What's Next? -- Chapter 4

Disclaimer:  The TV show Dark Angel, all of the characters that appeared on it (Max, Zack, Alec, etc.), and everything else that has to do with the show belong to their respective owners, not to me.  No money is being made off of this fic.  I only own the original characters (Becky/X6-405, etc.).

Max looked at the business suit that she was wearing and rolled her eyes. “I hate this stupid thing. Why can’t I just wear my catsuit and vest?”

“Because it’s a meeting with the President of the United States,” Jondy said as if Max was a two-year-old. “You can’t dress like a burglar when you meet the president. It doesn’t matter if that’s your primary occupation or not.”

“Very funny,” Max said. “I don’t know why neither Zack nor Becky have to dress up like this.”

“Because we’re special,” Becky deadpanned.

“Don’t worry, that suit is cute as hell,” Jondy said.

“Yeah, it is,” Max admitted. She looked at her watch. “Our security group is in place so I guess we should be getting going.” She turned to Zack and Becky. “You guys ready?”

“Yeah, I’m all set,” Becky said.

“I’m ready,” Zack said. He gave Max a quick kiss. “Let’s go.”

“Okay,” Max said. They walked over to the tunnel entrance and went inside and walked through the tunnel until they got to the other entrance at the safehouse and exited the tunnel. They walked into a back room and sat down at a table. “Come on, come on…”

“They’ll be here in the next five minutes,” Becky said.

“Can you blame me for being nervous?” Max said. “An actual normal life is in our grasp. Not just for the three of us, but for all the transgenics.” She shrugged. “Hell, I even want to go back to Jam Pony. Not necessarily to deliver packages again, but to see everyone again.” She smirked. “And to see the look on Normal’s face. O.C. said that he was speechless for a good fifteen minutes after he found out on the news that we were transgenic.”

Zack and Becky both snickered. “Yeah, that must have been a shock,” Zack remarked. The three of them suddenly turned their heads towards the front of the safehouse. “They’re here. One jeep leading one limo, I guess that’s Dennis and Caroline in the jeep and the president in the limo, and other vehicles I guess for Secret Service agents and other security personnel.”

Max put a hand to the earpiece that she was wearing. “Security group, report in.”

“Standard security from them,” Alec reported. “No sign of anything out of the ordinary.”

“Good,” Max said. She turned the earpiece off and turned to Becky. “Becky, would you like to answer the door?”

“Sure,” Becky said. She walked through the safehouse and over to the front door and opened it and nodded to her parents. “General Murphy, Colonel Robinson, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you.” She saw the president standing just behind Dennis and Caroline and straightened to attention and swore to herself at the habit. “It’s an honor to meet you, Mr. President.” She stepped aside so that the three of them plus two Secret Service agents could come in.

“You must be X6-405,” the president said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, young lady.”

“Thank you, sir,” Becky said. She led them over to the room where Max and Zack were waiting and went inside and sat back down on Max’s right. The president sat down at the other end of the table and Dennis and Caroline sat to either side of him with Dennis sitting next to Zack and Caroline sitting next to Becky. The two Secret Service agents stood behind the president.

“First, 452, I want to thank you and all of the other transgenics for uncovering the actions of Mr. White and his cohorts,” the president said. “Hundreds of millions of lives here and billions abroad would have been lost if it wasn’t for what you did.”

“Thank you, Mr. President,” Max said. “I prefer to be called Max. If you want to be formal, and I can imagine that you would be, you can call me Ms. Guevara.”

“If that’s what you want then I have no problems with it,” the president said. “Why don’t you give out your terms first?”

“Sure,” Max said. “We want full U.S. citizenship for all transgenics, regardless of whether they are X-series or anomalies or what. We want all rights that come with citizenship. Those who are old enough get to vote. We can apply for any job that we are qualified for. We can pretty much take on any job, but some of us have specializations. For example, a field med can become a doctor and work at a hospital. All transgenics were trained in how to drive a car at the age of eight and so we want all transgenics at the legal driving age, which I believe is sixteen, or older to be given licenses. As far as the X-series are concerned, we would like all underage X-series that are at least fourteen years of age which would mean the members of the X6 generation that are between fourteen and seventeen years of age to be legally declared as adults and thus be able to live on their own and obtain jobs. The X7 generation are thirteen years of age but they function differently and the next generation down from them, the X8 generation, only range in age from seven to eleven years of age. We would like some kind of arrangement to be worked out concerning them and the X9 generation, the oldest members of which are only five years old. The generations that were classified as X10, X11, and X12 are the children that resulted from the breeding program that Manticore instituted and they as well as any other children of transgenics born before or after the destruction of Manticore will be given these rights also.”

The president nodded thoughtfully. “I see.” They continued to talk for several hours before the president finally stood up from his chair. “I think that we have come to a good stopping point, Ms. Guevara. We will continue these negotiations tomorrow.”

“Absolutely,” Max said. “Will the same time be okay for you, Mr. President?”

“It will be,” the president said. “I will see you then. General Murphy, Colonel Robinson, it was a pleasure seeing you again and I will see the two of you tomorrow as well.” He and his Secret Service agents left.

“He’s not a bad guy,” Dennis said. “I’ve worked with a three different presidents since I was first assigned to the Pentagon and he’s the best that I’ve worked with yet. He’s nice but he’s also a smart man. I think this will work out very well for you guys.”

“I hope it does,” Max said. “I just want to get into my jeans and a t-shirt the second I get back to my apartment.” Becky muttered something under her breath and snickered. Max and Zack turned to glare at her while Dennis and Caroline, neither of whom heard what Becky had said, looked puzzled. “Becky, grow up.”

“What did…?” Caroline trailed off as she figured out what Becky must have said and she shook her head. “Becky, leave your brother alone.”

“Fine,” Becky said.

“I guess I’ll be getting back to the site,” Dennis said. “Caroline, are you ready to go?”

“I’m ready,” Caroline said. She smiled. “Be good, you guys.”

“I will,” Zack said.

“So will I,” Becky said.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Max said. “I’ll call with the place for the meeting. It might not be here.”

“No problem,” Dennis said. “We’ll see you then.” He and Caroline left.

“I hate meetings,” Becky said. “One of the things that drove me nuts back at Manticore was when they would have a visiting officer present when I would be briefed by Colonel Lydecker for a mission that I would be leading. He would take forever to go over the information because he wanted to show off in front of the visitor.”

“Don’t worry, you’re scheduled to switch with Alec at the negotiations tomorrow anyway,” Max said, laughing. “Come on. Let’s get back home.”

TBC