Disclaimer: I wonder what else is to happen.. Sorry, bleedingangel95, but I'm not sure if your questions will prove truth. :3 To answer the one concerning what Albert heard, he actually caught very little of the conversation. He entered the hearing range around when Eliza said 'you reek of infection'. Everything prior was unheard by our tyrant. So, yes, he is aware of Chris now being infected. This chapter answers the first question about the virus in Chris. Unsure as per the child in Jill. :P Enjoy.
The lyrics: It Has Begun by Starset.
Even a well-lit place can hide salvation
A map to a one-man maze that never sees the sun
He had slipped away a long time ago. When everything had hit the fan, when Birkin had fallen.. he had retreated.
"-you even paying attention?" A snap of the male's voice drew his attention indeed back to the speaker. He leveled eyes with Ulrich Lorenzo, unsure as per what had been truly said. He blinked his eyes, focusing on the man before him that had contact him. He didn't know the man.. just knew vaguely of him from stories. "I need you to pay close attention. You cannot be dazing off into some mental thing going on up there." It was true, he was lost in his own little world, memories of a time when he had been second in command of something doomed to fall.
"I apologize, Lorenzo. My mind is on a time in which still heavily weighs on me at random moments. What were you saying?"
"Your infection could pose a problem as loyalty cannot be assured to my group. What have you to say of this?"
"What have you to offer?" A smirk.
"I can offer you anything you desire-"
Where the lost are the heroes
And the thieves are left to drown
"Then the truth would be a start. You're not interested in what I could be. You're interested in what I CAN do. My capabilities as an infected masterpiece. As a perfect host. As a potential scientist." Alistair interrupted, drawing himself up to stand to his full height, towering over the shorter man seated before him. "You're INTERESTED in T-Dara. Well, I'm no scientist, Lorenzo, but I can say this. You cannot pull the virus from someone infected with T-Dara. It's.. an elegant art piece, Alex used to say."
Alistair took a breath.
"You'd need all the research he had on the virus and samples. And a mind that knows what he's doing with it. I've seen the lab rats you have prowling your facility and none are even on par with a Wesker scientist. Hell, they couldn't even match Birkin's level of dedication and knowledge in the field." He spat, his words like liquid venom.
"I understand tha-"
"No, you don't. You THINK you do, an elusive fabricated illusion of grandeur that'll just cause another Raccoon City, another Louisville Leak, another Ozwell Spencer. What you're asking for I cannot provide. I can be a soldier, a commander, but I will not allow any to pull T-Dara from me, nor a sample. You do not know the dangers it poses. The threat of it spreading uncontrolled. Don't whisper words of intellect to a man who has seen it before, who created a counter to it. I might not have pulled the trigger on Birkin, but I created the means to his destruction. But I'm no scientist. I just used Alex's notes, most of which are long gone with his death as if he had taken them with him."
But everyone knows by now
Fairy tales are not found
They're written in the walls
Ulrich sat in momentary silence, soaking this in. "So we cannot recreate the virus in you without his notes." Alistair nodded to this. "Nor a counter." Another nod from the snowy German. He leveled gazes with Alistair's own golden orbs. He leaned back in his chair, heaving a sigh. "Then it's recreation will not be a focus, nor extracting it from an infected host like yourself. I will require a.. subject be brought to my team that I will create at your insistence and guidance. Do you wish to be a scientist, Alistair?"
Alistair snorted at his words. "Nein. I have no use in a lab, cooped up with machinery and notes. Was never my style. But.. I know someone who might be interested. He worked closely with Alex on the virus', managed to become a ghost once Alex was defeated."
"..who?"
Alistair smirked.
As we walk in a straight line
Down in the dirt with a landslide approaching
"OK, OK! You can let go now!" A grunt was heard, arms wiggling to escape. He was dropped unceremoniously onto the concrete, his hands catching the floor along with his knees. He scurried to his feet, adjusting his glasses. He ran a hand through tousled dyed red hair. He had smooth green eyes and freckles that lined his face.
He studied the two people across from him. One stood at the side of the mahogany desk while the other remained seated at said desk. The two guards left the room.
"This is your luxurious mind? He tried to apply to my company four months ago." The seated man said, one he recognized. "I'm surprised. He failed our test."
"Hey, hey! Your test are COMPLETELY unrelated and not worth the effort of investment!" He chirped, his low voice barely audible. "It made zero sense to the relevance of the job I applied for."
The snowy man to the left, one he.. vaguely recalled, snorted with laughter. "You haven't changed one bit Darius."
He smoothed down his rumpled shirt, scowling at the German he now truly remembered. "What is the meaning of this, Alistair? I never expected to see you again after I parted contracts with Alex."
"Contracts?" The seated man asked with a brow arch.
But nothing could ever stop us
From stealing our own place in the sun
Darius directed his forest gaze to the man, nodding. "I was contracted to create some black market virus. Something he apparently named T-Dara. It was a perfect blend of the T-Virus samples he had with a few other variants. And a flower procured from some Italian country-land. Some flower with supposed regenerative properties." He shrugged. "I was let go once it was done. Only reason I wasn't killed was because I had no interest in recreating it, not like I could since I didn't take the notes with me."
"I see." Said the seated man. "The reason you were brought here is to recreate T-Dara."
"But, my notes.. I can't recreate something I made almost eight years ago without them."
"Then you will make a new one." He paused. "Alistair." The man directed his attention to the snowy man. "We didn't need a sample from you. We already had several."
This caused a breath to intake from the German. "Understood. Well, you have my loyalty if that is what you seek. I've been looking for a new.. interest to take part in. Should I find cause.. I will not hesitate to destroy this group."
"I guess I'm in?" Darius hesitantly answered.
"Well. Then it's settled. My name is Ulrich Lorenzo. Welcome to VIGIL." Ulrich linked his fingertips together.
We will face the odds against us
And run into the fear we run from
It has begun
She narrowed her eyes, fingering the ring situated on her pointer finger of the left hand, the glistening etched Latin words forever ingrained in her mind. NOCTIS SOMNIUM REQUIEM. Night Dream Requiem. For some reason.. it felt like a powerful set of words.
She had told Leon that she thought, no, believed, that Alex was still alive. Something unsettled her. He hadn't responded.. and she wasn't sure if that was more to be concerned about or not. He had texted her two hours ago that he was on a mission and would talk to her later. That was the last contact with him. She rubbed her face before realizing she had forgotten something.
A cough drew her attention up and she blinked. She had company.
She smiled into the frowning face of her companion, nodding for her to continue. "Sorry, I'm really worried about my friend."
"Ah, it's alright. If I'm a bother, please feel free to leave. I do not wish to hold you if you have more pressing matters."
"Nah, you're fine. I'm just distracted is all. I apologize."
Sanya had become a good friend over the years. She was one of the few people she trusted now-a-days. And she, too, had lost someone close to her. Jack Botte had been killed by Wesker, dropped off a building to the zombies down below, so many years ago.
In the dark below
Evading shadows
Blind in a rabbit's hole
"Leon and Chris went on a mission together." Sanya explained, knowing whom her friend was worried over. "If I know anything of either of them, they are both stubborn.. and actually caring of the other. They will support each other and not flee when things get tough.. nor abandon when in need of help. They'll come back safe and sound, you'll see."
She rubbed her face again, heaving a sigh. "I know. Despite our past.. Leon is practically family." Claire said with a frown but she then shook her head, clearing her dark thoughts. "Anyway. I didn't call you here to fret over our friends."
"..what did you call me here for?"
Claire smiled. "I need your help with something.. something only you can do."
"That I can do? Claire, just spit it out already."
"Baby shower. For Jill. It won't be for several months but I'm gonna need help. I don't know the first thing about them." Claire confided.
A smirk sliced Sanya's face. "Gladly. My older sister had like seven kids, so I've been to plenty, haha."
We fall beneath the earth
And watch the shell come unraveled
He had never felt such pleasure, pride, happiness in all his years. The death of Spencer, the fall of Umbrella, the creation of the T-Virus.. it all paled in this moment. The sharp yell of denial from Leon drove the nail home as Chris' body collapsed onto it's side. He replaced the glasses onto his face, wiping his bloodied fingers against the jacket Chris had worn before rising to his full height.
He turned his gaze to see Eliza's beaming grin.. and the red-tinted face of Kennedy. "You're no threat to me, Kennedy, so if you value your life I would suggest pulling a retreat. Your 'friend' has already fallen-"
"Fallen?" They all turned to the voice, startled as it coughed. Chris blinked up at Wesker, struggling to rise to his feet. He was laying with his hands pressed against the concrete, his frame half lifted as if doing push-ups.
"Ah, we cannot have this." Wesker tsk'd before stepping back over. He gripped the sides of Chris' head, who didn't currently have the strength to stop him or even really move, jerking it to the side with a resounding crack of bones. He jabbed his fingers into the neck, severing more bones and promptly decapitating the former S.T.A.R.S. sharpshooter. "Even an infected of your caliber cannot return from that." Wesker snapped with a scoff. Leon got up and practically scampered out of the room. There was no way he could logically beat two infected on his own.
"I believe the saying is.. two birds, one stone?" Eliza quipped from her spot as he turned to study her.
"Who are you?"
She closed her eyes, tilted her head and smiled with sincerity from what he could gauge. "I'm Eliza. Once in my life I was called Irma Wesker. And I'm someone that wishes to seek an alliance with the ever-great doctor Albert Wesker."
As the seed begins to rise
Embracing its starlit fate as we wait in the night
It's written in the walls