Final Part
Severance
The burial was finally set. It concluded just as anyone with a dying wish wanted it to be: on their own terms without any pain to follow them into the darkness of eternal slumber. Damien Walsh got his last wish, if not for the bittersweet end of the deal with his worst nightmare and the only true friend he ever made with him in his final moments. Phylicia spent half an hour grieving for the mistake she made before saying some final words to help him to the afterlife. They consisted of how sorry she was and that she blamed herself for not having any control over her killing impulse.
Being through so much at the temple without any grasp on what the real world was like could take a mental toll on the mind, regardless if they are human or not. However, she didn't consider it as an excuse. She then thought to what her father once told her a lifetime before their lives were altered: "Don't apologize for the damage that has already been set in motion. Instead, own up to the mistake and try to fix it somehow. Forgiveness may be far from the mind of the wronged, but no human being can make every problem in this world vanish."
That piece of advice came flooding back to her on the rooftop, decided she was going to stop apologizing for what happened a decade ago and go make sure the second anomaly with elixir inside wasn't going to harm anybody else. Going back inside, slowly walking down the stairway back to the main lobby of the hotel, she saw Cara sitting on one of the sofas overlooking the glass décor not moving a muscle. Phylicia stood a few feet away from her as she shook her head and faced the music head on.
"Hey, it's me." She said startling Cara.
"Sorry, I was…never mind. Was it quick?" Cara asked sniffling.
"He is not suffering anymore. I can promise you that." Phylicia sighed, sitting on the glass platform in front of her. "Cara, if I ask you something, would you promise not to be mad?"
"I won't get mad. I'm more exhausted to be honest with you."
"You think it would've been better if he died in the temple? I'm not condoning the fact his death was important to the fate of the elixir. I'm just saying if he had a quick death, he would've been spared a decade's worth of pain."
"The damage is done, Phylicia." Cara spoke plainly. "We all signed our lives away to escape our own problems. We, or at least I didn't, had the common sense like we do now. Terrell gave it his all, Monroe didn't stand a chance, and Monica…like you said we can't keep apologizing for old wounds. The best we can do is prevent new ones."
"That's more along the lines of what Claire tells us. Look, if you want to book a room for the night…" Phylicia suggested before Cara declined.
"I'm good. I'll call Claire and tell her what happened." She replied looking through her phone. "There's a flight leaving for New York at midnight. We should be back at work by eight or nine tomorrow morning...we did the right thing. No fraternity is going to touch my friend now."
Since the C-virus outbreak, both Cara and Phylicia have worked with hundreds of other TerraSave employees, delivering vaccines to thousands of infectees over the nineteen month span. There were hardly any breaks or days off in between. Claire began offering time off to anyone who needed it a couple months before, back when the viral outbreak wasn't so severe. Without telling one another, both have been planning their exit strategies to do something that had nothing to do with lab coats or watching CDC specialists clean up human waste off the floors. Patiently waiting for their time for so long that after Damien's recent death it sealed the time frame to just walk away from it all. They went outside the hotel as Cara contacted the taxi service to pick them up. Phylicia then told her to go back without her.
"There is something I have to take care of first. I'll let Claire know what's going to happen afterwards."
"This wouldn't have anything to do with that second anomaly, is it?" Cara asked.
"For some strange reason, this one is connected to me too. Whoever swung that must have ties to the temple somehow. I'm going to find out how."
"Be careful." She told her.
Careful wasn't really her strong suit. After what she went through with her capture in Sweden and leaping across state lines to find some salvation from her past, she had gotten overzealous and started fighting back. Living outside a prison for nine years can really alter one's point of view. In her case, she learned not to become a pawn in the power struggle between sadistic corporations who have God complexes, or making Bio-organic weapons with teenage brains as the main ingredient. What Alex said to her in the scroll held some truth; her blood was special.
However, not in the way she hoped it would. The best thing TerraSave was able to do was to synthesize the blood of Jake Muller and her blood, and see if it would create an effective vaccine that could combat any virus that was put on the map. Instead, it makes the infectee's body prone to making their last days comfortable. In a small way, that was a good advantage of her blood. It helped infected people leave this world, and not with an RPG fired at their torsos either.
She power walked four blocks around D.C. to see if she could get a read on her second victim to the elixir. She has been getting abnormal vibes from this one in particular. Suddenly, the drones the CDC sent to locate the anomalies were buzzing around where she was. She took the darkness as her haven on side streets and narrow passages as she made her way around without getting seen. Eventually she found herself looking upon the aftermath of something interesting. A fight brewed behind a department store; the blood and cracks in the foundation was old, but not by a grand margin. Suddenly, an observation popped in her head as she was looking around.
"Someone was writhing in pain here." She said looking at the old blood puddle as quick flashbacks show a familiar face. "Damien, what was he…traces of skin tissue burning."
"Sherry, do you have a paper towel? I can't get granny ash out of my fingernails." Someone else spoke as another flash back showed Damien's rage in his eyes.
"You son of a bitch!" Damien screamed.
"He was provoked. What was he doing here? The other voice sounds familiar too. It might be…" She said smelling elixir residue where the Mark was standing. "Mark."
"I'm that predictable huh?" Mark spoke in two voices at once.
Phylicia turned around and saw a figure cast in shadow. It was Mark alright, but for some odd reason he didn't attack on the spot like Damien did to him earlier in the day. He expressed his labored breathing and spoke as if he wasn't human anymore. Mark still regarded her as the White Queen who has been guiding him in his hallucinations. She stood up and faced him as two anomalies hiding from the CDC.
It was hardly a coincidence as the drones drew closer to the alleyway. Buzzing crept closer when suddenly he grabbed Phylicia and told her to hold on. Before she knew it, her sight escaped her when the claustrophobia of the alley reintroduced her to another part of D.C. They were standing in a park of sorts. It was kind of like Central Park in New York, but wasn't as spacious or as public. Mark Omahan went from a disgruntled head of Logistics for National Security; to having a grudge against Sherry for opportunities he only went through paperwork for, to being the odd man out when the Family expelled him to his addiction to elixir blood. Once Phylicia got her senses back, she confronted Mark possibly for the last time.
"This is a first, your highness. You usually find me when I'm at my worst."
"Things are changing, Mark. Sooner or later, we are going to have to part ways."
"But I need your help." Mark said groveling in his own misery. "The Family kicked me out. My contact, Svetlana, I knew what a conniving bitch she is. Part of me wanted to believe…part of me wanted to say she was going to get me out of this jam, out of respect to Simmons. If it weren't for me smuggling her out of Russia…I need you to get me back in. I want to show their ditzy leader what it really means to gain immortality."
"That depends. I get you inside will you take my gift seriously?" Phylicia asked him.
"You know…you sound different; younger even. Maybe it's just me." He chuckled quietly.
"People on this planet don't know who they are anymore. With all that's happened with the C-virus, the human race needs a loophole out of the destruction they made for themselves."
"Does this mean you'll help me? I'm tired of running from drones and my path in life. I want my family to be proud of me for once."
Phylicia dwelled on her decision while both took a rest under a big tree with thick leaves, hopefully preventing the drones from spotting their life readings. However, the smell from Mark was unfathomably strong. Compared to her own blood, she felt normal. While one problem was slowly being settled, another problem was being investigated at the burning safe house just southwest of D.C. Sherry and Brewster were at the scene, stating their departments and speaking to the cops to try to find an explanation on what went on.
It was almost eight at night, but the smoke was at its highest. By the time they were done explaining what Adrien Grey's purpose was for being at the safe house in the first place, a shocking sight punched Sherry in the gut when she caught a glimpse of the massive crater, and the smell that was seething from the ground's burning roots. One of the cops gave gas masks and insulated suits to them as they were told of a high concentration of toxic substances. What was the substance itself was something both the Commissioner and a medical specialist from TerraSave were trying to piece together. Luckily, the specialist was none other than Cara herself.
"I was told people from National Security were coming. Cara Moreno." She told them as they were walking towards the crater.
"How the hell did this happen? Did you manage to find Adrien Grey?" Sherry asked.
"That's the problem. Whoever blew up the safe house had some kind of custom made explosive that made any residue impossible to trace. We've been looking all around the perimeter for the past hour, but there is a toxic substance coming from the ground. Are you guys up for some excavation?"
"Going up shit's creek without water wings has been a daily activity for us." Brewster chimed in.
The crater was dug into a tunnel as a team of TerraSave specialists went in with Sherry and Brewster. Suddenly, Sherry requested the team to hang back while both she and Brewster were going to investigate the source behind the explosion. One of the workers rebutted against a call from another division when Cara held them back, and thought it was a good call. She heard of Sherry's involvement in both Edonia and China when she was escorting a wanted mercenary in their fight against the C-virus. However, she couldn't bring herself to understand her reasoning for staying with National Security when her own boss turned against her. There was no sleep for the betrayal she thought. As Cara allowed the more capable types to go inside the crater, she got her team topside and proposed some more excavation for anything they may have missed.
"Moreno, this is very ill-advised. They don't even know what's down there." A worker told her.
"Neither do we, Harry. But Agent Birkin can handle herself. They'll be back out before you know it."
"I wish I can share your hasty optimism, but I'm a realist. Departments like ours, National Security, FOS, even that third party that's attending the Vice Presidential banquet this weekend." Harry kept saying standing in Cara's path. "Look, all I'm saying is this world has lost enough human lives because their department set this whole thing in motion. I thank god every day since China my parents weren't there like they were planning to on their anniversary. Those casualty reports Director Redfield showed us, I-I can't…"
"I understand how you feel. I wanted this crap to end too when she called me to investigate this explosion. We're still breathing, Harry. Let's keep it that way." Cara replied walking past him.
"Fine, I get it really. But if it turns out their new boss is dead because he was too over ambitious in doing our job, it's on them."
Midnight strolls have been over the past nineteen months frowned upon for people to do. Viral spikes were popping up at random times on TerraSave's radars, even a few in their own backyard in New York. As for Vice President Keyes, he's been keeping a strict warning for those unaffected by the C-virus to stay indoors and to keep their surroundings sterilized. A few managed to sneak out and were taken into custody for quarantine, but some others were a little slicker than the average truant. Phylicia and Mark took their stroll around the park where the moon didn't shine so bright on them.
For the time being, there were no sounds of CDC drones tracking them down. She was walking in front with Mark barely keeping up behind her, thinking of how she was able to help him fight his way back into the Family fraternity. After twelve minutes of brisk pacing, Mark was getting restless if not losing his patience.
"Your highness, I'm enjoying the cool, fresh air. But I'm ready to tear some insides out, one by one from each member."
"Who is running this fraternity?" She asked.
"Does it matter; now's a good time as any to come up with a plan of your own. I'm all ears."
"Then hear this." She said turning to face him. "You honestly believe if you go back to the Family alone, no means to…"
"I have to try!" Mark pleaded with her.
"You really think they're just going to back down because of some bullshit mutation you're going through right now?"
"Except this mutation is real; you said so yourself. You told me to drink the vials of every member so I could feel the effects quicker, and you were right. I wanted Sherry Birkin…to feel the same way. She's a hybrid you see; G-virus healing without the mutation. I know this won't be easy for the world to swallow, but the human race has suffered enough on Simmons' account. I'll admit that. Please Venezia, I have to try." He went on as sounds of bone crunching occurred around his body.
Mark suddenly dropped on the ground, groveling in pain as his mutation was progressing even further. His legs ceased to be human, turning into dinosaur type legs and his face was so unrecognizable even in his own eyes, he knew what he was asking for was not something he actually wanted. Like many people who have been victims of dangerous viruses, he too saw himself as being tired of it all. However, his pride refused to let him speak his true feelings.
"But why, why put yourself in more pain than you are in right now?"
"The Family hung me out to dry. You think I'm just going to take it while they're screwing up the world with their twisted viruses?"
"Do you even feel yourself wasting away? Immortality is not worth it if you're not breathing. You won't be able to handle it." She said as Mark struggled to stand up.
"What the hell do you know about what I can handle? You got no idea what I can handle, what I've been coping with! You want to point me in the right direction? Come on, give me a boost."
"I can't." She said looking at him with a straight face.
Right then, Mark lost control. He was going on about a saying he clung to said by Venezia: "There is no good or evil in this world. There are just people who have been given too much freedom." As he was writhing in pain from further mutation, he boasted about how he was a better person than all the Family members combined. Half his life he has been taking up arms against Umbrella in whatever way possible until their stocks crashed in the new millennium, then as an Agent from National Security he went undercover on the Black Market trade where ex-Umbrella employees were selling their secrets and making small fortunes off viral samples and lab equipment.
However, he made little progress on that front when most of the trade was cut off when the BSAA stepped in and sent agents to apprehend the suppliers. When it came to doing what was right in his mind, or trying to clear the evil Umbrella left behind, he always felt he came in last. Playing by the rules was always his strong suit in his human life, but as the years went by and viral outbreaks grew bigger, he resorted into the one thing he took up arms against. The only difference was he tried to act outside the agency, even took a few BSAA agents with him to prevent the deformed underworld from selling T-abyss samples after the Terrigrigia panic in 2008. It turned out everything he did, everything he acted out and struggled towards to be accepted, was only to seek approval from his step-father.
That man was none other than Derek C. Simmons. He hid that part of his life from the rest of the world to avoid being investigated in crimes against Edonia and China, and the fact he was partly ashamed of him for using his ex-wife in a cloning experiment because she couldn't love him anymore. Defending his step-father's honor was in his own twisted way, the only way to stay sane. He already lost his mother back when the Ashford family was alive and not as demented as their heirs were. As he confessed all this to Phylicia, she was starting to see the man still fighting to break away from the monster he created for himself.
All she felt for him at the time was pity; it was beyond the point of no return. Mark then spoke of how crippled the world was, filled with weak pawns constantly trapped between power struggles against corporations and the unknown. "It's 2014, and we still don't know how to fix ourselves." He said just before he got back on his feet and was about to strike Phylicia where she stood. She grabbed his already mutated arm as burgundy substance dripped onto her grip. To an extent, she understood where he was coming from. She decided to help.
"On one condition: we take a breather for a minute. Ok?" She asked as she gently lowered his arm on the ground. "Easy does it. Now listen to me, Mark. There is still a way back for you; nothing you did has harmed anybody. Now, we're going to dust ourselves off, and we're going to take a trip to this Family fraternity, together." She continued as he looked at her with sense of fighting back. "You get your retribution; these viral outbreaks come to an end, and we'll put this all behind us. What do you say?"
Mark lowered all his defenses and sighed as he agreed to her terms. She helped him up as his labored breathing had gotten worse from just a swing of his mutated fist. Once she got him to stand face to face, she immediately struck him with a second syringe she had hidden in her trench coat. Putting her hand over his mouth, he screamed through her palm as his burgundy substance flowed out of his system like little waterfalls from his eyes and lower body. Second after passing second, he too was fading as the burning sensation incinerated what was left of him. Phylicia offered no apology for her actions, but only made a promise to both him and Damien that their deaths will bring nothing but irony to those who had bestowed it in the first place.
After all this time, she felt her days were numbered as well. Cool air and keeping an occupied mind were only keeping her blood from boiling inside her completely. She wasn't a walking cure like Jake Muller was for the C-virus, but the polar opposite. That was, until another mysterious figure from the same darkness spoke with civility yet sinisterly at the same time. She didn't recognize him. Yet strange enough, his shadow didn't resemble a man.
"That is one problem out of the way. Such an insufferable nuisance he was." He said as Phylicia looked up. "Manipulation was always your strong suit, Ms. Kurinthian. We look forward to having you on our side."
"Who is "we" exactly?" She asked in suspicion.
"My dear, time is working against us. If you would please…"
The crater tunnel kept going deeper and deeper as Sherry and Brewster went along. They ventured far away from the surface that the only light they were able to sustain were the flashlights on their suits, but even that wasn't enough. With stun baton in hand, Sherry treaded a little faster to check out what was ahead; all that was seen however was more darkness. The more they moved, the more it was realized the tunnel they were was not dug recently. According to Brewster, the dirt felt crusty; as if something occurred underground for a couple decades.
Other than their footprints and the sounds of rock pebbles making acoustic sounds as they fell, nothing abnormal crept out of the ordinary. Suddenly, Sherry came across some dying moaning heard faintly in the blackened distance. Both picked up the pace as they checked their corners moving through the tunnel. Pretty soon they found some light and the smell of industrial equipment as its power was making the environment too warm for their liking. They found themselves looking at an old control room of sorts; there were seven computers gathering dust and a huge, rectangular monitor that was the same National Security uses to locate potential threats around the world. There was still no Adrien around which caused worry to both agents.
"I don't know, Sherry. I read up on coal mining work centers around Washington, but I don't think they had command centers for workers to take coffee breaks."
"I know I heard something, someone faintly screaming for help. This has to be the right place."
"We didn't see any other smoke signals on the ride over." He replied investigating the equipment. "Maybe this place still has some juice left in it…Sherry, when Adrien called you at the hospital and found out the third party attending the banquet, you don't think…"
"There isn't much to go on about their fraternity. They work in secret, policing the world while it went to shit over the last sixteen years. I don't get it. How can an explosion not leave any shred of evidence behind, let alone human ash?"
"At this point, anything's possible. Got any theories on who that woman on the phone was?"
"Your guess is as good as mine. For now, we need to focus on where Adrien is, or where the Family took him."
Sorting through blankets of dust covering the machines, something was turned on. One computer activated with the others following suit. It started out as any regular computer would, but then the screens went black with an insignia following after: an ancient circle with markings and two serpents entwined by one another, forming the same Family seals that were scattered as warnings back when Derek Simmons was alive. When it came up on screen, Sherry recognized it immediately. At first, Brewster thought it was Simmons rising from the grave to protect whatever importance his name held left behind, but wiping the moisture off their visors the computer screens fizzled over to another image; a template with a quote from a wise, yet fearful figure of the world, Dante.
"Look in my face; my name is Might-have-been; I am also called No-more, Too-late, Farewell." These words faded into something more sinister as the computers brought both agents into an old house, filled with centuries of Family history, all the way to the founding of the fraternity. It then showed gruesome images of old relics from the looks of them, torn and mangled as warnings from someone else. Judging by the seven rings placed on a dining room table, they were once worn by recent members who met their destructive ends by a B.O.W. This must've been what Adrien was looking into Sherry thought, but the weird thing was why would all the equipment still be intact if the safe house above them was blown away?
While the footage kept showing the gruesome deaths, Sherry managed to get a quick look at a monster that was lurking in the shadows. It passed by one of the surveillance feeds; it had a tail of some sort. Just when they thought the deaths stopped on the ground floor of the fraternity, feeds show other parts of the house that was filled with blood and scratches on the walls. Suddenly, a familiar B.O.W. graced the feeds with its impending stare of its cold, white eyes with a build that could match the Nemesis. Sherry recognized it as a T-103: Mr. X as it was aliased. Then another quote came up that wasn't said by Philosophers or great thinkers.
"The descendant disobeyed his founders and has brought shame to his birthright. His blood dripped and drenched the floors of Neo-Umbrella, representing a past that should be forever buried. I assure you, his actions were of a feeble heart. We on the other hand, will shelter those who have felt his pain and transcend them the way God intended. The time for evolution is now." A seismic occurrence was heating up from where they were. It was a typical self-destruct sequence to keep the evidence in deserved eyes. Sherry and Brewster ran back into the darkened tunnels, didn't think twice what was happening behind them.
Brewster nearly lost his footing when he tripped on a loose rock, catching himself by his hands. By the time they made it out, both fell in over four pounds of old, radiated soil toppling on top of them. Cara and the rest of the team wasted no time getting the agents out of the dirty rut they were in. Thankfully, their suits didn't get torn open from what Cara was able to see. By the time Sherry regained consciousness, a medical team was checking her out as well as Brewster. It was nearly dawn.
"Welcome back to the living." Cara said patching her up. "Did you guys find your Chief Advisor?"
"He wasn't down there." She said looking for her phone. "I need to make a call to my superiors, let them know what's happened. One of them is going to have a field day. How's Brewster?"
"He's going to be fine. He's out like a light though; the impacted soil must've knocked him out. Wait, I didn't see this before." She said looking at a veiny mark on her left shoulder blade. "It doesn't look recent."
"It's nothing."
"A paper cut is nothing. To be safe, I think we should get you back to our ER; have a look at that."
"Claire's already aware of this." Sherry replied. "I'll be fine. How's Damien; I was told you went to go see him."
"I'm sure he's grateful for you allowing him to tell his story. The past nine years was killing him to get the truth out."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean…"
"We still got a long day ahead of us. The Vice Presidential banquet is getting close." Cara said, giving Sherry her cell phone. "Take it easy for now."
When Cara turned her back and went to go attend to something else, Sherry had this aching feeling that what happened to Damien didn't result him anxiously waiting for a cab to take him back to Denver. She never knew him personally; only thing they had in common at the time was both had something horrific inside of themselves the past left behind. The thing was, he lost his life because he chose not to face his inner demons literally. As for Sherry, she was slowly losing her one curse that served her well over the years. She would've died in the snow with helicopter shrapnel stuck in her back if it wasn't for her healing ability.
In some ways, she was content that what her bastard father did to her at such a young age was finally fading away, never again the guinea pig she was forced to be under the greasy palms of desperate scientists. A few hours into the late morning, the dig site where the safe house used to be was patched and closed off to the public. Toxic readings on TerraSave's radar went from moderate to nil. While Cara was packing up, she forgot to ask Sherry about what she found in the tunnels; then again maybe she didn't care she thought. The world was already going through enough of a tough time that one more rumored outbreak might have done her in.
She gave Phylicia a call to see how she dealt with the second anomaly the CDC was after. On the ride back to TerraSave with Harry and three other team members, a radio broadcast was talking about recent events at the Washington Park.
"According to reports, it was rumored that two viral anomalies were occurring at the Washington Park around 7:45 last night. The Center for Disease Control sent out five tracking drones to find the two signatures, and apprehend them for experimenting. However, when they were just 8.5 minutes away from the hot zone, one anomaly evaporated from the charts like it never existed in the first place. As for the second viral target, it has been confirmed it is still at large, if not within Washington's backyard. But it seems for now, the citizens of D.C. can finally breathe knowing they can sleep soundly again.
In other major news, the Vice Presidential banquet is being held this Saturday night at the Hotel Monaco downtown. This event will bring together all departments that have had heavy involvement on the global cleanup since the C-virus outbreak. As you are all aware, it ended in Lanshiang, China on July 1st of last year. The BSAA, TerraSave directors, National Security, Government agents from FOS, even the Senator from Chicago Alexander Rothstein will be showing up to formulate a solution to future outbreaks. I know it is wishful thinking on many of our minds these days so we will see how this plays out. As for the joint facilities of Neo-Umbrella, BSAA agents Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine have intercepted ten on the east coast, and have come across dead ends on each. Coming to you live is our reporter, Terrence Campbell, giving us an update on the surrounding facilities…"
The ride back to TerraSave wasn't all that comfortable for Cara since her bodily joints and exhaustion held back her flight, and had to set up shop with one of the medical facilities for Sherry and Brewster. What also plagued her mind was the mystery behind Phylicia's decking of her phone calls. As for the other backseat drivers, they were a little on edge about the sudden arisen facilities Neo-Umbrella kept cropping up. Harry, being the driver and one of Cara's less annoying partners, saw the dark circles around her eyes and was feeling concerned about her mental stasis.
"Claire really screwed you over putting you on the grave yard shift. Are you feeling alright?"
"I...I don't know how to answer that, Harry. I mean, does the Vice President honestly see an end to all these outbreaks? The last President couldn't put an end to it after his daughter was returned to him. Albert Wesker went homicidal in Africa trying to play God with Uroboros. I could ramble on, but I need some coffee first."
"Look, I know this won't help. But the things you did in Norway years ago, they inspired me to believe we can push back the evil Umbrella forced down on us. I still can't fathom how five ordinary teenagers were able to take down an entire temple, and live to tell about it. Not to mention you connected with a spirit that helped you guys along the way. How's your friend uh…Walsh?"
"He's fine. I'd like to drop the subject if that's okay with you." Cara said sternly.
"I'm sor…got it. You should get some sleep. We're almost to the treatment center." Harry said as Cara closed her eyes.
The clock was ticking ever closer on both sides of the drawn out battles against the unknown. The Vice President and his people were making banquet preparations at the hotel as well as the BSAA's second Captain in command, Jill Valentine to establish defensive perimeters around the building and the surrounding blocks that lead towards the same location. They weren't taking any chances with the supposed fraternity trying anything elusive. TerraSave, National Security and other departments strategized and prepped for the evening, taking their extra precautions to keep minimal casualties if need be. Agents Leon Kennedy and Helena Harper were working security detail on the interior of the building. The other side of the worn out battlefield wasn't as meticulous in its preparations as the other side has been.
Phylicia had seen better days; well not being imprisoned in a temple for years she thought but she was on the outside, relearning how society changed in her absence. It was just as Claire described it to her when she decided to be a consensual test subject to combat any virus that was still selling on the black market. She went from making a promise to two of her victims that she was going to find the Family herself, and make sure they don't cause any more pain to others. A common promise she thought; she wasn't a superhuman fighter that can make the clichéd Mary Sue jealous, but she still retained a few fighting techniques Alex taught her. The next thing she knew, she heard an unfamiliar voice speaking of a familiar loose end no longer needed to be tied.
Waking up with sunlight beaming her slightly opened eyes, she found herself sleeping in her own clothes and inside a Condo of sorts. For the time being, it seemed safe; nothing out of the ordinary or abandoned. As she raised her head from the silk pillow on the bed, she felt a twinge on the left side of her neck. It came and went just as quickly. She also had a bathroom within walking distance, and as she went inside she checked herself in the mirror for anything injected.
There were no marks on her neck other than the faded scars she got from Norway. She bent down and washed her face to make her vision a little clearer. As soon as she saw the mirror, a phantom appeared from the right side of where she stood. She got startled for a bit as she looked behind instantly. Shaking her head, she dried up her face and walked out of the room. Other than her rude awakening, the hallway leading to the first floor of the Condo was normal still. The smell of vodka and cherry pancakes caught her nose and didn't let go until she was brought before the owner's study. Suspicion slowly became hunger when the pancakes kept calling her name. It was one of her favorite foods before her life "ended" as a teen. She opened up the doors and found herself looking at the flag of the Eastern Slav Republic as well as news clippings talking about the rise and fall of the owner's presidency. Not to mention news of her owning B.O.W.s.
"I trust you slept well, my dear?" She asked taking a sip of Vodka.
"Where am I?" Phylicia asked looking around the study.
"A simple "thank you" would not go amiss. That park in Washington is filled with adolescent thieves. Not that you wouldn't have been able to handle them yourself. This is my home…for the time being anyway. Would you like some breakfast?"
Phylicia sat down in front of her desk as she was given a plate of three, cherry pancakes with powdered sugar. Her stomach kept keeping her suspicion at bay. She took the plate and started eating.
"Thank you for your help."
"Your welcome; now I think it is time for you to do something for me. That man you spoke to in the park, I was sensing some history there when I was how do you say…in the neighborhood."
"Listen ma'am no disrespect, but that man and I…it wasn't supposed to happen. He opted out. I guess you can say I was helping a friend." She replied eating her pancakes.
"Helping a desperate friend turn to ash without setting off any fires? That's quite a skill you got."
"I think it's my turn to ask you a question. Who are you?" She asked as her suspicion outweighed her hunger.
"I was once a respected political figure in Russia as you can see all of my "accomplishments". My name is Svetlana Belikova: a woman exiled from her country with no disciples to pass on my skills to."
"Skills…?"
"Do you believe that there is more to the human race than we lead ourselves on? For centuries, we have taken upon ourselves to discover a key to eternal life, to be able to live through the ages and see what the future brings. Then mediums such as cinema, books, and crackpot theories, the idea was thrown out the window. No one will ever believe immortality is achievable. As a fighting instructor from Kosovo, teaching students to be more than they were was what made them strong. I took in paupers, abused children, thirsty brawlers, turned them all into warriors. Then I became Madame President of Eastern Slav and all that changed, but I didn't care. The Umbrella Corporation; they were everywhere you see? Over time, my students fell prey to their thoughtless monsters and ravaged my country. I chose to avenge them with minimal bloodshed by stealing their blueprints and using their own nightmares against them. This may sound sickening to you, but I have grown rather fond of their creativity for destruction."
"Where is this sob story going?" Phylicia asked. "Madame President: exposed for possessing Bio-organic weapons against resistance members who were trying to overthrow her rule. It's kind of funny when you think about it; a resistance fighter having the ability to control lickers and a single Government agent making things difficult on the other side. Not to mention you nearly got bested by a Chinese spy who is now an international criminal."
"You've done your homework, my dear. But my knowledge on those events hurt me still." She went on leaning forward. "So don't test my sentiment for your history. What you did to Mark Omahan was unforgiveable…yet necessary."
There was a hint of regret in Svetlana's voice when she mentioned Mark's demise. It was a few days before she was to be executed on Russian soil for crimes against her own country. Her place of power was decimated, her possessions of Bio-organic weapons were destroyed and discarded as a heinous afterthought. Her trusted advisors were sentenced life in prison after the BSAA discovered the fate of Elder Attaman and his inner circle of old soldiers who led the resistance in the first place. One of the Family's very own Mark Omahan took it upon himself to travel to the Eastern Slav Republic and smuggle Svetlana out of the country, tasked secretly by Derek Simmons himself before taking his post in National Security. Phylicia saw it in her eyes that she wasn't ready to die that day of her execution, but couldn't help but feel sorrow for Mark for what he had to go through.
He was trapped between two evils: his step-father and going outside the Family circle to assist a criminal. When one was taken away and the other betrayed him, he couldn't help but act out his frustration. The Family was once a normal society to keep the global balance in check; it has been that way since the founding by Kith and Kin Simmons. He made no impact on the world as a whole, just playing a part with no intention of changing. At one point, he wanted an end to all viral outbreaks.
That was until a new foreign resource from Norway caught his attention. It was brought by a mercenary who once worked with Umbrella; fell off the face of the Earth after the Raccoon City outbreak. Though the findings of Norway never reached Simmons' ears, another person of mystery took interest and kept its contents along with another virus from her fallen past. Mark got a little too curious and started digging on the temple incident back in 2005. From what he gathered, the elixir of Valhalla was the missing component to the Progenitor Virus made by Ozwell Spencer.
Suddenly, Sherry swiped the opportunity to interview the survivors behind the incident. Thing was, the computer he was using to research at the time wasn't his own. Phylicia's connection to him was a passerby thing; her "other side" did most of the talking, commanding him to do inhumane things with a sultry voice and a firm hold. None of it mattered at that point; she freed him from the Family's grip and made no apologies for it. But one thing was for sure; the next few minutes between her and the Russian harlot were going to end with one person leaving the Condo. Her blood was boiling still; however whether or not she still retained some of the White Queen's abilities was still up in the air with the twinge on Phylicia's neck kept making a twisting feeling. Both were itching to know if the "real" Phylicia was going to come out of hiding.
"Let's not do this, Svetlana. I prefer not to damage your study."
"I concur." She replied getting from her chair. "Last time someone got on my bad side, we fought; the Chinese spy Ada Wong as you mentioned. Mark served his purpose, but his addiction to be great became more to bear than he cared to realize. Does Claire Redfield know you're here? Of course she does. Let's skip to the reason why you're in my house. Jake Muller's blood was the key to curing the C-virus around the world. Combined with Alex Wesker's elixir, it will make any B.O.W. impervious to opposition; especially an RPG. We have yet to find him, but why go after the son when the source is sitting in front of me?"
"Alex is dead, and you're not taking my blood." Phylicia promised her as she stood up. "Mark trusted you, and we both failed him. Don't come looking for me…"
Phylicia took no more than two and a half steps before she felt a certain reaction that put a spring into a full third step. It happened like one spitting image flashing into another. Just as Svetlana pressed a button on her desk to lock down her study door, Phylicia was already out leaving a splintering hole she made headfirst in her attempted escape. Running frantically for an exit, every door and window in the entire Condo was on lockdown with blue flickering lights indicating alarms going off. She ignored the ear breaking sounds as much as she could, but suddenly the twinge in her neck made her feel sick inside.
With ringing in her ears and feeling cold on her toes, the blood boiling in her body ceased to be hot, and left a churning feeling in her stomach like she was about to retch her insides out in the open. She was on her knees, trying to make sense of it all in the main foyer when thumping footsteps made an impact more trembling after each passing step. Her fingers went stiff, mist slowly flowed from the air vents making quick work of the scenery as blinding as a violent rainstorm. Suddenly, her blood started bubbling again but not in heat. She got up and felt her way around the Condo blind; the mist made her vocal cords frozen as she felt a hand grasping her left shoulder. She looked to her left; even with blind eyes she gave Svetlana this look like she had her where she wanted her.
"TerraSave did not do much to help with your condition. It's understandable. Simmons kept every Pharmaceutical busy while he was alive, making our gateway to the Family fraternity that more invigorating. It took two swift nights to kill off their personnel, their Hunters, Cerberus dogs, and Reapers dispatched. The giants who shaped the world for what it is today are merely food from the monsters they allowed Umbrella to concoct." She said as Phylicia was shivering. "I know this hurts, Ms. Kurinthian. Believe me when I say there is no way you are leaving my sight until we are satisfied." She said as the footsteps came in the shape of an eight foot tall B.O.W.
"Old habits die hard." Phylicia shivered at the sight of Mr. X.
"Extract every drop of her blood, my pet." Svetlana ordered him. "Then dispose her remains."
A Mr. X Tyrant was standing before her true to form, ready to attack without question. They were manufactured to be incredibly strong and have teenage brains implanted in their heads. They stand as if they're ready for battle and can move from a tormenting point of view to almost sprinting to make their attacks more lethal. They are the equivalents to the Nemesis: equal in strength, menacing on how focused they are. Phylicia sat like she was a frozen sculpture when the tyrant raised his monstrous grip and swooped on down to grab her neck.
Ducking her head and wobbling her way under him, she latched onto his metal neck brace as she gained a seven second window for Svetlana. The idea was mad, but with what strength she had she put it all on her legs and leaped forward, putting her in a chokehold in front of Mr. X himself. There was no time for negotiation; mostly because the tyrant didn't grant as much as he rushed towards the both of them. With no time to react, Svetlana's chest left a big gaping hole from where her creation left, but with all that effort of Phylicia escaping, the floor opened for the three of them as they fell into the depths of the Condo. The cool rush left her blood in free fall, allowing her to see where Mr. X was falling.
Before they knew it, a loud thump on the hard surface left a loud echo that lasted for a good two minutes before Phylicia was able to get all her senses back. She found herself on top of the B.O.W., brought before two large cages with a certain outcome in each. One was filled with Lickers while the other was going to be a one-on-one with another T-103. Both had enough space for Phylicia to defend herself; looking around Svetlana's body was nowhere to be seen. With no cell phone or any other form of S.O.S. she was on her own.
Then gurgling sounds took on form in the shadows as lickers were pressing their teeth and claws to break free of their spacious prison. Suddenly, the sounds of heels echoing the ground made their way towards the downed B.O.W. She caught her scent; Svetlana walked without so much as a scratch or an ounce of fear for the monsters she kept. In Phylicia's mind, it was bringing back old memories of the temple. If her theory was correct, the "new" Family may have done something that has been beaten down and discarded for decades: a stepping stone to achieve immortality.
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