It has been a week since Steve was captured a put in a prison. For most of this time, he has tried to find a way out, gaining the attention of anyone near him who were still sane enough to talk. However, most just looked at him, never speaking… or can't speak at all. Finally, one of them does. In his continued attempts to break the glass, a voice comes from the cell next him.
"Would you stop already?!"
He does so and tries to look at who he was talking to. However, he fails to see anything pass the glass. He tries talking to whoever it is.
"Who are you?" Steve asks.
"Names Hunter," he replies, "someone else is listening too, but he can't speak."
"Who else?"
"You can't see him. He's in the cell right above you."
"How can you even tell?"
"I got… heat vision or whatever. I can see his body temperature moving close to the floor now."
"That's thermal vision."
"Whatever, just stop the banging already."
Steve sits back against the bed before he continues talking. "Listen, Hunter, is there anyway out?"
"Yeah," Hunter replies, "die, or get dragged out the cells for experiments, but that's the worse option."
"Listen," Steve starts, yelling to anyone who listens, "one of you must know a way out of these cells at least. I can lead you to freedom, I know this place."
"That's not gonna work," Hunter replies. "We know you were tricked, some of us were in the same boat. Besides, anyone who could break out of these would be in a different cell all together. I'm sorry, really, I am, but we're done for."
Steve is shocked by the tone of his voice. He can tell he is someone who's been here for a while, long enough to understand the truth.
Within a day or so, a group of scientists in hazmat suits come by Steve's cell. He begins backing away in fear, recalling Hunter's warning. "Relax," one of the men says, "we're here for the one above you. Don't worry though, we got better plans for you." They all begin to laugh as the cell above Steve's comes out of the wall for them to reach into. When it goes back, Steve can see who was above him. The person was completely covered in sheets, hiding any detail, all except for a black sludge trail he left behind. The people are disgusted as one of them pulls out a tablet and uses it. The floor under the person comes out, floating him with it. "This'll leave less of a trail," one of them says as they take him to do experiments. Soon they said, Steve would be next.
Hours go by without anything happening, but for Verden and the other scientists, it was most important. They stand within an observation room, looking down to the floor below on the other side. In it stands the man, still cloaked, but with a similar device to the harness visible on him, attached to his chest. Verden looks to the lead scientist for reassurance. "I hope this goes better off than the previous experiment, Mr. Burnside showed great resistance to it."
"Don't worry, Mr. Verden," the scientist replies, "this subject has been with us for a great deal of time. Hopefully, his lack of willpower will make for a better test. Once manipulation is achieved, we'll be able to proceed to the phase two testing."
With that, each scientist prepares the recording equipment, making sure every moment of the experiment is catalogued. As before, the device is activated, causing the unknown liquid to course through his veins. He begins to buckle under his legs as they move with a will of their own. The man grabs his face in pain as he feels the effects of the liquid. At first, is seems to be working as he gains control of his body. Standing straight and intact. The scientists quietly cheer to themselves with success, only to be premature, failing to notice the mutations. The man's body begins to spasm out of control, he lets out a gastly scream as a mass of black tendrils shoot out of his body, enveloping him. He falls to the floor, showing no sign of life. With that, Verden storms off with disappointment and frustration, the lead scientist tries to stop him. "Sir, Wait?! We still have a chance, we just need more time to…," he's cut off as Verden leaves through the elevator. The lead scientist gets glances from his cohorts with concern and regret, all failing to notice the new activity. They turn back to find the body gone. The lead scientist rushes to the glass trying to find the creature on any monitor or corner. Suddenly, it appears right in front of him, sticking to the glass as a mass of flesh and tendrils bangs against it shattering it.
For Steve and the rest, they notice the commotion, a scent in the air that sends them on high alert, all finishing with a huge explosion in the distance. The walls shake with a violent force, overtaking the glass itself in Steve's cell, leaving a single crack in the center. Steve sees the damage and knows it's enough to escape. With what control he has, his fist begins to enlarge, growing spikes and developing a green tone before he smashes the glass with all his might. The crack becomes larger and larger as tension builds until, CRASH, it breaks. Before he's able to enjoy the freedom, another explosion goes off, right inside the area. Steve his taken by surprise as a blast of smoke and fire heads straight for him, knocking him to the ground and rolling on the floor. He manages to regain his balance, but he's unable to see through the smoke. He walks back to where his cell is to avoid the smoke, calling for Hunter. "Hunter, you still with us?!"
He stops as he sees the cause of the explosions, the same person who was dragged out of the cell. Steve steps away slowly, thinking he has gone berserk, only to see him stop in front of Hunter's cell. Hunter himself backs away as the man, using a few tendrils as limbs, begins digging into the metal around the glass, ripping the sheet away like it was nothing before moving aside, letting Hunter out. "Okay… that's good. Y-you still with me… buddy?" he talks to the man. The man is only able to nod, his face still obscured, showing he has some control. Hunter turns to Steve with excitement of freedom, showing the scales all over the right side of his face. "LOOK AT US! WE'RE FREE MEN NOW! LET'S GO!"
"W-wait," Steve stops him, "we need to free the others."
"We can't save everyone," Hunter replies, "we need to get out of here. Look, we have to leave before…," he's cut off as soldiers appear, laying down a spray of bullets to stop them. The two duck back into a cell, but the man takes the shots as they pass right through him. He proceeds to open another cell before he becomes enraged by the soldiers and charges them. He impales them on his tendrils, distracting the rest, giving Steve and Hunter the chance to escape. They notice what he's doing and take the chance, but not before Steve checks the other cell and pulls out the person in it, a young woman in tattered clothing.
Steve follows Hunter on impulse, unable to focus with the chaos not too far behind them. They head to the other side of the area to find two corridors on either side. Before Steve could ask, Hunter darts to the right one, leaving Steve far behind as he has to take the girl with him, holding her hand as she tries to keep up. "HUNTER?!" he calls out. "Where are we going?!"
"To the escape pods!" he replies.
"Escape pods?! Do you even know if this place has them?"
"Yeah, saw them a while back when they took me to one of the rooms. Let's just hope they didn't move them."
Steve feels less ensured with that comment before Hunter continues. "Besides, when a base like this is sinking, you know they have escape pods."
"It isn't sinking." Steve is corrected as a gush of water breaks through the roof above them, almost hitting them as they pass it and Hunter replies to his comment. "It is now."
They soon find themselves and the same surroundings Steve was in, the other side of the walls that moved. The damage caused by the man was far greater than either of them knew, finding his destructive path that lead to the cells, holes punched through the entire path. The facility is failing, scientists can be seen drowning as the rooms flood in, the water begins to rise, giving them little time. "Well," Hunter says, "the escape pods were here, but that was when this place wasn't in disarray."
They search desperately for the pods, looking to ever corner of the facility as it continues to flood. Suddenly, they hear crashing noises from behind them. They look out to see the man, dragging a large sphere behind himself with the tendrils. "I don't believe it," Hunter starts, "he has a pod. Let's go!"
The three dash over to him as he opens the hatchet from above allowing them to jump in. The man enters last as he closes the hatchet, locking it shut. Steve finally takes a breath of relief as he takes his seat, the pod containing six seats with a dashboard in the middle. However, he notices Hunter pressing every button, getting no response or even a flash of light. "Crap!" he yells.
"What's wrong?"
"This one's busted. Only the locks work. We need to find a new one." Hunter begins climbing out of the pod, only to be face to face with a raging torrent as the facility gives way and the water floods in. He immediately backs in and closes the hatchet as tight as possible.
"What's out there?" Steve asks.
He only gets one response from Hunter. "You might want to hold on."
They braise themselves as the flood hits them, sending the pod in a spin as the four hold on for dear life, feeling the force shift in a new direction every second. It goes on for minutes without end, water begins to leak, drop by drop, as they thrash above. Finally, after an unknown amount of time, the force finally stabilizes. They feel the shifting motion of the pod left and right as it shuffles to the surface. They dare not move in fear of causing more leaks. By the time the leaks stop, the shifting stops too and the water reaches their knees.
Steve, yet again, takes a breath of relief, as do his new friends. The man takes a chance and opens the hatchet, leaving everyone to stare out and find the night sky above them. They look out with such ahh, all except for Steve. He has no idea how long they stayed in the facility, not seeing the sky in years, maybe even decades for some of them.
For the next few hours, they did nothing but enjoy the bliss of the ocean, caring little about where they'll end up or if they'll find land, just enjoying the peace. For Steve, it was far more serious. He has nothing left now, no mission, no purpose, no home, not even a prison. All he has left are the memories he shared with Claire Redfield. Even with that only, he feels bliss. The moment takes him to a similar one, on a plane heading to a new problem. He can remember the touch of her skin, the scent of her hair, the beautiful color of her eyes, the temptation of her lips. Nothing but her with a hint of adolescent impulses, now the desires of a man. He's snapped out of it as the girl next to him shakes him awake. He jolts up with a shock and looks to her. She points at herself, trying to utter words, but only managing gargled responses. Hunter catches his attention with an answer.
"She can't speak. Actually, she hasn't spoken for a while in the facility. All I can remember is that her name is Lisa."
She points to him, gesturing he's right and points back at herself. Steve does his best to respond to her, a little unsure if she'll understand "everything" he'll say. "Steve," he points to himself.
Suddenly, scratching noises catch everyone off guard, drawing their attention to the wall of the pod as the man scratches something into it. When he finishes, it shows a name, "Ryan." He points to himself to tell everyone his name. Hunter shares his name too, leaving everyone now acquainted. As more time passes, Ryan uses his tendrils to drain the water out of the pod, leaving everyone soaking wet and freezing. Steve cuts his own arm to allow the blood to flow out and combust. He makes a small fire from his hand for them to warm up on. He himself, doesn't feel cold at all, his own blood keeping a constant temperature. Eventually, everyone drifts to sleep with Steve last. His concerns for the future keep him up much longer than everyone else, but he soon drifts to sleep too. However, before the tipping point, he can feel a tug on the pod, pulling it somewhere, before he's fast asleep.