"Thirty seconds, Dr. Cross."
Agent Williams's voice echoed through the fortress as I stared at the antidote formula on Damien's screens. Everything we needed to save humanity. Except for the one component that would cost me my life.
"Scarlett," Alexander said, "there has to be another way."
"There is," I said, studying the complex molecular diagrams. "But you're not going to like it."
Damien's enhanced humans were closing in, their mechanical movements precise and unstoppable. His artificial eyes watched me with something that might have been curiosity.
"Fifteen seconds," Agent Williams announced.
"The antidote doesn't need all my blood," I said, my Luna abilities suddenly showing me patterns I'd missed before. "It needs my life force. The energy that makes Luna genetics work."
"What's the difference?"
"Blood can be replaced. Life force..." I looked at Alexander, memorizing his face. "That's permanent."
"Ten seconds."
