SEBASTIAN: How did you manage to get the money?

LOGAN: Never mind that. Can you help me get my hands on one of these gizmos?

SEBASTIAN: I’ll call my contact in Singapore. Could probably have it here in twelve to fourteen weeks.

LOGAN: That long?

SEBASTIAN: Patience.

LOGAN: I’m all out of patience. I need to be up and walking. Now.

SEBASTIAN: The processor you are looking for is also used to control the robotic arms in nuclear reactors.

(Logan picks up the chip he needs to replace and looks at it.)

LOGAN: And how am I supposed to get a hold of one of those?

MAX (yelling from other room): Knock, knock!

SEBASTIAN: Could always ask your in-house cat burglar.

MAX (yelling from other room): Logan!

LOGAN (yelling to Max): Yeah, I’ll be right there. (To Sebastian) She’s not in the loop on this little project, and I want to keep it that way.

SEBASTIAN: No reason she needs to know what the chip is for.

LOGAN: That’s sneaky. I like it. Gotta go.

(He hangs up and goes out to the kitchen. Max is headed for the fridge.)

MAX: What happened to that Chinese urn that was there? Don’t tell me you sold it.

LOGAN: Gotta do what you gotta do. We’ve got an Eyes Only situation that needs your immediate attention.

MAX: Got anything to eat?

(She takes an apple out of the fridge and sits down to eat it.)

LOGAN: Max, this is a red alert for what remains of western civilization if Pierpont Lemkin fences one of these to the Taliban militia. (Holds up the malfunctioning chip)

MAX: Pierpont Lemkin’s in bed with the Taliban?

LOGAN: I’m afraid so. And they’re looking to get their hands on a chip just like this one, programmed with the sequenced activation code for the Star Wars missile defense system launched back in ’05.

MAX: So? That stuff’s just a bunch of space junk.

LOGAN: The government’s trying to keep it under wraps, but some of the warheads are still live. I got word that the chip that we’re looking for is in the servocontroller of a robotic arm in the Orcas Nuclear Facility.

MAX: Are you sure about all this? Pierpont Lemkin and the Taliban after some Star Wars widget in a robotic arm somewhere? Next thing you’re gonna tell me aliens are involved.

LOGAN: Wouldn’t rule it out.

MAX: Really.

LOGAN: The point is, I need you to do this for me.

MAX: You know, it’s hot in here.

(She stands up to remove her jacket and fans herself.)

LOGAN: So are you gonna do it?

MAX: Whatever.

LOGAN: Thank you.

MAX: I think I might be coming down with something.

LOGAN: Really? I hope not. ’Cause, you know, it was a year ago Thursday that you broke in here, trying to rob my place.

MAX: Is that right?

LOGAN: It’s an anniversary of sorts, and I was thinking we should celebrate.

MAX: I could use a little mirth in my life.

LOGAN: Yeah. It can’t be easy knowing they have Tinga.

MAX: Zack found out they didn’t take her back to Manticore. I hope he can turn something up on where they’ve got her.

LOGAN: Then we’ll get her out.

(Max smiles.)

LOGAN: Thursday night, there will be an abundance of mirth...and maybe a little surprise.

MAX (curiously): What?

LOGAN: Well, then it wouldn’t be a surprise.

(That night, Max goes home and lies down on her bed. A moment later she hears a noise and peers out the window. Two Manticore humvees drive down the alley below. Max, now wearing her catsuit, slides down a rope to the ground level. Two Manticore soldiers approach her, one in front and one from behind. She kicks the front one and then the rear one without even turning around. She flips over the front soldier and throws him out. The other soldier approaches her. She takes his gun, aims it at him, and looks him over.)

MAX: Take off your clothes.

SOLDIER: Excuse me?

MAX: You heard me. Make it snappy.

(The soldier removes his gear and shirt. Max smiles.)

MAX: Nice pecs. Get over on the bed.

(The soldier slowly sits down on a nearby bed. Max pushes him down so that he’s lying on his back. She tosses the gun away, climbs on top of him, and smiles again.)

MAX: I hope you’re as good as you look, soldier, ’cause I’m not a girl who takes disappointment lying down.

SOLDIER: This can’t be happening.

(Max licks him from his navel to his face. When she raises her head to look at him, she’s shocked.)

MAX: Logan?!

(We see that Logan’s face has replaced the soldier’s.)

MAX: What are you doing here?

LOGAN: Don’t ask me. It’s your dream.

MAX: Yeah, and you know what that means?

(Max abruptly sits up in bed, sweating and panicky.)

MAX: Oh, God. I’m in heat again.

(The next morning, Max and Original Cindy are getting ready for work.)

ORIGINAL CINDY: You’re joking, right?

MAX: I wish. It’s yet another of the frightening biological facts of my rotten, miserable life.

ORIGINAL CINDY: So how often does this estrus-cycle bitch happen?

MAX: Two, maybe three times a year. It’s awful. I get this uncontrollable craving.

ORIGINAL CINDY: So, basically, because of this feline DNA that you got in you, every few months you run around acting like an average male?

MAX: Somehow guys can pull it off. I just turn into this freak show.

ORIGINAL CINDY: You could always lock yourself in a closet until it’s over with.

MAX: Tried that. Blew the door right off the hinges.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Damn.

MAX: If you see me going to the dark side, do me a favor. Smack me really hard right in the face.

ORIGINAL CINDY: For real?

MAX: It’s the only thing that seems to work.

ORIGINAL CINDY (chuckling): Okay.

(Max goes to the window and looks at some men working below. She focuses on one guy.)

MAX: Oohh. Look at hot boy down there. He’s got some biceps on him. Mmm.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Don’t make me put the smackdown on your ass.

MAX (nodding): Yeah.

ORIGINAL CINDY (pushing her out the door): Walk.

(Outside a large, official building, Madame X is walking down some steps with Sandoval.)

MADAME X: Oh, about the stealth drones—let’s keep the Committee out of the loop until we run a test.

SANDOVAL: Your call.

MADAME X: Right answer. (Sees Lydecker approaching) Deck.

LYDECKER: You want to tell me why the Executive Committee met this morning and I wasn’t notified?

MADAME X: Would you excuse us, please, Agent Sandoval?

(Sandoval leaves.)

MADAME X: I didn’t notify you because I didn’t want you there.

LYDECKER: I’m sure you didn’t.

MADAME X: The boys upstairs are on the warpath about that X5 female who escaped last week—“Tinga,” is it?

LYDECKER: You were responsible for her escape, and you damn well know it.

MADAME X: The Committee doesn’t see it that way. They see it as another example of operational mishandling on your part.

LYDECKER: You’ve always been a genius at covering your ass.

MADAME X: I went to bat for you, and I think that I managed to fend off a full procedural review, so say thank you.

(She walks away. We see Zack hiding nearby, watching.)

LYDECKER: Pissy little bitch.

(At Jam Pony)

MAX: Do I look flushed?

ORIGINAL CINDY: You’re trippin’, boo. You got an itch, go scratch. It ain’t gotta be all complicated, either. The male mind understands the difference between love and sex. Sketchy! Come here.

SKETCHY: Hello, ladies.

ORIGINAL CINDY: I wanna get busy with you.

SKETCHY: Outstanding.

(Max smiles at Sketchy, then looks away and tries to calm down.)

ORIGINAL CINDY: But I want you to forget about it as soon as it’s over.

SKETCHY: Yeah, no problem.

ORIGINAL CINDY: And don’t be following me around, all moo-eyed and “Baby, I love you.”

SKETCHY: Whatever you say.

ORIGINAL CINDY (to Max): See? No complications.

SKETCHY (touching her shoulders): So when are we gonna do this?

ORIGINAL CINDY: Get away from me, fool, ’fore I put you in a world of hurt.

(She shoves him away.)

SKETCHY: I knew it!

(Max and Original Cindy walk away.)

MAX: I’m not gonna just hit it with some guy. That’s how I hooked up with Leo and Darren and Eric, almost. Total disasters that never would’ve happened if I wasn’t a teenage Frankenstein created by people at Manticore.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Fine, so you don’t wanna be ’bout it with just anybody. What about Logan? (Max whirls around to look at her) Somebody you’re into.

MAX: That’s not what I want to happen with us. We’re not even like that.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Whatever you say.

MAX: Can we stop talking about scratching? I wanna beat this bitch. You got my back?

ORIGINAL CINDY (rolling her eyes): Who’s your girl?

(Max turns back around and nearly bumps into a guy delivering a pizza. She looks at him and smiles.)

DELIVERY GUY (smiling): Uh, did, uh, someone order a large sausage?

MAX: Hi.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Max...

MAX: What’s your name?

(Original Cindy starts pushing Max away. Max’s eyes never leave the guy.)

DELIVERY GUY: Rafer.

NORMAL (handing Max a package): Hot run, 95 Round Hill Road.

MAX: I’m on a hot run.

ORIGINAL CINDY: No, you’re not. Come on. (Pushes Max out the door)

MAX: See ya around.

RAFER (smiling): Whoa.

(In his office, Lydecker is reading from a file and talking to Brin.)

LYDECKER: According to your debriefing regarding Tinga’s escape, “X5-656 somehow managed to slip out of her shackles and overpower the soldier detailed to her guard.”

BRIN: Yes, sir.

LYDECKER: And you were unaware of the struggle going on right behind where you were sitting?

BRIN: It happened very fast, sir. Before I knew it, she had punched through the partition and grabbed the driver from behind.

LYDECKER: And you couldn’t stop her?

BRIN: I was trying to keep control of the vehicle, sir.

LYDECKER: I had made a deal to secure Tinga in exchange for sparing her son’s life. Yet you tried to capture the boy and X5-452 as well.

BRIN: Yes, sir. The scope of the mission was changed during the briefing.

LYDECKER: That wasn’t my mission briefing.

BRIN: I assumed you were in the loop, sir, since Agent Sandoval was—

(She realizes she’s made a mistake and stops.)

LYDECKER: Agent Sandoval?

BRIN: Yes, sir.

LYDECKER: Thank you. You’ve been very helpful, X5-734. Dismissed.

(Brin salutes and walks out.)

(At home, Original Cindy is reading a magazine. Max comes out of the bathroom and begins doing pushups.)

MAX: Nothin’ like an ice-cold shower to get your mind off the dirty deed.

ORIGINAL CINDY: I’m not even gonna ask.

MAX: I gotta sit in the same car with Logan tonight.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Is that wise? You keep saying you don’t want anything to happen between you two.

MAX: I have no choice. We have to run an...errand.

ORIGINAL CINDY: He got the 411 on what’s up with you?

MAX: Are you kiddin’? He’s the last person in the world I want to know about this.

ORIGINAL CINDY: How you gonna keep from layin’ out for the boy?

(Max stops in mid-pushup.)

MAX: Gonna sit on my hands, try not to look at him...try not to think about his scruffy beard and those cute little glasses that make him look all sexy and intellectual...Oh, God. I gotta take another shower.

(Max jumps up and runs for the bathroom. Someone knocks on the door. Original Cindy opens it to reveal Logan.)

LOGAN: Hey.

(Max comes up behind Original Cindy and smiles.)

MAX: Hey yourself.

LOGAN: You ready?

(Max steps toward Logan a bit. Original Cindy holds her back.)

MAX: Never readier in my life.

LOGAN (puzzled): Well, let’s do this.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Give her a minute. She’ll meet you downstairs.

LOGAN: Okay.

(Original Cindy closes the door and turns to Max.)

ORIGINAL CINDY: You—drop and give me twenty.

MAX (nodding): Okay.

(At a diner on the street, a man named Zakes Kani is eating noodles with chopsticks. Lydecker comes up behind him.)

LYDECKER: Zakes.

(They laugh and greet each other in a foreign language. Lydecker sits down.)

LYDECKER: It’s good to see you again. What brings you here?

KANI: Hoping we could do business.

LYDECKER: Every few years we talk about business, and you go back to Johannesburg disappointed.

(The woman at the counter sets a bowl of noodles of front of Lydecker. He begins to eat.)

KANI: I’m a persistent man. We remain interested in pursuing a transgenic program, along the lines of Manticore. I’d like to propose a trade.

LYDECKER: I’m not interested in neural-implant technology. My kids perform fine without sticking some gizmo in their brain to rev ’em up.

KANI: You’ve made that quite clear.

LYDECKER: So what are you offering?

(Kani sets a photo of Max on the counter.)

KANI: We can find her for you.

LYDECKER: How?

KANI: She’s got one of our implants.

LYDECKER: How the hell did that happen?

KANI: Ah, long story. The point is, the mechanism is made of a metallic alloy that returns a distinctive signature when hit with an electromagnetic signal.

LYDECKER: And what would that alloy be?

KANI: If I tell you that, then what do you need us for?

LYDECKER: All right. What’s the price tag for your assistance here?

KANI: Some genetic data from your early prototypes. Maybe an in-vitro embryo...to sweeten the pot.

LYDECKER: All right. But nothing current, understood?

KANI: We can live with that. (Chuckles) We’ll have her home for you in no time.

(Logan and Max are parked in his Aztek. The windows are steamed up. Max is antsy and sweating, looking straight ahead, trying to stay calm.)

LOGAN: What’s up with the windows?

MAX: I don’t know. Why you asking me?

LOGAN: I’m just saying. They’re all fogged up. Must be humid or something.

MAX: Must be.

(While he looks out the window, she looks at him.)

LOGAN: Guards should’ve changed shifts by now.

(Max smiles as she watches Logan lick his lips. She looks at his eyes, then his mouth, as he turns to her.)

LOGAN: Can you make out with me while we wait?

MAX (smiling widely): What?

LOGAN: Can you make out anything past the gate?

(Max turns away and tries to calm down.)

MAX: No. Not a thing.

LOGAN (patting his coat pockets): Where’s my phone?

(Logan reaches across her to get into the glove compartment.)

LOGAN: Sorry.

(Max looks at him practically in her lap, restrains herself, and gets out of the car.)

MAX: I gotta get this thing over with.

LOGAN: Hey! The guards haven’t—

(He stops as she slams the door shut.)

(Outside the nuclear facility, a guard patrols a bridge. Max hides on the side of the bridge until he passes, then climbs up the side and walks across. She sneaks into the facility and opens a locker, finding a lab coat, hard hat, and Geiger counter. She dons the coat and hat and tests the counter. She approaches a couple of men standing at a window to a small room. They are also wearing lab coats and hard hats, and are using a joystick to control a robotic arm inside the room.)

MAX: Just doing a rad test. Don’t mind me.

(She scans the men with the Geiger counter. It clicks.)

MAX: Wow.

ONE OF THE MEN: Is there a problem?

MAX: Have either of you been experiencing any hair loss lately?

(They look at her.)

FIRST MAN: What?

SECOND MAN: Hair loss?

MAX: Maybe you should go get some coffee ’til I figure out what’s going on here.

SECOND MAN: Let’s go.

(The men walk away. Max opens the mechanism to the joystick. She uses tweezers to remove a microchip and put it in a plastic bag. Down the hall, the two men are talking to another man in coat and hat, who is holding a clipboard.)

MAN: Guys, there’s no rad test scheduled for tonight.

(Max runs past, no longer wearing the coat or hat.)

MAN: Hey! (Into radio) We have a security breach.

(Alarms go off as Max runs out of the building, pursued by guards. She reaches the edge of the building’s platform and stops short, looking over the water.)

FIRST GUARD: Freeze!

SECOND GUARD: Hold it!

(They shoot as Max dives headfirst into the water.)

(Soaking wet, Max gets into Logan’s car.)

LOGAN: Did you get it?

MAX: No, I just won a wet T-shirt contest. ’Course I got it.

(She removes the bag containing the chip from her vest and hands it to him. He holds it up to the light, looks at it, and smiles at her.)

MAX: Yeah, yeah, we foiled Pierpont Lemkin’s evil plan and saved the world. Can we get out of here?

(At Jam Pony the next day, Original Cindy is sitting on the couch. Max joins her, looking antsy and trying to calm down.)

ORIGINAL CINDY: So the Lady Max made it home with her virtue intact.

MAX: Very funny. I just gotta get through the next 24 hours, and of course today had to be the one-year anniversary of the night Logan and I met, and of course he had to remember, and of course he wants to have dinner.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Think you can make it through without jumping his bones?

MAX: I don’t even wanna think about that. (Tries to calm herself) I just need to focus on the task at hand, and the task at hand is delivering packages. (Grabs a package) Where does this go?

(She gets up, looking down at the package label, and bumps into Rafer, who is delivering more pizza.)

RAFER: Hey.

MAX (smiling): Hey.

RAFER: Max, right?

MAX (looking at him, then yelling): Normal! I need to take a personal day!

NORMAL: Just a minute.

(Max runs into his office and stops. Normal is in his undershirt, scrubbing something off his shirt, which is lying on his desk.)

NORMAL: What part of “just a minute” do you not understand?

(She looks him over and smiles.)

NORMAL: Coffee on my brand-new chemise. Gotta get it out before it sets.

(Max smiles more as she focuses on Normal’s pecs, shoulders, and biceps. She sees him squeeze water out of the rag he’s using and lick his lips.)

NORMAL: Hold on one cotton-pickin’ minute there, girlie-girl. No knock—

(He stops as Max runs a hand over his shoulder.)

MAX: Normal, I didn’t know you worked out.

NORMAL: Are you all right?

(She pushes him against the wall and begins kissing him hard. Original Cindy runs in.)

ORIGINAL CINDY: Whoa, whoa! Slow down, female!

(She pulls Max off Normal and slugs her.)

MAX: Thanks. I needed that.

(Original Cindy pulls Max to the door.)

ORIGINAL CINDY (to Normal): Max needs a personal day.

NORMAL: Take a week.

ORIGINAL CINDY (to Max, as they leave): Damn, I didn’t know this condition of yours was that bad.

(Normal wipes his mouth and gives a surprised laugh.)

NORMAL: Whoa.

(Sandoval enters Lydecker’s office and hands him a clipboard and a silver pen.)

SANDOVAL: The South Africans are airlifting their tracking equipment into town this afternoon. I need your authorization to release those files to them.

(Lydecker gestures for a pen. Sandoval hands him his own.)

LYDECKER: I’m putting Dochnovich on point in the search for the girl.

SANDOVAL: But sir—

LYDECKER: I need you here.

SANDOVAL: Yes, sir.

(Lydecker signs the form with his right hand and gives back the clipboard. Sandoval turns to leave without his pen.)

LYDECKER: Peter.

(Sandoval comes back to get the pen Lydecker is holding out in his left hand. After Sandoval leaves, Lydecker sits down and looks at an identical pen in his right hand.)

(Somewhere outside, Sandoval is walking with Madame X.)

MADAME X: He’s taken you off the search? Something’s going on. He’s badgering an X5 for information, poking through evidence, and now you say he’s giving classified information to the South Africans. He’s obviously desperate to salvage his reputation with the Committee. Who knows how far he’s willing to go?

(She sighs.)

MADAME X: Well, I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this. Lydecker’s gonna have to be contained.

SANDOVAL: Are you sure that’s necessary?

(We see Lydecker in his office, using some equipment to listen in.)

MADAME X: I haven’t told you everything I know. I can’t. He’s been compromised. Containment is the only option at this point. You’re the only one that I can trust with this.

(She sees the sad look on his face.)

MADAME X: I know. It’s for the good of Manticore. Set up the drone.

(She hands him a copy of Lydecker’s ID card.)

MADAME X: His photo ID. You know what to do.

(In his apartment, Logan is sitting in a chair with his wheelchair a few feet behind him. He is wearing shorts and has just finished putting on the exoskeleton. He reaches around to the back of his waist and turns it on. He slowly stands up, wobbling. He takes one clumsy step, then another, and laughs.)

(In their apartment, Max and Original Cindy are sitting at the table, playing a Scrabble-like word game with dice and plastic letters. Max is rapidly bouncing a bare foot on the floor.)

MAX: I appreciate you staying home with me.

ORIGINAL CINDY: No problem. How you feelin’? You gonna be okay for your anniversary shindig with Logan?

MAX: Think so. Feels like the worst of this thing’s passed. Is it sweet he remembered?

ORIGINAL CINDY: Real sweet. And I thought that lesbians were the only ones who grabbed any opportunity to celebrate an anniversary.

MAX (bouncing in her seat): You know, I feel pretty okay. It’s gonna be fine with Logan tonight.

ORIGINAL CINDY: You might wanna stay home and play it safe.

MAX: I’ve been cooped up all day. It’d be nice to get out.

(Original Cindy looks at the words on the board.)

ORIGINAL CINDY: Okay, that’s it.

MAX: What?

ORIGINAL CINDY: We’re done with this game.

MAX: Why?

ORIGINAL CINDY: Look at your words.

MAX (looking at them): So?

ORIGINAL CINDY: “Hung.”

MAX: Like a noose around your neck.

ORIGINAL CINDY: “Prick.”

MAX: Like with a needle. You have a dirty mind.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Yeah? Well, then, what about this one? Which I’m not even gonna say, ’cause I kiss my momma with this mouth.

(Max looks at the word and winces.)

MAX: Oh, God. You’re right. And I’m supposed to be there in an hour.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Are you gonna go?

(Max draws her knees to her chest and continues to bounce in her seat.)

MAX: I can’t. Not like this.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Well, then, you better call and cancel.

MAX: I can’t cancel.

ORIGINAL CINDY: You either go or you cancel. It’s on you.

(In his apartment, Logan is setting two wine glasses on the table and wearing the exoskeleton under long pants. His cell phone rings. He walks over to it with considerably more ease than before. He glances at the caller ID and smiles before speaking.)

LOGAN: Hello?

(Max is standing at her kitchen sink, antsy.)

MAX: Logan, it’s me.

LOGAN: Hey. I’m glad you called. You think you can stop at the market on your way over and pick up some strawberries?

MAX: Listen. I really hate to do this...but I can’t make it over tonight.

LOGAN: Oh.

MAX: Something came up.

LOGAN: Is everything okay?

MAX: Can we talk about it tomorrow?

LOGAN: Max—

MAX: I’ll call you. (Hangs up)

(Max walks away from the sink. Logan sits at the table and pinches out the candle.)

(That night, Max tosses and turns in bed, unable to sleep. Finally she gives up and heads for the door. Original Cindy emerges from her bedroom, yawning.)

ORIGINAL CINDY: Where you goin’?

MAX: I’m gonna put 600 cc’s of raw power between my legs. Gotta clear my head.

(Original Cindy returns to her room. Max takes off on her motorcycle.)

(Just after Max leaves, an Animal Control van pulls up outside her building. Inside are Kani, Dochnovich, and some other men, sitting in front of computers and tracking equipment.)

KANI: Any reason you want to start here?

DOCHNOVICH: Target’s last known location. We intercepted a call she made a week ago from a pay phone on the corner.

KANI: If she’s anywhere within two kilometers, we should get a hit.

DOCHNOVICH: Two klicks...just about covers all of Sector 5.

KANI: Right. Give us a minute to configure the antenna, and we’ll get started.

(Max pulls up to a sector checkpoint and waits in a long line of vehicles. A soldier stands guard above a sign that says “YOU ARE NOW LEAVING SECTOR 5.” Kani’s computer screen displays a map of Sector 5.)

KANI: Here we go.

(Tired of waiting, Max pulls out her sector pass and holds it up.)

MAX (yelling): Jam Pony messenger. Can I go through?

(The guard waves her through. She passes under a sign that says “YOU ARE NOW ENTERING SECTOR 6.” Kani’s computer finishes its sweep of Sector 5.)

ZAKES: Nothing. Where to?

MAN: Let’s move on to Sector 4.

(Max rides her bike through the empty streets. Another motorcycle joins her. At a stoplight, the other rider removes his helmet and we see that it is Rafer.)

RAFER: Max.

(Max looks at him and smiles.)

(They ride together and pull up to his apartment building. They make their way down a hallway as Max throws Rafer up against the wall and kisses him hard. She removes his jacket, pulls at his shirt, and begins to unzip his pants. When they reach his apartment, she shoves him inside.)

(Later, Rafer is asleep. Max is sitting up in bed, looking upset. She quietly gets up and leaves. She returns home, briefly glancing at Original Cindy, who is asleep in bed.)

(In his apartment, Logan is at the window in his wheelchair, watching the rain.)

(In the shower, Max begins to cry.)

(The next morning, Max is sitting on the couch, sad and staring into space. Original Cindy sits down next to her with a box of Kleenex.)

ORIGINAL CINDY: Aiight. Original Cindy’s gonna break it down for you, boo. You can sing the blues all you want to about how what you did was wrong, and bad, and now you feel cheap and empty. But that’s just a bunch of BS. The truth is, you love Logan.

MAX: Look, we’re not even like that. Fact is, we’d both be better off if we never even met.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Yeah, right.

MAX: He has to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair on account of me.

ORIGINAL CINDY: I didn’t see you on TV, pullin’ no trigger.

MAX: No, but I could’ve protected him and I didn’t. That’s on me, 100%. I’m nothing but trouble. I’m poison. The best thing for me to do is keep my distance before I get him killed.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Well, he doesn’t seem to be too worried about that, the way he’s always lookin’ at you all dreamy-eyed.

MAX: And what do I do? I stand him up on our anniversary and go have sex with a total stranger. That’s what I call true love.

ORIGINAL CINDY (putting her arm around Max): The only reason you ended up with hot boy is because you were running from the reality of the situation. Now you gonna have to step to the real about you and Logan, sooner or later, or your little head’s gonna explode. (Rolls her eyes and hands Max a Kleenex) But what do I know? I’m just a big ol’ lesbo.

(They both smile.)

(In the room where Tinga is being held, Madame X is standing at the control desk with the tech who works there.)

MADAME X: Why is it taking so long?

TECH: She’s a fighter.

(Her cell phone rings.)

MADAME X (into phone): Yes?

(We see Agent Sandoval talking on his cell phone in the warehouse district.)

SANDOVAL: He’s coming to meet me. I told him I needed to talk to him in private.

MADAME X: About what?

SANDOVAL: About you. Said I didn’t know if he could trust you.

MADAME X (smiling): That hurts my feelings. When it’s done, go back to the tracking van. I’ll meet you there. This girl they’re looking for...I’m anxious to bring her in.

(She leaves the building and gets into a car. Zack watches her from around a corner.)

(An SUV drives into the warehouse district. Lydecker steps out and looks around. A hoverdrone passes outside the window of one of the buildings. Sandoval is also looking around. Lydecker comes up from behind and surprises him.)

LYDECKER: You want to talk?

(They see the hoverdrone approach.)

LYDECKER: Wonder what this is all about.

(Lydecker puts on his glasses and they both continue to watch the hoverdrone. The hoverdrone scans Lydecker’s face, but does nothing; it has not found a match. Then it scans Sandoval’s face and finds a match.)

SANDOVAL: What the—?

(Lydecker shows him an ID card. It has Lydecker’s name and Sandoval’s photo.)

LYDECKER: You forgot who you work for!

(The hoverdrone fires several shots. Sandoval collapses, dead. Lydecker takes off his glasses.)

LYDECKER: Consider yourself fired.

(Madame X arrives at the Animal Control van and knocks on it. Dochnovich opens one of the doors.)

MADAME X (flashing her ID): I’m taking over this operation. Anything you get on the girl should be reported to my office immediately.

DOCHNOVICH: But Colonel Lydecker—

MADAME X: Forget about him. Where’s Agent Sandoval?

LYDECKER (from behind her): I gave him time off. He wasn’t looking well.

(Lydecker opens the other van door as Madame X looks on, surprised.)

MADAME X: Wasn’t expecting to see you here.

LYDECKER: Surprise.

MADAME X: Just came by to get a progress report.

LYDECKER: I’m glad to see you have a personal interest in X5-452.

MADAME X: Well, you don’t know how important your kids are to me.

LYDECKER: No. But I’m beginning to get an idea.

(In his apartment, Logan is standing up, adjusting part of the exoskeleton on his ankle. A rope drops from the skylight. He sits down in his wheelchair and heads for the rope.)

LOGAN: I think you got your nights mixed up.

(Max rounds the corner into view.)

MAX: First time I broke in here, it was about midnight. So, way I figure, it’s still our anniversary.

LOGAN: Well, in that case, I’ve still got a bottle of cheap champagne in my fridge.

(Later, they’re sitting in the living room, drinking champagne.)

MAX: So about last night...

LOGAN: It’s no big deal.

MAX: I owe you an explanation. See, I go through these phases.

LOGAN: Phases?

MAX: ’Cause of my feline DNA. Oh, God. This is something I so don’t want to talk about. You know...cats. Mating cycles.

LOGAN (surprised): Oh. Cycles. Really. So—you go into...Wow.

MAX: So that’s why I decided not to...come over. Because, well...because.

LOGAN (smiling): Well, I’m glad you’re here, and let’s just forget about it.

MAX: Yeah. Let’s.

(They clink glasses and Max sips her drink. She doesn’t look much happier.)

LOGAN: Max...it really is okay.

MAX: No, it’s not. I hate it. (Stands up) I hate that this happens to me. I hate what it does to me...the things it makes me do.

(She walks over to the window.)

LOGAN: All you did was miss dinner...right?

MAX (turning back to look at him): I should’ve stayed home and gone to sleep, but I didn’t. I went out for a ride to clear my head and get some fresh air. I ran into this guy...It was a mistake. It wasn’t me. (Getting teary) It’s just something Manticore tricked up inside of me that I can’t control. Makes me feel like...no matter what I do or how far I run...I can never get away from them. Never.

(She turns back to the window and leans her forehead on the glass. Logan stands up and walks over to her.)

LOGAN: It’s all right.

(Max turns around, looks down at his legs and then up at his face, in shock.)

LOGAN: Courtesy our crazy friend Phil.

MAX: Why didn’t you tell me?

LOGAN: I wanted it to be a surprise, for last night. An anniversary gift.

MAX: I’m sorry.

LOGAN: You have nothing to be sorry for, or ashamed of...’cause I know who you are.

(They smile at each other.)

(Suddenly the exoskeleton malfunctions. Logan falls to the floor, his legs shaking.)

LOGAN: Damn it!

MAX: It’s okay.

LOGAN: I’m sorry. Let me just—

(He turns the exoskeleton off. His legs still.)

LOGAN: I’m sorry.

(Max gets down on the floor with him.)

MAX: Logan...you’ve got nothing to be sorry for or ashamed of. It’s never been about you being able to walk. (Smiles) Not for me.

(He looks at her for a minute. Finally he breaks into a chuckle.)

LOGAN: Will you look at us.

MAX: Pathetic.

LOGAN: Hopeless.

MAX: Lucky we hooked up.

LOGAN: Happy anniversary.

(He gives her a kiss on the cheek. They look at each other and begin to kiss. After a minute Logan pulls away.)

LOGAN: Maybe, uh...maybe we should wait. You know...’till you’re yourself again.

MAX (smiling): This isn’t Manticore. This is me.

(They lean in and kiss again, more deeply.)

ZACK’S VOICE: Looks like I caught you at a bad time.

(They pull apart to see Zack standing in the doorway.)

ZACK: You wanna go save Tinga, or has something more urgent come up?

(In the Animal Control van)

KANI: We’ve covered Sectors 1 through 8 and everything south of Seneca.

LYDECKER: That only leaves Sector 9...the high-rise district.

(Zack joins Logan and Max at the computer. Logan is in his wheelchair and Max is on a stool with her thumbs hooked into her pockets.)

ZACK: Got some info from a pencil-pusher inside Manticore—same guy that told me Tinga wasn’t there.

LOGAN: Where is she?

ZACK: There’s a research facility they set up inside a converted silo near the municipal border. Pretty sure that’s where they’ve got her.

MAX: When do you want to do it?

(Zack glances at Logan and then back at Max)

ZACK: Tonight.

(Max glances briefly aside and then back at Zack. He understands and leaves the room.)

MAX: You know I have to do this.

LOGAN: ’Cause she’s your sister.

MAX: We can’t let them do to her what they did to Brin. And I promised her little boy he’d see his mom again.

LOGAN: I know. I want to help. (Goes to a drawer under the desk) I’ll hack into some surveillance on the place. We can stay in touch on coms.

(He hands her a couple of earpieces. Their hands linger as they touch.)

MAX: This’ll wait, right?

LOGAN: We have all the time in the world.

(Max and Zack drive down a street on a motorcycle.)

(In the van, Kani’s computer beeps.)

KANI: We’ve got a hit. Locked and tracking.

LYDECKER (into a radio): Base, this is Command, authorization Longbow Portent, calling for mobilization.

VOICE ON RADIO: Roger, Command. We’re on the move.

KANI: She’s headed northeast on Highway 9.

LYDECKER: Base, we have the subject in pursuit. Rendezvous at three klicks northeast of checkpoint K to form a convoy behind my lead.

VOICE ON RADIO: Roger, Command.

(Max and Zack drive into a lighted concrete tunnel.)

(Manticore humvees and the van head head for the silo, which is guarded by several men at the door.)

(In the tunnel, Max and Zack leave the motorcycle and speak into their earpieces.)

MAX: Logan, are you there? We’re in the silo approach tunnel. You got anything?

(Logan is at his computer, looking at an aerial view of the silo.)

LOGAN: Yeah. I hacked into the feed off a Chinese spy satellite. Got the location onscreen. There’s cloud cover, but from what I can tell, not a whole hell of a lot of security.

ZACK: We’re going in.

(Lydecker shows some soldiers a handheld computer screen. On the screen is a diagram of the silo grounds.)

LYDECKER: All right. This is the location. Form a containment field in full perimeter around the structure. Let’s go.

(Max and Zack approach the silo. Zack hands Max a gun with a silencer.)

ZACK: Take it, Max. We don’t know how much muscle they got in there.

MAX: I’m not gonna use it.

ZACK: Take it! I’ll go up front. You see what you can find on the other side.

(Zack pulls an identical gun out of his waistband and leaves. Max tosses the gun to the ground before leaving herself. A guard stands watch; she hangs from a crossbar and kicks him with both feet.)

MAX (into earpiece): I’m headed up top. See if there’s a way in from above.

LOGAN: Copy that. Still can’t see much, but I’ll keep you posted.

(She begins to climb a ladder up the side of the silo.)

(Lydecker is sitting in the passenger seat.)

VOICE ON RADIO: Control, perimeter is established. Over.

(He looks at his computer screen.)

LYDECKER: This time, there’s nowhere to go.

(Max enters the silo from the top. She walks across a catwalk and sees two guards standing below.)

ZACK (into earpiece): I’m in position. Let’s move in.

(Outside the silo, Zack shoots the guards standing at the door and puts a new clip in his gun.)

(Max drops to the floor on a rope and kicks the two guards from behind.)

(Zack kicks the lock off the outer door.)

(Max knocks out the tech at the control desk. She looks up at the tank.)

(On Logan’s monitor, the cloud cover clears. He sees Manticore humvees approaching the silo.)

LOGAN: Max...Zack...

(Zack opens the door. He shoots at the two guards standing inside. They shoot back, landing a couple of shots. He ducks back outside the door, grimacing.)

LOGAN: Max, Zack, full military convoy.

(Zack touches his leg. His hand comes up bloody.)

ZACK: I’m hit.

LOGAN: Get out of there!

(Zack limps away.)

(The Manticore humvees arrive at the silo.)

LOGAN (urgently): Max! Max, pull out!

(Max stands shocked by the sight of Tinga in the tank.)

(Outside the silo, Lydecker looks at a guard lying unconscious on the ground. He addresses one of the soldiers who arrived with him.)

LYDECKER: It’s Manticore special ops. Under whose command is this location guarded?

SOLDIER: I don’t know, sir.

LYDECKER: Prepare to engage.

(Inside, Max is still looking at Tinga in the tank. Tinga’s skin is pale and her eyes are closed.)

LOGAN: Max, you’ve got to go.

(Max uses the metal chair from the control desk to break the glass on the tank. The green fluid spills out.)

(Lydecker and his soldiers enter the silo.)

MAX: Tinga, no! Tinga, I’m sorry.

(Lydecker and soldiers find Max kneeling on the floor, cradling Tinga’s dead body.)

LOGAN: Max? Are you okay?

(Lydecker stands shocked at the sight.)

LOGAN: Talk to me.

(To be continued. Fade to black.)

LOGAN: Max?