(In Max and Kendra’s apartment, Max is trying to brush her teeth, but they’re out of toothpaste. Kendra is working on some papers.)

MAX: I can’t imagine a time where you could just walk into a store, shelves were full, and you could buy whatever you needed.

KENDRA: Yeah.

MAX: I mean, if you ran out of toothpaste, you could buy some toothpaste.

KENDRA: Try this--baking soda and peppermint oil. Does the trick.

MAX: Thanks. That’s what I don’t understand about this whole economic-breakdown thing. We have this huge toothpaste shortage, but you can buy peppermint oil.

KENDRA: If you know the right people. How do you spell, uh... polymerase?

MAX: P-O-L-Y-M-E-R-A-S-E. Except it’s pronounced “polymeraze,” with a Z like in “enzyme,” which is what it is. Responsible for the duplication of the DNA molecule by allowing the oligonucleotide primers to bind to the separated molecular strands.

KENDRA: You’re such a goofball.

MAX: What are you working on?

KENDRA: Got a gig temping for this Japanese doctor who’s in town giving a paper.

(Max picks up a couple of Kendra’s papers.)

MAX: Gene resequencing...manipulation of RNA nucleotides?

KENDRA: Don’t ask me what any of it means. All I know is I’m getting paid.

MAX: Excellent.

KENDRA: Actually, it’s kind of dope. This doc--his name is Tanaka--took this crack baby born three months premature. The kid had the IQ of broccoli. Doc goes to work on him...six years later, he’s a boy genius. (Hands her a photo) Isn’t he a cutie-pie?

MAX: So they fixed him by futzing with his genes after he was born?

KENDRA: I guess.

(Max remembers having seizures at Manticore and recently.)

MAX: Can I take a look at this?

KENDRA: Long as you don’t make me late for the conference.

MAX: Got you covered.

(Later, Max gives Kendra a ride to a hotel on her motorcycle.)

MAX: They’re putting you up here during the conference?

KENDRA: Not a chance.

MAX: Too bad. I was hoping we could score some towels.

KENDRA: If I get invited to shower with anyone, I’ll see what I can do.

(Max sees the little boy looking out from one of the hotel windows. A man pulls the boy away and shuts the window.)

(In his apartment, Logan is working in his office and falls out of his wheelchair. Max enters the apartment.)

MAX: Anybody home?

(Logan closes the door to his office.)

MAX: Logan?

(Logan hurries to get back into his chair before Max comes in the room. She wanders around.)

MAX: Logan?

(Finally she enters the office. Logan isn’t quite finished but acts like he is.)

MAX: Hi.

LOGAN: Hi.

MAX: Hard of hearing or somethin’?

LOGAN: Actually, one of my faculties that’s still intact. I was just thinking.

MAX: Oh.

LOGAN: You have that “Logan, I need a favor” look on your face.

MAX: Don’t I always? I mean, isn’t that the only reason why I come around?

(Max sits down. Logan finishes while her back is briefly turned.)

MAX: There’s a conference at the Steinlitz Hotel. A scientist, Dr. Tanaka, is presenting a paper on genetic research.

LOGAN: Yeah, I think I, um, heard something about that.

MAX: I wanna check it out.

LOGAN: You have my blessing.

(Logan heads for the door. Max follows.)

MAX: It’s one of those things where you can’t just walk in off the streets. You gotta have credentials.

LOGAN: I’ll see what I can do. Why do you want to go, anyway?

MAX: I read this guy’s paper. Claims he can cure what ails you by moving your genes around.

LOGAN: You think he can help you with your seizures?

MAX: Worth looking into. You know, you oughta come down there with me. Dr. Tanaka talks about how, by using the body’s genetic blueprints, it can re-engineer itself. I mean, if the man’s on the level, you’d be walking around in no time.

LOGAN: You know what, Max, I’m having a hard enough time dealing with the here and now. You want to go listen to whatever pie-in-the-sky Dr. Feelgood’s hustling, be my guest. Just leave me out of it, okay?

MAX: Okay. I was just...

LOGAN: Just don’t. (Opens the door) I’ll call you if I can swing the conference thing.

(Max looks at him and walks out. Logan sighs.)

(At Jam Pony)

SKETCHY: How was everybody’s weekend?

HERBAL: Good, good.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Speak for yourself. Original Cindy had a tragic Saturday night. Finally got to kick it with my lickety-boo, ‘kay?

MAX: Chrisette?

ORIGINAL CINDY: Check it. We have a couple of beers, shoot some pool...sista girl drop she go both ways.

SKETCHY: Yeah, so? Aren’t all women basically bisexual?

MAX: You’re an idiot.

ORIGINAL CINDY: I can live with bisexual. It ain’t perfect, but at least she halfway there. But then shugga tells me that she has this big ol’ love affair with one of the other lickety-chicks, which ended badly, so her heart is broken. So now she is celibate.

SKETCHY: What’s the point of being bisexual if you’re celibate?

ORIGINAL CINDY: Thank you! So now there’s two broken hearts.

HERBAL: Yes, but it’s all good.

ORIGINAL CINDY: It is not all good. All good would be her and me chillin’.

HERBAL: It unfolds according to the will of the Most High, not just your desire, my sista.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Whatever.

SKETCHY: But you might want to try getting her really drunk.

(Original Cindy gives Sketchy a shove. Max approaches Normal, coughing loudly.)

MAX: I’m gonna have to take the afternoon off. Medical emergency. (Coughs)

NORMAL: Yeah, right.

MAX: I’m clammy and achy with chills. I got a fever. I’m burning up. Feel my forehead.

NORMAL: No, thank you. Get a note from your doctor.

(Max coughs again. Her pager beeps.)

MAX: Can I use your phone? Please?

NORMAL: Just don’t breathe on it.

(Max dials Logan’s number.)

MAX: Hey.

LOGAN: Affirmative on those press credentials. You are Rachel Glasser, from Biotech Frontiers magazine. I’ll leave them with Bling if I’m not here.

MAX: Thanks.

LOGAN: Sorry for getting pissy before.

MAX: No big dealio.

(Max hangs up, coughs once more for show, and walks away. Normal sprays disinfectant on the phone.)

(At the Steinlitz Hotel, Max approaches Dr. Tanaka in the lobby before the conference, interrupting a conversation he was having with two Japanese men.)

MAX: Hi. Rachel Glasser, Dr. Tanaka. Nice to meet you. Biotech Frontiers.

(Dr. Tanaka says something in Japanese to finish the conversation.)

MAX (to the men as they walk away): Excuse me.

DR. TANAKA: How do you do?

MAX: I’m curious. You know how when you try to resequence nucleotides, you always end up with one stray intron? Have you ever considered using plasmids to transfect the new base-pair vectors directly into the codon sequence, so that that won’t happen? I mean, one bad intron can mess up everything.

DR. TANAKA: Interesting. I never considered that.

VOICE ON P.A.: Ladies and gentlemen, if you will please take your seats...

DR. TANAKA: Please excuse me. Perhaps we can talk more later?

MAX: Yeah, I would like that.

(Dr. Tanaka walks away. Kendra spots Max and approaches her.)

KENDRA: What are you doing here?

MAX: You don’t know me. My name’s Rachel Glasser; I’m a journalist. Don’t ask me how I got here.

KENDRA: Your rich boyfriend, that’s obvious.

MAX: He’s not my boyfriend.

KENDRA: Yeah, yeah. What’s up? This isn’t exactly your crowd.

MAX: Shall we?

(In the hotel’s auditorium, Dr. Tanaka is speaking onstage. Photos and videos displayed on a large screen behind him illustrate his points.)

DR. TANAKA: This is Jude Thatcher at birth. He weighed just three and a half pounds. He needed oxygen because his lungs were underdeveloped. He had no swallowing reflex, so had to be fed intravenously. He was addicted to crack cocaine. His mother, incarcerated for drug abuse and prostitution, could not afford the most basic health care. Jude was heading for an early and unlamented grave...until our foundation stepped in and took over the health management of the child. We began an intensive course of surgical, pharmacological and genetic intervention.

(At those words, Max remembers being experimented on at Manticore.)

DR. TANAKA: The results were encouraging. This is Jude at two years, six months. This is Jude at four years. And this is Jude today, living proof that there are no limits to what the human body can achieve with the right training and environment.

(The little boy walks onstage, as the audience applauds.)

JUDE: Konnichi-wa.

(Jude says something else in Japanese and something in Spanish.)

JUDE: We hope you find the proceedings informative and enlightening. Hello, Dr. Tanaka.

DR. TANAKA: Konnichi-wa, Jude-san. Why don’t you play something for us?

(Jude sits down at a piano onstage and begins playing.)

(While Jude plays, Max flashes back to Manticore. In the flashback, the young X5s are tethered to the bottom of a swimming pool, holding their breath underwater. Lydecker is standing near the side of the pool with a stopwatch. He steps back, so that the kids can’t see him from the bottom of the pool, and one of the kids panics. The kid tries to surface, but the tether holds him back. Zack is unable to free him. When the stopwatch hits four minutes, Lydecker signals for the tethers to be released, and the kids surface.)

MAX (voiceover): At Manticore, Lydecker used to tell us the same thing. “There are no limits. What the mind can conceive, the body can achieve, with the right training.” Only we could still get shot and killed like Eva, starve to death, or even drown. I’ve often wondered why we didn’t just turn on him. We were stronger, faster; any one of us could have snapped his neck before he knew what hit him. But we were too scared, and he knew it.

(The flashback ends. A man approaches the seat next to Max, who is still lost in thought.)

MAN: Is this seat taken?

MAX: No.

(The man sits down. Max looks at him and sees that it’s Lydecker.)

(There is an intermission in the conference. As Max leaves the auditorium, she has to pass by Lydecker. He speaks to her, but her heart is beating loudly and she just stares at him. We hear his words in slow motion.)

LYDECKER: You’re not leaving, are you? Dr. Tanaka’s barely scratched the surface. You couldn’t possibly have gotten your story already.

(Max becomes alert and starts paying attention to his words, although she’s still rattled. We hear them normally now.)

MAX: Excuse me?

LYDECKER: I said...You’re not leaving? You couldn’t possibly have gotten your story.

MAX: No.

LYDECKER: It is amazing, isn’t it? To think that we can fix nature’s mistakes.

MAX: Yeah.

(Lydecker offers his hand as he introduces himself. Max hesitantly shakes it.)

LYDECKER: Donald Lydecker.

MAX: Rachel Glasser.

LYDECKER (reading her ID tag): Biotech Frontiers. I can’t say that I’ve heard of that.

MAX: It’s new.

LYDECKER: I’ll have to check it out.

MAX: Nice to meet you. Excuse me.

(Max walks away. She wanders into a side hallway and stops while she flashes back to Manticore. In the flashback, the young X5s are sitting in class, and a screen in front of the classroom flashes the following words: )

KNOW YOUR ENEMY
ENEMY
DECEPTION
DECEPTION IS A WEAPON
SURPRISE A TACTICAL ADVANTAGE

(Suddenly Kendra approaches Max, and the flashback ends.)

KENDRA: Max?

MAX: It’s Rachel. I told you.

KENDRA: Right. Are you okay?

MAX: Yeah. Why?

KENDRA: Was that guy hitting on you?

MAX: What?

KENDRA: You gotta watch out for the older ones. Less testosterone and more charm, but it’s still all about banging the gong. You bailing?

(Max remembers KNOW YOUR ENEMY and ENEMY onscreen.)

MAX: Not a chance.

(Max goes back into the auditorium. She overhears Lydecker talking to someone sitting nearby.)

LYDECKER: Because he, uh...he’s never done it with music before.

WOMAN: Oh, I see.

(Max takes her seat and speaks to Lydecker while they wait for the conference to start back up again.)

MAX: Is this your area of specialty, genetics?

LYDECKER: I’ve done some work in the field.

MAX: Really?

LYDECKER: With children...gifted children.

MAX: How gratifying.

LYDECKER: I guide them as best I can. But, mostly, I provide a framework in which they can flourish.

MAX: Must be a challenge.

LYDECKER: Oh, it is. You know, it’s always the highly intelligent ones who most lack discipline.

MAX: Maybe they figure they’re smart enough to think for themselves.

LYDECKER: Ah, they’re still children. They don’t always act in their own best interest.

(Max remembers jumping out the window the night of the escape.)

LYDECKER: What do you think of this so far, the conference?

MAX: It’s hard not to be impressed.

LYDECKER: Tanaka’s recombinant technology is groundbreaking. It’s why I’m here. The children I work with...their genetic anomalies make them gifted, and they also make them flawed. Have we met before?

MAX: I don’t think so.

LYDECKER: You seem awfully familiar.

MAX: I get that a lot.

VOICE ON P.A.: Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome back Jude Thatcher and Dr. Yukio Tanaka.

(The audience applauds as the two reappear onstage.)

DR. TANAKA: Thank you. Thank you so much. Jude is an extraordinary boy. A singular creation, whose very life is the culmination of decades of genetic research. Jude is also a messenger, bringing good news to each and every one of us. How, you ask? You, sir. Will you please stand?

LYDECKER: Me?

DR. TANAKA: Yes. I see you wear glasses.

LYDECKER (standing up): Yes.

DR. TANAKA: How long have you worn them?

LYDECKER: A few years. I was fine ’til I was about 43. Next thing you know, I couldn’t live without them.

DR. TANAKA: Do you know why that is?

LYDECKER: Well, I’m no ophthalmologist, but I think it has to do with the hardening of the crystalline lens, which doesn’t contract the way it used to.

DR. TANAKA: That’s right.

(Dr. Tanaka uses a laser pointer to gesture at an onscreen picture of a DNA strand.)

DR. TANAKA: Now, what if I told you that what you refer to was already written in the genetic code, and that--if I snipped here, grafted here, and used some of your own RNA to seal the graft--you could throw away your glasses?

LYDECKER: You would be my hero.

DR. TANAKA: Thank you. You may sit down.

(Lydecker sits.)

DR. TANAKA: This same technique also allows us to treat and cure far more distressing conditions such as congenital blindness, deafness, even severe neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, epilepsy. All these can be remedied by manipulation of their genetic code, a minor rewriting--

(Max notices a couple of conference attendees and a waitress, apparently all terrorists, pulling out guns.)

TERRORIST: Go! Go!

(More terrorists enter the auditorium, and the man leading the group starts approaching the stage).

LEAD TERRORIST: Everybody stay calm! We are the May 22nd Movement!

DR. TANAKA: What are you doing?!

BODYGUARD: Get down!

(Dr. Tanaka dives out of the way as his bodyguard fires at the lead terrorist. The lead terrorist fires back, killing the bodyguard. People begin screaming and ducking; some run out of the auditorium.)

DARIUS: We are the May 22nd Movement. We are here to liberate the boy. Stay calm, stay out of our way, and you will not be harmed.

(Kendra starts heading toward Max. Lydecker hands Kendra a gun.)

LYDECKER: Take this. Hide it.

KENDRA: No.

LYDECKER: They won’t search you. Trust me.

(Kendra puts the gun in her purse. The lead terrorist approaches Dr. Tanaka, who is protecting Jude.)

LEAD TERRORIST: Let him go.

DR. TANAKA: No.You’re not going to hurt the boy.

LEAD TERRORIST: Let him go!

DR. TANAKA: No!

(Another terrorist pulls Dr. Tanaka away.)

KENDRA: Max!

LEAD TERRORIST (to Jude): It’s okay. Come over here with me.

(Lydecker pulls the fire alarm.)

LEAD TERRORIST: Get him!

(One of the terrorists knocks Lydecker out.)

LEAD TERRORIST (into radio): We’re coming down. Bring the van around.

VOICE ON RADIO: Not possible. Hotel security is blocking the entrance. They’re evacuating the place.

LEAD TERRORIST (to the others): Disable the elevators and seal the stairwells. No one gets on or off the floor! Everyone on the ground! Now!

TERRORIST: Do it!

(At Jam Pony, Herbal rides his bike inside and then joins Sketchy and Original Cindy at the lunch table.)

NORMAL: Hey! No riding inside! That’s what’s wrong with everything--no respect.

ORIGINAL CINDY: What you eatin’ on?

SKETCHY: Tomato with endive and watercress.

HERBAL: How come I don’t see any tomato, endive, or watercress?

ORIGINAL CINDY: Where is he gonna find any of that stuff even if he could afford it?

(A news broadcast comes on the TV and Sketchy turns the volume up. The report shows police and military outside the hotel.)

ANCHORWOMAN: We interrupt this broadcast to bring you breaking news. This is the scene at the Steinlitz Hotel, where a heavily-armed group identified as the outlawed May 22nd Movement stormed a scientific conference being held there. Police arrived moments ago and are attempting...

SKETCHY: Too much negativity in the world, man.

ANCHORWOMAN: ...which is believed to involve...

HERBAL: Which is why Jah want us to hold a higher vision of things. Like the both of you--your feast here.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Look, Herbal, it’s one thing for me and Sketchy to play pretend gourmet ’cause we broke. But that bitch for real.

HERBAL: No, no. That’s the very same thing, you know. Knowing that it’s all good, all the time.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Right, right, right. Somebody gonna get their ass blown off, but that’s all good?

HERBAL: All the time.

ORIGINAL CINDY: I love you like a brother, my brotha, but that is just whack.

NORMAL: Hi. Do the words “bip bip bip” mean anything to you people?

(At Logan’s apartment, the TV catches Bling’s attention.)

ANCHORWOMAN: The May 22nd Movement takes its name from the birthday of terrorist Theodore Kaczynski, known as the Unabomber, who, for three decades in the late 20th century, waged a violent campaign against the technocratic state.

BLING: Logan, you should see this.

ANCHORWOMAN: The group was formed in the wake of the Pulse, which movement founder Jon Darius praised as “a call to arms against modern technology.”

LOGAN (coming into the room): Jon Darius. Interviewed him a few years back.

ANCHORWOMAN: The movement has claimed responsibility for several terrorist actions, including blowing up bio-testing laboratories, television relay stations, and--We are now receiving unconfirmed reports that more than a dozen hostages are being held. We will remain live at the scene as this drama unfolds.

LOGAN: Where is this?

BLING: Steinlitz Hotel.

LOGAN: That’s where Max is.

(At the hotel auditorium, the hostages are all seated, while Jon Darius--the lead terrorist--addresses them.)

DARIUS: We don’t want to hurt anyone. Cooperate and you’ll be all right. All we want is to free the boy.

DR. TANAKA: Free him? From what?

DARIUS: From you and your freak show. You’ve turned him into the poster child for your morally bankrupt technostate.

MAX: What are you gonna do with him?

DARIUS: Give him a home, a family, where he can live like a real human being.

LYDECKER: And grow up to spout slogans and shoot people.

DR. TANAKA: This boy is my family.

DARIUS: He’s your lab rat.

(The auditorium’s phone rings.)

LYDECKER: Police, calling to negotiate.

DARIUS (into phone): This is Jon Darius. We’re May 22nd. We’re armed, and we are holding 35 hostages.

(Matt Sung speaks to Darius on the phone from the street outside.)

MATT: Detective Sung, Seattle P.D.

DARIUS: If you try anything--if your men come anywhere near this building--hostages will die. You got that?

MATT: I understand.

DARIUS: We want transport and safe passage for ourselves and the child known as Jude. If you don’t meet our demands, we’ll kill one hostage every hour.

MATT: For what you’re asking for, we’re going to need more than an hour.

DARIUS: First hour’s already up. Terrence...

(Terrence, one of the other terrorists, shoves Kendra out of the way and stares at Lydecker, who stares back. Then Terrence grabs Dr. Tanaka, who was sitting next to Lydecker, and hauls him out of the auditorium.)

DR. TANAKA: Jude, be brave.

KENDRA: They’re just trying to scare us, right? They’re not really going to kill him, are they?

(Outside, Logan and Bling arrive on the scene. The terrorists drag Dr. Tanaka up to the roof.)

DR. TANAKA: What are you people doing?!

TERRORIST: Just showing you the city, Dr. Mengele.

DR. TANAKA: No! No! No! No!

(They throw him off the building. Then they return to the auditorium.)

DARIUS (into phone): 59 minutes. Then another one goes after him.

(Shortly afterward, Original Cindy, Sketchy, and Herbal ride their bikes down a street.)

ORIGINAL CINDY: She’s hot, but what’s Original Cindy supposed to do? Wait around and see if this celibate thing is just a phase?

HERBAL: If it was meant to be, it’ll be.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Listen to Doris Day over here.

SKETCHY: Hey, the Steinlitz is right down there.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Yeah, so?

SKETCHY: So let’s check it out. Maybe we’ll catch a shootout or something.

(Sketchy takes off. Original Cindy starts to follow him, but Herbal gives her a disapproving look.)

ORIGINAL CINDY: Somebody’s gotta make sure he don’t get into trouble. (Rides away)

HERBAL (mouthing at the sky): Why?

(The three of them arrive outside the hotel just in time to see soldiers taking away Dr. Tanaka’s body.)

ORIGINAL CINDY: See that? Now don’t even try telling me that it’s all good.

HERBAL: All the time.

ORIGINAL CINDY: No, that is evil, straight up.

HERBAL: Yes, it’s evil.

SKETCHY: Wait. So if it’s all good, all the time, and you acknowledge that what just happened is evil... well, aren’t you sort of saying evil is good?

HERBAL: Yes, now you overstand. You have to forgive evil, all right? But love in spite of evil.

ORIGINAL CINDY: You need to put down the spliff, because it is clouding your mind.

SKETCHY: Now, I’m going to have to more or less agree with Original Cindy on this one, Herbal. And I ain’t no stranger to stoner logic. The guy looked pretty damn dead.

(A guard keeps Logan and Bling from getting close to the building. Logan gets Matt Sung’s attention.)

LOGAN: Matt! Detective Sung.

(Matt approaches.)

GUARD: Stay back.

LOGAN: We gotta talk.

MATT (to the guard): He’s okay.

LOGAN: A friend of mine was at this conference.

MAT: A few folks got out when all this started. What’s the name?

LOGAN: Glasser. Rachel Glasser.

MATT: Still unaccounted for. I’m sorry.

LOGAN: Who’s running the show here?

MATT: Military’s taking over.

LOGAN: Guy behind May 22nd--Darius--I know him. Maybe I can help.

(In the auditorium)

KENDRA: 45 minutes. Are they just going to wait until they kill someone else?

LYDECKER: Give me the gun...carefully.

(Kendra passes the gun to Max, who hesitates. She remembers the night of the escape, when Lydecker shot Eva.)

LYDECKER: It’s okay.

(Max reluctantly passes him the gun.)

(Outside, Logan talks to the military police captain in charge of the situation.)

CAPTAIN: So how do you know this clown Darius?

LOGAN: I interviewed him several times for a story I was doing a few years back, and he’s no clown. He’s very serious, and obviously very dangerous.

CAPTAIN: Well, if you’d have turned him in at the time, you’d have saved everyone a lot of trouble.

LOGAN: Well, I’m a journalist, not a policeman.

CAPTAIN: And, like all journalists, you’re in the way. (Into radio) I need an ETA on those sharpshooters.

VOICE ON RADIO: An hour away, sir.

CAPTAIN (into radio): What the hell’s taking so long?

LOGAN: Let me talk to him.

CAPTAIN: You have no involvement in this matter, Mr. Cale.

LOGAN: And you have no credibility with a man who’s holding a group of innocent people. As a soldier, you represent everything he despises.

CAPTAIN: And, as a soldier, I intend to do my job.

LOGAN: I might be able to get him to listen to reason.

CAPTAIN: You can’t reason with terrorists.

LOGAN: I can offer him a way to get his message out there.

CAPTAIN: He kills a man and you want to give him a bigger audience?

LOGAN: You and I both want the same thing--to free those hostages.

(In the auditorium)

TERRORIST: How can we kill a person an hour? I never agreed to that. It’s crazy.

DARIUS: Are you questioning me?

TERRORIST: Yes.

(The phone rings, and Darius answers. Logan is calling from the military’s mobile headquarters, as Matt Sung and the captain listen.)

DARIUS: You better be calling to say our transport is ready.

LOGAN: Mr. Darius, this is Logan Cale.

DARIUS: Logan Cale. It’s been a while. How’d you get drafted into this?

LOGAN: Oh, that’s not important. What is important is the safety of your hostages.

DARIUS: And you have 33 minutes, or there’s going to be one less to worry about.

LOGAN: You should be aware, Mr. Darius, this isn’t a police operation anymore. The military’s involved, and from what I can tell, they’re very anxious to do their thing.

DARIUS: It doesn’t surprise me. They’ve been hunting us down like animals for the last ten years.

LOGAN: Then you know they’re just waiting for any excuse to come in, guns blazing, and take you out.

DARIUS: If they do, they’ll have a lot of dead hostages on their hands.

LOGAN: As long as they get you, I don’t think they care.

DARIUS: Nothing like a good massacre to stir up public opinion against these butchers. People need to know what they’ve done to this country...the human race...the entire planet.

LOGAN: What century are you living in, Darius? Nobody’s ever going to hear about this. The authorities will turn your martyrdom into a nonevent. It’ll be history that never happened. Is that what you want? ’Cause it doesn’t need to be that way. If you can guarantee the hostages’ safety, I can help you get your message out.

DARIUS: How?

LOGAN: I have contacts who’d be willing to tell your story and no one would be able to stop it. On that, you have my word. But first...I need you to release the hostages.

DARIUS: No way. They’d storm the building in a second, and you know it.

LOGAN: Why not show the world you really are more compassionate than your enemy? Release the women and the child.

DARIUS: I’ll give it some thought. (Hangs up)

CAPTAIN: Nice try, but it’s not going to work.

LOGAN: We’ll see.

(In the auditorium)

MAX: You okay?

JUDE: I’m thirsty.

KENDRA: Come on. Let’s go see if they’ll let us have some water.

(Kendra takes Jude and approaches Darius.)

DARIUS (to another terrorist): Go with her.

LYDECKER: He’s a good little soldier.

MAX: He’s a scared kid.

LYDECKER: Fear accomplishes nothing. I hope he learns that now, if he hasn’t already.

MAX: Is that what you teach those kids of yours? To shake it off and move on, like nothing happened?

(Lydecker gets up and moves to the seat Kendra just vacated, next to Max.)

TERRENCE: Sit down!

LYDECKER: You look like you were around in the days before the Pulse. Your parents brought you over to visit your little friends. Carpools to soccer games, art schools. Do you really think, Miss Glasser, that your childhood prepared you for the life that you have to live now?

(Max remembers marching in formation at Manticore.)

MAX: My childhood wasn’t quite like that.

LYDECKER: In a way, the Pulse had some positive aspects. Toughened the world...strengthened the species.

MAX: Pretty grim view of things.

LYDECKER: Not grim...realistic. We can’t pretend the world runs on love. Survival of the fittest.

(Max remembers being forced to hold her breath underwater.)

MAX: Yeah, it’s all about survival.

LYDECKER: I do hope that boy gets out of this in one piece.

MAX: Hope? That’s a strange word, coming from a man with your take on things.

LYDECKER: Anachronistic language. I wish I could speak digitally. Point is, it’d be a shame to see Tanaka’s work go to waste. I’d like to observe the boy...for my own research.

MAX: Maybe you should do something with that gun, before someone else gets killed.

LYDECKER: It’s tactically premature. Things are going to get worse before they get better.

DARIUS (into phone): Get me Cale.

(Logan answers the phone in the mobile headquarters)

LOGAN: Logan Cale. (Listens) Okay. I’ll see what I can do. (Hangs up) I go in as a good-faith gesture, he releases the women.

MATT: What about the other hostages?

LOGAN: He wants transport to a civilian airstrip before he talks about handing them over.

CAPTAIN: He’s not getting that. No way.

LOGAN: Okay, one step at a time. Let me go in there, talk to him, face-to-face.

CAPTAIN: Now you need to be clear on two things. We don’t have to honor any deals you make, and I’m not guaranteeing your safety.

LOGAN: I’m not asking you to.

(Logan heads for the hotel. Terrence waves him into the building.)

(In the auditorium)

DARIUS: Because we’re fighting for humanity, we’re making a gesture of humanity. The women are free to go. You’ll be escorted to the lobby. Any games, you’ll be shot.

MAX (with Jude): We’re taking him with us.

DARIUS: No, you’re not.

MAX: Then I’m gonna stay with him.

DARIUS (pointing his gun at her): I don’t think so. Come on, Jude.

TERRENCE: Move it!

(Terrence shoves Max. She walks out, glancing behind her at Darius and Jude.)

TERRORIST: Keep moving.

(As the women walk down the hallway, Max sees Logan coming in, escorted by terrorists. He shakes his head at her.)

LOGAN (mouthing): Go.

(Kendra whispers to Max as they round a corner.)

KENDRA: Wasn’t that--

MAX: Yeah. I’m gonna say hi. Don’t tell.

(Logan arrives outside the auditorium.)

LOGAN: We meet again.

DARIUS: Accident? Or did you stick your nose where it wasn’t wanted?

LOGAN: Something like that.

DARIUS: You’d think you would have learned your lesson.

LOGAN: You’d think.

(Max pretends to fall on the stairs.)

MAX: Ow! My ankle!

TERRORIST: Keep moving!

SECOND TERRORIST: I’ll take care of it.

MAX: I think I twisted it.

(He offers his hand to help her up.)

SECOND TERRORIST: Here.

MAX: You’re such a gentleman.

(Max takes his hand and slams him against the wall.)

MAX: Too bad I’m not a lady.

(Later, Logan is sitting with the rest of the hostages.)

LYDECKER: Pretty chivalrous, offering yourself in place of the ladies.

LOGAN: I’m old-fashioned.

LYDECKER: Also a little crazy...getting yourself mixed up in this.

(Logan glances at Lydecker’s ID tag and notices his name.)

(Max sneaks into the projection room and looks down into the auditorium.)

(Downstairs, the women run out the door and away from the building.)

SOLDIER: Hurry! Hurry! Come on!

CAPTAIN (into radio): Anybody gets a shot, take it. Aerial units, move to jump-off position. Await my command.

(The two terrorists who had been escorting the women are shot and killed.)

(Original Cindy, Herbal, and Sketchy spot Kendra as she leaves the building.)

ORIGINAL CINDY: What the hell...? Kendra!

SKETCHY: Wait, it looks like she’s okay.

(Kendra starts to go to the three of them. Soldiers keep her with the group of hostages.)

SOLDIER: Hold it, miss.

KENDRA: Max is still in there!

ORIGINAL CINDY: Did I hear that right?

HERBAL: Max is inside there? That’s bad. That’s very bad.

ORIGINAL CINDY: I guess “It’s all good” goes out the window when someone you know and love is in trouble.

POLICE (to the exiting women): This is still a dangerous area. Please get into the truck as quickly as possible.

(Some soldiers drop onto the roof from a helicopter. A terrorist hiding nearby kills them.)

TERRORIST (into radio): Darius, come in...

(Darius approaches Logan angrily.)

DARIUS: What the hell’s going on?! They killed some of my people. They tried to land soldiers on the roof. Their word means nothing! Neither does your life. (To the other terrorists) Take him away.

(The terrorists take Logan up to the roof. Max follows. She grabs a rope lying nearby, anchors it to the building, and ties it around her waist. As the terorrists throw Logan off the roof, Max jumps off too, and she grabs Logan in midair. The two reach the end of the rope and swing toward a hotel room window. The terrorists shoot the rope and break it, but not before Max and Logan crash through the window and land on a bed.)

MAX (at same time as Logan): You all right?

LOGAN (at same time as Max): You okay?

MAX: What are you doing here?

LOGAN: I was going to ask you the same question. I went to a lot of trouble to get you released.

MAX: What were you thinking, exchanging yourself for us?!

LOGAN: You should be thanking me.

MAX: Thanking you? (At same time as Logan) You’d be thrown off the roof if it wasn’t for me!

LOGAN (at same time as Max): You’d be with those morons if it wasn’t for me!

MAX: Forget it.

LOGAN: Never mind.

(Max starts to get up, but Logan’s hand is on the rope and she’s pulled back down.)

MAX (at same time as Logan): I should go save the kid.

LOGAN (at same time as Max): Just go save the kid.

(Max removes the rope from her waist and leaves the room.)

(In the mobile headquarters)

CAPTAIN (into radio): Full breach. Full breach. We go in as soon as all squads are in position. Wait for my command.

MATT: Maybe we should give Darius something to buy more time.

CAPTAIN: He’s out of time.

MATT: What about the hostages?

CAPTAIN: They’re expendable. We’re going to show these idiots who’s in charge.

(Max sneaks into the projection room again)

(In the auditorium)

DARIUS (into radio): What do you mean, he got away? He’s in a wheelchair, for God’s sakes.

(Suddenly the videos from the conference start playing on the screen.)

DARIUS (to a couple of terrorists): Check it out.

(Max runs down a hallway. The two terrorists surround her. They both fire at her, but she jumps out of the way so that they end up shooting each other. Max sneaks back into the auditorium, hiding behind a corner.)

DARIUS: They’re making their move. Let’s get out of here. Grab a hostage.

(Lydecker suddenly stands up and prepares to shoot Darius, but another hostage knocks him down.)

DARIUS (to Jude): Come with me, okay?

(Darius grabs Jude and runs.)

(Terrence is about to kill Lydecker. After some hesitation, Max runs up and snaps Terrence’s neck before he can shoot. She incapacitates the other terrorists as the hostages run out of the auditorium.)

(Darius runs backstage with Jude and sees Max’s shadow on the screen. Assuming she’s on the other side of the screen, he shoots at it. After he fires, her shadow disappears. Max comes up behind him.)

MAX: Looking for me?

(Max punches him. He fires at her, but she avoids the bullets and fights him, eventually knocking him unconscious. Max approaches Jude.)

MAX: You okay?

(Jude looks at the screen, which is still showing videos of himself and Dr. Tanaka.)

MAX: Jude?

JUDE: What’s going to happen to me now?

MAX (hugging him): It’s okay. You don’t have to be brave anymore. Let it all out. It’s all right.

(A few minutes later, two teams of soldiers enter the auditorium.)

ALPHA TEAM LEADER: Alpha team in!

BRAVO TEAM LEADER: Bravo team in!

(A couple of soldiers go backstage and find Darius lying there.)

(Max, carrying Jude, exits the building through a side door.)

(The soldiers take Darius into the auditorium and begin beating him.)

LYDECKER: Hey! Hey! What the hell are you men doing?

SOLDIER: Interrogating the prisoner.

(He shows them his ID. They quit beating Darius and stand at attention.)

LYDECKER: Under the laws of this country, this individual is entitled to due process. You want him showing up for arraignment looking like this?

SOLDIER: No, sir.

LYDECKER: You want the judgment of your commander, the credibility of your military, undermined by your reckless behavior?

SOLDIER: No, sir.

LYDECKER: Neither do I.

(Lydecker uses the soldier’s gun to shoot Darius.)

LYDECKER: Problem solved. One of the hostages is a young boy, about seven years old. Have you seen him?

SOLDIER: No, sir. Unaccounted for, sir.

LYDECKER (disappointed): Thanks.

(Later, Jude is asleep in Logan’s car. Max and Matt talk to Logan as he and Bling are ready to leave.)

SUNG: You’d better get the kid out of here.

LOGAN: Thanks for sticking your neck out on this, Matt.

SUNG: This way, at least, he won’t end up in an orphanage. (Walks away)

LOGAN (to Max): Or in Lydecker’s hands.

MAX: Take care of my boy.

LOGAN: He’ll be okay.

SUNG (to the police): These folks are free to go.

(They drive away. Original Cindy calls Max over and they hug.)

ORIGINAL CINDY: Max! You okay, shugga?

MAX: I just kept my head down and let the mens fight it out. It’s all good.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Yeah, it’s all good.

SKETCHY: All the time.

HERBAL: All the time.

(Later, Max enters Logan’s apartment)

MAX: Hey.

LOGAN: Hey, yourself. Ordering myself a new wheelchair. Looking for one with the jet thrusters.

MAX (laughing): Thanks for bailing the gals out of there today...myself included.

LOGAN: Right back atcha. Taking a header off that building was above and beyond the call.

MAX: Just lookin’ out for my meal ticket. How many guys can cook and save the world?

LOGAN: So...that was Lydecker.

MAX: Yup. My own private antichrist, up close and personal.

LOGAN: Shorter than I imagined. Do we have any idea why he was there?

MAX: Same as me, looking for answers. He said all of us, his gifted children, were...flawed.

LOGAN: The seizures?

MAX: I got the sense he was talking about something even worse. I saved his life.

LOGAN: And here I thought I was special.

MAX: He was about to take a bullet in the head. All I had to do was stand there, do nothing, and I could cross Donald Lydecker off my list of things to worry about.

LOGAN: You didn’t exploit tactical advantage over your enemy? He’d be so disappointed if he knew.

MAX: How sick is that? But, for some reason, I couldn’t let it happen. I have no idea why.

LOGAN: Life good, murder bad?

MAX: I’m not that high-minded. Lydecker’s the one guy that knows what’s going on in this freak-show body of mine...whether or not this barcode has an expiration date. I guess I couldn’t let him die with that secret.

LOGAN: Whatever you have to tell yourself. Fact is, you saved a man’s life.

MAX: A bad man.

LOGAN: It’s still a good thing.

MAX: I’m not so sure. But you know what really bums my ass out? I had a chance to swipe some towels from the hotel, and I totally spaced it.

LOGAN: Next time.

MAX: Yeah. Next time.