Page 69 of The Program

I could understand his confusion, or perhaps it was more scepticism, but explaining it would be a lot more difficult than simply showing them what would happen. I took one of the metal cuffs and snapped it in half, ignoring the shocked gasps from a few of the men in the room and the unimpressed scoff from T. I got the impression it was directed more towards the others’ ignorance over The Program’s subjects’ abilities rather than my display,however. He already knew what I was doing, but the others were in for a surprise. And a rough adjustment of their new reality.

I used the sharp end of the newly snapped cuff and pressed it into the skin of my left arm, dragging it down to form a deep gash along my forearm

‘What are youdoing,love?’ Bromm exclaimed in alarm, then rushed to me in a panic to wrestle the makeshift weapon from my grip. I let him have it, the damage already done.

In response I raised my arm for them all to see, the wound healing within a few ticks with only my blood leftover to prove it had ever been there.

Urman looked like he was going to be sick, his already green hued skin turning an even more prominent and sickly shade. Dorian looked a little put out, but mostly thoughtful. Cadmus’ jaw was flapping open like he was desperately gasping for air, which may have been the case because I was pretty sure he’d stopped breathing for a moment. Henrik, however, stepped forward to grab my arm and take a closer look.

‘Astounding,’ he breathed the word, eyes alight with wonder. ‘There isn’t even a scar…’

‘So you have these nanites, too?’ asked Dorian. ‘They’ll be able to heal like that?’

‘For the most part,’ I conceded. ‘I don’t know specifically how fast they’ll heal, but it likely won’t be as fast as me. My nanites were originally programmed to fight off terminal cancer, and lots of it. They’ve formed a unique bond with my body, which they should do with Reece and Adara individually, too.’

‘Wait…cancer?’Bromm questioned.

‘Yes. I was first entered into the program while I had multiple forms of terminal cancer,’ I admitted. ‘My nanites are a little…overprotectivewhen it comes to fighting off anything that shouldn’t be inside me, hence the voraciously advanced healing.’

‘Is no one going to address the fact that we’restuck here?’T cut in impatiently, gesturing toward the doorway that was currently blocked off by the invisible shield.

All of us turned at once to stare at the doorway. It was open and looked like we could just walk right out without any issue, but we all knew that wasn’t the case. I would have been annoyed with Cadmus for attempting to leaveafter I’d already been thrown on my ass by whatever technology they were using to keep us in, but I was glad for the demonstration of its capabilities. Now I knew it wasn’t attuned only to me somehow, which meant it was a broad-range piece of technology and not a personal attack. Once I figured out how to get out, they wouldn’t be able to use it on me again to any real effect.

When everyone gathered around the doorway to look for a way past the shield, Bromm pulled me aside. He looked me square in the eyes with an intensity that made me both tense up while simultaneously wanting to melt into him. ‘Our conversation isn’t over, my love.’

I softened at his clear concern and raised my hand to cup his cheek. ‘I’m fine, but I’ll tell you anything you want to know once we’re out of here, I promise.’

‘How touching,’ Demari’s voice interrupted, and I whirled around to see the others had backed away from the door where the man in question stood. ‘And very…insightful.’

‘What do you want now, Demari?’ I ground out through my suddenly clamped jaw.

‘Why, to finish what we started, precious girl.’

‘Fuck off. You know already know it won’t work.’

I could see through my periphery how each and every one of them turned curious and worried eyes on me, and I could feel their fear like a physical caress: cold and sharp, like a knife’s edge scratching along my skin.

‘Yet. There are other methods we will be implementing.’

I barked out a laugh. ‘What other methods? You’ve tried every possible way already andnothing worked.’

His slow, knowing smile filled me with dread, and I realised he wasn’t going to let this go. He was going to keep attempting to inseminate me until I produced a child. But how?

‘Your nanites are… I wouldn’t saydefective, but certainly an obstacle to overcome in our efforts. However, though they don’t like to take instruction from us anymore, they do seem to react to you.’

My entire body vibrated with trepidation, especially when his gaze slid from mine to the man standing beside me still holding my hand. I didnotlike where this was going.

‘The nanites haven’t accepted any sperm from a donor, nor did it accept mine.’ The room filled with the sounds of sharp inhales as he dropped that bomb, and Bromm’s hand squeezed mine even tighter almost to the point of pain. ‘But there is one thing we haven’t tried,’ he hinted, eyes now firmly locked on my hand interlocked with Bromm’s.

No…

‘You will copulate with your little…friend. Since you seem to like him and you are perfectly fertile despite the nanite’s intervention, we theorise that they will accepthissperm.’

‘What the fuck?’ blurted Cadmus and Dorian simultaneously.

Their outburst drew Demari’s attention away from me and Bromm, but it settled ominously on T instead of them.

‘Ah. The traitorous guard. You were stationed at the same facility as Subjects A-173 and L-387, correct?’

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