Dark Angel Jessica Alba as Max Guevara

nsgenic") super-soldier who calls herself Max Guevara, also known as X5-452, escapes, along with 11 others like her, from a secret government institution. At the institution, codenamed Manticore (which lies near Gillette, Wyoming, according to captioning in the pilot and opening credits of the earlier episodes, although the semi-mountainous terrain and dense pine trees shown (moore gifs)�in the �series suggest that it may have been located up to 30 miles from that western plains city), they were created and subsequently raised and trained to be soldiers and assassins. Months after Max's escape, terrorists detonate an electromagnetic pulse weapon in the atmosphere over the U.S., which destroys the vast majority of computer and communication systems, throwing the country into utter chaos.

The first season begins ten years later in 2019. It follows the life of the now 19 year old Max as she struggles to search for her Manticore brothers and sisters. In a United States which is now barely more than a Third World nation (a concept largely dropped from the show after 9/11), she tries to live her life, to evade capture and to learn to trust and love. She is aided by Logan Cale and her friends at Jam Pony, a courier company where she works as a bicycle messenger. Other X-5s are periodically introduced as well.