1: The Arrival

December 31st, 1997
New Year's Eve
11:45pm.

The estate was far more magnificent than I had ever expected.
Even through the darkness of the mid-winter night, and the sheet of rain veiling the sight of the mansion, the sheer size of the property was apparent enough.
The mansion itself had to consist of at least two or three stories, with a very large, arched window located on the second floor, directly above the double-door front entry on the first level, which had a column placed on either side. The color of the stone that the building was constructed of was obviously a standard shade of off-white, and a large, gorgeous balcony was clearly visible, appearing to wrap around the entire mansion, though I could not tell for sure. The weather obscured a vast amount of details of my new surroundings. All around me, pine and oak trees seemed to shudder from the wind.
As I drove forward along the rough mountain road, I could hardly manage keeping my eyes on the ground illuminated by the headlights, for my gaze tended to drift up toward the brilliant example of architecture time after time. I was rapidly approaching my destination, both anxious and curious. Relax… I told myself. Besides, the pay is more than most could ever hope for…
It was the truth. The pay was incredible for the job that I had to perform. I hate to say it, but it was perhaps the main reason why I accepted the job to begin with; a job that was awaiting me on this very night, New Year's Eve.
I was thirty one years old, and I was a Researcher. Jonathan Nathaniel Hartnett.

In only a few minutes, I had arrived at the front gate of the Spencer Estate. So this was where I would be conducting research and lab experiments? From what I could tell, it hardly seemed the place for such things.
A small group of soldiers was assembled about ten meters beyond the large, elegant iron gate, which was quickly opened. One of the men ushered me through with haste, and the gate was closed once more. He knocked lightly on my car's driver's window, and I rolled it down.
"Your I.D., sir?" The soldier –whom I noticed was armed- raised his voice loud enough so that I would be able to hear him through the loud rainfall and distant clashes of thunder. He was tall, but it was too dark for me to be able to see his face.
I nodded, and reached into my pocket, pulling out my wallet, and fumbling through it until I came across my Driver's License. I handed it to him, and he jogged off, most likely to his superior officer.
It seemed to be growing darker every moment.
The soldier returned about five minutes later, and gave back my License. I pocketed it as he told me to step out of my car. At first I was worried, but after I did as he said, he merely led me over to a burly-looking man, dressed in a military uniform, who possessed the appearance of one whom had been through and dealt with too many troubles than he could actually bear. He greeted me with only a business-like nod and motioned toward the soldier next to me, whom then requested my car keys –which I had no other choice than to accept- and walked over to my brand new sedan.
Another soldier that I had not noticed before rummaged through my trunk before lugging my two suitcases over to where I and his superior officer stood. There was a faint light coming from a streetlamp near the outside wall of the mansion which allowed me to see this young man's appearance. He was rather short, with messy, short, soaking wet blonde hair and light brown eyes. The soldier that I had already met drove my car outside of the iron gates, back into the darkness that I had emerged from only minutes before.
"Excuse me, sir?" I began, catching the superior officer's attention. The young man carrying my suitcases stood still, waiting patiently. "Why is my car being taken off of the property?"
The man's expression did not change at all. "Don't concern yourself. You won't be needing it."
With that, he walked onward, gripping the handles of the front doors of the mansion and swinging them open. I followed his lead, stepping into the main hall whilst feeling –and perhaps even looking, to some extent- like a drowned cat.
The main hall was hugely impressive, mostly because of its staircase that led from the center of the marble floor, its steps covered in a long, lush crimson carpet that trailed up toward the second floor. There was a painting on the wall beyond the highest step. I would not be able to accurately identify the artwork, but there is no doubt that it was a masterpiece.
I was led further through the mansion after traveling through another large doorway into the home's dining room. As I walked along the floor, I realized how long the table truly was. There had to be at least twenty chairs on each side, and there was a large fireplace against the far wall.
I continued even deeper into the estate's halls as I was led past door after door, until I reached an elevator near a set of cement stairs leading downward toward yet another door. There was an iron gate in front of the elevator that served as its door; its twisted, elegant design was similar, if not identical- to that of the front gate.
"We're nearly there", I heard the younger soldier say. He seemed to be far friendlier than the tall, gruff man standing in front of me.
The elevator's doors opened, and all three of us stepped on.

As the gate opened, I was astounded by what I saw. It was an underground laboratory…
From the outside, one would have never thought that it could have ever existed…now I understood. It was all build to conceal what was hidden beneath. An entire estate built for this purpose.
The walls were mixed between a light and dark grey, and countless pipes traveled throughout the corridors outside of them. The floors were merely white tile covered in a thin coat of dirt. It may have seemed plain to many others…but to people such as myself, it was incredible. This place was like a maze.
The two military men stopped in front of a plain steel door, and the older, burly man turned to face me.
"Stay in here until you're sent for. Your room will be prepared for you as soon as possible."
"Thank you", I muttered.
He nodded, and trudged off. The young soldier with my suitcases smiled and then did the same, though in the opposite direction.

And so I was left in front of the room alone, wearing one of my old grey suits which was now soaked from the heavy rain. I could no longer hear the rainfall from down here, obviously…what a shame that was. I had always loved the sound of rain.
I reached out, clasped the knob, twisted it, and opened the door.
Within the first second, a bright object had whizzed past my head, nearly making contact with my face.
"Son of a-!?" I exclaimed, jumping back a half-step as I heard several erupting shouts of "HAPPY NEW YEAR!"
Calming myself, I glanced at the floor behind me, where an orange was lying ever-so-innocently near the wall. As I took a step inside of the room, I murmured a brief string of swears before my sight beheld three men who were certainly not soldiers. All wore a standard white lab coat with Umbrella's symbol over the heart.
The first –who'd looked as though he'd had a few too many drinks- pointed at me, bellowed "All hail the new guy!" and proceeded to fall out of his chair.
I suppose it was safe to assume that he was more than just a bit tipsy.
The man, who seemed to be around my age, sat up, looking somewhat stunned as the second, middle-aged one of the three grasped the other's arm and helped him to his feet. All the while, the third had burst into laughter.
I realized then that the room I had entered was in fact, a lounge. A square table littered with trash, beer cans and countless loose papers rested in the far corner of the room, near an old radio that was blaring Frank Sinatra's version of "Blue Skies".
The three men were obviously Researchers. The drunken one was nearly my age, no doubt, give or take. His hair was a light brown mess, and his wise eyes an oceanic blue. As he stood, laughing at his own state, I noticed that he had something of a celebrity's smile. He seemed sportive, outgoing even, though perhaps a bit too much of a daredevil. He was most likely the one that had thrown the orange at the door…at me.
"Don't worry about me, Finch, I'll be fine…" he said to the older man.
"You just don't know when to quit, Phil." The oldest stated in a deadpan tone.
The oldest Researcher of the three had to be at least fifty. His appearance had reminded me of someone who had been in the military for countless years, old and battered. He almost seemed sad, even now, on New Year's Eve. His hair was short, grey and thinning; his eyes were a dull green.
The third man, whom appeared to be several years older than me, was still chuckling a bit.
"Sorry about him." The third said, rising from his seat and walking over to greet me. "He just seems to never get tired of embarrassing himself."
It was rather odd, the way myself and he seemed to overlap. We both possessed the same shade of black hair, and we both had blue eyes, though mine were far darker than his. He moved with an aristocratic grace that I could not accurately describe.
"It's no problem, really." I smiled. "The name's Jonathan Hartnett, I've just been hired."
"We know. We received the memo about a week ago. Welcome to the team."
"I'll be working alongside you three, then?" I glanced at Phil for a moment, wondering briefly what the Hell I had gotten myself into.
"Including Hutchinson and Morioka, yes. Oh, and my name is Michael Schvinski, forgive me." He replied.
We shook hands.
"The fool over there…" Michael motioned to Phil. "…is Philip Osipher. Don't let his personality fool you though, he's actually quite brilliant."
Phil waved very casually.
"And that would be Jason Finch." Michael concluded, looking at the older man, who flashed an amiable smile.

Only a moment later, a soldier walked through the open door of the laboratory lounge. It was the young blonde from before that had taken my belongings to my room.
"Your room is ready." He told me. I nodded, and thanked him.
Almost immediately, Phil, Jason and Michael all agreed that it was time to get some rest. They left the room as it was, except for Jason switching off the radio while commenting on how much he loved the sound of Sinatra.
The soldier led me to my room, which was located in a dormitory behind the mansion itself. Of course, this meant walking through the rain once more, but I was beyond caring about that. Michael teased Phil about his antics throughout the entire walk.

I was far too tired to even notice what my room actually looked like; I only saw the bed in the corner and collapsed upon it. Nothing seemed unusual until I heard the first verse of "Someone To Watch Over Me" sounding through the wall next to my bed. I remembered that as a child, my mother had loved that song.
Finch and his Sinatra…