Max Guevara, also known as X5-452, was a transgenic X5 series who, along with eleven others, escaped from the Manticore facility in 2009. Years later, she became the leader of a group of transgenics living in the dangerous Terminal City.
Childhood
Born to a surrogate mother sometime around the turn of the twenty-first century, Max was raised and trained as a soldier from a very young age by military handlers, under the command of Colonel Donald Lydecker, at a facility located in Gillete, Wyoming. During this time, Max developed a close bond with her unit-mates, particularly Zack, the unit leader.
From the beginning, the X5's training was harsh and rigorous, sometimes downright brutal. In addition, they were subjected to powerful psychological conditioning, as well as cruel medical experiments. As Max would later say, they didn't think to escape because, after all, they didn't know there was anything else to escape to.
Throughout their lives, the X5's were plagued by a design flaw: a neurological disorder that caused random and violent seizures. At some point, at least one X5 suffered a seizure during a drill and was taken away, never to be seen again.
During this time, there was one incident that haunted the memories of the young soldiers: a training exercise requiring them to hunt down and kill a prisoner. They accomplished this with such ruthless effectiveness that even Lydecker was alarmed by their exhilaration and savagery. Afterwards, Max was greatly disturbed by what had happened and tried to forget about it, but never could.
Eventually, the X5's decided they'd had enough, and escaped from Manticore. After one member of the unit, Eva, was shot by Lydecker, her "siblings" finally realized that they truly meant nothing to their CO; they were just materiel to him. Led by Zack, they broke out of Manticore and fled into the forest. After rendezvousing in a clearing a safe distance from the building, Zack split the group up and sent them in different directions. Max didn't think separating was wise, but complied, and, as Zack stayed behind to hold up their pursuers, climbed the fence and disappeared into the night.