In what felt like a long time, an hour or so, in reality, was just mere minutes, the surgery was successful. Scott had saved Annette's fragile life. The scar over the torso was long but not very noticeable. The two over her eyes were just as hard to see, thanks to the human eyebrow.

Lastly, the forced smile she had was not as noticeable as one might think. It's a shame it made her look slightly intimidating, yet she was a delicate flower with dreams and determination. Halfway through the poor thing blacked out, the anaesthetic did its job.

Annette looked peaceful. She appeared to be gorgeous, and the serenity within her was glowing. Her hums and soft sounds were adorable. While she hunched into the fetal position, her mumbles were full of bliss. The surgeon wasn't needed here anymore.

Stepping over the ladder to the cavernous passage Scott stared back at Annette, no, he stared back at the brave little girl whose life he'd just saved. The human life was so fragile. A child like her needed parental guidance. This parent could only spare one thing while she was recovering. Scott took off his lab coat and covered Annette with it. She smiled and clutched the collars to curl up inside the warmth of it.

In hindsight, Annette was still a child, like the ones he has to care for now as a father and a brother. With no parents to look up to for advice, he has to be the parent of not just his kin but his siblings also. Without Zaac, it's just Alex and his own family.

"Cindy. My love…" Scott mused. "I wish you were here… I can't do this without you." No. No! I can do this. I must do this. I will do this.

Scott placed a light kiss on Annette's forehead and walked away to the ladder. And then descended lower into the darkness, back into his personal hell. His workplace. Down there Claire was waiting with folded arms with Sherry. Claire's bare legs from the knees to her feet were soaked with fresh green filth.

"You're still here?" Scott wondered.

"Not 'still here', we went up and found the doors to the Chemical Plant locked."

"Did you check?"

"Of course I did. Look." Claire pointed to her dirty boots with a disgusted expression. "You didn't tell me we'd be walking around in this crap."

"It's a sewer, Claire. What else did you expect?"

"If it's a facility with people in it I figured there wouldn't be any crap like this."

"It's a secret passage. One of which that's highly unused because of the very fact of the murky sewers. And did you say the doors into the facility was locked?"

"Yes. Are they electronically locked or something?"

"Usually but who secured them I don't know."

Claire threw her arms above her head with frustration. "Great! We can't get in."

"Don't be too quick to assume. I can get them open."

"Really?"

"Grantee it."

Claire, Sherry and Scott took the ladder up out of the cavernous passage and into the damp sewers above. There was more to do with Raccoon City than the city itself; there was plenty of life beneath the surface. There used to be the day before.

The doors that were once closed were slightly open. Claire swore it was locked. Back into the unclean waters, the three stepped further into the sewage. The sewers were the only way inside the Chemical Plant; it was a secret facility.

Four steps into the grimy odourless waste, there was movement behind them as petty rubble and dust rained upon them. From the balcony behind a large figure was seen by Claire's curious eyes. It wasn't human. Scott looked over to Claire's sudden stop and quickly glanced at the figure in disbelief, there was more to the monster than the threatening appearance alone.

Prowling around with heavy footsteps again on the balcony was the monster from the department. Eight feet in height and looked even bloodier than last time, the blood dripped off its massive talons and the iron pipe it wielded.

Must've been the monster that killed Irons. It was almost human-like from the torn bloodied white coat, and brown trousers, this mutant of sorts bored deeply into Scott's head. Claire never saw such a monster at all and when she checked back at Scott his face ran white. Whatever he felt, he wasn't the only one.

From the upper balcony, it couldn't see anything down below. Could it be tunnel vision? From the angle, it could definitely hear something because it stopped and looked around. Something disturbed its senses as it carried on and abruptly stopped again. It wasn't aware…

Claire tucked Sherry behind her and reached for Scott, but his eyes were still fixed on the monster above. Until the monster made eye contact back at Scott, he finally budged. Claire pleaded he move and he did. The very second the monster stepped closer towards the railing Scott pulled Claire and Sherry through the double doors and quickly went at the keypad on the other side to lock them.

The PDA Scott used was more of a mobile hacking override tool. It was very advanced for the present time and optimised to be used with a touchscreen. The security system for the doors needed a keycard or a pin code of sorts, and Scott just fiddled with the device, and after a ding, it was apparently done. It took less than five seconds to seal the double doors tight.

"What the hell was that thing?" Claire stuttered fearfully.

Scott felt Sherry brush against his leg; she was always skittish. He brushed her blonde hair and adjusted his spectacles. "That monster is probably the one terrorising the R.P.D. Could be the one who killed Chief Irons."

"Will the doors hold back that monster?"

"Only until someone opens them again."

Claire felt the layers of grime on the sewer walls. The moss between the cobblestone bricks was sticky, and she brushed her hand against the green filth by her knees and got to wondering. "This isn't regular sewage is it?"

"Just chemical refuse. It's not healthy, but it's not dangerous."

Without warning a floodgate next to Sherry opened, and suction began. The force was so much it was enough to suck Sherry into the lower level, carried away by the cold refuse. Scott rushed to the floodgate and reached out for Sherry but his fingers barely touched hers, and she was gone. Before Claire found where Sherry was sucked, though it was too late.

"Dammit!" Scott fumed.

"Sherry!" Claire cried. "No..."

"Sherry, where are you?" Scott tried to look through the floodgate, but the flowing refuse obscured his vision. "Sherry!"

"I'm fine. I don't think there's any way back up from down here."

"Sherry, just stay safe," Claire said, "We'll find a way back to you."

"You have a lot of trust for Sherry…" Scott said, standing back up after his fruitless action. He stretched his hunched back and cleared his throat.

"Are you telling me you don't, Scott?"

"Of course I do, what kind of man would I be if I couldn't trust my own family? What I'm getting at is that you only just met Sherry and suddenly you assume a motherly role over her. What gives?"

Claire wasn't sure if she should take that as an insult. It was coming from a friend, so she let it slide. "What are you trying to say?"

"You don't know her or where she comes from. You're getting a little too involved-"

"No disrespect intended but I don't need anyone to tell me how to be a good person."

"I'm not telling you anything. Only that faith is built on a foundation of trust. If the flow is disturbed," he waved his hand, "it's all over in seconds. Years of trust becomes a foundation of lies."

"My parents raised me to be one of the good guys, to see the good in people. I just don't want to see anyone get hurt, here on out."

"That's real motivation, even if it is unhealthy." Scott turned away and carried on walking towards the end of the waterway. Claire followed close by. "Can't save everyone..."

Scott caught her attention. "Hmm?"

"Zaac used to think that way. He thought he could save everyone, even when the situation was out of his control, he died believing that he would win." Scott stopped with Claire. He addressed her. "He'd go out his way to do everything he can to control the situation. It's an unhealthy condition, one of which I wish he stopped encouraging while he was ahead. He should have just given up, but he didn't. Took it to the grave..."

"How could you talk about him like that? Have some respect, please."

"I only wished he was a realist like me. If he were to understand the grave situation as I did, he would still be alive to this day."

"He wouldn't give up like that, though. That's not who he is."

"I suppose it isn't. Better for him to die the way God intended rather than someone he's not." He waved his head. "Talking about my little bro should make me feel sad… but I don't feel anything… Must be the meds..." Scott felt dizzy. He stumbled and leant on the wall to his right and placed his right hand on the slimy bricks.

"You okay?"

"I don't know. I…" Scott held his head with his free hand. "I've been taking a lot of drugs recently; I think they're wearing off now." He stood back up and shook his head quickly. "We still need to find Sherry." He resumed his pace through the waste and climbed over a high ledge. Claire still followed.

"Any idea where we'll find her?"

"All floodgates lead to the BF2 dumping area; we'll intercept her there."

Claire climbed over the ledge. The height peaked at her waist. "You have this wrapped up."

They stepped into a control room that was used for sewer monitoring and maintenance. The control devices were unused and had visible layers of dust. Personal belongings closed the corner of lockers to the left; it must've been demoted to being a lowly staff room. One that was mostly used by the slacking workers of the Raccoon sewer services. The entire corner was collecting dust, nothing of value was worth a look.

Hunched over the table in the middle of the room was another person. He was rifling through documents and personal effects scattered over the whole table. Like Scott only older and just as distressed. He was a blond man in his late-twenties, light goatee and wore the same expensive spectacles.

At the second the two stepped into the room the man hopped away from the table, literally dropping everything he was doing. Not only the sense of surprise bored into his trembling face, but he also appeared to be apprehensive at the first moment he locked eyes with Scott.

"D-Dr Wesker?!" the man stammered. "You're alive?!" He breathed quickly after. "That's excellent..."

"Richard? What are you still doing here?"

"It's safer down here than up there on the surface," Richard chuckled nervously.

"Got that right. Scott, you know him?"

Richard pointed at Claire viscously with his bony finger. "Who's that?!"

"That's none of your business, Mr James," Scott said, adjusting his spectacles. "We're here looking for Birkin's daughter Sherry. Have you seen her around anywhere?"

Richard hesitated and quickly hid away his pointing hand behind his back. "No, I haven't..."

"What's wrong with you, Richard? You're acting-"

"Suspicious?" Claire interrupted.

Scott looked down to Claire. "My thoughts exactly..."

As soon as Scott looked away from Richard, he pulled out a Browning HP from his rear and aimed at Scott. "Stay away from me, Doctor!" he screeched. He had a hostile look in his crooked smile. Scott put up his hands, hoping he wouldn't shoot.

"Seriously? Again?" Claire sighed. She has never drawn at gunpoint in the first nineteen years of her life, and now in the last few days, she's already been taken at gunpoint four times. No one is this unlucky.

"James, what are you doing?! Put the gun down!"

"You being alive has compromised everything!"

"What are you talking about? Dammit, put the gun down now!" Richard stood still. He never moved or shown any signs of listening. Scott moved closer to him very slowly; the tiniest body movements was crucial to him. "That's an order, Mr James!" he barked.

"An order?!" Richard moved his aim to Scott's face and pulled his handgun's hammer back. The sound of the click was too aware to Scott, and it made sure that he stopped dead in his tracks. "I'm sick of your orders doctor! It's all I bloody get! 'Richard, get me chemical SF-2.' 'Richard, open that door.' Richard, do this. Richard, do that. Do you have any idea what it's like being bossed around like that, Doctor!?"