DAY TWENTYTHREE 12:14PM

Ascension Status

It was cold and wet and he sat on the ground. 

Max sat naked, fingers clenched and resting on his knees. He was surrounded by 13 empty coffee mugs, with 13 candles burning inside them. Sitting on 13 packs of cigarettes.

Music filtered in from the car speakers on the roadside. He wasn't cold but he wasn't sure exactly what he felt like. His eyes closed. He hummed along with the music. 

A breeze began to swirl around him, and he let out a breath of smoke. It danced with the swirl.

"Hey mister are you... Holy shit," someone called from the highway.

DAY TWENTYTWO 20:31PM

Memorandum for the Record

Stone closed the laptop, rubbed his chin and let out a long breath. It sounded more like a sigh of relief; the way a jogger feels after partaking in a marathon. 

He had brought the laptop home; he didn't even say boo to anyone about it. Not even to his partner, Riveta. He wanted to see things for himself first.

He got up and walked over to the coffee machine and poured himself another cup. As he poured he stared at the cup and he shuddered. 

If this Max Cube was a crackpot, like the files suggested, then he shouldn't be worried at all. But... things were beginning to make a hell of a lot of sense and he was starting to see the line that Max was drawing.

He couldn't shake that feeling after seeing, reading, hearing the testimonies of a what was likely a madman, except that there was documentation to verify certain events. 

And for some strange reason he was getting a sense of deja vu again and it made him shudder.

DAY TWENTYONE 10:23AM

Breathe

Alice's eyes opened wide, she let out a sharp breath. Hank, keeping a vigil by her side, snapped to attention. 

He clasped her hands, seeing that they were warm.

"Oh Max," she said as soft as a butterfly's flutter. Her eyes weren't staring at the ceiling, but beyond. Hank's anger showed at the mere mention of his name. "You're... you truly... are a magnificent bastard..." 

Before Hank could say anything, Alice looked at him and she smiled and she closed her eyes and breathed out one last time. And in the blink of an eye she was gone.

DAY TWENTYONE 2:17AM

Quarantine

Max sprawled on the bed, exhausted. Finally ready to try and sleep. He rolled over one last time to check the cigarette was butted out properly. Pain was under the pillow. And the cellphone was on the nightstand.

It hadn't rung in 24 hours. He had said they could call him if it was an emergency, but after what he discovered in the research facility, before he blew the place up... 

I'm sorry Alice. Angst would have been really proud of you. 

He couldn't see her again. Or even risk exchanging words. He had no idea how the infection was transmitted. He could try and keep them safe from LEGACY though. Hopefully his clue for the detectives would trigger them to contact whoever LEGACY had on his trail now. And he would have another target. 

24 hours. Maybe it was already all too late.

Max closed his eyes. There was always a little time left for payback.

DAY TWENTY 21:38PM

Ritualistic

Max let the music envelop him. He was one with the muses now, the beat taking control. Unwinding, curling, the hardcore bassline replacing his soul. 

He was lost in the dance amongst the beautiful people. A disc spinner spinning out hardcore gabber music. Max was surrounded by others lost to the music, bodies writhing like a tribal dance, in fact it was just that and he was enjoying it.

DAY TWENTY 21:37PM

Invisible Orchestras

Father Donnelly got the change ready. Suki pulled up to the drive-thru window. She took the tray of drinks, passed the money from the reverend to the guy in uniform. 

As the car pulled away, Suki said, "I'm sorry."

Donnelly popped the lid on his tea and took a sip. "I appreciate the apology, but... Well, you put our lives at risk." 

Suki drove out onto the road. Scorpio was quiet in the backseat, napping or maybe meditating.

The Father continued, his voice calm but with an edge to it. "What if they had moved on us sooner? Before he removed the implant? How would you have apologized over the sound of that SWAT team shooting-first-and-asking-questions-later? Remember I've seen these cells of theirs at work before, too." Of course he had survived then, thanks to Max. Of course it was thanks to Max that they were after him in the first place. 

"That wasn't LEGACY at the motel. They won't use another cell. Max has been burning their fingers every time they reach out to grab him, so they will go to an outside source. They'll be trying to exploit Max's reluctance to retaliate against uninitiated players. That's why I let those boys-and-girls-in-blue live back there."

Donnelly hadn't been sure that she was going to. Watching from the shadows as the armored van swerved into the parking lot, as the soldiers spilled forth and stormed the room they had been in only moments before. She had taken that strange gun out of her satchel and it had started to glow... But once Suki had identified the team leader, she got them out of there, quick and quiet. 

"I feel sorry for you," Donnelly said. "That you have to think like this. 'Players'... My God, the life you must lead."

Suki glanced at him, a flicker in her eye like a whip about to crack. The younger girl she had heard on the phone earlier today would have said something nasty to the priest. A mean comeback. Things were different now. She looked back at the road. 

Donnelly could tell Suki was honestly trying. And he knew that he was trying to provoke her, letting his stress pull his leash. He was worried about the church, about the sudden shifts, about Mayganne. He tried to keep his voice relaxed. "Okay, explain to me how that near miss back there helped us."

Suki took a sip from her coffee. Before Max she had never tried the stuff. 

"Max will be hunting his hunters. Now we know who that is."

DAY TWENTY 20:00PM

Prelude To Extinction

"How'd you know?" Scorpio asked Suki. She had her back turned and was looking at the window. That last call had taken her for a loop; she had been talking to her younger self. Or a version of her that was of her younger self. But, she had thought she heard the rattle of a subway car as well. 

Father Donnelly was sitting on the edge of the bed, reading something from the drawer. It was a Gideon Bible. It was a comfort thing, since he knew everyone falls back onto a device they know in times of trouble.

"You knew," she said. "But, it's been a part of you for a long time, you'd just forgotten about it." 

"So what you're saying is that you knew all along that they were on to us?" Donnelly asked. He stood up and dropped the bible down on the bed.

"Frank was LEGACY as well," Suki said in a fond recollection. "We didn't know until FACTOR VERIFY that it was embedded." 

"Then why did you let it continue?" Scorpio asked. He held the bloody knife in his hands.

"It was the only way to find Max," Suki said.

DAY TWENTY 18:45PM

Reflected 

Simon splashed water on his face and stared into the mirror. 

Maybe this will do it… 

He patted his face dry with the towel. Pulled the black sweater on. He looked tired. He needed to look fresh, look hungry, for the men and women he was about to lead. It was his third tactical operation in his time with the agency. 

Maybe this time. 

He imagined the moment. Apprehending the criminal. Seeing his team surround them, weapons poised like cobras, shouting. This time it would be Fujimoria. Seeing her taken down, swallowed in a controlled whirlwind of body armor and restraints and orders, the spirits of law and justice descending upon her, a 21^st century ritual sacrifice. 

And I will feel it. 

This time, maybe, the hole in him will close. The open, aching part of him. The micro-void in his heart, like the black hole at the center of the galaxy. All his achievements and successes swirling about, a shining and triumphant spiral of commendations, awards, congratulations. He had stopped so many bad people. Prevented so many bad things from happening… 

And it will finally be over. 

Maybe this time everything won’t turn into ghosts. Maybe this time the arrest will hold onto him, will convince him. Maybe this time it will make everything different. He will know, without a doubt. He will have made things right. Made them better. 

Maybe I will leave then. Travel. Date. Go to school again. 

LEGACY had transmitted the coordinates. Protocols had been agreed upon for the hostage. The tac-team had been assembled and were awaiting briefing. Suki Fujimoria was to be apprehended and used as a means to get to Max Cube. The files Logollos had passed on about Cube were suspiciously brief: corporate espionage, terrorism, anti-government activism. Nothing out of the ordinary. 

Who is Max Cube? 

Simon adjusted the sweater. A final look into the mirror. 

Who is Simon Light?

DAY TWENTY 14:56PM

The More They Stay The Same

 "...who's this..." the voice on the other end of her cellphone asked. Suki was glad to get a call; she had snapped it up on the first ring.

"Suki," she replied. The static was heavy with interference. She picked up her tone. "Is the Professor there?" 

"Suki?!" the voice on the other end questioned. There were layers upon layers of static and interference but the voice was faint and there. "You're.... kidding me.... you sure?"

"Put the Professor on!" Suki said, her voice urgent and sharp like a butcher's knife, making Donnelly look at her. 

"You.... wrong number.... Suki?" The voice was distant and echoing like a banshee.

"What?" 

"My name is Suki," the girl on the other end replied. "You dialed my cell!"

DAY TWENTY 14:13PM

The More Things Change 

Three people were gone. At least, ones they could remember. Carmen, Farah, and Art.

Johannesberg’s hair was now long and pony-tailed. 

Rajinder’s brand of cigarettes was different.

Alice was still dying. 

And the cottage had changed.

It looked different, the layout was different. The decorations were different. It wasn’t the cottage that Hank had visited as a boy. 

The cottage had changed. But Alice was still dying.

Hank shifted on the stool, tucked in amongst the bushes, watching the laneway through the trees. The rifle rested at his side. He was glad to be on watch; he couldn’t relax inside anymore. 

Susanna crept up behind him, making enough noise to avoid startling him. 

“I brought coffee,” she said. 

“Leave me alone,” he said.

DAY TWENTY 13:22PM

Optional Damage

"Stone, there's a parcel for you here," the desk clerk called over to him. Stone was in the middle of paper work, trying to tie up some loose ends on some previous cases before focusing on the new ones. Besides, it seemed the feds were all over this one. 

Stone glanced over to the desk and saw a gray delivery suit and a baseball hat standing there. He shoved his frame from the table and got up.

"Expecting anything?" his partner inquired. Riveta glanced over and back at her partner. "You know the chief will have your head again if it's anything from Cbay." 

"Not really," Stone replied and smiled. He walked past the row of desks to the front counter.

"I need you to sign here and here," the delivery man said. He held out a clipboard and a pen at Stone. 

"Don't you guys use those electronic keypads these days?" Stone asked.

"Boss doesn't like them, he says they are too impersonal," the delivery man said. He looked at the signature and smiled. "Need your I.D as well." 

Stone chuckled; here they were in a police station and a delivery guy is asking him for I.D. Well, stranger things have happened.

Stone showed his badge and a smile. "Satisfied?" 

The delivery man smiled and nodded, and handed the parcel over to Stone. "Have a good day."

"You too," Stone replied. He took the package over to his desk. On the very thick envelope was his name and the police station and department. Before he even opened it, it felt like a laptop inside. 

Max exited the police station, ditching the baseball cap into the trashbin right outside the door. He had a huge smile on his bruised face.

DAY NINETEEN 21:18PM

Match Made In 

Max closed the lid to the laptop. "Ok, I've gotta make a run for some coffee." He looked around the motel room; there was no one else there. 

The cellphone rang again. He let it.

DAY NINETEEN 20:59PM

Point And Match

"Craptacular," Max said. He butted out a cigarette and glanced at his watch. He was dying for a coffee, since his head had begun to hurt.