Dante was skimming through the odd report. " 'Growing at an amazing rate'…'T-Virus had a'…wait, hold on a sec. What's a T-Virus?"
"Search me," Jill said in a bored voice. The books around her had absolutely no information for them, given that most were novels. For the comfort and sanity of the employees, no doubt…for all the good it did. "Whoever got these sure loved their romance stories. Ugh…"
" 'Morphed its host's anatomy and drastically increased size'…oh, this is sounding familiar…"
"Didn't know you needed help in that area, big boy."
He ignored her. " 'Rooted itself in the basement'… 'went mad and destroyed the Aqua Ring'…c'mon, are you going to get to anything helpful?" He read faster. Chemical…bulb…tentacle…wait… " 'Upon capture of prey or during its inactive state, its vines barricade the door to stop possible intruders'… 'all survivors noted that it becomes more aggressive when the petals open and it reveals its vital internals'. Great!" He stored the note away. "When it blooms, give it doom. Simple."
"…That was horrible. And I've been sorting through trashy harlequin love novels for the past five minutes."
Finding nothing else of interest in the room, they moved to another.
The door they'd left through had barely clicked shut when another door opened, with Nero's group sweeping the hallway. Using Lady's key from the Aqua Ring, they entered cautiously.
"Check out all the antiques," Nero muttered as the door closed. "What's a kitschy place like this doing in a zombie mansion?"
"Maybe it was here before the research facility was built," Chris suggested.
Lady stared at the keypad next to a door. "I wonder." Examining it closer, she recognized the three symbols at the top of it. "They look like those eyes from the lamps earlier. They must be some sort of hint as to the code."
Nero frowned. "But why put the hint right on the keypad? Especially when the hint is vague and several rooms away…"
"That's the least of our problems. Any clue what the code might be, Lady?"
"Other than it's a three-digit code, no. I could try brute-forcing it, but that might release something nasty, like…I don't know, giant disgusting fly hybrids, or something."
Nero rolled his eyes. "Why not just go back and check the lamps?"
"Because that wouldn't tell us anything new. We know there were three eyes; one with no lashes, one with one lash, and one with two. And here the order is…three, two, one. Simple enough." She tapped the keys for 3, 2, and 1 in order. As she did, the first eye lit up with a red light.
An electronic buzz sounded. The single lit eye went dark.
"Well, good effort, anyway," Chris reassured her.
"Thanks. Still…the first number was right. That's the only thing the eye could have meant. Which means…" She went through every other combination the other two would fit, the red eye blinking on and off as she did. When she tried 3/5/7, the middle eye lit with an orange glow. "And then…" She tried a few more. Upon entering the code 3/5/6, all three eyes lit up (the last one a green color), and they heard the door unlock.
"The six key didn't light up the first time I used it at the last number. It must have been set up to light in sequence only, to make that strategy more difficult."
"Still didn't stop you," Nero noted.
She smiled. "No."
"Thought you said you wouldn't brute force it?"
"Hey, I don't see us being attacked by fly-people, do you?" she challenged.
"You never know…"
…In which case, find a blunt weapon. I really should think about carrying a light staff or club, given how common they are. If under attack from a demon covered in or using fire, try to hold up in a room with stone walls. Lucky me; the walls here are damp AND stone, though there thankfully haven't been any fire demons yet. In the event of an attack by a demon with lightning affinity, try to find shelter in a stone room and avoid water at all-
CR-CLACK!
Kyrie paused, halting her demon emergency checklist to listen for the noise. Could it be someone here to rescue me? Or a monster searching for prey? She frowned. The two called for such different courses of action. Best to observe for more details.
She listened carefully. There were footsteps coming. That ruled out monster. Nero! Or…perhaps someone else? If she called out, she had no guarantee that the person would be of good character; they might kidnap her as soon as rescue her. Still…hadn't that man said that no harm would come to her?
She shrugged. Given the circumstances, the worst that would happen would be coming face-to-face with someone unpleasant. She'd get information at the very least, and she could always call for the cloaked man; worth a try. "Excuse me!" she called. "Is someone there?"
The footsteps stopped for a moment, and then began walking in her direction. She felt her heart thumping, but tried her best to keep calm. And then…
A man walked in front of her cell door. It wasn't Nero; he had blonde hair, a black vest, and sunglasses. "Hello there," she said politely. "My name's Kyrie. Who are you?"
He looked at her curiously for a moment, then said "Albert Wesker, captain of the Special Tactics and Rescue Service branch of the R.P.D. Are you all right?"
"Yes, I think so. What's going on here? And where is everyone?"
"My team and I were investigating a number of incidents in the area, following up on the disappearance of our Bravo Team comrades. We've been searching this mansion for any sign of them, but so far nothing. How did you get here?"
She sighed. "I don't know. I must have been kidnapped."
"Odd…there haven't been any kidnappings connected to our case." He was silent for a moment, and then he asked her a question very carefully; she couldn't see his eyes, but she knew he had to be watching her for a reaction. "Are you connected with a young adult male that carries a large sword and has white hair?"
She felt her heart leap, but answered delicately. "Someone dear to me dresses like you describe. Was he wearing a blue coat?"
"No. It was a red one." He was silent for another moment. "Have you been able to determine anything about this place?"
"I'm afraid not. I woke up here, and I haven't been able to leave."
He nodded. "I see. Forgive me for asking, but it's imperative to discover as much as we can in order to survive. I apologize, but I'll need to leave you here for the moment; no doubt there is a way to unlock the doors somewhere nearby."
She nodded. "Thank you. Please, save as many people as you can first. I should be safe here for now."
This time, he was silent for several seconds. "I'll see what I can do." And with that, he left the room, Kyrie hearing his footsteps echoing away again.
She smiled to herself. I gave him as much information as he gave me. No wonder he's a police captain. She clasped her hands. Sparda…please keep Nero safe. Sighing, she returned to her checklist. If encountered by an ice-wielding demon...
Finding nothing in the room beyond for them to use (it was full of chemicals, which none of them could determine the effects or use of besides a few bottles of sterile water), Lady and the others exited the room again.
And then suddenly, bees.
"Agh! What the hell?!" Nero exclaimed, swatting them away. They all ran in separate directions; Nero to the door where they'd entered the gallery, Chris to one of the other doors they hadn't entered (it was locked, unfortunately), and Lady to a hallway with a corpse slumped in a corner.
She looked left, and with surprise called out "Well, found where they came from!" It was a massive beehive, with tons of the angry things buzzing around it. She could just make out a key below it before more started swarming her. She backed up, her foot hitting something metallic as she did. Scooping it up without really looking at it, she retreated to the chemical room, as did the other two. They piled through the door, each taking a steadying breath.
"Well, that's new," Chris remarked.
Nero nodded, adding "Those bugs came outta nowhere. If only we had some kinda anti-zombie-bug…spray…" He trailed off, looking at Lady with admiration. "Good find, Lady!"
She gave him a look of confusion, and then looked at the object she'd swiped. Sure enough, it was an old-fashioned insecticide spray. Out of curiosity, she read the label. Warning: Highly Toxic. Apply to hive at safe distance. Avoid contact with skin, eyes, and nose. If chemical contacts eyes, skin, or nose, wash away with pure distilled water within ten seconds to avoid permanent sensory loss or extremely elevated risk of poisoning. Fatal if ingested or inhaled. Manufactured by Umbrella Corporation©. All rights reserved. Please use responsibly. "Yeah, I think this is what we need."
They'd returned to the room with kerosene and the typewriter. Jill refilled her canteen while Dante started going through his coat, checking which items they needed to hold on to. "We need this key?"
"Check the map, Dante."
He did, and seeing that there were no other doors marked with a shield, he tossed it over his shoulder. "How about this one?" he asked, pulling out another.
"…Check the map, Dante," she said, a slight edge of frustration in her tone.
He checked again; sure enough, no other doors that required it. He tossed it as well. "What about-"
"Check the map, Dante." There was nothing "slight" about the edge in her voice now. He took the hint.
By the time she'd finished filling her canteen, there was a small pile of keys and assorted objects lying under the typewriter table. With a satisfied nod, he motioned them towards the door.
As it turned out, the insecticide was not as simple of a solution as they'd thought.
The bees were too thick (and far too angry) to allow them near the hive. Chris suggested that Nero try his "Mister Fantastic arm", but he'd pointed out that he could only extend one of his arms, and two were needed to apply the spray. Nero's plan of dropping the spray can by the hive and then shooting it was also vetoed; partly because they had no guarantee it would cover all of the hive, but mostly because none of them were eager to take a chance on something that toxic. Lady didn't dare waste a rocket on the hive and risk destroying the key, nor did they have enough ammunition to waste with trying to shoot down each individual drone.
And so, they'd once again backtracked, trying to find a way to apply the insecticide at close range. To their great fortune, they found a crack in a wall separating the beehive hallway from another room. A few bees could still squeeze through the crack, but once they got the spray can into position, they wouldn't be able to go anywhere.
And so Lady, having put on her shades once again and used the last of her bandages as a makeshift mask, applied the spray as methodically as possible. She kept it pressed against the hole, tapping her foot as she waited; the can had mentioned that it took a minute or two to take full effect. After three minutes, she chanced removing the can, backing up swiftly. Apart from the vapours of the spray, they no longer had any worry about going near the beehive.
"Nice work," Chris commended her. "Lucky for us there was some Zom-Bee-Gone lying around."
Nero chuckled, and she was thankful the mask was hiding the grin she had. "You're almost as bad as Dante. Come on; let's get back to the medicine room and let this air out for a bit."
Jill and Dante, in the meantime, had discovered the secret entrance to the room that housed the sharks. The gap posed no problem for them; Dante vaulted across it with Jill in his arms. Jill, who had been preoccupied with the contrast between the antique feel of the mansion and the clinical feel of the corridor, didn't bother to tell him off for not warning her. Unlike Chris's group, neither of them had to worry about the water, with it having been drained and all. That said…
"Hmm…" Dante said, peering off the edge of the catwalk. "This place is like an aquarium without the water. Wonder how deep it is?"
Jill shrugged, making her way to the door of the control room. "Who cares?" she called behind her. "Let's just find a way down."
"Suit yourself. Meet you at the bottom." And without further ado, he flipped forward off the catwalk and sank like a stone out of sight.
Due to the echo of the place, Jill only caught a few of the syllables from what he'd said. By the time she'd turned around to clarify, he was out of sight. Two seconds later, she heard a loud crash below.
Cursing, she ran to the railing, looking down. "Dante!" she called.
"I'm guessing about fifty feet deep or so," he called back up. "Oh, cool! There's sharks down here!"
"…Sharks?" she called back, uncertain.
"Yeah! One of 'em smells like someone cooked it. Kinda makes me hungry…"
She gave a put-upon sigh. "Probably not smart to eat it. Now give me a minute to catch up. Some of us can't take the one-way express elevator." She went through the control room door. And now I can add "survives long falls with no injuries" to the confusing Dante puzzle. It seems like there's more and more that doesn't add up about him. Is it other magic? What else is he hiding from me?
Lady had led the others to the now silent beehive. Keeping her mask and sunglasses on just in case, she held her breath, dashed to grab the key, and then ran back. She checked the key. "Room 003." She looked back, seeing a "003" above the door closest to them. "Convenient. Everyone ready?" Unlocking the door, they moved into it cautiously.
They'd walked into a small study of sorts, with a bookcase and a cabinet lining the walls next to a small desk with a typewriter on it.
"Hey, check it out." Nero pulled a white book out from the bookshelf. "…Huh. Thought that would open a secret passage or something. It was a white book in the middle of a bunch of red ones." And then something clicked. "Hey, wait a minute…" He pulled the red book from the bar out of his coat, and then slid it into the empty spot on the bookshelf. They all waited with trepidation, ready for when something surprising would happen.
…
Nothing happened.
Chris sighed. "Well, let's check the book at least." Nero handed it to him, looking a bit put-out as he did. Chris skimmed through the white-covered book. "It's a list of chemical formulas and mixing information. I can't make heads or tails of it."
Lady held her hand out. "Mind if I try?" He passed it to her, and she scanned it. Search as she might, nothing of interest jumped out at her. Just as she was about to give up, she reached the last page, upon which a folded paper fell out. Handing the book back to Chris, she read through it. "It's talking about a plant infected with the Tyrant Virus."
"Maybe that giant plant from the note earlier?" Nero suggested.
"Could be."
"I didn't think plants could get human viruses."
She shrugged, and continued reading. "They say that there's a special chemical toxic to the plant, all the way down to the cellular level. It also says that the chemical, called 'V-JOLT', if properly formulated and applied, can kill the plant in five seconds." She raised her eyebrows. "And I thought the insecticide was powerful."
Chris smiled. "Sounds like a plan. How do we make it?"
"It looks complicated," she said, scanning further and frowning. "There's at least five steps to mixing, and any improper handling or mixing can produce toxic gases."
"Well, teach me to get my hopes up," he said, sighing. "Never was very good in chemistry class."
"And I'm more used to handling gunpowder than volatile chemicals," Lady said, stuffing the paper in her pocket.
"I know a little bit about chemicals."
They both turned to stare at Nero.
"What?" he said, folding his arms. "The propellant Red Queen uses is a flammable chemical. It'd be kinda irresponsible if I didn't know anything about it since I use it so much." They both continued to stare at him. "I'm not saying I'm a master chemist, but let's go back to the chemical room and I'll give it a shot."
Without any other option apparent to them, they backtracked to the room.
Jill eyed the scene in the bottom of the Aqua Ring (so-called according to the map they'd found on a desk in the control room). Three very large, very dead sharks were lying on the tank's floor. Dante was standing at the far end next to the biggest one, poking it with a long pipe. It kept twitching, though from Dante's poking or other reasons, she couldn't tell. She smirked. To think, I have to play babysitter for him. She scanned the shark in front of her, her smile sliding away. A leg was sticking out of its mouth. "Dante, can I have your pipe? It's a little more important."
He stopped his prodding, walking over to her as the shark kept twitching. Seeing where her gaze was, he handed her the pipe wordlessly. She jabbed it into the shark's mouth, prying upward. The leg fell, the motion severing the last bits holding it to its origin.
Dante helped her pry the oversized fish's mouth open. When it was open, she took one look and gasped, turning away instantly. He looked inside; all he could make out from the mess within was the general shape of a person, and the tattered remains of an orange shirt. "You know him?"
"I think…i-it might be Richard," she responded, her voice wavering.
Dante slowly released the pipe, letting the monster's mouth close and cover the grisly image. "If it matters…it looked like he took it with him."
She slowly clenched her fists. "Yeah."
Dante, not knowing quite what to say or do for her, waited in silence. A few moments later, she looked up. "…Come on. Let's keep moving. We won't get out of here otherwise."
"You okay?"
She sighed. "No. There'll be time to mourn later." She walked over to the shark in the middle, noting the impact cracks in a circle next to it. "Your handiwork?"
He nodded. "Hmm…looks like there's something next to it."
She picked up the object. "An old .22 for self-defense. Probably not in good condition if it's been in this tank for long." She looked it over. It seemed to be in nearly workable condition, except..."No go. The hammer's jammed."
And after a final sweep for useful objects (which turned up nothing), they left the Aqua Ring.
Nero eyed the chemicals around him nervously. When Lady had said the process had five steps, he'd assumed it would have the decency to give directions. But nope; all he had in front of him was an empty bottle, a jug of distilled water, and various assorted chemical bottles in front of him. "You sure there wasn't any other directions?"
"Not in the book or the note," Lady answered. "They probably had their list of safe chemical combinations memorized. Unless you want to try going through zombies' pockets to check for a cheat-sheet…"
He did consider it briefly, but shook his head. Given the experiments these people were up to, they probably had no trouble remembering complex formulas. …Then again, these were the same people who managed to turn themselves into zombies, so…
He looked down his list. Then at the various chemicals. Then back at the list. Then back at the chemicals. With a determined nod, he acted. He measured the liquid carefully, poured to the designated line, stirred it around, and then examined his work with a satisfied nod. "Right. Step one down."
"…You filled up the empty bottle with water."
He nodded. "Yeah. Only four more steps to go. Doin' good."
She sighed, covering her face with her hand. "This is going to take a while…"
"Okay, hold on!" Jill demanded. "I think I've waited long enough."
Dante quirked an eyebrow. "Not really the time or place for that…but maybe later."
She ignored him. "Explain."
"Because there's zombies and stuff around."
"No, explain what happened back in the forest. What's a combat adjudicator? Why do they light up when you hit them with something? Why did we have to follow that light? And what do those blue shards do?"
He sighed. "A statue containing those blue shards, because it's how you dispel the seal, because I've seen that light before, and long story. In that order."
Jill paused for a moment to process the information. "Where did you see the light before?" she asked finally.
"Mallet Island."
"And…where is that?"
"At the bottom of the ocean, if there's anything left of it."
She took slightly longer to replay that sentence in her mind; on the one hand, the idea of an entire island exploding was a bit much, but on the other…she was talking to Dante…"So what was it doing here?"
He frowned. "Not sure yet. Whoever made this place might've had some help from Hell. Or maybe this place used to be run by demons before the people here took it over."
"Maybe the same person from Mallet Island is behind this?"
He smiled wryly, shaking his head. "If that was the case, we'd be seeing a lot more demons. Besides, were there any kinds of cults around here?"
This time, her answer was instant. "No."
He shrugged. "There you go, then. Still, keep your eyes open for anything weird."
"Found something," she said.
He looked at her, rolling his eyes when he noticed her looking in his direction. "Yeah, yeah, cute…"
"No, right behind you."
He turned around, and then his irritation changed to curiosity. "Well…that is weird."
CHAPTER END
And one more! I'm liking this pace, but unfortunately, this will be the last chapter until next month. Anyway, I only just now found out about the HD Re-Release of the Resident Evil Remake, believe it or not; not that it matters, since I don't have a PS4, but cool nonetheless. Wonder if we'll ever get that Resident Evil 2 remake? Hmm...Resident Evil 2...
...That aside, hope you enjoyed the chapter! However you felt about it, good, bad, or in-between, leave me a review; feedback is the gift that keeps on giving!