(A couple of men open their restaurant for the day, speaking to each other in Spanish. One of them notices that the door to the walk-in freezer is unlocked.)

FIRST MAN: Hey! Hey! Se te olvido cerrar esto anoche.

(Not noticing the padlock lying on the ground, the man walks into the freezer. He pushes aside some hanging meat and sees a girl sitting on the floor, covered with frost, not moving. Her eyes are closed. The man calls the other man in.)

FIRST MAN: Fico! Fico!

(The other man comes in and they both stare at the girl.)

FICO: Es una nena.

(Thinking she’s dead, the men cross themselves. Suddenly the girl opens her eyes, and the men scream in surprise. The girl runs out of the building and into an alley, stops, and looks in both directions with heightened vision. She has a barcode on the back of her neck.)

(At Jam Pony)

HERBAL: Mornin’, Normal. I and I need to take a personal day next Friday.

NORMAL: You and who need to do what?

HERBAL: ‘Tis the 75th anniversary of the great Bob Marley’s birth. I’d like to attend the memorial concert they’re having out there in Portland for him.

NORMAL: Yeah, well, I’d like to take off every June 12th, but I don’t.

HERBAL: What’s June 12th?

NORMAL: June 12th is the birthday of my personal hero, and perhaps the nation’s greatest visionary, George Herbert Walker Bush. Born 1924, in what used to be called Milton, Massachusetts, before the Pulse. Sketchy, get your tail over here.

SKETCHY: I’m on a break.

NORMAL: Shut up. Put this on.

SKETCHY: What is it?

(Normal hands him a jacket emblazoned with an American flag, a slogan, and reflective strips.)

NORMAL: It’s the shape of things to come, my friend. This is the prototype for the new Jam Pony safety jerkin, which each of you will soon be required to wear at all times.

ORIGINAL CINDY (reading the slogan): “Jam Pony. Ride With Pride.”

NORMAL: That’s right. I designed it myself.

MAX: I can tell.

NORMAL: It will make our riders more visible to other vehicles and lend a more uniform appearance to the generally scruffy look of you bums.

SKETCHY: Even though people are hungry out there, they will throw food at us if we wear something this bogus.

NORMAL: You’ll wear it and you’ll like it. You can also say goodbye to the graffiti in this place and hello to a nice, fresh coat of institutional beige, as well as digital locators, so I can keep tabs on you deadbeats at all times.

MAX: Where’s the money come from to pay for this fascist wet dream of yours, Normal?

NORMAL: From our soon-to-be new owner, Mr. Gurmook Sivapathasundaram, who’s on his way from Bangalore, India, as we speak.

ORIGINAL CINDY: He’s buying this place?

NORMAL: Yes, as an investment, and he’s empowered me to institute a wide range of reforms to get Jam Pony running more efficiently.

MAX: Maybe you should start with fixing the can in the ladies’ room.

NORMAL: Well, in due course. First order of business, I want all unauthorized signage, graffito, and the like removed from your lockers. I don’t want Mr. Sivapathasundaram walking in here and finding a great, big, fat mess.

(The girl who ran out of the freezer is talking at a pay phone on the street.)

GIRL: Hey, it’s me--Brin. I know I’m not supposed to contact you, but I had no choice. I had a close call with Lydecker’s people in L.A. I need your help. I’ll explain everything when I see you...When?...I’ll be there.

(At sunset, Lydecker and a man named John McGinnis stand at the waterfront.)

McGINNIS: Nice view.

LYDECKER: Oh, yeah. Nice day. You look like hell.

McGINNIS: We have a problem we could use your help with.

LYDECKER: You know I’m always happy to do what I can.

McGINNIS: Familiar with the Vatican situation?

LYDECKER: Only what I read in the paper.

McGINNIS: New Pope’s come out against our friends in the Italian parliament. He’s popular. Keeps at it, he’s going to bring down the whole Mediterranean coalition.

LYDECKER: Consider it done.

McGINNIS: Can’t have any accountability.

LYDECKER: You know my kids. Have they ever let you down?

McGINNIS: You know, I appreciate everything you’ve done for us.

LYDECKER: Well, maybe you can do something for me. See if you can get the Committee to come up with more funds so I can bring Manticore to stage three.

McGINNIS: I’m behind you on this; you know it, Deck. But with these people, it always comes down to the same thing: X5. I need to be able to tell them that you’re making progress.

LYDECKER: What do you think I’m in Seattle for, the weather? I’m closing in on one right here in the city.

(After dark, Max rides her motorcycle through the streets, eventually arriving home.)

MAX: Kendra?

(She sees a note Kendra left and reads it aloud.)

MAX: “Mr. Multiples is back in town.” (Chuckling) God.

(Max enters her bedroom and sees that the window has been broken. Noticing a man standing behind her, she does a high kick and places her foot at his throat. Then she sees that the man is Zack, weak and bloody.)

MAX: Oh, God. Zack?

ZACK: Lydecker…I tried to stop him…

(In a flashback, Zack goes to meet Brin in an alley earlier that day. A couple of SUVs come along, and the men inside them capture Brin, despite Zack’s efforts to save her. One of the SUVs runs him down as they leave.)

ZACK: But he got Brin.

(Zack passes out.)

(At Logan’s apartment, Bling is checking Zack’s wounds.)

BLING: Let’s have a look.

(Zack wakes up and grabs Bling’s arm.)

BLING: I need to change your bandage.

ZACK: You need to back off.

MAX: It’s okay. He’s a friend.

(Logan joins them.)

ZACK: Another friend?

LOGAN: That’s right.

ZACK: Why did you bring me here, Max? I came to you for help.

MAX: And that’s what you’re getting. Now, tell us what happened to Brin. You said Lydecker had her.

(Zack looks at Logan.)

MAX: He knows all about who we are.

LOGAN: I want to help you.

MAX: You can trust him. Tell us what happened.

ZACK: She got careless. She got caught. End of story.

MAX: What’s that supposed to mean?

ZACK: She’s gone, Max.

MAX: So we’re just gonna let Lydecker have her?

ZACK: You want us to go after her and give him a shot at a hat trick?

MAX: We can’t just do nothing.

ZACK: We’re not going to breach op-sec for some half-assed rescue attempt. You need to accept what happened, and move on. Is that clear?

MAX: You’re not my CO, Zack. You know, you can worry about op-sec for the both of us, but I’m gonna do whatever it takes to get her back.

ZACK: Yeah? How? She’s probably halfway to Manticore by now.

LOGAN: I don’t think so.

ZACK: Stay out of this.

LOGAN: In case you haven’t caught on by now, this girl is gonna do what she’s gonna do, no matter what you or anyone else says. Now you’ve got two choices: back off or pitch in.

MAX: What he said.

LOGAN (checking his laptop): Now, the way I figure it, you don’t just put a genetically-enhanced killing machine on the next bus to Manticore. And since I’m not finding any record of military convoys leaving the city, or any unusual air traffic, I’m thinking there’s a chance she’s probably being held somewhere here in Seattle. Maybe at Lydecker’s forward base of operations.

ZACK: Yeah? Well, where’s that?

LOGAN: Give me a minute.

(At Crash)

SKETCHY: You guys wanna head back to Jam Pony?

ORIGINAL CINDY: He can’t.

HERBAL: Not for a half hour.

SKETCHY: Why not?

HERBAL: Normal said if I made two more runs before lunch, he gonna make me employee of the week.

SKETCHY: Oh, that’s awful.

HERBAL: I know.

SKETCHY: Normal’s really starting to terrify me.

ORIGINAL CINDY: For real.

SKETCHY: If he’s allowed to go unchecked, we are a heartbeat away from compulsory urine testing at Jam Pony.

HERBAL: What would he be testing for?

ORIGINAL CINDY: Knowing Normal, probably flavor.

SKETCHY: If this deal with this Indian dude goes through...Normal gets more power, control, and the money to back it up…we better start looking for new jobs.

HERBAL: Only there aren’t any.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Everything was chill until this Sivapatha-spinderella decided to make Jam Pony part of his business empire.

SKETCHY: Maybe he’ll change his mind when he sees the place.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Or maybe we can help him.

SKETCHY: What do you mean?

ORIGINAL CINDY: I don’t know. Original Cindy gotta think this bitch through.

(At his apartment, Logan is checking his computer.)

LOGAN: Our friend Lydecker’s a first-rate spook. Whatever operation he’s got going here, he’s covering it up pretty good.

ZACK: Did you look in the Yellow Pages under “black-helicopter operations”?

LOGAN: Oh, another Manticore wit.

MAX: Okay, so we can’t find his crew. Maybe we can find his crib, or where he hangs. Maybe he’s part of a bowling league or something.

(Logan finds some information on the computer.)

LOGAN: Here are his DOD records. Donald Michael Lydecker, born 1968. Enlisted in the Army right out of high school. Married his hometown sweetheart.

MAX: Oh, touching.

LOGAN: Accepted to OCS. Graduated top of his class. Assigned to third Ranger battalion. Saw action in Panama, Kuwait, Somalia. Made captain. Assigned to Delta Force. Legion of Merit, Purple Heart…

MAX: Yeah, yeah, we get the point.

LOGAN: Looks like he was on the fast track, until ’95. Wife was murdered. Killer was never found.

ZACK: Probably did it himself.

LOGAN: His behavior became erratic. Half a dozen disciplinary infractions. Insubordination, disorderly conduct, DUI. Bought himself a dishonorable discharge. And, last but not least, an ADAP admissions form from 1996.

MAX: “ADAP”?

LOGAN: Alcohol and Drug Abuse Program. Rehab for military personnel.

MAX: Program must’ve turned things around for him if he was assigned to head up Manticore. He’s probably still working it.

LOGAN: As in, “My name is Don. I’m an alcoholic”?

MAX: Place to start. (To Zack) You coming?

ZACK: And our objective is what? All the black coffee we can drink?

MAX: Find the man, he’ll lead us to our objective. Or did you sleep through Recon 101?

LOGAN: Notwithstanding what I told G.I. Joe here, you do realize that you’re going after a man who’s spent the last ten years trying to hunt you down.

MAX: I’ve spent the last ten years looking for him (indicates Zack), and Brin, and the others. It’s what’s kept me going.

LOGAN: Just make sure it’s not what gets you killed.

(At Jam Pony)

SKETCHY: Do you need me to wash the floor again?

NORMAL: No, the floor looks clean to me.

SKETCHY: Yeah, but we want Jam Pony to be all it can be for when Mr. Sivapathasundaram gets here, right?

NORMAL: Right.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Is there any special dress code for tomorrow?

NORMAL: No, as long as you look businesslike.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Maybe I should lose the afro puffs. I don’t want to come across too…ethnic.

NORMAL: You’ll have to use your own judgment on that.

ORIGINAL CINDY: I know that India can be a really conservative place when it comes to the role of women and sexuality and so forth, but when Mr. Siva-path-as… (Struggles with the name)

NORMAL: ...undaram.

ORIGINAL CINDY: When he looks at me, he’s going to see a hardworking employee--not some diesel-domme trolling for a flat-tailed, obedient, white bottom-girl to be my love toy--and you got Original Cindy’s word on that.

NORMAL: I appreciate that. That’s enormously comforting.

HERBAL: Your employee of the week made some Blue Mountain coffee, fresh from Jamaica, to show my appreciation for the honor.

NORMAL: Thank you, Herbal. That’s very, very thoughtful of you.

HERBAL: So, what you think? I should more or less hang out in the background, in case this Supapapa…Supaman have a problem understanding I and I, or something like that?

NORMAL: I think that, uh, Mr. Sivapathasundaram is going to be pleased as I am by the fact that we’ve all pulled together here, huh? Look at that. A little hard work never hurt anybody.

SKETCHY: Bip bip bip.

(Normal takes a sip of the coffee Herbal gave him.)

NORMAL: That’s yummy.

(At an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, Lydecker stands at the lectern.)

LYDECKER: I’m an alcoholic, and my name is Don.

GROUP: Hi, Don.

LYDECKER: I’m, uh, new in town. I have some business here, and I’ve been coming to this meeting for the last couple weeks. I’ve listened to a few of you stand up and tell your stories, and tonight I’d like to take my turn. Drinking damn near destroyed my life. I woke up one morning, took a look around…I was lying on the floor. I decided never to touch another drop. I’ve been sober ever since. I hear a lot of you talk about taking things one day at a time. As far as I’m concerned, that’s a cop-out. You make a decision and you take charge of your life. You don’t need a higher power to help you. You don’t need a sponsor. What you need is strength of mind, willpower, and character. Alcoholism is not a disease. It’s a failing. You’ve turned it into a church. You worship at the altar of self-pity. I come to these rooms for one reason: to remember what I don’t want to become...helpless, impotent, and weak. Thank you. As you were.

(Lydecker leaves the meeting and walks out to his SUV. Max comes up behind him, knocks him out, and shoves him into the back seat. Zack comes up on a motorcycle.)

ZACK: What the hell are you doing?

MAX: Follow me.

(Max gets into the driver’s seat of the SUV.)

(The next day, in his apartment, Normal flushes the toilet and emerges from the bathroom, spraying air freshener. He is on the phone with Original Cindy.)

NORMAL: Has Mr. Sivapathasundaram showed up yet?

(At Jam Pony, Original Cindy holds a box of “Final Lax.”)

ORGINAL CINDY: Not yet, boo. So, you’re not feeling too good, huh?

NORMAL: Oh, I can honestly say I haven’t felt this ill since I had cholera as a small boy. Listen, tell Mr. Sivapathasundaram I’m going to be there as soon as humanly possible.

ORIGINAL CINDY: You go do your business. Force the fluids and let Original Cindy worry about Mr. Sivapathasundaram. Peace. I’m out.

NORMAL: Oh, God!

(Normal quickly hangs up and runs back into the bathroom.)

ORIGINAL CINDY: Gross. Damn, this stuff is strong.

(Sketchy enters Jam Pony with Mr. Sivapathasundaram.)

SKETCHY: Jam Pony was founded way back in 1999 by an aspiring hip-hop MC named Bootney Lee Farnsworth as a way to make ends meet.

MR. SIVAPATHASUNDARAM: Um, excuse me. The man I’m supposed to meet--Mr. Ronald--where is he?

SKETCHY: Well, Mr. Ronald had a medical emergency and has asked me to familiarize you with our operation in his absence. This way, please.

(Sketchy leads Mr. Sivapathasundaram to Normal’s dispatch desk. Original Cindy hands a package to a messenger.)

SKETCHY: Over here is the nerve center of Jam Pony, our dispatch desk.

ORIGINAL CINDY (to messenger): Hot run to Consolidated Bacterial Research. Careful with that.

SKETCHY: We are bonded to transport live viral and bacterial agents, as well as organ-transplant material. I myself delivered a human brain to a waiting recipient just last week. It was very gratifying.

(Herbal Thought rides in and bumps into the messenger, who drops the package. It begins leaking blue gas. Everybody panics.)

MESSENGER: Poison!

ANOTHER MESSENGER: Get out of here!

(Something starts spewing from Herbal’s mouth.)

SKETCHY: Herbal! (To Mr. Sivapathasundaram) Out the back! Come on!

(Sketchy takes Mr. Sivapathasundaram into the back room. He locks the doors, including the rear exit.)

MR. SIVAPATHASUNDARAM: What the hell--? What are you doing? We have to get out of here!

SKETCHY: We can’t go back in there! We’re going to--We’re gonna have to stay here until help arrives, all right? We’re going to be okay.

(In an abandoned warehouse, Lydecker is blindfolded and tied to a chair. Max and Zack speak a short distance away.)

ZACK: Max, that wasn’t the plan. That wasn’t the plan!

MAX: I saw an opportunity. I took it.

(She hands him a gun. They walk over to Lydecker and Max splashes him with water from a canteen.)

MAX: A group of men in black SUVs kidnapped a girl yesterday on Waverly Avenue. Your men. We want to know where they took her.

LYDECKER: You must have me confused with some--

(Zack hits Lydecker on the cheek.)

ZACK: Tell us where she is, Lydecker, or you’re gonna have a very long day.

LYDECKER: I’m just a businessman.

(Zack punches Lydecker in the stomach.)

ZACK: Where is Brin?

LYDECKER: Brin? You’re one of them. One of mine. X5. Nobody else would know the names you kids called each other.

MAX: Where is she?

LYDECKER: I don’t have her.

(Zack hits Lydecker on the face again.)

LYDECKER (laughing): You’re still so angry. You haven’t changed much, have you, Zack?

MAX: We’ll play pin-the-name-on-the-barcode later. Answer the question.

LYDECKER: And who might you be? Jondy, maybe? Tinga? Max? Listen up. I don’t want to see Brin fall into enemy hands any more than you do.

ZACK: You are the enemy.

LYDECKER: I told you, Zack. I don’t have her.

(Zack hits Lydecker on the face again.)

ZACK: Stop lying.

LYDECKER: You put your prisoner in a threatening environment...and then you use threats and verbal abuse to try and weaken him psychologically.

MAX: Shut up!

LYDECKER: And eventually you’ll employ nonverbal techniques, including torture.

MAX: I said shut up!

LYDECKER: Why don’t we just cut to the chase, and…

(He breaks his own finger.)

LYDECKER: One down, nine to go. What do I have to do to have you accept that I’m telling you the truth? I don’t have her.

MAX: Then who does?

LYDECKER: Any number of foreign governments would love to get their hands on Manticore technology.

MAX: You’re saying someone kidnapped her so they can sell her to the highest bidder?

LYDECKER: Is that so surprising? Each one of you is worth millions.

ZACK: Why should we believe you?

LYDECKER: A weapon system like Brin doesn’t come up for sale every day. Let me contact my people. We can find out who’s brokering the deal. Think about it.

(Max and Zack step away to discuss it privately.)

MAX: What do you think?

ZACK: We should kill him right now and take the win.

MAX: I think he’s telling the truth. He doesn’t have her.

ZACK: You’re not seriously buying into that crap?

MAX: It’s plausible. We should check it out. Logan has contacts with the military. Maybe he can shake something loose.

ZACK (nodding): Go. I’ll stay here and work on Lydecker.

MAX: I think something tragic might happen while I’m gone. You should take point with Logan.

(In the back room of Jam Pony)

MR. SIVAPATHASUNDARAM: We’re going to die terrible, horrible deaths, like those poor kids out there.

SKETCHY: No. A disaster of this magnitude, I gotta believe help is on the way. Then again, with the Seattle economy in ruins and resources stretched so thin, it could be a while. It just kind of depends.

MAN (over bullhorn): Your attention, please. This is Sergeant Peterson of the Seattle Police Department.

MR. SIVAPATHASUNDURAM: Thank God.

MAN (over bullhorn): We have been advised by the Centers for Disease Control that this building is under full quarantine. Anyone attempting to leave the building will be shot on sight. Thank you for your cooperation.

(Outside, we see that the man speaking on the bullhorn is Herbal Thought.)

HERBAL: How was that, then, hey?

ORIGINAL CINDY: Cool.

HERBAL: All right. Cool.

(In the Jam Pony back room)

SKETCHY: We just better hope they don’t torch the whole building, like those villages in Africa with the ebola.

MR. SIVAPATHASUNDARAM: We cannot just stay here and die like dogs!

SKETCHY: You know, there’s some steam tunnels under the building. If we could get down there, we might be able to get past the police perimeter.

MR. SIVAPATHASUNDARAM: It’s better than being incinerated here.

SKETCHY: We’re gonna need something to cut with.

(At Logan’s apartment)

LOGAN (on phone): My guy’s in a time crunch on this, so get back to me ASAP...I’ll be here. (Hangs up) We’ve got a lead. My contact’s got to confirm some details and get back to me.

(Zack nods.)

LOGAN: Risky piece of business, grabbing Lydecker.

ZACK: Wasn’t the objective. Max caught a bad case of mission creep.

LOGAN: And now you’ve caught a tiger by the tail. You’ll look out for her, right?

ZACK: It’s not something anyone has to ask me to do. It’s my responsibility to look after all of them. If I would have done my job, Brin wouldn’t be in this jam.

(Brief silence)

ZACK: So, what is it between you and Max?

LOGAN: I don’t know. Something. I just don’t know what.

(The phone rings.)

LOGAN (on phone): Yeah...What do you have for me?...You got this how?...Appreciate the help.

(Logan hangs up and works on his computer.)

LOGAN: Okay. Chinese military has been trying to procure biosynth technology on the black market for the last few months. Word is the order’s been filled. A deal’s in the works.

ZACK: So Lydecker was on the level.

LOGAN: Looks like it. Operation’s being run by a Major Jake Sanders. Works out of Fort Xavier, an abandoned base just outside of town. Guy’s gone rogue; runs his outfit like his own private fiefdom.

ZACK: Where is this place exactly?

LOGAN: Thirteen and a half miles northwest of here. (Hands Zack a map) FYI, it’s a secure installation, as in lots of guys with guns. They’re in it for the money, and they’ll kill for it.

ZACK: This is what we do. We’re soldiers. You really worried about Max? The biggest threat to her safety is you.

LOGAN: How do you figure?

ZACK: She should have gotten the hell out of Seattle a long time ago. She knows it’s not safe here, but she stayed anyway, because of you. She ignored her training and let her judgment be clouded by feelings and emotions. And one day it’s going to get her killed.

(At the abandoned warehouse, Max and Lydecker are waiting for Zack. Lydecker is still bound and blindfolded.)

LYDECKER: Can I have some water, please?

MAX: Fresh out. I’d spit on you, but it’d be a waste of good saliva.

LYDECKER: I recognize the voice now. You’re the journalist from the genetics conference. Rachel... Glasser, wasn’t it? How severe are they? The seizures, I mean.

MAX (after a pause): Bad sometimes.

LYDECKER: We have treatments now, you know.

MAX: Do you make house calls, or should I go to Manticore for my meds?

LYDECKER: Would it really be as bad as all that?

MAX: How can you even ask me that? You tortured us, beat us down.

LYDECKER: You were in training to become a soldier.

MAX: We were children.

LYDECKER: And you’re remembering it through a child’s eyes.

MAX: I remember Eva dead on the floor, shot by the gun in your hand.

LYDECKER: You’ll never know how much it pained me to have to do that.

MAX: Spare me.

LYDECKER: It was the best of you that ran away that night.

MAX: Yeah, well, we wanted to start a rock band.

LYDECKER: Do you want to spend your life running?

MAX: What I do.

LYDECKER: Well, you don’t have to, you know. You can always come home.

MAX: Get it through your head--I’d rather die than go back there.

(Zack returns.)

ZACK: Catching up on old times? (To Max) He’s right. She’s being held at Fort Xavier.

LYDECKER: That’s Jake Sanders’ command. I can’t believe it. We served together.

ZACK: Well, we’ll be sure to send him your regards.

(Zack hands Max the map.)

ZACK: Here’s a layout of the base.

MAX: We’ll move out when it gets dark.

LYDECKER: You’ll never get out of there alive. Listen to me. I know Sanders. I can get us on the base. I can call in a TAC team--

ZACK: And then what? Take her back to Manticore?

LYDECKER: I would give my life, rather than to see Manticore technology end up in the hands of the enemy.

MAX: You may have a chance. You’re coming with us.

ZACK: What?!

MAX: With him along, we can waltz right through the front doors.

ZACK: He’ll double-cross us in a heartbeat.

MAX: He may want to, but he can’t. We’re the only hope he has to get Brin away from Sanders. Isn’t that right, Donald?

(Max is about to take off Lydecker’s blindfold. Zack stops her.)

ZACK: He’ll know what we look like.

MAX: We’ll worry about that when we get Brin back.

ZACK: For the record, I don’t like this.

MAX: Noted.

(Max removes the blindfold. Lydecker looks at them.)

MAX: One wrong move...

(Zack points a gun at Lydecker.)

MAX: ...you’re an organ donor.

(After dark, they arrive at the gate to Fort Xavier in Lydecker’s SUV.)

MAX (to Lydecker): Keep it simple.

GUARD: Base perimeter has been sealed until further notice.

LYDECKER: I’m here to see Major Sanders.

GUARD: I’m going to have to ask you to turn your vehicle around, please.

LYDECKER (showing his badge): Get on the horn, Corporal, and tell him Don Lydecker is here to see him.

GUARD: I’ll be right back...sir.

(The guard goes away for a minute and then returns.)

GUARD: Major’s in the mess hall. Sir, he’s asked that you join him there.

LYDECKER: Good job, Corporal.

(The gate opens and they drive in. Shortly afterward, Lydecker, Max, and Zack walk into the mess hall.)

SANDERS: Holy crap on Tuesday’s toast--Don Lydecker. How the hell are you?

LYDECKER: It’s good to see you, Jake. It’s been too long.

SANDERS: How’s the spook business?

LYDECKER: Listen, is there someplace we can go to talk?

SANDERS: Something wrong with right here?

LYDECKER: You might think so, when I tell you what I have to say.

SANDERS: Shoot.

LYDECKER: You’ve got one of my kids, Jake.

SANDERS: I don’t know what you’re talking about.

LYDECKER: You’re planning on selling her to the PRC, and it kind of worries me.

(Sanders snaps his fingers. All the soldiers in the mess hall jump up and draw their weapons.)

SANDERS (to the soldiers): Pat ’em down. (To Lydecker) I thought you might have a problem with this. I know how touchy you are about your kids.

LYDECKER: You’ve got it all wrong, Jake. I’m not here to make trouble. I want in.

SANDERS: You never fail to surprise me, Deck.

LYDECKER: Times are tough. We all have to plan for our retirement.

SANDERS: The problem is, I already got the merchandise. I just cannot see your leverage here, Deck.

LYDECKER: These kids wouldn’t exist without me...like the two I brought with me to sweeten the pot.

SANDERS: Really?

(At Jam Pony, in the back room)

MR. SIVAPATHASUNDARAM: It mustn’t end like this. I have yet to make my pilgrimage to the holy city of Benares and bathe in the Ganges.

SKETCHY: You’re not going to die, man, and neither am I. We both got too much to live for. I always wanted to learn how to swim...sleep with two girls at the same time...You ever done that?

MR. SIVAPATHASUNDARAM: Yes.

SKETCHY: Way to go, Mr. Sivapathasundaram.

(Normal enters Jam Pony)

NORMAL: Where’s Mr. Sivapathasundaram?

ORIGINAL CINDY: He was a no-show.

NORMAL: Did he call to say he was running late?

ORIGINAL CINDY: Nope.

NORMAL: Oh, for crying out loud.

(Normal groans and leans over for a minute.)

ORIGINAL CINDY: You really should go home and rest. If he calls, I’ll let you know.

NORMAL: Hey, when I want your advice, I’ll ask for it, all right?

(Normal heads for the back room.)

ORIGINAL CINDY: Where are you going?

NORMAL: I’m going to get Mr. Sivapathasundaram’s number off the bulletin board in the back, if that’s okay with you.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Just asking.

NORMAL: Fill in for a couple hours, get a little taste of power, it goes straight to your head.

(Normal opens the door to the back room, which is now empty. Mr. Sivapathasundaram and Sketchy have escaped to the outside through the vent. They get inside a car.)

MR. SIVAPATHASUNDARAM: Thank God.

SKETCHY: Guess you can postpone that skinny dip in the Ganges for a while, eh, Mr. Siva--(Begins retching)

(Mr. Sivapathasundaram pushes him out of the car.)

MR. SIVAPATHASUNDARAM: Get away from me. Get out of here! Go! I’m getting out of here!

(Mr. Sivapathasundaram drives away. Sketchy watches and laughs triumphantly.)

SKETCHY: Yeah!

(At Fort Xavier, Max and Zack are escorted to cells and locked in. They’re barefoot and their wrists are bound with rope.)

SANDERS: Good timing, you showing up with those two now.

LYDECKER: How do you mean?

SANDERS: Well, maybe you should see for yourself.

(Brin is lying in an adjacent cell. She’s weak and seems to have aged.)

MAX: Brin? Brin, it’s me, Max.

(With blurry vision, Brin looks up and sees Max and Zack.)

BRIN (weakly): Max? Is it really you?

ZACK: We’re here, baby sister.

BRIN: Zack. You came for me.

MAX: What’s wrong with her?

LYDECKER: It’s a form of progeria, similar to Werner’s Syndrome. It’s a spontaneous, rapid mutation of the genome; expresses in the form of highly accelerated aging. Three of the X5 group developed it. She’s the fourth...as far as I know. (To Sanders) We’re going to need to ice her down to bring down her core temperature, slow down her metabolic rate.

SANDERS: She going to last long enough for me to lay her off to my clients?

LYDECKER: Two or three days, maybe.

SANDERS: All I really need is to have her breathing when the taillights disappear in the morning. But, Deck, they’re not going to want to pay much for damaged goods.

LYDECKER: Dead or alive, her genetic code is worth millions. And, besides, we have the other two to sell. They’re the top of the X5 group.

MAX: Do you know something, Don? I’ve always wondered what drove you to hunt us down all these years. I thought maybe you were afraid for your dumbass fed job. Or was it a whacked sense of patriotism? Or professional pride because you felt like such a chump for losing us in the first place? But now I know. You’re just a bottom-feeding pimp, peddling flesh for the Benjamins.

LYDECKER: It’s a little more complicated than that. (To Sanders) Permission to address your men?

SANDERS: Go right ahead.

LYDECKER: All right, listen up. Under no circumstances is anyone to interact with the prisoners. Handling them requires special training, which you don’t have. Do not open their cell. And under no circumstances allow yourself within arm’s length of them. Understood?

SANDERS: Same old Deck.

LYDECKER: Next time we do this, we’re going to have to have more men in here.

(Lydecker and Sanders exit the cell block, leaving the X5s guarded by four soldiers.)

ZACK: Told you he’d double-cross us.

MAX: Never fails to disappoint, does he? (To the soldiers) I got an itch. Any of you fellas want to scratch my back?

SOLDIER: Yeah, right.

(Max starts gnawing at the rope around her wrists with her teeth.)

SOLDIER (raising his weapon): Hey, cut it out.

MAX: Oh...you gonna shoot me? ’Cause I don’t think your boss would be too happy about that. (Continues gnawing)

SOLDIER: I said cut it out!

(Max successfully removes the rope.)

MAX: Relax. Or do you want me to gnaw through your bars? (Scratches her back) Oh, much better.

(In Sanders’ office)

SANDERS: I’ve got scotch, scotch and...scotch.

LYDECKER: Just water, please.

SANDERS: Oh, that’s right, I forgot. (Pours himself some scotch) Well, let’s get down to business, huh? I got the sick girl on my own, so I don’t figure you deserve a cut. As for the other two, I’ll give you 20% for bringing them in.

LYDECKER: 50%.

SANDERS: Half?

LYDECKER: Of all three.

MAJOR SANDERS: Come on. I got the buyers, I got the safe place to make the exchange, and I’ve got your blue-ribbon thoroughbreds locked in my brig. So what is it exactly do you think you’ve got that’s worth half?

LYDECKER: What I’ve got is a lot more where they came from.

SANDERS: Well...you know, when you put it like that...Ice?

LYDECKER: Sure.

(Sanders opens a mini-refrigerator.)

LYDECKER: So have we got a deal?

SANDERS: You know, Deck, I’ve known you too long to quibble over percentages. Life’s too short--

(Major Sanders removes a gun from the fridge and turns to shoot Lydecker. Before Sanders can fire, Lydecker throws a knife into his chest.)

LYDECKER: That it is.

(Lydecker takes Sanders’ gun.)

LYDECKER (into cell phone): This is Command. Authorization code: longbow portent.

(In her cell, Max hangs herself on the prison bars while the soldiers are distracted.)

ZACK: Max! Max, no! No! (To the soldiers) Get her down! Hurry!

SOLDIER: Open the door.

SECOND SOLDIER: I’m not opening it.

SOLDIER: She’s not worth anything dead. Open it.

ZACK: What the hell are you waiting for?! Get her down!

SECOND SOLDIER (into radio): Major Sanders, we have a situation.

(Lydecker grabs the radio from Sanders’ pocket.)

LYDECKER: This is Lydecker. Over.

SECOND SOLDIER: Where’s the major?

LYDECKER: He’s in the can. What’s the sitrep?

SECOND SOLDIER: One of the female prisoners hung herself.

ZACK: Do something, for God’s sake!

SOLDIER: Open the damn door. Do it now.

SECOND SOLDIER: Watch the others.

SOLDIER (to Zack): You...face the wall.

(Lydecker runs down the hall on his way to the cell block.)

LYDECKER (into radio): Do not--I repeat, do not--open those cells!

SOLDIER (to Zack): On your knees. Hands behind your head. Hands behind your head!

(The soldiers open Max’s cell and cut her down. She immediately starts fighting them. The first soldier turns away from Zack to take aim at Max, and Zack attacks him from behind, through the bars. Brin does the same to another soldier. When all the soldiers are out, Max uses their keys to release Zack and Brin. Zack takes several guns from the soldiers; Max takes a radio. Zack opens a nearby locker and grabs the X5s’ jackets and shoes. Max supports Brin as they all run out of the cell block.)

MAX (to Brin): We’re going to get you out of here, okay?

(Manticore hummers pass through the gates of the base. Lydecker enters the cell block and addresses the X5s, who are running through a different part of the base.)

LYDECKER (into radio): I know you’re monitoring comms; I trained you to. There’s no sense running. You’ll never make it.

MAX (into radio): Why, because you brought in your men? You think I didn’t know you’d betray us, then turn around and betray Sanders?

LYDECKER: If you take Brin, she’ll die. You can’t do anything for her. Let my people take care of her. They’ve done it before...with other X5s.

(The Manticore hummers arrive at the base proper. Sanders’ men begin a shootout with the Manticore soldiers.)

MAX: Oh, the sweet sound of gunfire. You guys go ahead and duke it out. We’ve got to split.

(The X5s leave the building and make their way to Lydecker’s SUV amid the shootout, with Zack providing cover fire. They get into the SUV and drive away from the base. Brin is lying on Max’s lap, gasping.)

MAX: Hey, girl.

LYDECKER (into radio): I know you can still hear me. That’s pretty impressive, how you got away. I’m very proud of you.

MAX (into radio): Gee, thanks, Dad.

ZACK: Turn it off.

LYDECKER (into radio): Please, listen to me. Brin doesn’t have much time. Help me get her to Manticore before it’s too late. I taught you always to have a plan. What’s yours? To get her to a hospital? They won’t understand what they’re seeing. They won’t be able to help her. I can have her to Manticore in four hours. There’s still time.

ZACK: Max, turn it off!

(Max turns the radio off.)

MAX: She’s getting weaker.

ZACK: We’re together. Right now, that’s all that matters.

MAX: We can’t just let her die.

ZACK: Anything’s better than going back. You said so yourself.

BRIN: I don’t want to die. Please...don’t let me die.

(Max and Zack look at each other, making the decision.)

MAX (into radio): Lydecker, you still there?

(A short time later, Max and Zack park near a bench and lay Brin on it.)

MAX: Brin, you’re going to be all right. And someday, no matter what happens, I’m going to come for you. That’s a promise.

BRIN: Max...

(Max and Zack each kiss Brin on the forehead. Then they walk back to the SUV and drive away, crying. Soon a helicopter approaches Brin.)

(At Jam Pony)

NORMAL (on phone): Listen, have you heard from Mr. Sivapathasundaram?...Is there no way to get a hold of him?...Yes, please tell him to call me.

(Normal hangs up and sighs.)

NORMAL: Why do I think these people are giving me the runaround?

ORIGINAL CINDY: Maybe he’s just a flake.

NORMAL: Yeah, maybe so. He seemed to check out, though.

ORIGINAL CINDY: There’s a lot of playa playas out there, Normal. And they just ain’t worth hatin’ on.

NORMAL: Yeah. Still...it was a great opportunity. I just wish it could have worked out.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Well, just look on the bright side. Maybe this Mr. Sivapathasundaram brought us all just a little bit closer together.

NORMAL: Oh, God, I feel ill. (Runs for the bathroom)

ORIGINAL CINDY: You and me both.

(Herbal Thought and Sketchy join Original Cindy, and they bump fists.)

HERBAL: Bam, bam.

(At Logan’s apartment, Max is at the window, watching the rain. Logan joins her.)

LOGAN: You’re not going to make me eat dinner all by myself, are you?

MAX: Do you think we did the right thing, Logan...by letting him take her back there?

LOGAN: You took her out of a bad situation, and you let her choose for herself.

MAX: Yeah, I guess.

LOGAN: How’d you leave it with Zack?

MAX: He grunted something that sounded like goodbye and then disappeared into the night.

LOGAN: Well, you should cut him some slack. He probably had a rotten childhood.

MAX: Worst part is he swung with Lydecker’s ride. Tinted windows, class two armor...I could have fenced it for a fortune. He probably drove it off a bridge into the water somewhere so it couldn’t be dusted for prints. He obsesses.

LOGAN: You need to be more careful yourself, you know...’cause now Lydecker knows what you look like.

(At Manticore, Lydecker and two other men look at Brin through a window.)

MAN: How is she?

LYDECKER: Recovering nicely. We’ve repaired the defective genes.

MAN: How long before she’s operational?

LYDECKER: She will require reindoctrination. She was outside a long time.

MAN: What about the other two?

LYDECKER: They can’t hide forever.