06:55 January 12, 2104

Project Aurora Bunker, Weyland-Yutani Corporation, Londinium Ark

A body lay bare on the table, still damp from the chemical cocktail in the suspension chamber. It looked like Grell Sutcliff, but it also looked nothing like her. It had no fire, no passion; she wasn't known for keeping still.

"In a year or two she'll be ready."

"Director Chambers, thank you for your invitation and thank you for flying over from Los Angeles." William turned, offering his hand politely.

"Aleister, please." The man insisted, giving his hand a firm shake. "No need for formalities between colleagues."

"I was informed you had something to show me?" The Reaper followed Aleister to the stainless steel table where the body lay. Cables were connected to the back of its head, trailing through a hole in the table and across the breadth of the room.

"Yes. I have completed the aesthetic stage of her construction." He beamed, gesturing at the figure. "All that's left is her programming. No need to keep moving her from lab to lab."

It made William's skin crawl. It had her red hair and fair lashes, her buttermilk skin and even the faint smattering of freckles she so hated. What differed was the body; where hers had been a female soul in a male cage, this one was female.

"Curious, how she stayed trapped." Aleister thought aloud, running his fingers softly upon the length of its left arm.

"I beg your pardon?"

"The technology to alter one's physiology existed before I was brought back." The man explained, hand resting over its slim fingers. "I've seen her body. Why didn't she change it to be female like she wanted?"

"Reaper biology differs greatly." William could remember it so clearly: the pain such knowledge caused her. "Our bodies will always return to its original state. Anything foreign, such as implants or hormone injections, will be simply rejected."

Not 'simply', William corrected mentally, it was never such a simple matter. She'd tried it and the operation left her screaming in agony and eventually led to an induced coma and an emergency operation to remove the implants and a week of recovery and a month of emotional instability, 157 unscheduled deaths, two injured colleagues and one suspension.

"Curiouser and curiouser." Aleister chuckled. "She'll have a lot to celebrate when she awakens. If only Oscar lived to see this. He was very fond of your madwoman and hoped she'd have everything she wanted in the future he wouldn't live to see."

"Mr. Wilde gifted her with first edition books of his works whenever they were published." William nodded. "She spoke often of him as a friend."

"Will this be everything she's ever wanted?" Aleister gestured. "Will she be pleased?"

"Ardently." William replied.

"Her genetic design follows Weyland's precious steel Aryans but her aesthetic design and bodily functions borrow from my Class A pleasure models." The blond leaned over the body, tipping its chin up and easing his fingers between its lips to open its mouth. "No gag reflex; excellent technique though you'll have to tell her to be careful with her teeth. I kept those the same."

The Reaper felt something akin to both anger and embarrassment fill his body.

"Her skin will break out in goosebumps and her temperature rise. She'll show all the same signs of arousal." His fingers traced from sternum to navel and William could see the tiny hairs on her arm rise. "She functions the same as a woman between the legs too."

He cupped beneath its knee, raising its leg as he spread the other.

"Standard lubrication- safe to ingest of course." Aleister shrugged. "I didn't know whether or not to have her bleed the first time you use her but really, that's-"

"Stop." William hissed, turning away. "She is not mine to use, she is not mine at all. She belongs to no one but herself."

"Oh?" The Replicant blinked, gently returning the body to its original position. "The two of you were not lovers? She spoke so affectionately of you; I could do naught but assume the two of you were intimate."

"No."

"Really?" He laughed and the sound grated on William's ears. "I thought Victorian prudishness didn't affect your kind! I heard Reapers are deliciously carnal when it comes to pleasure."

"I am not having this conversation, Director Chambers." William growled. "Agent Sutcliff is not an object for me to possess."

"The mystery deepens." He smirked. "The short of it is that her body is completed and she'll be back in the suspension chamber for safekeeping whilst Dr. Ashwood finishes her programming. I have accurately followed the templates given to me by one of your Agents a few years ago- the young blond one with the big black glasses."

"Agent Ronald Knox?"

"Ronald, yes, that's the one." Aleister nodded. "He gave me an excerpt from her diary- one about her perfect body. It was partially modeled on Madame Angelina Durless-Barnett, as well as actress Sarah Bernhardt."

"I am grateful to you, Director Chambers."

"Is the Reaper off-duty at present?" The man asked. "I'd like to invite him over to see the finished body. I'll have her dressed so it won't shame her, not to worry."

"Agent Knox is away on duty, I apologise for his absence."

"Ah, such a shame." Aleister tisked. "It'd be nice for him to see her so close to completion. I know he holds her in such high esteem. Give him my regards, won't you, Director Spears?"

A spring in his step, Elliott opened the operating theatre doors and smiled at the blond Reaper struggling against his bonds.

"No no, none of that." He mussed his hair and wagged a finger disapprovingly at him. "You're strapped to this table nice and tightly, little Reaper."

Confused eyes met his, brows drawn tightly together in panic and worry.

"Director Chambers is back from London and he has an amazing idea for today's experiment." The crook of his left arm was swabbed before a needle was none-too-gently inserted into a vein.

"Cyanide." Elliott smiled as the Reaper's eyes widened and he doubled his struggle against the leather straps holding him down.

Someone's coming for you, Ron. You'll be fine. They're coming. Right? A pinprick of fear nagged at his thoughts and he blinked back sudden tears. Don't worry. Someone's coming for you. They know you're missing. You've been gone for a day, tops. Just a day. They're coming to rescue you.

"Goodnight, Ronald. Tomorrow we wipe you out again and you'll be as fresh as a daisy." Elliott smoothed his hair back, his smile wicked.

Daisy. Don't forget, Ronald. Daisies, remember the daisies. He bit back a wave of nausea as the poison entered his blood. He'd had many a drinking game with the lads back home, but he'd never had the poison pumped directly into him. Shivering violently, he gave a helpless sob as what felt like ice raced through his veins.

Just hold on. It's only been a day. They'll be here tomorrow, don't you worry.