All right! So the reason I'm uploading this chapter today is that I want to upload as much as I can over the next few days, since I'll be going away for a couple of days next week. Anyway, read, review, and enjoy! :)

DISCLAIMER: Only the Fagan sisters are mine.

"Hey," Chris said to me as we continued on our merry way, "Are you okay? You haven't said more than two words since we left the pod room."

I looked up at him and sighed, not in the mood to talk about our confrontation with Excella. "I'm fine," I lied, "I'm just tired, that's all." No, I'm not fine, I thought to myself, That Excella bitch knows where Jill and Alexis are and she's keeping that information to herself. Then again, am I not doing the same thing to Chris and Sheva? Does that make me just as bad, if not worse, than Excella?

Chris opened the door up ahead, and what greeted us on the other side surprised us: heavily armed Majini. They reminded me of the Ganado soldiers on Saddler's island, but they seemed a lot more lethal than Saddler's minions. Chris silently whipped out his rifle and shot one of them, and as soon as the bullet ricocheted off the wall, the soldiers started screaming at each other and pointing at us. Way to go, Chris, I thought sarcastically.

"Quick! Take cover!" Sheva cried, and we hid behind metal walls while the Majini shot at us with machine guns. We had to wait until they were forced to reload before we took any action. Chris took the others out with the rifle while Sheva threw her hand grenades and I used my trusty machine gun. In the room up ahead, I collected a green herb while the others broke some boxes and collected money and ammo. I felt Sheva shove some machine gun ammo into my hand as Chris opened the door up ahead, in which the room beyond it was filled to the brim with more Majini with machine guns.

"Oh, great," Sheva muttered, "Some of them have stun rods. Be careful not to get hit by one of those."

Bang! A grenade suddenly blew up in our faces, followed by a blinding light. "Flash grenades!" Chris cried, holding his arm up as a shield. I should have known to do that as well, considering how many times Krauser used flash grenades when I was with him.

We moved on through the area, taking out everyone in sight, and despite Sheva's warning from before, I found myself coming in contact with a stun rod not unlike the time I had been hit by a taser from one of the Ganado soldiers. Like last time, it hurt, and I felt Sheva spray me with one of her first aid sprays. "Don't be reckless!" she chided, making me feel a little foolish. We continued shooting until all the soldiers were dead, and up ahead was yet another door. Chris and Sheva pressed two buttons, forcing it to slide open so we could enter the next room.

More Majini waited for us on the other side, but luckily, a lot of them decided to (stupidly) stand next to explosives. Seeing the expression on my face, Chris burst out laughing. "Works out for us!" he told me as he shot a few explosive barrels, effectively killing the Majini. Although more of them showed up, we ended up neutralizing them in the same way as the first ones. We ran around the catwalks, collecting ammo and money that the Majini left behind. In the distance was an elevator, and we quickly climbed onto it, dreading the destination. Last time we had taken an elevator like this one, a giant crab nearly killed us.

"How's your communicator, Sam?" Sheva asked out of the blue, "It's not acting up again?"

I had almost forgotten about that little mishap from earlier. I took it out of my pocket and examined it, and it looked perfectly fine. "It's been okay," I answered, "Thank you." As soon as I said that, however, Chris's headset began to go haywire.

"Now Chris is having issues," Sheva mumbled, "What's going on?"

"Shh!" Chris whispered, raising his index finger to his lips as he continued to pick up the radio transmission. Soft voices echoed in the background and then increased in volume as the transmission became clearer.

"…boros has…loaded…Don't worry," a female voice announced, "The reserve supply is almost ready."

We all gasped. "I know that voice!" Sheva cried.

"It's Excella!" Chris hissed.

"Who is she talking to?" I asked, but Excella continued speaking to the mysterious other party from her end.

"That's…Albert…looking…forward…" Excella continued, the transmission constantly breaking up. Both Chris and I gasped…for entirely different reasons.

"Albert?" Chris echoed. Albert! I thought, horrified, Wesker!

"What?" Sheva asked, looking at both of us in confusion. But neither one of us answered.

"And how are you holding up, Albert?" Excella asked just as the transmission faded away. I don't believe this, I thought to myself, She knows Wesker! This world is too small.

"Shit!" Chris cursed, "Wesker! I thought he was dead." I tried very hard not to look away in guilt. I felt a cold sweat break out on my forehead, and I tried not to panic as well. I chose not to say anything in fear of giving myself away, although I could see my lies were slowly coming back to bite me in the ass. I needed to think of something, and fast.

"We're not sure that it's Wesker," Sheva said, trying to reassure both of us, since she must have picked up on how distressed we both looked, "There could be another Albert here somewhere. Hardly anybody calls Wesker by his first name, right?"

"Thanks for the reassurance," Chris replied softly, "But I'm sure it's him. He's the only one who would be here at this time." I still didn't speak until we arrived in the next part of the facility (after going through a hallway filled with more of those annoying Lickers). Below us were a bunch of crates and conveyor belts, as well as more Majini. We silently took them out, Chris mostly using his rifle. Climbing down to the lower levels, we continued to kill all the guards until we came across another conveyor belt that led into a large furnace. I gulped.

"Looks like we have to go this way," Sheva decided, making me a little more nervous. Thanks a lot, I thought bitterly to myself as we crossed the moving conveyor belt and walked against the flow. My legs hurt after a while, but I had enough stamina to continue. Once we were far enough away, we climbed onto the ledge in front of us and pulled the lever, stopping the conveyor belt and allowing us to move on. We climbed up another ladder to another conveyor belt with cartons of explosives on it, and we ran in the opposite direction on that one as well. In the distance, I heard Chris and Sheva shouting at me to hurry up as I climbed the ledge and followed them, but my mind was on something else entirely. Wesker was around here; I could feel it. I prayed we wouldn't have to run into him. Even though I hadn't seen him in a long time, his face was still clear in my mind. The blond hair, the sunglasses, the evil smirk, everything.

"What's the matter?" Chris asked as I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand.

I looked up. "Oh, nothing," I insisted, "Some ashes flew into my eyes, that's all." Why did my anger have to come out in tears? Why?

But Chris frowned. "If there's something on your mind, just tell us," he told me, "Like I said outside the oil fields."

"There's nothing. I promise."

"Chris! Sam!" Sheva cried from a distance, "Check this out!" We sprinted over to her and followed her pointing finger to a few missiles labeled, "UROBOROS".

"Missiles?" Chris asked in surprise.

"Why would they need these, do you think?" Sheva replied.

"Maybe they're planning to start a war," Chris suggested.

"If they're going to war," I declared, "Then we're going to put an end to it!"

"Damn right we are," Chris agreed, "Let's see what's around here."

Alexis…

Consciousness. It was returning to my mind slowly. God knew how long I had been asleep. Was it hours? Days? Weeks? Years? No, it couldn't have been years. Or weeks. My eyes wouldn't cooperate with my brain when I was trying to force them open. All around me was a bright, orange liquid, and a clear liquid was continuously oozing into the chamber. Oh, God, the smell. I couldn't stand it! Or the enclosed space. Damn stupid elevators getting stuck! I thought as my eyes refocused again. I looked around blankly to see that I was in a chamber of sorts, and someone was standing on the other side of it and staring at me. Bubbles formed in my face, blocking the person from my view, but I could see it was a man. He was pushing buttons on the outside of the chamber, and with a squeal and a hiss, the cold liquid around me drained away and the door opened up ahead.

As soon as the door opened, I felt the straps around my arms and legs release me, and I nearly tumbled to the floor. "Steady there, Alexis," a smooth voice whispered in my ear, and I found myself in somebody's arms. When I looked up, it was him. Wesker.

"Ugh," I moaned, closing my eyes again and resting my head on his shoulder, "How long have I been out?" My voice sounded wrong. Monotone, only it was much worse than whatever happened before I fell asleep.

"Twelve hours," Wesker answered in a clipped tone, "How are you feeling, Miss Fagan?" I moaned again, which made him laugh.

"Let me check your vitals. Step right this way." I was in no mood to protest, so I let him lead me over to a chair in the corner, where I sat and waited for his next move.

"I'm f-freezing," I stammered, my teeth chattering after finally leaving that cold chamber.

"Yes," Wesker agreed, "Those are the side effects of cryostasis." I sighed.

"Do you remember anything from before you woke up?" he asked, shining a light into my eyes to check my pupils.

I wracked my brain for a minute. Something about Audrey. But what? A headache was starting to form, so I relaxed once more. "No," was all I said in the same, bored tone of voice, "Why?"

Wesker remained silent for a minute as he checked my pulse, my heartbeat, and the rest of my vital signs. "Your vitals are fine," he reported, "The Progenitor Virus worked."

My vision blurred once more, and I now felt brain dead. "Progenitor Virus?" I choked.

Wesker reached into the small tank that was next to my chamber, pulled a flower out of it, and handed it to me. "I have extracted the virus from this flower," he explained, "The Stairway to the Sun."

I studied the flower. "This puny little thing?" I asked.

In a fast fury, Wesker snatched the flower out of my hand. "It is not wise to speak ill of the Progenitor flower," he disciplined me as if I had insulted him personally.

I frowned, but just listened to him as he continued to prattle on. "This flower assures me of my right to be a god," he told me, "And I gave you the virus so that you can respect that."

Okay, okay! Sheesh! I thought to myself, but all I did was nod, and Wesker seemed satisfied. "Now," he said, "There are three BSAA agents that are getting too close to us. You will prove most useful if they are to act out against us. Just follow my lead, and we will triumph over them."

I wasn't sure if it was really me doing it or the strong influence of the Progenitor Virus, because I found myself nodding slowly. "Yes, Wesker," I said in a voice that wasn't mine.

"Good. Excella and Jill are on their way to the lab now. You can go meet them beyond that point."

"Yes, Wesker," I repeated, leaping up from the chair I was sitting in and sprinting out the door. Before I turned to go, I could see the look on my master's face. Almost as if it was saying, Now that's more like it.

Audrey…

"Remind me to murder everyone in Tricell when this is all over!" I growled to the others once we finished picking off the rest of the Majini. As if the mutated cockroaches weren't bad enough. After we finished off those beasts, we had encountered Majini soldiers with more assault rifles and rocket launchers in their hands. We had been forced to take cover multiple times before we could shoot them.

"At least we made it out alive!" Chris replied, patting my shoulder in a big-brother sort of way.

"But look where we are now," Sheva piped up, pointing at the small lab we were in, "I wonder what we'll find in here."

Something up ahead caught our attention: a man laying slumped in a chair. "I think we're about to find out. Look!" I cried, pointing with my pistol. The two of them followed my gaze.

"Well, glad you could make it," a voice spoke up from speakers. We all glanced around wildly, looking for the person it was coming from, but we found nothing.

"Up here, you three!" the voice snapped impatiently, and we looked up to see Excella standing behind glass windows. Next to her was one of the cloaked women we had seen in the oil fields.

"You again!" I cried, pointing my pistol at her.

"Excella!" Chris yelled, "Where's Jill?"

Excella smirked, which made my blood boil. "Jill, Jill, Jill," she singsonged, "You're like a broken record, you know that? And I'm not telling you about Alexis Fagan, either." I was on the verge of my breaking point, but I knew I had to keep it together.

"You bitch!" Sheva snapped, "You tell us about them right now!"

Tricell's CEO shook her head. "Just as simple-minded as he said. You've spent so long trying to track down Uroboros. Well, here. Enjoy." She gestured to the unconscious man in the chair in front of us, and with our pistols raised, we watched as he got up from the chair and approached us. He started to have a seizure, and while something rippled underneath his skin, tentacles sprouted from his back, just like Irving.

"So Uroboros is a new BOW," Sheva guessed, "And you're planning on selling it to terrorists."

Excella tilted her head to one side. "Good guess, but no," she answered, "While it does resemble the BOWs based on the Progenitor virus, I have no intentions of selling it to terrorists."

"Then what are you using it for?" Chris demanded. In front of us, the man stopped writhing and the tentacles retracted into his back.

"Evolution," Excella answered smoothly, "It's a philosopher's stone, one that will choose through DNA who shall proceed to the next stage. My vision and his combined, now made a reality."

"Who's vision?" Chris demanded.

"Evolution?" Sheva also cried, "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, you'll find out soon enough. Everyone will."

"Cut the bullshit, Excella!" I snapped, feeling my eyes turn red with blood for a second, "Just tell us what we need to know!"

Excella smirked. "I already did, Sam," she replied, putting a nasty emphasis on "Sam".

"Ooh!" the man in front of us cried as he stopped walking and began to have convulsions again.

"Hmm," Excella sighed in mock sympathy, "Too bad. Looks like he wasn't worthy. Only the chosen ones are fit for the coming new world." Smiling wickedly at us one last time, she turned and left, with the Bird Lady following close behind her.

"Excella, wait!" Chris cried.

"Chris!" Sheva screamed, and we turned to watch as the tentacles sprouted out of the man's back again. With a feral growl, his body was soon consumed and, just like the monster that killed Alpha Team, he was soon covered in masses of black leeches and yellow, pulsing bulbs.

"Warning!" a robotic voice warned, "A biohazard threat has been detected. Clean-up personnel must incinerate all contaminated materials." Incinerate? I thought, Just like the last time!

"That's the same type of bio weapon that wiped out Alpha Team!" Chris realized.

"Yes," Sheva agreed, "But this one seems more ferocious."

"Fall back!" Chris commanded, "Sheva, Sam, knock down that explosive container over there!" Working together, we did so, and as we pointed at it with our guns, we waited for the Uroboros monster to approach us.

"Is there an incinerator anywhere around here?" I asked, remembering the last time we had fought something like this.

"Shoot it now!" Sheva cried, and the monster loomed over us as we shot the barrel, sending flames flying towards it. It shrieked and stumbled backwards a little bit.

"That's it!" Sheva cried, "That's its weak spot! But watch out for the arm!" We looked up and saw that it had detached its arm and was now sending it to go after us.

Beep! In the corner of the room, a panel suddenly went from red to green. "Hey, what's that?" I asked, pointing.

"Flamethrower tank is now full," the same voice announced, "You may resume use when ready."

"Cover me!" Chris cried, and we did so, throwing incendiary grenades towards the creature, as Chris raced over to the flamethrower tank. He grabbed it, aimed it at the monster, and began to spray fire out of it. The beast screamed again, deafening us, as it succumbed to the flames. Chris became trigger happy with the tank, because he used up all the gas in a matter of minutes.

"No fuel remaining," the voice announced, "Please refill tank." Chris set the tank back into the charger and waited for it to refuel. In the meantime, we knocked down more gas tanks, detonating them in order to deliver damage, as well as throwing any incendiary grenades we had. A few times, some of the leeches latched on to us, but with each other's help, we managed to shake them off.

After five more minutes, the panel switched to green again. "Flamethrower tank is now full," the voice repeated, "You may resume use when ready."

"It's up to you now!" Sheva cried, "Burn that son of a bitch!" Chris used the flamethrower to deliver even more damage, and it was amazing that the Uroboros monster didn't already give in to the flames. After a few more rounds of refueling the flamethrower tank (with Sheva and I each getting a turn at using it), the monster finally shriveled up and dissolved into nothing.

"Well, that wasn't too bad," I sighed, "Not like the other BOW."

"Yeah, we didn't have to lure it into anything," Chris agreed, reloading his handgun.

"What's all this nonsense about evolution and being worthy?" Sheva asked as we exited the lab, "What does she mean?"

"Something about a philosopher's stone and selecting DNA. It doesn't matter what she says; she's just a terrorist. End of story. We can't risk Uroboros getting out of here and infecting people," Chris replied.

"Then let's go take care of business!" Sheva declared.

"Excella better have some answers for us when we find her again," I piped up as we moved on.

Some catwalks with hordes of Majini and Reapers, a rotating platform, and ruins filled to the brim with Lickers later…

Chris, Sheva, and I gathered around as Sheva pulled a lever, lowering the bridge in front of us that led to a door with the Tricell logo on it. "Whew!" she exclaimed, wiping her forehead, "We made it!"

"It's about time we got some answers now," Chris declared, "Let's move out!"

"Copy that," I replied, and with our handguns out, we made our way across the bridge, anxiously anticipating what we would find on the other side.