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Max Guevera

 

Season 2, Episode 7 - Some Assembly Required

British Eddy and his Steelhead gang ransack an electronics store as the clerk tries to close his shop. But among the three Steelheads is a fourth member. The next day, Logan shows Max the surveillance tape from the store. She sees that the fourth guy is her brother, Zack, who was presumed dead. The left side of Zack's face has been replaced with a sheen of metal plating. His left eye is a black orb with a glowing red dot in the center. The last Max knew, Zack donated his heart so that she could live. Logan suspects that his missing organs were replaced with artificial ones. He makes the connection between Zack and the human organ peddling-Steelheads, but neither of them knows how to find this gang. Original Cindy and Sketchy point Max towards Alec, who knows where these Steelheads hang.

Alec takes Max to the marketplace where he first fought off Eddy and his crew. She convinces Alec to pretend he's dealing steroids again to flesh the Steelheads out. Even though the gang warned him not to deal in their area, he obliges Max's blackmail. Eddy gets wind of Alec's Andie-peddling, and sends his crew out to reclaim their turf. Alec and Max fight off the Steelheads, but when Zack appears, he doesn't recognize Max. She shows him her barcode and he has flashbacks of Manticore. Zack leaves safely with Max and gets examined by Dr. Carr. Zack's organs were replaced with biosynthetic materials, and an exoskeleton was grafted onto his arm, but parts of his brain were replaced with a cybernetic implant that is rebuilding itself. Dr. Carr recommends that more memories might be triggered if Max took him to a place that they had been together. When Zack sees Logan, he has flashbacks of their argument (in "Cold Comfort"). Later, Max takes Zack to her crib and he has some more memories of Manticore. As he sleeps, Zack dreams of more Manticore flashbacks. He goes into Max's room, crying. He remembers that he failed to save Brin, Tinga and Max, and he vows to never let Max down again. Bird and Tuck report to Eddy that they were defeated not only by Alec, but also by another female "Manticorian." Eddy orders them to stake out Alec at Crash to find out where Max took his "soldier," Zack.

The next morning, Zack wakes to find his face has regenerated skin where the metal was. His eye is also restored. Eddy had been filtering Zack's blood to prevent the nanocytes from repairing his tissue. After one night off the blood machine, Zack's face is almost back to normal. Now he wants to have a normal life to go with his face. Yet when he has a flashback of the Eyes Only banner, Zack becomes defensive to Logan and blames him for the botched Manticore assault. He apologizes to Max, and she tells him about all the other escapees. Zack sees more flashbacks, but they are of him and Max kissing. Later, they meet up with the gang at Crash. Alec intimates to Max that he thinks that Zack has a crush on her. She scoffs at the notion. When Max goes to the bar, the Steelheads kidnap her and take her to an abandoned funeral parlor. Yet the bumbling crew forgets to pick up Zack, who arrives to set her free. He leans in to kiss her, and Max shoves him back. Zack pledges his love, and then has flashbacks of Logan and Max together. He claims that Logan had actually betrayed them, and was the reason that Zack was turned into a machine. Zack runs off to get his revenge on Logan. Max warns Logan, who straps on his exoskeleton and barely escapes down the elevator. In the parking garage, Zack shoots at Logan, hitting a section of the exoskeleton and rendering it useless. Max roars in on her motorcycle, knocking the gun out of Zack's hand. She and Zack fight, and he manages to get the rifle back. As he is about to shoot Logan, Max puts a live electrical wire into the puddle that Zack is standing in. He is electrocuted, and Logan is saved.

Dr. Carr reports that Zack will survive, but the shock overloaded the circuitry in his brain. He won't remember anything that's happened since it was turned on. There is still a chance that he may carry out his mission against Logan. Max makes the most difficult decision of her life, and lets Zack go. Logan arranges for a new identity and a rancher to take him in with a fake story about his past. Max only hopes that Zack will have the normal life he always wanted.

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