, never breaking stride to the front door.


    The newscaster was attractive, female and blond. That wasn�t what 
had attracted Bling�s attention, well not all that had attracted his 
attention.
   He stopped chopping vegetables long enough to turn up the volume.
   The photo of two girls replaced the newscaster. It was the kind of 
photo two teenagers would take, just having fun, arms around each other. 
Not sisters but best friends maybe.
   Logan watched silently from the table where he was preparing a roast 
before cooking it.
     �Trina Alvarez and Carrie Cottlin, both aged thirteen were taken 
by force from this corner this morning. No word as yet on who the people 
were who took them, most of the people who actually saw hat happened 
are too frightened to talk. I�ll tell you more as I get more information. 
Back to you Ross.�
   Bling turned down the volume, turned back to Logan. �Gonna get 
involved?�
   Logan nodded, lifting the roast into the pan. �A source already told 
me about this early this morning. I�ve been paging Max all day, no 
answer. I don�t know, maybe I said something or didn�t say something or 
maybe Max is just pissed for no reason in particular but lately she�s 
ignoring me.�
    At least, I hope she�s just ignoring me, and nothing is physically 
wrong. I�ve done everything but go over her place and break in, and if 
she doesn�t call by tonight I think I�ll try it.
   He scooped up vegetables, distributed them around the pan, dumped 
the seasoned water over it and popped on the lid. �Put this in the oven, 
I�m going to call Max one more time.� He went into the computer room, 
sat and dialed up Max.
    �Hello?� It was Original Cindy�s voice.
    �Is Max around?�
    �Shugga, I told you, I ain�t seen her.�
    �Any idea where she could be, it�s very important.�
    �No clue, shugga. I will tell her that you called.�
    �Is she okay?�
    �Yeah she�s fine. She�s just chillin�.�
    �Okay thanks.�
   He looked at the phone a moment.
   Max wasn�t available, for whatever her reasons.
   He dialed.
     �Yes?�
     �Sebastian. It�s Logan. Do you think Lexa would be willing to do 
something for me?�
     �You can ask her, yourself.� Sebastion�s voice-synth replied.
   A few moments went by, he�d been put on hold.
     �Yes, Logan?� Lexa answered.
     �Have you been watching the news?�
     �The two kids? Yeah. Rumor has it that they were snatched by 
spacers on Flash.�
   Logan frowned. �Where did you hear that?�
     �I have my resources. I think I know where you�re going with this. 
I�ll be there in about ten minutes.�
     
  Lexa had to grin as she sped through traffic on her bike. It was 
battered, dented, rusted but it ran, and it belonged to her. Not to mention 
the fact that no self-respecting thief  would try stealing it.
  Interesting how much she�d learned from the Manticore kids, since the 
breakout. A motorcycle was a fast form of transportation, but it had 
it�s disadvantages, like noise. She much preferred running, but tonight, 
speed meant everything.
   No moon.
   A brown-out was in progress, and the �normals� around her were 
acting in the typical bang-it-over-the-head-and drag-it-home manner brought 
on with the darkness. Logan had warned her to be careful, that 
brown-outs were not a safe time to be out on the streets, but she�d shrugged it 
off.
  She�d have to rely on darksight and Logan�s info to pull this off 
without getting the hostages killed. She�d memorized the street map he�d 
shown her, and the possible weaknesses of the buildings where they were 
likely to be, but the problem remained - she would have to find their 
location on her own.
  Time was crucial-the cops wouldn�t hold back after sunrise, but they 
weren�t suicidal enough to deal with spacers in the dark.
   Well she wasn�t exactly alone, she had an transmitter in her ear 
that Logan was giving updates through as she drove.
    He�d called Sebastian to ask for her help, two kids had been 
kidnapped by Flash junkies. Apparently Max was not returning his calls. 
Sebastian advised her to do it, then uncharacteristically warned her about 
getting involved with Logan Cale.
     �Sebastian, I am not interested in him. He�s taken.�
     �Logan is not as taken as you think he is.� Sebastian intoned.
     �Well that�s cryptic. No one owns me anymore, Sebastian and I can 
handle myself.� She snapped. �I�ll call.� 
   She sighed, regretting the exchange. Tomorrow she would challenge 
him to a game of chess, it always cheered Sebastian up to know he could 
genuinely trounce her at chess.
     �Logan, gimmie an update I�m close enough.� She said quietly. She 
could hear breakage, from the looters trashing the block, and the 
engine of her bike was making her a target every stationary second. �I�m 
ditching my bike.� She cut the engine, threw some trash over the bike and 
walked, listening.
    �Go left, there should be an the alley, then right down the next 
major street.� His voice told her. �When you�re there tell me what you 
see. This brown-out is dangerous, be careful.�
    �Yes, mUther.� She murmurred.

     �She�s really something.� Bling commented.
   Logan sighed, lowering the volume of dead air on the speaker. �Yeah, 
she�s got a little of Max�s attitude, and something else.�
     �It�s called a sense of humor.� Bling informed him. �I like her.�
     �Yeah.�
     �She�ll get the job done.�
     �Right now, she�s all we�ve got.�
     �You don�t trust her, do you?� Bling asked. �Just what did you two 
talk about that night?�
     �I don�t... know.� Logan replied. �I don�t like her just appearing 
out of the blue, just after this thing with the reds, knowing all about 
me, and Max.�
     �Maybe that�s the point, Logan-she could do alot of damage. She�s 
helping instead.� Bling told him. 
   The speaker crackled.
     �Okay, Logan.� Lexa� voice said, sounding winded. �Almost there.�
  She sped off the way he�d indicated, a silent run, avoiding anything 
too noisy to step on.
    �Logan, I see that van you described, same license plate, it�s 
about two miles ahead.�
    �Are you sure?�
    �Uhm yeah. I eat alot of carrots, closing the distance now.�
    �Are you sure that�s a good idea?�
    �Well, I have a plan.�
    �And that would be?�
    �I�m going to hop up on the van and, then I�m gonna rip the top 
off. Think they�ll notice I�m different, or do you think they�ll chalk it 
up to PMS?�
    �I think that might do it.�
    �Good, I�d be really pissed if I screwed up my manicure and they 
don�t wanna play.� She whispered. 
   She hopped up, her feet banging the metal roof, letting them see 
her. The intention was noise, ripping the roof  off would be over the top. 
She felt the vibration of someone inside before the van�s door opened, 
and a gorilla got out.
  With her darksight she noted his eyes were bloody orbs, his skin 
gray, he was missing an arm. He reached up and pushed, and the van went 
over. 
  She lept free before it hit the ground, and she used her 
echo-location.
     His head is full of wires. Shit, the bitch called life just had 
puppies again.
    �Okay, I think I just got their attention, uhm on the upside I�m 
feeling a lil insulted that there�s only one... but on the downside it�s 
one of the same gorillas that Max whacked.�
    �That�s impossible they were dead, I was there. They could not have 
survived.� Logan told her.
    �Hey, I never said he was alive, just moving. He�s got one arm, is 
really torn up, eyes are just red marbles. It�s converted from dead to 
cyborg, so I guess maybe Sebastian was wrong, if I survive I may just 
kick his ass. This could take awhile, hold all my calls, will you?� 
    �Lexa get out of there we�ve been set up.�
    �Yeah I kinda got that. Look, I don�t think he�s going to let me 
leave.�
   The cyborg approached. She pulled out the transmitter and shoved it 
in the pocket of her jeans.
   The van�s engine started and it pulled away.
   She backed up into the dirt parking lot, giving herself room, 
scanning for weapons. She avoided looking at what was left of it�s eyes, 
talking as she moved.  �I realize you aren�t the intelligent kind, or the 
conversational type... but I feel obligated to inform you that if you 
don�t release those two kids, they�ll be mopping you up with a spoon in 
thirty minutes.�
   He didn�t reply, he just whipped out a shock stick and clutzily 
attempted to jam it in her ribcage, it connected just long enough to piss 
her off, but for a moment she was relieved he hadn�t actually touched 
her.
     �Fine, let�s do it your way.� She muttered, and she grabbed the 
hand when he came at her again, snapping his wrist, or at least she 
tried. He just straighted and the wrist snapped into place
   He whacked her with his arm, which felt like a tree and Lexa 
suddenly found herself on the pavement on her back, the impact knocking the 
air from her lungs, and he stomped on her, holding her down by a handful 
of her hair. 
   Her ribs crunched, and in that instant as pain burned through her 
chest, she set the rage that had been bubbling just below the surface of 
her mind free. 
   Pain faded along with intelligence, conscience, reason and mercy, as 
a curtain of crimson obscured her vision as all of her senses and 
abilities heightened. The cyborg became a target to be eliminated, and she 
became a mechanical thing that would stop only when the target was 
rendered terminated.
   She was what she was, what she�d been instructed to be, reverting to 
the days at Manticore. There was no one to tell her to stop, no way to 
return to sanity this time. She was in full rage, and was a prisoner of 
it until it released her.
   Time went on in spurts, and she used her flesh as a weapon, taking 
the blows. When the cyborg connected with a metallic spike, she took 
that too, barely aware that she�d been stabbed. 
   Then sanity flooded back as she saw herself, kneeling on the 
pavement over the inert body as his legs spasmed in death, and she realized 
what she was holding in her bloody hand. Numbly she pulled her red 
bandanna from her jacker pocket and wrapped the thing in it, then shoved it 
back in the pocket.
   Logan�s fist hit his desk in frustration as static was the only 
sound.
     �That�s enough, we�re going to give her a hand.� Logan said, 
getting up and walking to the cabinet retrieving his gun and snapping in a 
magazine. �I can connect to Lexa through the laptop. Let�s go.�
 
   Lexa got up, the adrenaline overload was dissipating. 
   She yanked the spike out, crying out. The blood would flow long 
enough to clean the wound, then it would clot. Her blood was designed that 
way.
      Just gotta love modern science, but it still hurts.
   She pulled the transmitter from her pocket and jammed it into her 
ear, prodding the body with her toe. �The van�s gone, and I�m heading in 
the direction it went, unless you have better ideas.�
   Silence. She jiggled the earplug. 
    �Logan?� The speaker crackled.
   Logan adjusted the volume, glad that Bling was driving. He jammed 
the headset on. �I�m here. What happened to the red that attacked you?�
     �He�s not getting up again, this time I absolutely guarantee it, 
although I�m going to torch the thing soon as I can pull the juice. I 
also got something that you might find interesting.�
     �What is it?� Logan asked.
     �Uhm, can�t talk now, the van�s back. There�s a jerk sitting 
inside the van just watching... he has an impressive weapon aimed this way. 
I�ll get back to you.�
     �Wait! What�s the address?�
     �I�m on Wolcott behind a large brick building near the railroad 
tracks, didn�t get a chance to look around further. Over and out.�
   The speaker crackled then went silent.

   The guy in the van was a normal, the expression on his face was 
interested anticipation, not the blank, dead stares of the �Reds�, his eyes 
were just eyes. 
   She took in the surroundings, possible escape routes, and the two 
guys, who had emerged from the van and were approaching her. 
    One was a normal, the other was a Red. A fresh Red.
    It was still dark, she had the advantage. They could see because 
they had dropped flares, but the lighting would get bad in minutes, the 
flares would burn out eventually.
   She pocketed the earpiece.
      I�m tired, damnit, and I just yanked a yard of steel from my gut. 
     �Trina, Carrie are you in there, are you okay?� She yelled the 
names of the two hostages into the darkness.
   From the van came several loud thumps. 
   The Red hesitated and turned back.
     �Hey asshole, I hear you have the intelligence of a coked-up roach 
on a hamster wheel,� She improvised. �I just ripped your friend Lurch�s 
head off, that could be his brain�s on my boots. Why don�t you make me 
sorry?�
   The weasel in the van, motioned towards her with the gun, talking to 
the two men. �Get the bitch, we only need one.�
     Terrific. Lydecker used to tell me my mouth would get me killed, 
all the time... I�m not gonna prove him right, even if it kills me. She 
thought, then had to smile.
   The first gorilla was close. No shock stick, they�d wised up 
apparently and were armed with tazers. He jabbed out, trying to get in close 
as she knew he would, and she grabbed it and yanked it from him pulling 
him closer and jamming it into his eye.
   His screams told her she was right about him not carrying an 
implant.
     Hopefully Walmart ran out of the damned things.
   She leaped over him and hit the second one in the throat with her 
high-heeled boot, but the Red didn�t go down, instead he grabbed her leg 
and threw her.
     Oh I really hate these things. I�m way too tired for a full rage, 
but I can still fight dirty, even if it is two against one. I could use 
a rage though, I�m startin� to hurt.
   She had enough time to realize she�d hit ground and to barely miss a 
flare, and she grabbed it just as Red was on her, full-out fists that 
felt like stone. The flare went into his face, searing flesh and ruining 
his eye, and he hit her hard right in the wound in her belly.
   She heard herself cry out, went down.
      You are going to die if you don�t pull the juice. She told 
herself. It�s gotta be large, fast and sweet.
   On the ground, she scuttled backwards out of his reach, using his 
slow speed to her temporary advantage. 
   She stood up, he was inches from her, reaching, but she didn�t let 
that distract her. The electricity flowed, her hair stood on end, and 
she grabbed his wrist pulled him off balance, he twitched on the ground 
as current flowed.
     Not enough, not nearly enough. .
   He twitched, but he lived. Blood sprayed her as she reached down and 
methodically tore his throat out, and she screamed, feeding the rage.