Breeding Partners, or Not!

Breeding Partners…or not - Chapter 9

(By elle6778)

Day 16

Max.

It seemed familiar, like she had known it before. That name struck a chord in her, but she did not know why. She was still not sure whether to believe his explanation about that name. He said it was something he called her in his head. Hmm. What was she supposed to say to that?

Max shrugged. Well, she was comfortable enough with it, so she guessed that she could live with it, even though it might have been the name of some other girl Alec knew. Max rolled her eyes.

Alec.

That was what he called himself. The fact that he has a name aside from his designation really surprised her. She doubted that it was a usual thing for Manticore soldiers, after all, she had never heard anyone being called by anything other than their designations. However, what she thought probably did not count for much, considering that she found it hard to remember much details of her own past ever since her injury.

The name suited him, she thought.

Still mulling over their names, she made her way out of the toilet cubicle with a small bottle containing her sample for their standard weekly health check. It was normally done monthly but ever since the commencement of the Breeding Programme, the female transgenics have been asked to provide weekly urine samples.

When she reached the lab, the technician who was sitting behind the desk took the small bottle of sample from her. “Your designation?” he asked blandly.

“X5-452,” she replied, watching him attach the correct label on the bottle.

“You can go now,” he said as he turned to deposit her sample together with the rest in a glass case. Then carefully, he shut the glass case.

For some reason, it seemed familiar; the brightly lit white room with the cases.

As she continued to stare, a piercing pain shot through her temple, making her gasp.

Then she saw it.

She was standing in a room. The walls were lined with glass cases, each of them labelled with a barcode. Her eyes scanned the barcodes.

330417291599

331280315734

331450074656

332960073452

“Max, it's you. And me . . . and Brin . . . and Tinga,” a male voice said.

Without looking at him, she said, “No. Tinga's dead. Come on.”

“X5-452! Hey, are you alright?” a voice near her said.

She blinked, trying to refocus her eyes. Her breath was short, her heart pumping fast and she felt queasy. What the hell was that all about?

“X5-452!” the lab technician repeated more urgently.

Max found him standing behind his desk, eyeing her warily as if he expected her to attack at any moment. Shaking her head slightly, she said quickly, “Yes. I’m fine.”

The lab technician did not look convince, but after a few moments, he waved her on. “You can go now.”

Max nodded and left the room.

When the door shut behind her, she leaned her back against it, still shaken over what she had seen.

The barcodes. They were familiar.

And the names. Brin and Tinga. They were also familiar.

But why? Why could she not remember who they were? And why did it seem so important that she remembered?

Max strained to think of where she might have met them, but nothing came to mind. It was frustrating to say the least.

Finally exhausted with her attempts, she gave up.


Day 23

The flashbacks were increasing in frequency. Max did not know whether she should be glad or not. At the rate she was going, it would not take long before she remembered everything.

Most of the time, it was inconsequential stuff. Like flashes of a street, some building, people around her and training sessions when she was younger. She guessed that most of it came from her away missions, seeing that the setting was almost always not in the Manticore facility.

The strange thing was, something told her that she might not like what she remembered. Perhaps it had something to do with her injury, her system might have blocked off some memories on purpose. And bringing it back would probably not be such a great idea.

Max turned around, walking towards the training grounds where the rest of the transgenics were undergoing their morning drill.

It had been a little more than one week since they had commenced with their copulation, but so far, there the results had not been positive. As she moved into line with the rest of the transgenics, Max wondered how long it would take.

The drill sergeant called out, “X5-452 and X5-494 on the mat.”

She watched Alec out of the corner of her eyes as he stepped out of formation onto the mat. Following his actions, she too stepped out onto the mat, facing him. He was already prepared himself, his legs ajar and his arms held up in a fight stance.

Something nudged her at the back of her mind, making her frown. It was as if she had done this before.

Then her eyes glazed as a scene flashed past her eyes.

Alec blurred towards her, delivering a hard backhand to the side of her head. As her head snapped back, she twisted out of the path of his sidekick, cursing under her breath. The hit to her head burned where his fist had connected with her cheekbones.

Springing off her bent knees like a cat, she bounced off the ground, looking as if she was running in mid-air, as she headed straight for Alec’s head. She grinned as she saw Alec stepping to the side just as she swung her legs in the same direction. His eyes widened a little in surprise before her booted foot contacted with his chest, sending him sprawling to the ground with a loud thud.

The drill sergeant’s loud, irate voice cut her flashback short. “X5-452! Get your head in the game!” he shouted.

Blinking away the bewildering image which she had just seen, Max forced herself to focus on Alec. Easier said than done, she thought with a grimace. So they had sparred before this, nothing surprising right? But why she did not remember him at all. Surely if she had known him before, she would remember him like how she remembered 511.

They circled each other warily.

The first hit came from Alec. His fist just grazed her arm as she lowered it quickly to block his unexpected punch. With no hesitation, she retaliated with spinning kick, which he ducked, followed by an upper hook.

Alec staggered back slightly, his hand going to his jaw as his eyes flashed in what Max noted was amusement. Somehow, that irritated her. What? He thought that she was amusing now, huh?

She charged forward and bounced off the ground, coming up high in the air. Her extended leg almost caught his head, but missed when he sidestepped at the last minute. Then the next thing she knew, she was on her back with his straddling her midsection. She struggled, trying to push him off, but he had her effectively pinned to the ground.

“Why? Can’t handle me, Maxie?” he whispered under his breath, just loud enough for her ears.

Maxie…Maxie…Maxie… The nickname echoed in her head. She had heard it before. The now familiar pressure in her temples returned full force and a scene flashed across her eyes.

A young boy, maybe eight or nine, was sitting next to her on her bed. His fingers were entwined together, and he held them up to the light from the window to cast butterfly shadows on the wall. She watched the dancing shadows, entranced by the simple thing she was seeing.

“You like that, Maxie?”

She nodded eagerly. “Can you do anything else, Ben?”

Her body impacting the ground brought cut the scene short. She looked up at Alec from her position on the ground. His image seemed interlaced with the one of the boy in the memory flash she just had. For a moment, the two of them looked alike to her. As if Alec was an older version of the boy.

But she called the boy Ben.

Alec was…Alec.

Max frowned in confusion. Damn it! These flashbacks are driving her crazy, she thought irritably.

And right now, Alec was giving her a worried look. She was not surprise. He was not the only one worried here.

“X5-452, what are you doing?” the irate drill sergeant shouted, but somehow, Max was unable to respond.

“Max, get up now,” Alec hissed urgently, his back to the sergeant. Then he stepped back, maintaining the appropriate distance from her.

Max took a deep breath and then jack-knifed to her feet just as the sergeant reached her. She stared straight, careful to keep her eyes steady and her posture rigid.

“Mind explaining what was that all about?” he barked in her face.

“I was just winded, sir,” Max replied crisply.

“That was a disgraceful performance, 452. Make sure it doesn’t happen again. Carry on. This time, concentrate!” he finished. Turning to Alec, he ordered, “494, stay on the mat with 452 until her performance improves.”

“Yes, sir,” Alec replied tonelessly.

Taking a deep breath, Max nodded for Alec to continue. Silently, she hoped that no more flashes would disturb her sparring session. The last thing she wanted was to be thrown into Punishment for not concentrating.

…………………………….


Nine days had passed since their first effort at completing their mission.

His initial misgivings about her identity were now not as strong as it used to be. He knew that he had been talking himself into accepting the present Max as the real Max. That she would not regain her old identity anytime soon.

That was the only way he could carry on with their mission night after night, knowing that the Max he had known would not have allowed him so close to her. Every night, a part of him wondered if she would suddenly remember who he was. And each night, he wondered if he should just tell her to get the thing out of the way once and or all. Surely she would understand. Right?

But the other part of him always won. The part which told him that this was exactly what they were supposed to be doing anyway. That it was not something wrong, so why stop it? Why make things more difficult for himself? What she did not know would not harm her. Right?

In addition to that, he found to his surprise that he liked spending time with her. The copulation has always been good, but he also enjoyed the conversations they have each night, discussing their training on that day.

Alec nodded slowly to himself.

Things were what it should be right now. They have a routine and things were going smoothly. They have a mission to complete and they have been working on it.

But somehow, not matter what he told himself, he still could not fully dispel the little nudge of warning somewhere deep inside him.


Day 26

Max rested her head against the cool wall.

Damn it, Manticore needs to invest in some decent air-conditioning for them, she thought grumpily. She was feeling hot, edgy and generally cranky. Having such a small cell restricted her movements and that, too annoyed her.

She needed a shower, a cold one, but she doubted that the guards would let her out. They were under orders to keep the transgenics locked up. She could not quite figure out why. After all, it was not as if they have anywhere better to go.

Max expelled a heart-felt groan.

Her blood was pounding and she was feeling more restless than she ever felt before. She leaned back against the cool wall and wrapped her arms around her knees.

She closed her eyes in an attempt to blank out her turmoil.

Unbidden, a sudden flash of memory came to her.

She was on a motorcycle, feeling restless and riding fast in the night with her hair streaming out behind her. Another bike was close beside her. After a while, the guy on the bike pulled up next to her.

They both stopped and the guy took off his helmet. Smiling he greeted her, “Max.”

She just smiled at him, and rode off again with him not far behind her.

When they got to an apartment, she slammed him against a wall and jumped on him, kissing him almost desperately. They could not seem to take their hands off each other. It took awhile, but they finally made it to his bedroom.

Max opened her eyes with a gasp, her forehead beaded with sweat as she remembered what happened.

Heat.

That happened when she had been in heat.

Then Max’s brow furrowed in confusion.

The guy in her flashback.

His name was Rafer, she knew without a doubt. She grimaced. When did that happen? They were obviously not in Manticore. The guy was an Ordinary. What was she doing having sex with an Ordinary? Had she been on a mission when her heat struck her?

Damn it! She hated not being able to remember all the details of her past. It was as if something very personal had been stolen from her.

Then all thoughts of her flashback disappeared the minute her cell door opened.

Alec.
…………………………….

Alec knew something was off even before he stepped into Max’s cell.

It did not take him long to realise what it was.

She was in heat.

Every inch of his body seemed to have sensed her pheromones and his mind suddenly filled with images of what he wanted to do with her.

Some little part of him nudged him, reminding him of what they were ordered to do when faced with a female transgenic in heat during the Breeding Programme. He turned around to the guard, and said carefully, “X5-452 is in heat. You’re to leave us until everything is over. Renfro needs to know.”

Eyes widening, the guard quickly nodded and said, “I’ll inform Madam Renfro.” He backed away and slammed the door shut, leaving Max and Alec alone in the small cell.

As he watched her, he could feel his blood rush away from his head. His heart-rate increased and his breath became shallower with each step she was taking towards him.

“Max,” he whispered, almost desperately.

Max gave him an inviting smile as she grabbed his shirt, pulling him towards her forcefully.

He managed to force out a smirk. “In a hurry, Max?”

She raised her eyebrows. “Not particularly,” she said, yanking hard at his shirt.

The fabric gave, coming apart in her fists. Alec’s eyes darkened, insanely pleased with her action. He was not any gentler with her when he pulled her clothes away from her, making sure that he touched her heated skin as he did so.

She gazed at him, her pupils dilated in passion as she pushed his trousers down his hips, teasing him with her fingers when she passed his hardness. Alec sucked in his breath, inhaling more of her pheromones. His mind was clouding over, making rational thought impossible.

With a rush, he pulled her to him, melding them together. She nipped his lips greedily with her teeth, making him groan. He responded roughly, unable to restrain himself. His hands roamed her body, encouraging her to moan and writhe against him.

They did not make it to her bunk.

He took her right there, up against the wall. Her gasps and passionate screams told him that she did not mind, but his own mind was too far gone to stop it even if she did. She matched him thrust for thrust, eagerly seeking more contact with him. Her multiple releases spurred him on, her inner walls clenching him tightly over and over again.

When he exploded into her, he did so loudly, calling out her name.

He sagged onto the bunk with Max still wrapped around him, still breathing hard.

Then his head began to clear just a little.

A small thought form at the back of his mind. It occurred to him that this was the best time for Max to get pregnant. The thought of that made him frown. That would mean the completion of the mission.

Which would mean the end of this mission.

He would no longer be ordered to go to her every night.

A satisfied sigh escaped Max’s lips and she buried her face deeper into her neck, her hand stroking up and down his back. Alec tightened his arms around her possessively.

Suddenly he was very reluctant to let her go.

Day 29

Max groaned, clutching her shoulder as she forced herself to put one foot in front of the other.

She had been training on the assault course, swinging herself over from tree to tree using a series of ropes when one of the other X5s accidentally collided into her. Normally she would not be so careless, but somehow, her grip on the rope slipped, sending her flying into the air.

It happened so fast that she had hit a tree before she realised what had happened.

So much for cats landing on their feet, she thought with a grimace. There was a good chance that she had broken her arm.

The medic who was helping her to the infirmary stopped at a door. Treatment Room 4, she noted absently as he pushed the door open. He inclined his head towards the examination platform in the middle of the room. “Can you get on by yourself? I’m going to call the doctor.”

Max nodded weakly and pulled her arms from his shoulder. Slowly, she made her way to the platform and painfully raised herself up. She lowered herself gingerly until her back touched the platform, sighing in relief as she did so.

Feeling terribly tired suddenly, she closed her eyes.

She must have dozed off. When she lifted her lids, she noticed that was not the only one in the room. Next to her, the doctor and his assistant were bending over what she assumed was her medical file. She tried to sit up, just to find that her movements were hampered by the tube was running from her right hand to a drip hanging beside her, next to a beeping monitor.

Resigning herself to lie down like a good patient, she looked around, squinting slightly at the over-bright light shining from the lamp overhead. The furniture was minimal, just a few shelves and cabinets lined with vials and boxes beside the padded platform she was on. Everything in the room seemed to be there for some scientific purpose unknown to her.

Then the familiar piercing pain in her head began. I don’t need this, she thought, barely muffling her groan. Not on top of a broken arm.

It did not take long before she was bombarded with a scene.

She was lying on an examination platform, her limbs strapped down, holding her immobile. A bright light was shining over her head, making her squint uneasily.

“Welcome back, 452. I gather that you’ve had a good rest?” Renfro said to her. “I have to say that I am disappointed in your performance as X5-494’s breeding partner. I expected you to do the right thing, to know what’s best for your well-being. For your survival.”

She raised an eyebrow and said, “Well, I would like to say that I’m sorry for that, but hey, guess what? I’m not.”

Renfro was not amused. “Listen to me, 452. I have more resources than you can count, even with your enhanced abilities. You WILL do as you’re told,” she barked, and then with a menacing smile said, “And I know just the way to encourage you.”

“Sure,” Max replied.

Renfro smiled coldly and turned to speak to someone else. “The subject is ready. You can commence.”

Then the flashes came faster, as if a floodgate has opened and everything decided that it wanted to come out all at once. Max gasped as her head throbbed even harder, almost blinding her and her stomach churned uncomfortably.

“We’ve got everything here, but we still think it may be too soon,” the medic said.

“What are our chances of a successful operation?” Renfro asked impatiently.

“75 percent or thereabouts. The tech is quite new, hence we have limited data on the outcome.”

“It’s good enough for us to proceed. She’s strong. She can take it.”

Max gasped as her eyes shot open. She remembered that she had escaped her restraints then. Chaos had ensued in the lab, and had resulted in her being injected with something. She did not know what it was, but she remembered feeling odd before she fell unconscious, and that was all.

Max groaned. Her head was positively killing her now, but something inside told her that she had to hold on to her flashes just a little longer. The doctor was calling her, but she ignored him, concentrating just on the images.

She was sitting in an examination couch. Tubes and sensors ran from her temple and her pulse points, securely taped to her skin. She felt strangely relaxed, her body released from any strain. In front of her, a screen was showing some images from a mission feed.

Mission 00234-487-511, she noted. The feed was displayed to her as a first-person’s view, and it was as if she was carrying out the mission. Her mission partner, 511, was signalling to her to move out. He covered her as she blurred across a compound, her machine-gun raised in preparation to fire at her enemies. It did not take long before their coordinated manoeuvres eliminated the opposing side.

Then the scene faded out to be replaced by something else.

There was someone in front of her. She could not tear her eyes away from him. Mesmerised; that was what she felt. He must be telling her something important, he was so earnest, so sincere.

“Your designation is 452. You’re a Manticore prototype based in Seattle.”

“My designation is 452. I’m a Manticore prototype based in Seattle,” she echoed automatically.

“Your home is Manticore and your duty is to carry out your orders without question.”

“My home is Manticore and my duty is to carry out my orders without question,” she repeated levelly as the words sank in.

The doctor was shaking her, she noted absently as her vision cleared. She continued to ignore him, not on purpose, but just because she was unable to respond.

Everything seemed to fall into place all at the same time. Max stared numbly at the ceiling, unwilling to digest what she had just experience. She remained silent as she tried to make sense of everything; Renfro, the medics, Psy-Ops, copulation, Alec, heat, Manticore, Renfro, the medics, Psy-Ops, copulation, Alec, heat…

What has she done? An onslaught of emotion came crashing upon her; disbelief, horror, anger, disappointment and the worst, revulsion.

Revulsion at what she has done. What she has allowed Manticore to do to her. What she has allowed Alec to do to her. She remembered everything.

And she wished that she did not.

A large lump of panic grew in her midsection, pushing itself up to her throat, suffocating her. She felt sick. She felt like throwing up. And yet, no words escaped her lips.

She remained silent.

But inside, she was screaming in utter despair.

No. No! NO!