Breeding Partners..

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Breeding Partners..Day 1Max sat in her tiny cell with its grey, unpainted concrete walls, staring at nothing as thoughts of escape filled her mind. That had been her only constant thought ever since she had woken up in the infirmary two weeks ago.No, she corrected. Her mind had also been filled with thoughts of Zack. What Zack had done for her was so typically Zack; sacrificing himself to keep her alive. She had stared, numb in shock when that bitch, Renfro had told her in that smug voice of hers that Zack had died giving her his heart.Thinking of Zack’s heat beating strongly inside her made her feel sad. It was not meant to be like this. Escaping should have meant that all of them had a chance to live a normal life. Not getting caught. Not getting killed by their own sibling Not getting progeria and had to go back to Manticore. Heck, not dying to safe another sibling.She needed to get of Manticore and get back to the real world out there. Being in this cell depressed her to no end.Lost in her thoughts, she did not notice that someone was about to come into her cell until the metal door slammed open. Her eyes snapped up to see a male transgenic walking in.Max’s jaw went slack as she took in the appearance of her visitor.“Ben?” she said tentatively.His face twisted in puzzlement. “What?”Max’s heart sank in disappointment when she realised he was not Ben. “You look like someone I used to know.”“My designation’s 494,” he said.“He was 493. You must be twinned,” Max mumbled.494 nodded. “Yeah, your fellow traitor who went psycho. I had to spend six months in psy-ops for that. They wanted to make sure that it wasn’t genetic. Looks like ten years in the world finally got to him,” he said with a smirk.“It was this place that got to him!” Max snapped, irritated at his dig at Ben. What did he know anyway? This guy had been in Manticore so long that he did not know anything but its strict regime.Rolling his eyes, 494 said, “Whatever you say,” and then he pulled off his shirt, “Well, let’s get this over with, huh? I’ve got other stuff to do.”Max’s eyes rounded. “What the hell are you doing?” she asked, her expression incredulous as his bare, muscular chest came into view. She clamped down on the typical female appreciation when faced with a noteworthy male counterpart, and glared at him instead.“We’ve been paired off. I’m your breeding partner,” he explained blandly. “Lucky me,” he added under his breath.“My WHAT?”“We’re supposed to copulate every night until you get pregnant,” he explained impatiently. “You haven’t been briefed on this?”“That’s sick! And no, no one told about it,” Max said, her face twisted in disgust. Manticore had finally flipped if they thought that she was going to copulate with some strange transgenic who looked exactly like Ben. It was sick even if the transgenic did not look like any of her siblings.“You brought it on yourself, 452. They’ll still be whipping up embryos in the DNA lab if you haven’t blown it up,” 494 accused. His hands went down to his waist and snapped open the button. Then noticing her fully dressed state, he asked with a frown, “What are you waiting for?”“I’m not doing this,” Max said resolutely, eyeing him warily as his fingers went to the zipper. He can’t be serious!“We’ve got our orders, 452,” he stated, his eyes not leaving her as he unzipped his pants. “It’s not like I want to do this. Who knows where you’ve been all this time. I might catch something,” he said with an exaggerated shudder.She ignored his jibe. “Keep your clothes on, smart-ass! You’ll catch my fist in your face if you don’t stop right there,” she threatened as his black boxers came into view. This can’t be happening, she thought in disbelief as her eyes followed his hands. Thank goodness his boxers were loose. Yanking her eyes back up to his face, she reiterated, “I’m not k**ding.”His hands paused in their task of slipping his pants down his hips. “Whoa, there no need for v******e. You should be glad that it’s me and not one of the others. I’ve never had any complaints before, I’ll have you know.” He grinned at her.“Well, if you want to keep it that way, I suggest that you leave now!” she said sweetly, bending down to pick up his shirt. Tossing it at his chest, she said in a hard tone, “Get out. Copulation’s over.”All signs of playfulness left his face as he stepped closer to her. His face merely inches from hers, he said in a hard voice, “Listen, 452. I don’t know what your deal is, but an order is an order, and we’re going to carry it out to the word. Understood?”Gritting her teeth in annoyance, she bit out, “Do I look like I care?”494 smirked at her as he stood back, and then deliberately pushed down his pants slowly, ignoring her gasp. Stepping out of it, he kicked it to the side and advanced towards her, clad only in his boxers. “I don’t know about you, but I’m not about to send myself back to psy-ops. That means that we’re going to do what we were ordered to do, alright?” he said softly, but the threat in his tone was clear.“Back off and get out!” Max snapped, glaring at him furiously.Unperturbed, he said in a flat tone, “I was about to suggest that we do it the easy way, but I don’t think you’re up for it.”Max’s eyes widened as he lunged at her. Still in shock at the entire situation, she did not react fast enough to stop him from tumbling her backwards on her bunk. His right hand went around her wrists, holding her hands over her head as he used his weight to demobilise her. His left hand came between them to grab a fistful of her shirt roughly.And yanked hard.As he tore her shirt off her, leaving her top clad only in the black Manticore standard issue sports bra. The move increased the space between them, giving Max the chance she needed. Slipping a leg to one side, Max brought her knee up and smashed it into the side of 494’s ribs. The blow itself was not hard, but distracted, 494 did not move in time to avoid Max’s head bashing against his nose.494 hissed in pain, causing his grasp to loosen. “Damn!” he exclaimed, shaking his head slightly.Max took the opportunity to shove hard at him, pushing him off her. She was furious. “You’re sick, you know that?!” she yelled.Flipping herself to her feet, she faced him in a fight stance.Wiping the blood off his nose and his split lips using the back of his hand, 494 stood up. Taking in the way she held herself, he smirked, “You think you can take me on? I’ve got ten years training on you.”“So? Big deal. You’re the one with the bleeding nose and busted lips, not me,” Max taunted, her eyes still pinned on him warily.“I was trying to be gentle, but I didn’t realise you liked it rough,” 494 said, his eyes glittering dangerously.Max rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right. Does the word ‘****’ mean anything to you? Or is it just another word which Manticore had conveniently translated into ‘copulation’?” she asked sarcastically.He widened his eyes not so innocently. “Why will it be ****? You’ll be willing after a while. Like I said earlier, I never had any complaints,” he said, suddenly kicking out at her without warning.Sidestepping his kick, Max threw a punch at his midsection before saying, “Get over yourself, dickhead.”He jumped back, avoiding her punch. “My designation’s 494. Not ‘dickhead’,” he informed her blandly as they continued to circle each other. He snapped his right arm towards her.“Too bad. Dick would have been a good name for you,” Max said with a smirk. Her arm came up to block the backhand from 494.Pretending to think, 494 said, “I don’t think it suits my charming self.”“With all those smart-aleck comments you make, maybe ‘Alec’ will work better,” Max said, giving him a sickly sweet smile as they continued to circle each other.“I could live with that,” he said, looking thoughtful. Then, just as Max was about to lash out, he suddenly launched himself in the air, aiming a kick at her shoulders.Max tried to dodge the kick, but he was too fast. Although the kick just glanced off her shoulders, it was forceful enough to land her on her back. Swearing inwardly, she clutched her shoulders and rolled into a standing position, cursing her carelessness.She immediately flung her fist out right at his face.Just before the punch came into contact, Alec raised his arms to block it. Twisting the same arm, he brought it round to grasp Max’s wrist, yanking her past him.As the force of his move slammed Max into the wall, her left shoulder first, a banging sound came from the cell door.“What’s going on here?” a guard shouted, a tazer held threateningly in his hand as he entered. His beady eyes went from Max to Alec, and then back to Max.Her breath knocked out of her, Max leaned against the wall but did not reply. She felt as if she was one big, gigantic bruise. Transgenic or not, impacting with a solid wall was not pleasant. She had to give it to him; the idiot could fight, and she needed to be more careful.Expressionlessly, Alec answered the guards, “Copulation for the Breeding Programme.”“And that involves throwing your breeding partner into the wall?” the guard asked incredulously.“That’s our normal X5 foreplay,” Alec said with a straight face.Max rolled her eye at his reply, but decided that she should hold her tongue. After all, she would not be too surprised if the guard actually believed the smart-ass. Those guards were not the smartest of people.Looking between the two transgenics suspiciously, the guard said, “See that you complete your instructions,” and left, closing the door behind him.Turning his attention back to Max, Alec said predatorily, “So where were we?”Day 320 hours later, they were still in the cell. By then, Max had run out of patience with Alec, who refused to back down from his defence of Manticore’s revolting Breeding Programme. She could not believe that Alec actually have the cheek to try to talk her into seeing things from Manticore’s point of view.“There’s no way in hell I’ll agree to make babies for Manticore to torture. The whole thing’s just sick,” Max proclaimed hotly.“Seriously, Max, not even with me? I assure you that the process itself will be enjoyable,” Alec said confidently.Max snorted. She could not believe the guy’s ability to talk about his supposed skills like that. “Do you always have such an inflated ego or am I just so unlucky that you choose to inflict it on me?”Alec looked thoughtful. “Just stating the facts, sweetheart,” he finally said.“Your version of it, you mean?”Alec shrugged, pushing against her as he did so. She could feel the heat of his body seeping towards her through their tops, making her feel uncomfortably aware of how strongly he was built. It reminded her of how defenceless she had felt last night in her cell.Cheerfully, he said, “Hey, you can always try me out if you don’t believe me. You know, take me for a test drive. Hey, if I recall correctly, we have a date tonight. Perfect timing!”Max’s mood darkened further as she thought again of what had happened between them last night. And what he intended to do to her tonight. There was no way she was going to let herself be cornered again and forced into completing Manticore’s disgusting task. “You’re not coming near me again tonight,” she growled in warning.Alec said, sounding exasperated, “Listen, it’s not like I chose to be your breeding partner, alright. It’s my mission. YOU are my mission. This is Manticore, not some place outside where you can do whatever you feel like doing. We are soldiers and we have orders to follow. Get that into your head and just suck it up, soldier.”“You can take your mission and stick it up your ass because there’s no way we’re copulating,” Max snarled.“There’s no need to be such a bitch about it. And contrary to what you keep saying, we ARE going to complete this mission. It’s your problem how you choose to approach it. Easy or hard,” he said in a non-compromising tone.At that moment, Max sorely wanted to smack him in the face. Gritting her teeth, she said, “You can try your best.”“You haven’t seen what I’m capable of yet. I held back the last time,” he said ominously.Max fought back a sudden surge of panic. If he had held back last night, then she would surely be in trouble when he decided not to hold back.He’s just trying to scare you, her inner voice told her.What if he was serious? What if he had held back last night? Damn it, she would not have a chance in hell to defend herself, Max thought miserably as she rested her forehead against the wall. For the hundredth time, she cursed Manticore for their sick Breeding Programme.“Hey, what’s with the silence,” Alec asked, pushing against her for her attention.“Would you quit shoving me already and shut up? I’m trying to ignore you here,” Max snarled hotly. She could not let him see how shaken she was at the thought of what he was going to try again tonight.“Are you always this cheerful? Life outside must be treating you well,” Alec taunted, sounding completely unperturbed by her words.“It’s not outside which I have a problem with. It’s Manticore and their stupid plans. The way they think that all transgenics are just a****ls to be tested and ordered about,” Max said in disgust.“Watch it, I can report you for that.”“Go ahead. Watch and see if I care.”“You really want to make your stay here more unpleasant that what it has to be, don’t you? A word of advice, soldier, just follow the orders and things will be much easier on you,” Alec paused. “Including the order to copulate.”“No chance in hell of that,” Max bit out.“Fine, have it your way. I’m just trying to help.”She snorted in disbelief. “Gee, thanks. I’m so touched,” she replied flatly.“Pleasure’s all mine, sweetheart,” Alec drawled back.Max rolled her eyes and decided to try her best to ignore him for the remainder of their punishment. Not an easy task considering that she could feel his every little movement. She groaned inwardly, hoping that it would be over soon. And the minute they got out, she needed to come up with a plan of defence for their ‘date’ tonight.It needed to be something which he would not expect.********************************The smell of food invaded his nostrils and made his mouth water. He was starving, considering that he had not eaten since breakfast yesterday. They served practically the same thing everyday, but at that moment Alec did not care. He made a beeline for the serving counter in the mess hall to pick up his tray of food.It was all the runaway traitor’s fault that his stomach was so empty that he felt like it was going to cave in at any moment if he was not careful. He scowled deeply as he walked towards the empty seat beside X5-511, his one time partner in a mission, and sat down beside the dark haired transgenic.After bestowing a curt nod to 511, Alec began to wolf down his food, barely taking a breath between mouthfuls.With an amused expression, 511 said, “Hey, buddy. Slow down. The food isn’t going anywhere.”Alec grunted as he continued to shove large mouthfuls of food into his mouth, too busy appeasing his hunger to reply to the other transgenic.511 shrugged. “Suit yourself. Just make sure you face away from me when you choke.”Alec threw him a biting look and swallowed. “Look, I’ve been stuck in Punishment and haven’t had a bite since breakfast yesterday, so forgive me for not having your beautiful table manners,” he said sarcastically.Raising an eyebrow, 511 said, “Yeah, I’ve heard about that. You got yourself landed in Punishment with the ’09-er, 452, right. The rumour is, she gave the guards hell when she recovered from some surgery after the capture,” 511 smirked and then continued, “So you didn’t get far with the copulation, huh? What happened? Can’t handle the little runaway girl?”Alec bristled at the hit on his abilities but he just snorted. “Nothing I can’t fix. She just took me by surprise. Won’t happen again.”511 grinned and said, “Sounds like she’s quite interesting. Looks hot too. Shame she’s not assigned to me. I would have handled it better.”“You’re welcomed to her if you want to. I’ll swap her with your breeding partner any day, at least then I could just finish the mission and get assigned to something else,” Alec said with a nonchalant wave of his hand. 511 would not know what hit him if he had been assigned to Max. But Alec knew that Renfro would not even consider swapping them. Hell, that woman probably got her kicks from seeing the transgenics suffer.“Yeah, right, 494. Like I can just walk up to Renfro and request a swap,” 511 voiced Alec’s thoughts, rolling his eyes.Alec shrugged. “I’ll back you up if you need me to,” he said honestly to 511. As hot as she was, 452 was definitely not worth the trouble he was going through. He had known her for less than 48 hours and in that short time, he had been insulted countless number of times and got kneed in the balls. Not to mention having to stand in a confined space without food or water with a rounded ass rubbing against him.And now his reputation was at stake. 511 would no doubt give him hell about this for years to come.It was all Max’s fault. If she would just get on with the orders, he would not be in this position. He had tried to explain things to her in the cell, but she had steadfastly refused to even listen to his point of view. How hard could it be to just follow the orders? It was a simple mission, a quick copulation for a few weeks should do the job. Max would get pregnant, Manticore would be happy and he would be free to go on to another mission. Simple.But, no! She had to make it more complicated than it should be. It was not as if Manticore was going to ask her to look after the k** or something. A few months of accelerated gestation period was all she had to go through before the baby was delivered, and then she would be free to get on with whatever Manticore wanted her to do next.Alec sighed and put down his fork, his appetite suddenly deserting him. He had no sleep last night and he was tired. Too tired to think about what he has to do tonight in Max’s cell. He knew her well enough by now to know that she would put up a monster of a fight and he was too tired to look forward to it.“Hey, 494! Snap out of it, man!” 511 called out, snapping his fingers in front to Alec’s eyes. “Thinking about tonight, huh? More action coming up with 452?” he asked cheekily.Alec shook his head. “Nope, just spacing out,” he lied.Adopting a sympathetic expression, 511 stood up and laid a reassuring hand on Alec’s shoulder. “Give it time. She’ll give in at some point. They all do.”Alec resisted the urge to snort. Max giving in? Hardly likely. What was 511 going on about? Looking up questioningly, he asked, “What do you mean?”“They’re females right? There’s this little thing called heat. By then, you’ll be the one pushing her away,” 511 said with a grin.********************************Max jack-knifed up from her bunk into a sitting position when the door to her cell clanked open.Damn, it was that time already, she thought tetchily. She had spent the last few hours thinking up a plan, and she finally found something viable. But she was not exactly keen to carry it out.Alec stepped in slowly, watching her as she stood up to face him. “Max…How’s my favourite girl?” he asked with a grin. “Ready for some fun tonight?”Max glared at him. “It was fun before you came in.”Waggling his brows, Alec asked, “Yeah? What have you been doing? Dreaming about me?”“You wish. I have better things to do than to dream about you, smart ass,” she retorted.Alec clapped his hands together and smirked, ignoring her jab. “Ah well, let’s try again, shall we? We’ve got a mission to complete,” he said brightly.Max gave him a disgusted look.“Helps if you take off your clothes by yourself this time. I don’t want to keep ripping them off. Manticore won’t be too happy with us if we kept asking for new ones. Puts a dent in the finances, you know,” Alec advised sagely as he walked closer to her.“What makes you think I care?” she said as she wondered how she was supposed to put her plan in action without rousing his suspicion.“You know, they may even decide to stop issuing you with new clothes, you know that? That’ll make thing much easier for me. I’ll just have to slowly work my way through all the layers, less layers each day,” Alec said thoughtfully. “Not a bad idea, actually.”Max grimaced. “You’re sick, you know that?”“Nope. I’m just following orders. Now, come on. We’re both tired from Punishment. So do us both a favour and let’s get this over with without too much fuss, huh?” Alec said, lifting his shirt over his head and tossing it onto the bunk.Okay, girl, this is it, she thought. Pasting a smile which she hoped looked genuine, she said, “I guess.”Alec raised his eyebrows, his expression disbelieving. “Did my ears deceive me? I’m shocked, Max. What? Not putting up a fight today?”Max sighed. “I’m not in the mood to fight with you. I’m too tired,” she said, hoping that he would believe her.Alec frowned, looking thoughtful. And then the thoughtful look morphed into an expression of distrust.Shit, he doesn’t look anywhere near convinced, she thought. Max kept her smile pasted on her face, but she knew that she had to do something to stop him from thinking too much. She needed to do something before he guessed what she was up to. Swallowing hard, she grabbed the hem of her shirt and pulled it up as she walked towards him, hips swaying seductively. Throwing her shirt to the floor, she continued to move closer to him, her tongue darting out to lick her lips, her eyes locked onto his. Slowly, she ran her hand from the side of her neck down her front.She resisted the urge to exhale in relief when Alec gaped, his eyes dilated with desire.When she was just inches from him, she stopped and her hand went down to her waistband, undoing her trousers. As she pushed it down, she said throatily, “Cat got your tongue, Alec?”“Huh? No…No…” he said absently, watching the progress of her trousers sliding down her legs. And then, obviously regaining his composure, he smirked and said, “Just admiring the view.”Clad only in her Manticore issue bra and panties, she stood facing him with her hand on her hips. Max felt inexplicably gratified at the appreciative look Alec was giving her. Must be the female pride thing, she thought. The way he gazed at her was making her skin feel more sensitised than usual. She must have gone too long without satisfying her physical needs. Well, it had been a while since she had her last heat.“This is more like it,” Alec growled as he closed the gap between them.“Better enjoy it while you can,” Max said.Alec smirked. One of his hands went to caress her cheeks and then trailed down her neck while the other snaked around her waist to pull her closer. Max turned her neck to the side to allow him better access and her body arched towards him involuntarily, her senses exploding at his touch. Then, realising what her body was doing, she stiffened slightly. Ugh, Max. Focus on the task, girl, she admonished herself.Alec obviously detected the sudden change in her, because he pulled back. “What? Changed your mind so soon?” he asked warily, his eyes searching hers.Max shook her head, not trusting herself to speak, just in case she gave the game away. Intent on dispelling Alec’s doubts, she moved her hand to him and slowly ran it down his chest. Moving her palm back up his chest, she let the tip of her fingers graze his nipples, trying to ignore how smooth his skin felt over his hard muscles. Her lips twitched as she heard him suck in his breath sharply. He was definitely affected by her touch, she reflected. She could now smell the heady scent of his arousal, his pheromones hovering thick in the air, coaxing a response from her.Alec caught her wrist in his hands, stopping her motions. She brought her eyes up to his to find those hazel orbs blazing with desire. Her body responded with an unwanted wave of arousal. Damn it, Max. Keep your head in the game,she scolded when she felt herself heating up. This was turning out to be much more difficult that she had thought it would be.They sank down together onto the bunk facing each other. Max’s eyes widened as Alec lowered his lips to hers. She was torn between avoiding his lips or just let it continue. Before she could decide, she felt Alec’s soft lips descending on hers. Pressing against her, he deepened the kiss, his movements rough and almost desperate. Max’s mind clouded over as she responded involuntarily, hardly aware of what she was doing while their tongues battled for dominance. Her brain had deserted her but she could not find the will to care.She heard Alec groan deep in his throat as his hand moved down from her neck to caress her breast. His fingers grazed her already hardened nipple before pinching each of them in turn. Jolts of pleasure coursed through her at his touch, and she could not help but moan at the contact. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she moved closer, straddling him. Through the thin material of her panties, she felt the hard ridge of his arousal, and she could not keep herself from grinding against it, eliciting a throaty groan from Alec. Her eyes fluttered shut as she kissed his neck, breathing in the scent of his skin, moving only by instinct.Absently, she realised that her mind was screaming something at her. Something about her plan.Her eyes shot open when she remembered what she was supposed to be doing. And it was definitely not making out with her breeding partner. Her arousal faded abruptly, leaving her oddly cold as her thoughts sank in. For some reason, she now felt a twinge of remorse at what she was about to do. But she knew that it had to be done. She would not allow Manticore to dictate who she had sex with.Shifting slightly, she moved behind Alec under the pretence of kissing the back of his neck. Her front was pressed against his back and her knees were resting down on the top of his thighs. This is it, she thought. Max gritted her teeth, hardening her resolve for what she was about to do next. With a swift move, she circled her arms around his neck and suddenly tightened her hold.Alec stiffened in shock. “What the fuck!” he choked out. “Let me go!”His hands were gripping her arms painfully, trying to pry them off, but Max had the advantage of surprise. In her position, Alec was effectively restrained. Her arms continued to apply a steady pressure to his neck, cutting of his air as she clamped down on her feeling of regret.“Y-you bitch,” he rasped, struggling against her. “I c-can’t believe…”Come on, just pass out! Please, Max urged silently.Tensing suddenly, Alec’s muscles bunched up. In a blink of an eye, Max found herself flung together with Alec onto the hard floor, the impact jarring her bones. Not loosening her grip, she continued to cling on tenaciously to his neck, trying to ignore the raspy sounds escaping his lips.It seemed to have taken forever, but Alec finally slumped against her, u*********s. Max swallowed the lump in her throat, feeling awful as she released him. Pulling herself to her feet, she put on her clothes with shaky hands.Taking a deep breath, she told herself that it had to be done. She should not feel guilty, because Alec would gladly force himself on her anyway. In fact, she had not done much worse than what he had intended to do to her. Right?Still unconvinced, Max made her way to the door. “Guards!” she called out through the open grill in the door.A few seconds later, two guards appeared at her door, peering in cautiously. And then they noticed Alec’s u*********s body. “What happened in here?” one of them asked suspiciously.Max replied levelly, “I think it got a bit too much for him. He passed out. Can you get him back to his cell?”The guards looked unconvinced, but they nodded and proceeded to drag him out of the cell.When the door slammed shut, Max sat back on her bunk, trying to make sense of what happened just now. It had gone further than she intended it to. Her original plan was just to tease him enough to distract him enough to get close to him for the chokehold, not actually participate fully in a making out session. She guessed she got a bit carried away, but she hated to admit that while it lasted, she had actually enjoyed it. Not that she wanted it to go any further.The only problem she had was the fact that she was still feeling bad about what she had done to him. Shaking her head, she told herself to forget it. He deserved it anyway.A small voice in her head mocked, yeah, whatever you need to tell yourself, Max.Day 4The cold expression on Renfro’s face mimicked the weather as she stared at the two transgenics in front of her in the training grounds. Alec kept his eyes locked straight to the front at some imaginary point, resisting the urge to turn to his side and throw his breeding partner a s**thing glare. A s**thing glare probably would not cut it. What that jumped-up chick needed was a serious lesson in discipline and maybe a stint or two in psy-ops, he glowered inwardly.He wondered how Max would respond to the question Renfro had just asked with regards to their copulation.“Copulation unsuccessful, ma’am,” Max replied tonelessly.Alec heard Renfro ask frostily, “Now, can you tell me why it was unsuccessful this time, 452?”Max remained silent.Bad move, 452, Alec thought, anticipating Renfro’s annoyance at Max’s silence.“I’m talking to you, 452!” Renfro snapped.“X5-494 passed out, ma’am,” Max finally said.Alec wanted to roll his eyes. He would not have passed out if she had not cut off his air supply. The bitch.Renfro raised her eyebrows and stepped directly in front of Alec. “Is that true, 494?”“Yes, ma’am,” Alec gritted out. Better keep it simple, he thought.“I see,” the older woman said thoughtfully as she eyed him and Max. Alec did not like the contemplative look Renfro had on her face. His instincts were telling him that she was plotting something which did not bode well for the two of them. Last time was the punishment box. What did she have in store for them this time?And then Renfro continued, “Clearly something needs to be done to… assist the two of you in this mission. I will look into it, but in the meantime, carry on as scheduled.”Every single alarm in Alec’s head went off. Shit, now he knew for sure it was not something good. Renfro could not even be bothered to punish them, so what was she up to? Alec gritted his teeth, pushing back the overwhelming urge to shout at Max for landing them in more trouble.And the fury he was feeling towards her now was nothing compared to how he had felt last night when he realised that she had been playing him, tricking him into submission. He had been suspicious at her sudden turnabout, but he had never expected her to do what she had done. It was an understatement of the century to say that he had been shocked to be so rudely choked from his highly aroused state.Tonight, he would not allow himself to be so easily duped again. The mission was his priority, and he intended to complete it once and for all. With luck, he might even manage to keep Renfro from dragging him back to Psy-Ops.He knew that Max would definitely not cooperate, so he would have no choice but to just do it the only way he could. Without her consent. It was for the best, he thought to himself. She had to know that there could be no other outcome to her stubbornness.His mind set, Alec focussed his attention back to the morning drills.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Max joined the rest of the transgenics lining up in two lines at what she recognised as the sparring area at one end of the training grounds.She flicked her eyes momentarily in Alec’s direction. He was standing in the line opposite hers with some of the other transgenics, his hands loosely clasped behind his back, his attention fixed on the pair sparring in front of them. The image of the perfect Manticore prototype.Max did not know what she had expected from Alec after what she had done last night, but it was definitely not the calmness he had exhibited to everyone this morning, including her. It seemed unfair that she was the one who had to feel shaken while he carried on as if nothing had happened.Well, he was not the one who had to be forced into some stupid breeding programme, she thought. Of course he was carrying on like normal. He was probably waiting for tonight to complete his mission. forcefully, she thought in disgust.Yeah, Max. He definitely forced you last night, a voice sounded in her head.Max frowned. Last night was different. She had to make him lower his guards to knock him out. The guy was better trained and physically stronger than her, much as she hated to acknowledge it. But he was still a guy, hence somewhat susceptible to feminine manipulation. Max had counted on that last night. And it worked like a charm.Not that it actually helped when it came to Renfro.Renfro’s interrogation unnerved her, and Max did not like it. The woman was plotting something fishy. Why else had she let the two of them off so easily this time? The whole thing just did not make sense.The drill sergeant’s voice interrupted her thoughts. Max turned her attention back to the space in front of her to find a male transgenic pushing himself to his feet. Max saw him glance at his opponent out of the corner of his eyes and a grateful smile flitted across his lips, too brief for the sergeant to notice. His sparring partner gave him a curt, almost imperceptible nod before he walked back to the gap in the line-up.Max’s brow went up. She was beginning to think that those who had remained behind in Manticore had their emotions all erased and their humanity completely squashed, but if what she had seen so far was any indication, she might have been wrong.Before she could analyse her observation further, the drill sergeant called out, “Next! 452 and 494.”Max froze. He’s got to be k**ding, she thought edgily. Alec was probably dying to show her how thoroughly he could beat her and the sergeant had given him the perfect chance. Great!“X5-452! Step forward now!” the sergeant yelled when she failed to move.Max straightened her spine and left the line, walking towards Alec. He was already in the sparring area, his feet apart and his arms held loosely at his side, appearing deceptively relaxed. But Max could see the sharpness in his eyes and hear the measured evenness of his breath, the telltale signs of his readiness for the fight.The moment the drill sergeant gave the go-ahead, Max and Alec began to circle each other.“So, what dirty trick do you have up your sleeve this time, 452?” Alec asked in a low voice, just enough for Max to hear it.Guessing that it was Alec’s way to distract her, Max let his comment slide without replying. Instead, she kept her attention focussed on him, trying to gauge his opening move. Distraction was something she could not afford.“Nothing to say, 452? Have to say that that’s a new one,” Alec continued to taunt her.Max bit her tongue to stop herself from retorting.“Hey, don’t try too hard. You can explode from all that pent up feeling. Let it out. You know you want to,” he said, raising an eyebrow.Clenching her teeth, Max gritted out, “Shut up and fight, jackass.”Alec smirked and continued to circle her. “Tsk, tsk, sweetheart, there’s no need for name calling.”“There’s every need when talking to someone like you. And don’t call me sweetheart,” Max retorted, irritated at the perpetual smirk on his face.“That’s harsh, especially coming from someone who’s supposed to be my breeding partner. Note the ‘supposed’. I can’t remember the last time we indulged in some breeding activity. Anyway, don’t you think that being your partner and all, I’m allowed to show you some…erm…signs of affection?”Max could not help it. She snorted. “Yeah, right, dick-head. Like you know anything about that. I didn’t realise that Manticore had introduced lessons on something called ‘emotions’. Or did you skip that class?”Alec adopted a wounded expression. “You love to hurt my feelings, don’t you? I’m being sincere here. Right from the bottom of my heart.”Rolling her eyes, Max said, “I bet your heart is so deep that you’ll need like a couple of decades to get to the bottom of it. Now if-”“452! 494! This is a sparring session, not a date. Now, commence sparring unless you’d like to pay a visit to the box,” the drill sergeant interrupted them, sending some of the other transgenics sniggering. Turning his attention back to the rest, the sergeant snapped in annoyance, “Eyes front!”Max took that opportunity to lunge towards Alec, hoping to catch him off guard.But he was too fast. In a blink of an eye, he sidestepped her axe-kick and made a grab for her foot. Max managed to spin around, crouching lower to sweep Alec’s feet from underneath.He did not stay down long. Jumping back up, Alec blurred towards her, delivering a hard backhand to the side of her head. As her head snapped back, Max twisted out of the path of his sidekick, cursing under her breath. The hit to her head burned where his fist had connected with her cheekbones.Springing off her bent knees like a cat, Max bounced off the ground, looking as if she was running in mid-air, as she headed straight for Alec’s head. She grinned as she saw Alec stepping to the side just as she swung her legs in the same direction. His eyes widened a little in surprise before her booted foot contacted with his chest, sending him sprawling to the ground with a loud thud.As she landed, she heard a collective sharp intake of breath from the surrounding transgenics. Suppressing a satisfied grin, she watched as Alec pulled himself to his feet, his jaw tightly clenched.“Not bad, 452,” she heard him say softly. Grudgingly, she realised.Max just raised her brows in reply.And then, before she could comprehend what his intention was, Alec blurred at her. She raised her hand to block his uppercut just in the nick of time. But the next thing she knew, his fist contacted with her midsection, knocking the wind out of her.Doubling over, Max staggered back as she glared at him murderously. Damn, the idiot got some strength in those fists of his, she thought irritably.But Alec was not done yet. Before she could straighten, he came at her with a spinning kick. Max tried to move out of the path of danger, but she was not fast enough. Although she managed to avoid a full-on contact, his kick still managed to catch her left arm, right where her limb met her body. Max squeezed her eyes shut as a sickening pop sounded just before she landed on her right side.“That’s enough. 511 and 452, proceed to the infirmary,” the drill sergeant said, much to Max’s relief. “The rest of you report to weapons training after your showers. You are expected there at 1130 hours.”She looked up to find Alec’s hand in front of her, his face blank of any emotions. She was suddenly inundated with a variety of feelings; anger, frustration, embarrassment and pain being the dominant ones.Not wanting his help, especially considering that he would probably taunt her about it non-stop, she ignored his hand and deliberately looked away. Swallowing her groan of pain, she used her right arm to push herself up, barely hearing the murmurs from the crowd surrounding them.Gritting her teeth against the pain in her left shoulder, Max joined another X5 who sported a bleeding surface cut on his head, also headed for the med bay. She did not bother to look back to Alec.As they made their way there side by side, Max looked up in surprise when the X5 spoke.“Hey, so you’re the infamous 452, huh? I’m 511,” he said casually.Raising her eyebrows, she retorted, “What is it to you?”Looking genuinely surprised, 511 held his hands up. “Whoa, there’s no need for that tone. I’m just making conversation. It’s quite a walk to the med bay, you know?”Eyeing him warily out of the corner of her eyes, Max said tightly, “Forgive me for not being all happy and chirpy. A dislocated shoulder doesn’t do much for my mood.”To her surprise, the X5 laughed, shaking his head. “No, I guess it doesn’t,” he said. And then, sobering up, he said, “494 should have held back a little.”Max felt her hackles rise. Did they have such a low opinion of her that they all thought that he should have gone slow on her? Outwardly, she gritted out, “I can handle it.”Obviously noticing her annoyance, 511 said calmly, “I’m not suggesting that you can’t. But as an unspoken rule, we don’t spar for real, we just try to make it LOOK real so that the sergeants leave us alone. What 494 did today was just an accident. He didn’t really mean it.”Max stared at him, disbelief written clear across her face. “And I suppose that cut of yours is an accident too.”511 shrugged. “Happens sometimes. I grazed it against a sharp piece of stone when I went down. 228 didn’t foresee that, and I don’t expect him to,” he explained. “Just like what happened with you and 494,” he added pointedly.“I doubt it,” Max muttered under her breath. She guessed that what 511 said about holding back was true. After all, she had seen it with her own eyes when the pair before her sparred. But as for Alec, he probably had done it on purpose to pay her back for last night, that idiot.A curious look on his face, 511 asked, “What makes you think that?”“Long story,” Max replied shortly. Lengthening her steps, she turned into the wing which housed the med bay. The last thing she wanted was to tell 511 what had been happening during their ‘breeding’ sessions. The whole thing was messed up enough without having it being spread around the facility as fodder for gossip.“Hey, wait up,” 511 called out just as he caught up with her. Lowering his voice, he asked, “Has this got anything to do with him being your breeding partner?”Max stopped short. Swinging around to face him, she replied in a clipped tone, “No.”511 rolled his eyes. “Okay, okay, I get the idea.”Max glared at him.“Look, I know you have issues with the guy, but don’t take it out on me,” 511 said, grinning.Not bothering to answer, Max just yanked the door to the med bay open, keen on getting away from more of 511’s probing questions.Once they were in the treatment room, both of them sat silently while the medics tended to their wounds.As the nurse silently reset her arm, Max wondered how she was supposed to keep Alec at bay in her condition. Her dislocated arm would heal fast compared to any ordinary human, but she would still be weaker. And with Alec, she could not afford to be weak. She needed her full strength to deal with him.With a sigh, Max resigned herself to coming up with other methods to thwart Alec’s intent that coming night.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The sound of military boots hitting the concrete floor at uniform intervals echoed through the hallway.Alec’s lips compressed tighter as he approached Max’s cell. He was in no state of mind for any of her unreasonable resistance tonight. He was in a foul mood.Ever since she had left the training ground that morning, he had been subjected to reproachful glares by quite a number of his fellow transgenics. Although these transgenics formed the minority of the population in the facility, Alec had still felt the effect of their reaction.It was not as if he had intended to dislocate her arm on purpose. She should have ducked or sidestepped. Heck, she should have blocked. His intention was so clear that anyone could have seen it coming ages before his kick came into contact. The girl needed to be more alert.Hell, why did he care anyway? Sparring had always been rough, whoever he trained with. It was what Manticore expected. It was what they were all trained to do. He was not about to make himself feel responsible for something which was not his fault. If Max wanted to blame anyone, she could blame Manticore.Alec turned his head side to side, cricking his neck as he got to Max’s cell, subconsciously preparing himself for another confrontation. He suppressed the urge to groan in frustration as he watched the guard fumble with the lock.Well, at least with her injury, maybe she would not bother to fight him off. Maybe she would finally let him complete this mission before Renfro decided to throw him into psy-ops as his punishment for inability to come up with results on such a simple mission. As it was, Alec was surprised that the blonde woman had not done so yet. She had been uncharacteristically tolerant of them. Normally, he would have guessed that she would send him to reindoctrination and replaced him with someone else. Renfro must really want their particular mix of DNA for Manticore’s new generation of transgenic k**dies.As the door swung open, Alec stepped in warily.Max was sitting cross-legged on her bunk, her back leaning against the wall. Her left shoulder was bandaged with a strip of white cloth. She stared straight at him with an unreadable look on her face.Deciding to break the silence, he said awkwardly, “How’s that shoulder?”Max raised her eyebrows. “Great. Never better. Thanks to you,” she replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm.Alec frowned at her tone. “Hey, the sparring session was not any tougher than usual. If you have stayed like a good little transgenic, you won’t be having that dislocated shoulder,” he paused, and then added, “And if you hadn’t run away, we won’t be having this problem with unsuccessful copulation and by now, I’m positive that you’d be inseminated and I’ll be off to some other mission.”She gave him a sweet smile which made him feel like throttling her, and then she said, “Oh, you poor thing. I feel so sorry for you, being stuck with little ol’ me. Hmm, how about this? I can give a good reference for you to get yourself another breeding partner.” Dropping the smile from her face, she continued stonily, “Because there’s no chance in hell you’re getting near me that way, dumbass!”Alec shook his head slowly. The woman was just impossible. “Sweetheart, don’t flatter yourself. What makes you think that I want to be anywhere near you? This is just a job, my mission. OUR mission, actually. But you just can’t seem to understand that, can you?” he shot back.Max jumped up into a standing position in front of her bunk, her hands on her hips. Glowering at him, she hissed, “And I can’t understand why it’s so hard for you to understand that the whole thing is just sick!”“I’m done wasting time here. Let’s just get on with what we’re supposed to be doing,” Alec stated, striding towards her. It would seem like there was no way he could talk her into it, so he guessed that she left him with no other alternative but to proceed forcefully.Stepping sideways away from him, Max snapped, “Back off, or you’ll be sorry.”Alec smirked. He admired her resolve but what else could she possibly do to him this time? There was no chance that she would be able to pull the same trick on him again now that he was prepared and on guard. No chance at all.“I promise you won’t regret it. Just don’t fight it,” he advised, and then followed his words with a feral grin.Narrowing her eyes, Max spat, “Kiss my ass, you jerk.”His face displaying an amusement he did not really feel, Alec said, “I would love to, sweetheart.”He could feel her irritation emanating in waves from her. “Stop calling me ‘sweetheart’. My name is Max!” she practically shouted at him.Unperturbed by her tone, Alec continued to advance towards her. “Don’t make this hard on yourself, Max.”“I said, back off!” she repeated hotly, her hands clenched by her side.He took another step and then suddenly blurred forward, trapping her in one of the corners. His two arms and his widespread legs pressed close to her, forming a human cage around her.Ignoring her gasp of outrage and her struggles, Alec used his right arm to pin her left arm tight against the wall. Considering her injury, he was not surprised when she could not shake his arm off. But her right arm was definitely trying, he thought dryly as he pressed closer to avoid her hits.He could feel the contours of her curvaceous body moulded against his. Unbidden memory of what had occurred the night before assaulted him. The feel of her lips against his, the feel of her breast against his hand, and the rest of the hot, steamy touches they had shared flashed across his eyes, clouding his mind even before he made any move to touch her intimately.And his body responded instantly.He swore inwardly at himself. This was no time to lose control. The hellcat in front of him would surely use that to her advantage, something he could not allow this time. The stakes were too high. The success of the mission and his survival in Manticore depended on him having a clear controlled mind, not one influenced by his wayward hormones.Steeling his resolve, Alec grabbed her right wrist without losing hold of her left one, leaving one of his hands free to grab her top in his fists. With a hard yank, he tore her shirt clean down the middle, the sound of cloth ripping piercing the air. She was now struggling even harder, her legs kicking out in a futile attempt to dislodge him, but he had positioned himself in such a way that her kicks would not strike him.“Get off me, you freak!” Max yelled into his ear.Wincing at this new form of attack, Alec pulled his head back to look at her. “If I’m a freak, you’re one too. Now, just calm down and let me get this over with,” he said levelly, glad that his voice remained steady.Baring her teeth at him, she spat, “You’re all sick, you, Renfro, Manticore…all of you! If you think for a minute that I’m going to calm down and let you **** me, you’re sadly mistaken. I’m not one of you, unfeeling and heartless soldiers, just treating this as another so-called mission. It is not JUST another mission, dumbass! It’s my body you’re talking about here. Mine! Not Manticore’s. Not yours!”Temporarily rendered mute by her proclamation, Alec just gaped. He knew what he had to do, but a twinge of hesitance nudged him as her words penetrated. Unfeeling and heartless? Alec was not sure whether he should agree or not with that assessment.Was he heartless? Was he incapable of feeling?Heck, no!It was simple; he had been given a mission. A mission he had to complete to ensure that his own interests remained protected in Manticore. Not to mention that he had to keep himself out of psy-ops and away from Renfro.So why the hell was he hesitating?“You’re all sick, you, Renfro, Manticore…all of you! If you think for a minute that I’m going to calm down and let you **** me, you’re sadly mistaken. I’m not one of you, unfeeling and heartless soldiers, just treating this as another so-called mission. It is not JUST another mission, dumbass! It’s my body you’re talking about here. Mine! Not Manticore’s. Eryaman Rus Escort Not yours!” she yelled in outrage.The hand holding her wrists suddenly tightened to the point of pain. Max felt a stab of fear when she realised that he easily held her immobile using only one of his hands to hold both her wrists over her head. She tried to push him off again by bucking her body against his, but he did not budge.Well, he would have to move at some point if he wanted to complete this stupid mission. Max knew that she have to just wait for a suitable opening for her to get away from him.She brought her eyes up just in time to see his eyes flickering uncertainly.Why did he look so hesitant? Max wondered, breathing hard from the effort of pushing Alec off.Was he finally developing a conscience? She almost snorted. Fat chance. From what she had seen, Alec was one hundred percent Manticore. The perfect soldier.He had ripped her top down the middle, her sports bra exposed, but he was not looking down. His head was tilted to the side as he looked at her with a thoughtful expression.“What? No smart-ass remarks this time?” Max taunted. Was she getting though to him after all? A small seed of hope flared inside her. Maybe the guy was not as amoral as she had thought him to be.A second of silence passed between them before he smirked, shattering her small hope. His eyes hardened as he said softly, but clearly, “Listen to me, 452. You’re an X-Series Prototype, designed by Manticore. Bred in Manticore. Trained in Manticore. You’re a super-soldier, not quite human, not quite a****l. Yes, your body is not mine. But it’s not yours either, whatever you might want to think.”Max blinked incredulously, not quite believing what she was hearing. Alec had never spoken in such serious tone before. She opened her mouth to retort, but he was not done yet.“Project Manticore is the reason why you’re here today. Without Manticore, you won’t exist. You said that I’m unfeeling and heartless because I want to carry out my mission. I don’t know about heartless and unfeeling. But you’re right about one thing. This is JUST another mission to me.” He brought his face close to hers, his expression unyielding, and hissed, “I’ve been on missions where I killed people, young and old, male and female. This is what I do. I specialise in assassination. So don’t think for a second that I intend to fail this one simple mission just because you’re reluctant to do your part. Do you get me?”Her heart thudded erratically, she did not know why. Fear? Most probably, much ash she hated to admit it. But she refused to let him have the satisfaction of seeing it.Straightening her spine, she said, careful to inject the correct amount of mockery in her voice, “Are you done? Funny, I didn’t know that you could actually string that many words together. Quite a speech you have there.”Ignoring her jibe, Alec said, “I don’t know why you insist on fighting. Don’t you understand that we’re soldiers, and that basically means following orders?”Max glared at him and spat, “You tell yourself whatever you want to justify your own sick actions, but there’s no way I’m buying all that crap, asshole. Save your breath.”“Fine. You want to do it the hard way, I see,” Alec said levelly, his expression hard.Suddenly, he let go of her wrist only to twist around abruptly. Max suddenly found herself tossed as carelessly as a rag-doll onto her bunk. The bedsprings groaned in protest under the impact before she bounced sideways. She swallowed her pain as her injured shoulder hit the wall. Before she could move away, Alec pressed himself down on her, effectively immobilising her. It all happened in seconds.His hand went between them, unsnapping her pant and unzipping them rapidly. A surge of blinding panic descended upon her, rendering her temporarily silent.He was grasping her waistband in his hands to pull her pants down when Max finally found her voice. “Get off me!” she yelled, trying to buck him off her.She tried to head-butt him but expecting her actions, he had tilted his head and shoulders away from her. His legs were aligned with hers, his knees holding her limbs down, but she continued to struggle, twisting from side to side.Alec made a frustrated sound. “Stay still,” he ordered roughly.“Or what?” she snarled, her arms snaking between them in an attempt to push him off. Her hand came into contact with the hard, rippling muscles of his abdomen and she had to force herself to ignore the answering female heat, the sign of betrayal of her own body.Alec did not answer. She could see the chords in his throat straining as he struggled to pull her pants down.“Damn it,” he swore aloud when her pants refused to slide past her hips. Their combined weight was making it difficult for him to undress her.And then he lifted himself up.Unrestrained, Max sat up immediately but before she could escape, Alec grasped her shoulders, trying to force her face down onto the mattress. She kicked out, her legs scissoring.Alec did not move back soon enough. The impact of her feet against his thigh knocked him over, causing him to fall heavily onto the floor. Before he could get up, she got to her feet and blurred to the door.“Where do you think you’re going?” he sounded amused as he stood up, much to Max’s disgust.“Away from you, as if it’s not obvious,” she replied, her eyes flashing angrily. Her hand quickly went down to re-fasten her pants, not wanting to remain exposed to his gaze.Alec smirked knowingly. “What? You’re shy?”Max glared at him wordlessly.He took a step towards her.And she stepped back until she felt the cold metal door against her back.Alec raised an eyebrow. “See, nowhere to run,” he said just before he lunged at her.Max dodged, blurring past him a little before she twisted around, trying to backhand him. Alec grabbed her hand, stopping it just inches before it hit his face. Undeterred, Max kicked out at him, her leg sailing high in mid-air. Releasing her hand, Alec ducked and then moved back away from her.Why was he not fighting back, she thought in confusion. All he had done so far was to block and avoid her hits. What was he up to?Not wanting to waste anymore time wondering, she lashed out with her arms, aiming for his head. He sidestepped, turned around and grabbed her from the behind with both arms, lifting her off the floor. Max found herself immobile with his arms wrapped tight around her.“Let me go!” she yelled in outrage.“Ask nicely,” he said cheerfully.“Bite me!” she snarled.“Be patient. I’ll get to that in a minute,” he replied, smirking.“Stop being such a smart-ass!”“Hey, I can’t help being smart.”She wanted to scream in frustration. Alec still held her, but at least her feet were on the ground now. Bringing her feet up, she tried to kick backwards at him.“Give it up. You know it’s hopeless,” Alec advised, sounding oddly gentle.“No!” Max snapped, renewing her struggles.Then without warning, he pushed her face first down to the floor next to the bunk. Max could feel his weight on her back as Alec began to unfasten and then pull down her pants with one hand, ignoring her protests. She tried to push herself up, but he was too heavy, too strong and too intent on getting his mission done. Her wrist was held captive over her head.She froze when she felt his hand skimming the back of her bare thighs, moving up to caress her rounded panty-clad backside. An unwanted hot flare of desire exploded in her senses. His touch was surprisingly soft, but she could feel every contact like a hot brand marking her.He lowered himself, partially lying on her back. She could feel the evidence of his arousal pressing against her through his pants. Another unwanted burst of feminine response washed over her. She gritted her teeth, trying to ignore her traitorous hormones.And then she felt his lips on the back of her neck, exactly where her barcode was. His teeth sc****d her skin roughly before he suckled it using his lips. Max swallowed a strangled moan at the sensation coursing through her body.His hands travelled down her body, brushing against the side of her breast through the thin material of her bra, making her breath hitch in her throat. She felt him push his right hand between her and the hard floor, and the next thing she knew, he was kneading her breast roughly. An involuntary moan escaped her lips.Max knew that she could not let it continue. It was all so wrong, but she could not help responding. It had felt like a long time since she had any physical contact of this sort and her body craved it. But she refused to let Manticore win. She needed to get Alec off her and she needed to do it now.Max felt Alec’s breath against her ears, making her break out in goosebumps, before she heard a mocking, “Giving up so soon?”She stiffened and immediately retorted, “Not a chance!”Pushing up against him, Max twisted her body in an attempt to escape. A few moves later, all she managed to do was to flip herself onto her back. She glared at Alec as he smirked.“Even better,” he uttered softly. One of his hands pinned her wrist over her head while another came down to caress her breast.Gritting her teeth, Max hissed angrily, “Don’t touch me!”“The mission requires me to touch you, whether you like it or not. I’m just trying to make it more pleasant for you,” Alec explained impatiently.“I don’t need you to make things pleasant for me. I want you to remove yourself from me,” she spat, her face twisted in disgust. It bothered her that her body was responding to his touch so eagerly. But it bothered her even more that apart from the slight increase in his heart-rate and the dilation of his pupils, he appeared completely calm and unaffected whilst she struggled to maintain her composure. Max almost snorted. What else did she expect anyway? This was just a mission to him, she thought as she shot him a murderous glare.Alec raised his eyebrows. “Or perhaps you don’t need further stimulation because you already had enough?” he said. The hand on her breast began to move down her stomach slowly as she forced herself to keep eye contact with him. There was no chance that she would let him know how much she was affected by his touch.“I said, don’t touch me!” she snarled, straining away from him.Alec smirked, his hand dipping lower. There was no mistaking his destination. Alarmed, she lifted her hips, trying to twist away from his searching hands.But it was futile.Max hissed in outrage, her eyes flashing dangerously. She was still weak from her injury and he was too strong for her to fight off in her vulnerable position. And the bastard knew it well enough to take advantage of the situation, she raged silently.He pressed his body down to still her movements and buried his face at the side of her neck as his hand reached the apex of her thighs to slip beneath her underwear.The touch of his fingers was not tentative, but confident, like he knew exactly what he was doing, even within the constraints of the tight fabric. It was bad enough that he would have known that she was very aroused from the what he could feel, but she refused to let him see it in her face. Max squeezed her eyes shut, hiding the desire reflected in them as he skilfully stroked her.She could feel him pressing against her right thigh though his pants, grinding erotically. Her head felt light and she was breathing hard as his fingers sped up in time with the movements of his hips. A loud groan emitted from Alec suddenly gave her a second of clarity, reminding her that she was supposed to be a reluctant party in this.Opening her eyes, she blinked wildly, trying to remember what she was supposed to do know. She had a plan all thought out before he came in. What was it? The movement of his fingers was like a d**g, making it difficult for her to think.Yes, focus, Max, she told herself silently. Her fuzzy brain struggled to cope as she forced herself to ignore the feeling Alec was coaxing out of her body.Then it suddenly came to her.The rod. The metal rod.Max blinked open her eyes, her gaze clouded from passion. Alec was still touching her intimately, his lips tugging at the soft skin under her ear, making it difficult for her to keep track of her thoughts.Her hand reached out under her bunk, feeling around for the loose rod she had left there earlier. Come on, Max urged herself as her fingers skimmed the metal grillage which supported the mattress. A second later her fingers touched what she was looking for.She pulled it out slowly, careful not to alert Alec to her activity. The weapon now held securely in one hand, Max took a deep breath.Then she pushed with all her might against him.Obviously surprised by her sudden action, Alec rolled off her, uttering, “What th-”Max jumped to her feet instantly. She held the metal rod with one hand, the sharp tip pointed at him.“Back off,” she warned, her voice hard.Alec held his hands up and smirked. “Or what? You’re going to stab me?” he mocked, stepping forward.Max forced herself to ignore the bulge at the front of his pants, the evidence that he was still very aroused. She was not any better off than he was. “Don’t push me,” she said tersely.Max had expected what was coming next. After all that was what they were taught if they found themselves at knifepoint. His leg swung in an arc towards her as if in slow motion.Max waited until his leg almost reached the metal rod before she whipped around in a circle in the same direction, bringing the weapon out of his reach.And then she attacked.He did not expect it.The sound of metal ripping through flesh echoed in the small cell.She stood still, almost feeling as if she could not move if she had wanted to. And then Alec turned an accusing pair of hazel eyes at her. Her eyes swept down his face, his neck and further down to his hand against his midsection.She blinked slowly.Dark, thick blood oozed out, seeping out slowly between his fingers.Regret flowed through her like an avalanche. She did not expect herself to feel this much. He had been trying to force himself on her after all. She was defending herself. So why the hell did it feel so wrong? What was this place doing to her?The metal rod was still gripped tightly in her fist. She was holding it as if her life depended on it. Max watched his lips compress tightly as his eyes landed on the cause of his injury, but he did not say a single word to her. No harsh words of recrimination.Nothing.Why?And then abruptly, he turned to the door, staggering a little as he sucked in a ragged breath.“Guards!” he yelled through the bars.A moment later, two uniformed guards opened the door. Their eyes widened as they surveyed the bloody mess around Alec’s midsection. And then they looked at her in confusion, registering her near-nakedness.“What the hell happened here?” one of the guard asked, scowling. And then he saw the metal rod, still held by Max.Alec just shrugged.The other guard nodded to Alec. “Head for the infirmary at once,” he said, gesturing at his fellow guard to go with Alec.Max watched silently as the guard grabbed Alec’s shoulder, presumably to help him to get to the infirmary.Turning to Max, eyeing the metal rod warily, the other guard ordered, “Drop it.”Max considered ignoring him, but what was the point? All the guards carried tasers. And tasers were much more effective than the metal rod.The metal rod fell with a loud clank against the concrete floor.“Come with me,” he said in a clipped tone as he took out his taser.She nodded, and then stooped down to pick up her tattered t-shirt and pants, quickly putting it on, uncomfortable under the watchful eyes of the guard. Tattered clothing was better than none at all.As she stepped out of her cell, for some unfathomable reason, all Max could think about was Alec.……………………….Alec stared straight ahead at the white wall as the nurse cleaned his wound with a lump of cotton soaked in some antiseptic.He barely felt the sting as the nurse proceeded to stitch up the gaping gash. His mind was occupied, thinking about what had taken place in his breeding partner’s cell. She had surprised him.Again.He had a weird feeling when she had stabbed him. If he had not known better, he would have guessed that he felt almost betrayed by her actions. But it did not make sense. There was no reason for him to feel betrayed. It must be just the shock of a foreign object in his midsection coupled with the loss of blood, he surmised.The funny thing was, a part of him felt as if he deserved it for being so half-hearted tonight. The mission was a pain to carry out because of his reluctant breeding partner, but he knew that he had felt even less enthusiastic about carrying out his orders after Max’s accusation.Alec frowned. The girl was making him feel guilty about something he should not feel guilty about and he did not like it. He was not doing anything wrong. And he had bluntly spelled it out for her this time, telling her what her obligations to Manticore were. But he guessed that by her actions, it had not registered in her stubborn head.He had to admit that it had been harder to keep his objectivity in check today, for some reason. His hormones seemed to react to her purely on an instinctive level, like a heat-seeking missile to a hot object. He guessed that at least his body found hers desirable. It could be worse, he supposed. And judging from the evidence he had found while touching her, it was clear that she had found him desirable too. Very desirable, no matter what she said to the contrary.Perhaps he could use it to his advantage the next time they met.………………………Day 5The hinge to his door squealed, telling him that someone, probably a guard was entering his cell.Alec sat up, his midsection throbbing dully. He resisted the urge to groan. They could not possibly expect him to get up to go to his breeding partner in his condition. It had only been twenty hours since he had gotten himself stabbed by that psycho chick, barely any time for him to heal, let alone gather up enough strength for another fight.“Director Renfro wants to see you,” the guards said.Alec did not know if he should be relieved or not. Would he prefer a confrontation with Max, or with Renfro? Not that he would have any choice in the matter anyway.He stood up, mentally shrugging, and followed the guard out.Five minutes later, he found himself in front of Renfro’s office. He knocked, entering after she called out for him to do so.“X5-494, ma’am,” he said, snapping a salute.Renfro was sitting behind her desk, her sharp eyes watching Alec as he stood at attention in front of her.“At ease,” she finally said, allowing Alec to relax slightly.“You must be wondering why you’re here,” she started.Alec kept his face impassive.“I have stressed to you the importance of the Breeding Programme. And yet you’ve persistently failed in your attempts to complete the mission assigned to you. Five days, and yet no result. Not even a successful copulation. I am… disappointed. What do you have to say for yourself, 494?” Renfro asked.“Ma’am, I have attempted copulation with X5-452 for the past four nights, but encountered complications each time,” Alec said, sounding calmer than he actually felt. Renfro was not going to let him off lightly, he knew.“Complications? Specifically, a knee to the groin, strangulation and a stab wound, you mean?” Renfro asked, her eyebrows raised.“Yes, ma’am,” he replied tightly, cursing Max in his head.“Perhaps you would prefer it if you were assigned another partner?” she asked.What was this? A trick question? Alec did not believe that Renfro would offer him such an easy way out. Calmly, in an almost indifferent tone, he said, “I have no objection if that benefits the Breeding Programme, ma’am.”Renfro smiled frostily. “No. Based on your DNAs, the two of you are most compatible. I would have assigned you to X5-453, her genetic twin. However, X5-453 is currently on a long-term deep-cover mission.”What was Renfro playing at, Alec thought irritably. Why did she mention a swap if she had no intention of doing so? Anyway, he was not sure that he wanted to pair up with someone who looked exactly like Max. For all he knew, she would probably be just as annoying.“However, we have decided on another course of action. A solution to the problem,” Renfro said, her eyes remained fixed on him, as if she wanted to study his reaction to her next words.Alec waited for her to continue.And when she told him of Manticore’s latest plan, Alec wondered why he suddenly felt a little disturbed.Day 7Max felt as if she was floating and sinking at the same time. Her mouth felt dry, her eyes gritty and her body ached. Her mind was sluggish, slow and it hurt to think. The feeling was strangely familiar, as if at some point in the past, she had felt it before.She blinked, forcing her eyes open. She squinted at the over-bright light shining from the lamp overhead. Lamp? There were no such lamps in her cell, Max thought woozily. Where was she?Stifling a groan, she tried to sit up, only to find herself unable to do so.What the hell?An attempt to lift her arms and an unsteady scan around the room told her what she did not care to find out.She was restrained, her wrists and ankles bound by leather straps to the sides of the examination table, in where she assumed to be the restricted sections in the infirmary. A tube was running from her left hand to a drip hanging beside her, next to a beeping monitor. The furniture was minimal, just a few shelves and cabinets lined with vials and boxes and the padded platform she was on. Everything else in the room seemed to be there for some scientific purpose unknown to her.Then she realised why it seemed so familiar. It was the same sort of room where Manticore had brought her into since birth to be tested and experimented whenever they felt so inclined.The lab.Max’s heart sank.Damn! Why was she here? What was Manticore planning to do to her? When did she get here? How? The questions kept bombarding her, making her grow more anxious as seconds went by.Calm down, Max, she told herself sternly. Think. What was the last thing she did?An image of Alec clutching his midsection, blood seeping out between his fingers, flashed across her eyes. She remembered how he had looked at her before he left. How silent he was. No angry accusation, just that blank expression which could be interpreted as… what? Betrayal? Hurt?No, she told herself. There was no reason for him to feel betrayed by her. He would have expected it. He should have expected it. She had done nothing in the past to indicate that she was a willing participant in the Breeding Programme. Instead, she had fought every inch of the way to stop it from happening. There was no way she would let Manticore get what they wanted from her. Whatever it took, she would fight, and she did not care. Alec should know that. Hell, she had warned him often enough.Max suddenly found herself wishing that she knew what had happened to him.Much to her consternation, a sickly feeling of guilt rose in her, making her empty stomach churn uncomfortably.Max scowled. What did she have to feel guilty about? She had every right to defend herself. The guy was forcing himself on her.Really, Max? You didn’t protest that much when he was supposedly forcing himself on you, her contrary inner voice taunted her.That wound stopped him, she justified.The voice snorted disbelievingly. You barely remembered your plan with the rod. You were enjoying what he was doing to you too much. Admit it, girl. You can’t lie to yourself.Max’s scowl grew deeper as her feeling of unease increased. Finally, grudgingly, she admitted that she had lost it for a while, but thankfully, her senses had returned before it was too late. She did not want to even entertain the idea of what would have followed next if she had not stopped him. A shudder ran through her. It was unclear even to her whether the shudder was due to her revulsion at the thought of Manticore getting their way or from the memory of Alec’s hands on her.She closed her eyes, trying in vain to avoid seeing the images of that night in her mind.Alec’s lips against her neck…Alec’s hot breath against her skin…Alec’s hand slipping between her legs…Max sucked in a deep breath. Her skin was flushed hot, reacting to her wayward thoughts.Stop it! Stop it! STOP IT!Get a grip, Max, she admonished herself. All of it was just her female hormones reacting to its male counterpart, nothing more. It had been a long time since she had any intimate physical relationship with anyone, so it was understandable.It was time to focus, however hard it might be for her to concentrate at the moment. She needed to know what had happened earlier.She remembered following one of the guards out. The man had his taser pointed at her but fortunately, he had seen no reason to use it on her. They had taken a route which she had recognised and the journey had ended up with her being shoved into the Punishment box.It was the strangest thing, but she could not remember leaving the box. She had been tired, especially considering what she had had to go through in the past one week, but as tired as she had been, there was no way she could have fallen asleep in that tiny box.Renfro must have decided to knock her out before bringing her here for testing, Max surmised. Gassed her or something. That was probably why she felt so woozy. Still, it did not tell her why she was brought here.The sound of the door squeaking open caught Max’s attention.“Welcome back, 452. I gather that you’ve had a good rest?”Renfro, Max thought irritably, not bothering to reply or turn to look at the other woman. It was not as if Renfro expected her to be all friendly anyway. On the other hand, maybe she did, the sadistic bitch, Man thought darkly.Renfro’s face came into Max’s view as the older woman stood beside the examination table. A thin smile stretched her lips. “I have to say that I am disappointed in your performance as X5-494’s breeding partner. I expected you to do the right thing, to know what’s best for your well-being. For your survival.”Max raised an eyebrow. “Well, I would like to say that I’m sorry for that, but hey, guess what? I’m not.”Renfro’s eyes hardened. “Listen to me, 452. I have more resources than you can count, even with your enhanced abilities. You WILL do as you’re told,” she barked, and then with a menacing smile said, “And I know just the way to encourage you.”“Sure,” Max replied, sounding bored, her expression outwardly displaying the nonchalance which she did not feel inside.Renfro smiled coldly.Hen, to Max’s relief, Renfro walked away from her. A few seconds later, Max heard her speak, “The subject is ready. You can commence.”A feeling of dread coursed through her at Renfro’s words, but Max forced her face to remain impassive. It would be worse if Renfro could see how worried she was. The bitch would no doubt enjoy her discomfort.What the hell was Renfro planning to do anyway?The clang of steel equipments on a rolling trolley snapped Max back to her present situation. She turned her head to see two medics, one middle-aged and another one younger, both dressed in white entering behind the trolley. They were whispering to Renfro, but Max could hear them clearly.“We’ve got everything here, but we still think it may be too soon,” one of them said.“What are our chances of a successful operation?” Renfro asked impatiently.“75 percent or thereabouts. The tech is quite new, hence we have limited data on the outcome,” the other said.Renfro nodded slowly. “It’s good enough for us to proceed. She’s strong. She can take it.”I can take it? Take what? Max’s worry escalated. It was one thing presenting a brave front to Renfro, but it was another thing, facing some unknown operation. She did not know if it was better for her to know what was coming her way or was it better if she just remained ignorant of their plans.All too soon, the older medical personnel walked towards her. Max kept a bored expression on her face, completely at odds with what she actually felt.Then he picked up a syringe from the trolley. Max watched in apprehension as he stuck it into a vial of clear liquid and pulled the plunger, sucking the liquid from the vial into the syringe. She did not know what it was, but her instinct told her that whatever it was, it was going to be bad news for her if she allowed it to get into her. Something had to be done to stop it.She decided there and then that she was not going to lie there completely at their mercy. Manticore had trained her for this sort of thing, damn it! She had had enough shit from them to last her a lifetime, with their ridiculous Breeding Programme and their stupid protocols and training.The older medic gave a nod to his colleague, obviously ready to inject whatever the stuff he had in his hand into her. As he lowered the syringe, Max knew that if she was to do something, it had to be soon. She tensed in readiness for what she was about to do.The sharp point of the syringe was in contact with her when Max suddenly jerked to the side, away from the medic. She ignored their gasp of shock and their alarmed expression as she forcefully yanked her hands free from the straps. The sound of leather snapping had barely faded before she threw a punch right into the face of the nearest medic, sending him flying to the nearest medicine cabinet. The contents of the cabinet clattered loudly to the floor as he slumped down against it, u*********s.In a few short seconds, Max tore apart the straps binding her ankles, the adrenaline running through her body lending her an extra boost of energy. She jumped off the table and landed on her feet, grabbing a taser on the nearby table. Someone obviously had thought that it would help keep her in control, she thought, her face twisting in distaste.“Guards!” she heard Renfro yell as the older woman rushed to the door, presumably to block her from escaping. Turning back to the remaining medic, Renfro ordered, “Subdue her.”The terrified younger medic rushed to the other end of the room. Max watched, the taser held out menacingly as he fumbled around the cabinet with shaky hands for something to be used against her.“Get out!” Max hissed at him, watching him freeze at her tone. She did not know what she was going to do now that she was unbound. She had no plan, no great idea to escape. But all she knew was that she had to stop them from injecting that stuff into her.So what now?The medic kept his eyes on her as he continued to fumble around for something, his body clearly displaying his frightened state.From the door, Renfro snapped impatiently at him, “Get a move on before she tries something.”Max compressed her lips as she strode towards the medic, who was now pulling something into a syringe with trembling hands. One shot of the taser and he’ll quit Manticore. Let him feel what we feel, she thought viciously.Before she could do anything, the door burst open and three burly guards rushed in.In an instant, Max assumed a defensive stance, her taser pointed out at them.A sinking feeling of dread came upon her. Three guards armed with taser, one medic with a syringe and Renfro. It did not take a genius to figure out what were her odds of getting out of that room intact, Max thought, infuriated beyond belief. She should have taken Renfro out instead of paying attention to the medic, just that she had been wary of what he might inject into her when she got her back turned.And now she was cornered with nowhere to run.Hell, if it had to happen, she was not going to go down quietly, she decided.Her face set in an unyielding expression, she blurred towards them, too fast for them to even see. In a fraction of a second, she had one guard lying on his back clutching his midsection, spasming from the effect of the taser. The second guard received a teeth-rattling punch in the face before she felt the shock of a taser at her back.She gritted her teeth, willing herself to block out the pain as she turned around in a spinning kick, sending the third guard flying across the room. Her body snapped upright as another jolt coursed through her when the second guard jabbed his taser into the back of her neck.Much as she tried to, Max could not stop herself from falling on her knees, her body in spasms from the shock. She jerked as she felt another shot. Who had hit her with that last one, she could not tell. The pain was blinding, and it was all she was aware of. All she could do was to try not to pass out. Her body shook, and Max felt herself growing colder.A flash of white appeared in front of her.The medic, Max thought weakly. No! She could not let him, she protested in her head.She wanted to push him away but her arms were too heavy, and her muscles were still shaking completely on their own volition. The lack of control was maddening. She could not do anything to stop the syringe from descending on her. All she could do was watch helplessly, wanting to scream in frustration.And then all of a sudden, she felt a rush of warmth.The heat was a welcomed relief, but deep inside, Max knew that it was not a good sign. Something was happening to her, she thought as she slumped sideways onto the floor, her knees too weak to support her.Her eyes refused to open, much as she wished to see what was going on around her. She felt herself being lifted up back onto the examination table. The thump of her heart seemed loud to her, thudding in her ears. Too loud, and too fast. And her body just continued to grow hotter. The heat was no longer a relief, it was now alarmingly hot.What the hell did they do to her?In the distance, she heard a faint voice saying, “Damn it, her pulse is off the charts.”She strained to hear more but she could only catch the odd sentences. Absently, she realised that she was fading in and out of consciousness, drifting strangely, almost floating.“You were supposed to sedate her…”“…a number of vials in the cabinet…”“…mistake one for another…”“…you useless fool…“…Quick! She’s flat-lining…”“…One, two… Now!”Then it all went black and silent.——————————————————————————–Day 14Home, sweet home, Alec thought as he walked down a narrow hallway with a guard by his side.He had been away for almost a week. Manticore had sent him and 511 on an away mission, a short one. Typical Manticore stuff; a boring flight to England, pretending to be tourists travelling undetected through the countryside for days, ended up in someplace called Weymouth, broke into a supposedly abandoned naval base, grabbed the disc containing plans of something Manticore neglected to brief him on and back out like a flash. No casualties this time. It was not his usual sort of mission.His missions normally ended up with casualties.His were typically assassination-based.The whole thing had aroused his curiosity. The fact that Manticore had sent him out on such a mission did not seem right. Especially as he had not even completed his role in the Breeding Programme.Maybe he was being too suspicious. The whole thing could just be Manticore’s diabolical idea of letting him recuperate from his wounds, he surmised with a smirk. It would be just the thing Manticore did. Why leave a soldier to rest if he could be sent out on an easy mission in a healthy English countryside?Not that he was complaining. He had been cooped up inside the facility long enough that any mission would do.Alec sighed. It had not last long, though. He had not been too surprised to receive the order to continue with the Breeding Programme just hours after he had stepped off the helicopter onto the rooftop landing pad. What worried him was the satisfied look on Renfro’s face when she had given him the order. That look had given him the creeps. A satisfied Renfro was never good news for the transgenics.All Alec could guess was Renfro had managed to carry out what she had planned to do to Max. He suddenly felt ill at ease at the thought.Alec frowned at his reaction.Why should he feel uncomfortable? Max had been asking for it ever since day one. If she had just followed orders, none of this would have been necessary. She was responsible for the mess she had gotten herself into.If one could call chemically induced heat a mess.It was going to be strange, seeing Max in heat. He was so used to her fighting with him that he had been anticipating the same thing each time he turned up. However much he hated to admit it to himself, he knew that he had enjoyed their battle of wills. And worse, he had been unable to stop himself from anticipating their reunion after his mission.But with her in heat, was it going to be different? He swallowed, trying to ease the sudden dryness in his throat. His one and only experience with a female in heat had been mind-blowingly frantic and hot. Was it going to be the same with Max?Alec did not know why he did it, but he had to take a deep breath to steady himself as he reached the door to her cell. Get a grip, soldier. You’re not some hormonal teenager, he scolded himself. This is just a mission, he told himself.The guard unlocked the door. “Let me know when you’re done,” he said.Alec nodded wordlessly and walked in, bracing himself for the onslaught of pheromones.He stopped in his tracks when he realised that there were none.So maybe Renfro’s plan failed after all, he mused. But then why did she look so satisfied? Maybe she came up with something else in his absence. Yeah, that must be it.Max had been sitting on her bunk but she now stood facing him, looking deceptively harmless as she ran her eyes up and down his body. If he had not known better, he would have thought that she was checking him out. But knowing Max, she was probably assessing him for the next body part she wanted to inflict pain on.“Surprised to see that I’m still alive? I’m not so easily taken down,” he said by the way of greeting, a smirk on his face. He raised his arms up in a stretch as he walked towards her.Max frowned at him. “How should I know?”Alec raised an eyebrow. “Well, I suppose that says something about your perception of my ability to survive. Come to think of it, maybe the nine lives thing came with the feline DNA.”The frown on Max’s forehead deepened. “What?” she asked, looking positively puzzled.Alec halted his steps and looked at her calculatingly. What was she playing at?“Nevermind,” he finally said when she did not elaborate.Max shrugged. And then she said tonelessly, “Well, let’s start.”A moment of silence hit the room.“What?” he exclaimed, thoroughly flabbergasted. She can’t possibly mean what I think she meant, he added to himself. A strange feeling of foreboding came upon him. Renfro had managed something after all.Max sighed in exasperation. “What’s wrong with you? Our mission. You know, the Breeding Programme? Remember your briefing?”Alec stared at her, dumbfounded, especially when after he heard her next words, uttered in the most casual manner.“I’m your breeding partner.”“I’m your breeding partner.”“My breeding partner,” Alec echoed numbly, unable to believe what he was hearing.Had she finally come to her senses and decided that it was in her best interest to just complete the mission? Or was this another trick of hers? Alec watched her, trying to gauge her thoughts. She seemed sincere enough, at least outwardly.He should be overjoyed, buzzing with elation at the fact that he could finally complete this utterly maddening mission. To finally give Manticore what they ordered of him so that he could get them off his back, at least momentarily.Now that he thought about it, all this time he had failed to achieve copulation with Max, he had merely been annoyed, and maybe slightly disappointed in himself because she had managed to outwit him on so many occasions. But truth to be told, he had not been as pissed off as he should have been.Why?And now, when his success was within his reach, all he felt was a sense of anticlimax, of all things.Why?Because something was off. Something was not right.It was clear to him that Max would never agree to do Manticore’s bidding willingly. She had made it plain enough all these time they had been together. The girl would rather die than to give Manticore what they wanted. She hated the very thought of it. So why the sudden change of mind?“Alright, what’s going on?” he asked warily.“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she replied without a hint of emotion.Waving away her proclamation with a dismissive sweep of his hand, Alec pressed, “What’s with the sudden change of heart?”This time she just looked bewildered. “I’m afraid that you lost me there, 494.”“Really? I’m kind of feeling the same myself here,” Alec said flatly. And she was not calling him by his name. She was calling him by his designation.She scowled. “Look, I have no idea what you’re talking about. And I think we’re done talking. Are we going to copulate, or what?” she asked, sounding impatient.Alec stiffened as alarm bells began to ring in his head. What the hell? Did Max just say ‘copulate’?A thought suddenly occurred to him.Manticore must have d**gged her or instructed psy-ops to work on her. Yeah, that must be it. That would explain things. Before she could spot his intent, Alec grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him.“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?” she asked, stiffening as her guards went up. She gripped his wrists in warning.“Relax. I’m just checking something,” he replied as he tilted her chin up.Alec’s brow furrowed as he studied her eyes. Her pupils were not dilated; in fact, her eyes conveyed how seriously she was taking the mission. Manticore must have really done a number on her.She looked like Max and held herself just the way he remembered. Her voice sounded the same. But she did not talk like Max. The fire, the passion and the feistiness he associated with Max was gone from her eyes. She might as well be someone completely different, if he had not known better.Whoa, hang on. He might be on to something here.Maybe this was not Max at all.Alec’s eyes narrowed. Was it Manticore’s idea of a joke? Was this girl actually Max’s twin who had been called back from her away mission? It must be. It was the only feasible explanation to the bizarre situation. That explained a lot.Alec smirked, relaxing for the first time since he entered the cell. The cell devoid of all hints of the pheromones he had expected to encounter should have told him something. Renfro must have given up on Max and settled for 453, and conveniently decided not to inform him of the latest development. It would be just like Renfro to mess with his mind.Scratching the back of his head, he looked at the other transgenic thoughtfully. Well, at least he would complete his mission now. 453 seemed more than happy to play her part in it.But first, he had to make sure.“So, Max, I didn’t realise that you’re so eager to be my breeding partner,” he said, watching her carefully.Her eyes flickered for a moment before it became unreadable. “Who’s Max?” she asked, sounding disinterested.The hint of hesitation in her eyes which contradicted her words made Alec pause. If she was 453, the name ‘Max’ should not mean anything to her. So what was really going on here?Raising his eyebrows, he asked, “You don’t know who Max is?”She shook her head. “Why would I ask if I knew? What’s wrong with you, anyway? We have a mission to complete and you’re wasting time with all this,” she pointed out, scowling a little.Now that was definitely not Max-speak. The girl sounded more Manticore than any other female transgenics he had encountered in the past. And he had to get to the bottom of this. Since he was getting nowhere in trying to be subtle, Alec decided that it was best to go for the direct approach. “Who are you?” he asked coolly.The girl planted her hands on her hips, a move which made Alec inhale sharply. At that moment, wearing a long-suffering expression, she looked exactly like the Max he knew.“Fallen asleep at your briefing, 494?” Then she continued in an eerily detached voice. “I am X5-452, your assigned partner for the Breeding Programme. The mission specification on my part is to ensure that you achieve minimum mission requirement for copulation and then continue with whatever means necessary for you to accomplish ejaculation. My final objective is to attain fertilisation. Any questions?”Alec forced himself to remain impassive at her words. So, she was Max after all. Well, not really Max, but 452. The same person, but not quite. At least her identity was clear now.He exhaled heavily. What was he supposed to do now? Just copulate with her knowing that she was some washed-down, colourless version of Max? Conveniently forget that if Max was in possession of her mind, she would never have allowed this?But if he just complied, then this mission would be over faster. Wasn’t that what he wanted all along? For this to end so that he could get back to his usual missions away from this place?He should just follow orders, make thing simple. Why complicate matters for himself? Come to think of it, why the hell was he over-thinking the entire situation anyway? He had never thought so much on a matter. Manticore gave an order, and he just followed it.Simple.Since when he ever deliberated this long over something which practically has an arrow with the words ‘DO IT!’ pointed at it?Since when?Alec knew.Since two weeks ago.Since he met Max.Alec fought the urge to groan. The essence of ‘Max’ had practically been stripped away from this girl in front of her and yet she was still haunting him. It was disturbing.Max’s voice, no, Alec corrected himself, 452’s voice tore him away from his musings. “494, if you’re done day-dreaming, could we proceed?”Straightening, he hardened his resolve. What he had to do was pretty obvious, so obvious that he should not have bothered deliberating.Smirking at her, Alec said lazily, “What’s the hurry, 452? We have the whole night to ourselves.”He watched as she glanced warily at him, probably suspicious of his sudden change in demeanour. But it did not take her long to fall back into her role as his breeding partner. “We should not waste anymore time,” she said just before she hooked her fingers under her shirt and pulled it off in one swift move.Alec kept his eyes on her face as he did the same with his shirt, tossing it onto the end of her bunk. He saw her removing her trousers in a completely detached manner, using brisk movements which should leave him cold.But it did not.It must be because he knew how that body felt like under his fingers and lips. Suddenly the cell felt warmer.Her hand was reaching under her bra to yank it off when Alec suddenly found his voice. “Wait!” he exclaimed without thinking, holding a hand out. Then taken aback by his own actions, he fell silent. She was not doing anything wrong; they were supposed to be copulating. Why the hell was he trying to stop her from undressing?She gave him a quizzical look. “What?” And then, noticing that he was still dressed, she said, “Well, you’re not going to take anything off?”Alec lifted a hand to rub the back of his neck. Ah, hell, what was he supposed to say now? Maybe he should wait until she knew what she was doing. This was not what Max would do. Alec gritted his teeth and mentally slapped himself when he realised what he was thinking about.A stern voice inside him snapped, Damn it, stop hesitating. This is a mission that you WANT to complete, so what’s the problem, soldier?“494!” her voice calling him snapped him out of his reverie. “I would like to get some rest tonight, so could we just get on with it?”“Fine,” he yelled out loud, sick of all the conflicting voices warring inside him.She regarded him warily, obviously taken aback at his tone. “There’s no need to shout.” And then, after a little pause, she asked carefully, “Are you alright?”“I’m always alright,” Alec said, a little tightly. What, did she think that Manticore had gotten his wirings wrong or something? He resisted the urge to growl. This entire mission was driving him nuts, so much that he even have to think of what he was supposed to do.She gave him a look which said that she did not believe him. That was the sort of look Max would wear, not 452. He did not know why, but knowing that it was 452 there and not Max actually made a difference. And the fact that 452 was wearing that look unnerved him.Fine, he would show her how ‘alright’ he was, Alec decided. She wanted to proceed with the mission, and who was he to argue when he was supposed to be doing the same thing.In a fluid motion, he pulled his shirt over her head and tossed it roughly to the side. His trousers followed next. He looked up to see her watching him, her expression completely detached.Suddenly, all he felt like doing was to wipe off that detached Manticore mask.Just in his boxers, Alec stepped closer to her. He lifted a hand and slowly traced a finger from her cheekbone down to the valley between her breasts, all the while keeping his eyes locked on hers.When he brought his other hand up, slipping his fingers under the stretchy material of her bra, he saw her eye flicker, but he was not sure whether it was due to uncertainty or in anticipation. Then he pushed up sliding his hand between the material and her breast.As his palm came into contact with her, he heard her suck in a sharp breath. His own breath was becoming shallower, he noticed absently as he touched her. No longer blank, her eyes flared in response to his actions, Alec noticed with satisfaction. Encouraged, he pushed her bra over her arms and head and threw it onto the bunk.Alec swallowed, trying to relieve the sudden dryness in his throat. Bringing his hands back down, he lowered his head. Just before his lips reached her, he felt a pair of small hands clamping around his wrists, stilling them.Has she decided to change her mind now? Or was the old Max resurfacing? Bracing himself for her response, whatever it was, Alec raised his eyes up to hers and asked with a challenging look in his eyes, “What’s the matter? Don’t tell me you’ve changed your mind so soon. I thought you wanted to do this?”There was a small pause before she answered, “Yes, we need to complete the mission. But you don’t have to do all this.”Alec grinned. Okay, this is still 452, and if he didn’t know better, he would say that the girl was shy. Of all things. “Trust me, it’s better this way.”She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I know, but this-,”Interrupting her, Alec advised softly, “Just relax, okay?”After a moment’s deliberation, she Sincan Rus Escort released his hands.Suppressing the urge to let out a breath of relief, Alec went back to what he was doing earlier. When he replaced his hands with his lips, she let out a soft moan.As her moans became more passionate, Alec felt his body reacting likewise. He needed to move them away from the floor to somewhere more comfortable. She gave a small sound of protest when he pulled off her, gently detaching her hands from his head.“The bunk,” he said, his voice rough with arousal.“You got too much clothes on,” she commented breathily.Alec smirked. “We got one piece each.”“You look a little uncomfortable,” she remarked, her lips twitching.Alec raised his eyebrows. Not so shy after all, he thought with amusement.She caught him by surprise. After encountering her Manticore soldier persona, Alec had thought that Manticore had managed to completely convert her, but what he was seeing and hearing now told him a different story. He was guessing that given time, Max’s old personality would resurface, irregardless of what Manticore had done.In a rapid move, he divested himself of his boxers. “Satisfied?” he asked.It was her turn to smirk. “Not yet.”“I never had any complaints,” he pointed out.“We’ll see,” she said just before she ran her fingers down his chest.With a low growl, Alec pulled her closer. Both pairs of eyes, one hazel and the other brown, clashed hotly as he lowered his lips onto her parted ones. She was hesitant at first, but it did not take her long before she latched on to his lips hungrily.Her hands stroking him in combination with her tongue toying with his was driving him to distraction. If he was not careful, the whole thing could end prematurely and that was the last thing he wanted. Still attached to each other, he gently pulled her hands away from him and nudged her towards her bunk.When she sank on to the mattress, Alec knelt down between her legs. He hooked his fingers at the side of her panties and with a swift tug, pulled the stretchy material down her legs.His breath caught when he saw what he had exposed to his view. He had touched her there before, but this was the first time he had seen it. Deciding that he would tease her a little, Alec trailed his fingers just on the outside of her sensitive spot. When she twisted closer to his fingers, Alec moved it away, not wanting to give her what she wanted yet.“Quit teasing,” she hissed impatiently.“Why so impatient?” he shot back with a grin.Her eyes glittered. “494, I’ll make you pay for this, you know that?” she threatened, without any real malice.“I’m looking forward to it,” he laughed, and then continued his ministrations.Then pulling off her, he positioned himself over her entrance and watched as her eyes darken in anticipation. And then he pushed into her.Both of them groaned at the contact. Alec stilled, overwhelmed by the feeling of completeness washing over him.Her arms came up to grab his shoulders as she wrapped her legs around his waist. Alec sucked in his breath. Needing a moment to compose himself, he let his head fall in the crook of her neck, breathing heavily. It felt incredible and he could not remember ever feeling so good.She pushed against him, silently urging him to move.Not able to wait any longer, Alec did as she asked. He clenched his teeth, trying to maintain some control when she moved in sync with him. Beads of sweat covered both of them, but neither seemed to notice as he continued to move inside her.And when he felt her muscles spasming around him, he knew he could not hold off any longer. He began to move faster, and with a groan he reached the peak. Absently, he realised that he shouted something, maybe it was her name.A small movement under him warned him that he might be squashing her, so he pulled out slowly and flopped onto his back beside her.“Not bad, soldier,” a soft, satisfied sigh came from his side.His eyes closed, Alec let a smile slip onto his face. “Told you I never had any complaints.”“You waited too long.”“Is that a complaint?” he asked, opening his eyes and pushing himself onto his elbows.She just smiled. Her eyes were closed, her cheeks rosy from their recent activity. Alec swallowed hard when it suddenly occurred to him that she was gorgeous.And she was all his.A warning bell rang inside his head. ALL HIS? What the hell was he thinking? Yeah, she was his breeding partner, but that’s it. She’s not HIS! What was he thinking? Keep your head in the game, soldier, he admonished himself.“494?”He forced a smile onto his lips, still shaken by the thoughts in his head. And then, quickly, he got off the bunk. For some reason, he was unable to look back at her.“I think I’d better go now,” he said as he pulled on his clothes.There was a short silence before he heard her yawn. “Okay, I’m just going to sleep now.”When he turned back, her eyes were closed.…………………………She did not open her eyes until she had heard the door to her cell shut with a soft metallic clang. Then she slowly lifted her eyelids and sat up. The cell was now empty but she could still smell the evidence of what they had done a while ago.She did not miss 494’s abrupt change in behaviour. He had seemed quite friendly, and was even teasing her afterwards, and then he suddenly iced up. Strange. But 494 had been behaving strange since he walked into her cell.She got up and started putting on her clothes quickly. Better to get back to normal as soon as possible. To say that the entire session had shaken her was an understatement of the century.When she was told to copulate with 494, she did not think that it was going to be, well, so explosive. Somehow, she had thought that it was going to be just a quick one to get the job done and that was the end of it.But 494 had surprised her.For one, he had been nothing but skilfully thorough, taking the time to ensure that she was pleasured. She had not expected that. Her face heated when she recalled what he had done.She could not remember what it had felt like with any of the others, but she must have had sex with someone at some point. A faint memory told her that it had been one of the males in Manticore. She guessed that she must have been in heat because the memory so hazy. It had definitely not been as good as the session she had just had with 494, or else she would have remembered.494’s behaviour before copulation struck her as being strange. She had no idea why he was asking her so many questions. It had almost sounded as if he was interrogating her, trying to get to the bottom of something.But why?They had never met before this.494 had gone on as if they had known each other before, and looked surprised when she did not reciprocate likewise. Maybe he had thought that she was someone else. Someone he was more familiar with.Maybe that was why he seemed so familiar with her body.Someone called Max?452 grimaced. She guessed that this Max was the same woman that he had mistaken her for when he saw her for the first time. 494 probably did not realise that he had groaned that name when he came inside her. Maybe she should feel insulted that he had the nerve to call out another woman’s name at such a time, but she guessed since this was just a mission, she should not let it bother her.But that did not explain why she felt that she had known his touches before this. Like when he got close to her, his scent seemed to surround her in a comfortably familiar envelop. It was soothing and exciting at the same time.Did they know each other before?It was frustrating to be unable to remember details of her past. All she knew now was what Renfro had told her. That she had sustained trauma to her head in her previous mission and that she might have short-term memory lapses.She sighed. Well, since it was meant to be a short-term thing, she guessed that she would remember more stuff sooner or later. Not much point in worrying about it now.In the meantime, she would just continue with the mission as instructed.Not that it was such a bad thing, she grinned.494 was turning out to be more entertaining than her usual missions and she was looking forward to their next encounter.……………………………..She was already up when the wake-up call blared across the hallways linking the cells.After performing what she remembered what her usual morning routine, she joined the line of transgenics heading out to the training grounds for their morning drill.As she was walking out, the fine hair at the back of her neck stood up, alerting her to the fact that someone was watching her. She had a good idea who it was.She turned to look over her shoulders to find her eyes clashing with a pair of hazel ones. At first, she thought that she saw them flicker hotly as if he was recalling what had taken place last night.Then she blinked, and when she looked again, his face was wiped clear of all expression. Initially slightly taken aback at his reaction, she stiffened, but then she remembered that was how they all composed their faces under the watchful eyes of the guards. There was no other meaning to that blank look on his face.Was there?She noticed that 494 stopped beside her. There was this sudden urge for her to turn to the side to look at him, but she resisted it. They lined up in a neat row, awaiting inspection, backs straight and eyes front.Renfro came out of the building, her heels clicking loudly on the pavement.After hearing the reports from other couples, Renfro finally arrived in front of her and 494.“Status report?” Renfro asked, her sharp eyes questioning.Silence.Again she resisted the urge to glance sideways. Was 494 not going to answer this?“452?” Renfro barked impatiently.“Copulation successful, ma’am,” she replied crisply.“Excellent work, 452,” Renfro remarked, sounding very satisfied before she turned to look at 494.452 felt him stiffen almost imperceptibly next to her. What was wrong with the guy?“Anything to add, 494?” Renfro asked.“No, ma’am,” he replied flatly.Renfro raised her eyebrows but did not say anything further.Fifteen minutes later, they all fell out of formation and headed towards the mess hall.452 turned around to look for 494, but found that he had gone on without her. A small niggling feeling that he was trying to avoid her suddenly came to mind.For some reason, that really annoyed her.Alec did not pay any attention to the sounds of metal utensils scr****g against metal plates and the low murmur of transgenics in conversation surrounding him in the mess hall. He used his fork to prod the chunk of unidentifiable piece of dry meat on his plate, supposedly bacon, but his mind was far from breakfast.Instead, he was thinking about Max.No, not Max anymore, he corrected himself. 452.He was not even sure why he was thinking about her, and the fact that he was really rankled him. He barely slept last night, not being able to dismiss the feeling that something was not quite right. Just thinking about it almost made him feel sick. They made a good start to completing their mission, so why was it still on his mind? It was like an irritating itch he could not reach.Yes, they made a good start, but he could not help but wonder what would happen if she somehow regained her memory. And in one way, that was why he felt as if he should keep his distance from her. The less contact she had with him, the less likely she would remember. Right?Also, the sort of thoughts he had been having of her really unsettled him. It was one thing copulating with her as a part of a mission, but it was another story altogether if he grew attached to her. The errant thought he had last night about having her all to himself was completely unexpected and more importantly, unwelcomed. It made him feel exposed, vulnerable. And he did not like that at all.A thump on his shoulder made him drop his fork. Turning around with a scowl on his face, Alec was prepared to give whoever it was a tongue-lashing before he caught sight of the cheeky grin on his friend’s face.“Funny, after last night you should be starving,” 511 commented before he sat down beside Alec.Alec grunted something unintelligible. He was not in the mood for this. Turning back to his plate, he picked up his fork and continued mutilating his food.511 raised his eyebrows, surprised. “What? Don’t tell me it didn’t actually happen?”Alec looked up. “No. It happened alright. Copulation was successful,” he said tightly.“Yeah, I suppose it’s not so hard now that 452’s the way she is,” 511 remarked, his attention more on the food than their conversation. A piece of scrambled egg found its way to his mouth.Now that she had been brainwashed? Alec frowned. “You know what they did to her?”511 nodded as he chewed his food.“How? You were away with me on mission.”Swallowing, 511 tossed Alec a sideways glance before replying, “You know how the gossip travels, right? What I heard was that Renfro tried to chemically induce heat into 452, but something went sideways. The lab they were in got completely trashed. I guess 452 did not go quietly. Knowing her, I’m not too surprised by that,” 511 mused, preparing to shove another forkful of food into his mouth.Gritting his teeth in irritation, Alec grabbed 511’s hand before the fork could reach its destination. “Will you stop eating for a minute and just explain that?” he said with a bite of impatience in his voice.511 gave Alec a speculative look. And then he smirked knowingly. “Oh, it’s like that, is it?” he drawled slowly.What was that look for? Alec suppressed the urge to glare at him. “Like what?” he asked, his voice not giving anything away.Wiping the smirk off his face, 511 regarded Alec silently for a moment before he said, almost gently, “Look, buddy. It doesn’t pay to care too much, you know that right?”“Who said I care? I’m just curious,” Alec said tightly, now unable to hide his irritation. What was 511 going on about? Can he not be just curious about what happened to completely change the attitude of his breeding partner?511 let out a resigned breath. “Okay, this one came from someone in the psy-ops unit. My breeding partner knows one of them, and she told me what happened. Apparently, in the middle of the mess in the lab, 452 got accidentally dosed with something that triggered her seizure.”Alec found himself stunned for a moment. “I thought they got rid of those seizures long time ago,” he finally said.Nodding, 511 went on, “Yeah, me too. But they didn’t get a chance to do it before the ’09-ers escaped. I don’t know for sure, but I’m guessing that it was because she so recently had a heart transplant that they didn’t do it when she got recaptured. Anyway, they couldn’t stop the seizures, so to minimise damage they put her in a c*** instead.”“What?” Alec exclaimed. “Can’t they just give her something for it?”511 shrugged. “I don’t know. They might have done that, and it didn’t work. Who knows? Well, when she was in a c***, someone brought up the idea to send psy-ops in to do some work on her.”Alec raised his eyebrows but gestured for 511 to continue. Yeah, so that’s how she got brainwashed.“You know what they say about people in c*** being able to hear you? My breeding partner said she was told that the technology kind of worked on that. It’s apparently too dangerous to completely erase her mind. So, they just installed new memories into her head, masking over the old ones. Now 452 believes that she grew up and trained here like the rest of us,” 511 said. He looked at Alec thoughtfully for a moment before saying, “It must have worked pretty well because from what I heard, she’s definitely different.”“I see,” Alec muttered absently.At least the whole thing made sense now. He guessed he should be glad that it made things easier for him. No more arguments, no more fights and no more being kept on his toes while he tried to second-guess her plans to kill him. Everything was just as it was supposed to be. Nice and simple.Then stop thinking about it, a voice within berated him harshly.“Well, look who we got here,” 511’s amused drawl interrupted his musings.Alec looked up to find Max, no, 452 standing on the opposite side of the table in front of him. To his surprise, she laid her tray on the table and sat down facing him. Why was she sitting here anyway? She had never done that before, he wondered.He was still not used to her being this way, being so…Manticore. She looked like she had always looked, but her eyes were twin blank orbs, Alec noted, careful to keep his expression detached as he studied her.Well, they were definitely not blank last night. Those melted chocolate eyes of hers had been flashing hot in passion as she writhed and gasped under him. Alec could still feel the ghosts of her fingernails raking down his back as she clenched her legs tight around him. And her scent…Taken aback by his wayward thoughts Alec tensed involuntarily. Deep breaths, soldier. Don’t embarrass yourself, he ordered himself silently.“How are things going, 452?” 511 asked, breaking the silence.“Just fine, 511. You?” she asked while she proceeded to slice her food into small chunks.511 shrugged. “As usual.” He suddenly paused in thought, frowning slightly. He then continued curiously, “Say, how do you know my designation?”She frowned a little. “We worked together on the mission up north three years ago, remember? The arms dealers?”Alec stiffened and exchanged a look with 511. If he remembered correctly, three years ago, 511 had been partnered with 487, a female transgenic who had since been killed in action. From the sounds of it, 452 had been given 487’s memories.Turning his attention back to her, obviously trying to mask his shock, 511 said brightly, “Oh, yeah. That went well, didn’t it?”She nodded, looking a little suspicious at first. “Yeah.” Then her expression cleared and she asked with polite interest, “So, been on any other missions lately?”511 pretended to think. “Hmm, the Breeding Programme?”“I meant away missions,” 452 clarified with a wave of her hand, her attention solely on 511.Alec suddenly felt a prick of irritation. What was he? Invisible? The two of them seemed to have forgotten that he was sitting there.“511 and I just got back from a mission overseas,” Alec interjected before 511 could reply. Ignoring his mission partner’s raised eyebrows, he elaborated, “We retrieved a disc from an abandoned naval base.”“Really?” She frowned at the piece of meat at the end of her fork, and then shrugging, she ate it anyway. “Abandoned base, huh? Sounds simple. Was it?” she asked.Alec opened his mouth but 511 beat him to it, “Yeah, it’s more like a vacation than anything else, but I guess that’s understandable. 494 here was recovering from-,” he stopped with a jolt and then instantly levelled a glare at 494. “What was that for?” he growled.“What?” Alec said, feigning innocence. The kick he directed at 511’s ankle was the only thing which stopped the blabbermouth from exposing his injury to the third person in their party. Trying to explain the cause of his injury to her would be awkward to say the least, seeing that she was the one who had given it to him.She watched them curiously. “What was 494 recovering from?”Damn, too late, Alec thought. “Just a small injury.”“Oh? How did you get it? A mission went sideways?” she asked, sounding interested.511 coughed. Irritated, Alec thumped his friend’s back a little too hard. “I’m okay,” 511 declared, pushing Alec’s hand away.“So?” she persisted.“Yeah, it all went a bit wrong,” Alec finally said, sounding lame even to his own ears.“You don’t want to tell me, do you?” she asked point blank, looking amused. “Must have been some injury, huh?”511 snorted. Alec levelled a glare at him before he faced her. “Yeah, now can we drop it?”Smirking, she replied, “Sure.”Alec stifled the urge to groan. He just knew that this was not the last of it. 452 was going to dig, and then she would find out.So what if she knew? Would it jolt her memory? What would happen if she recalled her identity in combination with what they had done last night? She would kill him, he was sure of it. Perhaps it would be better for the both of them if she remained this way. After all, he should have no complaints about the ways things were going now. Their interactions had been far less violent than before, and they even managed to make a good start to their mission.Yeah, it could work, he concluded.As long as that possessive monster inside him remain buried and did not resurface. It had really shaken him, the thought that he wanted the girl all to himself. This was not what he prepared himself for when he was assigned into the Breeding Programme. In any mission, it did not pay to be attached. That was exactly what 511 warned him just a while ago. It did not pay to care too much. Judgement would be clouded and the mission would be compromised. He would grow soft. Not good.Alec took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. He just needed to be more careful and remain detached. Try not to interact with her unless it was necessary. It was just a temporary aberration, he told himself. It’ll pass soon enough. After the novelty wears off.511 got up with his tray in his hand. “Well, I’m all done here. Enjoy the rest of your meal.”An uncomfortable silence followed his departure.Left alone with 452, Alec suddenly felt ill at ease. He wondered if he should say something, some small talk to break the silence. Until he remembered that he should minimise unnecessary interactions with her.Clearing his throat, he muttered, “I think I’d better go too.”452 raised her brows. “That’s what you said last night.”Alec froze. What did she mean by that? “Well, I had to go,” he pointed out, keeping his voice level.She shrugged. “Just that it sounds like an escape line to me.”His eyes rounded, suddenly feeling indignant. “Escape? From what?”She shrugged again. “You tell me.”Alec regarded her silently. He obviously had not done a good job at hiding his hurry to get out of her cell last night, and she had noticed it. Well, what can he say? That his own thoughts freaked him out?Come to think of it, why was she making such a big deal out of it?Then he realised what he has to do to diffuse the situation.He leaned over the table, close to her, wanting to smirk when her eyes flickered in uncertainty. “Look, 452, I know I’m that good, and you missed me, but do we have to do this in public? We have all night tonight,” he whispered near her ear. The smirk he had been suppressing broke out on his face when her flashing eyes met his. He was guessing that she would be pissed off enough that she would either punch him or just walk away after that line.To his surprise, she countered with a smirk of her own. “Already thinking about tonight, 494? Sounds like you’re the one doing the missing,” she drawled huskily.Damn, it backfired. “Just eager to complete our mission, 452,” he said, trying to keep his voice level. The way she was looking at him was reminding him of the more pleasurable aspects of last night. Suddenly he wanted the night to arrive sooner. Alec groaned inwardly when he realised what he was thinking of. Why the hell was it so hard to remain detached?She stood up, taking her tray. Walking around the table to where he was still sitting, she leaned down over his back. Her hand found his shoulders and her fingers lightly traced the curve of his neck.Alec fought to keep still when her soft lips grazed his ears. “I’m looking forward to it, soldier,” she whispered, her breath tickling his ear.And then with a parting grin, she walked away, leaving him sitting very uncomfortably on his chair.………………………….With a full day of training, it did not take long before she realised that it was that time again. 452 sat on her bunk, wondering which 494 would be walking through the door.Was it going to be the efficient Manticore soldier?Or the person bent on avoiding her?452 grinned. Yeah, 494 was definitely trying to avoid her, she was sure of it now especially after that stint in the mess hall. She still did not know why. But whatever it was, it did not stop him from reacting to her. Whether he wanted it or not, 494 was affected by her, she noted with a surging feminine pride. She had seen it in his eyes and the way he held himself when she was close.Inside, she knew that she hoped that he would turn up and carry on as they did last night. It had been a pleasant surprise to find out that they were sexually compatible. If she was honest with herself, it was the last thing she had expected at that time. Now she had to admit that she was actually looking forward to their session tonight.Their attraction was a two-way thing. That was quite obvious. She was just as affected as he was. But why?She knew that it should not matter. After all, it was just a mission and she probably would not see him again once she got pregnant.But somehow, it mattered.Many things did not make sense to her ever since her injury. Her unexplained feelings for her breeding partner were one of them. Her attraction to 494 went against all she had been taught. Emotional or even physical entanglement was prohibited. She knew that. But she could not seem to get him out of her mind. This mission was supposed to be straightforward, but to her, it was far from it.Not to mention that there was this restlessness inside her which she could not quite place. Something was telling her that she was missing something important. What could it be?The sound of footsteps outside her cell cut into her thoughts.A moment later, 494 stepped into her cell, his expression not giving anything away. It made her want to rattle him, to wipe off that bland expression.“452,” he greeted with a nod as the guard closed the door.She got up from her bunk. “Right on time, 494,” she said.He stood there, and if she had not known better, she would have sworn that he looked somewhat ill at ease. But Manticore soldiers were never ill at ease, at least not outwardly. They had been all trained to cover up their emotions.And then, an idea came to her, making her grin inwardly. It would be fun to see how far she could unhinge him.She stepped towards him slowly, her hips swaying seductively, her body already heating up at the anticipation of what the night will bring. Hopefully it would be just as good as before, she thought as she removed her top. His eyes were already glazed with passion, she noticed with satisfaction.“Missed me, 494?” she asked, just at arms length away from him.He smirked and nodded at her missing shirt. “It seems like you’re the one doing most of the missing, 452,” he pointed out.She raised an eyebrow. “Oh? I suppose you’re not ready then?”“I didn’t say that,” he replied much too quickly to her satisfaction. Then visibly relaxing, he said, “I’m always ready.”She gave him a challenging look and took another step forward, and then when they were almost touching, she locked her eyes onto his and brought her hands down to remove her trousers.Suddenly, a strange feeling washed over her. Her head throbbed for an instant before an image flashed across her eyes.She was in her cell, standing just inches from him. Her hand went down to her waistband, undoing her trousers. As she pushed it down, she said throatily, “Cat got your tongue, Alec?”“Huh? No…No…” he said absently, distracted by her semi-nude state. “Just admiring the view,” he said with a smirk.Her eyes snapped back into focus, her breathing shallower and she felt oddly light-headed.What the hell was that all about?Blinking rapidly, she noticed that 494 was watching her curiously. He must have sensed her abrupt change in mood. Brushing the weird feeling aside, she forced herself to relax. It was probably just an errant thought. Nothing to it.“452?”As he continued to watch her, she made herself grin and said, “Just wondering if you’ll live up to expectations tonight.”His smirk returning, he brought his hands around her and lowered his head to her ears, letting his lips brush against her. She shivered at the contact.“Is that a challenge, 452?” he asked hotly against her ears.Their eyes clashed passionately and at that moment she realised that she already knew the answer to her question.………………………..Lying face up on her bunk, Alec closed his eyes and attempted to slow down his breathing. It had been incredible, twice now in a row. Manticore obviously knew what they were doing when they paired the two of them up. Perhaps something in their genetic code already predetermined that things would be like this between them.It had occurred to him to wonder again what it would have been like if her memories had not been altered. Would it be just as good? Alec smirked. He had no doubt that it would be. For one, he would probably sport multiple injuries before he could get near enough to her. He also realised that it probably would not have happened so soon. There was a small, slim chance that Max would have given in at some point, it was just that he needed time and effort to persuade her.It was probably better this way anyway.A twinge of guilt nagged at him. Alec frowned. It was the strangest thing but he could not quite put his finger on it. Why guilt? Then after deliberating for a while, he concluded that it must be because he had not been able to keep to his own pact to remain detached from her.He sighed inwardly. He might as well forget the idea of minimising contact with her. Something told him that it was a futile attempt on his part.“This is the second time you’ve done that,” she remarked casually, interrupting his thoughts.His brow furrowed. Done what? “What? You’ve lost me there, 452.”She rolled her eyes and stood up to put her clothes on. “You’ve got an awfully short memory for a Manticore prototype. You called out the name Max for the second time now.” Then she shrugged carelessly, “Not that it has got anything to do with me, it’s just an observation, that’s all.”Horrified, Alec tensed involuntarily. Had he been so careless to actually call out Max’s name? Damn it, where was he going to get the idea of that girl out of his mind. Never, from the looks of it. So long as 452 remained near him, he would always see a bit of Max in her. Great, now what?“Hey, 494. It’s okay, you know,” she said, watching him curiously, no doubt wondering why he was so silent.He knew he got to come up with something fast. “It’s just a nickname that I use to call you in my head,” he finally said, keeping his face straight. Maybe it was a good idea to just do just that, to call her by her given name, since he apparently could not keep the two of them separate.He watched her closely, trying to gauge her reaction to his words, but her expression gave nothing away. The irony of the situation did not escape him. Max was the one who bestowed the name Alec on him, and now he was returning the gesture. Alec did not know if he should find the entire situation funny or sad.She frowned, obviously not believing him for a second. “Right.” Then after a few seconds of deliberation, she asked, “Why?”“Why?” he echoed, trying to buy time by playing dumb. Why? Why? Think fast!“Why Max,” she clarified her query.Alec shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. “You just seem like a ‘Max’ to me. If it bothers you, I’ll try to stop.”She just looked at him silently, appearing to mull over his words.The silence was making him uncomfortable. Turning away from her, he stooped down to grab his pants. Pulling it on, he said casually, “Look, it’s no big deal, alright.”The sound of her sigh made him glance over his shoulders.“I kind of like it.”Surprise, he turned to face her, not quite believing what he was hearing. “What?”“The name. It’s not too bad,” she admitted.“Right. So, Max it is then,” he said, suddenly feeling inexplicably relieved.“What about you?”“You can call me Alec,” he said slowly. Then he stiffened as he watched her eyes flicker. Did she remember?She did not say anything for a while, and that fuelled his nervousness. Then she spoke. “Alec,” she said, as if she was testing the name on her tongue.He raised a questioning brow. Then when she continued, he had to stop himself from expelling the breath he had been holding.“I think that’ll work.”Day 16Max.It seemed familiar, like she had known it before. That name struck a chord in her, but she did not know why. She was still not sure whether to believe his explanation about that name. He said it was something he called her in his head. Hmm. What was she supposed to say to that?Max shrugged. Well, she was comfortable enough with it, so she guessed that she could live with it, even though it might have been the name of some other girl Alec knew. Max rolled her eyes.Alec.That was what he called himself. The fact that he has a name aside from his designation really surprised her. She doubted that it was a usual thing for Manticore soldiers, after all, she had never heard anyone being called by anything other than their designations. However, what she thought probably did not count for much, considering that she found it hard to remember much details of her own past ever since her injury.The name suited him, she thought.Still mulling over their names, she made her way out of the toilet cubicle with a small bottle containing her sample for their standard weekly health check. It was normally done monthly but ever since the commencement of the Breeding Programme, the female transgenics have been asked to provide weekly urine samples.When she reached the lab, the technician who was sitting behind the desk took the small bottle of sample from her. “Your designation?” he asked blandly.“X5-452,” she replied, watching him attach the correct label on the bottle.“You can go now,” he said as he turned to deposit her sample together with the rest in a glass case. Then carefully, he shut the glass case.For some reason, it seemed familiar; the brightly lit white room with the cases.As she continued to stare, a piercing pain shot through her temple, making her gasp.Then she saw it.She was standing in a room. The walls were lined with glass cases, each of them labelled with a barcode. Her eyes scanned the barcodes.330417291599331280315734331450074656332960073452“Max, it’s you. And me . . . and Brin . . . and Tinga,” a male voice said.Without looking at him, she said, “No. Tinga’s dead. Come on.”“X5-452! Hey, are you alright?” a voice near her said.She blinked, trying to refocus her eyes. Her breath was short, her heart pumping fast and she felt queasy. What the hell was that all about?“X5-452!” the lab technician repeated more urgently.Max found him standing behind his desk, eyeing her warily as if he expected her to attack at any moment. Shaking her head slightly, she said quickly, “Yes. I’m fine.”The lab technician did not look convince, but after a few moments, he waved her on. “You can go now.”Max nodded and left the room.When the door shut behind her, she leaned her back against it, still shaken over what she had seen.The barcodes. They were familiar.And the names. Brin and Tinga. They were also familiar.But why? Why could she not remember who they were? And why did it seem so important that she remembered?Max strained to think of where she might have met them, but nothing came to mind. It was frustrating to say the least.Finally exhausted with her attempts, she gave up.Day 23The flashbacks were increasing in frequency. Max did not know whether she should be glad or not. At the rate she was going, it would not take long before she remembered everything.Most of the time, it was inconsequential stuff. Like flashes of a street, some building, people around her and training sessions when she was younger. She guessed that most of it came from her away missions, seeing that the setting was almost always not in the Manticore facility.The strange thing was, something told her that she might not like what she remembered. Perhaps it had something to do with her injury, her system might have blocked off some memories on purpose. And bringing it back would probably not be such a great idea.Max turned around, walking towards the training grounds where the rest of the transgenics were undergoing their morning drill.It had been a little more than one week since they had commenced with their copulation, but so far, there the results had not been positive. As she moved into line with the rest of the transgenics, Max wondered how long it would take.The drill sergeant called out, “X5-452 and X5-494 on the mat.”She watched Alec out of the corner of her eyes as he stepped out of formation onto the mat. Following his actions, she too stepped out onto the mat, facing him. He was already prepared himself, his legs ajar and his arms held up in a fight stance.Something nudged her at the back of her mind, making her frown. It was as if she had done this before.Then her eyes glazed as a scene flashed past her eyes.Alec blurred towards her, delivering a hard backhand to the side of her head. As her head snapped back, she twisted out of the path of his sidekick, cursing under her breath. The hit to her head burned where his fist had connected with her cheekbones.Springing off her bent knees like a cat, she bounced off the ground, looking as if she was running in mid-air, as she headed straight for Alec’s head. She grinned as she saw Alec stepping to the side just as she swung her legs in the same direction. His eyes widened a little in surprise before her booted foot contacted with his chest, sending him sprawling to the ground with a loud thud.The drill sergeant’s loud, irate voice cut her flashback short. “X5-452! Get your head in the game!” he shouted.Blinking away the bewildering image which she had just seen, Max forced herself to focus on Alec. Easier said than done, she thought with a grimace. So they had sparred before this, nothing surprising right? But why she did not remember him at all. Surely if she had known him before, she would remember him like how she remembered 511.They circled each other warily.The first hit came from Alec. His fist just grazed her arm as she lowered it quickly to block his unexpected punch. With no hesitation, she retaliated with spinning kick, which he ducked, followed by an upper hook.Alec staggered back slightly, his hand going to his jaw as his eyes flashed in what Max noted was amusement. Somehow, that irritated her. What? He thought that she was amusing now, huh?She charged forward and bounced off the ground, coming up high in the air. Her extended leg almost caught his head, but missed when he sidestepped at the last minute. Then the next thing she knew, she was on her back with his straddling her midsection. She struggled, trying to push him off, but he had her effectively pinned to the ground.“Why? Can’t handle me, Maxie?” he whispered under his breath, just loud enough for her ears.Maxie…Maxie…Maxie… The nickname echoed in her head. She had heard it before. The now familiar pressure in her temples returned full force and a scene flashed across her eyes.A young boy, maybe eight or nine, was sitting next to her on her bed. His fingers were entwined together, and he held them up to the light from the window to cast butterfly shadows on the wall. She watched the dancing shadows, entranced by the simple thing she was seeing.“You like that, Maxie?”She nodded eagerly. “Can you do anything else, Ben?”Her body impacting the ground brought cut the scene short. She looked up at Alec from her position on the ground. His image seemed interlaced with the one of the boy in the memory flash she just had. For a moment, the two of them looked alike to her. As if Alec was an older version of the boy.But she called the boy Ben.Alec was…Alec.Max frowned in confusion. Damn it! These flashbacks are driving her crazy, she thought irritably.And right now, Alec was giving her a worried look. She was not surprise. He was not the only one worried here.“X5-452, what are you doing?” the irate drill sergeant shouted, but somehow, Max was unable to respond.“Max, get up now,” Alec hissed urgently, his back to the sergeant. Then he stepped back, maintaining the appropriate distance from her.Max took a deep breath and then jack-knifed to her feet just as the sergeant reached her. She stared straight, careful to keep her eyes steady and her posture rigid.“Mind explaining what was that all about?” he barked in her face.“I was just winded, sir,” Max replied crisply.“That was a disgraceful performance, 452. Make sure it doesn’t happen again. Carry on. This time, concentrate!” he finished. Turning to Alec, he ordered, “494, stay on the mat with 452 until her performance improves.”“Yes, sir,” Alec replied tonelessly.Taking a deep breath, Max nodded for Alec to continue. Silently, she hoped that no more flashes would disturb her sparring session. The last thing she wanted was to be thrown into Punishment for not concentrating.…………………………….Nine days had passed since their first effort at completing their mission.His initial misgivings about her identity were now not as strong as it used to be. He knew that he had been talking himself into accepting the present Max as the real Max. That she would not regain her old identity anytime soon.That was the only way he could carry on with their mission night after night, knowing that the Max he had known would not have allowed him so close to her. Every night, a part of him wondered if she would suddenly remember who he was. And each night, he wondered if he should just tell her to get the thing out of the way once and or all. Surely she would understand. Right?But the other part of him always won. The part which told him that this was exactly what they were supposed to be doing anyway. That it was not something wrong, so why stop it? Why make things more difficult for himself? What she did not know would not harm her. Right?In addition to that, he found to his surprise that he liked spending time with her. The copulation has always been good, but he also enjoyed the conversations they have each night, discussing their training on that day.Alec nodded slowly to himself.Things were what it should be right now. They have a routine and things were going smoothly. They have a mission to complete and they have been working on it.But somehow, not matter what he told himself, he still could not fully dispel the little nudge of warning somewhere deep inside him.Day 26Max rested her head against the cool wall.Damn it, Manticore needs to invest in some decent air-conditioning for them, she thought grumpily. She was feeling hot, edgy and generally cranky. Having such a small cell restricted her movements and that, too annoyed her.She needed a shower, a cold one, but she doubted that the guards would let her out. They were under orders to keep the transgenics locked up. She could not quite figure out why. After all, it was not as if they have anywhere better to go.Max expelled a heart-felt groan.Her blood was pounding and she was feeling more restless than she ever felt before. She leaned back against the cool wall and wrapped her arms around her knees.She closed her eyes in an attempt to blank out her turmoil.Unbidden, a sudden flash of memory came to her.She was on a motorcycle, feeling restless and riding fast in the night with her hair streaming out behind her. Another bike was close beside her. After a while, the guy on the bike pulled up next to her.They both stopped and the guy took off his helmet. Smiling he greeted her, “Max.”She just smiled at him, and rode off again with him not far behind her.When they got to an apartment, she slammed him against a wall and jumped on him, kissing him almost desperately. They could not seem to take their hands off each other. It took awhile, but they finally made it to his bedroom.Max opened her eyes with a gasp, her forehead beaded with sweat as she remembered what happened.Heat.That happened when she had been in heat.Then Max’s brow furrowed in confusion.The guy in her flashback.His name was Rafer, she knew without a doubt. She grimaced. When did that happen? They were obviously not in Manticore. The guy was an Ordinary. What was she doing having sex with an Ordinary? Had she been on a mission when her heat struck her?Damn it! She hated not being able to remember all the details of her past. It was as if something very personal had been stolen from her.Then all thoughts of her flashback disappeared the minute her cell door opened.Alec.…………………………….Alec knew something was off even before he stepped into Max’s cell.It did not take him long to realise what it was.She was in heat.Every inch of his body seemed to have sensed her pheromones and his mind suddenly filled with images of what he wanted to do with her.Some little part of him nudged him, reminding him of what they were ordered to do when faced with a female transgenic in heat during the Breeding Programme. He turned around to the guard, and said carefully, “X5-452 is in heat. You’re to leave us until everything is over. Renfro needs to know.”Eyes widening, the guard quickly nodded and said, “I’ll inform Madam Renfro.” He backed away and slammed the door shut, leaving Max and Alec alone in the small cell.As he watched her, he could feel his blood rush away from his head. His heart-rate increased and his breath became shallower with each step she was taking towards him.“Max,” he whispered, almost desperately.Max gave him an inviting smile as she grabbed his shirt, pulling him towards her forcefully.He managed to force out a smirk. “In a hurry, Max?”She raised her eyebrows. “Not particularly,” she said, yanking hard at his shirt.The fabric gave, coming apart in her fists. Alec’s eyes darkened, insanely pleased with her action. He was not any gentler with her when he pulled her clothes away from her, making sure that he touched her heated skin as he did so.She gazed at him, her pupils dilated in passion as she pushed his trousers down his hips, teasing him with her fingers when she passed his hardness. Alec sucked in his breath, inhaling more of her pheromones. His mind was clouding over, making rational thought impossible.With a rush, he pulled her to him, melding them together. She nipped his lips greedily with her teeth, making him groan. He responded roughly, unable to restrain himself. His hands roamed her body, encouraging her to moan and writhe against him.They did not make it to her bunk.He took her right there, up against the wall. Her gasps and passionate screams told him that she did not mind, but his own mind was too far gone to stop it even if she did. She matched him thrust for thrust, eagerly seeking more contact with him. Her multiple releases spurred him on, her inner walls clenching him tightly over and over again.When he exploded into her, he did so loudly, calling out her name.He sagged onto the bunk with Max still wrapped around him, still breathing hard.Then his head began to clear just a little.A small thought form at the back of his mind. It occurred to him that this was the best time for Max to get pregnant. The thought of that made him frown. That would mean the completion of the mission.Which would mean the end of this mission.He would no longer be ordered to go to her every night.A satisfied sigh escaped Max’s lips and she buried her face deeper into her neck, her hand stroking up and down his back. Alec tightened his arms around her possessively.Suddenly he was very reluctant to let her go.Day 29Max groaned, clutching her shoulder as she forced herself to put one foot in front of the other.She had been training on the assault course, swinging herself over from tree to tree using a series of ropes when one of the other X5s accidentally collided into her. Normally she would not be so careless, but somehow, her grip on the rope slipped, sending her flying into the air.It happened so fast that she had hit a tree before she realised what had happened.So much for cats landing on their feet, she thought with a grimace. There was a good chance that she had broken her arm.The medic who was helping her to the infirmary stopped at a door. Treatment Room 4, she noted absently as he pushed the door open. He inclined his head towards the examination platform in the middle of the room. “Can you get on by yourself? I’m going to call the doctor.”Max nodded weakly and pulled her arms from his shoulder. Slowly, she made her way to the platform and painfully raised herself up. She lowered herself gingerly until her back touched the platform, sighing in relief as she did so.Feeling terribly tired suddenly, she closed her eyes.She must have dozed off. When she lifted her lids, she noticed that was not the only one in the room. Next to her, the doctor and his assistant were bending over what she assumed was her medical file. She tried to sit up, just to find that her movements were hampered by the tube was running from her right hand to a drip hanging beside her, next to a beeping monitor.Resigning herself to lie down like a good patient, she looked around, squinting slightly at the over-bright light shining from the lamp overhead. The furniture was minimal, just a few shelves and cabinets lined with vials and boxes beside the padded platform she was on. Everything in the room seemed to be there for some scientific purpose unknown to her.Then the familiar piercing pain in her head began. I don’t need this, she thought, barely muffling her groan. Not on top of a broken arm.It did not take long before she was bombarded with a scene.She was lying on an examination platform, her limbs strapped down, holding her immobile. A bright light was shining over her head, making her squint uneasily.“Welcome back, 452. I gather that you’ve had a good rest?” Renfro said to her. “I have to say that I am disappointed in your performance as X5-494’s breeding partner. I expected you to do the right thing, to know what’s best for your well-being. For your survival.”She raised an eyebrow and said, “Well, I would like to say that I’m sorry for that, but hey, guess what? I’m not.”Renfro was not amused. “Listen to me, 452. I have more resources than you can count, even with your enhanced abilities. You WILL do as you’re told,” she barked, and then with a menacing smile said, “And I know just the way to encourage you.”“Sure,” Max replied.Renfro smiled coldly and turned to speak to someone else. “The subject is ready. You can commence.”Then the flashes came faster, as if a floodgate has opened and everything decided that it wanted to come out all at once. Max gasped as her head throbbed even harder, almost blinding her and her stomach churned uncomfortably.“We’ve got everything here, but we still think it may be too soon,” the medic Etlik Rus Escort said.“What are our chances of a successful operation?” Renfro asked impatiently.“75 percent or thereabouts. The tech is quite new, hence we have limited data on the outcome.”“It’s good enough for us to proceed. She’s strong. She can take it.”Max gasped as her eyes shot open. She remembered that she had escaped her restraints then. Chaos had ensued in the lab, and had resulted in her being injected with something. She did not know what it was, but she remembered feeling odd before she fell u*********s, and that was all.Max groaned. Her head was positively killing her now, but something inside told her that she had to hold on to her flashes just a little longer. The doctor was calling her, but she ignored him, concentrating just on the images.She was sitting in an examination couch. Tubes and sensors ran from her temple and her pulse points, securely taped to her skin. She felt strangely relaxed, her body released from any strain. In front of her, a screen was showing some images from a mission feed.Mission 00234-487-511, she noted. The feed was displayed to her as a first-person’s view, and it was as if she was carrying out the mission. Her mission partner, 511, was signalling to her to move out. He covered her as she blurred across a compound, her machine-gun raised in preparation to fire at her enemies. It did not take long before their coordinated manoeuvres eliminated the opposing side.Then the scene faded out to be replaced by something else.There was someone in front of her. She could not tear her eyes away from him. Mesmerised; that was what she felt. He must be telling her something important, he was so earnest, so sincere.“Your designation is 452. You’re a Manticore prototype based in Seattle.”“My designation is 452. I’m a Manticore prototype based in Seattle,” she echoed automatically.“Your home is Manticore and your duty is to carry out your orders without question.”“My home is Manticore and my duty is to carry out my orders without question,” she repeated levelly as the words sank in.The doctor was shaking her, she noted absently as her vision cleared. She continued to ignore him, not on purpose, but just because she was unable to respond.Everything seemed to fall into place all at the same time. Max stared numbly at the ceiling, unwilling to digest what she had just experience. She remained silent as she tried to make sense of everything; Renfro, the medics, Psy-Ops, copulation, Alec, heat, Manticore, Renfro, the medics, Psy-Ops, copulation, Alec, heat…What has she done? An onslaught of emotion came crashing upon her; disbelief, horror, anger, disappointment and the worst, revulsion.Revulsion at what she has done. What she has allowed Manticore to do to her. What she has allowed Alec to do to her. She remembered everything.And she wished that she did not.A large lump of panic grew in her midsection, pushing itself up to her throat, suffocating her. She felt sick. She felt like throwing up. And yet, no words escaped her lips.She remained silent.But inside, she was screaming in utter despair.No. No! NO!Alec sat up abruptly when the minute he caught the sound of the approaching guard’s footsteps.He was already waiting by the door when it opened.“It’s time to go, but I see that you’re ready,” the guard said with an amused expression.Alec did not bother replying. All he could think of was Max.They had been all training together when he saw her hit the tree. For a moment, he had thought that his heart had stopped. It never occurred to him until then how often his thoughts had been focussed on her. He knew that was not just the copulation. It was something different. Something more. It was a weird feeling. Like he wanted to keep her away from all possibilities of harm.The soldier in him told him that he was being irrational. Caring for another made one vulnerable. And vulnerability was something which was frowned upon in their circles. Soldiers could not afford to be vulnerable. Assassins, even less.But that did not stop him from feeling what he was feeling. He suspected that a great deal of what he felt stemmed from the three days and nights of her heat. During that period, he felt that they had grown somewhat closer. It must have been some sort of bond brought on by her heat. Maybe he should talk to her about it.Maybe she felt the same way.Alec sighed. He hoped that she was alright. The fact that he was being called to her cell was encouraging. Manticore would not risk damaging her more than necessary, so she must be healthy enough to continue with their breeding programme.Anticipation rose in him when her cell came into view. When the guard opened the cell door, Alec checked his stride, forcing himself not to rush.The second he set foot in her cell, he knew something was wrong.The door clanked shut behind him but he barely noticed it.The glance she gave him was frosty, but it contradicted the expression in her eyes. Those brown orbs were burning hot with anger. And something else which looked like betrayal.His defences went up immediately. Call it instinct, but at that moment, he felt as if his life might be in danger. But why? Why was she looking at him like that?“Max?” he ventured tentatively.To his complete bewilderment, she responded with a sneer so unlike the Max of the last few weeks. And then a thought suddenly came to his mind;Maybe she remembers…His breath caught in his throat and a chill settled over him.Her next words confirmed it. “How very nice of you to remind me of my own name,” she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.The inevitable has happened. He exhaled his breath with a loud sigh. Rubbing the back of his neck with his palm, he said quietly, “So you know.”“You knew all this time. You knew how I felt about it, and you didn’t even think to tell me?” she yelled, her eyes shooting daggers at him.Alec just stared at her silently. His thoughts just before he entered her cell suddenly became a bit of a joke. Him caring for her was one thing. Her returning his sentiments? Not likely. She would rather see him dead and fed to the anomalies down in the basement. She despised him. That thought made his heart clench uncomfortably. She would laugh her head off if he confessed how he felt to her now. That was for sure.It was not hard for him to slip into his usual expressionless mask. “It was our mission, Max. That’s what we were supposed to do,” he said, the calmness in his voice surprising even himself.Her fists were clenched tightly by her side. “Over my dead body!” she snarled viciously.His eyes flashed before he could stop it. “It was practically that, wasn’t it? That was not you, that was 452. And admit it, you were happy enough to take part when you’re not so clouded with all your judgements,” he pointed out.“You think I don’t know that? You think that I’ll be your breeding partner willingly if I wasn’t brainwashed?” she challenged. “You KNOW I won’t do it, but you still went ahead,” she accused hotly.He stiffened visibly, his mask slipping by the second. “I’m not going to apologise for doing what I was ordered to do,” he said in a chilly tone. “I never forced you. And if I remember correctly, you initiated some of our encounters yourself.”“Shut up!” she yelled, obviously not in the frame of mind to hear the plain, unvarnished truth.He hated to argue with her like this. Tossing insults and accusations at each other would achieve nothing. Alec sighed heavily. “Look, Max. Can’t we just forget all this? Things have been going well up to now.”She gave him an incredulous look. “You’ve got to be k**ding me. As much as it may pain you to hear this, you’re not that hot that I’ll forget everything I believe in. I wouldn’t have done what we did if not for Manticore’s manipulation. And I can’t believe you’re asking me to forget it!” she spat.Alec narrowed his eyes. “You’re really blinded by the world outside, aren’t you? Have you forgotten that you’re different? That you’re not one of them? That you should be living under different rules?” he challenged, growing impatient at her stubbornness.She snorted and crossed her arms over her chest. “What rules? That I’m just a prototype to be tested and used as required by Manticore? That’s what you mean?” she snarled into his face.Alec grabbed her arms roughly, pushing her hard against the wall. He noticed when she winced at the contact, but at that moment, he needed to get her attention. “We’re born to do this. We are trained to do this. If you and your rugrat siblings had not escaped, you’ll be exactly the same as the rest of us. The last few weeks proved it. And admit it, you were not exactly unhappy.” He paused, taking in a calming breath before he went on with a softer tone, “You’re one of us, Max.”For a moment, they just stood there with him holding her against the wall, staring into each other’s eyes. Maybe he finally got through to her. Alec swallowed as he continued to look at her. He wanted to kiss her, but he doubted that she would welcome it.Then her eyes hardened, and Alec’s heart sank in response.With a hard shove, she pushed him off her and took a few steps back. Backing away from him, like she could not bear their close proximity, Alec thought with a grimace.Her sneer returned. “Don’t you dare touch me again. Let us get this clear now. There will be no more of Manticore’s mission happening in here. I’m not going to just let you do it this time, you hear me?”A prick of anger nudged him. She was brushing the entire thing aside, like she just wanted to dismiss it as some stupid mistake. Well, he has got some news for her. “Listen, whether you like it or not, this mission has to be completed, otherwise Manticore will just find another way. Who knows, maybe send you to psy-ops again and again until they get what they want.”She lifted her chin stubbornly. “Let them try.”“Max, I’m asking you, please just make this easier on yourself,” he coaxed. “After this, they’ll leave you alone.”“I…” she started to say, and then stopped.He watched her squeeze her eyes shut as she took a deep breath. When she exhaled, it was shaky. Right in front of his eyes, she appeared to sag.Then, to his horror, her eyes began to glisten. Oh, hell, please don’t cry, he pleaded silently. He could deal with the tough-ass Max, even the clawing and fighting Max. But not one with tears in her eyes. Not one who looked so hurt, so vulnerable.She turned away from him. Her voice was unsteady when she spoke. “Do you have any idea what it’s like? One day you wake up and you feel like a completely different person, like you don’t even know your own mind.”“Max…”“I only remember the stuff they fed me. Like the missions and the training that belonged to someone else. Hell, it’s not even a real memory, just stuff they picked up from reports,” she said with a broken, humourless laugh. “I did wonder why everything seemed so emotionless, so cold. I thought it was just a side effect of some memory loss.” She snorted. “Yeah, some memory loss. It was a complete wipe-out!” she finished angrily. Her hand went up to brush away the dampness from her eyes.Alec felt his heart constrict. “I’m sorry, Max,” he said softly. He really meant it. She did not deserve to go through all this pain.She sniffed. “Yeah, much good that’ll do now. It hurt, Alec, especially when I realised that you knew all along.” Turning back to face him, she demanded almost desperately, “Why? Why did you keep it from me?”It was his turn to look away. How was he supposed to explain it? To explain why he was afraid to tell her the truth?“I don’t know, Max,” he finally hedged.She shook her head violently. “Don’t give me that! I need to know, Alec! In the last week or so, you were different from before. We became friends, at the very least. I trusted you, even without really knowing you. So don’t tell me you don’t know.”Alec exhaled a ragged breath and turned to her. What was he supposed to say now? Perhaps it would be better if he came clean. What has he got to lose anyway? Steeling himself, he started to speak. “When I came back from my mission, I thought my mind was playing tricks on me. That the violent chick who was supposed to be my breeding partner suddenly became this obedient soldier. And I was stumped.”Max smiled a little at that.He quirked his lips. “Well, for a moment, I thought it was one of your tricks again.”Max rolled her eyes.He scowled at her. “Hey, you’ve done that before, alright. But eventually I figured out what happened because you don’t even recognise your own name. 511 told me what he knew the next morning, confirming what I thought.”“You could have told me then,” she said accusingly.Alec shook his head. “At that time, I was thinking why make things difficult. It took forever, but we finally…” he faltered, suddenly feeling unsure how to continue.“Copulated,” she supplied stonily.He cleared his throat uncomfortably. This was getting harder to explain. “Yeah. I have to admit that I kind of missed the old Max, but in time, I thought what we had going on was pretty good. So, it didn’t make sense for me to upset the balance.”“That’s why you kept quiet? To maintain the balance?” she asked incredulously.He nodded. “Look, can you really blame me? If I recall correctly, I had multiple injuries from you before that. You were not exactly easy to get along with, you know?”“You asked for it.”“I was just following orders, like you did not so long ago,” he pointed out gently.Max sighed. A resigned sound. “Alright. Maybe it’s not all your fault,” she finally admitted.“See, that wasn’t too hard, was it?” he teased, relieved that everything was now out in the open. But he would not k** himself. Max might not be tearing him apart with her bare hands right now but there was no way things would go back to the way they had been before.Max glared at him.“So what do we do now?” he asked, watching her carefully.She walked to the door and listened for something, probably for the guards. Satisfied with whatever she heard, or not heard, she came back to him. “I’m getting out of this place.”He froze. Out? As in leave Manticore?“I mean it, Alec. I can’t stand it anymore. I want out,” she declared, gesturing towards the window for emphasis.His throat unlocked. “I see,” he said tightly. “And how do you propose to do that?” he asked.Her eyes became shuttered. “I’ll find a way,” she said.Alec knew what she meant. Contrary to what she had just said, she did not trust him. He guessed he should not be too surprised. After all, to her, he was loyal to Manticore. He was the epitome of what she did not want to become.But it still hurt to be excluded. Had she even spared a thought for him in her escape plans? Yeah, probably. Like avoid Alec and escape while he’s distracted. Something like that.“This is not a good idea, Max.”“Did I ask you?” she snapped defensively.Her attitude was really getting to him. “Fine. I’ll just sit here while you plot your own death,” he said, sitting down on her bunk.She frowned at him but did not say anything. A few seconds later, she lowered herself down on the other end of the bunk.It was clear that they had nothing left to say to each other. Well, nothing he wanted her to know, anyway. He wished he could tell her what he felt, but now that she was back to being the old Max, he was not going to risk it.Alec resigned himself to wait in silence for the guard to let him out.……………………………Day 31Max stood at attention, suppressing the urge to fidget. Alec was right beside her, and somehow, that provided some measure of comfort to her. They were in Renfro’s office, waiting for the blonde-haired woman to look up from the file in front of her. One of the guards had passed on the message for them to meet her while they were at dinner in the mess hall.When Max finally thought that she could not stand there another second longer, Renfro finally spoke.“Well, I have good news for you,” she said.Max felt her heart sink to her stomach. She had just submitted her sample this morning. Please don’t let it be what I think it is, she pleaded silently.“X5-494 and X5-452. Congratulations, you’ve succeeded in your mission,” Renfro announced, looking very pleased with herself.To Max, the moment felt surreal. She swallowed hard, trying to prevent the dinner she had so recently consumed from escaping her. It was too soon for morning sickness, she thought numbly. At the back of her mind, she knew that she was supposed to say something. Renfro was looking at them expectantly. But say what?Beside her, Alec said levelly, “Thank you, ma’am.”Renfro raised her eyebrows when Max continued to be silent. “452? Is there a problem?”“No, ma’am. I’m just surprised, that’s all. I’m glad we achieved our objective so soon,” Max said, hoping that she would not choke on her own words. It almost killed her to say what she had just said, but she could not afford to give Renfro any reason to be suspicious. Not considering how close she was to the opportunity of freedom.Renfro seemed to be satisfied with her answer. Much to Max’s relief, Renfro turned her attention to Alec. “494, you’ll be deployed tomorrow morning on a new mission.” She handed a file to Alec, “Familiarise yourself with the details tonight.”“Yes, ma’am,” he replied, taking the file from Renfro.“452, the drill sergeants will be informed of your condition. Training will continue as usual but be careful not to overstrain. You need to report every morning to the infirmary for your pregnancy supplements and for monitoring. The medics are expecting you. You’re to report to the infirmary after this de-briefing.”“Yea, ma’am,” Max answered, keeping her voice detached.“You can go now.”An awkward silence descended when the door shut behind them.Still reeling from the shock, Max could not find anything to say. She had known that there was a possibility that she might be pregnant, given that they had had sex during her heat, but to hear it announced right in front of her by Renfro was another thing.The urgency of her escape was now increased. She needed to do it soon, before her pregnancy symptoms began. It was not the ideal situation, but she has no choice now.“Max?”She turned to look at him. His expression was blank at first glance, but she knew him well enough to read the telltale sign of wariness in his eyes.“Are you okay?”“Yeah, fine. I get told that I’m pregnant by a stone-cold bitch everyday of the year,” she said sarcastically. “Needless to say, I’m thrilled.”Alec raised his eyebrows. “Well, at least you got what you want. No more copulation.”“Yeah, there’s that, I guess,” Max muttered.That also meant that she would not be seeing him anytime soon. Especially now that he was being deployed out on missions again. Somehow, it did not feel that good. She guessed that in all this time, she has developed some kind of affinity for him.But her freedom was more important, an insistent little voice at the back of her head told her.Max sighed and then looked up to find Alec giving her an odd look.“What?” she asked curiously.He rubbed the back of his head, and then smiled somewhat sheepishly. “I feel really weird, knowing that a part of me is growing in there,” he said, brushing his fingertips against her stomach.Max stared at him, unsure what to say. She could have sworn that he looked almost wistful, like he was actually looking forward to the k**. Maybe he was becoming human after all. “Yeah, it’s kind of freaky, isn’t it?” she said softly.Alec nodded, and then stared straight ahead. “Manticore will make him or her a good soldier,” he said.Max stiffened. The thought almost made her sick, giving birth to a c***d into a world like Manticore. “Not if I can help it,” she muttered under her breath.He immediately halted in his tracks and turned to her. “Don’t do anything stupid, Max.”She bristled with indignation. “Whatever it is, it’s none of your business.”“Now it is,” he retorted hotly.Raising her eyebrows, she exclaimed, “Oh? Now why exactly did you say that?”He pointed at her midsection. “That’s my k** too.”“You should have thought about it before letting Manticore do this. The k** will be tested and tortured and hell knows what else,” Max declared, annoyed at the entire situation. Suddenly Alec was interested in her and his k**’s welfare?Frowning deeply, he said, “They won’t do that.” But Max could hear the uncertainty in his voice.She groaned. The guy was so loyal to Manticore that he just refused to see what was right in front of his eyes, even though something inside him knew it. “Where have you been the last twenty years, huh? Remember the tank? Punishment? Live target practice? And where were you when we were briefed on the mission? We’re just donors, Alec. Don’t you get it? And Manticore won’t give a toss about the k**,” she said, her voice growing louder in her agitation.“Shh, keep it down,” Alec hissed, looking around them to check if they were overheard. Satisfied that it was still secure to talk, he turned to her with a sigh. “I know all that, Max. You don’t need to tell me.”“I can’t just let Manticore have the k**,” Max said softly.“Max…” he started.Max interjected before he could continue. “I’ve got to go. The medics are waiting.”He looked as if he wanted to say something, but changed his mind. Nodding, he said, “I’ll talk to you when I get back from my mission.”She put her hands on her hips and stared at him incredulously. “Right. You think Manticore allow special visit privileges to breeding partners?”“Hey, I’m a man of many talents. I’ll find a way,” he replied with a confident smirk.“Yeah, whatever,” she brushed it aside carelessly as she walked away from him. But inside, she knew that she was not displeased to hear that she would see him again.Too bad he was on Manticore’s side.Or else, maybe…Stop it, Max! You know what you have to do, a voice inside her admonished sternly.She stiffened her resolve. Tonight, she would go back to continue what she had started last night after Alec had left.It should not take much longer for her to remove enough of the blocks to slip through, bringing her one step closer to freedom.Day 35Max.He had just returned from his mission, but that was all Alec could think of ever since the day they had found out that she was pregnant. That day, he had told her that he would find a way to see her, and he had no intention of breaking his word.Curling his fingers around the metal strip in his hand, he tagged behind the guard to his cell. When the guard opened the door to let him in, Alec held on to the door, right where the lock was located.The guard frowned. “You need something, 494?”“Um… Actually, no,” he said, releasing his grip on the door and walked in towards his bunk.The guard gave him a suspicious look, but then slammed the door shut.When the guard’s footsteps faded, Alec immediately went back to the door, hoping that the thin metal strip that he had just stuck on the locking mechanism remained intact. It should have prevented the lock from clicking into place.He fingered the universal key in his pocket. It was what he needed for Max’s cell door. It had been easy to get it, seeing that his mission had required the use of the key. He was simply borrowing it from Manticore. They have so many of those keys that they would not even know that one was missing.Now all he had to do was to wait for the next guard rotation to get out. The need to see her was almost overwhelming. It bothered him that he did not know if she was alright with what was happening to her.It still baffled him that she so adamantly wanted to leave. There was no doubt in his mind that the qualities of Manticore’s facilities far exceeded those which anyone could find on the outside. Their c***d would be fine here. But that was not his only concern. Max was in no shape to attempt an escape in her condition. It was too dangerous. Too many things could go wrong.Now, all he had to do was to try to make Max understand that.His opportunity came after an hour. The guards’ voices told him that they were moving away from his section. Alec went to his bunk and arranged his pillows under the blanket to make it look like he was sleeping. Then he went to the door.Once he was sure that the coast was clear, he gave the door a small tug, smirking smugly when it swung open easily. It took him no time at all to blur to Max’s section. Thankfully, she was located just nearby.When he got to her door, he quickly inserted the universal key into the lock and pressed a button to activate it. It whirred for a second and then the door opened.He stepped in.To be confronted with an empty cell.What? Where is she? He wondered as he looked around, closing the door behind him after sticking on another metal strip on the lock. His frown deepened when he spotted the pillows stuffed under her blanket, arranged very much in the same way as his.A small scr****g sound under her bunk caught his attention. He stilled, suspecting that it was Max.Her bunk lifted to expose Max to his view, crawling out of a hole in the blockwork wall. His eyes narrowed as he realised what she was doing. She must have made the hole to escape.With their baby.“I thought we have a date,” he said loudly, watching her freeze mid-crawl.She lifted her eyes to him. All he got from her was silence as she pulled the rest of her body out of the hole. Then she stood up and brushed the dust from her clothes.“Sorry, I forgot,” she replied, her posture defensive.“I know what you’re doing, Max,” he said grimly. “And we never quite finished our last conversation.”Max sighed heavily. “Look, Alec. What’s the point? We’re never going to see eye to eye on this.”“It’s a suicide mission. Especially with our k** inside you,” he pointed out angrily. Can’t the girl see sense?“What do you expect me to do, huh? Give birth to the k** and escape alone after that? Leave my k** to Manticore as a goodbye present?” she asked incredulously.He gritted his teeth in frustration. “No, I don’t want you to escape at all.”She crossed her arms over her chest and raised her eyebrows at him. “Sorry, but Manticore’s not my kind of place. And it’s definitely not the place for c***dren.”“We grew up here, Max. We didn’t turn out too bad,” he said defensively.She eyed him disbelievingly. “Listen to yourself, Alec. Remember all the punishments? The tank? The box? The tests?”Alec looked at her, silent as he digested what she had just said. She has a point, but they survived, didn’t they? And what did he know about what it was like outside anyway. He had only been out whenever he was on a mission, and from what he could see, the place was not exactly that great either.He sighed wearily, lifting a hand to rub the back of his neck. “Max, don’t do this.”“What? Don’t escape? Stay in here to play happy family with you and Renfro? I told you over and over again, this is not me. I don’t want to be here. I want to be out there, back to my life.” She waved around her. “I don’t want this, Alec. It’s not what I signed up for when we escaped in ’09.”He stiffened. Was that all she could think about? What about the time they spent together? Did that not count? “What you want is not always what you need, Max. That short time when you forgot about your life out there, you were happy. And now you’re back to being the bitch,” he said angrily.She lifted her chin stubbornly. “Yeah, so what? That’s who I am.”He gritted his teeth and forced himself to remain calm. “That’s not who you are. You’re a transgenic, not like all those Ordinaries out there. You’ve got to stop k**ding yourself.”Tilting her head to one side, she said, “Well, here’s news for you. I like being out there. I hate it in here. And I’m leaving no matter what you say.”He shook his head vehemently. “You’re not going to make it. Those X7s are better than you think.”“One of them shot me, Alec. I think I know what they’re like,” she said bitterly.He laid a hand on her shoulders. He was close to begging but he did not care. The girl was going to get herself killed this time if she insisted on being stubborn. “Don’t do it, Max.”“Alec,” she said, and then hesitated for a while. Taking a deep breath, she then continued, “You can come with me.”He stared at her in shock. The thought of escape had never occurred to him. For some reason, however appealing it sounded to go with her, he knew that he could not do it. Especially once he weighed the consequences. “I can’t, Max.”Her lips tightened, obviously unhappy at his answer. “You can’t, or you won’t?”He needed to make her understand what she was asking. “If I escape, then what? Wait to be hunted down for the rest of my life? Looking over my shoulders every two minutes? It’ll be like sending myself out for a life-long Escape and Evade session. That’s not exactly being free.”“We managed for ten years,” Max pointed out.He shook his head firmly. “I’m not going anywhere, Max. And neither are you.”“I want out. And I’m going,” she insisted stubbornly.He gripped her shoulders tightly, wanting to force her to see sense. “I heard you. But I can’t let you do it. It’s not safe for you and our k**.”She shook his hand off. “Stay out of my way, Alec,” she warned, backing away.He reached for her again, but before he could made contact, a loud explosion rocked the building. The walls shook alarmingly and the vibrations made them stagger precariously. His reflexes kicking in, Alec grabbed Max and held her against the wall until the tremors subsided.“What the hell?” he exclaimed when the air around them started to smell like smoke.Max’s eyes were large. She looked just as puzzled as he was.He released her and rushed towards the door. Thankfully, the strip he had stuck at the door lock still held, keeping it open. Alec pushed it open fully and stepped out. Greyish white smoke was beginning to fill the corridor, but the doors to the other cells remained closed.Shouts for help filtered through the smoke to his ears. Loud bangs indicated that the transgenics were trying to get out however they could. The strange thing was; none of the guards were anywhere to be seen.Alec frowned. The explosion was too loud for the guards to miss. But why did they not unlock the doors?Then he remembered his key. That would do the trick.He would need help, he thought with a grimace. Turning around, he began to re-enter Max’s cell.And then halted in his tracks when he realised that the cell was empty.He glanced back and forth between the hole in the wall and the corridor. Indecision marred his features. On one hand, he wanted, no, needed to make sure that Max was safe. On the other hand, there was who knows how many hundreds of his fellow transgenics trapped in their cells, calling out for help. And Max probably have an exit route planned already.He had no choice, Alec thought as he rushed out into the corridor towards the rest of the cells.………………….She slipped through the opening in the wall and dropped to her feet in the services corridor. Following the now familiar route, she ran as fast as she could towards the access hatch.“Joshua!” she called out when she slipped through the hatch. Her eyes scanned the dimly lit area for the canine transgenic. Another explosion shook the building, making her stagger unsteadily.Placing her hand against the wall to keep her balance, she called out again. “Joshua!”She heard his footsteps before the tall transgenic came into view. “Max!” he stammered, his eyes a little wild with fear. “Loud noises. Smoke everywhere. Others trapped.”Max sucked in her breath as the meaning of his words registered. What was Manticore trying to do? Burn them down?She grabbed Joshua’s arm. “Come on, we’ve got to let them out,” she said as she ran along the corridor to where she suspected the control room might be located.A moment later, she found what she was looking for and yanked the door open. The room was empty, confirming her suspicions that Manticore was indeed tying to kill them all. Frowning in concentration, she scanned the monitors. Each screen was showing different sections of the facility. The smoke made it difficult for her to make out what was going on where.She leaned closer to peer at the screens.And paused when she saw Alec in one of the screens. He was opening the doors to the cells, letting some of the younger X-series out. She suddenly wished that she was with him at that moment. Their interrupted conversation was left in such an awkward point, and by no means concluded, but what else could she do? He was trying to stop her from leaving.What hurt the most was that he had refused to escape with her. She did not understand the guy. He seemed to care about her, so it did not make sense that he did not want to come with her. That would solve the problem, wouldn’t it?Not a good time to think about him now, she chided herself. She needed to focus on opening the doors now. Her fingers flew over the keyboard, entering the commands to unlock all the cells including the ones in the basement.A sound behind her made her snap around abruptly just in time to see a guard flattened against the wall. Joshua was growling into his face menacingly. As for the guard, he looked as if he was about to die of sheer terror.A quick glance at the screens told her that all the doors were unlocked. “Joshua, let him go. We’ve got to move now!” she yelled as she ran to the big transgenic.Joshua released the guard, who slumped into a relieved heap onto the floor, and ran beside Max towards the back room where he had shown her the location of a window. “Can you break the bars?” she asked hurriedly.“Joshua try.”“Thanks, big fella.”“You’re welcome, little fella.”The transhumans began to pour out of the cells, looking completely bewildered by the commotion. As Joshua went to work on the bars securing the window, Max guided the transhumans to the back room.When the barrier broke away from the window, they shattered the glass and climbed out, one after another.Max went through the window last when she was sure that no one in the basement was left behind.The second she landed on her feet, she was greeted with utter chaos all around her. Transgenics and transhumans, confused and panicked, were running in all directions. It seemed to her that the X7s have not realised that Manticore was trying to kill them all. They were pointing their guns and shooting wherever they could, but there were too many other transgenics around for them to catch everyone. A number of older transgenics, X5s, Max noted, were trying to take down the X7s.Max zigzagged around the X7s, which was not too hard considering that they have many more other transgenics around to keep them occupied.It all happened very suddenly. One moment the path in front of her was clear and she was dashing across it towards the edge of the woods, and then, out of nowhere, two X7s appeared to block her way.“Out of my way, k**s,” she snarled a warning.They stared at her with their eerily blank eyes. And then one of them signalled, ‘Retreat and head back.’Max rolled her eyes. She forgot that they could not answer her. They probably could not understand her as well. She signalled back, ‘Manticore’s trying to kill us. Let us go.’One of them frowned and they exchanged a look. Max had no doubt that they were communicating something to each other.Then they raised their guns.Oh shit!She ducked just in time to miss the first bullet, and then immediately rushed forward. In a flash, she knocked the gun out of their hands and tackled one of them to the ground.Max placed her hand on his neck and squeezed, wanting to knock him out. Before she could finish what she had started, his partner came behind her, throwing her off with a well-placed kick to her side. She fell a small distance away, landing beside the X7’s gun.Picking it up, she jumped to her feet, wincing as she did so and turned back to face the two X7s. One of them was going for the other gun.She did not have time to deliberate. This was no ordinary moment and it was definitely not the time to be picky about the choice of weapons. The last time she had hesitated, she got shot in the heart.Offering up a silent apology to Eva, she raised the gun and fired two rounds. The first X7 jerked and fell down when the bullet hit his kneecap. The other one was pushed backwards by the impact of the bullet against his shoulders.That should show them down, she thought with a grimace as she ran past them towards the trees. She hated what she had done, even when those X7s were such pains in the ass, but what else could she do? It was either them or her. Disgusted, she tossed the gun to one side and jogged through the woods. A twinge of pain in her stomach alerted her that she might have suffered some damage from the fight, but she told herself to ignore it. It should go away in a while.The sounds of shouting and shooting began to recede as she travelled further away from the facility. She ran through the closely-knit trees in the woods, desperate to find a way out. The whole place seemed just like a maze of trees and nothing else. But if she remembered correctly, that this was the approximate direction that would bring her to the highway.She pressed a hand against her stomach as she continued to run. The pain was just a dull ache, but she knew that it could be a problem if she was not careful. And she did not want it to be a problem. She wanted her baby to be born healthy into the world. Free.It seemed to have taken her forever, but she finally burst out of the woods, ending up at the side of an asphalt-covered road. She recognised it. It was the road which led straight to the centre of Seattle.Home.A stab of pain exploded in her midsection, making her gasp. Max forced herself to walk up the road. Knowing that for the moment she could not do anything about it, she tried her best to ignore the pain.She lifted her hand when a car approached, but it did not stop. It took her another three tries before someone pulled up beside her.An old man leaned over and opened his passenger window, sticking his head out. “You need a ride, girl?”She nodded. “I just need to get into town. Near the Space Needle will do.”“Hop in.”She opened the door and sank onto the seat, wincing as she did so.The old man gave her a concerned look. “You okay?”“Yeah. I’ll be fine.”The trip took less than an hour, but Max was glad that she did not have to walk it. She was not sure if she would have made it if the old man had not stopped. The throbbing pain was now more like a piercing pain, not longer dull but burning hot. She tried to shut her eyes in an attempt to relieve it, but it did not work.The next thing she knew, they were driving past an area she recognised. It was just a block from Logan’s place.“Just here will do,” she said.The old man peered at her closely. “You don’t look too well. You ought to see a doctor.”She smiled weakly and got out of the car. “I’m going to get some help now. Thank you.”He nodded at her and with a small wave, drove off.It took her another five minutes to drag herself to Logan’s place. The doorman, recognising her, let her in without too much fuss, much to her relief. All her energy had been spent on getting to the building and she was growing weaker by the second.When she finally got to his apartment, she slumped against the doorway, too weak to even try to open the door. The pain in her midsection was now piercing hot, telling her that she was in real trouble this time. Hoping that she was not too late to save her baby, she raised her shaky arms and managed to thump the door twice.“Logan…” she mumbled as her arm went slack, sliding down the door.The door opened suddenly. Losing its support, she fell heavily onto the floor next to a pair of feet.“Max?” she heard Logan call out. His voice was full of confusion and surprise.“Logan, it hurts,” she said, her voice faint.Then it all went black.………………………………She woke up to find herself in Logan’s bed. There were all sorts of medical equipments beside her, and a tube was running from a drip down to her hand.Original Cindy and Logan were both talking softly by the door, she noticed woozily. They did not know that she was awake yet.“Guys,” her voice came out as a croak.Original Cindy immediately turned and rushed to her side, Logan following at a slower pace behind her.“Boo, you alright?” Original Cindy asked, sitting at the edge of the bed, wearing a concerned expression.Max managed a weak smile. “Okay, I guess. It’s good to see you. I missed you.”“Me too, boo. But rest now, we can talk later,” her friend advised.Max nodded. Her eyes swept past Original Cindy towards Logan. Why was he standing so far away? She frowned. Why did he look so unsure, so distant?Then she gasped and her hand flew to her midsection, all thoughts of Logan evaporated. “My baby?”Original Cindy exchanged a glance with a tense-looking Logan.Stroking her hand slowly, her friend told her gently, “Girl, the baby didn’t make it. Dr Carr tried, but it was too late.”Max felt a hot tear slip out of the corner of her eyes. No! It was all her fault. She should have been more careful. Damn it, she wanted her baby to be free. Now look what she had done. “All my fault,” she whispered to herself.Original Cindy bent down and gathered her in a comforting hug. “Shh, you’re gonna be alright, boo. You’re gonna be alright,” she said softly against Max’s hair.Was she? Was she going to be alright?………………………..Day 157Max had just stepped out of Jampony with her packages when she spotted Original Cindy approaching the building with her bike beside her.“Hi! Good run?” Max asked with a smile.Original Cindy rolled her eyes. “Ain’t no such thing as a good run,” she declared with disgust. “Normal’s using us as slave labour, I tell ya.”Max laughed.“Hey, boo, there’s this new place near the market. Just opened last week or something. Original Cindy’s been wanting to check it out. You game?” her friend asked.“New hunting ground, huh?” Max teased. “Crash’s not enough?”Original Cindy waved her hand in the air. “Never too much of a good thing.”Max grinned. Then with a shrug, she said, “Why not? It’s not like I have anything else to do.”“That’s my girl,” Original Cindy exclaimed approvingly.Just then Sketchy came up to them, looking extremely frazzled. “Guys, you’ve got to help me.”Original Cindy held up her hands. “Whatever it is, Original Cindy’s staying out of it.”Sketchy groaned. He turned a pleading glance at Max. “Max?” he said, throwing an arm around her shoulders. “I need this package delivered, but I can’t do it.”“Hand’s off, Sketch,” Max ordered, then turned around to slap him upside the head. “And what’s with the overly familiar arm thing, huh?”Sketchy wore a wounded look. “Come on, Max. We’re buddies and all, right?”Max rolled her eyes. Sketchy always seemed to need help one way or another. “And why can’t you deliver it yourself?”“The steelheads kinda got it in for me,” he admitted reluctantly.“You fool. When are you going to learn to stay outta trouble?” Original Cindy said, shaking her head.He continued to plead with Max. “Please, Max. Just this once,” Sketchy begged.Not able to stand his whining any longer, Max finally said, “Alright! I’ll do it. Give me the package.”Sketchy handed her the package. “Thanks, Max! I owe you one,” he said gratefully.Original Cindy gaze followed his back as he sped off on his bike. “He owes you more than that.”Max grinned. “It’s not that big a dealio anyway. I can handle some steelheads. Easy.”Original Cindy gave her a concerned look. “You’ve got to take care, Max.”Max sighed. They had been through this before. Ever since she returned, her friend has been continuously worried about her health. Complained that she was too pale, too skinny, and the list went on and on. The last thing Max wanted was to be reminded of why she was in that state. Because that would remind her of what day was today.Today was the four-month anniversary of her escape.Four month since her miscarriage.Even now, the thought of it still bothered her. Every time it came up in her mind, she remembered Alec and the way they had parted. It was so sudden, the explosion in Manticore. So unexpected. And it all went so wrong so fast.Shortly after she had regained her health, Logan had explained that he ran an Eyes-Only broadcast on that day, exposing Manticore and its location. That led Max to the conclusion that Manticore had decided to cauterise the whole facility just to keep their dirty little secret safe.At first, she wanted to blame Logan. Hell, she had been ready to blame anyone for the loss of her c***d for weeks after the devastating news. But the truth was too obvious for anyone to miss. Even if there had been no cauterisation, she would still have tried to escape. And the outcome would most likely be the same. It was no one’s fault except hers alone.And now, thing between her and Logan was strained. He had tried to recapture what they had before, but she knew that it was no longer there. It was not as if she felt nothing for him. She was fond of him, but that was all. It was obviously not enough to sustain a ‘relationship’. She had told him a condensed version of what happened in Manticore, and she suspected that since then, Logan harboured some resentment towards Alec. Probably blaming Alec for the breakdown in what he perceived was their relationship.She did not have the heart to tell him that it was not just Alec. It was her and Logan himself. Since Manticore, a lot of things had changed. In particular, the way she saw herself. She could now admit that she was different, and no matter how much she tried, she could not be just an ordinary human. She definitely could not be the ‘normal’ girlfriend Logan was asking her to be.Max sighed. She hated thinking about the whole thing.She also hated not knowing if Alec and the rest of them were alright. And as much as she loathed admitting to herself, she actually missed him. He popped into her mind on and off, always reminding her of every little thing she missed about him; the nonsense they had talked about, their banters, their fights and the sex.She had wanted to leave so desperately at that time. Not that she regretted being free now, but she could feel something lacking. Like a huge empty void. She was just going through the motions, living day to day, seemingly without any aim or purpose. And always remembering how things had been with him back in Manticore.His words came back to haunt her, almost as if he was taunting her.What you want is not always what you need, Max.He might be right, she admitted to herself sadly.But she had made her own decision.And this was what she had chosen to have.…………………..Things had been hectic ever since the Seattle Manticore facility had turned into just a pile of charred rubble.Alec remembered the day clearly. Utter chaos had surrounded them while he attempted to release as many transgenics as he could by using the universal key he had. He had not been able to open all the doors, but later, some of them had told him that the cell doors opened by themselves. Alec suspected that someone must have gotten to the control room in the basement.Most of them made it out, but some had not been fast enough to out-run the X7s. The regular X-series had been unable to communicate with the X7s, hence unable to let them know that they were under attack.Alec had since realised that they had been betrayed by their own Command. Why? He still did not know the reason, but honestly, now he just did not care. So long as he and the rest of the transgenics remained off Manticore’s radar, it was fine by him. There was no way he felt any obligation or loyalty to Manticore after that stunt they pulled.In the last four months, he had been preoccupied in organising the rest of the transgenics, particularly the younger ones. Someone had been trying to annihilate them by broadcasting a Manticore rendezvous signal in the sky. He had realised almost too late what was actually happening. Several units had been gunned down, the last one right in front of his eyes before he finally decided to take action.Together with a team of X5s that he had managed to gather, he had tracked down the source of the broadcast and launched an attack. After sending his own signal for the rest of the transgenics to find him, he had destroyed the equipment. Needless to say, the personnel who were operating the broadcast did not survive the attack.That had been when the rest of the transgenics turned up in packs. They needed structure and guidance and they looked to him for it. For some reason, he had fallen into the role of their leader. He did not ask for it. It just happened.With that kind of responsibility, he simply could not just leave to track Max down.Seattle was not small. So it had not been easy to find her, but he finally did.Alec stood at the corner of a derelict building, just hidden in the shadows of an alleyway, as he watched her.She was waiting for another girl to catch up with her. Her friend, he supposed, feeling a little curious about her life out here.Max looked at ease, surrounded by the people she obviously trusted. The girl with some amazingly puffy afro hair said something to her, and Max laughed in response. This was the first time Alec has heard her laughter ringing out so free and unchecked.Then a scrawny guy with messy overgrown hair stepped up to them and said something. He followed his words by flinging an arm around Max. They seemed to be close.Alec’s eyes narrowed as a surge of jealousy rose in him.Then Max pushed the guy away playfully and slapped him upside the back of his head, her behaviour telling Alec that there was nothing between them other than friendship. Although Alec knew that he should not care, he could not help but feel relieved. He must remember that she was not tied to him in any way.His eyes travelled to her stomach.Four months have passed since they left Manticore. With her accelerated gestation, courtesy of Manticore’s genetic manipulation, she should be quite rounded by now. But dressed in her tight black tank top and low-cut hipsters, it was more than apparent that she was no longer pregnant.He had hoped that 511 might have been mistaken. 511, who now called himself Biggs, had told him that Max had been injured and that she had been pressing her hand against her midsection when she ran away from the burning site.A feeling of bitter regret washed over him. Maybe if he had been with her, she would not have gotten hurt, or miscarried. His heart felt heavy for their unborn c***d.Alec knew inside that he was not satisfied to just stand there to watch her. He missed her and he wanted to walk up to her. Maybe just to catch up on stuff. On what he was doing, and what she was doing. Just talk, like any normal people.But she was happy now, much happier than he had ever seen her. She was exactly where she wanted to be. Free and unrestrained. Outside with her friends.His presence was not part of the equation.His presence would only shake things up, mess things up for her.With a last, wistful glance at her, he turned and made himself walk away…………

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