(At Crash)

ORIGINAL CINDY: Another thing you got to learn about men is they never stop acting like little boys.

MAX: You know what, girl? Sometimes it sounds like you can almost switch teams.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Let’s not get gross.

(Max chuckles.)

SKETCHY: Ladies, can I offer either of you an adult beverage?

ORIGINAL CINDY: No...and you might want to slow down yourself, wigga, ’cause you faded.

MAX: So, who’s over there with Herbal?

ORIGINAL CINDY: That’s Snuffy. He just got out of lockup. Him and Herbal used to be cellmates.

MAX: Herbal did time?

SKETCHY: He did a couple years in Avenol for slinging the herb. Miscarriage of justice.

MAX (taking a drink): All respect to my soldiers on the wrong side of the wall.

SKETCHY (to the bartender): Let me have a mescal neat with a worm back.

HERBAL THOUGHT: Max, Original Cindy, say “What’s up?” to my boy, Snuffy Wills. Um, Snuffy is needing some employment just now, so you think maybe we can convince Normal to help a brotha out?

MAX: You know we will.

SKETCHY: Hey, guys, check it.

(Sketchy uses a lighter and his alcohol breath to blow huge flames into the air.)

MAX: I’m gonna get you out of here before you incinerate someone.

SKETCHY: Let me finish my worm.

MAX: You’re done! (To Snuffy) It’s nice to meet you.

(Max shakes Snuffy’s hand and then pulls Sketchy outside. They start walking home.)

SKETCHY: I don’t feel so good.

MAX: You hurl, you’re dead.

(A man wearing a long coat and a camera built into his hat appears behind them, watching Max and Sketchy walk away. A kid comes out of a building nearby and throws his cigarette on the ground. The mystery man grabs the kid.)

MYSTERY MAN: Pick it up.

KID: Hey, let me go.

MYSTERY MAN: I said pick it up.

KID: Who the hell are you?

MYSTERY MAN: This is where it starts. Pretty soon the streets are a river of garbage. All the windows are broken, obscene graffiti’s everywhere. So why shouldn’t the girl sell her body in an alley to buy drugs? Pick it up, now.

KID: Okay.

(The kid picks up the cigarette.)

MYSTERY MAN: I know what you look like.

(He takes a picture of the kid and walks down the alley.)

(Meanwhile, Max is supporting Sketchy while he throws up.)

SKETCHY: You are a true friend, Max.

MAX: Just don’t get it on my shoes.

(Three men approach.)

MAN: Hand over your wallets, and no one gets hurt.

SKETCHY (to Max): I’ll handle this. (To the man) Piss off.

(The man takes out a gun and points it at Sketchy.)

MAN: Oh, you wanna die tonight, skidmark?

SKETCHY: Uh, that’d be a negative. Here.

(Sketchy hands his wallet over. The man knocks him out. Max sighs and turns her baseball cap backwards.)

MAX: See, now, you shouldn’t have done that. ’Cause even though he’s a drunken idiot, he happens to be a friend. Now I gotta kick your ass.

(Max starts fighting the guys. The mystery man, hidden, watches and takes pictures. One shot focuses on the Jam Pony logo on her hat. Max runs a few steps up a wall and flips backward to take down a guy, and the mystery man snaps this as well. She takes out the second guy with a flying kick. When she lands, she looks up and sees the mystery man take a picture of her face. The last guy tries to run away. The mystery man trips him and takes Sketchy’s wallet from him. He walks over to Max and Sketchy. Sketchy comes around.)

MAX (to Sketchy): Hey.

MYSTERY MAN: You all right?

MAX: Yeah.

MYSTERY MAN: Here.

(The mystery man gives Sketchy’s wallet to Max.)

SKETCHY: Thanks.

(Max turns her back on the mystery man to help Sketchy sit up. Sketchy looks around.)

SKETCHY: What happened to those guys?

MAX: Let’s get out of here. (To the mystery man) Want to give me a hand with my friend? He’s kinda heavy.

(Max turns around. The mystery man is gone.)

(The next day, Sketchy walks into Jam Pony with Max, Original Cindy, and Sky. They join Herbal in the break room.)

SKETCHY: All right, so we leave Crash a little after midnight, ’cause Max was getting tired.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Like you remember anything about last night after the first nine beers.

SKETCHY: Can I please tell my story? So, I’m walking her home...

ORIGINAL CINDY: Please.

SKETCHY: ...and we’re jumped by a pack of local hardbodies. I throw a few punishers to defend our girl’s honor, but these dudes are large and numerous. I go down...eventually.

SKY: Hey, how much did they rip you off for?

SKETCHY: Nada. This guy, I guess you could call him, appears out of nowhere and takes out the entire dirtbag crew like he was some kind of Shaolin master.

ORIGINAL CINDY: And if you weren’t on no chronic break, then I got a white girl’s ass.

SKETCHY: If you don’t believe me, ask Max. She saw the whole thing.

MAX: Fists of fury. It was awesome.

SKY: So, who was this dude, man?

SKETCHY: An urban legend in the making, you ask me.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Like Original Cindy always says, the night holds a million secrets.

SKETCHY: You got that right. I’m 90% certain that zombies walk among us.

ORIGINAL CINDY: And here he comes.

(Normal walks over with a package for Sketchy.)

NORMAL: I hate to break up this little cretin fest, but I have a hot run to 17 Clemson.

SKETCHY: Na-uh. Rydin’ Forties turf. They still got that gang war going on with the Ryddim Kidz and I am allergic to yellow tape.

NORMAL: You know, there was a time in this once-great nation when people actually took pride in their work, rose to meet any challenge...

MAX: I’ll take it, just so we don’t have to hear how great the Great Communicator was.

NORMAL: Yes, you kids could learn something from that man’s example.

SKETCHY (pretending to sneeze): Bite me.

MAX: Bless ya.

(Max rides her bike to 17 Clemson, passing by some kids playing baseball in the street. She enters the building and looks around. The hallway is empty. She hears a shutter click in the distance.)

MYSTERY MAN: Don’t be nervous.

(The mystery man appears at the end of the hallway.)

MAX: Small world.

MYSTERY MAN: Not really. I figured you’d be the only one at the messenger service who wouldn’t be afraid to come here.

MAX: I need a signature.

MYSTERY MAN: It’s for you. Open it.

(Max opens the envelope and finds a blank piece of paper with “DESTINY” typed in the center.)

MAX: And this is supposed to mean what?

MYSTERY MAN: I can see your future.

MAX: Then you’ve already watched me turn around and walk away ’cause you’re a whack job.

(Max drops the envelope and turns to leave.)

MYSTERY MAN: Fact is I’m offering you an opportunity.

MAX: Pass.

MYSTERY MAN: I saw what you did last night.

(Max stops in her tracks. She turns back around to face him.)

MYSTERY MAN: Suffice it to say you have abilities that couldn’t be described as...normal.

MAX: Whatever angle you’re playing here, bring it on and let’s get it over with.

(Suddenly the door of an apartment behind Max bursts open and a man is shoved out into the hallway. A second man steps out of the apartment.)

SECOND MAN: Yeah. Now, you tell your set what I said. Then maybe we can talk about trucing.

(The second man fires with a machine gun at the first. The first man runs away and the second man goes back inside his apartment. Max turns back to the mystery man.)

MAX: So, what is it you want f—

(The mystery man is gone.)

(The kids outside are still playing baseball.)

PITCHER (to the fielders): Are you ready?

(He pitches, and the batter gets a hit. The ball goes under a car propped up on blocks. One of the fielders ducks under the car to get the ball and sees Snuffy lying there.)

FIELDER: Come on, man. Come on, let’s go.

(He realizes Snuffy is dead and throws the ball back to the pitcher.)

FIELDER: Dead guy under there.

PITCHER: We know. He’s the foul line.

(At Jam Pony)

HERBAL THOUGHT: Snuffy always have my back in that terrible place. Made sure no harm came to I and I. He was my brotha.

MAX: How you doing?

HERBAL THOUGHT: I’m trying to get my head around what only the Most High understand, you know? My boy is walking with the King now.

ORIGINAL CINDY: You know he is.

(Normal walks over.)

NORMAL: Heard about your friend. I’m sorry for your loss.

(They all stare at him.)

NORMAL: Did I say something wrong?

HERBAL THOUGHT: No, man. I thank you from my heart.

NORMAL: Yeah, all right.

(Normal leaves.)

MAX: If you ever want to talk, or need anything...

HERBAL THOUGHT: Just time to think about things.

MAX: Take care.

(Max goes over to Logan’s.)

MAX: I was talking to Herbal’s friend last night, like I’m talking to you right now. He’s dead, gone, ceased to exist.

(Logan reads from his computer.)

LOGAN: Gerald “Snuffy” Wills. Released from custody three days ago after serving six years for carrying a forged sector pass. Preliminary crime scene report has cause of death as multiple gunshot wounds to the chest. No witnesses.

MAX: Seemed like a sweet guy.

LOGAN: After you called, I dumped six more unsolved homicides, all recent parolees killed in the last three weeks. Same MO.

MAX: Let me guess—the cops couldn’t care less.

LOGAN: Or they’re in on it, or looking the other way.

MAX: Either way, the law-and-order types come out on top.

LOGAN: Pretty much. I wouldn’t mind getting my hands on a list of upcoming parolees. If past is prologue, they could be potential targets.

MAX: Could you hack into Corrections?

LOGAN: I’ve been trying. My computer keeps booting me off. Damn blackouts.

MAX: What else is new? I guess I’ll have to get those files for you the old-fashioned way.

LOGAN: Thanks.

MAX: How about dinner afterwards?

LOGAN: Another time.

MAX: You okay? You seem preoccupied lately.

LOGAN: I’ve got a lot on my mind.

(Max leaves. Logan looks at the closeup photo of young Max, which he had hidden in his notepad. We see flashbacks of young Max chasing the man in the woods attacking him with the X5s. Logan remembers what Lydecker had said about her.)

LYDECKER’S VOICE: She’s not the girl next door. They were designed to kill. All it takes is a trigger. You have no idea what she’s capable of doing.

(That night, Max gets on her Ninja to go get the files. The mystery man follows her.)

(Max finds the CD she’s looking for: “DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS Release Records 2020.” She goes to leave the building, but a guard on duty in the courtyard spots her. Max hides. She takes the CD out of its tin case and throws the case out to the middle of the courtyard as a distraction. The guard hears the noise but doesn’t take the bait, coming in her direction instead.)

MAX: Great. How’d I get the smart one?

(Suddenly the mystery man runs out screaming and kicks down the guard. With a quick glance back at Max, he runs over to the fence and leaps over it.)

(Max goes back to her bike. We hear an echo of the mystery man’s voice from the previous night.)

MYSTERY MAN’S VOICE: I know what you look like.

(Max finds a note on her bike. The note says, “You really DO need to talk to me OR bad things will happen.” On the other side of the note is a photo of Max doing a flip off the wall the previous night.)

(At Logan’s apartment, Max looks over Logan’s shoulder while he checks out the files.)

LOGAN: Corrections is releasing 22 prisoners next week, nine of them paroled to Seattle.

MAX: Maybe Eyes Only should tip them to what’s going on.

LOGAN: I need to know who’s behind it first. It’s hard to believe six people can get mowed down without anyone seeing it.

MAX: Especially with hoverdrones zooming around everywhere. You’d think they would’ve caught something on tape.

(Logan goes to put on his jacket.)

LOGAN: Maybe I should talk to my Uncle Jonas. His company makes the damn things. If the sector cops are sitting on any surveillance footage, maybe he can help me suss it out.

MAX: I thought he was one of those right-wing, support-your-local-sector-police, neo-Republican idiots.

LOGAN: He is...but he cares deeply about money, and if there’s even a hint of scandal involving one of his products, it could hurt his sales. Believe me, he’ll want to help.

MAX: As I recall, he kind of liked me. You want me to tag along?

LOGAN: Uh...not necessary. Run into any trouble out there tonight?

MAX: Just some weird guy who keeps following me around.

LOGAN: Anything to worry about?

MAX: No. If he gets out of line, I’ll just kill him. Late.

(Logan has a strange look on his face. Max leaves and rides her Ninja home. Original Cindy is fixing herself a cup of tea.)

ORIGINAL CINDY: Hey, shugga.

MAX: Hey.

ORIGINAL CINDY: There’s soup if you’re hungry.

MAX: Mmm.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Want some tea?

MAX: No.

(Max sits on a chair, looking concerned.)

ORIGINAL CINDY: Break it down for Original Cindy, ’cause you ain’t right.

MAX: There’s this freak.

ORIGINAL CINDY: You want to be a little more specific?

MAX: He’s been following me around, taking pictures.

ORIGINAL CINDY: You need me to put the smackdown on his ass, you know I will.

MAX: It’s not those kind of pictures.

(Max shows Original Cindy the photo that the mystery man left.)

ORIGINAL CINDY: Uh-oh.

MAX: No joke.

ORIGINAL CINDY: What’s his dealio?

MAX: Not sure. Takedown, blackmail, finder’s fee. Worst part is he’s revved up somehow. I watched him jump a ten-foot fence.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Damn. What does Logan think?

MAX: He’s not in the loop on this. I’ve been getting a weird vibe off him lately...like when he looks at me, he sees something he doesn’t like.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Or can’t have.

MAX: More like all of a sudden he’s clued into the real that I’m seriously not like other females.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Like that’s a bad thing.

MAX: I’m beginning to think maybe he thinks it is.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Hoes up, G’s down, you ask me. How are you going to handle this dude?

MAX: Looks like he’s got my number. I think it’s about time I get his. Late.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Late.

(Max leaves.)

(At Logan’s uncle’s office, Logan and Jonas are drinking martinis.)

JONAS: Pretty serious allegations, Junior, but don’t you think if this kind of thing was going on, the people in charge would be doing something about it?

LOGAN: Not if they’re in on it.

JONAS: Got anything to back up this rogue-police-death-squad theory of yours?

LOGAN: Not yet. That’s why I came to see you—help me get access to hoverdrone surveillance footage. Here’s a list of dates, times, and locations.

(Logan hands Jonas a piece of paper.)

JONAS: A muckraking piece like this with your byline would be quite a feather in your cap, wouldn’t it?

LOGAN: Well, you’ve got a lot at stake here, too, Uncle. If the hoverdrones you manufacture are being used as part of a police cover-up...that can’t be good for business.

JONAS: Let me call Lucas Gant in the morning. He’s a friend with influence and connections. If anyone can shake something loose, it’ll be him.

LOGAN: I appreciate anything you can do.

JONAS: On another matter...

(Uncle Jonas goes over to his desk to get a check. He hands it to Logan, who puts it in his pocket.)

JONAS: I was going to mail this to you, but you can save me the postage. It’s your share of the fourth-quarter earnings from the Cale trust.

LOGAN: Great. Thanks.

JONAS: On a clear day, I bet you can really see the class struggle from that penthouse of yours.

(Meanwhile, Max breaks into the mystery man’s apartment via a vent from the roof. He’s not home. She sees tons of newspaper clippings and a mannequin labeled D.O.D. The mystery man has equipment for developing photos. Max sees some pictures he took of her and steals them. Max also spots some newspaper clippings with pictures of recently killed parolees, including Snuffy Wills. All of the clippings except one have a red “X” marked on them. The one parolee without an X is a man named Pedro Benedek. Max goes to a pay phone and calls Logan from her Ninja.)

MAX: Logan, it’s me. There’s a guy on that list from Corrections. His name’s Pedro Benedek. I need an address on him.

(Logan is on the computer.)

LOGAN: All right. Hold on, I’m checking. What’s up?

MAX: I’ve got to get over there. He’s next in line to get greased. That whack job who’s been stalking me...he’s the killer.

LOGAN: I thought you said he wasn’t anything to worry about.

MAX: Turns out he was trying to recruit me as another soldier in his one-man militia.

(Logan’s computer loses the connection. He hits the desk to get it back.)

LOGAN (to the computer): Come on.

MAX: So much for your sector-police theory.

(The computer reconnects and Logan finds Benedek’s file.)

LOGAN: Yep, here it is. 3117 East Calhoun.

(Max drops the receiver without hanging it up. Logan hears her take off on her Ninja. When Max arrives in the hallway outside Benedek’s apartment, the mystery man is already there, knocking on the door.)

MYSTERY MAN: Open up.

MAX: Hey!

MYSTERY MAN (to Max, smiling): Didn’t expect to see you here. You’re just in time.

(The mystery man kicks down the door and starts to enter the apartment. Benedek is asleep in a recliner with his headphones on. Max grabs the mystery man and flings him back into the hallway.)

MAX: The vigilante routine is over. You’re done killing people.

MYSTERY MAN: Me? Nah, I’m not killing anybody. That thing did.

(The mystery man points to a hoverdrone that has just appeared outside Benedek’s window. He gets his camera ready. The hoverdrone uses a red laser to beam a grid onto Benedek’s face.)

MYSTERY MAN: No!

(The mystery man leaps on top of Pedro to push him down. The hoverdrone fires through the window, shattering the glass, and shoots up the room. Then it flies away. Max and the mystery man go to the window afterwards.)

MYSTERY MAN: You all right?

MAX: Yeah, but what the hell was that?

(At Logan’s apartment)

LOGAN: A hoverdrone?

MAX: Mounted with twin .45-caliber automatics.

MYSTERY MAN: And silencers.

(The mystery man imitates quiet shooting. Then he looks at Max.)

MYSTERY MAN: What do you call yourself?

MAX: Max.

LOGAN: Can I ask—how did you know this guy, Benedek, was going to be the next target?

MYSTERY MAN: It was in the newspaper.

LOGAN: The newspaper?

MYSTERY MAN: I’m a voracious reader, see, and I was reading the obits and noticed how all these ex-cons kept getting shot.

LOGAN: Right.

MYSTERY MAN: And Benedek was a sex offender.

LOGAN: So?

MYSTERY MAN: So when Benedek got let out, they published his name and address in the paper, to alert the neighbors. I thought he could be a possible target and went to warn him. It turns out...I was right. Max...is that short for Maximum?

MAX: Maximum?

MYSTERY MAN: As in Maximum Force? Maximum Girl?

(Max gives him a weird look.)

MYSTERY MAN: Woman. I meant Maximum Woman.

MAX: It’s not short for anything.

(He sniffs his fingers.)

MYSTERY MAN: I gotta go wash my hands. Uh, I’m afraid our friend, Pedro, peed his pants.

LOGAN: Sure.

(Logan points him in the direction of the bathroom. The mystery man leaves the room.)

LOGAN: So this guy’s not a vigilante killer, he’s just a nut who happens to be following the same set of leads as us?

MAX: And who can jump a ten-foot fence and run really fast.

(The mystery man comes back from the bathroom. His leg is bugging him.)

MYSTERY MAN: Aw...damn, got a screw loose.

MAX: No argument there.

MYSTERY MAN (adjusting his leg): Ah! There. Hate when that happens. It’s so embarrassing. Okay. (To Logan) So, what’s your chair do? I mean...

(He imitates shooting again.)

MYSTERY MAN: Or are your powers mostly mental?

LOGAN: Mostly mental, yeah.

MYSTERY MAN: You’re the brains. She’s the brawn.

(Max and Logan look at each other. Max shrugs.)

MYSTERY MAN (to Max): What happened? You get bit by a spider? Struck by lightning?

MAX: Not that I remember.

MYSTERY MAN: So, what, you’re a mutant?

MAX: Guess you could say that.

LOGAN: So what about you? Uh, what sort of...powers do you have?

MYSTERY MAN: Ordinarily, that’s not something I discuss, but since we’re all in this together...

(He unzips his fly and turns around. He pulls down his pants. Logan and Max exchange alarmed looks. The mystery man turns back around and opens his long coat.)

MAX: Wow.

LOGAN: I’m not entirely sure what I’m looking at here.

(The mystery man is wearing an apparatus on his legs.)

MYSTERY MAN: It’s an exoskeleton. This pad picks up the nerve impulses, relays them to the servomotors. Enhances speed and strength, the ability to jump, the ability to lift and carry by as much as 30%.

LOGAN: Really?

(Max notices a D.O.D. stamp on the side of it.)

MAX: Department of Defense?

LOGAN: You stole that?

MYSTERY MAN (pulling up his pants): It was given to me for a reason. Or do you think I just happened to land a job at the warehouse where they were mothballed after the Pulse...that I just happened to lose control of my forklift, which just happened to knock over the crate it was in? No. That, my friends...is destiny.

(Later, the three are sitting at the dinner table, with the mystery man eating cookies and drinking milk.)

LOGAN: About the hoverdrone you saw...the thing I don’t get is why would the sector police deploy a sophisticated piece of hardware to hunt down ex-cons when a good, old-fashioned death squad would do the job just as well?

MAX: Maybe the cops aren’t the ones behind this.

MYSTERY MAN: Not to be an alarmist here, but can we be certain that these drones aren’t being deployed from some other dimension?

LOGAN: I don’t think we’re dealing with anything quite so esoteric. I’ll talk to my uncle. If the drone is a modified version of one of the company’s designs, a list of customers would probably help narrow the field. In the meantime, we need proof that this thing is actually out there.

MYSTERY MAN: Would photographs be helpful? I got the attack on Benedek right here. (Points to his camera)

LOGAN (to Max): You go with him and get back here with the pictures ASAP.

(At the mystery man’s place, Max waits while he develops the film.)

MYSTERY MAN: So, uh...how old were you when you discovered you had powers?

MAX: I had it beaten into my head at a pretty young age.

MYSTERY MAN: I was a late bloomer. My life probably would have gone in a whole other direction...if it hadn’t been for her.

(He points to a picture of a girl.)

MYSTERY MAN: It’s my sister, Francesca. I took that with my very first camera.

MAX: You two close?

MYSTERY MAN: Yes and no. She’s deceased.

MAX: Sorry.

MYSTERY MAN: That’s why I do this—to try and make up for what I didn’t do back then.

MAX: I lost a sister, too. My life was never the same.

MYSTERY MAN: What was her name?

MAX: Eva. She was nine.

MYSTERY MAN: Then you understand. I just wish Francesca didn’t have to be the one to show me my destiny. She wasn’t quite right, see. She, uh, couldn’t talk too good and had trouble walking. So when the men broke in to steal our television, she got scared and wouldn’t stop crying. I told them they could take whatever they wanted. The more the men kept yelling at my sister to shut up, the more scared she got. Then one of them hit her...and she didn’t make any more noise after that.

(Logan enters his uncle’s office.)

JONAS: Logan! You’re up early. I thought you Bohemian types only ventured out when the sun had set.

LOGAN: I need your help.

JONAS: Oh, yes...your little article. I’m afraid I haven’t come up with much. Bloody Mary?

(Jonas goes across the room to refill his glass.)

LOGAN: No, thanks. The fact is I’ve uncovered some disturbing information since we last spoke.

JONAS: Oh?

LOGAN: Those ex-cons...they were killed by a hoverdrone.

JONAS (laughing): Junior, you watched too many X-Files when you were a boy.

LOGAN: You do build custom models for outside buyers.

JONAS: Well, yes...but with gun turrets? I think that would have thrown up a few flags down in purchasing.

LOGAN: Whoever bought it could’ve had the guns put on later through another contractor.

JONAS (no longer laughing): Our entire company is built on the idea that hoverdrones protect people. You publish some half-assed yarn, it’s going to drive away business...and take a chunk out of your bottom line, too, let’s not forget.

LOGAN: I’m not going to print anything I can’t prove. If I could get you photographs...?

JONAS: We’ll get to the bottom of whatever it is that’s going on.

LOGAN: Thanks, Jonas. I’ll be in touch. (Leaves)

(The mysery man looks at the newly-developed photos.)

MYSTERY MAN: No...they didn’t come out.

(Max looks at the prints. The mystery man picks up his camera headgear.)

MYSTERY MAN: Hmm. Must’ve broken when you threw me against that wall.

MAX: Sorry. How old were you when your sister died?

MYSTERY MAN: Thirteen. A year and two days older than her.

MAX: You were just a kid. You can’t blame yourself for what happened.

MYSTERY MAN: That’s what my mom kept telling me, but I didn’t feel like a kid. I felt like someone who didn’t do the right thing when they should’ve. You know?

MAX: Yeah. Do you still keep in touch with your mom?

MYSTERY MAN: Nope. Ran away when I was fifteen...drifted around...then, uh, destiny intervened and... well, you know the rest.

MAX: It must be pretty rough for her. She lost her daughter and her son, too.

MYSTERY MAN: Can’t argue with destiny.

MAX: I think we make our own destiny.

MYSTERY MAN: Too bad about the pictures. We can always get some more.

MAX: How?

MYSTERY MAN (fixing his camera): Just wait for the darn thing to return to base for refueling.

MAX: You know where it refuels?

MYSTERY MAN: Mm-hmm. Yeah, down by the waterfront. Uh... I followed it there the other night.

MAX: Why didn’t you say something?

MYSTERY MAN: You didn’t ask.

(At Jonas’ place, Jonas is making a call to Logan. A man named Gilbert Neal is also in the room.)

JONAS: Logan, I have something for you on this hoverdrone thing.

LOGAN: Great. I’m on my way.

JONAS: Not here. Can’t risk being seen with you.

LOGAN: Bad for business.

JONAS: Glad you understand. Meet me at 354 Jorgen Avenue in an hour.

LOGAN: I’ll see you there.

(Logan and Jonas hang up.)

JONAS: I know my nephew, Gil. He won’t stop ’til he finds what he’s looking for.

GILBERT: That’s why we’re sending him on a wild-goose chase...keep him occupied with some cloak-and-dagger until the field tests are completed.

JONAS: How the hell he even got wind of a half-dozen dead ex-cons...

(Jonas goes to refill their drinks. Gilbert looks out the window.)

GILBERT: Target practice is almost over. The facial recognition technology is working perfectly. We’re going to be able to market a stealth technology that can track down and eliminate anyone...anywhere...from a photograph. A month from now, we can just sit back and let the bids roll in.

JONAS: Listen, Margo and I want to have you and Joy over for dinner next week.

GILBERT: Sounds great.

JONAS: We were thinking Tuesday night we could—

(Jonas turns around and sees a hoverdrone just outside the window. The hoverdrone projects a grid onto Jonas’s face.)

JONAS: No.

(The hoverdrone shoots through the window and kills Jonas. It flies away. Gilbert goes to the mantle and picks up a picture of Logan.)

(Max and the mystery man arrive at a building near the waterfront.)

MAX: Are you sure this is it?

MYSTERY MAN: Seventh and Third. Or was it Third and Seventh? No, no, this is definitely it. I’m positive. On three. One...two...

(He runs to the opposite side of the door.)

MYSTERY MAN: Get ready for three. Ready?

MAX: Yeah.

MYSTERY MAN: Three!

(The mystery man kicks down the door. They both run in and then stop in their tracks. A man and two dominatrices are engaging in bondage.)

MYSTERY MAN: Good Lord.

MAX: Ugh.

(They leave and go to a different building.)

MAX: You sure?

MYSTERY MAN: Absolutely.

MAX: That’s what you said before.

MYSTERY MAN: No, I said I was positive. Ready? On three. One...two....

(Once again, the mystery man runs to the opposite side of the door.)

MYSTERY MAN: Get ready for three.

(Max kicks the door open. She runs over to a technician, who is sitting in front of a large computer screen with hoverdrone information on it.)

TECHNICIAN: Hey, who the hell are you?

(Max grabs him by the neck. The mystery man kicks down the other man.)

MAX: You better bring that sucker back here, now.

TECHNICIAN: I can’t. The target’s been acquired.

MAX: Do it.

TECHNICIAN: Look, this isn’t a test—it’s a search-and-destroy. Anyone tries to stop it will be a target, too.

(Max knocks out the technician. She and the mysery man look at the screen and see that Logan is the next target.)

MAX: Logan...

MYSTERY MAN: He’s heading east on Jorgen.

MAX: Come on.

(Logan arrives at 354 Jorgen Avenue and checks his watch. Max and the mystery man pull up beside his car on her motorcycle.)

LOGAN: Max, what the hell are you doing here?

(The hoverdrone approaches.)

MAX: Logan! Get down!

(The hoverdrone projects a grid onto Logan’s face and starts shooting through the windshield. Max dives through his passenger window and pulls Logan down so that they’re both out of the line of fire.)

(Without sitting up, Max takes control of the car and drives toward a nearby warehouse. The mystery man follows on the Ninja. The hoverdrone, following the Aztek, lands a shot on the mystery man’s knee. Once everyone is inside the warehouse, he closes the door so the hoverdrone can’t fly in.)

MAX: Take cover!

(Max opens the car door and the mystery man carries Logan away. Max gets back behind the wheel. The hoverdrone starts shooting into the warehouse via a window. She backs out of the warehouse, through a wall, and pulls away.)

(Max drives down the row of warehouses. The hoverdrone follows on the other side.)

(Suddenly Max pulls into an open warehouse. The hoverdrone enters it from the other side and starts firing. She dives out of the moving car to avoid the shots. The hoverdrone flies through the windshield and the car crashes into the wall. All is silent for a moment.)

(Suddenly the hoverdrone starts shooting again and flies through the rear window of the car.)

MAX: Would you die already?

(She somersaults to dodge the shots. The hoverdrone stops shooting for a minute. Max jumps into a pit in the ground and ducks as the hoverdrone approaches. She rips a pole out of the pit. When the hoverdrone is directly overhead, she lunges out and drives the pole into the bottom of it. Sparks fly and it begins smoking. Max uses the pole to take down the hoverdrone and smash it to the ground. Its red light is still blinking.)

MAX: Say goodnight, Hal.

(Max gives the hoverdrone one final stab in the red light to finish it off.)

(Max pushes Logan’s wheelchair back to the warehouse where Logan and the mystery man are waiting.)

MAX: Boys!

LOGAN: We’re over here.

(Max finds them. One of the mystery man’s legs is jerking around uncontrollably.)

MYSTERY MAN: It appears we’ve had a small mechanical failure. I believe a bullet or a fragment thereof has lodged itself in my mid-anterior servomotor.

MAX: Better than lodging into your mid-anterior actual leg.

(The three of them leave the warehouse.)

MAX: We’re going to have a hell of a time hitching a ride back to the city.

(That night, Logan is sitting at his window, watching a thunderstorm. Max comes in and sits with him.)

MAX: Heard about your Uncle Jonas.

LOGAN: Multiple gunshot wounds to the chest. No leads, no witnesses. Sound familiar?

MAX: Same guys who put a hit on you.

LOGAN: My uncle’s partners.

MAX: Go figure.

LOGAN: He swore he didn’t know what was going on. Lied right to my face. Didn’t even blink.

MAX: And he paid the price.

LOGAN: But his cronies skate off this unless Eyes Only tells the whole story.

MAX: You know what’ll happen if you do that.

LOGAN: The government steps in, everybody acts all shocked. Then they seize the assets of Cale Industries in a show of civic outrage...confiscate the company, the trust.

MAX: And your net worth along with it.

LOGAN: Well, I own my apartment. Got some art I can sell. I’ll be all right. And Cale Industries will be out of the murder business for good.

MAX: So your idea of going to war is taking a vow of poverty. That’ll show them, Logan.

LOGAN: This lifestyle of mine, Max...is bought and paid for with money made helping keep people under police surveillance. It took a lot of people dying for me to finally face the fact that...I’ve been living a lie.

MAX: What about all the good things you’ve accomplished with Eyes Only? How you gonna keep that afloat when you’re broke?

LOGAN: Somehow.

MAX: You know, only a bored, rich, liberal, white guy would piss away a fortune to prove he wasn’t a bored, rich, liberal, white guy. Nobody would think any less of you if you decided to let this one slide. I would invite you not to be a dope.

(The next day, Max and the mystery man are at the bus station at South Market. The mystery man is buying a ticket.)

MYSTERY MAN: So you really think this is a prudent thing to do—turning my back on destiny like this and going to see my mom?

MAX: Let me put it to you this way. Do you really think we just happened to hook up, happened to go after that hoverdrone that just happened to shoot up your mid-anterior servomotor and bust up that exo-thingie? No. That, my friend, is destiny.

CLERK (handing him his ticket): Here you go.

MYSTERY MAN: I think you’re right.

(They walk to his bus.)

MYSTERY MAN: And, besides, I’m not getting out of the business altogether. There have been reports of an inter-dimensional portal forming under Sheboygan that could easily turn into an astral dumpsite. I might be sending for you.

MAX: You have a nice, long visit with your mom first. You’re giving her a big part of her life back.

(Eyes Only comes on the screens of some nearby television sets.)

EYES ONLY: Do not attempt to adjust your set...

MAN: Hey, man, check it out—Eyes Only.

EYES ONLY: This is a Streaming Freedom Video Bulletin.

MYSTERY MAN: Hey, Eyes Only!

EYES ONLY: The Cale Corporation is guilty of murder. Its executives, Jonas Cale and Gilbert Neal, have turned...

MYSTERY MAN: I’ve always wanted to meet him. That guy—he’s a real hero.

MAX: Yeah, he is.

(The mystery man steps onto the bus. Max finishes her thought privately, in a low voice.)

MAX: And a real dope.

EYES ONLY: ...into a killing machine.

MAX: Hey, I never got your name.

MYSTERY MAN: Phil.

MAX: Phil...?

PHIL: Just plain Phil.

(Max nods.)

PHIL: Well, you and Logan take care of each other for me, okay?

MAX: Yeah. City’s not going to be the same without you.

PHIL: I’m leaving it in good hands.

(A guy drops an empty can on the ground nearby.)

PHIL: Hey, pick that up!

GUY: Yeah, right.

(Max grabs the guy by the collar.)

MAX: You heard the man. Pick it up!

(The guy picks up the can and puts it in the trash. The bus’ engine starts and Phil sits down. He and Max smile and wave at each other as the bus leaves.)

(At Logan’s)

MAX: So you did it, huh?

LOGAN: Mm-hmm. Sure did.

(Logan holds up the check Jonas gave him.)

LOGAN: By the time the banks open tomorrow morning, this check won’t be worth the paper it’s printed on.

MAX: Maybe you should go cash it then.

(Logan looks at his watch and pretends to be disappointed.)

LOGAN: Five after three. Damn.

(He sets down the check and pours some wine.)

LOGAN: My Uncle Jonas gave me this bottle when I graduated from college. Told me to save it for a special occasion.

MAX: Like financial ruin?

LOGAN: Why not?

(They hold up their glasses for a toast.)

LOGAN: To my dear Uncle Jonas, who, underneath his winning smile, was a cold-blooded killer.

(They clink glasses and take a sip.)

MAX: The one thing I learned in my years at Manticore is never underestimate what people are capable of doing to each other.

LOGAN: My uncle, for all his privilege, went right for the heart of darkness. You’ve lived your life trying to get as far away from that as possible.

MAX: Guess that counts for something.

(They sit there for a minute.)

MAX: Gotta blaze. Got to meet the gang for Snuffy’s memorial.

(Max gets up to leave. She pauses.)

MAX: Thing is...it’s always there, the darkness...right on my tail.

LOGAN: I know...but you got moves.

(Max smiles and leaves. Logan looks at the check again.)

(In Madame X’s office)

GILBERT NEAL: State-of-the-art. Ideal for special ops. The recent series of field tests have proven its viability, and...

MADAME X: And your sudden legal troubles are translating into a fire-sale price.

NEAL (holding up a disk): The specs, testing data, and four years of research and development. All yours for $10 million. I’m on the next flight to Belize.

MADAME X: One step ahead of the feds.

NEAL: Do we have a deal?

MADAME X: The money is being wired to your offshore account as we speak.

(She puts out her hand for him to shake. He hesitates.)

MADAME X: Trust is far too rare a commodity these days.

(He shakes her hand and gives her the disk.)

MADAME X: Where’s the second prototype?

NEAL: Parked in a van outside.

MADAME X: Fully operational?

(Gilbert hands over the key.)

NEAL: It’s good to go.

MADAME X: And all you need is a photograph?

NEAL: That’s it.

MADAME X: Amazing.

(He leaves. Madame X takes a picture of him from the surveillance camera outside her door. Then she prints the picture and looks at it.)

MADAME X: Just amazing.

(In his apartment, Logan puts his uncle’s check through the shredder. He picks up the photos of young Max that Lydecker had sent him, looks at them for a moment, and then puts them through the shredder as well. Bling comes in, pushing a large crate on a dolly. The crate has D.O.D. stamped on it.)

BLING: Something just came for you.

(He sets down the crate and dolly.)

BLING: Need a hand?

LOGAN: I got it. Thanks.

BLING: I’m heading out. I’ll see you tomorrow.

(Bling leaves. Logan opens the crate. Inside the crate is the exoskeleton, mounted on the mannequin. Logan smiles after reading a typed note included in the crate. It says: )

SORRY IT’S ALL BUSTED UP,
BUT IF YOU CAN FIX IT,
WHO KNOWS? MIGHT HELP YOU
GET FROM HERE TO THERE.

BEST,

PHIL