Zero Files
[From the Personal Files of Albert Wesker and Excella Gionne]
[Audio & Record Logs]
Lazarus Director's Log 1-[Kara Lawson]: January 1st, 1999.
Test subject has been recovered and arrived, but the damage is far worse than initially anticipated.
In addition to a hole through the torso and internal injuries sustained from impalement, subject has also sustained exposure to cold temperature that could affect the brain. Despite the extent of the physical trauma suffered, Jenkins assures me subject that subject zero is remains salvageable.
Thankfully the regeneration of the Veronica virus has replicated enough cells and missing body mass for us to work with.
The Lazarus project will proceed as planned. Only delayed by a few hours.
Lazarus Director's Log 2-[Kara Lawson]: January 19th, 1999.
We've nearly completed physical reconstruction of the subject's remains, thanks in part to the T-veronica virus' interference of decay by preserving its host, but we still need an approximate estimation on the the mental and neurological functions before proceeding.
Trent and Wesker have made our orders crystal clear: revive Steve Burnside to the man, or slightly man, as the case may be, he was before his death—the same mind and principles. The personality would be considered a bonus but not necessary.
If we alter his identity in any way that the characteristics to help him survive the outbreak on Rockfort Island could be lost, the Lazarus project will have been a failure. I refuse to allow our outcome to meet such a scenario.
Lazarus Log Update 1-[Jenkins]: March 2nd, 1999.
Even with exceptional progress, Kara still manages to remain an anomaly to me.
From the perspective as the project's director, she should be all giddy and ecstatic, jumping for joy at all that's been accomplished. But instead she's the same ice queen as ever.
Maybe she's worried Burnside could be another of Wesker's disciples and new favorite. Or she's just a plain, bold-faced, cold hearted bitch...hard to say anymore.
Lazarus Log Update 2-[Kara Lawson]: June 7th, 1999.
Progress has been slow...yet subject shows signs of recovery. Slowly. Vital Organs are once again functional, and there have been signs of rudimentary neurological activity.
In an effort to accelerate subject's recovery, I've authorized experimentation with the healing factor of the Veronica virus and the possibility of using the Wesker virus. Hopeful this could attribute to a more speedy recovery at a more desirable pace. Initial results are proving to be promising.
Lazarus Log Update 3-[Jenkins]: September 15th, 1999.
The cost of this fiasco is astronomical—over four billion dollars so far, by my last estimate. All just to bring some stiff back from the dead without the craving for human flesh. But nobody seems to care that we've gone over budget.
I don't know where the boss or Trent gets the money for this clusterfuck...maybe it's better not to. Wish he'd throw a bit of it my way, just a little.
Lazarus Final Log-[Kara Lawson]: February 3rd, 2000.
It's taken us an agonizingly long substantial time, with some set back in the recovering skin tissue, but the Lazarus projects is at its final phase. We've stabilized subject's heart rate and maintained life-support, all we have to do is wait for him to regain consciousness. The rest of the program is already being re-purposed and prepared to ship off all non-essential personnel and resources of the Lazarus cell to Arkham.
Once Raven completes his review of the subject's vital signs and gives a full health report, and green lights the clearance, Burnside will be presented to Doctor Reid for a psychological evaluation and cognition test.
It would be too premature to guess, right now. Yet, I feel compelled to state that the obvious fact that Lazarus has nearly succeeded. Though I've taken great pains to keep this thought to myself, as this uncharacteristic attitude would be seen, as if, I've suffered a mental breakdown. To any of my colleagues.
For now, we keep Burnside under sedation when he's not in cryo-stasis—bringing him out of stasis for the occasional checkup. The matter of this duration depends on when he's fully awake. I would estimate this to be soon. He has already shown awareness to his surroundings and reacting to outside stimuli once or twice in stasis.
All we can do is wait.
Awakening: March 15th, 2000.
[Albert Wesker and Kara Lawson appear in the video. Both standing near a cryostasis chamber.]
WESKER: "He looks healthy enough, to me, Kara. Open in it."
KARA: "Yes, sir. Just stand clear. We still don't know how he'll react to his surroundings." [Kara then slides her key card in the slot.]
[A barely recognizable Steve falls out of the chamber with leagues of water.]
STEVE: [coughing and gagging for air in shock] "Where...Where am I...Where is she?"
[Albert Wesker leans over, bending down on one knee.]
WESKER: "She?" [Realizing what his new prisoner meant] "She does not matter now. I do."
[Steve struggles to move before finally breathing normal again. Wesker then looks towards his men.]
WESKER: "Take him away!"
[Two H.C.F. members pick Steve up by the arms and carry him out.]
STEVE: "What's going on!? Where am I!?"
Psychological Assessment Log-[Dr. Reid]: March 21st, 2000.
Against my better judgement, I have compiled my evaluation of Steve Burnside, or Subject Zero, to determine his mental condition. Reluctantly, per the behest of Wesker, to deduce any weaknesses.
On the surface Steve behaves with the mannerisms of the average American teenager. Wearing the facade of a calm but unsure disposition, when dealing with strangers. Underneath this extremity lies a damaged mind...or what could be considered, by some, a "tortured soul." Dying only to be taken back from the clutches of death has taken its toll on the patient's mind. He exhibits what could very well be PTSD; is anxious whenever questioned on the details of his memory before death.
The poor kid's family is apparently all dead. His Mother killed by a Umbrella hitman, and the Father (Mr. Burnside), a leak in the company, became infected infected with the T-virus and was put down by his son like a rabid dog—to protect a friend. And has no siblings, or any other immediate family to come looking for him. All of these have left deep psychological scars. As such, it could also provide us a vulnerability we can exploit to bring him to our side. A few pokes at his developing abandonment issues and some offer of camaraderie or kinship and he could be pushed into becoming one of us. He also reacted to the name Claire with hope and shock. The extent of the intimacy he had with this woman I was unable to determine; he refused to divulge any information when questioned on the matter. Any friends or associates would be unlikely on account of his mistrust of anyone, but is not an impossibility.
He is indifferent to violence. No matter the amount of vile, bloody, or precarious standards of the horrible conditions he has escaped from, Steve remained emotionless; unaffected. This is...interesting.
Aside from a mild sense of juvenile humor, Steve is like a blank slate. Thanks to Lazarus, his personality and sense of morals can be molded by himself and whoever takes the initiative to lead him. I say this more out of caution than for opportunity.
First Interview of Subject Zero: March 15th, 2000
[A broken shell of Steve appears on a recorded video. Still visibly wet, he is being seated to a metallic table with a towel around him.]
DR. REID: "Good evening, Subject Zero."
SUBJECT ZERO: "..."
DR. REID: "Don't feel like talking, still? You're not leaving until you've provided me with a measure of information we need. Even though I would like to."
SUBJECT ZERO: "Wh-What do you want to know?"
DR. REID: "Your name, for starters."
STEVE: "Steve. My name is Steve Burnside."
DR. REID: "Okay, Steve, what happened to you?"
STEVE: "I was a prisoner of people like you...on Rockfort Island. For maybe one or two years, possibly more...after some time passed it felt like an eternity passed as days went by. Then one night something terrible happened: The door to my cell opened and I found the island overrun with monsters. An-And I know how that sounds, but a couple of days ago I was a corpse. So that in comparison is miniature on the freak scale."
DR. REID: "How did you come to being infected with the Veronica virus?"
STEVE: "Claire and I—Oh God, what happened to Claire?"
DR. REID: "Who's Claire?"
STEVE: "WHERE IS CLAIRE!"
DR. REID: "Steve, calm down."
STEVE: "WWWHERE IS SSSHHHEEE?!"
[End of Video.]
Various Sections of Albert Wesker's Journal Pertaining to Steve Burnside: No specific month or day, beginning in 2002 and onward.
Work with Steve has taken a spectacular turn. With Jack Krauser joining my ever-growing network, I have begun using a method suggested by my newest recruit: reprogram Steve.
This will be no simple task, as the last two years have taught me well. Pathetically, He still lives under the delusion that Chris and his little sister will come to his rescue. We shall shatter his allusions. Break down his identity, toy with his own guilt and self betrayals, and ultimately mold him into my new best man. Just like Chris was, in another lifetime. And he will become my ace in the hole, for when Claire Redfield complicates matters again.
Ever since my victory over RED QUEEN and the fall of Umbrella, one universal principle has always proven key to my survival and our success: only through more power will we thrive. Steve Burnside will become my Agent, my Agent Zero.
His exposure to the source of my own power has left Steve requiring a daily dosage of PG67A/W, as I, myself, do. Though he require a more stronger quantity of dosage because of the Veronica virus.
Its affects on him differ from how it treats me. His youth leaves him exposed to raging hormones and the serum enhances this. If it had not been for the isolation of his room, which has been treated more like a cell, and his own self-control, some of the women in our facility could have spent some nights bow-legged.
Fortunately, the viruses in his system make it almost impossible to conceive children. Just barely.
I do not know whether to call it fortune, providence, or just luck that Ada has remained under my employ at this junction—I, still, doubt this is of her own accord. But have allowed her stay for her continued usefulness. Her contribution to manipulating Steve is undeniable. With Steve's inability to differ between romantic feelings and lust, amplified by the effects of the daily dosage, it was easy enough for Ada to seduce him; under the guise of a less than innocent to transpire between him and her during one of their many training sessions. On my orders.
These will help to make him mine, and like Archangel, one of the best operatives we have ever seen.
Escape Attempt 22
[the suppressed gunfire of full-auto CZ 75 erupts down the hallway in echos]
CALEB: "Stop running, kid, and this'll all be over."
STEVE: "Why? Just so you have to put less effort into shooting me between the eyes."
CALEB: "If this was about just 'shooting' you, I would be aiming for your head not your legs. If a bullet could kill you."
[a bullet hits a mark in Steve's lower calf and another tears through his legs, exiting above his knee]
STEVE: "If you're going to take me back to that Cell then you might as well try to kill me, 'cause I'll just escape again and again until I'm out of this metal dungeon."
CALEB: "No you won't: you have nowhere to go to."
STEVE: "That's not-"
CALEB: Oh but it is. You think I can't understand you, that none of us do. Believing you have something out there in the world we don't when in truth we're all you have now."
STEVE: "Oh yeah, 'cause turning into a monster is such a great opportunity to look forward to."
CALEB: "No. Not a monster, Steve; it's evolution. Then you'll see, being on this side of the line isn't as bad as people like the Redfields make it sound."
STEVE: "Why should I believe you, or Wesker, for that matter?"
CALEB: "This maybe come as a surprise to you, Burnside, but not all evils and monsters are born: they're made. Wesker and I are no exception to that rule; just as you are."
[End of recording]
Burnside's Brainwash—Interval 1.
WESKER: "How do you feel, Steve?"
STEVE: [coldly sarcastic] "Aside from the pain from the shots you force me to take everyday, and feeling like I want to screw the first woman I see? Great, just Great."
Wesker: "Being returned from the icy grip of death is never cheap—And you owe that debt to me, Steve."
STEVE: "I didn't want this. I don't want to be here, I want to leave."
WESKER: "Too late, friend. You're beyond turning back to your old life. The Veronica-virus in your body and veins guarantees that you'll never be the man you were before."
STEVE: "It doesn't matter what you say. My friends will come for me. Claire—she can find me. Chris, too."
WESKER: "Your faith in them is almost adorable. And a little sad, Steve. The cavalry isn't coming to the rescue."
STEVE: "You're lying!"
WESKER: "No, I'm not. You are like me: a monster in the eyes of the world. To them, you're just a corpse not worth burying. Forgotten, abandoned."
STEVE: "No, no, no...no...no..."
WESKER: [intimidating] "Your life in meaningless, worthless, no merit."
Burnside's Brainwash—Interval 2.
STEVE: "Claire would not abandon me!"
WESKER: [cynically] "Wouldn't she?"
STEVE:[dead silence]
WESKER:"You are a patricide, after all. In some circles, people would consider you worse than me."
STEVE: "I didn't have a choice."
WESKER: "Of course you did, and you chose to kill your own father."
STEVE: [more dead silence]
WESKER: "Everyone is in this life for themselves. You can either live with it, or continue being used and pathetic: your choice."
Burnside's Brainwash—Interval 3.
WESKER: "Back here again, I see."
STEVE:[mute]
WESKER: "Come now Steve, I miss our special little chats."
STEVE: [panting] "...What do you want, Wesker?"
WESKER: "Not much...I just for the world to bow down to my whim. Though I'd gladly settle for you agreeing to work for me."
STEVE: "Why would I do that? I have nothing left to lose."
WESKER: "I think you'll find that it's only after you've lost everything that you're free of all life's burdens. Why languish in here when you know I won't let you out, otherwise?"
STEVE: "You have nothing to offer me."
WESKER: "I can give your life purpose, and meaning to this hell you've been left in."
STEVE: "I'd rather waste away as another prisoner, again."
WESKER: "Do you really want to spend your new life confined here, of all places?"
STEVE: "Why won't you just kill me?"
WESKER: "Now, where would the fun in that be?"
Burnside's Brainwash—Interval 4.
STEVE: "Redfield...? Is that you?"
WESKER: "Redfield? Chris or Claire? Or did you grow delusions since we last spoke and think this is the hobble in Arkansas?"
STEVE: "Christ..."
WESKER: "Neither of them are going to save you."
STEVE: "They'll come. They will!"
WESKER: "It's been two years-and-a-half now, Steven. I do believe it's time to face the facts, don't you?"
STEVE: "Screw you!"
WESKER: "That's the spirit, Steve. You know. you can be a chip off the ol' Redfield block. Hold onto that anger and rage, reserve it for the ones who deserve it."
STEVE: "You. You deserve it!"
WESKER: "Me? Let's not forget who's here, Steve: me. Claire isn't coming for you. In fact: she hasn't even bothered to search for you since Antarctica. You're ours now. My latest partner in crime; who knows, we might make a regular dynamic duo."
STEVE: "You're lying!"
WESKER: "Well, I admit I've lied in the past to others; but I'm not now. I find it a poor start to a professional relationship with a employee."
STEVE: "Claire would never abandon me."
WESKER: "Really?" [Wesker holds out a photo for Steve to glean] "So this isn't her talking with another boy? Weird. The ponytail is typically an obvious giveaway."
STEVE: "No!...no!...no!...no...!"
WESKER: "Believe me, I didn't want to show you that photo. I really didn't. But it seemed the simplest way to help you find closure. I know it stings a little, from personal experience of being scorned by someone you loved. But sometimes you gotta mix up being cruel and kind."
[Wesker then punches Steve across the face]
WESKER: "I'll leave you to think on it. Maybe bring a playmate by next time. Sleep tight, don't let the chain bugs bite. "
[Wesker leaves and the door closes.]
STEVE: "No...she wouldn't, would she...no...no." [sobbing can be hard.] "It's not true...it can't…"
Burnside Brainwash—Interval 5.
[Steve takes a punch square to the face, suspending from chain restraints on his wrists]
WESKER: "Ready to see the truth yet, Steve?"
STEVE: "Screw you, dingus."
KRAUSER: "That has to be a new record. They usually give after the 50th."
WESKER: "Again!"
[Krauser punches Steve again, first in the ribs then in the face]
STEVE: "Screw you, too, Rambo!"
KRAUSER: "Rambo...? Really?"
WESKER: "I believe that's the one with a Vietnam Veteran going insane from PTSD."
KRAUSER: "I know what it means, Sir. Respectfully. It just pissed me off that he said it."
[Steve suffers another punch from Krauser]
STEVE: "I'm going to kill the both of you when I get drown from here."
WESKER: "Do you see what I have to put up with here, Krauser? He still thinks I'm the villain of this tragedy."
KRAUSER: "I know, and we're trying so hard to help him."
STEVE: "How is beating me into a pulp, letting me heal, then beating me up again, going to help me?"
KRAUSER: "This makes you stronger. In time you'll grow to push past it."
WESKER: "We care enough to strike you. It's Claire who is the bad guy here...or woman, I suppose. She's thrown you away like a unwanted puppy, so now we're going to make you stronger and then you get to show her the loss she took."
[Krauser punches Steve again]
WESKER: "So when you start feel like the lesson's finally sunken in let us know. We can move on to the next. Then the fun begins."
Audio Surveillance of Zero and Wesker
Subject: Agent Zero
Topic: The Murder of Senator Ron Davis.
Location: Harvardville
Date: 2005
Senator Davis: "Who...what is the meaning of this…?"
[the sound of a struggle is heard]
Senator Davis: "Get away from me!"
STEVE: "Senator Ron Davis is dead. I repeat: Senator Ron Davis is Dead."
Wesker: Very good, Zero. Now send all copies of data to Vester and Sherawat then feel free to delete everything."