Two days passed. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, breakfast, lunch, dinner. Each meal 88 served to 87 was accompanied by her bleeding all over the food she'd prepared, followed by 87 eating said food then tenderly lapping at the blood smeared on 88's palm and drawing more straight from the wound. Each time 88 felt more and more uncomfortable — and yet, she found herself more and more looking forward to each meal. It was almost as if some strange alchemy were taking place; as if the act of eating 88's blood was not actually satiating 87's hunger, but transferring it to 88… changing it in some way… and none of it made any sense. She'd always leave 87's room panting and flushed, while making her way to the nearest medical station where she vigorously washed her hands with cold water, dressed her wound, then splashed herself in the face repeatedly until she felt like some semblance of normal had reasserted itself.

Each day she discreetly snuck into the lab and checked her blood for any sign of unusual pathogens. Other than the T-virus (which showed no sign of mutation into super-T or some other abnormal pathogen), nothing out of the ordinary showed up. Swabbing her palm and the cut she kept inflicting onto herself also showed nothing unusual.

88 double checked to make sure she was alone in the laboratory, then quietly said, "White Queen?"

The hologram flickered into existence before her. "Yes, Ms. 88?" she asked.

"Can you… can you keep a secret?" 88 asked haltingly.

"I am sure you are well aware that anything I observe or overhear is shared with Umbrella," the White Queen pointed out.

88 nodded. "This isn't anything that would, uh, concern them, for lack of a better word," she said. "I guess I'm more worried about Alice or Rebecca or the others finding out."

The White Queen nodded. "In that case, you can rest assured I will be discrete," she assured her.

"Thanks," 88 said, giving her a small smile. "I'm sure you've been watching me… feed… 87," she said.

"I have," the White Queen said. "I must congratulate you, she is growing healthier by the day."

"Thanks," 88 said, giving the hologram another small smile. "But… I keep having these unusual physiological reactions to the feeding, especially when she…" She lowered her voice, to the extent it would be imperceptible to normal human hearing. "…licks the wound on my hand." She went on to describe the panting, the flushed skin, and the warmth in her belly.

"That sounds like sexual arousal," the White Queen deduced.

88's eyes shot open wide. "W-WHAT?" she shouted. "I-I-I don't see h-how that could even be possible!"

The White Queen pursed her lips together. "You do know what sexual intercourse is, yes?" 88 nodded quickly, almost violently. "…Ah, I see what the problem might be. I have reviewed the basic memory package Dr. Isaacs gave to the clones in his purview, and he neglected to include anything other than basic details regarding reproductive functions."

"What a jerk," 88 grumbled.

"I'm sure you could use the memory implanting device to get a more cohesive understanding of the subject," the White Queen suggested.

88 nervously shook her head. "No, Dr. Chambers strictly monitors usage of that! I'd have to ask permission… and I'd have to explain why I need it…" She ran both hands through her hair, stressed out. "And Alice keeps calling all us clones sisters, and I like it, I do, but if Alice and I are sisters and if Alice and 87 are sisters, and I'm having these danged feelings for her… ugh!" She began tugging at her hair, stress skyrocketing.

The White Queen observed her distress and calculated that she should try to relax her, as an extreme panic attack could occur if she carried on like this much longer. "If you are concerned about the repercussions breaking the incest taboo will have, perhaps it will be a small comfort to know that clones aren't sisters. Genetically speaking, it could be argued that you are biologically the equivalent, but as neither you nor Ms. 87 cannot be stated to have parents, nor were you reared together (having been synthesized directly into adulthood), then any familial connection can only be a socially-imposed one. In addition, incest is taboo in part due to the potential for harmful genetic defects passed on to offspring, and the clones of Project Alice were manufactured to be lacking in any inheritable flaws, plus the T-virus has improved your DNA even beyond that effort. And, most obviously, neither one of you are capable of creating offspring with one another."

88 took in the White Queen's speech and endeavored to calm herself by taking slow, deep breaths. "You… you're right," she admitted. "But I'm still nervous about what the others would think."

"Alice will take it in stride, I believe," the White Queen predicted. "Records of her behavior and simulations of her psychological profile indicate she takes most anything in stride apart from her loved ones being hurt or killed. I believe Rain, should she recover from her present condition, will be much the same; I suspect that, at worst, she will reflect upon her own behavior regarding the consumption of human flesh and realize that she cannot object to your union, due to the perceived immorality of her own actions rendering her a hypocrite if she did so. Dr. Chambers may potentially disapprove, but as she is driven primarily by logic and reason, the application of the arguments I calmed you down with will likely sway her. And as for the other clones, well… several of them have already engaged in, ah, fraternization."

88's eyes shot open in surprise once more. "…Really?" she asked.

The White Queen nodded. "The one called Neo discovered that her lover — her non-infected partner, in fact — acquired the T-virus through their copulations, and has been trying to persuade the others to pursue similar relationships, in an attempt to improve battlefield effectiveness." She paused. "She's also cited being able to subtly cheat at non-psionic basketball and beat Dr. Chambers as a reason to do this."

88 wrinkled her nose. "That's rude." She… wasn't quite sure how to feel about the fraternization. She couldn't really say it was wrong, could she, with the position she was in? On the other hand, it did feel a little like sneaking around behind her back (since she was in charge and all). Then again, maybe Neo and the others had internalized Alice's sisterhood rhetoric and had worries about being ostracized by her and/or Alice for doing extremely un-sisterly activities.

88 figured she should talk to Alice and get her to address the clones and let them know that they could pursue whatever relationship they wished to. But… first, she would have to talk to 87 and find out where they stood. She wasn't even sure if 87 felt the same way, or just saw her as a big walking bottle of ketchup. "Thank you so much, White Queen," 88 said, giving her a big grateful smile. "You've been a tremendous help!"

"I'm glad to have been of service," the White Queen said, before vanishing from sight.

XXX

"And all of them have been secured?" Wesker asked.

"Yes, sir," the captain of the Arcadia confirmed. "Ms. Redfield, Mr. Wayne, the nurse Betty — I didn't have a last name on file, sir, my apologies," he confessed.

Wesker let out a rare genuine smile. "No worries, captain. Even Umbrella doesn't know everything, but it definitely helps if our enemies feel that way. Please, continue."

"We also have a number of children and teenagers," he captain went on. "Shall I prep them for integration into an Umbrella facility?"

Wesker pursed his lips in thought. "The younger children, yes. The teenagers, I think, will be too old for indoctrination, so go ahead and put them into cold storage with the rest." He tented his fingers. "I do have one question, though. Is William Chambers one of the children you have in custody?"

The captain's hologram scanned through the information on his tablet. "…Yes sir," he confirmed. "One child answering to William Chambers."

Wesker grinned widely at that, and the captain was reminded of the T-virus infected sharks he'd sometimes seen attacking smaller vessels in recent years. "Excellent, excellent, Captain. You and your men have more than earned a bonus. Keep young William apart from the other children, and out of cold storage. I have something… special… in mind for him."

"As you command, sir," the captain said, stoic. "Shall I proceed with putting the adults into cold storage too?"

Wesker nodded. "All of them, yes… except for Redfield. Have her fitted with a scarab device as well, but leave her behind in that field of derelict vehicles, with a standard hunt/kill program." He smiled with relish. "If Claire's brother or the Ocampos come looking for her, I want them to have an extremely unpleasant reunion."

"Understood, sir. Arcadia out." The captain saluted as Wesker broke the connection.

"Red Queen?" he called out. The hologram materialized in front of him at his call. "Any news out of the Nevada facility today?"

"One of the Project Alice clones realized she was sexually aroused when another one of the clones was licking her open knife wound," the Red Queen dutifully reported.

And just like that Wesker's good mood evaporated. Why couldn't the insanity have been limited to Alice? Apparently her goddamn clones were just as crazy as the she was. "Red Queen, if I have to hear from you any more intimate details about the sex lives of Project Alice or any of her clones, I'm going to order Umbrella's engineers to figure out how to make a button that will make you feel pain, then I'm going to put a big heavy brick on that button and leave it there until the sun's expansion destroys the planet Earth. Have I made myself perfectly clear?"

Red Queen hesitated for a second, parsing the threat. "Yes, sir." She vanished.

XXX

88 brought in another tray of food to 87. She was… excited. Within minutes, she'd be telling her how she felt. And she'd been thinking on it, and it wasn't sexual! …Well, it wasn't just sexual. She'd reflected on how Alice loved and doted on Rain, and vice versa, and she felt that same sense of longing and protectiveness over 87. Might this be… love? 88 didn't know for sure, felt that it was probably far too soon to have those feelings (little did she know about the length of Alice's and Rain's courtship, hahaha), but she intended to find out if 87 felt anything for her before she allowed her feelings to cement in her heart.

She set the tray down on the bed in front of 87 and reflected that the other woman did look a lot better than she had a few days ago. She felt a surge of pride and happiness, and once more took out her knife.

87 spoke up before she had a chance to slice open her palm. "Uh… I wanted to try something," she said in a low voice. "A different way to eat."

"Oh?" 88 asked. "What were you thinking?"

"Well… I'd like to try the food to see how it tastes without the blood on it," she said. 88 felt a prickle of disappointment, but suppressed it until she finished hearing all of what 87 had to say. "I was thinking… maybe… I could have some of your blood as an appetizer? Directly from you?" 88 felt the blush rising on her skin once more. "I was thinking maybe if I already have some of your blood in my stomach, I could eat the rest of the food the regular way. So… what do you think?"

88 nodded. "I think we can definitely try it that way," she said, amazed her voice didn't crack again.

She placed the blade against her palm but 87 raised her hand to stop her once more. "Um… could you prick the tip of your finger? I think it'd be easier that way."

88 imagined that her skin had to be almost as crimson as the blood rushing through it, but she managed to nod as she put a small nick on the pad of her left index finger. She held it out to 87, expecting her to suckle and lap at its surface. "Oh," she said involuntarily as 87 popped the entire digit into her mouth. Her tongue ran all over the surface of her finger, not just the self-inflicted injury, and she suckled all right, the sensation again warming her belly… and areas farther south. "Holy shit," she uttered.

87 nodded minutely, and 88 noticed for the first time how blushed the other woman's skin was, how dilated her pupils were, and felt her rapid breaths expelled from her nose onto her hand. Goosebumps shot up and down her arm like lightning. As the women locked eyes, they realized that they were both burdened with the same terrible secret, and as they gazed unto each other it was as if they'd been stripped naked, no more secrets to hide… and there was nothing terrible about it at all.

87's suckling became more frantic, her tongue probing deeper into the cut on 88's finger. 88 bit her lip and let out a small moan. Pain and pleasure were each tormenting her and sending her into the throes of ecstasy, and it quickly became indistinguishable as to which was which. 87's teeth soon joined in the fray, frantically digging into her fingertip, trying to tear the hole wider. "Harder," 88 grunted, her free hand gripping the bed's railing, for fear she'd lose control and fall to the ground. "Harder!" she insisted.

87's teeth clamped down and, almost of her own volition, her head whipped itself away from her hand. She heard the tearing, crackling sound almost before the exquisite pain shot up her arm and into her brain; she stared dumbfounded at her hand, bearing four fingers and a gaping hole that blood was squirting out of. 87 had straight-up torn her finger out down to the knuckle, and 88 could only watch as the other woman chewed, the bones of her severed finger pulverized under a T-virus enhanced jaw before she swallowed the whole thing, a look of utter ecstasy on her face. 88 lost control herself, then, falling to her knees as a colossal wave of pleasure rocked her body, her mouth locked open in a soundless scream.

87, face splattered with blood, lazily opened her eyes and looked down at 88, slumped down next to the bed, eyes locked on the spot where her missing digit had been moments before, and was immediately flooded with horror, guilt, and self-hatred. She let out a scream as she leapt from bed, knocking the tray of food to the floor as she dashed from the room away from the scene of her crime.

XXXXXXXXXX

The T-virus is supposed to be protean, so it makes a disturbing amount of sense for it to be a social disease, hahaha.

I believe in equal opportunity. Wesker is just as miserable as the good guys!

So, I wrote this a few months ago, and when I went back to reread it for publishing the other day, I was kinda shocked at myself for how dangerously horny it was! I was actually tempted to bump the rating up, but decided to leave it at Mature or whatever I set it to initially, hahaha.