Uroboros: Resident Evil V
Chapter Thirty: Excella Gionne
As soon as the search was completed, the platform's computer system brought up the requested file, and it was her. Chris still didn't understand why Jill's hair was blonde all of a sudden, but the important thing was that the image that accompanied her file was the exact same one that had been stored on Irving's PDA, so of course the Agent clicked YES when asked if he wanted to access the selected pod. Now there was a loud hiss as something was felt unlocking with a hard thud underneath their feet, and then the whole platform began to move.
He should have guessed that the room's platform was also a service lift, since how the hell else would the people in charge of these experiments be able to get to each container? Heading down into the lower levels of this pod chamber or whatever it was called, Sheva put her hand over her mouth when they saw that there were even more of these pods than had been visible from above, so yeah… the victims here had to be from all over the world… making Chris wonder how many of their faces would match missing person's reports if there was the time to examine them.
Obviously Headquarters was going to be made aware of all this as soon as the two of them got back to the surface, since a satellite phone was pretty much useless underground… and then the platform stopped. That same hissing sound was produced as something beneath their feet locked into place, and now the two agents were on a different floor of the facility, complete with an access door attached by catwalk like the one they had used to exit the Umbrella part, just on a different side.
Now a spinning yellow light activated above one of the pods on the wall like it had done before, but instead of dumping out the contents, an arm extended out from in the wall behind it. Slowly the pod was brought over to the edge of the platform, where pressurized gas and water were released as the container's outer covering was opened to reveal… nothing. As the heated steam cleared, Chris saw that the restraints and safety bar for holding the subject were in place, but there was no sign of his old partner.
"No… God damn it, no!" He yelled, punching the side of the pod. "Where is she?!"
Sheva had no way to answer that question, so the Agent turned and started walking back toward the platform's computer, figuring that maybe Jill had been moved to another pod or something. So were these people experimenting on her too, just like the poor man who had been dumped out? Had some insane Tricell scientist checked her out like a book in the damn library, and was torturing his old partner at that very moment? There had to be a way to find out, maybe the access logs or supervisor reports… but that was going to have to wait as the door on the other end of the walkway slid open.
As soon as the passageway was open, two men wearing body armor walked into the pod chamber, followed by two more, and then two more… and then two more. Quickly pressing the button on the computer that would bring the platform back to where they started, a knot formed in the Agent's stomach when a red dialogue box appeared on the screen, filled with the words ACCESS DENIED, and this feeling became worse when he got a good look at the approaching guards. They weren't wearing helmets, allowing Chris to see their discolored, cracked skin, and they were growling like the others as they stepped onto the platform… but unlike the other hostiles that they had seen so far… these ones were armed.
With AK-47's in their hands, the guards spread out so that the two agents were surrounded, keeping their rifles aimed while growling something in Swahili. The Agent already had his flare gun aimed, for all the good it would do them, but the fact that those infected with Type 2 Plagas could use firearms was a shock to him. In addition to the body armor and rifles, each guard had a pistol holstered on his belt, as well as a few grenades as if they were expecting a war to break out.
"They want us to put up our hands." The young woman translated, doing as they said. "And he says that pink gun makes you look like a ushoga."
Chris didn't know what a ushoga was, but he had a feeling that these guards were willing to gun them down if they didn't comply, so he dropped the flare gun before putting up his hands. As soon as he did, the infected closed in a little, growling something else that sounded almost like a warning, and then someone else walked into the pod room through the open door. Expecting another infected, the Agent was surprised when their latest visitor turned out to be a beautiful olive skinned woman wearing a low cut white dress and high heels.
"Making any sudden movements right now would be a bad idea." The woman warned in a thick Italian accent. "I'm actually surprised you made it past that old Licker crawling around upstairs, but I could've swore the BSAA got an order to retreat."
She didn't look or sound infected like the armed men around her, while her clothes and makeup suggested that she was in charge around here… well, that and the fact that the usually hostile infected men were ignoring her. What bothered the Agent the most was the fact that this person was aware of the order to retreat out of Kijuju, when Headquarters had just transmitted those instructions a few hours ago, meaning that she either had something to do with it, or was simply monitoring their communications… either scenario was not good.
"Who the hell are you?" Chris demanded, making sure to keep his hands up. "And where's Jill?"
"Chris, that's Excella Gionne." Sheva quietly said to him. "She's the Director of Tricell Africa… she really is the one Irving was talking about."
"My, aren't you a well-informed girl?" Excella asked, scoffing at them. "As for your precious Jill, she was no longer required for the experiments taking place in this chamber, but we can always use another volunteer… put her in the pod."
Without hesitation, the nearest three armed men grabbed Sheva as soon as the orders left the woman's mouth, two of them holding her arms while the third slammed the stock of his rifle into her stomach hard enough to knock the wind out of the young woman as she bent forward. The Agent tried to help her, but quickly found himself being restrained by the three closest to him, still leaving two of the infected to guard Excella as the two agents struggled against their captors.
Chris managed to punch one in the face and shove him away to avoid being grabbed, but then his vision tilted to the side after the stock of another rifle struck him in the side of the head with a hard whack. This blow staggered the Agent enough for one of his assailants to kick his legs out from under him, with all three of them diving on top of him as soon as he fell on his face, and now they were twisting his wrists behind his back, forcing Chris to watch as his partner was being dragged toward Jill's empty pod.
The young woman fought them off for a couple seconds, which was impressive after that blow to the stomach she took, but soon Sheva was overpowered and restrained just like her partner. One of the infected pulled her hair to keep the young woman off balance by tilting her head back as far as it would go, while the others kept her arms twisted, with one of them using his free hand to slug her in the mouth when she tried kicking at them in a desperate attempt to get away.
"Wacha niende!" Sheva shrieked, struggling against them but not getting anywhere. "Chris, help me! Help! No… no, usiniweke huko!"
"Sheva!" Chris yelled, unable to free himself either. "Let her go, Excella! Do what you want with me, just let Sheva go!"
In response, the woman laughed, commenting that no one was going to miss another nameless peasant, just like no one ever came looking for the thousands of vagrants and drifters that already occupied the pods. If Umbrella had been smart, they would have done the same thing, and Excella laughed while saying that the company should have been harvesting the useless savages of this continent, instead of driving them off their land in order to try extracting some ancient virus from those ridiculous flowers upstairs.
For a second the Agent managed to get one of his arms free, but this attempt to help Sheva was short lived, since it was stopped by Excella giving him a hard kick to the mouth with the pointed front of her shoe. The young woman fought harder and more desperately as they armed men got her up to the edge of the pod, even managing to free herself completely after kicking one so that he fell right over the edge of the platform, but again this was stopped by Excella when she casually walked up behind the young woman while taking a small device out of her purse.
Since she was still struggling to fight off the other two, there was no way for Sheva to avoid having the device pressed into her lower back, and then the young woman let out a high pitch shriek when fifty thousand volts were sent through her body. The armed men let go of her as she collapsed, but Excella wasn't done with her just yet; pulling her hair to force Sheva up to her knees, and then making her whole body convulse when the stun gun was discharged into the back of her neck. Keeping the self-defense weapon pressed into her even after she fell back down, the woman kept this up until the whole battery was drained almost a minute later, and now the infected had no trouble moving Sheva around as they pleased.
"Hapana… tafadhali." She said weakly as they forced her inside. "Chris niokoe… ninaogopa."
But there was nothing the Agent could do as they locked the restraints around her ankles, wrists, and neck, pressing a button on the side of the frame to make to pod slowly close, and then Chris lost sight of her when a bunch of pressurized gas was released inside, fogging up the viewing window. Now that this was over, the infected picked him up to his feet, holding the Agent in place while the others joined them, and then he was face to face with Excella.
"Look, hey… don't do this, all right?" The Agent begged, glancing back at the pod. "You've got us, and there's nothing we can do, just please let Sheva out of there."
"Don't worry, someday we'll get around to making use out of her… maybe." The woman said coldly while putting the stun gun back in her purse. "But, since we wouldn't want you feeling left out, and you did offer for me to do what I want with you, I have an opportunity for someone with your skills that you might find interesting… follow me, please."
As soon as Excella turned to walk back toward the door she came in through, the infected pushed Chris forward, keeping his body completely restrained so that there was no way for him to fight back as he was led away from the platform, and toward another part of the base where… where who even knew what was waiting for him?