Trial X6

Anomaly

  Months passed after Ben's death, and Max was now ready to storm Manticore with a few of her siblings. Logan and Lydecker were working at the computers while she and her fellow transgenics prepped weapons and talked about the time they missed together.

  Just when Zach was talking about the missing siblings, the front door was kicked in hard enough it flew off the hinges and went across the room. The X5s went on alert, grabbing guns and quickly aiming toward the door. A grey-clad woman then walked in and was unfazed by the weapons.

  "1031! What are you doing here?" Lydecker's expression hardened as the Anomaly walked into the building.

  "Target has been located." Her quiet voice stated as she stared directly at Max.

  "What?" Lydecker saw where she was looking and took a step forward. "1031, you are not to target any of these X5s!" He spoke with an authoritative tone.

  "I don't take orders from you." The Anomaly continued to walk.

  "Stay where you are, or I'll shoot!" Zach raised his voice while looking fiercely at the chimera in front of them. She stopped, but it wasn't clear if it was because she had been threatened or because she chose to stop walking.

  "Look, you don't have to do this. You have a choice. You don't have to follow their orders." Max tried to persuade the transgenic.

  "No. I don't have a choice." She pulled the collar of her shirt down to reveal a little red light blinking on a black box stuck to her sternum. "My orders were to take the target back alive. So come with me, or I kill everyone here and take you by force." The blankness of her face showed nothing. She was unreadable, even her eyes were void of anything but that honey-colored pigmentation. It was like looking into the eyes of a snake as it stared back.

  "I'll deactivate it." Lydecker broke the silence that had followed the Anomaly's declaration. Her gaze went away from Max and to him. "Only if you help us and forget your mission." She was quiet now, possibly thinking. "I can easily take it off, and you know it." Lydecker tried to coax her into agreeing.

  "....And Max has to tell me about the Good Place again."

  "'Good Place?'"

  "Deal." Max cut in while letting out a breath as she felt her body relax. The guns were still pointed at the Anomaly, but she moved toward Lydecker now.

  "Who issued you this mission, 1031?" He asked while leading her to the table where the guns were. Max moved them off and took the guns from her brothers and sister since they were still aimed.

  "A woman."

  "A woman? Who? What was her name?" Lydecker asked while grabbing tools and setting them on the table. He pat the surface, and the Anomaly sat on it. "Lay down."

  "She ordered me to address her only as Ma'am. I've heard others call her Renfro. Everyone takes orders from her now." 1031 explained while lying down. Lydecker gave a nod before unscrewing the covering to the little black box on the woman's chest. There was a small amount of C4 right next to the blinking light.

  "If I deactivate it here, they'll know where we are. I'm going to have to delay the signal long enough for it to be taken off. They'll think it's a glitch when it comes back on." Lydecker explained as he messed around in the box. Max came up and stood next to the chimera lying on the table. "It's going to have to be ripped off. The delay won't give me enough time to take it off gently." He looked at the Anomaly.

  "I'll dispose of it once it's removed." Her quiet voice was the only noise in the otherwise silent building. Lydecker kept working, tweaking in the tracker for another few minutes before it beeped. The light went off, and Lydecker looked at Max.