Chapter 7
-Fault-
Belfort, France
Rebecca felt like a child in a candy store. She was standing inside a series of laboratories in the basement of a building that by first appearances, looked to be mostly for housing. There were bunk rooms, a cafeteria, and little else. That is, little else until she, Billy, and Renny came upon an elevator that led to another floor below the first floor with the use of a key found on a dead scientist in one of the corridors.
The standard glasses and beakers were spread about the countertops, along with an x-ray board that Rebecca saw Renny turn on in his curiosity. There were four images on the board of someone's brain, each progressing x-ray showing continuous swelling to brain tissue. While the skilled pilot soon became bored and wandered over to another section of the lab, Rebecca found herself drawn to the pictures. Her musings were interrupted by Billy's voice breaking through her thoughts.
"Take a look at this." Billy glanced her way before continuing with a read of the crumpled piece of paper in his hand. "Memo on C-Virus. Some further effects of the C-Virus, both positive and negative, have been discovered. It is more likely to have a positive effect after some tampering with the variables conducive to the creation of the virus. This is great news, as previously the virus typically had a 95% or so fatality rate. Signed, Dr. Sheppard."
"I don't get how people can just willingly do terrible stuff like this. They've got to know they're not benefiting mankind. No way, no how."
"Good 'ol fashioned human greed?" Rebecca attempted. "It is pretty bad when some of these people have taken the hippocratic oath and then do this. My first experience in a place like this is what made me decide to pursue the medical field as opposed to the science or military fields. By working in a hospital I know I am doing good and don't have to worry about the ramifications of my actions to such an extent."
"Not sure everybody shares your concern about consequences." Renny piped up with a grin. "Check this out. A memo from our resident psycho. And it's definitely some crazy stuff."
Rebecca tapped her foot impatiently. "Well, go on."
A final grin and then he smothered his grin in favor of getting actual words out as he read the crisp, white sheet of paper held gently in his hands. "The key to immortality and invincibility lies with Eva Jane Wesker's body..no longer. Samples of EW blood were lost due to Umbrella negligence. The gods are with us in this endeavor, however, and a new source has been granted to us. I, myself, retrieved a blood sample of an altered R-Virus from CR, and the work since then has spawned us the C-Virus. Variants of the C-Virus are currently in the works and there is no doubt in my mind that CR blood is the key. We shall achieve our ends."
"Resident psychopath is right." Billy muttered and turned away to continue his exploration of the room.
She had her own exploring to do and who knew what time they had. That Greene had yet to achieve the key to immortality was obvious. Like Umbrella, Rebecca suspected Greene and his researchers had only managed to create dangerous viruses and monsters. Immortality was impossible anyway. No manner of science could achieve such an impossibility. No one could live forever.
There were plenty of papers scattered about the room, materials for experiments, and signs of abandonment could also be read everywhere. Something had happened here. An evacuation? Drumming her fingers on one of the black countertops as she walked around one of the tables, she stopped when a notebook drew her eye to it. Leaning on the counter, she used her free hand to flip open and begin paging through the book. She ceased flipping the pages when she came across one that caught her eye.
Across the top it read: 'Description of C-Virus'. Below was the description of aforementioned virus. 'Subject becomes agitated, red-irritated eyes, veins darken (blood turning black), elongated limbs/torsos in many cases, increased strength and agility, ability to withstand much injury before ever succumbing to death, increased violent tendencies and indescribable lust for human blood.'
There was a list of the current strains following that paragraph. 'Strain one of the virus reduces subjects to brainless killing machines, strain two has the subject able to keep a level of intelligence-creating traps-they are able to control the other infected to a certain extent. Rarely speak, mostly grunt, growl, or scream. Strain one, stage two, excess mutation-occurs after 24-48 hours of exposure to the virus, subject's skin darkens to near black, limbs become malformed further, hands and feet become claws-the easier to dismember victims to drink their blood, and head enlarges, eyes bigger-still bloodshot, and teeth become sharp too.'
Shuffling again through the pages, she moved to the latest entry, dated a month ago. The scientist who had been writing a journal and notes in the book had written a passage discussing the man who was the key to the immortality they were seeking. He was expressing frustration and wonder about why the boss wouldn't just acquire the owner of the blood so they could experiment on him. Apparently this Dr. Sheppard woman was behind the insistence they leave the valuable man alone. That it wouldn't serve their purposes to take him. The very last sentence had her blood freezing in her veins. Why is this Chris Redfield so damn untouchable that we can't use him like all the rest of the people we use for lab specimens?
"Oh my God... Billy..."
He was at her side the next second, putting a hand on her shoulder and turning her around to face him. "Rebecca? What is it? What's wrong?"
"The initials CR. Chris Redfield. His blood spawned the C-Virus. There is an incredibly high chance the C stands for Chris."
"Chris virus? They couldn't come up with anything better than that?" Renny scoffed.
Billy shook his head. She wasn't sure if it was at Renny's attempt to lighten the situation or just at the discovery in general. A screech interrupted any further thoughts on the topic at hand. There was something with them in the labs. Renny had his assault rifle ready in a second, Billy was switching the safety off of his own gun, and although Rebecca was a little slower to the draw, she held her gun prepared enough by her side. It had been a long time since she had reason to use a gun, but she knew if the time came, she would be able to act.
"Why can't we ever explore a place without something trying to eat us or rip us to shreds?" Billy asked.
She smiled. Valid question. Invalid time or place. Something was coming towards them and they had to be ready for it.
/
"Are you ready?"
Leena nodded, lips thinned and tight as she focused all of her energy on the creatures charging at them. Once people, she forced herself to view them as nothing more than animals. The animal instinct to attack and feed was the only thing that remained, so it wasn't a stretch to think of them in that way. A single headshot took the nearest one down, and she moved on to seeking out the next target. About twenty minutes ago, they'd become trapped in this cavernous room by a mad man.
She ran away from another infected who got a little too close and broke into a full on run when something enormous broke through the wall just beside her. Shit! What the hell was that thing? The creature was hideous, a tad reptilian with the razor sharp teeth and claws, and the scales on the back complete with a long, swinging tail. It had to be at least twelve feet tall, maybe more. She and Chris just had to go and get themselves into this predicament, hadn't they?
The worst part was, they'd sort of been able to see this coming. They'd been a little distracted by a post-it note on one of the desks in a bedroom that had infuriated Chris and shocked Leena. It had been a minor note stating that the R-Virus Variant had been manipulated into the C-Virus, C-Virus named after Chris, whose blood had been infected with the R-Virus Variant, which they used in the creation of the new virus. The discovery had distracted the pair so much that they almost entirely forgot about the journal they'd come across in a bunk room. A journal belonging to one of the guards. The latest entries had been about the beginnings of some disturbing changes that read as the following:
February 28th, 2010
There was an incident down in the lab tonight. I was off-duty but Gerald told me all about it. Apparently the T-Virus and R-Virus Variant were released in gas form, causing the instantaneous deaths of several scientists and a pair of janitors. There was only one survivor of the people that were down in the labs. One of the scientists. Those guys need to be more careful. From what I hear, the viruses down there are incredibly dangerous and I do not want to become some zombie like those poor saps way back in the '90s.
March 12, 2010
I can't find Tim. He's the one janitor who actually has a sense of humor. Usually cleans the main house and we get dinner together a couple times a week. We both work late nights so it works well. Just a few days before, Gerald went and quit. That doesn't make sense. He seemed content enough here and we're friends. Why wouldn't he tell me?
March 27, 2010
I have to get out of here. There is something terrible going on in this place. People keep disappearing. It seems like every week, a new person is missing. I think I know who it is, too. Ever since that lab accident, the scientist who survived has been acting funny. I think he's gone crazy, just completely lost it.
March 29, 2010
The boss has left. A handful of the scientists have gone, too. They've gone to another facility to experiment with some newly obtained sample of the G-Virus. Why would they leave for some new facility? What about this one? I feel like I'm getting more and more paranoid. First with suspecting that scientist is insane and now being suspicious of the big boss just taking off like that. Maybe it's because I haven't been feeling well of late.
March 30, 2010
My mind is a jumbled mess. I can't concentrate and I've been forgetting to go to my shifts. I've just been feeling so tired lately, sluggish. They've been cranking the heat so high. I'm always feeling hot and itchy. Ugh! I can't stand feeling like this.
April 3, 2010
I saw crazy man. He saw me and grinned. Hate grin. Want to rip his face off. He was wearing funny mask. Why? No gas here. God, can't stop scratching. So hot, so itchy.
Chris and Leena knew what happened to the guard writing the journal. Chris had seen it before. They both had the unfortunate occurrence of running into the crazy scientist mentioned in the guard's journal as well. Ran into him long enough to see his manic grin before he'd flipped a switch, triggering a lift that lowered the two into a very large, circular room, an arena of sorts. Judging by the amount of blood spatter, they weren't the first to have been lowered into this trap. And it was a trap. Parts of the wall opened up at periodic times, revealing cages that then opened to allow creatures to escape.
Speaking of said man..his voice was coming over an unseen loudspeaker. "You're doing quite well in this game of mine. No one has lasted to level five, the big finale, so to speak. He is quite a frightful sight, don't you think? The Ghoul. It's what we call it. And it is as deadly as it looks. Since it is unlikely you will survive for much longer, let me share a little secret. I suspect you came to this place, looking for the source of the C-Virus spreading across the city near here. You found it. It was I who spread the virus in the city. Greene knew of my passion to experiment and allowed me to take an employee here and there to put in my arena. When he decided it was time to pack up and leave, I released the T-Virus throughout the compound as a means to wipe everything clean for him. See, Darius understood me. He knew about my compulsions, my need to test the limits of others, and embraced it. He told me to spread my wings, branch out, show the glory and power I'd obtain from dominating person after person. Domination leads to creation. Domination leads to creation."
"You're insane!" Chris yelled out, not even sure the man could hear him. "Darius Greene used you to show his own power, to show he was capable of influencing others. He used your insanity in order to reach his own ends and send a message to people like me trying to stop him!"
Apparently the man in the box above could hear him, because he returned a reply. "No matter. Even if Greene gets what he wants, so do I. Better watch your partner there. Ghoul is getting dangerously close. Do you think you'll survive for much longer? Good luck."
Chris made himself forget the crazy man for now, and took in the options available to them. "Leena! Forget fighting this thing. We don't have the firepower to take it down."
"What do we do?"
"We run!" he shouted, and took off running for the gaping hole the "Ghoul" had left behind when it first came ramming into the arena.
The gigantic creature spun in his direction faster than it seemed possible, and appeared to be practically gliding towards him. He could see where it got its nickname. A few carefully aimed shots from Leena's sniper rifle sent the creature rearing back and then towards her. She switched to her assault weapon and just kept firing. It was enough of an opening to allow Chris to reach the gape in the wall and then he was providing cover fire for his partner in turn.
They both managed to escape through the hole and found themselves in a hallway. A very torn apart and decimated hall. They continued to sprint away from the room, hearing the monster screeching furiously behind them, getting closer.
"So what's the plan?"
"Run, shoot, run..find a better weapon and kill that thing." Chris explained to her between gasps as he raced onward.
Leena pushed herself harder to align with Chris's faster speed the best she could, asking, "Right. So, what exactly is the plan then?"
Despite his obvious exhaustion, he managed to give her a smile as he answered. "We find a weapon that can actually damage this thing. There's gotta be something laying around this place."
"And if there isn't?"
Chris chose not to answer her and instead fired a few rounds at the big monster crushing wall and ceiling as it pounded towards them. They raced past another bunk room, a small cafeteria, and into the ultimate jackpot. An open room labeled generator room, but as soon as they'd been in there thirty seconds, Chris knew he'd found what was needed.
"Yes! These idiots still use self-destruct sequences in easily accessible places! Leena, distract that freak. I'm going to set off the self-destruct."
"Got it!"
Leena took off in the opposite direction of her partner, moving through the room and out the other door. The creature missed Chris ducking over to the left entirely, and continued its straight path after the woman. He would have to be quick though. She couldn't avoid something that giant forever. Making it to the computer stationed up on a low platform, he cursed when he saw the blinking red screen demanded a password. How the hell was he supposed to figure out the password with only minutes available to him? Another howl from a room somewhere nearby told him he likely had less than a minute.
Gunfire that sounded a lot like a handgun reached his ears. Leena didn't have a handgun. Perhaps someone else had joined the fight? He hoped it was a friendly and not the psycho who'd put them down to this lower level in the first place, setting lose all sorts of mutated animals to come at them. Password. Focus Chris. What kind of password would these people use? Wait. The crazy man. He and Darius had shared some sort of psycho bond. He recalled a phrase heard from the mad scientist and also the same phrase he'd seen written in blood along several corridors and on the floor of a few rooms. Taking the chance, he typed it in.
Enter Password: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Enter Password: DOMINATION
Entered
Processing...
Processing...
Password accepted
Final Security Prompt loading...
Final..what? What the hell did that mean? He cursed a long string of curses in his head at seeing the question that popped up next, followed by a line in which he was to input his answer.
Who is the key to immortality?
Enter Response: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
There was a space between the blinking blanks and he wondered, did this thing actually want a name? There had to be at least a dozen possibilities. Maybe far more than that. How could he possibly know what this psycho babble meant? Apparently the people here were working towards a way to achieve immortality. Everybody was crazy. There was no way he was just going to be able to guess the correct response.
"Chris!"
He turned and was startled at who he saw coming his way at a jog. "Rebecca! Where's Billy and Renny?"
"They're out there taking on that monster with Leena. I'm here to assist you. We need to get out of here. Wesker, Jake, and Sherry are waiting outside. They've found what we need and now it's time to make ourselves scarce."
"Yeah, after we take care of this place, and that thing."
She nodded. "Right!"
Coming up onto the platform, she walked over to peer down at the computer screen along with him. "Who is the key to immortality?"
"Can't figure out what that could mean. Maybe these guys are crazier than I thought."
"Oh! I know the answer to that." Then she appeared uneasy all of a sudden, glancing to the side to look at him. "You won't like it."
He stared at her, utterly lost. "What are you talking about?"
She gently jostled him out of the way of the computer and typed in her answer to the security question.
Who is the key to immortality?
Enter Response: Chris Redfield
In horror, he observed the computer accept the answer and then ask if the self-destruct sequence should be initiated. Rebecca answered in the affirmative and stepped away from the computer in order to look up at Chris's stunned face. He couldn't understand how that could be.
"I found several materials making mention of the R-Virus Variant, what's in your blood. One thing had your name written down. I'm sorry, Chris. I don't know how he got a sample of your blood, but..he did and they've been using it."
After a moment of being quiet, he asked, "My blood..It is what made the C-Virus, isn't it?"
"I'm afraid so. The C is for your name."
She'd said it timidly, like she worried he'd start beating up the computer any second now. Though Chris was in fact raging inside, he swallowed it down. He had to. This was not Rebecca's fault and he needed to be in control of himself. Besides, he'd seen the post-it not so long ago that made mention of the virus named after the blood leading to its development. His blood.
He recalled the moment when Darius had quite literally sucked the blood right out of him in order to deposit the fluid into a vial. Blood that had likely been duplicated in order to be used for his own vile purposes. Chris opted for humor in order to put his teammate at ease.
"Well, geniuses that these guys all seem to think they are, you'd think they could have come up with a more creative name for their virus."
Rebecca allowed herself a small laugh and then tightened her features. "Are you ready to get the others and get out of this place?"
He gave a very small smile before letting it drop and focusing. "Oh yeah. Right behind you."
Once out of the room, they practically fell into the other three members of their team, who pretty much shoved them out of the way as they kept running. Rebecca and Chris soon saw why. The giant creature was bleeding from multiple areas but appeared together and able to come at them with little trouble, tail swishing dangerously about. It was close to them. Too close. The five hurtled down the hallway and didn't dare look back. The countdown echoed through the halls, telling them they had less than three minutes to get out of the building.
At two minutes they finally found a way out of the lower levels and after making it through a few more rooms, they located the reception area. Chris paused in the doorway to the foyer, and motioned for each of his people to hurry on through. His eyes scanned the waiting room full of flowers, wondering if they had really been so lucky as to escape the reach of the monster that just before had been hell-bent on ripping each and every one of them to shreds.
A terrifying wail reached his ears. He'd had to ask, hadn't he? The floor below him began to tremble and shake. He nearly lost his balance and then he did, smacking his head against the doorframe and dropping to the floor. Leena was still with him and she pulled him onto his feet.
"Are you alright?"
Now on his feet, he glanced to the exit and then to the floor directly in front of him breaking apart in front of his eyes. When the wailing briefly subsided, he heard the intercom alert informing him a minute remained before the complex went down. He had to keep that monster here to be destroyed along with everything else. Unloading his entire clip on the head and arms that began to emerge through the floor, he ran out and Leena took over with what was left of her own ammunition supply.
"Okay, I think we overstayed our welcome," he commented to his partner. "Let's get the hell out of this God-forsaken place."
"You don't have to tell me twice."
Releasing her hold on his arm, she made a mad dash for the double-doors out of the building, trusting he would follow. And he did. There was no reason to be hanging around with the voice from the loudspeakers counting down from thirty seconds. A final glance behind informed him the creature was now almost completely onto the main level and would be headed straight for him and the exit, so he made his own exit at a dead run.
It was a close call. He made it out the front door, caught up to Leena, and the pair of them hopped into one of two waiting jeeps one of his team members must have acquired at some point. The wailing, shrieking creature was breaking down the front wall, whipping back and forth to try and speed up the process. It was at that time the explosions began to rip through the underground of the compound first, working upwards in its destruction. Thankfully the explosion tore through Ghoul before it could tear through the wall enough to escape. It sank into the ruins that was no longer anything but ash and fire.
/
Everyone was smiling, a couple laughing at something he had missed. That wasn't unusual. Wesker wasn't one for humor. Still, they were all very much happy, clapping Leena and Chris on the back or squeezing a shoulder in congratulations for their narrowly avoiding a crushing death at the hands of the B.O.W. Ghoul. He had to admit, the number of B.O.W.s Chris managed to take out was impressive for a human such as himself. Well, he wasn't entirely human. But the R-Virus Variant didn't give him much over his enemies except an ability to endure more injury than the average human, and heal completely from it. Such a gift would be a nightmare if he were to ever be captured and kept. Eh, the odds of someone bothering to hold Chris Redfield hostage were low.
Chris. Chris was a peculiar man. There he stood in the center of his team, smiling slightly, yet it was obvious to Wesker that he stood alone. Perhaps Wesker had made some wrong choices that resulted in such behavior from the ex-soldier, ex-BSAA agent. Despite changing Chris's life in a profound way, he remained with friends and allies. He had his sister, he'd obviously earned the respect and admiration of each and every member of his team, and grudgingly, he'd had Wesker's own daughter's heart, and..his own respect. The man was so regular, not much power behind mind or body, yet he persisted and accomplished, and remained resolute.
His daughter who'd decided she had had enough of the rough life and the lies Wesker told, had left him, and Chris, to go off on her own. He'd kept up surveillance on her once he managed to find her location, even bought her a house. She'd accepted but insisted he do no more for her and stay out of her life. Wesker knew his daughter loved him, no matter the type of person he was, but hated him for all the wrong choices he'd made, continued to make, on a regular basis. He thought it would mean something, remaining with Chris and fighting the "good" fight. She didn't seem to care. The bad outweighed the good, he supposed. He was a selfish person who even now, did good only in the hopes of bringing his daughter back to him one day. If she wouldn't even stay with Chris, a man he knew she held strong feelings for, he didn't know what his chances could be. Eva was a very strong-headed person who didn't really need anyone. She was brilliant, but of course she was, her genes came from him, a superior being.
Chris Redfield, now he was someone who was nothing like Wesker. He was the kind of person who might seem intimidating or otherwise focused, as he usually had a mission in mind, whether on or off duty, even as the vigilante that he was. In other words, he was a man with a purpose, and that made him confident and centered. He was very much grounded in reality as well, and would defend anyone in need. The general population looked up to people like Chris, someone willing or capable of doing what they won't or can't do. Chris was kind-hearted, perhaps to a fault, and worked endlessly to create a better future.
He was a hero, whether he wished to identify himself as such or not. Men like him were rare, and usually brought about their own end. Wesker doubted Chris would be any different. He might be the kind of person everybody wanted to be, but he would still end up like everybody else in that he would die alone. The good ones always did. It was promising for Wesker, then, that he wasn't good. He'd live much longer by his calculations. This world could certainly benefit from his existence and advanced thinking. There was so much he had to offer. The future would be a wonderful thing to behold.