(We see a shot of a building ruin from the outside. Next we see Max in front of the sink in her bathroom trying to get some toothpaste on her toothbrush.)

MAX: I can't imagine a time where you could just walk into a store, shelves were full and you could buy whatever you needed.

KENDRA: Yeah.

MAX:I mean, if you ran out of toothpaste you could buy some toothpaste.

KENDRA: Try this. Baking soda and peppermint oil. Does the trick.

MAX:Thanks. That's what I don't understand about this whole economic breakdown thing. We have this huge toothpaste shortage but you can buy peppermint oil.

KENDRA: If you know the right people. How do you spell, uh... Poly-merase?

MAX:P-o-l-y-m-e-r-a-s-E. Except it's pronounced polymer-aze with a "z" like in "enzyme," which is what it is. Responsible for the duplication of the DNA molecule by allowing the oligonucleotide primers to bind to the separated molecular strands.

KENDRA: You're such a goofball.

MAX:What are you working on?

KENDRA: Got a gig temping for this Japanese doctor who's in town giving a paper. "Gene re-sequencing, manipulation of RNA nucleotides." Don't ask me what any of it means. All I know is I'm getting paid.

MAX:Excellent.

KENDRA: Actually, it's kind of dope. This doc-- his name is Tanaka-- took this crack baby born three months premature. The kid had the I.Q. of broccoli. Doc goes to work on him. Six years later, he's a boy genius. Isn't he a cutie pie?

MAX: So, they fixed him by futzing with his genes after he was born?

KENDRA: I guess.

MAX: Can I take a look at this?

KENDRA: Long as you don't make me late for the conference.

MAX: Got you covered. They're putting you up here during the conference?

KENDRA: Not a chance.

MAX: Too bad. I was hoping we could score some towels

KENDRA: If I get invited to shower with anyone I'll see what I can do.

( Chuckles )
(In Logan's apartment)

( grunts )
( door opens )

MAX: Anybody home? Logan? Logan? Hi.

LOGAN: Hi.

MAX: Hard of hearing or something? Actually, One of my faculties that's still intact. I was just thinking.

LOGAN: Oh. You have that "Logan, I need a favor" look on your face.

MAX: Don't I always? I mean, isn't that the only reason why I come around? There's a conference at the Steinlitz hotel. A scientist, Dr. Tanaka, is presenting a paper on genetic research.

LOGAN: Yeah, I think I heard something about that.

MAX: I want to check it out.

LOGAN: You have my blessing.

MAX: It's one of those things where you can't just walk in off the streets. You got to have credentials.

LOGAN: I'll see what I can do. Why do you want to go, anyway?

MAX: I read this guy's paper. Claims he can cure what ails you by moving your genes around.

LOGAN: Think he can help you with your seizures?

MAX: Worth looking into. You know, you ought to come down there with me. Dr. Tanaka talks about how by using the body's genetic blueprints it can re-engineer itself. If the man's on the level you'd be walking around in no time.

LOGAN: You know what, Max. I'm having a hard enough time dealing with the here and now. You want to go listen to whatever pie in the sky Dr. Feelgood's hustling be my guest. Just leave me out of it, okay?

MAX: Okay. I was just...

LOGAN: Just don't. I'll call you if I can swing the conference thing.

(At Jam Pony)

NORMAL: How was everybody's weekend? Good, good.

CINDY: Speak for yourself. Had a tragic Saturday night. Finally got to kick it with my lickety-boo, k.

MAX: Chrisette?

CINDY: Check it. We have a couple beers shoot some pool sista gurl drop she go both ways.

SKETCHY: Yeah, so, aren't all women basically bisexual?

MAX: You're an idiot.

CINDY: I can live with bisexual. It ain't perfect, but at least she halfway there. But then shugga tells me that she has this big ole love affair with one of the other lickety chicks which ended badly, so her heart is broken. So now she is celibate.

SKETCHY: What's the point of being bisexual if you're celibate?

CINDY: Thank you. So, now they two broken hearts.

HERBAL: Yes, but it's all good.

CINDY: It is not all good. All good would be her and me chillin'.

HERBAL: It unfolds according to the will of the most high not just your desire, my sista.

CINDY: Whateva.

SKETCHY: But you might want to try getting her really drunk.

MAX: ( Coughing ) I'm going to have to take the afternoon off. Medical emergency.

NORMAL: Yeah, right.

MAX: I'm clammy and achy with chills. I got a fever. I'm burning up. Feel my forehead.

NORMAL: No, thank you. Get a note from your doctor.

MAX:( Coughs )( pager beeping ) Can I use your phone? Please?

NORMAL: Just don't breathe on it.

MAX: ( Dialing ) Hey.

LOGAN: Affirmative on those press credentials. You're Rachel Glasser from biotech frontiers magazine. I'll leave them with Bling if i'm not here.

MAX: Thanks.

LOGAN: Sorry for getting pissy before.

MAX: No big dealio. ( Coughs )

(Hotel where the conference is held)

( man speaking japanese )

MAX: Hi. Rachel glasser. Dr. Tanaka. Nice to meet you. Biotech frontiers.

( Speaks japanese )

TANAKA: Excuse me. How do you do?

MAX: I'm curious. You know how when you try to resequence nucleotides you always end up with one stray intron? Have you ever considered using plasmids to transfect the new base-pair vectors directly into the codon sequence so that that won't happen? I mean, one bad intron can mess up everything.

TANAKA: Interesting. I never considered that.

(intercom): Ladies and gentlemen, if you will please take your seats.

TANAKA: Please excuse me. Perhaps we can talk more later?

MAX: Yeah, I would like that.

KENDRA: What are you doing here?

MAX: You don't know me. My name's rachel glasser. I'm a journalist. Don't ask me how I got here.

KENDRA: Your rich boyfriend, that's obvious.

MAX: He's not my boyfriend.

KENDRA: Yeah, yeah. What's up? This isn't exactly your crowd.

MAX: Shall we?

TANAKA: This is Jude Thatcher at birth. He weighed just 31/2 pounds. He needed oxygen because his lungs were underdeveloped. He had no swallowing reflex, so had to be fed intravenously. He was addicted to crack cocaine. His mother, incarcerated for drug abuse and prostitution could not afford the most basic health care. Jude was heading for an early and unlamented grave until our foundation stepped in and took over the health management of the child. We began an intensive course of surgical, pharmacological and genetic intervention. The results were encouraging. This is Jude at two years, six months. This is Jude at four years. And this is Jude today, living proof that there are no limits to what the human body can achieve with the right training and environment.

JUDE: Konnichi-wa. ( Speaks Japanese ) ( Speaks Spanish ) We hope you find the proceedings informative and enlightening. Hello, Dr. Tanaka.

TANAKA: Konnichi-wa, jude-san. Why don't you play something for us?

( Playing "Italian concerto" )

(Max has a flashback to Manticore)

MAX : (voice over) At Manticore, Lydecker used to tell us the same thing-- "there are no limits. "What the mind can conceive, the body can achieve... With the right training." Only we could still get shot and killed like Eva starve to death... Or drown. I've often wondered why we didn't just turn on him. We were stronger, faster. Any one of us could have snapped his neck before he knew what hit him, but we were too scared and he knew it.

LYDECKER: Is this seat taken?

( Music continues )

MAX: No.

( Heart beating loudly )
( Lydecker speaking in slow motion )

MAX: excuse me?

LYDECKER: I said... You're not leaving. You couldn't possibly have gotten your story.

MAX: No.

LYDECKER: It is amazing, isn't it? To think that we can fix nature's mistakes.

MAX: Yeah.

LYDECKER: Donald... Lydecker.

MAX: Rachel Glasser. Biotech frontiers.

LYDECKER: I... Can't say that I've heard of that...

MAX: It's new.

LYDECKER: I'll have to check it out.

MAX: Nice to meet you. Excuse me.

( Slide projector clicking, Flashback to Mantacore propaganda slides)

KENDRA: Max?

MAX: It's Rachel. I told you.

KENDRA: Right. Are you okay?

MAX: Yeah. Why?

KENDRA: Was that guy hitting on you?

MAX: What?

KENDRA: You gotta watch out for the older ones-- less testosterone and more charm, but it's... Still all about banging the gong. You bailing?

( Slide projector clicks )

MAX: Not a chance.

LYDECKER: Because he, uh...He's never done it with music before.

MAX: Oh. I see. Is this your area of specialty, genetics?

LYDECKER: I've done some work in the field.

MAX: Really?

LYDECKER: With children... Gifted children.

MAX: How gratifying.

LYDECKER: I guide them as best I can. But mostly, I provide a framework in which they can flourish.

MAX: Must be a challenge.

LYDECKER: Oh, it is. You know, it's always the highly intelligent ones who most lack discipline.

MAX: Maybe they figure they're smart enough to think for themselves.

LYDECKER: Ah, they're still children. They don't always act in their own best interest.

(Max has flashback to Mantacore)

LYDECKER: What do you think of this so far, the conference?

MAX: It's hard not to be impressed.

LYDECKER: Tanaka's recombinant technology is groundbreaking. It's why I'm here. The children I work with their genetic anomalies make them gifted and they also make them flawed. Have we met before?

MAX: I don't think so.

LYDECKER: You seem awfully familiar.

MAX: I get that a lot.

( Applause )

TANAKA: Thank you. Thank you so much. Jude is an extraordinary boy. A singular creation whose very life is the culmination of decades of genetic research. Jude is also a messenger bringing good news to each and every one of us. How, you ask? You, sir. Will you please stand?

LYDECKER: Me? Yes?

TANAKA: Yes? I see you wear glasses.

LYDECKER: Yes.

TANAKA: How long have you worn them?

LYDECKER: A few years. I was fine till I was about 43. Next thing you know, I couldn't live without them.

TANAKA: Do you know why that is?

LYDECKER: Well, I'm no ophthalmologist but I think it has to do with the hardening of the crystalline lens which doesn't contract the way it used to.

TANAKA: That's right. Now, what if i told you that what you refer to as aging is already written in the genetic code and that, if I ... Snipped here ... grafted here and used some of your own RNA to seal the graft you could throw away your glasses?

LYDECKER: You would be my hero.

TANAKA: Thank you. You may sit down. Thank you. This same technique also allows us to treat and cure far more distressing conditions such as congenital blindness, deafness even severe neurological conditions such as Alzheimer's Parkinson's, epilepsy. All these can be remedied by manipulation of their genetic code-- a minor rewriting...

TERRORIST: Go, go. Everybody stay calm! We are the may 22nd movement!

TANAKA: What are you doing?!

( Yelling )
( people screaming )

DARIUS: We are the may 22nd movement. We are here to liberate the boy. Stay calm, stay out of our way and you will not be harmed.

LYDECKER: (to Kendra) Take this. Hide it. They won't search you.

KENDRA: What? No.

LYDECKER: Trust me.

DARIUS: Let him go.

TANAKA: No.You're not going to hurt the boy. Let him go! No!

MAX: ( Softly ):Come over here with me.

(Lydecker pulls fire alarm)
( Alarm blaring )

DARIUS'S GOON: Get him!

DARIUS: We're coming down. Bring the van around.

( Voice on walkie-talkie ): Not possible.Hotel security is blocking the entrance. They're evacuating the place.

DARIUS: Disable the elevators and seal the stairwells. No one gets on or off the floor! Everyone, on the ground! Now!

DARIUS'S GOON: Do it!

( Alarm continues blaring )

(At the Jam Pony)

SKETCHY: Hey!

NORMAL: No riding inside! That's what's wrong with everything-- no respect.

CINDY: What you eatin' on?

SKETCHY: Tomato with endive and watercress.

HERBAL: How come i don't see any tomato endive or watercress?

CINDY: Where is he gonna find any of that stuff even if he could afford it?

TV REPORTER: We interrupt this broadcast to bring you breaking news. This is the scene at the Steinlitz hotel where a heavily armed group identified as the outlawed May 22nd movement stormed a scientific conference being held there. Police arrived moments ago and are attempting...

HERBAL: Too much negativity in the world, man. ...Which is believed to involve... Which is why jah want us to hold a higher vision of tings. Like the both of you-- your feast here.

CINDY: Look, herbal, it's one thing for me and Sketchy to play pretend gourmet 'cause we broke. But that bitch for real.

HERBAL: Nah, nah. That's the very same thing, you know. Knowing that it's all good, all the time.

CINDY: Right, right, right.

CINDY: Somebody gonna get they ass blown off but that's all good?

HERBAL: All the time.

CINDY: I love you like a brotha, my brotha but that is just wack.

TV REPORTER: ...Elite anti-terrorist unit, alpha force, have just...

NORMAL: Hi. Do the words "bip, bip, bip," mean anything to you people.

TV REPORTER: The May 22nd movement takes its name from the birthday of terrorist Theodore Kaczynski known as the Unabomber who, for three decades, in the late 20th century waged a violent campaign against the technocra...

(At Logan's apartment)

BLING: Logan...

TV REPORTER: The group was formed...

BLING: You should see this.

TV REPORTER: ...Movement founder Jon Darius praised as "a call to arms against modern technology..."

LOGAN: Jon Darius. Interviewed him a few years back.

TV REPORTER: ...Including blowing up of bio-testing laboratories television relay stations and ... We are now receiving unconfirmed reports that more than a dozen...

LOGAN: Where is this?

BLING: Steinlitz hotel.

LOGAN: That's where max is.

DARIUS: We don't want to hurt anyone. Cooperate and you'll be all right. All we want is to free the boy.

TANAKA: Free him? From what?

DARIUS: From you and your freak show. You've turned him into the poster child for your morally bankrupt techno-state.

MAX: What are you gonna do with him?

DARIUS: Give him a home, a family, where he can live like a real human being.

LYDECKER: And grow up to spout slogans and shoot people.

TANAKA: This boy is my family.

DARIUS: He's your lab rat.

( Phone ringing )

MAN: The police, calling to negotiate.

DARIUS: This is Jon Darius. We're may 22nd. We're armed, and we're holding 35 hostages.

DETECTIVE SUNG: Detective sung, Seattle P.D.

DARIUS: If you try anything if your men come anywhere near this building hostages will die. You got that?

SUNG: I understand.

DARIUS: We want transport and safe passage for ourselves and the child known as Jude. If you don't meet our demands we'll kill one hostage every hour.

SUNG: What you're asking for we're going to need more than an hour.

DARIUS: First hour's already up. Terrence.

KENDRA: Oh!

( Whimpers )

TANAKA: Jude... Be brave.

KENDRA: They're just trying to scare us, right? They're not really going to kill him, are they?

TANAKA: What are you people doing?!

TERRENCE: Just showing you the city, Dr. Mengele.

TANAKA: No! No! No! No! Help! Help!

DARIUS: 59 minutes. Then another one goes after him.

(On bikes near the hotel)

CINDY: She's hot, but what's Original Cindy supposed to do? Wait around and see if this celibate thing is just a phase?

HERBAL: If 'twas meant to be, it'll be.

CINDY: Listen to Doris Day over here.

SKETCHY: Hey, the Steinlitz is right down there.

CINDY: Yeah, so?

SKETCHY: So, let's check it out. Maybe we'll catch a shoot-out or something.

CINDY: Somebody's gotta make sure he don't get into trouble.

HERBAL: Why?

CINDY: See that? Now don't even try telling me that it's all good.

HERBAL: All the time.

CINDY: No, that is evil, straight up.

HERBAL: Yes, it's evil.

CINDY: W-wait, so if it's all good all the time and you acknowledge that what just happened is evil well, aren't you sort of saying evil is good?

HERBAL: Yes, now you understand. You have to forgive evil, all right? But love in spite of evil.

CINDY: You need to put down the spliff because it is clouding your mind.

SKETCHY: Now, I'm going to have to more or less agree with Original Cindy on this one, Herbal. And I ain't no stranger to stoner logic. The guy looked pretty damn dead.

LOGAN: Matt!

BLING: Detective sung.

( Propellers whirring )

LOGAN: We've got to talk.

SUNG: He's okay.

LOGAN: A friend of mine was at this conference.

SUNG: A few folks got out when all this started. What's the name?

LOGAN: Glasser, Rachel Glasser.

SUNG: Still unaccounted for. I'm sorry.

ARMY MAN: Who's running the show here?

LOGAN: Military's taking over.

SUNG: Guy behind may 22, Darius?

LOGAN: I know him. Maybe I can help.

KENDRA: 45 minutes. Are they just going to wait until he kills someone else?

LYDECKER: Give me the gun... Carefully. It's okay. (Max has a flashback to Mantacore)

SUNG: So, how do you know this clown, Darius?

LOGAN: I interviewed him several times for a story I was doing a few years back, and he's no clown. He's very serious, and, obviously, very dangerous.

MILITARY MAN: If you would have turned him in at the time you would have saved everyone a lot of trouble.

LOGAN: Well, I'm a journalist, not a policeman.

ARMY MAN: Well, like all journalists, you're in the way. I need an ETA on those sharpshooters.

ARMY MAN2: An hour away, sir.

ARMY MAN: What the hell's taking so long?

LOGAN: Let me talk to him.

ARMY MAN: You have no involvement in this matter, Mr. Cale.

LOGAN: And you have no credibility with a man who's holding a group of innocent people. As a soldier, you represent everything he despises.

ARMY MAN: And, as a soldier, I intend to do my job.

LOGAN: I might be able to get him to listen to reason.

ARMY MAN: You can't reason with terrorists.

LOGAN: I can offer him a way to get his message out there.

ARMY MAN: He kills a man and you want to give him a bigger audience?

LOGAN: You and I both want the same thing-- to free those hostages.

Terroristgirl: How can we kill a person an hour? I never agreed to that. It's crazy.

DARIUS: Are you questioning me?

Terroristgirl: Yes.

( Phone rings )

DARIUS: You better be calling to say our transport is ready.

LOGAN: Mr. Darius, this is Logan Cale.

DARIUS: Logan Cale. It's been awhile. How'd you get drafted into this?

LOGAN: Oh, that's not important. What is important is the safety of your hostages.

DARIUS: And you have 33 minutes, or there's going to be one less to worry about.

LOGAN: You should be aware, Mr. Darius, this isn't a police operation anymore. The military's involved, and from what I can tell, they're very anxious to do their thing.

DARIUS: It doesn't surprise me. They've been hunting us down like animals for the last ten years.

LOGAN: Then you know they're just waiting for any excuse to come in, guns blazing, and take you out.

DARIUS: If they do, they'll have a lot of dead hostages on their hands.

LOGAN: As long as they get you, I don't think they care.

DARIUS: Nothing like a good massacre to stir up public opinion against these butchers. People need to know what they've done to this country... The human race... The entire planet.

LOGAN: What century are you living in, Darius? Nobody's ever going to hear about this. The authorities will turn your martyrdom into a nonevent and it will be history that never happened. Is that what you want? Because it doesn't need to be that way. If you can guarantee the hostages' safety I can help you get your message out.

DARIUS: How?

LOGAN: I have contacts who'd be willing to tell your story and no one would be able to stop it. On that, you have my word. But first, I need you to release the hostages.

DARIUS: No way, they'd storm the building in a second and you know it.

LOGAN: Why not show the world you really are more compassionate than your enemy? Release the women and the child.

DARIUS: I'll give it some thought.

ARMY MAN: Nice try, but it's not going to work.

LOGAN: We'll see.

(at the hotel)

MAX: You okay?

JUDE: I'm thirsty.

MAX: Come on, let's go see if they'll let us have some water.

DARIUS: Go with her.

LYDECKER: He's a good little soldier.

MAX: He's a scared kid.

LYDECKER: Fear accomplishes nothing. I hope he learns that now if he hasn't already.

MAX: Is that what you teach those kids of yours? To shake it off and move on, like nothing happened?

LYDECKER: ( Groans ) You look like you were around in the days before the pulse. Your parents brought you over to visit your little friends. Carpools to soccer games... Art schools. And do you really think, Miss Glasser, that your childhood prepared you for the life that you have to live now?

MAX: My childhood wasn't quite like that.

LYDECKER: In a way, the pulse had some positive aspects. Toughen the world-- strengthen the species.

MAX: Pretty grim view of things.

LYDECKER: Not grim... Realistic. We can't pretend the world runs on love. Survival of the fittest. Yeah, it's all about survival. I do hope that boy gets out of this in one piece.

MAX: Hope? That's a strange word coming from a man with your take on things.

LYDECKER: Anachronistic... Language. I wish I could speak digitally. Point is, it'd be a shame to see Tanaka's work go to waste. I'd like to observe the boy... For my own research.

MAX: Maybe you should do something with that gun... Before someone else gets killed.

LYDECKER: It's tactically premature. Things are going to get worse... Before they get better.

DARIUS: Get me Cale.

( Phone beeps )

LOGAN: Logan Cale.

DARIUS: Okay, I'll see what I can do.

LOGAN: I go in as a good faith gesture, he releases the women.

SUNG: What about the other hostages?

LOGAN: He wants transport to a civilian airstrip before he hands them over.

ARMY MAN: He's not getting that, no way.

LOGAN: Okay, one step at a time. Let me go in there, talk to him, face to face.

ARMY MAN: Now you need to be clear on two things: We don't have to honor any deals you make... And I'm not guaranteeing your safety.

LOGAN: I'm not asking you to.

DARIUS: Because we're fighting for humanity... We're making a gesture of humanity. The women are free to go. You'll be escorted to the lobby. Any games, you'll be shot. We're taking him with us.

MAX: No, you're not. Then I'm going to stay with him.

DARIUS: I don't think so. Come on, Jude.

Terrorist: Keep moving.

( Murmuring )

KENDRA: (to Max when they saw Logan walking in) wasn't that...

MAX: Yeah, I'm going to say hi. Don't tell.

LOGAN: We meet again.

DARIUS: Accident, or did you stick your nose where it wasn't wanted?

LOGAN: Something like that.

DARIUS: You'd think you would have learned your lesson.

LOGAN: You'd think.

MAX: (falls on the stairs) Ow! My ankle!

TERRORIST: Keep moving!

TERRORIST 2: I'll take care of it.

MAX: I think I twisted it.

TERRORIST 2: (offering his hand to Max) Here.

MAX: You're such a gentleman. (Max slams the terrorist to the wall) Too bad I'm not a lady.

DARIUS: ( Whispering ): I'm sick and tired of hearing this. Pretty chivalrous-- offering yourself in place of the ladies.

LOGAN: I'm old-fashioned.

DARIUS: Also a little crazy getting yourself mixed-up in this.

( Crowd cheering )

ARMY MAN: Anybody gets a shot, take it. Aerial units move to jump-off position. Await my coARMY MANand.

( Gunshot two of the terrorist were shot)

CINDY: What the hell? Kendra!

SKETCHY: Wait. Looks like she's okay.

KENDRA: Max is still in there.

CINDY: Did I hear that right?

HERBAL: Max is inside there? That's bad. That's very bad.

CINDY: I guess "it's all good" goes out the window when someone you know and love is in trouble.

POLICE: This is still a dangerous area. Please get in the truck.

( Helicopter approaches )

DARIUS: What the hell's going on? They killed some of my people. They tried to land soldiers on the roof. Their word means nothing.

DARIUS: Neither does your life. Take him away.

(Amazing scene with Logan being tossed off the top of the building and Max jumping head first after him with a rope tied around her waist. She grabs Logan mid fall and they crash through a hotel window just as the rope is shot and broken, landing on the bed in each other's arms.)

MAX: You all right? You okay? What are you doing here?

LOGAN: I was going to ask you the same question. I went to a lot of trouble to get you released.

MAX: What were you thinking exchanging yourself for us?!

LOGAN: You should be thanking me.

MAX: Thanking you? You'd be thrown off the roof...

LOGAN: You'd be with those morons...

BOTH: ...If it wasn't for me.

MAX: Forget it.

LOGAN: Never mind.

MAX: I should go save the kid.

LOGAN: Just go save the kid.

ARMY MAN: Full breach. Full breach. We go in as soon as all squads are in position. Wait for my coARMY MANand.

SUNG: Maybe we should give Darius something to buy more time.

ARMY MAN: He's out of time.

SUNG: What about the hostages?

ARMY MAN: They're expendable. We're going to show these idiots who's in charge.

DARIUS: What do you mean he got away? He's in a wheelchair, for god's sakes. Check it out. They're making their move. Let's get out of here. Grab a hostage.

DARIUS: Come with me, okay? (grabbing Jude) That's it.

( Loud heartbeat )

MAX: Looking for me?

( gunshot , Max avoids getting shot, and manages to slam Darius into a wall)

MAX: You okay? Jude.

JUDE: What's going to happen to me now?

MAX: It's okay. You don't have to be brave anymore. Let it all out. It's all right.

LYDECKER: Hey! Hey, what the hell are you men doing?

ARMY MAN: Interrogating the prisoner, sir.

LYDECKER: Under the laws of this country, this individual's entitled to due process. You want him showing up for arraignment looking like this?

ARMY MAN: No, sir.

LYDECKER: You want the judgment of your coARMY MANander, the credibility of your military undermined by your reckless behavior?

ARMY MAN: No, sir.

LYDECKER: Neither do I (shoots the terrorist) Problem solved. One of the hostages is a young boy about seven years old. Have you seen him?

ARMY MAN: No, sir. Unaccounted for, sir.

LOGAN: Thanks.

SUNG: Better get the kid out of here.

LOGAN: Thanks for sticking your neck out on this, matt.

SUNG: This way at least he won't end up in an orphanage.

LOGAN: Or in Lydecker's hands.

MAX: Take care of my boy.

LOGAN: He'll be okay.

SUNG: These folks are free to go.

Cindy: Max. You okay, shugga?

MAX: I just kept my head down and let the mens fight it out.

CINDY: It's all good.

MAX: Yeah, it's all good.

SKETCHY: All the time.

HERBAL: All the time.

(In Logan's apartment)

MAX: Hey.

LOGAN: Hey, yourself. Ordering myself a new wheelchair. Looking for one with the jet thrusters.

MAX: Thanks for bailing the gals out of there today... Myself included.

LOGAN: Right back at you. Taking a header off that building was above and beyond the call.

MAX: Just looking out for my meal ticket. How many guys can cook and save the world?

LOGAN: So, that was Lydecker.

MAX: Yep, My own private anti-christ up close and personal.

LOGAN: Shorter than I imagined. Do we have any idea why he was there?

MAX: Same as me-- looking for answers. He said all of us, his gifted children, were... Flawed.

LOGAN: The seizures?

MAX: I got the sense he was talking about something even worse. I saved his life.

LOGAN: And here I thought I was special.

MAX: He was about to take a bullet in the head. All I had to do was stand there, do nothing and I could cross Donald Lydecker off my list of things to worry about.

LOGAN: You didn't exploit tactical advantage over your enemy? He'd be so disappointed if he knew.

MAX: How sick is that? But, for some reason, I couldn't let it happen. I have no idea why.

LOGAN: Life good, murder bad?

MAX: I'm not that high-minded. Lydecker's the one guy that knows what's going on in this freak show body of mine... Whether or not this bar code has an expiration date. I guess I couldn't let him die with that secret.

LOGAN: Whatever you have to tell yourself. Fact is, you saved a man's life.

MAX: A bad man.

LOGAN: It's still a good thing.

MAX: I'm not so sure. But you know what really bums my ass out? I had a chance to swipe some towels from the hotel and I totally spaced it.

LOGAN: Next time.

MAX: Yeah, next time.