(In Joshua's house, Max is sitting at a desk, poring through books and taking notes. She is looking at the papers the Manticore tech gave her before he left town.)

MAX: Huh.

JOSHUA: Virus bitch going down?

MAX: I'm working on it.

JOSHUA: Max and Logan gettin' busy?

MAX: I just want to be able to shake his hand without killing him. Why do doctors always have such lousy handwriting? I paid that Manticore creep five grand for a cure, and what do I get? A bunch of scribblings I can't even read.

(Joshua turns on a lamp and brings it closer to the desk, but the cord is too short and the plug comes out of the socket. Joshua plugs the lamp back in and sets it down. He picks up the desk chair with Max still in it.)

MAX: Hey! Hey!

(Joshua carries her over to the lamp and sets her down, then picks up the desk and sets it down in front of her.)

MAX: Joshua, what are you doing?

JOSHUA: Helping.

MAX: You want to help? Um...get me another pencil.

JOSHUA (smacking the desk resolutely): Pencil!

(Joshua hurries out of the room and Max goes back to her books.)

(In his apartment, Logan is on the phone.)

LOGAN: I read about the work you've been doing and I thought you might be able to help...A virus...Genetically targeted to a specific gene sequence...(chuckles sheepishly)...Yeah. It's mine, actually...Because someone wanted me dead...Doctor, please don't hang up. I am not a nut and I am willing to pay you a lot of money- -Hello?...Argh!

(Logan slams his phone earpiece down on the desk in frustration. He crosses a name off a long list of crossed-off names and snaps his pencil in half.)

(In his basement, Joshua is tossing things aside in his search for a pencil.)

JOSHUA: Pencil...pencil...pencil...

(He notices a painting of a woman, standing on an easel nearby, and looks through the box next to it. He pulls out a tube of paint and looks its color name.)

JOSHUA: Burnt sienna...(Looks at another tube)...Chocolate mousse. Candy. Trick and treat. Heh.

(He squirts some of the paint onto his finger and licks it. Seconds later, the awful taste hits him and he gags. Joshua grabs some papers lying nearby and wipes his tongue with them. He is still holding the tube of paint and accidentally squirts the painting with it. In a minor panic, he tries to wipe off the paint with the papers. It just smears, and the papers stick to the painting. Still gagging, he picks up an ashtray and spits into it. It makes him sneeze, blowing ashes onto the painting, where they stick to the brown paint.)

JOSHUA: Pretty wack.

(He pours some paint thinner onto a sponge and wipes the painting, hoping it will remove the paint. It thins it instead, and the paint spreads. Joshua begins to enjoy spreading the paint around, smearing it over the papers.)

(Upstairs, the lead on Max's pencil breaks.)

MAX: Joshua?

(She goes downstairs.)

MAX: Joshua? You down here?

(Joshua, who is now using a paintbrush and has paint smears on his face, suddenly remembers what he was originally doing in the basement.)

JOSHUA: Pencil.

MAX: What's up, big fella?

JOSHUA (standing in front of the easel): Nothing. Uh...no pencil. Not--not anywhere.

MAX: What's that? Let me see.

JOSHUA: Nothing.

MAX: Come on.

(He steps aside.)

MAX: Wow. Did you do that? (Joshua nods.) It's good. What is it?

JOSHUA: Father.

(We finally see what Joshua has been painting. It is abstract. Max looks a little surprised.)

MAX: Oh. I--I see the...guess he was an art fan. Maybe when Father was mixing you together, he put some Picasso in your DNA.

JOSHUA (smiling): Picasso in my cocktail.

(They both chuckle.)

MAX: This is good. A hobby. Keep you out of trouble.

JOSHUA: Lay low...dangerous out there.

MAX: That's right.

JOSHUA: People afraid of things that are different.

(In a building somewhere, White and Otto are talking about the transgenic who walked down the street during Max's first Space Needle voiceover since Manticore burned down. He is sitting in a chair with his hands cuffed behind him.)

OTTO: We're not sure yet if he's specifically purposed for something or just an experiment.

WHITE (to the transgenic): So, what is it you're meant to be? Besides ugly.

(The transgenic looks away and refuses to answer. White grasps his head and turns his face back.)

WHITE: I'm talking to you.

(The transgenic growls and bites White's hand.)

OTTO: Sir!

(White punches the transgenic, who releases his hand.)

OTTO: Are you all right?

WHITE: Arrange for transport. The boys at forensics have been itching to take one of these transgenics apart alive. They just got their wish.

OTTO: Yes, sir. (Into a walkie-talkie) This is Carson. White wants this guy transported ASAP.

(While Otto is talking, the transgenic pulls his hands out of the cuffs and lunges at him. The transgenic bursts into the next room with Otto in a choke hold. White turns to look and two other men draw their guns.)

OTTO: Don't shoot!

(The transgenic growls. White draws his own gun.)

OTTO: No!

(White fires on the transgenic, who drops Otto. White continues to shoot until the transgenic is on the ground, dead.)

WHITE: Never turn your back on them.

INTRODUCTION: She was designed to be the perfect soldier--a human weapon. Then she escaped. In a future not far from now, in a broken world, she is haunted by her past. She cannot run; she must fight to discover her destiny.

(In his apartment, Logan is again on the phone. A recorded female voice answers.)

VOICE: You've reached the cellular voice mail for Donald Lydecker. Leave a message after the beep. (Beeps.)

LOGAN: Hey, it's me. Haven't gotten one of your mysterious phone calls in a while. I was hoping, uh, maybe you could hook me up with one of your doctor friends. Last one left town in a hurry; said your former employers were looking to terminate his contract. Anyhow...really like to hear from you.

(At Joshua's house, Alec walks in the door. Joshua is sitting in an armchair, reading. His painting stands on its easel nearby.)

ALEC (whistling): Here, boy! Anybody home? (Enters the living room and sees Joshua.) Hey.

JOSHUA: Hey. Max had to blaze.

ALEC: Oh, that's okay. Actually, I came to see you. I, uh, scored a sweet deal on some ham hocks. My buyer fell through on me. You want 'em?

(Joshua gasps eagerly.)

JOSHUA: I don't have any money.

ALEC: Oh, that's all right. (Tosses Joshua his backpack.) Take it as an "I'm sorry" for trying to kill you that one time.

(Joshua grunts.)

ALEC (looking around): Hey, man, this is nice digs. This, uh...(Notices the painting)...oh, wow. This is real nice.

(Alec goes over to the painting and begins examining the frame. Joshua looks up from the ham hocks he has pulled out of Alec's backpack.)

JOSHUA: It's mine.

ALEC: Joshua, this could be worth some serious coin.

JOSHUA: It's good?

ALEC: Oh, yeah, you kidding me? I mean, look at that attention to detail. You don't see that kind of work anymore.

(Joshua eagerly removes the painting from the easel and hands it to Alec.)

JOSHUA: Take it.

ALEC (laughing): No, no, those ham hocks aren't worth that much.

JOSHUA: I want you to.

ALEC: Well, all right. Thanks.

JOSHUA: Wait. (Grabs a black marker and signs the bottom of the painting "joshua") Joshua!

ALEC: All right.

JOSHUA: Okay.

ALEC (leaving with the painting): Enjoy your ham hocks.

JOSHUA: Ham hocks. Bye.

(Max knocks on Logan's door as she walks through it. He finishes adjusting a servomotor on the exoskeleton.)

MAX: Hey.

LOGAN: Hey.

MAX: Was wondering if I could raid your library.

LOGAN: Go ahead. Listen, I was gonna give you a call.

MAX: Yeah?

LOGAN: Yeah.

(She walks over to a desk with lots of books strewn across it. Logan follows. Max picks up a large textbook and glances through it.)

LOGAN: Organic chemistry?

MAX: Bedtime reading. So what did you want to talk to me about?

LOGAN: I've been trying to get in touch with Lydecker.

MAX (closing the book): Lydecker? Why?

LOGAN: The last time we talked, he said something mysterious about tracking down some kind of lead.

MAX: Sounds like Lydecker.

LOGAN: I thought it was kind of weird that he never got back to me, so I did some checking around. Police pulled an SUV from the river about a month ago. The plates were registered to Lydecker through a holding company.

MAX: He's dead?

LOGAN: Well, they never found the body. Police say no one could have survived the crash.

MAX: They don't know Lydecker.

LOGAN: You sound like you're almost hopeful.

MAX: Yeah, well, you spend ten years of your life running from someone, you kind of miss not having him around.

LOGAN (smiling): At least you still have White.

MAX: Good old Ames. Somehow it's not the same with him.

LOGAN: Anyway, I had Matt Sung pull the police report. Check it out--some pictures they found near Lydecker's car. (Hands her the photos of the skeletons.) Looks like some kind of dig site. I figure I'll run 'em through a few archaeological databases and see what turns up.

MAX: Might as well.

LOGAN: Anyway, I gotta go see somebody.

MAX: Business or pleasure?

LOGAN: A woman contacted Eyes Only. Her son was kidnapped. Six years old.

MAX: Sucks. Didn't know Eyes Only did missing persons.

LOGAN: She reached out through an informant I've known for a long time. The police have dead-ended. The Olsens are desperate. Plus her husband's a big-time ad exec and she's offered to make a sizable donation to the Streaming Freedom Video Foundation.

MAX (smiling): Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

LOGAN: Hey, even Eyes Only's gotta pay the bills.

(In an art gallery, a woman looks at Joshua's painting while Alec stands by.)

WOMAN: I like it.

ALEC: Great. Let me just get this out of the way for you.

WOMAN: Yes, please do. It's hideous. (Alec starts separating the painting and the frame.) Astounding. Look at the use of color.

ALEC: Gold? My favorite.

(Alec pauses, admiring the frame. The woman brushes it aside and gestures at the painting.)

WOMAN: Well, some gold, yes, but it's the broad strokes of cerulean and crimson commingled with found objects and palimpsests that make this work of art so unique and exciting. Don't you agree?

(Alec catches on that she's referring to the painting, not to the frame.)

ALEC: Oh, yeah.

WOMAN: I'll give you six grand.

ALEC: Six grand?

WOMAN: Fine, seven. (Under her breath) Agents.

(She calls to a man standing in the hallway.)

WOMAN: Enzo! Draw seven thousand from the safe and lock this up. No--on second thought, you leave this here. I want to bask in its organic energy, feast my eyes on its heroically gargantuan impasto strokes.

ALEC: Yeah, well, grab some beer and some ham hocks, and you've got yourself a party.

WOMAN: I must meet this artist. I must meet...(sees the signature)...Joshua.

(Alec looks over to the hallway where Enzo was standing.)

WOMAN: Hello, little boy?

ALEC: Yeah, yeah. (Clears throat) He's--he's shy.

WOMAN: Listen, my clients don't just want pictures to hang on their walls. They want the opportunity to engage with the artist, to interact with minds more creatively fertile than their own.

ALEC: Well, what can I say? I mean, he's fertile, but he's--he's a homebody.

WOMAN: Well, at least tell me he's prolific.

(Enzo hands him an envelope full of cash.)

ALEC: Thank you. (Chuckles.) Oh, yeah. Yeah, he's--he's painting night and day. Can't get enough palimpsests and, uh, cerulean paint to keep up with his bursting organic energy.

(Later, Joshua gets enthusiastic with his next painting, dancing around and flinging paint onto the canvas. Alec reads a book and eggs him on.)

ALEC: That's it, Josh, that's it. Come on. Get ready. Show me what you got. Show me what you got now. Beautiful! Beautiful! Hit it up on the left corner there. Left corner. Oh, it's great, Josh. It looks great. Keep going. Show me what you got. Be one with the paint.

JOSHUA: She liked it?

ALEC: Oh, she loved it. You know what she loved? She loved the color. Use some of that yellow. There you go. There you go. Toss it on there. Oh! Ooh, ooh--you know what? The big gargantuan impasto strokes--loved 'em. Get crazy. Go on. Do it up. Do it up. Get crazy, dog-boy. Joshua, get crazy. Oh, it's pretty! It's pretty. Hit it! Oh, it's beautiful.

JOSHUA: Joshua...

ALEC: What's the matter, Josh?

JOSHUA: ...has a new face.

ALEC: Oh, yeah?

JOSHUA: My work is my face, Alec!

ALEC: Yes!

JOSHUA: Good!

ALEC (tossing the book aside): Okay, you know what she liked? She liked the palimpsests, the--the papers with--that are written on. (Grabs some papers and tosses them to Joshua.) Boom!

(Alec picks up the Manticore tech's notes.)

ALEC: These are the ones right here. Ooh--oh, Josh, these are great. Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. These are winners. These are winners. (He sticks the pages to the painting.) Look at that. Look at that. Huh? What do you got for me? What do you got for me? What do you got for me? I need some help. I need some help. I need some- -help me! Help me! (Joshua tosses paint over the papers.) Boom!

(Joshua roars with exhilaration. Alec sits back down at the desk.)

ALEC: I got a headache.

(Logan walks with a woman through a market.)

WOMAN: They took him in the middle of the night. Right out of his room. We didn't hear a thing.

LOGAN: Police find any forensic evidence?

WOMAN: Nothing. They think it was a professional job. We have a video security system at the house. Caught a glimpse of someone, but nothing anyone can make out.

LOGAN: I'd like to see it.

WOMAN: There's a copy of it in here. (Hands him a large envelope.) Who could have done this? We're not anybody important. We're new here to Seattle.

LOGAN: You haven't heard anything from the kidnappers? No ransom note? (She shakes her head.) I may need to come by the house--take a look around myself.

WOMAN: It'll have to be during the day, when my husband's at work. He doesn't know that I'm here. Truth is, he doesn't care much for Eyes Only. Thinks what you people do is...subversive.

LOGAN (smiling): It's okay.

(Later, Logan looks through the contents of the envelope.)

WOMAN: Tried to dig up anything that would be of use to you. Birth certificate, medical files, school records...He's such a smart little boy. He won a spelling contest when he was four. Can you believe it? The word was "chasm."

LOGAN (smiling): I can't even spell that.

WOMAN (pointing at a photo): That's him when he was three.

LOGAN: He's a good-looking boy.

WOMAN: We, uh...lost our first two at childbirth. He's our whole world. Our miracle.

LOGAN: There's something I don't understand. On the birth certificate, it says...

WOMAN: Uh, yeah, that. Um...I go by my maiden name, Olsen. Ray goes by my husband's last name, which is White.

LOGAN: Ames White?

WOMAN: That's us. (Points to a family portrait. It is indeed White in the picture.) Happier times. Please...find him. Find our son.

(At Joshua's house, he is howling and singing while he paints. Alec sits in the armchair nearby, counting cash.)

ALEC: Said she loved it even more than the first. Said she wants to get together and discuss your "blossoming artistic sensibility," or something. I don't know. (Hands him some money.) Here you go.

JOSHUA: Rita wants to meet me?

ALEC: Yeah. That'd be pretty wild, huh?

JOSHUA: Joshua wants to meet Rita. Discuss my...blossoming.

ALEC: Bad idea.

JOSHUA: Good idea. Good for my career.

ALEC: Look, Josh, you're a great artist, apparently. But you're also, to be frank, a dog-boy. (Joshua growls at him.) Listen to me. Listen to me. One look at you, and your benefactress is gonna go runnin' in fear for her life. That's gonna cut a blossoming career off right at its knees, not to mention future sales.

JOSHUA: People afraid of things that are different.

ALEC (shrugging): Well, what are you gonna do? All right, now, come on. Show me some of that bursting organic energy.

(Joshua moans.)

ALEC: Josh, don't be like that. Come on.

(Max walks in.)

MAX: Good morning, Joshua. (Sees Alec) What are you doing here?

ALEC: Just paying a friendly visit to the artist-in-residence.

MAX: Uh-huh. Just stopped by to grab my papers.

(She walks over to the desk while Alec and Joshua turn back to the painting.)

ALEC (to Joshua): Focus. Focus.

MAX: That's weird. They were right here.

ALEC: What'd they look like?

MAX: White grid paper with scribblings all over it.

(Joshua looks up in panic as he realizes Max's papers are in the painting.)

JOSHUA: Palimpsests!

MAX: Huh?

ALEC: Uh...what...uh..."Pal upset"? Pal upset. He's just worried about you, the big lug. (Gestures at Joshua not to tell Max.)

MAX: Maybe they're down in the basement.

ALEC: Yeah.

(Max's pager goes off.)

MAX: It's Logan.

ALEC: Oh, well, you know, that could be important. Why don't you go find out what that's about? Michelangelo and I will find your papers for you, huh?

MAX: Okay.

ALEC: They gotta be around here somewhere, right?

(As soon as Max leaves, Joshua grabs Alec.)

JOSHUA: Gotta help Max! Gotta find virus bitch papers!

ALEC: Okay, okay. (Joshua snarls.) Easy, easy, Josh.

(In Logan's apartment, Max is looking at the photo of White and his family.)

MAX: It's him.

LOGAN: So what do you think?

MAX (angrily dropping the photo on the floor and walking away): Bad things happen to bad people too.

LOGAN (picking up the photo): She's not a bad person.

MAX: Married to him, isn't she?

LOGAN: She doesn't know what he does.

MAX: What, she doesn't see the blood on his shirts when she does the laundry?

LOGAN: If she knew, she wouldn't have come to Eyes Only. She's scared, Max. She's desperate to get her son back.

MAX: Yeah, well, maybe if White wasn't so busy trying to kill me and mine, he could do something about it.

(Logan just looks at her.)

MAX: You got that look.

LOGAN: What look?

MAX: Like you know more than I do and you're about to tell me.

(At Logan's computer)

LOGAN: From the Whites' security system. This is the feed from the camera covering the backyard. Whoever took the boy must've spotted the cameras--figured if they timed it right, they could get in without being seen. What they didn't figure on was this. (He zooms in on a spherical mirror standing on a pedestal in White's backyard.)

MAX: White's bad taste in landscaping?

LOGAN: Hang on. I can correct for the spherical distortion. (He isolates and enlarges the reflection of the house.) There.

(In the camera footage, two men approach the house. One gives the other a boost, and the second man leaps up onto a second-story balcony.)

MAX: Transgenics.

LOGAN: My guess is they couldn't get to White, so they went after his kid as payback.

MAX: White brought it on himself.

LOGAN: Yeah, but the boy's innocent. He can't help who his father is. Now, look, I'm not asking you to get involved. Just wanted you to know what was going on. Wendy could be the next target. I'm gonna warn her, and do what I can to help her get her son back.

MAX: How?

LOGAN: You see this?

(He zooms in on a tag hanging from the zipper of one man's jacket.)

MAX: What is it?

LOGAN: Some kind of badge or I.D. I'm running the image through an enhancement filter. It's gonna take a while, but with any luck, it'll clear up enough to be readable. In the meantime, I'm gonna go see Wendy before the man of the house comes home for dinner.

MAX: I'm coming with you.

LOGAN: You don't have to.

MAX: Yes, I do. Otherwise I'm no better than he is.

(At the art gallery, Alec is peering at a piece of art while waiting for Rita.)

ALEC (muttering to himself): You've gotta be kidding.

(Rita walks in, holding a small newspaper.)

RITA: Alec, I'm so glad you dropped by. I have something to show you. Joshua has been reviewed in the Artist's Weekly.

ALEC (reading the headline): "A staggering work of raw genius?" (He chuckles and starts reading the article aloud.) "Joshua #1 gives voice to the angst of expressionism while still reveling in its spectacular ambiguity. The medium is truly the message." Well, that just about sums it up. Uh, listen, Rita, about #2...

RITA: Oh, when they get a chance to view it--

ALEC: Rita, whoa--we're gonna need Joshua #2 back.

RITA: Well, I'm afraid that's not possible.

ALEC: You sold it?

RITA: No. No, it's part of my private collection.

ALEC: Oh. Um, well, it--it's at the artist's request. He, uh...sentimental value, you know. (Sniffs a wad of cash and hands it to her.) Yeah, should be all there.

RITA: I couldn't bear to part with it. Perhaps if the artist was willing to explain the situation in person--

ALEC: That's not possible. Listen, Rita, what's it going to take to get that painting back?

RITA: Oh...

(At Joshua's house)

JOSHUA (sighing): Two more?

ALEC: Straight trade. Said she'd give us the old one back.

(Joshua groans.)

ALEC: Come on, come on, come on, come on. Burning daylight. Start flinging fuchsia, huh?

JOSHUA: Uh-uh. Can't paint. What about Max?

ALEC: You want to help Max? Get your ass in gear. Come on. Gotta get you started. Come on. What do we need? A little paint? Is that it? (Picks up a tube of paint.) This oughta work. (Squirts some onto the canvas.) See? It's all in the wrist.

(Joshua blows him a raspberry and makes his own squirt.)

ALEC: Good.

(At White's house)

WENDY: Genetic engineering? Government cover-up? I mean, even if any of this was true, Ames has nothing to do with it.

LOGAN: He's been lying to you. He's not who he claims to be.

WENDY: I don't believe you.

MAX: I'm sorry, but it's true. The people who took your son did it to hurt your husband because he hurt them.

WENDY: My husband is a good man.

MAX: He put your son in danger.

WENDY: No.

MAX: And as long as you stay here, you're in danger too.

WENDY: Get out. Both of you.

LOGAN: We just want to help you.

WENDY: Ames loves me. He loves Ray. He--

WHITE: --wonders what the hell you're doing here, 452.

(White has appeared in the doorway. He drops a bouquet of flowers and points a gun at Max.)

WHITE: Don't. Don't even think about it. On your knees. Do it now, both of you.

(Max and Logan both kneel and put their hands in the air.)

WENDY: Ames, what's going on? What's happening?

WHITE (to Wendy): They didn't hurt you, did they? Are you all right?

WENDY: Ames...

WHITE (to Max): What are you doing here?

MAX: I was about to ask you the same question.

WHITE: What the hell are you doing in my house?

MAX: You're supposed to be at work. You know, killing people.

WENDY: It's--it's not true. Tell me none of it's true.

WHITE: What did they tell you?

WENDY (tearfully): That you--that--that Ray...You've known all along, haven't you? You knew that these--these transgenics took our son. You never told me?

(Max jumps up, grabs White's gun, throws it away, and punches him. She wrestles him to the ground and pins him. Logan grabs the gun.)

WENDY: Ames!

MAX: You son of a bitch.

WHITE: You animals took my son.

MAX: I should take you out--break your miserable neck and pretend you never existed. But I'm not that kind of animal.

(Max gives him a shove and walks away. Wendy rushes to his side and they hug.)

WENDY: Ames. Oh, God. Ames.

WHITE (to Wendy): I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

LOGAN (to Max): Let's get out of here.

(Max looks at the large family portrait hanging above the mantel. It is the same photo as the one Logan showed her earlier.)

MAX: Wait. (To White) We've got a lead on who took your son. We can find him for you.

WHITE: You'd do that? Why?

MAX: I'm not doing it for you. You deserve whatever pain life can give you, but your wife and son don't. They shouldn't have to suffer for what you've done. We'll keep in touch.

(Max and Logan leave. Wendy and White hug again.)

(In the art gallery, Rita is looking at two of Joshua's paintings.)

RITA: No. No, there's no passion here. The contextualization is poor; the juxtapositions are haphazard and lack focus.

ALEC: They look just like the other ones.

RITA: What?! These two canvases put together could never equal the power and majesty of Joshua #2. No, this happens sometimes. An artist burns bright for an instant, and then extinguishes like a scrape of phosphorus.

ALEC: Well, call it his Blue Period. It'll be worth a fortune. (Chuckles.)

RITA: Now if I could only, um, talk to him, I might be able to help him find his muse again.

ALEC: That's not gonna happen.

RITA: Well, then I'm afraid the deal's off.

(At Logan's apartment that night, the computer is still working on clarifying the image of the I.D. badge. Max is standing at the window, watching the rain.)

LOGAN: Can't quite make it out yet, but shouldn't be too much longer. (Leaves the computer and sits on the couch to join her.) You okay?

MAX: Just thinkin'. I don't know what I was expecting to see when we went over there...but it wasn't the Hallmark card house, or the pictures on the mantel, or the barbecue in the backyard. It all seemed so normal.

LOGAN: We dropped a pretty big bomb over there today. I'm guessing things won't be so normal anymore. But who knows? Maybe you doing this will force White to get his head on straight--make him feel different about his calling in life.

MAX (smiling): You're just the eternal optimist, aren't you?

LOGAN: That's my nature.

MAX: Yeah. Well, where White's nature is concerned, I wouldn't count on it.

(At Joshua's house)

JOSHUA: Lost Max's papers...lost my muse...lost everything.

ALEC: No, Josh, your career's not over. Okay? Let me give you a little advice from my, uh, brief sojourn in the art scene. It's all about supply and demand. You know? Rare doesn't just apply to meat, my friend. Look, you need to kick back. You know, you need to kick back, you need to stop painting, you need to make 'em wait. All right? Before you know it they'll be busting down your door for a--a Joshua.

JOSHUA: No. No, no, no, no, no, no. Virus bitch going down. Need to get Joshua #2 back. (Thinks for a moment, then gets an idea.) Steal it.

ALEC: Steal it. Yeah. Can we, uh, crack one of these windows open ? 'Cause I think the paint fumes in here are turning your brain into oatmeal.

JOSHUA: Sneak, sniff, steal it, huh?

ALEC: Listen. Listen to me, okay? We jack that painting, Rita's gonna know it was us. 'Kay? That's a career-ender. Not the plan. Now, look, as soon as we start selling paintings again, you can get Max a new doctor. Heck, you can buy her a whole hospital, okay? You know, but just, uh, tell her you lost the papers. Tell her, uh, I don't know, tell her your dog ate 'em. Tell her you ate 'em. (Chuckles.)

(Joshua groans.)

ALEC: Max will get over it, all right? You know why? Because underneath that--that sadomasochistic leather and that--that tough-girl image, she's nothing but a big softie.

(Max enters the house.)

MAX: Joshua?

ALEC: Okay, I gotta go. (Leaves.)

MAX: What's up, big fella?

JOSHUA: Uh...(Laughs nervously)

MAX: Any luck finding my papers?

(He laughs nervously again and shakes his head.)

MAX: I'll take that as a no.

JOSHUA: Uh...Alec, uh, sold my paintings, and...

MAX: Your paintings?

JOSHUA: They rocked. Uh, for a while.

MAX: Wow. That's great.

JOSHUA (taking a deep breath): Max and Joshua have to talk about paintings. Now.

(Max's cell phone rings.)

MAX: Hold on. (Into phone) Yeah.

LOGAN: Max? Got the whole image completed. It's an I.D. badge for an outfit called RCF Environmental Cleanup and Disposal. I got an address for a site they're working on downtown. Fifth and Grand.

MAX: Got it. (Hangs up.) I gotta go. Um, we can talk later. I promise.

(Max rides her motorcycle down a street and parks in front of a building. A sign on the fence outside reads "R.C.F. ENVIRONMENTAL CLEAN-UP AND DISPOSAL," with a phone number beneath. She enters the building. In an office, one man hides Ray behind a desk while another steps out into the building's main room. Max is walking down the steps from the door to the floor of the main room.)

MAX: It's okay, I'm Manticore. X5-452. (Shows him her barcode.) I know you took White's kid. I saw the surveillance footage. (The man strikes a fighting pose.) Look, I don't like the guy myself, but you can't just go around grabbing up people's kids.

(The other man steps out of the office, does a few flips over to the other man, and strikes the same pose.)

MAX: Let me guess. You're with him.

(Max and the two men begin to fight. At one point Max manages to take a look at one man's neck. He has no barcode.)

MAX: Who the hell are you people?

(The fighting continues. Max and the men each land several blows. Finally Max is thrown onto a roller belt and slides down into a basement. The men leave with Ray as Max watches. She walks around a corner and encounters the skeletons. She remembers Lydecker's photos.)

LOGAN (in flashback): Some pictures they found near Lydecker's car...Looks like some kind of dig site.

(Max sees the painting on the wall and remembers looking at Sandeman's cane at Joshua's house.)

MAX (in flashback): The Manticore symbol.

(Later, in Logan's apartment)

MAX: They didn't have barcodes. They fought differently. They're not transgenics, Logan. I couldn't hurt them--how strange is that?

LOGAN: It just got more strange. The place you found was a Kiloma burial ground from the early 1800s.

MAX: 1800s? What was the Manticore symbol doing there?

LOGAN: Good question. Found another one in a Mesopotamian burial chamber, 5000 B.C.

(On his computer, he shows her photographs of similar drawings.)

LOGAN: Another one in an Andean tomb in Atacama, Chile, 2000 B.C. Second-century Etruscan catacombs. Seventh-century Northumbrian Celtics. On and on. It's like a virus down through history.

MAX: What does it mean?

LOGAN: All I can figure is that Manticore, or some precursor to Manticore, has been around a lot longer than we ever realized.

MAX: They weren't doing genetic engineering back in Mesopotamia. Didn't exactly have the hardware.

LOGAN: Maybe not, but you just got your ass handed to you by a couple of guys hanging around an Indian burial site.

MAX: What's Lydecker's connection to this whole thing?

LOGAN: I don't know. But he was driving around with pictures from the same place the kidnappers were holding the kid.

MAX: You don't think he's behind all this?

LOGAN: We don't even know if he's still alive. Been trying to hack into his voice mail account. Maybe something will turn up there.

MAX: In the meantime, I'm gonna pay White a surprise visit. Could be he knows a lot more than he's telling.

(In Ray's bedroom, Wendy is sitting on the bed. White enters the room suddenly and she gasps.)

WENDY: You scared me.

WHITE: I'm sorry.

WENDY: Didn't hear you come in.

(He joins her on the bed.)

WHITE: Wendy...

(The phone rings)

WHITE: I better get that. (Answers the phone) Hello?...Yes?...My son? Who is this?

WENDY: Ames! Is it Ray? Don't make them mad! Don't--

WHITE: How much do you want?...How do we even know he's alive?...Ray? Ray?

WENDY (into phone): Ray, honey, it's Mommy!

WHITE: Don't worry, pal, we're coming...Hello? Hello?...Yes...(Writes down an address)...Yes...We'll be there.

(He hangs up and begins withdrawing money from a safe.)

WENDY: Should we call the police?

WHITE: No. They said for us to come alone. If we don't, they'll kill him.

(They leave the house, White carrying a briefcase, and get into their car. Max watches from a distance on her bike. She follows as they drive away.)

(In the RCF building, White and Wendy are standing alone on the main floor.)

WHITE: Wen...you know I love you, right?

WENDY (stroking his cheek): I know.

(Max is watching through a window. Her cell phone rings and she answers quietly.)

MAX: What's up?

LOGAN: Where are you?

MAX: I followed 'em. They left the house in a hurry. I think they're gonna meet the kidnappers.

LOGAN: Listen to me. I got into Lydecker's voice mail. There's a message there from some archaeologist he'd been talking to.

WENDY: Something's wrong. Where are they?

WHITE: They're not coming.

WENDY: What do you mean? How do you know?

WHITE: I staged this whole thing.

WENDY: What? You did this?...Where's Ray? I want my son!

WHITE: He's not your son anymore.

LOGAN: There was some kind of genetic breeding going on for generations. Selected women were forced to have children.

WHITE (as Wendy begins to cry): You were chosen for me. It's the early ones who did the smart thing and they...they got rid of the breeding host right away. (She slaps him.) But I made one mistake--I fell in love with you. But you...you just couldn't leave things alone. When I had Ray taken, you couldn't accept it. You had to go out and find him on your own.

LOGAN: Always in threes. They kill the first two newborns. Max, the Whites had two miscarriages before Ray.

WHITE (pulling out his gun): I didn't want it to end like this, but now I don't have a choice. As far as the police will be concerned, we came to meet the men who took our son. They double-crossed us, and you were killed.

LOGAN: When they're through, they kill the mother.

WHITE: I took a shot myself. (Shoots himself in the arm.)

WENDY: What are you?

WHITE: I am the future. Goodbye, my love.

(Just as White is about to fire, Max breaks through the window and knocks the gun out of his hand. Wendy sneaks away and hides. White and Max begin to fight.)

WHITE: Haven't you done enough?

(White lands a blow on her chin, to her shock.)

WHITE: Surprised? You think you and your little Manticore progeny are special?

(She kicks him several times. He grabs her foot and flips her over. They circle each other.)

WHITE: Transgenic scum. You think those geeks with their chemistry sets and their gene banks and their greasy little paws are the future?

(He kicks her to the ground.)

WHITE: You have no idea what you're up against.

MAX: I should've canceled your ass when I had the chance.

WHITE: You couldn't because you're too weak.

(She kicks him. Max picks up a large board and hits him with it. It breaks. White doesn't even flinch. She stares at him in shock.)

WHITE: Pain is a phantom of the mind.

(We begin to hear sirens as he punches Max to the ground. She sees a brick lying nearby. She picks it up and prepares to throw it at him, but he has disappeared.)

(Joshua drops into the art gallery after hours via a rope. As he looks around for his painting, we see a control panel on the wall that says "SILENT ALARM ACTIVATED." Joshua finds his painting and begins to leave with it. Rita appears with a gun.)

RITA: Hold it right there!

(Joshua turns toward her, holding the painting in front of him so it covers all but his feet.)

RITA: That's a pretty expensive and important piece of artwork you've got there, mister.

JOSHUA: I know.

RITA: Joshua? Is that you?

(She lowers the gun.)

JOSHUA: My painting. Joshua #2.

RITA: Yeah. Um, I told your representative you could have the painting back if you'd just ask for it in person.

JOSHUA: Here I am, in person. Give it back!

RITA: Yeah, but can't I see you?

(She begins to slowly walk toward him. He steps backward, panicky.)

JOSHUA: Uh...(He backs into a sculpture and it crashes to the ground.)...Oh! Sorry!

RITA: Joshua! Joshua! Let me see you, and you can take the painting back, and--and I'll square it with the cops.

JOSHUA: Cops?!

RITA: Yeah, you tripped the--you tripped the alarm. They're on their way.

JOSHUA: Oh, very wack. (He backs into another sculpture, breaking parts of it off.)

RITA: Joshua! It doesn't matter to me what you look like.

JOSHUA: Screaming...running for your life.

RITA: Joshua, it doesn't matter. I promise.

(Joshua slowly peeks above the painting. His eyes are visible; Rita appears eager to see more. Joshua lowers the painting and sets it aside. Rita approaches, thoughtfully.)

RITA (smiling): It all makes sense now. Your work...your early paintings...they were the expressions of an artist literally seeing the world for the first time, a joyous celebration of life and freedom. But now you've realized you can't be a part of this world, not really.

JOSHUA: People afraid of what they don't understand.

RITA (still smiling): You're too good for us, Joshua. Paint for yourself. Create, because that's what your soul must do to survive. But don't do it for us; we don't deserve it. You're special.

JOSHUA: Special...first.

(Rita nods and slowly frames his face with her hands.)

RITA: You...are...the one...and only...Joshua.

(Rita gives him a kiss on the cheek. Joshua smiles.)

(In Logan's apartment, Wendy is asleep on the couch.)

LOGAN: She's not safe here anymore. We have to get her out of town.

MAX: What about White?

LOGAN: I called Matt Sung again, had him check out the house. Big surprise--no sign of him.

MAX: So tomorrow he goes back to his secret government job for the secret government agency nobody's ever heard of. Untouchable.

LOGAN: Whoever this group he's involved with is, they know how to cover their tracks.

MAX: They've had practice. Looks like they've been doing it for a couple of thousand years.

LOGAN: Question is, what's this breeding program all about? Who's behind it?

MAX: And what do they want with Ray?

(In an alley, White stands with Ray next to a waiting car.)

RAY: Did I do good?

WHITE: You did real good, Ray. Real good. Your mom didn't suspect a thing.

RAY: I wish she would understand.

WHITE: Me too. But it had to be this way. It's time for you to be with other people like us.

RAY: Will you come visit?

WHITE: When the time comes.

(One of the car windows rolls down and a man looks out.)

WHITE: I love you. (Gives Ray a kiss on the forehead.) And I'll think about you all the time.

(The car door opens and Ray climbs in the backseat.)

WHITE: You be good now.

(The car drives away as White watches. He removes his wedding ring, lets it drop to the ground, and walks away.)

(Joshua walks into his house with Joshua #2 to find Max asleep in his armchair. He sets the painting down, looks at Max, and gets out a blank canvas. Glancing at her now and then and smiling, he begins to paint.)