Part 4
Sky blue eyes watched in horror and awe as the Wesker Virus cells attacked and destroyed the human cells in the petri dish. The virus attacked viciously; quick and deadly. If William wasn't trying so hard to control the damn thing, he would have thought it was the most fascinating virus in the world.
"What did you do to it?" William breathed, once the virus had completely devoured the human cells. He managed to peel his eyes away from the petri dish and looked over to the woman on the other side of his lab.
Alex shrugged her shoulders casually. She flipped the page in the folder she was supposedly looking at though William could tell she clearly wasn't. She flipped another page, not even looking at the contents. Instead her eyes were focused like a hawk on him. "It took many years of work."
William frowned and turned his back to her. He was certain that she had made sure she was the only one who could adapt to the virus. He just didn't know if she had adapted this one or had created a whole new one for herself. Either way, he wasn't getting anywhere on figuring out how to make it safe for Albert Wesker.
He scowled at his notes and pinched the bridge of his nose. What was he missing? He knew this woman was brilliant but so was he…supposedly. But apparently not brilliant enough to figure out what she had done to this god-awful virus to make it so deadly.
"How did you keep it from essentially destroying yourself?" William snapped, not hiding his frustration. He knew he was being too direct with his question but at this point he didn't care.
Alex chuckled. "I seriously don't know why Oswell has kept you around this long."
William glared at her. "At least he trusts me with my own projects. I don't see you or anyone else helping me with my G-Virus."
Alex's cold eyes flashed red and suddenly she was holding him by the throat, pinned backwards against the cold metal of his workstation. William gasped, the wind was knocked out of him by how forcefully she threw him against his station. He hadn't even seen her, she moved so quickly and the grip she had around his neck felt more like a vice then an actual human hand.
"It is important to give respect to those who deserve it," Alex hissed into his ear. She pressed him backwards further and William winced. He couldn't bend any further backwards and he could tell Alex was just barely keeping herself from snapping his spine in half. "You don't know who you are dealing with."
She slowly released him and stepped away from him. William collapsed to the floor, the pain in his back made it too difficult for him to even stand.
"The Virus has given me this power," Alex said, staring down at him. She placed her heel against him and rolled him over so that he was lying on his back staring up at her. "No one will be able to handle it like I can."
She walked away from him and twisted a chair so that it was facing him. She sat down and leaned back, eying him in amusement. "What are you thinking, William?"
"What do you mean?" William's voice was barely above a whisper. He turned his head to look at her.
"Why don't you give up already?" Alex asked, looking at her fingernails now. "You know you can't fix it. This should be evident to you since it has been almost three years since Oswell first assigned it to you."
William pushed himself up into a sitting position and grimaced. His back hurt and his neck was starting to feel sore.
"I can't decide if you are stubborn or stupid."
"Does it really matter?" William whispered, not looking at her.
"For you it does," Alex said, standing up and starting to head to the door. "Oswell won't wait on you forever."
William sat awkwardly on the porch of Albert Weserk's Raccoon City apartment, watching as the sun set slowly behind the Arklay Mountains. He left his lab at about six that evening so he knew Wesker should be home soon. Or at least, he hoped.
He put his face into his hands. Alex's threat still hung over his head and he was concerned. Since he was certain that the virus Alex created would only respond to her DNA, he decided to fight back with the same solution. He would create a virus, similar to her's, but build it around Wesker's DNA.
William glanced down at the suitcase he had with him. In it, he had a few of the Wesker Virus samples, human DNA samples, and scientific equipment. He knew it was risky showing Wesker the virus Alex designed but he didn't care. Wesker was the one who asked him for a way to fake his death…
Thankfully, he didn't have to wait much longer when headlights flooded the driveway and Wesker's RPD police car drove up. William held up his hand to block the car's headlights and stood up. The engine died and he could hear the door opening and closing.
"Birkin?"
"Come on, Al," William said, trying to put on a genuine smile. He still couldn't see the other man due to the lights but he could recognize that voice anywhere. "Didn't I tell you to call me Will?"
Wesker sighed heavily and turned off his car's lights. "Fine. William, what are you doing here?"
"I had an idea about the G-Virus," William said, picking up the suitcase and showing Wesker. "But I don't want to do it in the lab…I want to run it by you."
There was a long pause. "How did you find where I live?"
"Umbrella has files on everyone, you know that," William replied. He remembered finding his own files and it was scary the amount of detail, down to a very intimate level that Umbrella knew.
Wesker nodded slowly, with understanding.
"Will you help me?"
Wesker sighed again, sounding exasperated. "Did you forget what I told you all those years ago?"
William opened his mouth and then shut it.
"Well?"
"You said the G-Virus was beyond your capabilities."
"Precisely."
William bit his lip. "I would still like you to look at it for me."
Wesker didn't say anything but started to the door of his apartment. He unlocked the door and kept the door open. William felt relieved and quickly followed him inside the apartment.
Wesker's apartment was exactly the way William remembered the side of his room being when they used to live together back at Arklay. Everything was neat and clean, looking more like a museum then a person's home. The furniture was sparse, just barely comfortable enough for two people.
"You can use the counter," Wesker said, nodding towards it and flipping on the lights.
William carefully placed his suitcase on the counter and opened it slowly. He pulled out the microscope and virus samples and set them out carefully. While he was working, Wesker disappeared into one of the rooms. The scientist could see it was his friend's bedroom. Similar to the rest of the apartment, it was devoid of anything that wasn't necessary to live.
It barely took five minutes for William to set up his makeshift lab and had it prepared for Wesker. "Do you have a pair of gloves?"
"Yeah," Wesker said, coming back from his bedroom. He had taken off his STARS vest, gun holster, and even his sunglasses. Wesker's eyes traveled up and down William and rested on his neck. "What happened to you?"
William felt his cheeks flush red and he put his hand to his neck. "Just a bad experience with one of the test subjects."
"I see." Wesker sounded skeptical but thankfully didn't press William further. "What am I looking at?"
"I've tried to make some progress on the G-Virus for the plan you had mentioned to me," William explained. "I took the basic parts of the G-Virus and added a bit of the progenitor virus. Combined, they should make for a very convincing death."
Wesker nodded and looked into the microscope. "How does it work when combined with a sample?"
"Hang on," William said. He took a syringe and added the DNA into the Wesker Virus sample. "This is a sample of human DNA."
William then waited. He knew that the virus would be ripping the DNA to shreds and this is what worried him. The G-Virus was characterized by constant mutations and regeneration not violently killing the DNA.
"This looks radically different then the G-Virus I remember you working on," Weskers said, adjusting the microscope. "It reacts completely different then I remember."
"It is different," William said quietly. "But only for the better."
Wesker looked up from the microscope, eyebrow raised. "These changes seem like a step backwards rather then forwards. Before there were just uncontrollable mutations, now it seems like the virus will just kill whatever organism you inject it into. What prompted these changes?"
"I need to make progress," William said, trying to sound exasperated. He hoped that he made it look like he was more stressed then trying to hide anything. "You said it yourself that Spencer is closing in on me. I needed to do something to make it look like I'm moving forward."
Wesker continued to keep his eye on him and William felt his heart pounding. Would Wesker believe his lies? Perhaps it had been long enough that he wouldn't notice that the basic structure was Alex's virus and not at all the G-Virus. And if he did notice, would he lose Wesker's trust? After a moment, Wesker seemed convinced and looked back at the sample.
"So how do you propose making this safe? The point of this is to keep me alive, not make it impossible to survive."
"I was thinking I'd construct it around your DNA," William explained, glad Wesker had changed the subject. "I have a base, which is the first sample virus-"
"You mean the one that destroyed the sample DNA," Wesker said flatly.
"Correct," William nodded his head. Talking about virology gave him confidence and he relaxed. "I am going to take it as a base and program the virus to accept and adapt to your DNA."
"Do you know how long this going to take?"
"Hopefully only a couple weeks."
Wesker grunted in reply but didn't say anything else. "I'm guessing you'd like some blood then?"
"If you want to survive."
"Fine." Wesker rolled up his sleeve and sat down on the couch.
William reached into his suitcase and pulled out blood collecting equipment. He grabbed a tourniquet and tied Wesker's arm.
"How's police work?" William asked, slowly sliding the needle into Wesker's vein. Blood instantly began flooding into the vials.
"Not as mentally stimulating as I would like and despite my best efforts, I think some of them actually like me."
William laughed at that and changed out the first filled vial for a new one. "How did you manage that?"
"It is beyond me but apparently people other then you fall for my charms."
"It must be difficult," William said, trying to sound serious.
Wesker looked up on him and rolled his eyes. "You have no idea."
William finished taking the blood and placed them safely in the suitcase. Wesker fixed his sleeve and walked over to the counter. Silence fell over them and William could tell Wesker was thinking.
"What?"
"You need to make that virus quick."
William tilted his head to the side, suddenly feeling nervous. Did Wesker know something he didn't? "Why?"
"Spencer called me in to his office a few weeks ago," Wesker said finally.
"What did he say?" William asked, feeling his stomach drop out of him.
"The STARS team is supposed to be a test run for Umbrella's BOWs against trained soldiers," Wesker explained.
"At the meeting he said they were supposed to be trained to protect against a possible BOW outbreak," William said slowly. "Do you think he'd purposefully create a situation where the STARS would have to interact with BOWs?"
Wesker nodded. "Without a doubt."
"But how would he control that?" William said incredulously. "Spencer wouldn't be able to ensure that the BOWs would just target one individual."
"I believe Spencer is going to clean house," Wesker said emotionlessly. "He wouldn't create an accidental BOW outbreak unless he was planning on killing off more then just me. I believe he is going to be targeting you and Annette as well as some of the current scientists."
"Fuck," William breathed, putting both his hands on his head. "I have to protect Annette and Sherry."
"One moment," Wesker said, walking into his bedroom again. William could here him rummaging around again and then he came back with a folder.
"These are new identities I've created for you and your family," Wesker explained, handing William the folder.
William opened it. Inside were new driver's licenses for him and Annette, as well as passports for the entire family. "Benjamin Berg? Where did you get that name?"
"It doesn't matter," Wesker waved his hand as if pushing it aside. "Also inside is the bank account with the money I've set aside for your family in the escape. It should be enough to keep you and your family comfortable until you can settle into a new location and I can provide you with further instructions."
"Thank you," William said quietly, feeling touched by Wesker's consideration. It really proved that Wesker was, and still is, his only friend in the whole world. The only person he could fully trust. Then he felt a pang of guilt shoot through him. And yet, here he was, going with Spencer's plan because of his love of the G-Virus. The pain of guilt filled him and he almost wanted to refuse the folder and tell Wesker what Spencer had over him. Yet, he couldn't. Wesker was ensuring that Annette and Sherry would be safe and William couldn't risk losing that.
"I trust you can keep those safe until the time comes when you'll need it," Wesker crossed his arms over his chest.
"Of course," William said, slipping the papers into his suitcase. "Did he give any indication as to when he was planning on pulling this stunt?
Wesker shook his head. "No, but I doubt it will be much longer."
William stood almost motionless over his new virus sample, syringe poised above the petri dish. This was the moment of truth. He had worked on the virus almost non-stop since his meeting with Wesker three weeks ago and he was certain he'd finally figured it out.
Taking a deep breath, William slowly pushed the plunge on the syringe and the DNA flooded the petri dish.
Almost immediately the virus started changing and reacting to the DNA. However, instead of destroying it, the virus adapted the DNA. When it finally stopped, the DNA looked slightly different, closer to Alex's DNA.
The scientist couldn't even breathe. It had worked.
It. Had. Worked.
William let out a shaky breath and blinked. His virus has successfully taken Albert Wesker's DNA and adapted to it instead of destroying it. William felt relieved, as if a huge weight had been removed from his shoulders.
"Dr. Birkin!"
A hurried knock came from the door.
"Not now," William called to the door, eyes still focused intently on the virus. He needed to test this one someone, perhaps a random civilian to make sure it wouldn't adapt to just anyone's DNA.
"Dr. Birkin!" the voice continued, banging harder on the door. "You need to come now! It's an emergency!"
William rolled his sky blue eyes. Maybe he should just test it on this annoying messenger. The scientist pulled off his gloves and opened the door. A young man that William knew he'd seen before at the Arklay Training facility but couldn't remember his name was standing at the door. The young man's face was pale and he looked frantic. "What is it?"
"There's some kind of problem at Arklay!" The young man exclaimed. "You must come quickly!"
"What kind of problem?" William asked, walking back to the workstation. He started to slowly clean up the virus and place it into a safe.
"There has been a T-Virus outbreak at Arklay," the younger man explained hurriedly. "It's killing everyone!"
"What?!" William yelped, spinning on his heel. "Are the BOWs out?"
"Yeah," the young man said, starting to head back to the elevator. "Spencer told me to call for you. He said you'd be able to help in the clean up."
"He did?" William suddenly felt as if his legs were made of Jell-O. He grasped onto the workstation for support. It was finally happening.
"Dr. Birkin," the young man said, motioning for him to follow. "We need to go now!"
"I'll be there in a moment," William said, his heart pounding so hard he was sure his ribs were going to burst. "I just need to make a phone call."
The young man looked at him for a moment then turned away and disappeared into he the elevator.
William took a few deep breaths to call himself. Barely able to keep standing, William stumbled to the phone. He picked up the receiver and clicked a few digits. The phone rang a few times before a telltale click signaled that someone picked up.
"Captain Wesker."
"Hey Al," William said, voice shaking.
"I told you not to call me on this line," Wesker snapped.
"Al," William gulped. "I think our time's up."
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