"This isn't possible," Victoria's voice cracked through the speakers, no longer smooth and controlled but edged with genuine panic. "The conditioning is absolute. You can't just... override it through sentiment!"
"You're right," Marcus said, standing slowly with Oliver's help, blood still dripping from the cut on his cheek. "We didn't override the conditioning through sentiment alone."
He gestured to Samantha, still kneeling on the concrete floor, holding Emma while both of them trembled and bled.
"We broke it," Marcus continued, his voice gaining strength, "by proving that your fundamental premise was flawed. You conditioned them to respond to threats with violence. To see resistance as danger requiring elimination. To attack until the threat was neutralized."
