The Empire of Corpses

In an alternate 18th-century Britain, a brilliant but controversial experiment reshapes the boundaries between life and death. Victor Frankenstein allegedly discovers a method to reanimate a corpse with a soul that can think, feel, and speak. This breakthrough sets the stage for centuries of ambition and danger as later technologies build on the idea.

John Watson illegally crafts his own Necroware to resurrect his deceased friend Friday and longs for fuller restoration. His unauthorized project is quickly discovered by M, who offers a grim choice: become an agent or face punishment. Watson accepts, pledging to serve the Empire and locate Frankenstein's original Memorandum.

Watson travels with Captain Burnaby and their guide Nikolai Krasotkin as they pursue clues to The Memorandum. The search leads them across dangerous frontier lands where upgraded corpses pose relentless threats. The mission expands beyond a rescue to prevent the dangerous knowledge from falling into the wrong hands.

The group is aided by Hadaly Lilith, the enigmatic secretary of former U.S. President Grant, who proves pivotal with her abilities to influence corpses. She becomes a critical ally, offering knowledge and power beyond the Empire's reach. Her presence shifts the balance in a perilous journey toward Kabul and beyond.

In the Kabul frontier, Nikolai Krasotkin is forcibly upgraded while still alive, a transformation that kills him but spawns a more intelligent generation of corpses. The upgrading spree signals the rising peril of necromechanized labor. The team witnesses humanity slipping away from the bodies.

Karamazov dies by his own hand after revealing that The Memorandum might lie in distant Japan. He urges Watson to destroy the notes to keep Frankenstein's work from the wrong hands. The stakes grow as the map points toward a new continental theater.

Watson teams with Yamazawa Seigo in Japan and learns The Memorandum is in the hands of Osato Chemical in Tokyo. As waves of upgraded corpses assault them, Watson hesitates, studying the notes instead of destroying them. In the chaos, Frankenstein’s original creation—The One— recovers The Memorandum and grows even more dangerous.

The One is captured by M, who plans to weaponize Frankenstein's creation to end all wars. He is brought to the Tower of London where Babbage's preserved intellect and Frankenstein's brain become focal points for amplifying the new synthetic mind. The plan to expand the signal begins here.

A submarine assault on Traitors' Gate disrupts the Tower defenses as Burnaby distracts enemies. Watson, Hadaly, and Friday confront The One in a crisis where Hadaly reveals she is an artificial lifeform who can control corpses with sound and longs for a soul. Friday nearly turns on Watson but is restrained.

Hadaly suppresses The One's power while Friday wrests control of Babbage to sever the signal. The One is wounded, escapes, and kills M, while the Tower is destroyed. The group seals The One within The Memorandum, ending a major threat yet leaving a lingering danger.

In the aftermath, Watson imagines a future where Hadaly might truly carry a soul and vows not to abandon Friday's restoration. The boundaries between life and death remain delicate, and the dream continues. The team contemplates a path toward true humanity.

Back at the original workshop, Watson and Friday begin a new collaboration blending Karamazov's methods with surviving pages of The Memorandum. They perform an extraordinary, unknown corpse upgrade on Friday. The work signals a renewed effort to push the limits of reanimation.

A post-credits scene shows Watson fleeing with a new companion, Sherlock Holmes, while Burnaby and Hadaly—now Irene Adler—watch from a rooftop. Friday looks on from a distance as new possibilities loom on the horizon. The ending hints that the line between life and death may still be crossed.