MAX: Morning.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Good morning.

(Original Cindy has gunk on her face.)

MAX: What the hell are you doing?

ORIGINAL CINDY: Exfoliating. Deep-cleaning pores, sloughing off dead skin cells, and clarifying areas of hyperpigmentation.

MAX: All before 9:00 A.M.?

ORIGINAL CINDY: You should give it a try, girl. Your face could use a little freshening.

MAX: What’s wrong with my face?

ORIGINAL CINDY: Nothing, except it’s all clogged up and tired and dull.

MAX: It is?

ORIGINAL CINDY: We live in a dirty world, boo. It can play havoc with a girl’s complexion.

MAX: Well, what’s in that stuff?

(Original Cindy shows Max the ingredients on the kitchen counter.)

ORIGINAL CINDY: Milk, oatmeal, rosemary, hibiscus, a half an egg, some vitamin A that I caged from Normal’s private stash when he wasn’t looking, and some horsetail for microcirculation. I’m going to whip you up a batch so you can start the new day with your skin all hydrated and glistening.

(Original Cindy picks up the milk carton. Max notices something and grabs the carton from her. On the side panel is a missing-person ad with a picture of Tinga. It says: )

HAVE YOU SEEN MY MOMMY?
MISSING
PENNY SMITH Age 22
MISSING SINCE FEB 25/2020
(555) 206.555.0011

(Max remembers fighting off Lydecker’s men with Tinga and Zack in Portland.)

ZACK (in flashback) : Just got a message from Tinga. Lydecker’s onto her, and she needs our help.

TINGA (in flashback) : You take care of yourself, baby sister.

MAX (in flashback) : You, too.

(In the present day, Original Cindy takes the milk carton away from Max and reads the name on the side panel.)

ORIGINAL CINDY: Penny Smith. Is she a friend of yours?

MAX: Something like that.

(Max runs out of the apartment.)

(In Tinga’s family’s home, her husband Charlie is getting their son Case ready for school. He puts on Case’s shoes, one at a time.)

CHARLIE: One down...two down.

(Charlie puts together Case’s lunch. The phone rings.)

CASE: Daddy...

CHARLIE: Just a second.

(Charlie answers. Max is calling from a pay phone.)

CHARLIE: Hello?

MAX: You don’t know me, but I’m a friend of your wife’s.

CHARLIE (to Case): Go get your books, kiddo.

(Case leaves the room.)

CHARLIE: Do you know where she is? Is she all right?

MAX: As far as I know, yeah, but you have to stop looking for her.

CHARLIE: What?

MAX: You don’t know about her past? Why she has a barcode on the back of her neck?

CHARLIE: Her tattoo...

MAX: Look, I know how this is going to sound, but your wife isn’t who you think she is. And her name isn’t Penny; it’s Tinga. She’s not missing. She’s in hiding.

CHARLIE: Wh-what are you...? Who is this?

MAX: People are after her—bad people. Your putting that ad out pretty much gave them directions to your house and now they’re gonna be after you.

CHARLIE (lowering his voice): You think this is some kind of a joke?

MAX: Look, the phones are probably tapped. Just take your son and run, now.

CHARLIE: You shut up about my son. Don’t call here again.

(Charlie hangs up. He picks up a framed picture of Tinga and Case, looks at it, and puts it back down.)

CHARLIE: You ready for school?

CASE: Daddy, who was that?

CHARLIE: It was just a wrong number. Where’s your jacket?

(Charlie goes to get Case’s jacket. Case finishes up a complex jigsaw puzzle of a castle, quickly putting pieces into place.)

CHARLIE: Okay, come here, kiddo.

(Charlie helps Case into his jacket.)

CHARLIE: All right, give me another arm. There you go. (Looks at the puzzle) Did Miss Forsyth help you put that together?

CASE: No. I did it.

CHARLIE: Sure you did. Come on. (They leave)

(In Case’s classroom)

TEACHER: Case? I have a surprise for you.

(The teacher takes Case into the next room.)

TEACHER: You’re doing so well in your classes, from now on you’re going to have a special tutor.

(The tutor turns around and smiles. It’s Lydecker.)

LYDECKER: Hi, Case.

(In his apartment, Logan is attempting to repair Phil’s exoskeleton, which is on a worktable. Sebastian is helping via webcam. Logan gets the exoskeleton to move, but it sparks and stops dead.)

SEBASTIAN: What happened?

LOGAN: It shorted out...again.

SEBASTIAN: Sounds like you need to replace the servocontroller.

LOGAN: Well, I can’t exactly call the Pentagon and requisition one, can I?

SEBASTIAN: Have to improvise. Maybe pull the controller from one of those robotic arms they use to handle toxic chemicals.

LOGAN: And how much is it going to cost me to get my hands on one of those?

SEBASTIAN: Since when do you care?

LOGAN: Problems with the family business. How much?

SEBASTIAN: Eight, maybe ten grand.

(Logan sighs.)

LOGAN: Whatever. No guarantee I can get this contraption to work again anyway. Probably just wasting my time.

SEBASTIAN: Maybe...but on the off-chance you could get back on your feet, you got something better to waste it on?

(Max enters the apartment and calls from the hallway.)

MAX: Logan!

LOGAN: Uh, I’ll be right there. (To Sebastian) I gotta call you back.

(Logan ends the call and covers up the exoskeleton. Then he wheels out to the living room, where Max is sitting on the couch, looking concerned.)

LOGAN: Hey. You all right?

MAX: Considering I just found out I’m an aunt.

(Logan looks surprised.)

MAX: Tinga has a kid in Portland. Her husband put out a missing-persons ad on her.

LOGAN: Well, if he did that, I gotta think that means he doesn’t know about her.

MAX: I tried to warn him, but he thought I was a crank and hung up on me.

LOGAN: Can’t really blame him.

MAX: Guess I have to go to Portland.

LOGAN: Max...you know Lydecker’s gonna be all over this.

MAX: Which is why I have to get them out of there as soon as possible. Logan, she’s my sister. This is her family. She’d do the same for me.

LOGAN: So when I tell you this is a bad idea and a trap...?

MAX: I say, “Thanks for the good advice...and can you track down an address for me?”

(That night, Charlie is tucking Case into bed.)

CHARLIE: Which story would you like tonight? How about Bunky’s Rocket?

CASE: I want Mommy’s story.

CHARLIE: There’s a princess in Mommy’s stories, right?

CASE: Uh-huh.

CHARLIE: Once upon a time, there was a princess who was born far, far away. She and all her brothers and sisters all lived together in a giant castle, and they loved each other very, very much.

CASE: The castle was a bad place.

CHARLIE: That’s right. There was a king, and he was evil, and he tried to hurt the children. So one day...

CASE: You forgot about the nomlies in the basement.

CHARLIE: I don’t think I know that part.

CASE: You didn’t tell me everybody’s name.

CHARLIE: The princess had a name. What was it?

CASE: Tinga.

(Charlie remembers what Max told him on the phone.)

MAX (in flashback): Her name isn’t Penny; it’s Tinga.

CHARLIE: Case?

(Case has drifted off to sleep. Charlie kisses him goodnight and turns out the lights.)

(Max has been watching from the roof of a building across the street. She notices Manticore men in the alley below.)

MAX: These guys never learn.

(A woman takes out a knife and darts across the rooftop, behind Max. Max notices out of the corner of her eye and looks for her. The woman sneaks up on Max and attempts to stab her from behind. Max punches her and flips the woman over her head until they’re facing each other.)

MAX: Tinga! It’s me!

(Max and Tinga go to Tinga’s hideout.)

TINGA: Did you get any recon?

MAX: Lydecker’s set up on the apartment. Got people on the outside of the building—probably on the inside, too.

(Tinga starts putting her gear together.)

TINGA: Are you strapped?

MAX: I don’t do guns. It’d be easier if we had a third person.

TINGA: If you’re talking about Zack...forget it. I left his ass in snowy Canada.

MAX: Let me guess. Our big brother told you you were crazy for coming back here.

TINGA: Pretty much. I wish I could give Charlie a heads-up, but I gotta figure Lydecker’s got the phones tapped.

MAX: We only got one shot at this. We have to get them both at the same time.

TINGA: He walks Case to school every morning. We could do it there.

(Tinga sighs.)

MAX: It’s going to be okay.

TINGA: I wanted to go back for them, Max...you know? But how could I? What if I had led Lydecker to them?

MAX: I know.

TINGA: I thought they would be safer this way.

MAX: You’re gonna be together again. I promise.

(In his office, Lydecker is working at his desk. Madame X walks in.)

MADAME X: I understand there’s a development in the search for X5-656? A husband and child in play?

LYDECKER: I was planning on filling you in at the, uh, briefing next week.

MADAME X: Fill me in now.

LYDECKER: We’re keeping our man covered 24/7. I’m personally taking point on the boy.

MADAME X: Is the child of any interest to us?

LYDECKER: He’s showing signs of accelerated motor control, as well as heightened spatial recognition and advanced logical thinking.

MADAME X: Really?

LYDECKER: I’m as surprised as you. We’ve never had those kind of results in laboratory settings.

MADAME X: Mix of X5 and human DNA has almost exclusively resulted in offspring of spectacular mediocrity.

LYDECKER: And those were the successes.

MADAME X: The father—does, uh, he have any idea what’s going on?

LYDECKER: One of the others tried to warn him...X5-452, I think. We traced the phone call to a pay phone in Seattle.

MADAME X: “Hello, Mr. Smith. Your wife’s a genetically engineered soldier, escaped from a secret government lab, and you’re in terrible danger.”

LYDECKER: He didn’t believe her.

MADAME X (chuckling): Nothing like having the truth work in your favor. How often does that happen? The mother won’t be able to stay away for long—maternal instinct and all that. Grab them both and take them back to Manticore. I want to meet this little boy.

(The next morning, Max and Tinga are checking out Case’s school from a hiding place across the street. Manticore men in disguise are everywhere.)

MAX: And those are just the ones we can see. Not a lot of cover. Looks like our best shot’s the apartment.

TINGA: Tonight.

(Tinga spots Charlie and Case walking to school.)

TINGA: There they are.

MAX: He’s beautiful.

TINGA: Look how much he’s grown.

CHARLIE: Okay, kiddo, you going to have a good day at school today?

CASE: Uh-huh.

CHARLIE: What are you going to do today?

CASE: Play with Donald. He’s my new teacher.

CHARLIE: Your new teacher?

(Lydecker approaches Charlie from behind.)

LYDECKER: You have a very gifted son, Mr. Smith.

TINGA: What the hell is he doing here? What is he doing with my son?

(Tinga instinctively steps forward. Max pulls her back.)

MAX: Take it easy.

CASE: Hi, Donald.

LYDECKER: Hi, Case. You ready? (Case nods) All right.

(Lydecker holds Case’s hand and walks him into the building. Charlie leaves.)

(In the classroom, Case and Lydecker are sitting at a round table. Case is coloring. Lydecker holds up a card showing several 3-D shapes and one flattened shape.)

LYDECKER: Case, if these pieces were put back together, which shape would they make?

CASE (pointing): That one.

LYDECKER: Good.

(Lydecker flashes Case his sector pass.)

LYDECKER: Case, what’s the number on my card?

CASE: 4-1-2-8-0-0-9-0-8-7-6-9-4-5-7-3. Can I have another lollipop?

LYDECKER: Sure.

(Lydecker gives Case a lollipop and takes one for himself. They both take the wrapper off and suck on their lollipops.)

LYDECKER; After this, would you like to go to the playground?

CASE: I like to climb the monkey bars.

LYDECKER: You know, where I live...you can climb the monkey bars all day.

CASE: You can?

LYDECKER: Mm-hmm. And you can swim, and you can play, and there’s a forest. It’s a very happy place.

CASE: Can my mommy be there?

LYDECKER: Would you like that?

(Case nods.)

LYDECKER: Then I think we can work it out.

(At Tinga’s hideout, Max and Tinga are looking at the floor plan of Tinga’s apartment building.)

MAX: We got guys stationed at the east and west exits, the lobby, and the roof. From 0900 to 1700, two more posing as repairmen in the apartment across the street.

TINGA: What, the old plumber gag? I thought that went out with J. Edgar Hoover.

MAX: Man loves the classics.

TINGA: That’s a lot of manpower, Max.

MAX: Good thing we’re a lot of girlpower.

TINGA: None of this would be happening if I had just told Charlie the truth.

MAX: How come you didn’t?

TINGA: I sort of did...the first night we met. I had never clicked with anyone so fast before. We just stayed up all night talking. He told me everything about himself. I mean, everything. Somehow I thought maybe he could handle hearing everything about me. And then I saw that look on his face.

MAX: So you laughed it off and told him you were kidding. (Tinga nods) I’ve been there.

TINGA: You know, and then I told myself that if we ever got serious, I’d tell him. And then, when we did, I told myself if we ever had kids...and every time I tried, I’d just remember that look on his face...and I couldn’t do it.

MAX: I feel you.

TINGA: You ever tell anyone?

MAX: Only ’cause they kind of figured it out on their own.

TINGA: Boyfriend?

MAX: Not exactly.

TINGA: He handled it okay?

MAX: Yeah.

TINGA: When we get them out of there tonight, I’m going to tell him everything.

(Max puts her arm around Tinga.)

MAX: Honey, when you and me take out 20 trained operatives without breaking a sweat...I think he’s going to come real on his own that there’s something special about you.

(Sandoval walks into Lydecker’s office.)

LYDECKER: Problem?

SANDOVAL: 10:17 this morning, Smith called his sister in Phoenix.

(Sandoval plays a recording from Charlie’s tapped phone line.)

CHARLIE’S VOICE: I’m thinking of taking some time off and bringing Case up for a visit.

SISTER’S VOICE: Thought you wanted to stay in Portland in case anything turned up about Penny.

CHARLIE VOICE: I really need a break. Things are a little...tense right now.

(Sandoval stops the recording.)

LYDECKER: He’s been tipped. We’re bringing them in. Tonight.

SANDOVAL: Yes, sir.

LYDECKER: Have X5-734 handle the transfer.

(That night, Max and Tinga go to the roof of the building across the street from Tinga’s apartment. Max rigs a rope from roof to roof, and she and Tinga use it as a tightrope to cross the street. While getting out their gear, they hear a large truck approaching, and they go to the edge of the roof and look down. Two Manticore trucks are in the alley below, and a woman is speaking into a radio.)

WOMAN: Alpha team, cover the exits. Bravo is in the apartment to retrieve the target. Move out! Go!

(Max uses her enhanced vision to see who the woman is.)

MAX: Brin.

TINGA: She’s one of them now.

(Later, Max and Tinga enter the building. Max puts a smoke grenade down the laundry chute. Tinga pulls the fire alarm. People start running out of their apartments and down the stairs. Manticore soldiers are guiding the people out. Max and Tinga take down the two men disguised as repairmen.)

(In their apartment, Charlie is putting Case’s coat on. The door bursts open. Tinga and Max emerge through the smoke.)

CASE: Mommy!

TINGA: Hi, baby.

(She hugs both of them.)

TINGA (to Charlie): Hi.

MAX: Let’s go, people!

(Max grabs a towel and wets it in the sink. Tinga punches a hole in the wall and removes from it a large gun. Charlie is shocked.)

TINGA: I’ll explain later.

(Max covers Case’s head with the wet towel.)

MAX (to Charlie): Stay close. Come on. Trust me.

(Outside, a Manticore soldier shows Brin what was causing the smoke in the building.)

SOLDIER: Smoke grenade.

BRIN (into radio): All teams, this is Control. There is no fire. Repeat, there is no fire. We have unauthorized personnel in the area. Bravo team, proceed immediately to objective offspring.

(Inside the building, Tinga is covering Max, Charlie, and Case as they make their way through the building. Manticore soldiers jump into the hallway.)

SOLDIER: Freeze!

MAX (to Charlie): Take cover!

(Tinga shoots down the soldiers.)

TINGA: Move!

(Manticore soldiers emerge from two elevators. Tinga fires at them, and they fire back. She and the others go back around the corner to hide and reload.)

MAX: There’s men on the stairs.

(Max and the others are caught in their hiding place, sandwiched between soldiers around the corner and soldiers coming down the stairs. Suddenly someone crashes through a window and shoots down the soldiers by the elevators. The group rounds the corner and sees Zack standing there.)

ZACK: Is this an invite only, or can anyone crash?

(The five of them go up to the roof.)

ZACK: You taking the express route?

MAX: I’ll lower Charlie down, then come back the way I came.

ZACK (to Charlie): I’ll guide you down. Max will take your weight.

MAX: Come on.

TINGA: Bye, honey.

(Zack prepares rappelling equipment.)

TINGA (to Case): Okay, you have to hold on really tight to Mommy now. Okay?

(Case nods. Tinga hugs him. Max helps Charlie with his harness.)

MAX: You ever mountain-climb?

CHARLIE: No.

MAX: It’s easy. (To Tinga and Zack) Meet you at the rendezvous point.

(Charlie, Tinga—holding Case—and Zack all rappel down the side of the building. Once down, they detach their ropes and leave. Max starts to run back to her tightrope, but Brin emerges from the shadows.)

BRIN: You shouldn’t have come here, Max.

MAX: What did they do to you?

BRIN: Made me better.

MAX: They brainwashed you.

BRIN: They made me remember what I am.

(Brin and Max fight. Brin blocks all of Max’s punches and lands a punch and a kick of her own. Max throws another punch. Brin grabs Max’s fist and twists her arm. When Max tries to punch with her other hand, Brin grabs it and gets Max into a headlock. She uses her knee to bash Max in the face and then shoves her away. Max kicks, but Brin grabs Max’s leg and hits it. Max attempts a couple of punches. Brin blocks them and shoves Max down to the rooftop. Brin steps over her and prepares to fight again, but suddenly she backs off.)

BRIN: You’re not the mission. Go.

(Max stands up, surprised.)

BRIN: You saved my life once; now we’re even. The next time I see you, little sister, I’m bringing you home.

(By the time Manticore soldiers join Brin on the roof, Max is gone.)

(Later, at Logan’s apartment, Charlie rebuffs Tinga’s attempt to reach out to him. Max and Zack watch from the kitchen table.)

MAX: Had a run-in with a friend of ours on the roof tonight—Brin.

ZACK: It’s on us. We promised to get her out.

(Logan joins them.)

LOGAN: How’s the happy couple?

MAX: He’ll get over it. They’ll be safe together again.

ZACK: For now. Those two aren’t going to do anything but slow her down and mess with her judgment. If she’s smart, she’ll tell him to take the kid and go. Otherwise, they’re gonna wind up sharing a suite back at Manticore.

MAX: You’re a real family-values guy, aren’t you?

ZACK: Family isn’t an option. Not for us.

(Zack leaves the kitchen.)

LOGAN: You can’t really blame the guy for being freaked out. Wonder why she never told him.

MAX: You make it sound easy.

LOGAN: No. If you’re going to have a relationship with someone, you have a right to know what you’re getting into.

MAX: Only, the thing about relationships...is you never know what you’re getting yourself into.

(Later, Tinga needs to put Case to bed. Max shows her to Logan’s couch.)

MAX: Is this okay?

TINGA: Yeah.

(Tinga tucks Case in.)

CASE: Mommy, tell me a story.

TINGA: Okay, baby. What do you want to hear?

CASE: About the princess. What happened once she ran away from the castle?

TINGA: Well, she met her prince, and they fell in love, and they had a family.

CASE: Did they live happily ever after?

TINGA: I don’t know, baby. I hope so.

(Case falls asleep. Tinga gives Case a kiss on the forehead and turns to Max with tears in her eyes.)

(Logan wheels into the kitchen and turns on the light. Charlie has been sitting in the dark.)

LOGAN: Thought I heard somebody in here.

CHARLIE: Sorry. Couldn’t sleep.

LOGAN: Want a drink?

CHARLIE: Yeah.

(Logan gets a bottle of wine.)

LOGAN: Pre-Pulse. Small batch. Last bottle.

CHARLIE: Don’t you want to save it for a special occasion?

LOGAN: Guest needs a drink. In the Cale family, that’s occasion enough.

(He joins Charlie at the counter and begins pouring the drinks.)

CHARLIE: So how long have you and Max been together?

LOGAN: Uh, we’re not like that.

CHARLIE: Because of...what she is?

LOGAN: Because of a lot of things.

(They drink in silence for a minute.)

CHARLIE: When she first went missing, I, uh...I couldn’t deal. Almost sent Case to live with my sister in Phoenix. But I, uh, I figured it out, you know? I’m not saying it was easy. It wasn’t the same without Penny. (Logan looks at him) Tinga. But then, it’s not the same now that she’s back.

LOGAN: And it’s never gonna be.

CHARLIE: You know what I was thinking before you walked in? That maybe I ought to just take Case and get out of here.

LOGAN: Well, he’s her son, too. You don’t have the right to take him away from her.

CHARLIE: She had no right to get me into this—to get him into this.

LOGAN: Maybe not. But you’re in it, and you’re gonna have to deal with it. She hasn’t changed. Everything else has, but she’s still the same woman you fell in love with, raised a son with. Don’t throw it all away just because some lunatic wants to throw her back in a cage.

(Charlie nods. Tinga and Max come into the kitchen with Case.)

CHARLIE: Something wrong?

TINGA: He has a fever.

MAX: Poor baby. (Notices something) Oh, my God.

CHARLIE: What is it?

(A barcode is emerging on the back of Case’s neck. Max looks at Logan in alarm.)

TINGA: What’s happening? Max?

(After daybreak)

TINGA: He’s burning up.

CHARLIE: What’s going on? Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on?

MAX: It’s a message from Lydecker.

CHARLIE: Well, what’s that supposed to mean?

MAX: Let me see.

(Max takes a look at Case’s barcode.)

MAX: It’s 14 digits. Manticore barcodes are only 12.

CHARLIE: This is insane. I’m taking him to the hospital.

ZACK: No, that’s what Lydecker wants.

CHARLIE: Stay out of this.

TINGA: Charlie, wait.

CHARLIE: We’ve got to do something, Penny.

ZACK: Tinga.

(Charlie gets angry and rushes at Zack.)

CHARLIE: Listen, you son of a—

(Zack grabs Charlie by the neck.)

MAX: Wait! That’s enough.

(Max separates them. Charlie and Zack stare at each other.)

LOGAN: It’s a phone number. My guess is Lydecker’s private line. If you give me a minute, I can scramble the signal, make it untraceable.

MAX: We need to bring down his core temperature. Fill the tub with ice.

(In Lydecker’s office, Madame X is looking into a microscope.)

MADAME X: They almost look like they’re alive.

LYDECKER: In a way, they almost are. They’re designed to incorporate themselves in the body’s cellular machinery, stimulating metabolic activity and enhanced neuromuscular function.

MADAME X: And in this case, I take it that you’ve programmed them to do the exact opposite?

LYDECKER: Yeah.

MADAME X: I must say, I’m impressed.

(The phone rings.)

LYDECKER: That’ll be them.

MADAME X: Put it on speaker.

(Lydecker answers with the speakerphone.)

LYDECKER: Yes?

MAX: Is this some kind of bioengineered virus?

LYDECKER: Nanotechnology.

MAX: My next guess.

LYDECKER: I’d say he has about six hours left.

MAX: You sick bastard.

LYDECKER: I don’t want to see him die any more than you do.

MAX: What do you want?

LYDECKER: Tinga.

MAX: After what you did to Brin?

LYDECKER: She’s quite happy where she is.

MAX: Back with the children of the damned? Forget it.

LYDECKER: It’s not your decision to make. Tell your sister I’ll save her son when she gives herself up.

MAX: We’ll get back to you.

(Max hangs up.)

LYDECKER: In a few hours, the convulsions will start. They’ll call back.

MADAME X: You’re not really going to give up the boy?

LYDECKER: You try something with these kids, you’ll end up with nothing. Besides, it’s the mother we’re interested in. From what we can tell from the child’s DNA, there’s something about her genetic makeup that allows her to pass along traits to her offspring.

MADAME X: The goose that laid the golden egg.

LYDECKER: Once she’s back...we can make a hundred more like him.

MADAME X: Your call.

(At Logan’s apartment)

TINGA (to Max): Make the call.

(Zack shakes his head and walks away.)

TINGA (to Charlie): He’s going to be okay.

CHARLIE: I can’t lose you again.

TINGA: This is the only way.

(Tinga looks at Max, who leaves the room. Zack is waiting for the elevator.)

ZACK: You know Lydecker’s not going to hold up his end of the deal. You can’t trust him.

MAX: We have no choice.

ZACK: You go through with this and you’re on your own. I won’t have anything to do with it.

MAX: Big surprise.

ZACK: She made herself vulnerable and now she’s paying the price. Don’t make the same mistake.

(At South Market, Max waits and watches from behind a fence, near a gate. Manticore vehicles arrive on the other side. Lydecker steps out, followed by Brin, and steps up to the fence.)

MAX: Show me.

(Lydecker shows Max a handheld device. Max nods at a nearby SUV; Tinga steps out, followed by Charlie and Case. She kisses Case on the cheek.)

TINGA: I love you. (To Charlie) Please don’t let him forget me.

CHARLIE: I won’t.

(Charlie and Tinga kiss.)

CHARLIE: I love you.

TINGA: You, too.

(Tinga clasps hands once with Max and then walks through the gate. Brin approaches. Tinga signals her to stop and looks back. Charlie brings Case to the fence. Lydecker passes Max the device.)

LYDECKER: Here. Just put it close to his neck, over the barcode.

(Max waves the device over Case’s neck. The barcode disappears. Case looks up.)

CASE: Daddy? Daddy?

(Charlie and Tinga smile. Brin pulls Tinga away.)

MAX (to Charlie): Let’s go.

LYDECKER: This isn’t as big a tragedy as you think it is.

MAX: Whatever you have to tell yourself.

(Charlie and Case go back to their SUV.)

BRIN (into radio): Move in.

(An old station wagon drives up on Max’s side of the fence. Three men get out of the station wagon. The humvee containing Brin and Tinga drives away. Max fights two of the men. The other man takes Charlie down, grabs Case, and puts him in the station wagon.)

CASE: Daddy! Daddy!

LYDECKER (into radio): Delta, this is Control. What the hell is going on?

MAX: You son of a bitch!

LYDECKER: It wasn’t me.

(The station wagon takes off. Max runs after it. Zack swings down from the upper level of the building, shooting at the car. It crashes into a booth. Zack breaks a window, pulls out one of the men inside, and kicks him. Max knocks out the other man and then gets Case out of the car.)

MAX: You got a thing for dramatic entrances, huh?

ZACK: I told you he’d try to pull something.

MAX: I don’t think it was Lydecker.

(Inside Brin’s humvee, one Manticore soldier is driving and another is guarding Tinga in the back seat.)

LYDECKER’S VOICE (on the radio): Delta, this is Control. This boy was not a target. Under whose authority did you—

(Brin turns the radio off.)

TINGA: What did you do? Where’s Case?

(Brin punches through the grate separating the front seat from the back and snaps the neck of the soldier guarding Tinga. She takes out the driver as well and pulls the humvee to a stop. Tinga smiles in relief.)

TINGA: I knew you couldn’t be one of them.

BRIN: Shut up.

(Brin punches Tinga.)

(Shortly afterward, Lydecker’s humvee pulls to a stop next to Brin’s, which is still stopped by the road. Lydecker approaches and finds Brin lying on the front seat, eyes closed, forehead bleeding.)

LYDECKER: Brin.

SOLDIER: Is she alive, sir?

LYDECKER: Her pulse is strong.

SOLDIER: X5-656 is gone, sir.

(Later, in Lydecker’s office)

LYDECKER: What the hell did you think you were going to accomplish with that little stunt?

MADAME X: I wanted a hat trick.

LYDECKER: And now we have nothing. Tinga escaped, and we lost the boy.

MADAME X: Wouldn’t want anyone to accuse me of playing it safe.

LYDECKER: I’ll be sure and include that in my report to the Committee.

MADAME X: You do that. (Leaves)

(That night, Max and Zack are standing at the waterfront. Zack is skipping rocks into the water.)

ZACK: If it wasn’t him that double-crossed us, then who?

MAX: Good question.

ZACK: Only it doesn’t matter. I mean, Lydecker, someone else—what difference does it make? We’ve been running half our lives, Max. They just keep coming.

MAX: Taking us down one by one.

ZACK: I’m not gonna let them do to Tinga what they did to Brin. We’re gonna get her out somehow.

(Max nods. They hug.)

ZACK: Take care of yourself.

MAX: You, too.

(The next morning, Brin meets with Madame X.)

MADAME X: Good work.

BRIN: I’m sorry we didn’t get them all.

MADAME X: No, the important thing is you recovered X5-656.

BRIN: May I ask when she’ll be returned to Manticore?

MADAME X: In due time. Until then, operational secrecy remains in effect, particularly with regard to Lydecker.

BRIN: Understood.

MADAME X: Dismissed.

(Brin salutes and leaves.)

(At Logan’s apartment)

LOGAN: My friends can get you over the border tonight. You should be able to get work on the East Coast with these.

(Logan gives Charlie a thick envelope.)

CHARLIE: I appreciate everything you’ve done for us. I don’t know how I can repay you.

MAX: You just take care of my nephew.

CHARLIE: You know, this whole time, I’ve been thinking she should’ve told me from the start that she was...different. Truth is, I probably would’ve walked away.

(He chuckles ruefully.)

CHARLIE: Would’ve been the biggest mistake of my life. ’Cause even after everything that’s happened, I wouldn’t give up one minute of the time that we spent together. Not a second.

CASE: Where’s Mommy?

CHARLIE: Mommy had to go away.

CASE: She went back to the castle, didn’t she? To fight the evil king.

MAX: I’ll get her back to you, okay? I promise.

(Charlie hugs Case and gives Max and Logan one last look.)

CHARLIE: Not a second.

(He leaves with Case.)

(That night, Max stands on top of the Space Needle.)

MAX (voiceover): Once upon a time, there was a princess who lived in a castle in a faraway land. One day, she and her brothers and sisters escaped the evil king who held them captive there and tried to make their way in the world.

(Madame X drives up to a building guarded by soldiers and goes inside.)

MAX (voiceover): It was hard, because the king never stopped looking for them. But the princess was lucky. She fell in love and had a family, and she was very happy. But one day, the evil king and his men found her and took her away.

(Madame X steps into the main room of the building and smiles.)

MAX (voiceover): So there was no happily ever after—only the happily ever now that had been hers for a little while.

(In the main room, Tinga is immersed in green fluid inside a tank and hooked up to tubes.)

MAX (voiceover): And no matter what they did to the princess, nothing could ever take that away from her.