Victoria dropped the tablet, and it clattered across the warehouse floor.
"That's impossible," she said. "A Blood Queen can't get pregnant. The resurrection process affects our entire biological system. We're not technically alive in the same way normal people are."
Sarah's laugh sounded like broken glass. "Tell that to the team of geneticists who've been working on Phase Three for the past two years. They figured out how to modify the Blood Queen system to not just maintain pregnancy, but enhance it. The child that woman is carrying isn't human, Victoria. It's the next step in their program."
Scarlett's system was already pulling up new files, showing her medical reports and genetic analysis that made her stomach turn. The woman living with Marcus wasn't just pregnant. According to the data, she was carrying something that would be born with Blood Queen abilities already active.
"A baby super soldier," Scarlett said.
"A baby weapon. One that will grow up thinking Marcus is its father and the government is its family. One that will be completely loyal to the people who created it." Sarah rolled her wheelchair to a wall covered with photographs and documents. "But that's not the worst part. Want to know what the worst part is?"
She pointed to a medical chart that showed development stages for something called "Subject Omega."
"The pregnancy isn't natural. It's artificial. They took genetic material from all twelve Blood Queens, combined it in a lab, and implanted it in Number Twelve. That baby is related to all of us. It's like our collective daughter."
Victoria was staring at the medical chart with growing horror. "When you say genetic material from all twelve Blood Queens..."
"I mean they have samples of our DNA, our blood, probably tissue samples too. They've been collecting biological data from us since the original project started in 1987. Some of it from willing subjects, some from bodies after we died, some from medical procedures we didn't know were connected to the program."
Scarlett thought about all the times she'd been to doctors over the years. Blood tests, routine physicals, even a minor surgery she'd had when she was twenty-three. How many of those visits had really been about collecting samples for a government project?
"How do we stop it?" she asked.
"We don't. Not directly." Sarah turned her wheelchair around to face them. "Number Twelve has been programmed to believe she's Sarah Morrison. She has my memories, my personality, even my feelings for Marcus. But she doesn't remember dying, and she doesn't know she's been resurrected. As far as she knows, she's just a normal woman having a normal pregnancy."
"Then we tell her the truth."
"Try it. Her system is designed to reject information that conflicts with her programmed identity. Tell her she's a Blood Queen, and her brain will literally refuse to process it. Show her evidence that Marcus killed the real Sarah, and she'll interpret it as an attack on her family."
Victoria picked up the tablet and started scrolling through more files. "There has to be something. Some way to break the programming or override the system."
"There is. But you're not going to like it." Sarah pointed to another section of documents. "The programming is tied to the pregnancy hormones. After she gives birth, there's a window of about seventy-two hours where her system will be unstable. During that time, we can potentially override her programming and show her who she really is."
"And then?"
"And then she has to choose. Stay loyal to the people who created her, or join us in destroying the program that's been manipulating all of us for decades."
Scarlett was reading over Victoria's shoulder, trying to understand the technical details of what they were dealing with. The more she read, the more she realized how completely they'd all been manipulated.
"Marcus never loved me," she said quietly. "The whole marriage was just part of his job."
"Marcus doesn't love anyone. He's a sociopath who's very good at pretending to have emotions when it serves his purposes." Sarah's voice was bitter. "But here's something interesting. According to his psychological profile, he's developed what the reports call 'inappropriate attachment' to some of his subjects."
"What does that mean?"
"It means he's starting to actually care about some of the women he's supposed to be monitoring. Which makes him a liability to the program." Sarah smiled that terrible scarred smile again. "They're planning to eliminate him as soon as Subject Omega is born."
*New mission parameters received. Priority: Maximum.*
The system message appeared in all three of their visions simultaneously.
*Objective: Prevent termination of Subject Omega. Secondary objective: Extract Number Twelve safely. Tertiary objective: Eliminate all program personnel involved in Phase Three.*
*Warning: Mission failure will result in immediate termination of all active Blood Queens.*
"They're watching us right now," Victoria said. "The system is connected to their monitoring network."
Sarah nodded. "Which means they know we're working together. They know we've shared information. And they know we're planning to interfere with their timeline."
As if on cue, the warehouse lights went out. Emergency lighting kicked in a few seconds later, casting everything in a red glow that made the whole place look like a crime scene.
"Time to go," Sarah said, pressing a button on her wheelchair. Hidden panels opened in the walls, revealing weapons caches and what looked like military-grade communication equipment. "I've been preparing for this day for eight months. The question is: are you ready to go to war with the people who created us?"
Scarlett looked at Victoria, then back at Sarah. Three women who'd been murdered by their own government, brought back to life as weapons, and now being asked to save a child they'd never met from people they'd once trusted.
"What's the plan?" Victoria asked.
"We're going to do something they won't expect. Instead of trying to stop the birth, we're going to make sure it happens safely. We're going to protect Number Twelve and her baby until we can break her programming. And then we're going to use their own weapon against them."
Sarah rolled over to one of the weapon caches and started pulling out equipment that looked like it belonged in a science fiction movie.
"Welcome to the revolution, ladies. Hope you're ready to get your hands dirty."
*Time remaining until Subject Omega birth: 31 hours, 47 minutes.*
Outside the warehouse, Scarlett could hear vehicles approaching. A lot of them.