DAY TWENTYNINE 23:17PM

Trust

With the section of the building crumbling away, Max knew that he was in serious trouble. He didn't have enough footing or enough time to make it to safety. 

He was sliding away, falling with the section of 13 other storeys, until an arm reached out and grabbed his wrist. Simon had slid on his back toward the edge, firing uzis and dropping guards, dropping one and reaching over the edge and grabbing Max's wrist.

DAY TWENTYNINE 23:05PM

Resuce Me

Stone and Scorpio were back to back. Firing at anything and everything that seemed to move. Their heads were clear, they seemed to have one focus. Kill or be killed, die now and the universe with them. 

Bullet casings dropped about them like a torrential rain.

DAY TWENTYNINE 22:59PM

Unplugged

THWOOOOUUUUUUM.

The telepath didn't know what hit her. The world shattered around her, as the stasis case she was floating in disintegrated and a huge section of her head disappeared as well. 

"Telepath that, bitch!" Suki said. Her arm was dimming now from a brilliant blinding light to a dull reddish glow.

DAY TWENTYNINE 22:47PM

Scan

Upon the breach of the Citadel-class complex housed within the Tower, a telepathic surveillance sweep was automatically directed towards the infiltrators, for highspeed analysis and distribution to grafted security personnel, for exploitation and counter-tactical responses.

Target A: Josiah Stone
...stopthesesonofbitchesputanend totheirsicktwistedbullshitcomingforyou paybacktimenomoreyoubastardsnomore...

Target B: Sandrine Riveta
...keeptightstayonhisflanknot gonnalosehimagainbreathesteadyinhale triggerexhaleitsjustspecialeffects psyopshitdon'tletitfreakyououtstay onstoneyou'llgetthroughthis...

Target C Milton 'Scorpio' Reddings
...iknowyou'rereadingmymindright nowiknowallaboutyoubecauseiwasyoubut thingsaredifferentnowshesavedmeand we'regoingtosavethemandyoucan'tstopus...

Target D: Simon Light
...it'shappeningreallyhappening theachetheholeinmeit'sclosingthisisitf inallyaftersolongohalisonifyouonlyknew whatwe'redoingwe'regoingtodoitthank youmax...

Target E: Max Cube
...hib4u34847hfi44jhbdf4i4908atf ar232fbedej3i9iedi3u3j3j3bci33903938w jwhddkuwgcdcjn...

DAY TWENTYNINE 22:22PM

The Kansas City Shuffle

"I can't believe it worked," Max said. He was behind a pillar and smiled like a wolf in a field full of sheep. 

"What did we do?" Simon asked. He was dressed in black, and had painted a pattern on his face. Max had told him to draw something on his face, something that he felt comfortable with. On his forehead he drew a simple picture of a bunny.

Riveta was tearing off strips from a shirt she had taken off, a tank-top on underneath, and was making field bandages. The last time she saw heavy combat was in the Middle East. 

"One day someone is going to sit down and explain it all to me?" she asked as she glanced at both Simon and Max. Today was a day full of surprises for her.

"Suki, Suki, Suki," Max said. "That little minx just saved us from killing a lot of innocent men who were just trying to do their jobs." 

Simon chuckled. They had phased through the city, Suki somehow piloting them with a device that created, from his understanding, a "pocket universe".

To Simon something familiar was going on but he didn't know what it was. He was getting the feeling of deja vu. That's when a hail of bullets started to rain down upon them and began chipping away at the concrete barrier. 

"I think our welcome has been noticed now," Riveta said, as she could hear the uniform movement of feet. "Well, I'm glad we got as far as we did!"

"You know, Max, you sure do know how to have a good time!" Simon said as he fired a few rounds.

DAY TWENTYNINE 22:00PM

The Alpha Move

Logollos was more than just sweating, he was anxiously waiting for the snake to show itself and be skinned once and for all. 

There was silence. Too quiet. Even though the squads about were trained professionals they were getting antsy as well. Having been alerted to a potential threat they had been on high energy, and nothing resulting from it

"Only two more hours to go?" the woman asked. "Are you sure they will be here?" 

"Yes," Logollos said. "They are playing the waiting game."

"Don't you think that's a foolish move on their part?" the woman inquired. She butted out a cigarette in an ashtray, there were two dozen butts there already. "This is a childish last desperate act, isn't it?" 

Logollos chuckled to himself, and then his eyes widened with realization.

DAY TWENTYNINE 21:32PM

Prophecies and Eulogies

Max lit a cigarette. Three left in the pack. 

Suki watched him. She had seem him do the exact same thing hundreds of times, but years ago, so it seemed familiar but distant. “It's good to see you again, Max.”

He exhaled smoke. “I... I wasn't sure... What it would be like.” 

She smiled softly. “So what is it like?” 

”It's scary... And nice.” 

She reached out and gave his hand a gentle squeeze. “You really haven't changed.” 

”No? I feel different.” 

”I'm sorry about that..."

”Oh, I don't mean because of the device-” 

”I didn't know what else to do, Max. Things were starting to get really messed up, and I needed to think of something. Anything that might give us a shot.” 

”I know that feeling, Suki.” 

”Yeah, I guess you do.” 

”I'm sorry I couldn't see it happening..." Max said. "It's like... I've been living like this for so long, I can't even notice when everything's falling apart. If you hadn't been here..." 

”Except now everyone's dead. Except for them-” She gestured to the others gathered a little ways away. “-and the priest.” 

”Yeah, but they're safe," Max said. "And now we have a chance to get them all back. What's the line? 'You did what you always do: turned death into a fighting chance'. Or something like that.” 

”Bones to Kirk, in the third one. I still remember doing that marathon with you and Akimoto. I liked the one with the whales the best.”

Max smiled at the memory. “Simon says that Alice was already dead... According to the intel LEGACY got from Hank. No idea why. They played me Suki, and I didn't see it. They cut me off from her, and from you...” 

Suki gave him a light punch to the arm. “If you beat yourself up now what will the bad guys have left to do when we hit the place?” She watched the tip of his cigarette flare in the the deepening night. “You haven't asked me why I was looking for you...” 

”I'm not sure I'm ready to know.” 

She changed the subject. Went professional. “What about this Light guy? Scorpio says LEGACY has had their eye on him. You think this was supposed to be his initiation?” 

”I don't know... He seems familiar to me... Maybe from another version? There's something about him...” Max shrugged. “He's been initiated now, either way.” 

She smirked. “It's what you do.”

Max looked at her with a mix of nostalgia and sadness. He took another drag, glanced over to Scorpio, who was cleaning a rifle for the third time. 

Suki shrugged. “Hey, I learned from the best.”

Max dropped the butt and ground it out. Looked at Suki, standing beside him, older, in her school uniform costume, the Godhammer hanging at her side. The smirk, the eye-roll, the frown, all so familiar, but she had new expressions too; she smiled in new ways, she looked sad in new ways. 

He opened his mouth to try and say it, to try and somehow turn it into words he could say to her. 

”No Max,” she said. “Not now."

DAY TWENTYNINE 16:48PM

Vipers In Glass

The setting sun was reflecting off the tower's black glass. Giving the structure a more ominous tone, and that was the effect the designers had wanted. To look pleasing but menacing as well. It was a huge structural beauty in the downtown core sector. 

It was a holiday, which meant that ninety percent of businesses were closed. So the downtown core was not busy. Sure, the city didn't rest, but on ritual days the white cells liked to chill down for a bit.

Logollos stood at the window, his hands clasped behind his back. He was surveying the city. He had over two dozen cell teams out there, waiting for whenever things began. His eyes bloodshot, his hair slightly disheveled, he looked like an anti-superman. 

"You think they are that stupid to do a full frontal assault?" the woman asked.

"They are," Logollos said. "They have no other option." 

"What makes you so sure?" the woman questioned.

"Phase Three begins at Midnight tonight," Logollos answered. "And all Hell is going to break loose one way or another."

DAY TWENTYNINE 13:47PM

Disinformation

"You know that's so simple it just might work," Suki said. She was leaning up against Max's arm, more relaxed than she had been in weeks. They were all crowded around the hood of a car looking down at a huge map. 

"Does everyone know what to do and when to do it?" Max asked. His eyes had cleared, and he seemed to be focused on the task at hand. "Because, if we don't do this here and now, Alice, Mayganne and the others will be lost forever."

DAY TWENTYNINE 12:21PM

The Big Payoff

It was an awkward moment for everyone, standing around looking at each other. Hunters and Prey, Friends and Enemies, Strangers and Strangest. Riveta and Stone, Suki and Scorpio, and Max and Simon. All stood outside the diner looking at each other. 

"What's the plan?" Riveta asked out loud to break the eternity.

DAY TWENTYNINE 12:11PM

Back In Town

Logollos was in the car when his cellphone chirped in. He answered it. He had been getting updates on the situation at hand. 

A Cleaning Roster had perished. They were taken out, and reports had come in that it wasn't Agent Light.

Even before the police had been alerted, Simon's apartment was immaculate. Not even a cup out of place. 

The other bad news concerned Detective Stone. Two of their men were found dead, heads beaten by a tire iron, and now the cops were sniffing around the door. There was no clean-up that could get to it, so now he had to work his magick. To chat with the press. They were sniffing around like jackals.

He nodded on the phone as the person on the other end was relaying more information and details. Logollos sneered. 

"Yes, I think it has gone too far," Logollos said. "I think it's time to call in our markers."

DAY TWENTYNINE HIGH NOON

Friends In Low Places 

Suki's chronometer chimed and she smiled, as the car pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant. 

She had been waiting for this moment for a long, long while.

Scorpio had noticed a gradual change in Suki. The school uniform and the flirtatious nature she was going through all morning. He didn't know what love was, but he was starting to feel like it. 

"You know this isn't going to a prom," Scorpio interjected.

"It's a reunion," Suki shot back with an added wink. "He's someone I haven't seen in years and never expected to see again." 

Scorpio had backed into a parking spot, and he turned off the car. Then he turned to see Max and he recognized the man behind him.

"Crap," Scorpio said as the life began to drain from his face. 

"What is it?" Suki inquired.

"That's Light beside him," Scorpio said. "The agency has him on a potential recruitment list."

DAY TWENTYNINE 9:34AM

The Enemy Of My Enemy

Here they were sitting in a restaurant sipping coffee, looking each other over. Seeing a reflection of what they might be or who they might become. 

"... so what you're saying is that what is happening isn't happening, but it has happened or will happen?" Simon replied. He looked at Max and shook his head; this fellow would be clinical. But, after what had happened this morning, he was going to do something that screamed against his training and judgement.

"Look at it this way," Max said, after extending a puff of smoke into the air. He seemed to study the swirling patterns as if they were showing him something. Simon thought he could see something as well, but thought better of it. Stay focused. 

"Let's say that I am making music," Max continued. "I am laying down some tracks, changing the tempo and signature. The groove is playing and we hear it. It's an original song we have here. Now, let's say another person comes along and takes my song and remixes it, takes out a track here, adds a track there, changes the signature and the key. It's my song, but it has his signature as well."

Max paused to take a sip of coffee. Simon kept an ear out on the news, nothing was being reported on, no incident whatsoever. 

If Max was right then this whole conspiracy thing was just a small piece of a huge puzzle.

Max continued, "Consider you and I just tracks in the groove. Where my beat is steady, but for some reason your tempo changes. The great DJ producer has something in store for you... it's like when you..." 

Max's cellphone rang. He picked it up right on the first chime. "Max here."

DAY TWENTYNINE 8:59AM

The Road Less Traveled

Simon watched the entrance to his building from the rooftop across the street. 

"It's been over an hour since the cleaners left," he said.

Max nodded. "They're not sending a second force then, I guess." 

"They'll try another angle... Bait a trap maybe." Simon shouldered the duffel-bag of the gear they had stripped from the hit squad. "What do we do now?"

"There's a good coffee shop near here."

DAY TWENTYNINE 6:35AM

Puzzles

Simon felt the plastic clips give way as a sharp instrument cut away at the bonds. 

The battle had been intense and short-lived by his standards. He heard bullets firing, casings dancing across the floor, bodies thumping every now and then. Long, tense silences. But no vocal sounds whatsoever.

To Simon it seemed like an opera, but instead of high pitched screaming and low bass tones, it was silenced guns. 

"You okay?" Max asked of Simon once he removed the hood from over his head.

DAY TWENTYNINE 6:33AM

Anger Management

Logollos slammed his fist into the the armrest of the seat of the private plane. Making two men look up at him.

He had just gotten off the phone and things had just taken some drastic turns. Turns he hadn't anticipated. Turns that could mean big trouble for him.

DAY TWENTYNINE 6:21AM

Knight & Rook

They had come into his apartment. Six men, all in black, all faces covered. They had dragged him out of bed, tied him up like a pig and gagged him. 

Simon lay on the floor and he could hear them going through his house. Taking everything that was paper and discs. Including his DVDs and CDs. Everything was being scooped up.

He knew that they were professional because they didn't talk. They knew the score, these men were top-shelf.

LEGACY. He knew that it had to be them. Because they stank of a death-squad. He cursed to himself; he knew that he had failed. 

Then he heard the sound of the front window smashing and someone said, "Cube!"

DAY TWENTYNINE 5:53AM

Same Old Same Old  

"Are you seriously stopping for coffee?" Suki asked with a grin. 

"Well, we'll go through the drive-thru," Scorpio answered, mirroring her smile. "What can I say? You've taught me well." 

He rolled down the window, placed the order, pulled up, exchanged the coins for the drinks. He was beginning to understand it, why the rituals were so important when things changed so much. 

"What should I be expecting from the day?" he asked once they were back en route. 

Suki sipped her coffee. "Besides the ultra-violence? We just have to save the world, that's all." 

Scorpio nodded. "Then maybe I should take the time now to say thank you."

DAY TWENTYNINE 5:24AM

Left Behind

Father Donnelly awoke to the sound of a car pulling away. His first reaction was panic, he sat up and looked around. 

"Mother?" the words slipped over his lips. Of course Mother wouldn't be here, she would be with the others...

Gone. It was strange; he could remember the fire happening years ago... but the ache was as fresh as if it had just happened.

He noticed a sheet of paper on the pillowcase beside him, and reached over and read the message  Suki had written: 

Father,
The hour is at hand where we must follow different paths. You need to go where you are most needed, for where I am going it will go against the grain of everything you have lived for.
Please, I hope you understand this decision. The chalet needs someone there for guidance, and you are their beacon. And when things shift again (and believe me there is going to be one hell of shift) the flock needs a shepherd.
When all is said and done, hopefully we shall meet and have a coffee or maybe a dance or two.
Suki

DAY TWENTYNINE 5:17AM

Saves Nine

Scorpio caught the keys from the air. "You're letting me drive?" 

Suki smiled and opened the passenger door. Scorpio got in the driver's eat and adjusted the mirrors. "So how did she get your number?"

"Max left them some files. There was a phone-list in them. Apparently mine was the third number on it." 

Scorpio started the car. He wondered who the first two were, and if they had answered, and if they had then what they had said... But he didn't ask. Suki had been in a strange mood since what happened after the niteclub.

She continued. "The files had info on LEGACY operations. These detectives probably know more about your former employers than you do." 

Scorpio pulled out of the motel parking lot. "And they're going to meet up with us then? And then what?"

Suki watched the sky lightening in the distance. "Well, for starters we find out whether you're really onside or have been playing me this whole time..."

DAY TWENTYNINE 4:49AM

Like Glitches Through Time

Suki stepped out of the shower to answer the cellphone as soon as it rang. Not bothering to dry off, she didn't even give the phone a chance to ring a second time. 

"Ms. Fujimoria?" a female asked at the other end.

"Suki," she replied. 

"You don't know me but I think we have a common interest here," the woman on the other end said. "We have a mutual friend."

Suki walked from the bathroom and into the motel room. Past the single bed with the clothes she had lain out for today. A white blouse, a long black thin tie and a plaid-like skirt. All the shirt was was missing was the name of a school on the upper right side. 

"Have you seen Max?" Suki asked.

"No," said Riveta. "But he brought us into the game."

DAY TWENTYNINE 4:12AM

Return Trip Ticket 

"I would hug you if there weren't so many tubes sticking out of you," Riveta said. Her sarcasm was betrayed by the smile shining on her face. 

Stone smiled back. "They won't be for long..." He held her gaze for a moment, and she understood. Partner telepathy. Stone, despite his condition, wasn't planning on still being in the hospital come sunrise.

"You're planning on going back, aren't you?" she asked. 

"Are you planning on stopping me?"

Riveta took his hand in hers. "No. Coming with you."

DAY TWENTYNINE 2:13AM

Polarities

Suki inhaled the cold night air. The sweat chilled on her body. 

Donnelly smiled. "You know that was actually really fun." Scorpio had a tipsy smirk on his face. At least three women had asked for his phone number inside. He patted Donnelly on the shoulder. Donnelly returned the gesture, then looked over to Suki. She was already heading to the parking lot.

"Are you alright to drive?" he asked. He and Scorpio had both had a few drinks. He wasn't sure if Suki had. 

Scorpio checked his watch. "Man, we were in there for hours."

Suki turned back to face the reverend. She looked serious. "Father... Do you remember Mayganne?" 

Donnelly paused. His mind went suddenly quiet. "Of course, young Mayganne..." Suki watched him closely. Something inside the reverend changed, like an eclipse. And he remembered. "Oh god, the poor girl... The fire..." Tears flooded his eyes. "Oh dear Lord, all of them... In the fire..."

He stumbled. Scorpio caught him. Donnelly suddenly looked old and frail. 

"How could I forget?" his voice was high and strained. "Dear God.. Hank and Susanna... Amber, Janice... Jo and Milligan. They're all dead."

Suki moved closer to him. She glanced at Scorpio; he looked sad. "I'm sorry, Father," she said. He was sobbing now. She gently reached up and tilted his face towards hers. "Father... Do you remember Max?" 

Donnelly looked confused. Trying to tread water in a tsunami. "I don't... I'm sorry... Oh God..." And he was crying again.

Suki helped Scorpio lead him to a bench. He slumped down, broken by sorrow; he didn't react when Suki fished the handgun out of his coat pocket. She tucked it in her waistband. 

Scorpio looked at her. His voice quiet. "So it worked."

DAY TWENTYNINE 1:55AM

Kaleidoscope 

Max tried to lose himself into the music. His body felt sore and aching, he couldn't risk the dance-floor. He tried to just listen, to watch, the swirl and flux of people. Ever since the chalet. Everything had sharp edges. Her arm was moving like smoke, he tried to read it, she was gone, three other dancers swirling into the space. Max blinked or the lights strobed. The bass thumped or his heart beat. Something had happened. Driving up the laneway, the trees surrounding him. Leaves like voices, clustered and brushing against each other, voices at the bar beside him. Drink orders, pickup lines. Branches trying to reach out and entangle, over decades. The music crescendoed, arms thrown up in the air, the crowd like coral, he had made his decision. 

To risk it, she was deciding whether to give the guy her phone number, he was deciding whether to ask the other guy out, he had decided to risk it. Hoping, hoping, hoping she looked good tonight, she would meet someone new, hoping he would get that promotion, hoping he had made it to the chalet in time. He knew that ops had timetables, the DJ worked the turntables. He knew that he had a window, jewelry flashing in the technocolour lights like broken rainbows. The bodies moved through the music like trees in a windstorm, driving up the lane ready to risk the infection moving through him into her, or to find it was too late, the song changing up the tempo mixing down, samples playing hide and seek in the beat. To maybe find her changed already, the world changed, always changing, dancers finding the melody, the rhythym, trying always to find the way through the worlds.

Or maybe she would be gone, already too late, but the enemy was on the horizon, chopper blades like crows' wings, like scythes ready for harvest. So Max into the risk, standing at the bar, music and lights spinning together, and the strange pulse in him, that had started the other day, as he was driving up the lane, like a signal, like an injection. The crows cawing behind him. The crowd cheering. Max was coming to save the day, Max was coming to end the world, Max standing at the bar. The Crystal Method on the speakers, 'This transmission is coming to you', mixed with the KLF, 'What time is love?'. And he pulled up to the chalet. To save her or kill her. 

He took a drink. He could see faces he knew at the windows, among the trees, old faces, lost faces. Dragons in the crowd, dancing, couldn't be, couldn't be her. She was long gone. And they were all gone. They were all gone. He knew they were just there, but now they were gone. He pushed away from the bar, towards the dance-floor, trying to reach her, moving slow like a branch growing, but she was already gone. Couldn't have been her... The crows had landed, he was already hiding, he was hiding back at the bar. She asked him for his phone number and he imagined his cell phone ringing and it not being the Professor or Control or a crisis or static, and he started to laugh, and she was gone.

He arrived, he had arrived at the club, because of the name probably, to try the ritual, Light had arrived at the chalet, the castle, black armour, enemy knight, and everyone was gone. Somehow they had all disappeared. Tried to disappear into the music and couldn't, he was different now. Tried to find them but they were gone, they were trying to find them but they were gone. They were both alone together. Each other's prey.

DAY TWENTYNINE 00:32AM

The Best Laid Plans 

Greg’s day had been very long. And his night had been too short. The meeting had gone very well, but was exhausting. The private celebration he had arranged for himself with some local talent, charged to his discretionary fund, had also gone well and was also exhausting, albeit in a much more satisfying way. He had been ready for sleep when the phone had rung, and everything had started to fall apart. 

“You’re telling me that they are gone,” he said, his voice perched on the edge of fury. He listened. “If you are implying that the intelligence I extracted from Sanderson was faulty… No, I’m sure you weren’t.”

Greg got out of bed and moved to the wet-bar. Poured a drink. 

“So Cube must have tipped them off… Which means he’s made Agent Light…”

He took a sip. Something was wrong. 

“Except that Theory planted that coverstory, about the infection, so that Cube would sever contact with the experiment… Would he really have risked it?”

He took a gulp. This was the wrong time for the situation to be moving so far outside parameters. The result of today’s meeting was that the backers were ready for the project to move to Phase Three. Except that thanks to Cube they had lost the project, then found it, and now lost it again. 

“No, of course you don’t. Fine. It’s time to cancel Light’s involvement. Use one of the Sanction Roster. It’s time this gets sorted out. I want a report on my desk by the time I return tomorrow.”

Greg sat on the edge of the bed. He could see himself in the mirror on the wall. Here, alone in the room, backstage, out of the spotlight, he looked tired.