  |
The "reds" are convicts on Death Row in South Africa. They are given the
chance to work for the government instead of being executed. They are given a
special implant that they must insert into the base of their skull. This implant
attaches itself to the brain stem and stops the pain receptors. Adrenaline is
dumped into the convict's system, increasing his strength and causing him to feel
no pain when he is injured; this overdose of adrenaline makes the reds stronger
than transgenic soldiers in hand to hand combat. Once the implant is inserted it
cannot be removed because the convict's body cannot survive without it. The body
cannot operate on this adrenaline overload and the reds burn out in six months,
one year at the most. The reds' bodies are burnt once they are no longer useful so
the implant can be retrieved and used again. Manticore had repeatedly turned down the South Africans' offer to conduct business. However, Colonel Lydecker authorized the release of certain sensitive information concerning Project Manticore to the South Africans when he was informed they could track down X5-452. A handler in charge of a small band of red soldiers named Johansan traveled to Seattle when he received a tip that a Manticore prototype was there; that prototype was 452. She escaped from the reds by obtaining one of their implants. The South Africans, under the watch of Lydecker's friend and South African contact Zakes, agreed to use their tracking equipment to lock onto the implant's unique metallic signature to locate her. According to intelligence, Johansan informed his soldiers once 452 was in custody they would be retrofitted with her DNA and would survive the implant indefinitely. One of these soldiers found out the handler's mission was to obtain 452 in order to harvest her eggs and create a new generation of red soldiers; he killed Johansan. |