(Max is walking her bike down the street, shaking.)

MAX (voiceover): Most days, I get by fine. I blend with the crowd. Just another one of the huddled masses yearning to get by unnoticed. Problemo is, I’m not as like them as I’d like to be. I got made, not born, and because it was humans made me, somewhere along the line couple of wires got crossed in my head. Someone botched the job. So some days, that’s how I feel--a botched job.

(Max arrives at a street vendor who sells herbs & supplements.)

MAX: Hey.

VENDOR: You’re in luck.

MAX: Thank God.

VENDOR: Stuff’s getting hard to find.

(The vendor hands Max a bottle of pills. Max opens it and gulps down a handful.)

VENDOR: One thing I don’t get...tryptophan? It’s just a food supplement, and you’re acting like a junkie who scored a fix.

MAX: Girl needs her amino acids. (Pays the vendor)

VENDOR: You okay?

MAX: I will be.

(Max’s pager goes off.)

MAX: Oh, gotta blaze. You’re a lifesaver.

(Max arrives at Logan’s apartment, where he has prepared a candlelit dinner for two.)

LOGAN: Hiya.

MAX: You paged me?

LOGAN: I thought you might want to join me for dinner.

MAX: I don’t want to put you to any trouble.

LOGAN: Well, it’s nothing fancy. Just one of my run-of-the-mill, spur-of-the-moment culinary miracles.

MAX: I’m not real hungry. Feeling kinda punk.

LOGAN: Ah. A glass of pre-Pulse Tokay Pinot Gris’ll cure what ails you.

(Suddenly the lights go out.)

LOGAN: Now you have to stay, because even you shouldn’t be wandering around out there during a brownout.

MAX (refusing the wine): I’ve got a wicked headache as it is.

LOGAN: You know, there was a time when this city actually worked.

MAX: Or so they say. (Lights a candle) What were you doing when the Pulse hit?

LOGAN: On my uncle’s yacht, motoring into Friday Harbor on Orcas Island with a lady friend.

MAX: Why does that not surprise me?

LOGAN: I knew the end of the world was coming when the sat-nav crashed and, uh, we ran aground. How ’bout you?

(Max has a flashback to her childhood, hiding with another girl in the dark while a man looks for them.)

FOSTER DAD (in flashback): Hey! You kids out here?

MAX: Hiding under the stairs. I was staying with this foster family. There were two of us--me and this girl Lucy. She was older. Her dad was a drunk.

FOSTER DAD (in flashback): Where the hell are you?

MAX: He’d smack us around pretty good. He was watching a game, and when the TV went off because of the Pulse...he came looking for someone to blame it on.

LOGAN: It’s hard to imagine a genetically enhanced killing machine like yourself putting up with that.

MAX: I was trying to fit in, you know? Act like a normal kid. Global chaos seemed as good a reason as any to bail on a bad situation, so I did.

(Max’s shaking gets worse.)

LOGAN: You okay?

MAX: Like I said, I’m not feeling so hot.

LOGAN: Pretty bad this time, huh?

MAX: Every once in a while, I hit a rough patch. Usually the tryptophan helps, but...these seizures are much stronger than usual. (Swallows more pills)

LOGAN: Should I call a doctor?

MAX: What are you going to tell him? That your genetically engineered friend has a design flaw in her brain chemistry?

LOGAN: That stuff really helps?

MAX: Supplements the serotonin that my brain’s supposed to make but doesn’t. When levels are low, I have a seizure. I’m supposed to be a revved-up girl...truth is, I’m a lemon.

LOGAN: I don’t know about that.

(Max lies down on his couch, shaking uncontrollably in obvious discomfort. Logan strokes her hair out of her face.)

LOGAN: What can I do?

MAX: Stay with me, please?

LOGAN: I’m right here.

MAX: You won’t leave?

LOGAN: I’m not going anywhere.

(The next day, at Max and Kendra’s apartment, Walter has come by for more money.)

KENDRA: I put the money in an envelope, and the envelope in this box, and now it’s gone.

WALTER: You know, I could take it out in trade. But I’m a married man.

KENDRA: You’re a real pillar of virtue, Walter. Your wife’s a lucky woman.

WALTER: Hey, you don’t suppose somebody stole it?

KENDRA: I don’t know what else could have happened to it.

WALTER: Oh, that’s tough luck. Crime rate in this city’s getting way out of hand. But if I don’t get paid, you and everybody on this floor’s gonna be sleeping out in the street tonight.

(Max enters the apartment.)

KENDRA: We’ve been robbed. The payoff money is missing.

MAX: I took it.

KENDRA: Thank God.

WALTER: Excuse me. I’m waiting.

MAX: Don’t got it.

KENDRA: What?

MAX: Spent it.

KENDRA: You spent it?

WALTER: All right, come on, ladies. You’re trespassing.

MAX: Hold the phone, Walter. You’ll get your payola, okay? Anyway, you’re three days early.

WALTER: Times are tough.

MAX: You’ll get it in the morning.

WALTER: You got twenty-four hours. (Leaves)

KENDRA: What do you mean you spent it?

MAX: I had to buy something.

KENDRA: So you just helped yourself to the money that I collected from everyone on the floor?

MAX: It was a short-term loan.

KENDRA: You could have asked.

MAX: It was an emergency.

KENDRA: Yeah, right.

MAX: Walter will get his money, so chill!

KENDRA: Just...what is wrong with you?

(Max arrives late at work. Sketchy gives Max the heads-up before Normal gets to her.)

SKETCHY: Where have you been?

MAX: None of your business.

SKETCHY: Yo, it ain’t like I care, but word, we’ve all been covering for you. Normal’s on the warpath.

NORMAL: Well, well, well. So far, your moron colleagues have come up with the following excuses for why you’re strolling in here at the crack of noon: you had a dental emergency; your aunt died...again; and my personal favorite, from this idiot, you were detained by the sector police for practicing witchcraft. Now, would you care to further insult my intelligence?

MAX: I overslept.

NORMAL: Thought you didn’t sleep.

MAX: I usually don’t. My body probably needed to catch up.

NORMAL: Yes, well, catch up on your own time, girlie. (To Sketchy) Get out of here. Go!

(Max joins Original Cindy at their lockers.)

MAX: Hey, I need to borrow some money just until tomorrow.

ORIGINAL CINDY: I shouldn’t even be speaking to you after last night. You stood me up.

MAX: I wasn’t feeling well.

ORIGINAL CINDY: You coulda called instead of leaving me on a solo tip.

MAX: I spaced, so get off my back, okay?

ORIGINAL CINDY: What is your dealio today?

MAX: You don’t want to know. So how about that loan?

ORIGINAL CINDY: Out of chips, baby girl.

(In a marketplace, a thug is pressing a street vendor for money.)

VENDOR: Please! I don’t have money!

THUG: Wrong answer.

(The thug grabs the vendor’s hand and moves it toward a pot of boiling water.)

THUG: How do you like it...regular or extra crispy?

VENDOR: I no have money!

(The vendor motions to his wife, who shows the thug a box filled with money.)

(Max walks by the car where the thug’s accomplice is waiting. The driver notices her.)

DRIVER: Hey.

MAX: What’s up?

DRIVER: Come here. What’s your name, dollface?

MAX: Why do you want to know? You a playa playa from the Himalayas?

DRIVER: Yeah. Yeah, that’s me.

MAX: I got to whisper it, ’cause it’s kinda dopey.

(He leans farther out the window. Max head-butts him and pulls him out of the car.)

MAX: Out you go.

(Max drives off and goes to a chop shop.)

MAX: Come on. It’s brand-spanking-new.

MECHANIC: What happens when the gangsters come looking for their ride?

MAX: It’ll be in a million pieces by then.

MECHANIC: Like I’m going to end up. I’ll give you $1,000 for it.

MAX: You’re killing me!

MECHANIC: It’s the best I can do.

MAX: Deal.

MECHANIC: I’ll have the money for you in the morning.

MAX: I need the money now.

MECHANIC: I don’t have that much lying around. Tomorrow.

MAX: First thing?

(That night, Max arrives back at the apartment. Kendra and Original Cindy are waiting for her.)

MAX: Hey, guys.

KENDRA: Max, we need to talk.

MAX: I’ll have the money in the morning, okay?

(Max goes to look for her tryptophan.)

KENDRA: You’re not going to find it.

ORIGINAL CINDY: You got a problem, boo, but Kendra and me got your back.

KENDRA: Because we love you very much.

MAX: Where are my pills?

KENDRA: I wish you could see yourself. The temper..the mood swings...

ORIGINAL CINDY: Not showing up when you’re supposed to...

KENDRA: Stealing money from your friends.

MAX: I needed the money for medicine ’cause I’m not feeling well.

ORIGINAL CINDY: ’Cause you’re strung out. Straight-up jonesed.

MAX (panicking): Where are they?

KENDRA: Take it easy. It’s going to be okay.

MAX: No, it’s not! I need that stuff.

ORIGINAL CINDY: What you need is help.

KENDRA: And to live your life one day at a time.

ORIGINAL CINDY: You gotta get yourself on a twelve-step, boo.

KENDRA: The program works if you work it. Believe me, I know.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Really? What was your D.O.C.?

KENDRA: Tattoos. I was covered with them. I looked like a human Christmas tree. Couldn’t stop myself.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Where’d they go?

KENDRA: Thirteenth step is having them lasered off.

MAX: You guys don’t understand! I’ll die without that medicine! Now, tell me where you put it!

ORIGINAL CINDY: Down the toilet, which is where your life is headed if you don’t clean up.

MAX: Tell me you didn’t.

KENDRA: Someday you’ll thank us.

(Max leaves.)

KENDRA: I think that went about as well as could be expected.

ORIGINAL CINDY: As interventions go, that was a home run.

(Max goes back to the street vendor.)

MAX: I need more tryptophan.

VENDOR: Already?

MAX: Long story. And I can’t pay you until tomorrow.

VENDOR: I know you’re good for the money, but I don’t have any.

MAX: You know anywhere else I can go?

VENDOR: Sorry.

MAX: Where do you get yours?

VENDOR: I’ll put myself out of business as a middleman if I reveal my supplier.

(Max grabs her by the shirt collar.)

MAX: Where do you get it?!

VENDOR: Take it easy.

MAX: Tell me.

VENDOR: A doctor over at Metro Medical gives it to some of his patients. I know an orderly there.

(Max arrives at Metro Medical Hospital and breaks into the dispensary. An orderly passing by hears some noise in the room and calls for backup.)

ORDERLY (into phone): Yeah, get me security.

(Max comes out of the room after gulping down a few pills.)

ORDERLY: What were you doing in there?

MAX: Looking for a bathroom.

ORDERLY: Uh-uh. Security’s on the way.

MAX: Since when is it against the law for a girl to make sissy?

(She punches the orderly. Guards arrive. Max tries to make a break for it, but they subdue her.)

ORDERLY: Junkie skeeze.

(The next morning, Kendra pours Walter some coffee.)

KENDRA: Have you been working out? You look like you lost some weight. Here you go, just the way you like it. About the money, Walter...you got to give us one more day, please.

WALTER: I already gave you one more day. (Into his radio) Squatters on the seventh floor. I need backup right away.

VOICE ON RADIO: Roger. Out.

WALTER (to Kendra): Good coffee.

(Shortly afterward, Kendra and the other squatters are being forced out of their apartments.)

POLICE: All right, I need everybody outside...here we go, single file. Right now.

JACINDA: She took the money and split? That...that doesn’t sound like Max.

KENDRA: Do you have a place to stay?

JACINDA: My sister’s. You?

KENDRA: I don’t know. Maybe I can crash at Original Cindy’s.

OMAR: Mama.

JACINDA: Shh. It’s all right, baby. Come on. Come on. It’s all right.

POLICE: All right, come on, people. Let’s move it out.

JACINDA: What about our stuff?

KENDRA: Probably end up getting sold off the back of a truck.

(At Langford Prison, Max is sitting in a waiting area and shaking. One of the other inmates notices.)

INMATE: Are you okay?

MAX: Mind your own business.

INMATE: If you ralph, it’s going to be my business. (Offers a hankie from his pocket) Here, clean yourself up. You want to look good when they take your picture, don’t you?

(Max just looks at him and he withdraws the rag.)

(Later, Max is standing for her mug shots.)

PRISON EMPLOYEE: Face right...Turn and face left...Next.

INMATE (taking his turn): It’s showtime.

(A guard leads Max over to a device that will record her fingerprints.)

GUARD: Hands.

(Shortly afterward, the guard leads Max to a desk to frisk her.)

GUARD: Let’s go. Come on. Put your hands on the desk, and, uh...feet apart, huh? (Empties her pockets) What do you got here, huh? A set of keys...lip balm, cherry flavor...pack of chewing gum, also cherry flavor...and some small bills, totaling 21 dollars.

MAX (whirling around in anger): Try 75, if you can count!

GUARD (shoving her back around): I told you to keep your hands on the desk. See, I bet you’re used to this, aren’t you? Let me ask you...how much does a strung-out little skeezebag tramp like you go for these days?

INMATE: Ask your wife.

(Max smiles.)

GUARD: What’d you say?

INMATE: Twenty to life. That’s what she ought to get, if you ask me.

GUARD: Yeah, I didn’t. (To another guard) Get him out of here, huh? (To Max) Come on.

(At Jam Pony, Sketchy is waving a package at people.)

HERBAL: That is something dead.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Ugh...smells like Sketchy’s locker.

SKETCHY: I’m thinking feet.

HERBAL: Dead feet.

NORMAL: Is there a problem here?

SKETCHY: What does this smell like to you?

NORMAL: That smells like a package that should have been delivered by now, moron.

(Logan enters.)

LOGAN: Excuse me, is Max around?

NORMAL: Uh, that’s an excellent question. (To the others) Where the fire truck’s Max?

SKETCHY: Um, actually, Max is one of three finalists who have been selected...

NORMAL: Never mind. Sorry I asked. (To Logan) Sorry, can’t help you.

(Logan goes up to Original Cindy, who looks none too pleased to see him.)

LOGAN: Any idea where she might be? I’ve been paging her all morning.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Maybe she don’t want to talk to you.

LOGAN: Sorry?

ORIGINAL CINDY: She’s off the candy.

LOGAN: Ahh...you’re losing me here.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Yeah, right. Like I didn’t notice that all this stuff started about the time you and her met.

LOGAN: Okay, I’m officially lost.

ORIGINAL CINDY: I know all about rich guys like you...turning a girl out, making her into your strawberry. Original Cindy took the drugs you gave Max and flushed ’em.

LOGAN: What drugs?

ORIGINAL CINDY (walking away): “What drugs?”

LOGAN (following): Hey!

ORIGINAL CINDY: The pills you got Max hooked on live with the Ty-D-Bol Man now.

LOGAN: You flushed her pills down the toilet?

ORIGINAL CINDY: Mm-hmm. Homegirl don’t need ’em no more.

LOGAN: Max has a neurological condition.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Huh?

LOGAN: Those pills are the only thing that help.

ORIGINAL CINDY: She didn’t say anything about no neurological condition.

LOGAN: Well, she wouldn’t exactly want to advertise it, would she? (Into his cell phone) Hey, it’s Logan. I need you to do something for me.

(At Langford)

INMATE: Come on. Maybe there’s an open cell in the back. Just stay close to me, and no matter what anybody says...

ANOTHER INMATE: Oye, mamasita.

INMATE: ...don’t talk back. Name’s Break.

MAX: Max.

BREAK: What’re you in for? I love saying that. It sounds so tough.

MAX: Robbery.

BREAK: Oh, a real criminal.

MAX: How about you?

BREAK: Cannibalism. I ate my parents.

MAX: Good source of protein.

BREAK: Go that way. (They turn a corner) Actually, I run a little shop on Melbourne Avenue. Vintage clothes, pre-Pulse stuff. Hung a poster in my window for a police brutality protest.

MAX: Bonehead move.

BREAK: They busted me for it. Wasn’t the first time, and it won’t be the last. But stay strong in the struggle, right? Guess we camp out on the floor. Good a place as any.

(Max’s shakes get worse.)

BREAK: You okay?

MAX: Yeah, it’s just a nerve thing.

BREAK: Can I do anything?

MAX: I’d give my ass and hat for a glass of milk.

BREAK: I could use a vodka tonic, but here we are.

MAX: It has tryptophan in it.

BREAK: Whatever that is.

MAX: Takes the edge off. So you think I can get some?

BREAK: What, vodka?

MAX: No, milk.

BREAK: Well, let me see what I can rustle up. I have a business arrangement with a guard I met my first time in here. He has a thing for stiletto heels. He made my previous stay more pleasant, and when I got out, I reciprocated.

MAX: With shoes for his girl?

BREAK: Not unless she wears a size twelve.

MAX: Gotcha.

(Break leaves to go find some milk, and Max has a flashback from Manticore. In the flashback, Max is in bed and notices her hand shaking. She hides it, remembering earlier that day, when a kid had fallen to the ground with a seizure. The guards had dragged him away as Max watched.)

DRILL SERGEANT (to Max, in flashback): Eyes front!

(Young Max sneaks down the hall to a room in which some people are operating on the kid’s body. Lydecker is also present in the room.)

(In the present day, at Crash)

LOGAN (on his cell phone): Do what you can. Thanks, Matt.

ORIGINAL CINDY: What’s up?

LOGAN: That was a friend of mine in the police department.

ORIGINAL CINDY: You got friends in strange places.

LOGAN: He says a woman matching Max’s description was arrested trying to break into a hospital pharmacy last night.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Damn.

LOGAN: They took her to Langford.

ORIGINAL CINDY: We’ve got to get her out.

LOGAN: Even paying off the right people, it’ll take two or three days. She doesn’t have that much time.

ORIGINAL CINDY: What does that mean?

LOGAN: No meds...seizures get bad enough...she could go into a coma and die.

(Break comes back with a jar of milk for Max.)

MAX: You even warmed it up.

BREAK: It’s the way it comes out, my love. Guy’s got a goat in the next cell block over.

MAX: Hey, do you think there’s a way out to the yard?

BREAK: Yeah, but they don’t let anyone out after curfew.

MAX: There’s too many rules in here. I’m going home.

BREAK: Well, don’t let those big, tall fences topped with the razor wire stop you.

MAX: I won’t.

BREAK: Or the sharpshooters in the guard towers.

MAX: I’ve broken out of worse places than this.

BREAK: Look, the tough-act routine might work with the boys, but you could get yourself killed.

MAX: Coming with me?

BREAK: Thank you, no. I have a date tonight.

(They glance at a guard passing nearby.)

MAX: The shoe guy?

BREAK: Mm-hmm.

MAX: Cute.

BREAK: You won’t think so when he’s shooting at you.

(That night, Max and Break hide behind a police car in the yard.)

BREAK: Go, go.

(They sneak over to a wall and hide around a corner.)

BREAK: More spotlights than a movie premiere.

MAX: Looks like I’m going to need a diversion.

BREAK: Well, leave it to me. If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s drawing attention. Sure I can’t talk you out of this?

(Max removes her Jam Pony hat and gives it to Break.)

MAX: Here. So you don’t forget me. Thanks for the milk.

(Max sneaks across the yard, hiding behind cars and walls. Break puts on the hat and steps into the open, singing opera.)

BREAK: La donna e mobile qual piuma al vento muta d’accento...

GUARD: Hey!

BREAK: ...e di pensiero sempre un amabile qual piuma el vento in pianto o in riso e menzognero...

GUARD: Back inside. It’s after curfew.

(Max sneaks over to the fence and attempts to jump over it, but she doesn’t make it and jumps back down to the ground. Some more guards burst out of the building. The alarm is sounded.)

OTHER GUARDS: Hey! Get back here!

(Max starts to climb up the fence.)

BREAK: La donna e mobile...

(The guard goes over to Break and whacks him with a nightstick.)

GUARD: Knock it off!

(The other guards pull Max down.)

GUARDS: Get down! Get off that fence!

BREAK: ...muta d’accento...

GUARD (hitting him again): I said, knock it off!

(Max is restrained. The guard hits Break especially hard.)

GUARD: I don’t like opera!

(The warden comes out to investigate.)

WARDEN: What do you got, gentlemen?

(He glimpses the barcode on the back of Max’s neck.)

(The next day, Logan and Original Cindy pull up to a meeting place in Logan’s car, a Pontiac Aztek. While they wait for his friend to show up, Original Cindy is using Logan’s cell phone.)

ORIGINAL CINDY (into phone): Put the key under the flowerpot by the door...Kendra, don’t even go there. You can stay as long as you need to.

LOGAN: Tell her I’ve got some ideas on how to handle that cop on the take.

ORIGINAL CINDY (into phone): Hear that? (To Logan) She says you the man. (Into phone) Peace. I’m out.

(She hangs up.)

ORIGINAL CINDY: I take it back.

LOGAN: What?

ORIGINAL CINDY: The diss on you from before. I’m sorry. You aiight.

LOGAN: No problem.

ORIGINAL CINDY: You like her, don’t you?

LOGAN: Who?

ORIGINAL CINDY: Max.

LOGAN: She’s a good girl.

(A car approaches.)

LOGAN: Here’s my guy.

(Logan’s friend, Matt Sung, gets out of his car and walks toward Logan’s.)

LOGAN: Any luck?

MATT: Sorry it took so long. Had to call in a few favors to get into the evidence locker.

(He hands Logan a paper bag. Logan opens the bag and pulls out a large bottle of tryptophan pills.)

LOGAN: I owe you.

MATT: Why was your friend trying to steal that stuff, anyway?

LOGAN: It’s complicated. Listen, there’s...one more thing I need your help with.

(Later, Original Cindy is dressed as a hooker as Matt escorts her through processing at Langford.)

ORIGINAL CINDY: Let go of me, you rat-soup-slurpin’-rankle-ass-pepper-gut-no-good-skank-lovin’-doughtnut-eatin’-peep-oppressin’-po-po son of a bitch!

GUARD: All right, what’s the charge here?

MATT: Solicitation.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Try participation. First he buss, then arrests me.

MATT: I had to be sure a criminal violation had in fact occurred, didn’t I?

ORIGINAL CINDY: Pig.

GUARD: Hands on the counter. Legs apart. (Starts to frisk her)

ORIGINAL CINDY: Don’t even think about messing up my ’do.

(Max wakes up to find herself in a bed in a small room. A girl enters.)

MAX: Where am I?

GIRL: Warden’s house. Don’t get your hopes up--you’re still inside the wire. What’s your name?

MAX: Max.

GIRL: Maria. Heard you tried to escape.

MAX: Yeah. Turns out they frown on that kind of thing.

(Maria notices Max shaking.)

MARIA: Looks like they got you pretty good.

MAX: Do you work here?

MARIA: I was living in the jail with my mom when the riot happened. She got killed. The warden and his wife took me in.

MAX: I’m sorry.

MARIA: I’m glad you’re here. When you’re feeling better, you can help me with the housework. It’s not a lot...just the warden and his wife. The food’s way better here, and you can have as much as you want. (Points to another bed) That’s where I sleep. So at night, you and me can stay up late and talk. And with you here, maybe he...

MAX: What?

WARDEN’S WIFE (calling from another room): Maria!

MARIA: I’d better get back to work. I’ll check on you later.

(In his apartment, Logan is hacking into Langford’s computer system.)

LOGAN: Come on, come on.

(He finds Original Cindy’s record.)

LOGAN: Bingo. Okay, they put her in cell block G4.

(He finds Max’s record.)

LOGAN: G4, same block.

BLING: They’ve got Max’s photo in the records.

LOGAN: Yeah, she’s one girl who can’t afford to be photographed.

BLING: Got a thing for this girl, don’t you?

LOGAN: Why does everybody keep saying that?

(At Langford, Original Cindy is looking around for Max. She sees Max’s hat and walks up to Break.)

ORIGINAL CINDY: Hey! Where’d you get that?

BREAK: What’s it to you?

ORIGINAL CINDY: This is Max’s.

BREAK: You know her?

ORIGINAL CINDY: I’m her homegirl, and if you touched one hair on her head...

BREAK: Take it easy. I’m her homegirl, too. She gave this to me right before she tried to bust out of here.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Where is she?

BREAK: Heard they took her to the warden’s.

(Original Cindy reveals a small container of tryptophan pills she had hidden in her hairdo.)

ORIGINAL CINDY: Well, I’ve got to get this to her, fast.

BREAK: Well, that is a problem, because you are here and she is there.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Well, we’ve got to figure out how to get me to her or she’s gonna die. And that’s the straight-up truth.

BREAK: Do you do windows?

(Back in the warden’s house, Maria is wiping Max’s forehead with a towel while Max shakes.)

MARIA: You don’t look too good.

(Max remembers the time when she was staying with Lucy. In a flashback, young Max is seizing in bed, and Lucy has a black eye.)

LUCY (in flashback): How you feeling? Stay out of his way, Maxie, or he’ll start with you, too.

(Max speaks to Maria as if she were Lucy.)

MAX: I’m sorry, Lucy. I shouldn’t have gone without you.

(In the flashback, Max’s foster father takes Lucy into his room.)

MAX (voiceover): I knew what was happening...but I didn’t stop him. At Manticore, they used to teach us a lesson...

DRILL SERGEANT (in flashback): You engage an adversary only if it is consistent with the overall strategic objective. Failing that, you will initiate a tactical withdrawal.

MAX (voiceover): So I ran away.

(In the present day, Max is still speaking to Maria.)

MAX: I left you there...with him.

WARDEN (entering the room): Maria.

(The warden starts to escort Maria out of the room. Max remembers her foster father doing the same thing with Lucy.)

MAX: No! Leave her alone!

(Max gets out of bed and stumbles into a vase, which falls to the floor and shatters. Max lies on the floor, seizing.)

MARIA: I’ll clean it up. (Leaves)

MAX: Sick bastard.

WARDEN: I was tired of her, anyway. Why do you think you’re here?

(The next day, Kendra walks up to Walter’s police car and gives him some money.)

KENDRA: Can we move back in now?

WALTER: You’re asking a peace officer to accept a bribe so you can trespass on private property. That’s going to cost you an extra $150. (Takes more of her money and then drives away)

KENDRA: Dirtbag.

(At Vogelsang’s office)

VOGELSANG (on phone): Mr. Lydecker? Vogelsang. I got a call from a contact of mine who works as a bull over at Langford. I put the word out awhile ago that anyone that comes through the system with a barcode tattoo--that he should drop a dime and, well, he did. Well, one of the inmates--uh, a girl--she tried to escape last night. Almost made it. Yeah. See, Mr. Lydecker? I told you I’d play ball with you.

(The line goes dead.)

VOGELSANG: Mr. Lydecker?

LYDECKER (into a radio): Give me the TAC team. Langford Prison. Now.

(At the warden’s house, Maria brings in a tray with a teapot and a little milk.)

MARIA: I made you some tea.

(Still shaking, Max ignores the tea and gulps down the milk.)

MAX: Maria...I’m going to get you out of here.

MARIA: It’s not that bad. Really. If he hadn’t taken me in, it would have been worse for me.

(At Langford, Lydecker is talking to a guard in an office.)

LYDECKER: She has a barcode on the back of her neck.

GUARD: Can you give me a name at least, huh?

LYDECKER: No. Any files with identifying marks or tattoos?

GUARD: No.

(Lydecker and his men head into the prison.)

SOLDIER: In the hall. Now.

GUARD: Hey! You can’t go in there! (Into phone) Yeah, get me the warden.

(Inside the prison)

BREAK’S FRIEND: I hooked your friend up. Put her on a work detail in the warden’s house.

BREAK: Ah. Well, I see a pair of six-inch, black, patent-leather pumps in your future.

(Lydecker and his men burst into the prison.)

SOLDIER: You, get the door open! Open it now! Come on! Everybody clear the hall! Up against the wall! (To someone in a cell) You! Get out!

LYDECKER: Check for barcodes.

(In the warden’s house)

ORIGINAL CINDY: Yesterday they brought a girl in here. You know where she is?

MARIA: No. We should probably start with the downstairs bathroom.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Don’t make me ask you again.

(In the prison office, the guard is talking to the warden on the phone.)

GUARD: His name is Lydecker, okay? He works for some government agency I’ve never heard of.

WARDEN: Did he say what he wanted with the girl?

GUARD: No, sir. Just that she has some kind of barcode on the back of her neck.

(In the prison)

LYDECKER: Did you check solitary?

SOLDIER: Nothing. One of the guards says there’s a work detail in the warden’s quarters.

LYDECKER: Let’s go.

(The warden enters Max’s room.)

WARDEN: Get up. You’re going back. What you saw never happened. I don’t know who these people are or why they’re looking for you, but if you tell them anything about what happened here...

(Max gets up suddenly and grabs the warden’s throat. She’s no longer shaking. She presses him up against the wall, lifting him by his throat so his feet are off the floor. The warden tries to pull a gun hidden in his pants, but Max knocks it to the floor.)

MAX: Who’s looking for me?

WARDEN: Lydecker.

(Original Cindy opens the door of the closet, where she and Maria were hiding.)

ORIGINAL CINDY: Max, that’s enough. (Tugs on Max’s arm) Max!

(Max drops the warden.)

ORIGINAL CINDY: Damn, girl, what’s in those pills?

MAX: Spinach.

(Max looks out the window and sees Lydecker and his soldiers approaching.)

MAX (to the warden): You’re gonna us get out of here.

WARDEN: I don’t think so.

(Original Cindy grabs the gun, cocks it, and points it at the warden.)

ORIGINAL CINDY: Think again.

(Max shoves the warden at Original Cindy, who starts to escort him out of the room.)

ORIGINAL CINDY (to Max): Come on.

MAX: Not without her. (To Maria) Let’s go.

(Shortly afterward, Lydecker and his men enter Max’s room, only to find it empty.)

(Outside, at the warden’s car)

ORIGINAL CINDY (to the warden): Open it.

MAX (to Maria): In the trunk, honey.

(Max and Maria climb into the trunk, while Original Cindy escorts the warden to the front of the car, still aiming the gun at him.)

ORIGINAL CINDY: Don’t think I don’t know how to use this. Anybody look twice, you’re the queen of the Rose Parade--just smile and wave. Get in.

(In the guard’s office)

GUARD (on phone): What do you mean, he left in his car?...All right, you better check it out. Something doesn’t sound right.

(On the road, away from the prison)

ORIGINAL CINDY: Pull over and let my girls out.

WARDEN: Whatever you say.

(The warden suddenly swerves the car to a stop, taking Original Cindy by surprise. He grabs her gun and knocks her out. He stumbles out of the car and prepares to fire into the trunk, but Max opens the trunk from the inside, knocking the gun out of the warden’s hands. She kicks him a few times, sending him to the ground.)

MAX: I broke your lock. Sorry.

(A Jeep filled with prison guards comes by. Max meets the Jeep head-on and disposes of all the guards. Maria goes to help Original Cindy.)

MARIA: Come on, Cindy. Hurry.

(Max, seeing the warden start to get up and grab his gun, starts the Jeep’s engine.)

ORIGINAL CINDY: Max, come on.

(Maria and Original Cindy take shelter in the woods as the warden fires at them. Max drives the Jeep and drives toward the warden. He stands behind his car and fires at her. She plows the Jeep into his car, which hits him in turn.)

(In the guard’s office)

LYDECKER: I want the records of every female prisoner booked in the last two days.

GUARD: Yes, sir. (Checks the computer) 47 entries.

LYDECKER: Pull up the mug shots of all the ones under 25.

GUARD: All right.

(The computer starts beeping and we see on the monitor that the files are missing.)

GUARD: Umm...there’s a problem.

LYDECKER: What the hell did you do?

GUARD: The whole damn file’s gone, okay? I didn’t do anything.

LYDECKER: That hump Vogelsang just bought himself another manicure.

(Logan’s computer says “47 RECORDS HAVE BEEN DELETED.”)

LOGAN: Like it never existed. I’d say my work is through here.

(His phone rings.)

LOGAN: Hello?...Max. You all right?...Thank God.

(At Max and Kendra’s apartment, Max checks on Maria, who’s sleeping in the bedroom. Kendra is putting ice on the bump on Original Cindy’s head.)

ORIGINAL CINDY: Ow! Careful.

KENDRA: Hold still.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Bottom line...that S.O.B. got what he deserved. He went splat.

MAX: Maria’s totally crashed out.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Mmm. Kid’s been through a lot today.

MAX: Try the last few years. I’m going to let her sleep while I go to Logan’s to find her a place to live.

KENDRA: Sounds like you all are lucky to be alive.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Mmm. Original Cindy looked into the jaws of death and saw her own face.

MAX: Listen to the mama of drama over here! You took a hell of a chance coming in after me, though.

ORIGINAL CINDY: You’d do the same for me. Besides, we’re the ones who put you in there.

KENDRA: So Max, Original Cindy and I have been talking it over.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Mm-hmm. Trouble follows you around like the tail on a dog. We’re gettin’ the vibe there’s something going on here that you don’t want us to know about for some reason.

KENDRA: ’Cause maybe you think we can’t handle it?

ORIGINAL CINDY: But we can, ’cause we down like that.

MAX: I don’t know what you guys are talking about.

KENDRA: This mysterious condition of yours...

ORIGINAL CINDY: Those guys looking for you at the jail...

MAX: What guys?

ORIGINAL CINDY: I’m asking you.

MAX: All right. You guys really want to know what’s up with me?

ORIGINAL CINDY: Please.

MAX: What if I told you I was a genetically revved-up female?

(Kendra and Original Cindy laugh.)

KENDRA: Like we’re not.

MAX: But...I’m a different kind of female altogether.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Like you so special. Okay, fine, don’t tell us. But whatever’s going on, just know...you still my boo.

KENDRA: Yeah. Me and sista girl got your back.

MAX: Guys...oh, my God. I completely forgot about Walter’s money.

KENDRA: No worries. It’s been handled.

(Walter is at home, eating dinner and watching a game on TV.)

WALTER: Go, go, go, go, go. Hit him, you moron. Yes!

(An Eyes Only broadcast interrupts the game. Walter groans.)

WALTER: Not this clown again.

EYES ONLY: This is a Streaming Freedom Video Bulletin. It cannot be traced, it cannot be stopped, it is the only free voice left in this city, and it’s coming straight to you, Officer Walter Eastep. That’s right. You, Walter.

(The broadcast shows footage of Walter taking money from Kendra.)

EYES ONLY: Recognize yourself? That’s you, extorting money from some squatters.

WALTER (in footage): That’s going to cost you an extra $150.

WALTER: My God.

EYES ONLY: Dirty as the police department is, I don’t think your bosses are going to want to see that tape broadcast 24/7. It’s not like they care you took a bribe, just that you were dumb enough to get caught on videotape...which kind of spoils the party for everybody else.

(Walter tries to change channels, but the broadcast is on every channel.)

EYES ONLY: So here’s how it’s going to be, Walter. You quit shaking down those squatters and this little video stays between you and me. This has been a Streaming Freedom Video from the Eyes Only informant net.

(The broadcast ends and Walter turns off the TV.)

(At Logan’s apartment)

MAX: How do you put this stuff together, Logan? The father runs a dairy farm. The mom’s a local schoolteacher. They’ve always wanted kids, and to top it all off...she gets her own room.

LOGAN: And a pony.

MAX: Forget Maria. I’m living with these people.

LOGAN: Well, they’re dear friends of mine, and they’re really excited about this. I think it’s going to work out great for everybody.

MAX: I’ll get her over there first thing in the morning. Thanks for setting this up. That was a pretty bad scene she was in.

LOGAN: You were the one who cared enough about this girl to go in and get her out. You did a good thing, Max.

MAX: Better late than never.

LOGAN: I always knew that underneath that bioengineered, military-issue armor plating, there was a beating heart.

MAX: Let’s not go overboard here. I’m not signing up to join the Logan Cale Brigade for the Defense of Widows, Small Children, and Lost Animals.

LOGAN: You could be field commander.

MAX: I think not. So what’s for dinner? You gonna feed me or are you gonna just sit there?

LOGAN: You know, you were much sweeter when you weren’t feeling well.

MAX: The bitch is back.