"Good night." "Thank you for your kind patronage of Shashi's Electronics Emporium." "Cheap bastard." "Hate to trouble you when I see you're about to close, mate, but I need a couple of D batteries." " Fresh out." "Sorry." " Really?" "No D batteries in the whole bloomin' store, eh?" "We're closed." "Go away." "Well, if you're gonna be rude about it, I just might take me patronage elsewhere." "Good." "Go." "Take it away." "Guess what?" "You're having an after-hours sale." "Hey, Eddie - D batteries." "What?" "I thought you needed some." "Hey, check this out." "Hey, I heard of these things." "Supposed to, uh, bark and walk and act just like a real dog." "It's annoying." "I don't think he likes you." "Shut up." "I'm" " I'm warning you!" "C-437!" "Been lookin' for one of these." "Boys!" "I think we got a little problem." "Yeah, so?" "Some Steelheads robbing an electronics store." "Why'd you want me to see it?" "Hang on." " Zack." " Your brother's alive, Max." "You might want to brace yourself for what comes next." "They designed her 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." "I can't believe it." "He's alive." "You told me you saw him when you were back at Manticore." "They'd been harvesting his organs." "His liver and kidneys went to an X5 wounded on a mission; his heart - of course, as you know - went to you..." "I wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for him." "Hey." "Renfro said something about moving him to another facility  that they had plans for him." "Looks like they were experimenting with cybernetic implants." "Probably replaced his missing organs with artificial ones." " How'd he end up with a bunch of Steelheads?" " Could be when Manticore shut down, an enterprising lab tech unloaded him on the black market." "A genetically-engineered soldier with cutting-edge cybernetics..." "Steelheads would be all over it." "All I know is I've gotta find him." "Do you have any idea where they hang?" "Wish I did." "Been looking to take them down for months." "British Eddy and his crew are running a body-parts ring." "Paying off hospitals, getting their hands on organs meant for transplant candidates, shipping them overseas for a profit." " Any leads?" " Nothing solid." "But I put word out on the Informant Net." "I'll let you know as soon as anything turns up." "Thanks." " I'm telling you, she's gonna be here in fifteen." " Well, let's see." "Fifteen minutes from now, which is thirty-three minutes from when she should've been here, brings us to a grand total of forty-eight minutes late." "Okay." "Thirteenth and Kendrick." "Hot run." " Fact is, she had a doctor's appointment this morning." " Yeah, I don't pay you people enough to see a doctor." "2348 Euclid." "Bip bip bip." "Look, she made me promise to keep it on the low-low, but, um  this doctor that she's been seeing is a shrink." "I see." "Has the stress from her eleven-to-four job finally become too much for her?" "As a matter of fact, yeah." "She's been acting strange at home lately." "She keeps going on about these violent work-related fantasies that she's been having." "Hate to think what's gonna happen if she finds out that she's been fired." " Did you say "violent?"" " Gave me nightmares." " What?" " I got a package for you here  whenever you're ready for it." " Give me five minutes." "Yeah, take ten, or whatever you feel is appropriate." "I'm flexible." "Very flexible." "You know you're my girl and all, but you have got to try a little bit harder to get here on time." "Normal was lookin' to fire you again." "Luckily, I did you a favor and talked him out of it." "Thanks." "So you gonna tell me what's on your mind, or am I gonna have to smack it out of you?" "It's Zack." "He's alive." "Whoa." "Okay, one might think that you'd be happy to know that your boy is all right." "That's the thing." "I don't know if he is." "For some reason, he's running with a bunch of Steelheads, and I've got no clue how to reach him." "Steelheads." " Sketchy!" " You bellowed, Your Originalness?" "Tell Max what you told me about those guys that kicked your butt." "It's been a pretty violent month for the Sketchmeister." "Could you be a tad more specific?" "The guys with the shiny spikes coming out of their appendages." "Ohhh, those guys." "Um..." "Look, I'm afraid the specifics of that particular butt-kicking are a little hazy." " Then un-haze." "Fast." " See, the thing is, I can't." " Why not?" " I sort of promised someone I wouldn't talk  about my run-in with those guys, especially to you." " Who, Sketch?" " Have you been lifting weights, Max?" " Who?" " I made a promise." "I promise you if you don't tell me in five seconds, I'm gonna introduce your face to your colon." " Ahhh!" " We need to talk." "All right, whoa, whoa, whoa." "This is the place." " You're sure?" " Yeah." "Yeah, in fact, I specifically remember slamming one of their heads against this post right here." "All right, can I go now?" " Nope." "This is your penance for scamming Sketchy  into selling steroids." "You're lucky I don't turn you in to the cops." "You know, I got out of the whole andy business once I heard it could make your heart explode." "I mean, once your clientele starts dying off, who the hell are you gonna sell it to?" "Just didn't make any business sense - you know, long-term." "Now, if this is the Steelheads' turf, where are they?" "How should I know?" "They're probably holed up somewhere, tweaking each others' circuits." "Guess we're just gonna have to get their attention, then." "Please tell me you're gonna get naked." "Nope." "You're going back into the steroid biz." "Yeah, they made it pretty clear that they didn't want me around here, so..." "Exactly." "Now imagine how ticked off they're gonna be when they find out you didn't listen." "Yeah, they're gonna come packing this time." "No." "No, I" " I have zero interest in tangling with these psychos again." "You're on your own." "I'm gonna find my brother and you're gonna help me." "Your brother." "That's cute, Max." "He's the closest thing to family I have." "I don't expect you to understand that." "What I do expect is your cooperation, or else." " Or else what?" "Or else I tell Normal how you used Jam Pony to peddle steroids, and he'll can your ass." "No more job means no more sector pass." " How am I supposed to get around?" "I don't know, but it's gonna make it pretty difficult for you to be a cat burglar." "Andy, anyone?" "Anyone want some andy?" "You lookin' for some andy, pal?" "You could beef up a little bit, huh?" "No?" "All right." "Andy, anybody?" "All right." "One more time." "Oh, God, not this again." "Hey, you've had that arm less than a week." "You keep it up, you're gonna break the sodding thing." "No." "I can beat him, Eddy, I know it." "Went and chopped my stupid arm off, and all I needed was an exo-harness like G.I. Jerk here's got." "Cheer up, Birdy." "Maybe Santa'll bring you one for Christmas." "There." "Oughta do you for the day, mate." "Blood's nice and clean." "Yeah, keepin' good care of him, aren't we, Bird?" "Makin' sure he don't get all rusty inside." "Our boy sure is a weird one." "Quiet." "Too quiet." "He knows when to shut his gob, that's all." " I think he's kinda cute." " Hey!" "Can't you see I'm trying to watch me cartoons?" "Hey, guess who's pushing andy again?" "That frail that, uh, mangled us a couple weeks ago in the marketplace." "Soldier!" "You're moving out." " What you mean, you don't have it on you?" " Well, like I said, sir,  if you just wanna give me your name and address, I promise I'll pop it in the mail tomorrow." "You wack punk!" "This is ridiculous." "Hey, you." "Finally!" "You realize how long I've been waitin' for you?" "Not nearly as long as I've been waitin' for you." "Zack!" "Zack." "It's me." "It's Max." "Who are you?" "Zack, it's me." "Zack?" "It's Max." "Max, it's you." "You're an X5." "Show me your barcode." " Max, show it to him already." "You're 452." "I know you." "You're in my unit." "That's right." "I'm Max." "Max." "Come on." "Let's get you out of here." " What about them?" " They're not in our unit." "I'm fine." "Appreciate you doing this, Sam." "No problem, Logan." "Tell Eyes Only I'm glad to help." "Listen, I should warn you - he's undergone some pretty radical medical procedures." "Believe me, I've seen it all." "Well, you might want to meet them downstairs just the same." "I don't think either of us want anyone at the hospital asking questions." "Whatever you say." "Well... um..." "why don't we get started?" "Any allergies I should know about?" "Guess not." "Moving right along - are you currently taking any prescription medication?" "How about vitamin supplements?" "Anything for your skin?" "He didn't even recognize me at first." "It was like he'd never seen me before." "Took a bullet point-blank to the head." "Stands to reason there'd be some cognitive damage." "Zack was the leader." "Any situation, he knew what to do." "Now look at him." "He's so lost." "I'm running some additional scans on him now, but I wanted to show you these." "Most of his major organs are biosynthetic, and from what I can tell,  they're actually more efficient and more durable than the ones they replaced." "What about his arm?" "Looks like there was some nerve damage, so they grafted on an exoskeleton to enhance motor function." "This thing is way more advanced than the one you got a hold of." "This place Manticore was doing some cutting-edge stuff." "If they're so good, then how come they didn't fix it so he can remember his own name?" "Memory's a tricky thing." "All the various associations that form a particular memory are stored in different parts of the brain." "Now it's the temporal lobe's job to keep track of how those things are all interconnected." " And his was damaged?" " Right." "But they replaced it with a cybernetic implant, which seems to be capable of actually rebuilding those connections." " So there's a chance that his memory could come back?" " It's possible." "I mean, look what happened with you." "Seeing your face wasn't enough for him to recognize you, but when he heard your name, read your barcode, the implant was able to pull those fragments together to form the memory of who you were." "So if I take him to a place we've been together..." "It might trigger some more memories." "Now, he could get confused at times." "He might not be able to distinguish between, say, an event that actually happened  and something he dreamed about." "And obviously there's some things he's gonna lose because of tissue damage, but that aside, there's a chance he could recover almost everything." " When will we know?" " It's hard to say." "Could take some time." "I've seen you before." "This is Logan." "It's good to see you, Zack." "You're really worried about Max?" "The biggest threat to her safety is you." "How do you figure?" "I remember you." "It's a good sign." " What do you mean, you lost him?" " They got the drop on us." " Who's "they?"" " There was this girl, revved-up just like he is." " You mean she's another one of those Manticorians?" " The way she moved?" "Had to be." "Yeah." "And she took off with our boy." "I saw." "I want him back." "He cost me a pretty penny, and..." "I" " I miss him, I do." "Aw, don't worry, Eddy." "We'll get him back." "Lux, you know where this bloke selling the andy hangs, right?" " Place called Crash." " Right, then." "You two are gonna stake the place." "Next time he shows his face, you nab him, you get him to tell you where the bird took G.I. Joe, then you get our boy back." " That's a good plan, Eddy." " It is, isn't it?" "So why the hell are you two standing around here for, eh?" "You don't remember?" "You came here once, looking for me." "You were hurt." "It's okay." "Doctor said it would take a while, anyway." "Have a seat." "Lights out." "It's time to bunk down." "It's just a brownout." "Not in Manticore anymore." "Manticore?" "Home sweet home for the first ten years of our lives." "We ran away." "We abandoned our mission." "We got a new mission." "It's called getting a life." "It was your idea." "You looked out for us..." "made sure we were all okay." "The others - where are they now?" " All over the place." " Are they safe?" "Don't worry about that right now." "Just concentrate on getting better." "You should get some sleep." "This isn't my bunk." "You can use it." "My roommate's staying with some friends." "Welcome home, Zack." "Max!" " Stay out of this." " ... back off..." "Max!" "X5-599, I've got a heart for you." "I'm sorry." " What's wrong?" " I remember  everything." "I failed you." "I failed all of you." " No." " I let Manticore catch Brin... kill Tinga..." " That wasn't your fault." " I even let them kill you." " Zack..." "Look at me." "What did they do to me?" "What am I?" "Feel that?" "That's you in there." "You saved my life." "That's who you are." "You're someone who will sacrifice everything to protect the ones you love." "I love you, Max." "I'll never let anything happen to you again." "I know you won't." "I know." "Up and at 'em." "What?" " It's unbelievable." " What happened?" "Nanocytes circulating in his bloodstream." "Self-replicating, molecular-scale biomachines designed to repair tissue damage." "I've read theoretical papers about the technology, but to see them in action..." "If he's got these nanocytes buzzing around fixing things, how come they weren't doing their job yesterday?" "Got me." " It's the machine." " What machine?" "Eddy and the others hooked me up to it almost every day." "Said it would filter my blood, keep it clean." " My ass." "They were sifting out your nanocytes." "That would explain why there was no tissue repair going on." "Didn't have a chance to replicate in your bloodstream." " Eddy said I looked cooler with no skin." "At least we can take you out in public now." "Just gotta hook you up with a pair of shades." "Hold on a second." "Let me see something." "Close your eyes for a second." "A little pressure ought to stimulate the ocular implant." "Open." "Huh." "Thought so." "It's coated with a thin layer of liquid crystal." "You know, the stuff they use on high-def TV's." "Guess Manticore wanted you to look normal so they could send you out on missions." "Guess what?" "Got a new mission." "It's called getting a life." " Can you believe it?" " Actually... no." "This I think I'll hang onto for a while." "Doc said the nerve damage should heal before long." "Better watch out." "People might think you're a Steelhead." "That's all I need." "Speaking of which, I was wondering if you could do me a favor." "Sure thing." "Those Steelheads you were with" " Eyes Only's been trying to track them down for months." "I was hoping maybe you could tell me where Eddy and his crew were holed up." " You... you're Eyes Only." " Yeah." "You knew that." "Logan did that Eyes Only broadcast for us, remember?" "To warn the others that Lydecker was on to them?" "Yeah." "Sure, I remember." "You helped plan our assault on Manticore." "You and Lydecker ran the operation while we went in." "Yeah, that's right." " It's funny how that mission went sideways." " What are you trying to say?" " I think I just said it, didn't I?" "Come on." "I'm not telling you anything." "What the hell was that?" "I don't know." "I'm so sorry." "Logan didn't deserve that." "You were way out of line." "I know." "I'm sorry." "Guess I'm still having a hard time accepting what happened  looking for someone else to blame besides myself." " We already talked about that, Zack." " Anyway, I'm sorry." "Remember the night we decided that it was time to stop running and to take down Manticore?" "We were right here." "I remember." "Seems like just yesterday." "A lot's changed since then." "Manticore's gone." "What do you mean?" "Burned to the ground." "Don't worry." "I got everybody out." "You finished the mission." "Thanks to you." "So... there's a whole lot more of us out in the world." "They're gonna need looking out for." " I was hoping you'd say that." "So much for settling down into a nice, normal life, huh?" "What's normal, anyway?" "Yeah." "Besides, we have each other." "Like always." "I gotta swing by work." "Come on." " Wait here." "I'll just be a sec, okay?" " Okay." "Normal!" "What are you doing to my locker?" "Uh, your locker." "No, uh, it was nothing." "I thought I saw a roach." "Sorry I haven't been around much the last coupla days." "Stuff I had to deal with." "Doctors' appointments." " Yeah." "That's okay." "No problem." "I didn't want you to think I've vanished on you again." "Take all the time you need." "You know, after all, one's health is, uh, you know, gotta be the most important thing." "By the way, uh, have I told you how - how impressed I've been with your work lately?" "Are you feeling okay?" "Listen, uh, I understand that, uh, I'm hard on you kids sometimes." "But believe you me, it all comes from a place of love." "You realize that, don't you, Max?" "That it all comes from a place of love?" "Whatever." "Okay." "Max, why didn't you tell me my boy was back in town?" " Didn't know you two were so close." " What, are you kidding?" "Back when he was a Jam Pony hump, this generous man showed me some tight shortcuts through downtown." "Helped me shave hours off my workday." " Giving you extra time to nap and get high." "Precisely." "I'm forever in your debt." "Glad I could help." "Hey, you must come to Crash tonight." "Whole crew's gonna be there." "What do you say?" " Sounds good." " Outstanding!" "Eight o'clock, back room." "Last one there does a naked keg stand." "I always liked Sketchy  I think." "Now that he's got his total recall on, what's next?" "Hook him back up at Jam Pony, help get him his own place?" " Living the dream." " I haven't really thought about it." "I'm just glad he's back." "Things are looking up now." "It's about time." " Who won?" " He spanked me, ten-zip." "It was no big deal." "Wasn't a fair fight, what with that cyber-hand of his." "Thinking maybe I oughta get one." "Maybe you should try to get you a cyber-head." " What I could really use is another beer." " I think it's my turn to buy." "Yeah, I'll go with you." "Sit down, six-dollar man." "Max, Max, let me ask you a question." "Think there's something a little, uh, a little off about Brother Zack?" "Like what?" "Well, for starters, he doesn't act like any brother I've ever seen." "You got something to say, Alec, spit it out." "Seems to me like he's got the hots for you." "It's kinda kinky, if you ask me." " I didn't." "And stay out of it." " I'm just saying." "Well, don't, 'cause I don't want to know what goes on in that sick little mind of yours." " That hurts." " Truth always does." "Can I get a refill?" " Ow!" " Sorry." "Wonder what's keepin' my girl." "Well, I'd give her a hand, but she'd just bite it off." "There goes her knight in shining armor." "Oh, God forbid our little Max have to lug a big, heavy pitcher of beer with her delicate little hands, huh?" "What?" "Max - where is she?" "Had too much to drink." "Left with a couple Steelhead friends of hers." "Hey, Eddy, think she's got nanocytes inside her like our boy did?" "Ooh!" "Let's hook her up to the machine and find out." "Yeah." "First things first." "We find soldier boy, then we start tinkering with the both of them." "At the very least, we ought to have a fresh supply of organs for our friends overseas." "Don't worry, love." "You're not dead." " Not yet." " What do you want from me?" " We want our boy back." "Where is he?" "How should I know?" "He ran off on me." " Was she at the bar alone?" " Uh... didn't notice." "You, Tuck?" " Uh-uh." " Well, what was she doing when you snatched her up?" " Gettin' a pitcher of beer." " Yeah." "Oh, a pitcher?" " I'm a big drinker." "Oh, shut up." "Come here." "Come here." "It could be that our boy was there, too, and right under your noses." "You check the back room?" " Didn't know there was one." "You, Tuck?" "You twits!" "Lock her up!" "Don't worry, Eddy." "This time we'll check the back, the front, the whole place!" "Zack!" " Max!" "What did they do to you?" "Are you okay?" " I'm fine." "Can you get these off me?" "I don't know what I would've done if anything would've happened to you." "Zack..." " I'm not gonna let anybody hurt you." "You know that." " Stop it!" "What's wrong?" "I love you." "I just want things to be the way they used to be with us." "Things were never like that with us." "But I remember..." "It was him, isn't it?" "How can you love him and not me?" "He betrayed us, Max!" " What are you talking about?" "Who?" " Logan!" "He's been working against us the whole time!" "That's the reason the mission went wrong!" " Just undo these handcuffs." "We can talk about it." " He's a traitor!" "Why don't you believe me?" "You've got it all wrong!" "They did something to you back at Manticore!" " I died for you!" " Zack..." "He did this to me!" "He's the reason I look like this!" "Stop it!" "Now he's gonna pay for what he did... to both of us." "Zack!" "Zack!" "Zack!" " Yeah?" " Get out of the apartment, Logan." "Now." " Max, what's wrong?" " It's Zack." "He's coming after you." "Get out!" "Traitor!" " Zack, don't do this!" " Out of my way, Max!" "He's gonna be okay..." "physically, anyway." " What do you mean?" " The cranial implant." "It's still working, but the shock overloaded the circuitry and wiped it clean." "Then...?" "He's not going to remember anything that's happened to him since it was first switched on." " Nothing?" " It'll be just like before." "He won't recognize your face - not unless he puts it together with your name, and so on, and so on." "Then what?" "Everything else will play out the same way?" "Whatever Manticore did to his head to make him go after Logan is still in there." "It's a pretty safe bet that, sooner or later, it'll happen again." " Can we have a minute?" " Yeah." "Sure." "It doesn't have to play out the same way." "Maybe this time we can make him understand that I'm not a threat." " I need him, Logan." "Now more than ever." "I don't want to lose him." "But I can't risk losing you." "I have to let him go." "I can use my contacts..." "give him a new identity." "He can get a fresh start somewhere else." "A chance at a normal life." "It's what he always wanted." "You're awake." " Who are you?" " It's me" " Buddy." "You don't remember me?" "Well, Dr. Carr said this might happen." "Who?" "The doc that treated you after the accident." "Said you might have some memory loss." "Your name's Adam" " Adam Thompson." "You've been working on my ranch for going on three years." "You were driving one of trucks into Seattle when a tire blew." "Sent you right off the road." "Any of this ring a bell?" "No." "Well, the doc said it might take a while." "What say we hit the road?" "Get home in good time, Mary'll cook you up anything you want for dinner." "Sound good?" "Yeah." "Actually, it does." "Hold up." "Do I know you?" "No." "I don't think so." "I think about Zack every day." "I just hope that he's safe and happy, living the normal life he always wanted - the life he deserves to have." "Letting him go was the hardest thing I've ever done." "But sometimes you have to make sacrifices to protect the ones you love." "I learned that from my brother."