Author's Note: Takes place after RE:REV2, and assumes the 'good ending.' Moira's side-stories will have a bit more of a continuous story to them, so they have their own numbering system in addition (indicated by parenthesis).
Chapter 11 (Chapter 1)
"So you are safe?" Leon questioned, unnaturally serious.
"One hundred percent cured," Claire assured him.
"What do we know about the potential for mutations?"
"Almost nothing," Claire admitted. "Other than that it is triggered by fear. We're not sure if it can be triggered by a second spike in fear, but that is why I came here. I'm not asking you to make her an agent, just help her out."
Leon pondered the request before nodding. "Alright, but it'll take some time. Give me some time, and I'll set it up so she can meet the others one at a time after I've met her."
"Thanks Leon. It means a lot to me," Claire said with a sigh. "Are you going to want her alone, or..?"
"I would actually recommend coming to the first meeting, but then letting her get some time with everyone alone as well."
"Alright, can do," she replied, turning to leave.
"Hey Claire."
"Yeah?"
Leon hesitated for a moment as he looked at the woman. "I'm glad to hear you both made it out safely. We'll take care of Moira, don't worry."
"I know you will Leon."
"So...you're the agent?"
Leon chuckled as he beheld the newest face in their small world. It was obvious to Leon that she was younger than Claire by a fair few years. She had black hair that she had arranged tomboyishly, which matched with her clothes. He did notice that he could see some copying in that as well, her jeans and coat mimicking Claire's own get up.
"That would be me. Name's Leon," he greeted, offering his hand to Moira. The girl looked at it awkwardly for a second before shaking it. Her face screwed up for a moment as she looked at him, trying to place a thought.
"You're not that Leon, are you?" she asked.
"The same one," Claire affirmed.
"I see my name has come up before," Leon noted with a small laugh.
"Maybe once or twice," Claire said with a taunting tone. "I'll tell you later. So, what is the plan today?"
"I figured it might help to talk a bit about what the plan is. Lay out some ideas going forward. Come with me and we'll talk." Leon motioned for the pair to follow him, leading them down the side halls. The others had already promised to keep their wandering to a minimal to help the acclimation process.
"So what is this place exactly?" Moira asked.
"We call it Quarantine, but it's technically the Metabiological Agent HQ."
"So everyone here is infected?"
"Actually, with you here, there are only four infected. The rest are just staff, or myself. Here we are," Leon finished, opening a door. Letting Moira and Claire go before them, he stepped into the room last, letting the other two take the lead.
Moira looked at the gym before them with a cocked eyebrow and a somewhat unsure expression. She glanced at Leon, as if trying to glean some form of appropriate response, but he kept his face neutral.
"Nice gym," Claire commented, hands on her hips. "Kind of reminds me of the one at the BSAA HQ. Used to find Chris there whenever I would visit."
"So, you guys use this thing to practice and all that shit, right?"
"Basically. I figured this would be as good a place to make a point as any," Leon explained, prompting the other two to look at him in confusion. "Sherry! Come on out!"
Sherry obliged, stepping out from behind the rock wall, a smile on her face. She jogged over to the group, flashing a winning smile. She offered her hand to Moira. "Sherry Birkin, pleased to meet you."
"Same," Moira returned, looking at Sherry. Leon smiled as he braced for the impending question. "So uh...I don't mean to be rude, but how old are you?"
Sherry chuckled, waving off the concern. "No worries. Just shy of twenty six."
Moira expression betrayed her surprise, and she very clearly gave Sherry another once over. "I look younger don't I? One of the small benefits of the virus is that it slows the aging process. Among other things."
"Other things?"
"Guess that's my cue," Sherry noted. "Come on, let me show you the weights."
Moira glanced at Claire, as if asking permission. Claire just shrugged with a smile, following after the blonde. Sherry lead them to the weightlifting room, before stopping beside a weight bench. Sherry turned to Claire with a smile. "You been keeping up training?"
"Not as much as I might have liked," Claire admitted. "But I could probably manage a decent amount."
"Why not demonstrate for Moira?" Sherry requested.
"Sure thing." Claire stripped off her coat, handing it to Moira. Leon noted silently that the younger girl seemed a bit flustered at the action, but kept it to himself as he slid beside the machine opposite Sherry. "Set her up at about a hundred."
The pair lifted the weights onto the bar, and Claire focused as she grasped the bar. With a grunt, she lifted it up, and began lifting it up and down. Pretty soon, she had the rhythm down, doing it fairly smoothly. After a few reps, she set it up on the hooks. "Go ahead and put it up a few."
"How long have you been doing this? I want Moira to have some reference for this."
"I've been training with weights since my teens. I used a lot of Chris' equipment, so for about twenty something years?"
Moira's surprise wasn't remotely concealed as Claire lay back down, lifting the heavier weight with only a little bit of trouble at the start. Soon enough, she was back in the flow, though it was with a little more noticeable effort. Eventually, she put them back on the rack, popping up. "Man, been a while. I need to get back into shape."
"I think you looked fine," Moira blurted before backtracking. "I mean...you looked like you were doing fine."
"Wait till you see what this one can do," Claire motioned towards Sherry with a smile. Sherry took a small bow before removing her coat. She turned around slowly, showing her thin physique for a moment before laying down on the bar.
Moira's eyes widened as the bar was loaded with about two-hundred pounds of weight. "Are you sure she can lift that?"
"Watch and be amazed," Sherry replied with a smile, pulling the bar up. Moira's hands flew to her face as she feared it falling but soon fell away in surprise as Sherry began smoothly and easily pumping away.
"Sherry actually weighs less than me," Claire explained. "According to the charts, her max weight should be hovering somewhere around my challenging weight. But as you can see, she's barely breaking a sweat."
"I can even hold a conversation," Sherry noted with a smile. "And I've only been practicing for about half the time of Claire."
"Is it the virus?" Moira asked, completely unreserved in her awe as Sherry put the weights back on the hook.
"Mostly. I still have to train to reach the peak of my strength, but it pushes my strength well beyond normal. That's not the only benefit, but we'll talk about those more later. There's still some stuff that needs to be talked about. See you around!"
Moira could only watch Sherry go, stunned with the information dropped on her. She was silent for a moment before she turned to Leon. "Can I do that kind of stuff?"
"The G-Virus makes anything it infects stronger, but we don't know all that much about the t-Phobos. That's what why we wanted to bring you here. We can test to see what the virus did to you, and help you harness it. We're not asking to make you an agent, but the least we can do is help you figure it out so you can control it."
Moira pondered for a second, looking between the two of them. "I guess I can try it out."
Moira was a little nervous she had to admit. Today was her first day with Sherry alone, and while no one was watching she knew it would only end in embarrassment. Seeing Sherry in front of her with boxing mitts made her feel like she was about to get demolished.
"Come on, go ahead. I promise I won't hit back," Sherry assured.
"I'm not sure about this. Isn't this a little bit of a big jump? Shouldn't we start with a punching bag or something?"
"When I got transferred here first, this was how Leon helped me awaken my power. Against a punching bag, you don't feel any stress. You need to feel engaged in the fight. Besides, I can take it."
"What if I hit your head or something?"
"Moira, I had a building impale me, I can handle a hit to the head."
Moira had to admit she had no retort to that, reluctantly setting into an imitation of Sherry's stance. She threw a weak punch at Sherry, but the latter just raised her arm, stopping it dead. Moira tried again, getting blocked once more. Every punch she threw, no matter how creative or tricky was blocked with what felt like a brick wall. After one particularly hard punch, she actually had to shake her hand a little from the resistance.
"How am I supposed to get anything from this?" Moira asked, increasingly frustrated. "I can't get passed your guard."
"I couldn't get passed Leon's either," Sherry confided. "Manuela and I both see a little faster than normal, so we're a little faster to react. Manuela's actually faster than me, just not as strong."
"So if you're stronger than me, and can see faster, how the hell am I supposed to land a hit?"
"Leon is physically weaker than me, and sees everything at the normal rate, and yet we're an even match. It's not all about who has the better body," Sherry explained. "Though I will give him the benefit of years of training. We just have to try and activate the virus in your blood."
"Isn't that a bad thing?" Moira asked with increasing concern.
"It would be better to say we don't want the virus to lay dormant. If it activates, then we worry, but having it active isn't too bad."
"So how do we do that?"
"You've already started to get a little more energetic from fighting. Now we just need to push it more."
"And to do that..?"
"I have to fight back," Sherry replied with a wink. Moira raised her hands defensively.
"Woah woah woah, I don't remember that being part of the deal. Won't you break my bones or something if you punch me?"
"Just because I can hit hard, doesn't mean I will. Besides, you've got the padding. We don't have to though. I'm sure there are other ways."
"No...no...it's okay. Just...go easy on me okay?"
"You got it," Sherry promised before throwing a slow jab. Moira tried to mimic her blocking motion, but didn't have the same strength behind it.
"Jesus ow," Moira winced as she clutched her forearm. "That stung a bit."
"You should try to knock the hit aside instead of catching it. I've got thicker skin, so I deal with it, but for now we should assume you won't develop that kind of thing. Try again."
This time Moira batted the jab away, though with a bit more force and motion than was necessary. Sherry paused to correct her. Trying again, the motion was a little more controlled, and as they went, Sherry could see her getting into it.
Watching closely, Sherry focused on Moira's eyes. When either of the pair of them had really gotten going, their eyes had changed colours. She didn't know all the specifics, but it was enough of a sign that she thought it worth paying attention to.
But as they continued fighting, there was no sign of change in Moira's eyes, only focus and a little bit of exhaustion. Sherry was so focused she almost missed Moira motioning for them to stop. Luckily, she stopped her hit, stepping back.
"I think that's enough for today," Moira said with a sigh, stretching. "Anything else?"
"Uh...no, that should be fine. We actually went a little over time," Sherry apologized. "Claire's probably waiting."
"Well, I better go meet her. Thanks, that was kind of fun," Moira admitted. "I'm going drop this stuff off. See you around!"
Sherry watched the younger girl go, chewing her lip in thought. Even when only pressed a little, both Manuela and her had their viruses activate, so why hadn't Moira's?
Just a quick introduction to Moira, and her unique situation compared to the already strange life of the others.