Twenty Five
May 23rd 1978, inside Umbrella Europe HQ, Paris.
The Executive Board of Umbrella arrived inside the compound from each of their own areas by helicopter, having been called to convene in a meeting concerning Umbrella's recent troubles by Director Henri. All the higher-ups, Directors Takashi, Claxton, Bienn, Vladimir, McVarian, Lord Spencer and his secretary Laura arrived by helicopter and each of them were saluted by every guard on the grounds as they proceeded into the extravagant palace that was Umbrella Europe HQ.
The Europe Headquarters was a large mansion that resided on the outskirts of France, surrounded by a large open courtyard filled with marble sculptures and fountains at the front entrance, sealed of by large stone walls that stretched around the estate with a huge iron gate embroidered with the red and white Umbrella logo. At the back of the estate was a large hedge maze with a small seating area placed at the center and a pool was placed in front of it near the back entrance, surrounded by a tile floor with parasols put up over deck chairs sitting out towards the pool.
The inside of the mansion was a reflection of the splendour and perfection that Christina Henri showed in her personality aside from her 'ice-queen' persona. The main hall expanded to at least thirty feet above them and was a wide array of interconnecting arches ending in small, golden chandeliers at each point, several light bulbs disguised as candles illuminating the scene before them. The carved oaken door opened onto a long crimson red carpet that led towards the grand staircase before them, which curved to the right and left in two branches, the tile floor of the hall so finely polished and cleaned that one could their own reflection in it.
Spencer found this mansion to be lot like his own estate except for several changes in the interior and exterior design, but otherwise, the mansions could be seen as non-identical twins, seeing as how both mansions had a essence of splendor, magnificence and architectural perfection. He briefly wondered if Henri had ever asked George Trevor to create a mansion for her earlier in her career but dismissed the thought immediately; Trevor was dead and buried along with his wife, whilst his daughter was still providing groundbreaking new research topics for them to focus on.
"Welcome ladies and gentlemen," Christina announced from the grand staircase, catching the attention of the other directors, "to my most humble abode. It pleases me that you have arrived in time for our meeting."
Director Henri was dressed a crisp black, button-up blazer with matching skirt and heels, with a white, freshly-ironed, buttoned-up shirt beneath it. Her hair was held up in a ponytail by a black hair band, and her face was as cold and indifferent as ever, except for the slight smile of appreciation towards the other directors for coming.
The other directors wore similar styles of clothing with them being black suits, white shirts, matching trousers (or skirts for women) and shoes. Though each of them had an accessory that differentiated them from each other, such as Spencer's cane, Takashi's signet ring, Claxton's head-scarf, Bienn's huge golden bracelet and several platinum rings, McVarian's three-crowns on his shoulder and Sergei's cyan-blue trench coat.
Spencer bowed in courtesy. "It is an honor beyond measure to be here, my dear," he replied, to which Christina returned with a curtsy.
Her expression back to the cold, business manner she was notorious for and she turned around to head back up the stairs. "We should proceed with the meeting. Please, come this way."
The directors of Umbrella walked through the many halls of the Henri estate, occasionally glancing at the pieces of art and sculptures that sat on the walls or cabinets placed throughout the many rooms, receiving salutes from the guards that they passed on the way. They soon came to a large conference room on the west wing of the estate, which overlooked the forest that lay outside the estate walls. The conference room consisted of a large circular table that had five leather armchairs positioned around it in a pentagon shape so that they could see the projector screen behind them. Two large windows were placed at the opposite end of the room, letting in huge shafts of sunlight to brighten up the room with crimson red curtains placed on either side of the windows, held back by a golden-colored rope.
Each of them took a seat, with Spencer being at the head of the table, followed clockwise was Henri, Takashi, Bienn and Claxton, with Sergei, McVarian and Laura standing behind Spencer.
Henri clicked her fingers and one of the guards brought in two manila folders, placing them in front of Henri and left. Henri opened up one of the folders and pulled out several reports from each of their Monitor Agents stationed across the globe, putting back those that she didn't think were important.
She picked up a remote control from her pocket and clicked it, the projector screen lighting up to reveal the village that had been destroyed by Alpha-4 to stop a Progenitor outbreak.
"As you know, this was the first time that we had a leak in one of our facilities ever since the founding of Umbrella. We had not been able to determine the cause of the leak and how it managed to spread to the outside when the White Queen should have sealed off the facility to prevent the infection from spreading." She clicked the button again and the image switched to a desert plateau that had erupted into a giant mushroom cloud. "Then, at 1231 hours, January 1972, this facility in Utah, approximately 150 miles away from Salt Lake City suffered a biohazard outbreak and we sent in the USF to quell the situation. It was a successful mission, but there was 99 fatality rate of the troops." She clicked the button again to reveal a part of the Amazon jungle being demolished by an explosion. "Then, at 0012 hours on April 1975, there was a leak at one of our most important facilities in South America. Once again, we sent in the USF and, as with the previous two missions, 99 were reported killed," she explained, passing out the reports.
After reading one of the reports thoroughly, Takashi spoke up.
"Was there anything at all from the incidents that we could use for future endeavors?" he asked, passing the report across the table to Bienn.
Bienn cleared his throat. "Yes, there is. It seems that some of the research staff had survived the initial leaks in the research facility, despite direct exposure to the virus itself. As of yet, we are working to find out why this is so and sending our findings to other labs in different continents for their own theories to be tested," he explained.
"Plus, the Twin Queens would have got all the combat data we needed on the mutants and infected for us to see if they will make good B.O.Ws. And they will have most definitely erased any evidence of our involvement," Claxton informed them.
Spencer held out his left hand and Laura handed him his sliver cigar case. "Who was the man who completed the assignments?" he asked.
McVarian tossed a report onto the table. "It was the same man who accomplished the mission in Africa. John Doe," he said.
Spencer looked at the file and saw the picture of the sole surviving USF soldier that had returned from the Africa mission along with the surviving head scientist and all the research data.
"So he was the only survivor from Alpha Team on the African mission," Takashi stated, not phrasing it as a question.
"And the Amazon mission, along with the Utah Mission. He has always been in Alpha Team as the fourth soldier and has always survived every mission he does. When the other teams were all wiped out, he has accomplished all the missions with deadly efficiency and great determination. I guess he really is as his catch phrase says he is 'The Death cannot die'," McVarian informed, smiling slightly as he said the phrase that Alpha-4 always used as a motto.
Claxton looked at the report, pursing her lips. "Is John Doe his real name?" she asked, not taking her eyes from the paper.
"Not really. It's just the name we give him when we write his reports. We don't who he really is, where he was born or if he has any family. The only thing we do know about him is that he was born in 1954, was a gangster for most of his childhood and we had picked him up in New York at the age of fourteen, completed training in two years and has been with us for now a full decade. He is also quite a legend in the force and has been given three nicknames, as a mark of respect, though he prefers to be referred to by the last," McVarian explained.
"What are his code names?" Bienn asked.
"He is called John Doe, as you can see in the report, and 'Mr Death' or 'HUNK' by the soldiers," McVarian listed, ticking the names off on his fingers.
Henri chuckled slightly. "Charming names," she muttered with a hint of sarcasm. "Where did they come up with that?"
"As he is the only surviving man on any mission he goes on, people have begun to believe that he has immense amount of good luck and skill that prevents him from being killed, no matter how badly injured he is. So some have decided to call him the 'Human Unit Never Killed' or Hunk for short. And the other name just comes from the fact that he always survives and completes the mission whilst all his comrades are killed, so they have started to call him Mr Death," he explained.
Henri shook her head, still smiling. "Still rather strange though."
"They soldiers, director, not poets," Spencer retorted.
Takashi tapped his fingers in a rhythm on the table as he was thought over what was said. "If this soldier has stopped all the outbreaks from spreading and all the data is safely stored in the Twin Queens, then why are we here? What is the purpose of this meeting?" he asked.
Christina Henri's face turned back to the indifferent expression she always wore and clicked a button on the screen again to show the picture of a fifteen year old girl. She had peachy-toned skin with pearly-white teeth, her brown hair was cut short, just lightly touching her shoulders, her smile and baby-blue eyes shining with the innocence and freedom that all youth had.
"This girl disappeared on the 1st May and hasn't been seen since," Henri stated turning back to face them.
Sergei twirled his blade around in his left hand. "What does the child have anything to do with us?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.
Henri pulled out a small tape recorder and pushed the play button.
"Heather, baby, if you are out there and you can hear us, please come home. We are so worried about you, me, your father, your friends. Please just come home. Jus...jus...just come home," a woman's voice begged, her voice shaking with immense grief and sadness, followed by her sorrowful crying as she lost her resolve.
Just as Spencer was about to ask how this was important, Henri held up her hand and forwarded the tape slightly before playing again. The voice of reporter could be heard clearly above the sounds of cameras taking pictures, people asking questions and the police calling for calm.
"This was a live broadcast in front of the Raccoon City Hall on the press conference for Heather Celia Harris, who has been missing for 22 days and hasn't been heard from since. Her last known location before her disappearance was that she had been jogging along a mountain road in the northern range of the Arklay mountains early on April 30th. There has yet to be a ransom demand and no word on the current condition of the missing girl. Police Chief Eric Simmons has ensured the Harris family that their daughter will be returned home safely and the R.P.D is currently investigating the region where the girl had last be seen heading towards. More on the story, as it develops. Elle Bracken, Raccoon Daily News, City Hall."
Spencer's eyes went wide as petri-dishes and he clutched his chest as his heart started pounding relentlessly against his ribs, losing his ability to breath. McVarian and Sergei rushed to his side as his breath came out in wheezy gasps, Laura reaching inside her briefcase for a bottle of Metoprolol and handing him the pill then a glass of water for him to down it.
"You must be careful of your blood pressure, Lord Spencer," Laura warned, placing the drink on the table in front of him.
The other higher-ups were all standing up in alert after their leader started to have a breathing struggle but all slowly sat back down once they were sure his condition was okay. Spencer flipped open his cigar case and pulled out a cigar with shaky hands, placed it between his lips, taking out his lighter and lighting it, and placed it between his lips.
As he deeply inhaled on the smoke and the nicotine flooded through his system, calming down his nerves, his mind went back to the subject of that news report. He didn't know anything about the girl herself, assuming that she was just an ordinary civilian, but he certainly knew the location of where she disappeared. Or more accurately, he knew of the significance of that location, having supervised the construction of an important building that the corporation used once they had purchased the land.
It's right near the Training Facility.
The trail she had disappeared from was only a five mile walk away from the facility grounds if one left via the emergency exit in the treatment plant's underground heliport. The security staff had orders to patrol that area secretly, keeping out of sight of civilians and to not detain them, unless they showed any sign of exploring the area and getting too close to the facility's compound.
But she had been just an ordinary girl doing a simple habit of jogging to keep her physical figure in shape and to stay healthy. So why would the security kidnap the girl when she was barely a threat? Why did they kidnap her and risk bringing the public eye down on their work with the police now conducting an investigation of the area? It was all too incompetent and stupid.
"That's not all," Sergei declared.
Everyone looked up to him in curiosity and astonishment at what he said. Spencer narrowed his eyes slightly and took another inhale on his cigar.
"What else has happened?" he asked, the cigar smoke masking his face in a small haze of gray smoke.
Sergei pulled out a small radio from his belt and pushed the 'Respond' button, speaking quickly in Russian to the person on the other end. The conversation lasted ten minutes before Sergei turned off the radio and clipped it to his belt.
"What was that about?" Henri asked.
"As per Lord Spencer's orders, I had several Monitor Agents keep their eyes on Dr Marcus as we believe that he is up to something and may be turning into a threat. The growing evidence of his fading sanity and that he is refusing to provide updates on his work is reason enough for us to send the Agents. But recently, one of our Agents had went missing, most likely from discovering something that Marcus didn't want him to. So the best agent at our disposal had searched throughout Marcus' laboratories and the treatment plant, and has unearthed some startling new evidence that I think you should see," Sergei explained.
The doors of the conference room opened and a soldier dressed in a black military uniform stepped inside, standing to attention as he got near the table. He had short white hair, cold green eyes and seemed to keep himself in good physical shape; but what really startled Spencer about this soldier was that he looked a lot like a child.
The soldier snapped a salute at the directors, eyes focused on the wall behind them. "Sergeant Nicholai Ginoveaf. Reporting as per requested, directors," he stated and stood at ease, snapping his arm back in place.
"How old are you, soldier?" Claxton asked, arching an eyebrow at him from behind her head-scarf.
"I am fifteen years of age, going on sixteen, ma'am," he answered.
Spencer calmly inhaled and exhaled on his cigar. "Only fifteen? Still quite young? Sergei must have you in high regard to employ at such a young age," he stated.
"Nicholai's father was one of my most trusted men in the Red Army. Alexei Ginoveaf and I served with each other throughout WWII against the Nazis, from Stalingrad to the conquest of the Reichstag. Nicholai is a lot like his father in that they are both highly-skilled and trustworthy soldiers for us to employ. He is one of the best in Monitor that we have," Sergei declared.
Nicholai cleared his throat uneasily in embarassment and pulled out a small CD from his pocket and slid it inside the projector. He held out his hand towards Director Henri and she handed him the remote; he pressed the button and on the screen came up a list of names.
"These dozen people had all disappeared around or in the area of the training facility and treatment plant in the Arklay mountains. The time that they had started disappearing was after April 30th, when the first person went missing," Nicholai began, scrawling down the list of names to the end.
"Who were these people?" Bienn asked, rubbing his rings nervously.
"Well, half of them were civilians who strayed too near the area. First, there was a family of four people, husband and wife with two sons, who were living in a cabin a few miles away from the facility's western perimeter. Then, it was a tramp that had strayed too close to the perimeter and was detained by security. Finally, there was that girl on the news who went missing whilst jogging along the trail nearby," he answered, bringing up pictures of each person.
"That was only half. What about the rest?" Takashi asked.
"That's the disturbing point. The other half dozen were Umbrella employees," he simply responded.
Everyone, including Spencer, gasped in surprise and shock at this news. At first, they had thought that the security was just detaining them for trespassing on their property. But now they realized that someone was abducting their own employees from the facility.
"The employees who disappeared," Nicholai continued, "were one security guard, three scientists in training and two Monitor Agents."
Spencer clenched his cane tighter, thinking that he knew in the back of his mind where this was heading. "Did you find them?" he asked in a dark tone of voice.
"Yes, we did," Nicholai replied simply.
Nicholai clicked the button again and the screen to show a horrifying image of several skeletons piled under a sewer grating, covered in slime and sewage water falling from the roof waterfall.
"These skeletons are the remains of all the missing people. Apparently, they had been used in some kind of experiment and were killed during the process. The disposal staff had been given orders not to inform anyone about these bodies or who had ordered them disposed, though the threat of being executed for endangering the corporation soon got them talking," Nicholai explained.
"Who ordered the disposal of the bodies?" McVarian asked, although, like Spencer, he had a pretty good idea who was behind it.
Nicholai glanced at all of them before taking a deep breath. "Dr James Marcus," he announced.
Everyone in the room gasped slightly, except for Spencer who clenched his cane incredibly tightly, his face going red with rage and a low snarl escaped his throat.
He had always suspected that this would happen, that Marcus would become overly obsessed with his work and begin to plunge into the depths of insanity, risking everything that they had worked for to get to their current positions in life, all because he couldn't except the reason that he was in the employment of Umbrella and that he would ALWAYS answer to them, no matter what he thought.
But now, he was putting themselves in considerable danger by abducting that girl and family near the training facility, causing the public of Raccoon City to worry and the local police force to investigate the area. That trail was precariously close to the treatment plant perimeter and there was the chance that the police may spot the unmarked trucks leaving the perimeter along the trail, carrying a full load of burnt bodies to be destroyed.
Although Umbrella had a large substantial influence of control of Raccoon City, and was gaining considerable control all over the globe, they still had risks of being brought to light and convicted because they still had much more that they needed to own, more people to control and more power to grant themselves to. The corporation had only been formed a decade ago and their control over the world at the moment was huge, but if anyone that they didn't control discover what they were up to, the game was over.
All of Raccoon City's most powerful figures, such as Mayor Andrews, the Zoning Board, waterworks and power stations, the pubic Trading Board, the Chief of Police Eric Simmons and most of the civil service were under Umbrella's thumb, but there were still those that they had no power over and would go blabbing about their research if it was discovered. Thus Marcus was really playing with fire this time around and was getting them all burnt.
But what really poured salt into the wound was the fact that he was using Umbrella employees as specimens for his work. That facility was constructed to train suitable candidates to become the ideal employees they wanted them to be, to create future workers, rulers and soldiers of Umbrella Inc, not to use as test subjects in a pointless research endeavor. Marcus was forsaking everything they had accomplished, everything that they still needed to do and was ignoring the point about the value of those trainees would be in the near future expansions of their work.
"But, there is something far more important that you should know," Nicholai announced, pulling out a folder and sliding it across the table to be seated in front of Spencer.
Spencer picked up the folder and opened it, reading through the contents. As the words began to register and sink into his mind, his face remained stoic but in the back of his mind, his anger washed over him like a black tide blocked off by a dam.
"Apparently, Dr Marcus had developed a superior virus to the Progenitor using generational-bred leeches and the Progenitor itself to combine both of their genetic structures to change it into a more powerful virus. However, Marcus has taken it into his head that he can take down Lord Spencer if he continues to work on this 'Tyrant-Virus' and since his specimen supply has been greatly downgraded and diminished, he is starting to abduct any unfortunate people he can use for his work," Nicholai informed them, turning of the projector and standing at ease.
If the news about Marcus' abductions of civilians and employees wasn't bad enough or the fact that the police were precariously close to finding out about their work, but the fact about this revelation that Marcus had developed a new, more powerful virus without informing anyone of this endeavor and hoarding it in his possession, was kidnapping people in his bid to make himself more powerful. And the impudence, the audacity,of the situation was that he was aiming to take down Spencer and remove him from power in Umbrella's hierarchy.
I helped to make Umbrella. I gave HIM the funding to find the Mother Virus, to create the Progenitor and to create the T-Virus. I played my part in this, I deserve my share in this for everything that I have done to keep his work safe. And he has the nerve to try and take ME down, and destroy what I have accomplished in the long-run of my career. Umbrella is MINE!
Spencer growled and slammed his hand hard on his cigar case with such force, despite the fact that it was silver, had crushed it and the cigars inside to nothing but a mess of metal and ash.
I must teach him a lesson. And at the same time, I'll test Birkin and Wesker's loyalties to me.
Spencer had thought over what to do about Marcus' protegee students as they had to receive a reward for their continuing work and loyalty. They had made a very good reputation amongst the training facility staff, had made good advances with how limited the Progenitor was and had always kept up to speed with updating the board on how their progress went. And on top of that, both of them showed that they had loyalty towards Spencer and Umbrella, and had great future promise in the company's research.
But Spencer knew that what they had done so far was not a true test of their loyalties as they might have kept up to speed on work and information update more out of fear and common sense rather than out of loyalty. Though Birkin was the one he knew would be fairly reliable because all Birkin cared for at the moment was his work, not moving up the hierarchy scale in the corporation so Spencer had no worries about him; all he needed to do was hand Birkin something new and promising to work on, and he would work on it.
But Wesker was the one Spencer really needed to check about where his loyalties lay in Umbrella. Wesker was the more smarter of the two in terms of people and had all the necessary diplomas, degrees, qualifications and praises to proof it. Athough Spencer had read the reports about how exceptional Wesker was in his work and working with other in his position as Head Researcher, how he treated them well and always made sure the lab ran efficiently.
But, as a sideline in the reports, it had also been noted that he usually followed his own rules whilst coinciding with others in order to to fulfill his ambitions. So Spencer had to ascertain whether or not his ambitions were all about just proceeding up the ranks of the research rather than trying to take down Spencer.
Though if he does prove his worth with what I have in mind, then he and Birkin will continue Marcus' work.
Spencer liked to believe in rewarding all those he saw as his friends or who showed undying loyalty, giving either a place of power in his business endeavors or giving a new opportunity to take. It helped to cement their allegiance with him and create the illusion that he was always thinking what was best for them, when he only thought what was best for them because they would continue to work on their research in order to repay for his generosity.
It all just ended up coming back to what was best for the company and for Spencer's business power in the long run.
He stood up in his chair. "Well, ladies and gentlemen. You needn't worry about this situation. I will take care of it personally," he announced.
Everyone in the room all looked at him in curiosity and confusion as he walked out of the room, the guards snapping to attention as he stepped through the doors and proceeded down the halls. He walked through the hallways until he reached the front garden where the helicopter was waiting to lift off and take him back to Raccoon City, the rotors spinning in fast succession that it caused a gust of wind to blow his long white hair about his head like a silver wave.
He looked behind him as he could hear the sound of stilettoes coming up towrds him and saw Laura hurrying over to him.
She took in a few deep breaths before she looked at him square in the face, her own cheeks red from having to run to catch up to him.
"Is there anything you wish for me to do sir?" she asked, her voice strained with exhaustion.
He nodded. "When we get back, have a meeting set up between me, Wesker and Birkin in mid-June. I need to discuss things with them, about themselves and their work, and to see what opinion they have of Marcus," he explained.
Laura nodded and she nodded towards the co-pilot standing outside the helicopter. He saluted and opened the side hatch, waiting patiently for them to get in before he slammed it shut and got into his seat in the cockpit. Spencer sat on one of the benches at the far side of the cabin nearest to the window, Laura seated across from him on the chair behind the pilot, the sounds of the helicopter reduced to a dull humming sound, like a swarm of bumble-bees.
He thought briefly about what would happen soon. He knew that he had to...'retire' Marcus earlier than expected and have his research passed on to the capable and obedient ones, such as Wesker and Birkin, but he still needed to be careful. He had to make it seem like that he had confronted Marcus with evidence of his crimes and sealed him away on the Rockfort Island Prison Facility that Alexander Ashford had loaned to them, so that the higher-ups will be glad that the matter was resolved.
But if it was made out that he had Marcus killed, that would create a much greater problem for him, and his career and life would up like Marcus' would soon, expendable. As the board had seen, Marcus was now planning to take down Spencer by creating a greater power with the T-Virus to fight him with. If they were to find out that Marcus was killed, the board would immediately link it to Spencer because of Marcus' plans to take him out of power and say he did it out of paranoia, similar to Marcus with his work. And the board all had their own sectors in Umbrella, their own influence in the hierarchy, their power and control to utilizise to protect themselves, as they would come to believe that Spencer would kill them next and have him taken out first.
It was a dangerous game Spencer was playing and he had to make sure every move was thoroughly thought through, otherwise everything would come crashing down on him like a tonne of bricks.
This was an important step in Spencer's career and he had to make sure it went perfectly. Because if it didn't, the ramifications would haunt him for the rest of his life...
It's almost ready. The power to take down the Tyrant of Umbrella's hierarchy is almost finished. With my precious leeches and the awesome might of the T-Virus, I will take down Spencer for good and then the work will belong to me. Your king is exposed, Oswell, and I move in for the kill with my queen. Checkmate!
Marcus felt ecstatic and giddy with anticipation as he watched the results continue to pile in from the computer scans, notes written down and experiments conducted, all of them showing positive results that the leeches were growing stronger, stronger than any other bio-weapon that they had created in years.
Their growing in power had been evident over the past few weeks, with the way they behaved, attacked, fed and lived with each other had changed altogether. It was all down to the fact that the leeches had developed something that the other bio-weapons couldn't ever have when they were infected with the Progenitor, the leeches had been bestowed with the gift of intelligence and sentient thought, which was amazing considering that, as the T-Virus was made from the Progenitor itself, the infection of the brain should have killed of higher-brain cells as the mutations would kill of the cells whilst changing the DNA in the nucleus.
But somehow, the leeches higher-brain function had increased to a humanoid level instead of decreasing to a violent, enraged, primal state.
He leaned back in his chair and smiled, his thoughts going over everything that had occurred in the experiment. At first, when he started the experiments, all the leeches had done was constantly eat everything he gave them as their appetite had become extremely ravenous due to the mutations that they had undergone such as the increase in size, teeth having elongated and an eye developing on their backs. But their appetite had gone to such high extremes that Marcus had some trouble keeping his food supply quantible enough to keep feeding them and they had resorted to cannibalism.
Marcus had managed to get the supply back up and running but two of the leeches had already been eaten. The problem was that Spencer had cut his supply down to a short number of rodents being permitted to him for his experiments, but he had managed to persuade the Specimen Holding Staff to double the amount he could have and he soon managed to keep up with the leeches appetite.
Although, there was another incident in which, surprisingly enough, that he had lost half of the leeches.
Some of the rodents he had been given a bundle of huge sewer rats, huge and overweight ones, and he had placed them all in the tank to feed the leeches, deciding to feed them all the rats as to quench their hunger briefly. But the rats had been very vicious and bloodthirsty, thus a nasty feud had sparked between them and the leeches, resulting in all the rats being eaten and half of the leeches having been killed, thanks to the rats group attack behaviour.
He had decided to put the experiment on hold after that, one to give the leeches a chance to replenish their numbers, and two so that he could get some rest after having a complete shock from that incident. He had never the rats to be able to kill so many of the leeches, after all since the leeches had been significantly enhancedd through continuous mutation and reproduction-cellular-bonding between the virus and the leeches DNA. And the rats were just common, ordinary sewer rats that Umbrella had secured from the New York sewer system, as some of the sewage workers were on Umbrella's payroll at the moment.
But the leeches began to show of their newly-obtained intellect a few days after. Somehow, they had managed to learn something from the rats attack against them, as they soon began to attack in groups; at first, they attacked individually one after the other, as if in a hurrying queue to get the last remaining item on the big trend in a mall. Yet now they showed planning, an ability to learn from experience as they soon started to attack in a group fashion. They now swarmed over their prey in a large group of ten-twenty leeches each, constantly retreating in case of any dangerous attack and counter-attacking by swarming over them again, killing them quickly by mainly focusing on borrowing inside their prey and feasting on their internal organs.
Birds also provided a valuable lesson to them. Since birds could fly, it took the leeches to eat it because the bird kept flying around the tank to avoid the leeches, which it did so effortlessly, to Marcus' chargin. But soon, one of the leeches had managed to jump at the bird, pushing itself of the wall in a quick burst of motion, and the others had quickly adapted and learned this method, thus they managed to down and consume the bird.
Now, his leeches could fully devour a fully-grown animal in under ten seconds, give or take a few extra seconds depending on how big the animal was.
But with a human, it took 10-15 minutes to devour it enough for the leeches to kill it.
I really must thanks those humans for 'assisting' me in my work. I can't take all the credit after all.
A slight smirk appeared on his face at that train of thought. Ever since he had began feeding live human specimens to the leeches, their rate of growth, mutation and reproduction had dramatically increased, surpassing all of Marcus' expectations. The leeches were now able to produce double their numbers in just under an hour and had now ceased cannibalism, as if having eaten the human specimens had somehow taught them that eating ones own kind was wrong in every possible sense, though he deduced it to be another example of evolution in their behavior, in which was becoming more group-oriented.
This behavior had increased further to such a large extent that they began to show group behavior in everything they did, even when not feeding. They moved around as a collective, each and every one of them was now part of a small group that coincided with the other groups in sharing their habitat equally amongst themselves, sliding across the glass in their smalls group, none of the leeches ever breaking away from each other to be on their own. They never showed any hint of hostility towards themselves, only cooperation and unification displayed as a whole amongst them, and any hint of individuality was, quite literally, erased from their behavior.
In addition, along with their behavior change, their attitude towards Marcus seemed to change. The leeches were now constantly watching him, waiting for him to say something for them to do, staring at him from behind the glass with an emotion of affection and love that children displayed to their parents. They always cooed at him when he entered the lab to begin his work, seeming to greet him every morning before he would work with them.
I can't say I work 'on' them. To me, they are no longer just some pointless specimens, they are my most precious helpers. I could never treat them as something to maim and discard like a killer would treat his victims.
Despite the fact that the leeches displaying emotions towards him was shocking indeed, since they were supposed to be simple organisms that were unable to show any hint of human emotions, he found it more shocking that he was returning their emotions with equal affection. He knew that he had began to see them differently ever since he had began working with them to find a way of destroying Spencer, but he had never once thought that it had to be something deeper than just looking after his work.
He had usually thought that the only reason to protect them was because that they were infected with the Tyrant-Virus, his life's greatest achievement, and if they were caught, Spencer would have the virus taken from their bodies and everything Marcus had worked for would be lost. But his views had been altered into something else, something...different.
He had made them what they are, had infected them with the Progenitor, had started their first experiment together decades ago, had always referred back to them with any results he obtained, had raised them from their simple, ordinary existence into something far greater than anything in existence.
He had become, and was still, the only family they possessed aside from each other.
Family. That's what they are, my family. My precious children.
Marcus closed his eyes and smiled in the most purest of joy, tears of happiness rolling down his face. Being the certifiable genius that he was and having served in WWII with the American Army, he had rarely been given a chance to spend some real 'family time' with his parents, always staying focused on his work and forsaking them, letting become simple objects in a background like wallpaper and lights. And although he had made numerous promises, to himself and his parents, to spend quality time with them, he never received the chance.
They had both been killed at Pearl Harbor. His father was the leading doctor at one of the hospitals, along with his mother as the Head Nurse, and they had been responsible for trying to treat as many of the injured as they could. Until a Japanese bomber had dropped its payload on the hospital and blew it to a pile of rubble, everyone in and near the building reported killed by the blast.
After that, he was alone. Even when Spencer, him and Ashford had become so-called 'friends', he was still alone. Because Spencer only cared about himself and Ashford, although he and Marcus got along well together, was under Spencer's thumb. But Marcus had gotten used it and had coped with the pangs of loneliness that echoed in his mind, ignoring them whenever they occurred and forcing himself to become enthralled in his work.
But the feelings were always there, lurking beneath his feigned perfect lifestyle that he had adopted, the worm chewing through the apple.
Now though, he had a new family, a greater family that he adored above everything else to spend time with and a second chance to have what was denied to him. They were the children and he was the father. They showed him nothing but love and affection, always obedient and willing to do whatever he told to do. And in return, he would show them the same love and affection they gave him, and he would protect them from those who would mistreat them and diminish them, such as Spencer.
Marcus' smile vanished and his face immediately turned into a vicious, enraged scowl, his hands gripping his desk so hard that his fingers ached from the strain. He knew that Spencer was now going to come and kill, taking whatever he could use from Marcus' work in the process, such as the leeches. Marcus had been aware of the risks of abducting live human specimens for his work would have caught Spencer's attention and give enough reason to have him 'removed' from his position. But he had come so far and if Spencer thought that he could fuck him over like everyone else who worked for him, claiming possession of his leeches and use them in whatever way he wanted them to, then he would have to think again.
I made this new virus! It belongs to me and my precious leeches!! Spencer didn't make it, he had no part in it! HE HAS NO RIGHT!!!
His thoughts were soon jarred from his head as he heard the sound of thickly-clotted water running and the leeches calling for him with a soft, cooing sound. He turned around to see what they were doing and his eyes widened in shock, his entire body going rigid and his mind black as he gazed at the sight before him.
The leeches inside the tank had all formed together, becoming a great, large mass of moving black creatures. As more and more leeches joined with the growing pile, it began to grow and take shape into a bipedal form. The leeches grew to Marcus' exact height, crawling over each other and sticking themselves together by hardening the slime between each of them, forming a towering misshapen form. Then the lower half of the mass split in half, becoming what looked like legs and a waist to hold up the upper-half of the form; the leeches then began to form what looked like arms and shoulders, the hands at the end looking like clubs that Stone Age men would make from rocks and sticks.
It then began to grow a neck and a head, making the leeches form look vaguely human in resemblance. But, the leeches soon began to change their looks, their skin changing color and texture, changing into what looked like a suit, tie and everything that one would find on a suit.
But the most amazing part about the leeches transformation was the face, it was an exact copy of Marcus himself.
The leeches had become a mimicry of their father.
Marcus stepped forward in wonderment and ecstacy at the sight of his leeches. Somehow, they had learned the ability of camouflage, allowing them to blend into their surroundings to make them invisible, as a chameleon would, but they had managed to adapt it to such an extent that they could transform themselves into the resemblance of a living human being.
And they see me as their father.
Marcus knew that this was the prove that the leeches were his children, his own children, who would obey his every command to the letter, who would help him cast aside their enemies like civilizations at the sands of time. He know had in his the power he needed to crush Spencer and finally ensure that he, his work and his leeches would remain safe from that ignorant, bigoted, mindless, old fool.
He stumbled back to the desk, swaggering in his footsteps as he couldn't focus on moving his body well, his mind being wrapped in anticipation, joy and triumph. Everything he had worked for had finally, finally, reached its climax and all he needed to do was play the final move to win this game that he had been playing with Spencer for decades. Though he had to perform some final tests as to ascertain that his leeches were really ready to begin this undertaking because rushing through this would be very dangerous and could result in an ultimate failure, leaving him wide open to be killed.
It doesn't matter, everything will soon be ready.
He picked an piece of paper from the desk and stared at the Umbrella logo printed on it with a sneer of evil delight on his face.
Spencer, my former and foolish compatriot, you have made a grave mistake in assuming that I was forever in your employment.
He picked up a scalpel.
And assumptions are the 'mother of all fuck-ups' so to speak. So, you have just fucked up.
He plunged it deep into the logo.
Big time.
He immediately threw his head and let out a long, insane cackle. Everything was now going the way it wanted it to and now, Spencer would fall and he would win the game with a brilliantly played out 'checkmate'.
But Marcus had already made a mistake, thus he had already lost to Spencer. He had failed to realize the lesson behind the saying he had placed on Spencer and how significant it would be to him. He had believed that both his most brilliant disciples were answering to him and him alone, remaining loyal to him throughout his work in making sure that it was kept out of Spencer's hands.
And now, he would come to realize that he had thought wrong of Wesker and Birkin.
Dead wrong...
Sorry for the late update! So much to do with college work and personal life!
I hope this chapter explains things well for everyone and that it is as good as the rest. Wanted to make sure I explained everything so that it made sense.
Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing this far!
And stay tuned for chapter 26!!!