Chapter Twenty-Two: Vantage

Life is like a landscape. You live in the midst of it but can describe it only from the vantage point of distance.

-Charles Lindbergh

Claire -

Whatever various things I'd considered when leaving with Wesker, and all the negative ways it could go...I hadn't pictured finding Jill as a personal robotic slave. It was bizarre, watching her just stand quietly near the door. The mask she'd been wearing nearby where Wesker had left it. I'd tried talking to her, but she hadn't replied other than to look at me. As though she were waiting orders of some kind.

I hated seeing her like this...the strange bleached out hair, the vacant expression. She was even much thinner than the last time I'd seen her...then, at least she was in one piece. I kept talking more out of nervousness than any expectation she'd answer.

"Is Wesker telling the truth about saving you?" I mused, more to myself than her. I didn't expect an answer. "I mean...given the height you fell he probably saved you somehow...but a weird mind-control drug? I know I can be a bit blind when it comes to him, but I'm not stupid. I'm sure you still have to be in there somewhere. I'll convince him to let you free."

There was nothing, no reply at all…

I sighed.

"I know you probably judge me for being with him...but I promise you, it's not that simple. I see part of him no one else can." I said, guilty for being with her when she was his puppet and I was...definitely more. At least I hoped I was? His act with Gionne had been disturbingly good and I had to admit part of my mind was quite nervous about it. Then, when I'd tried the door the Jill-bot had interrupted me. I couldn't leave, not without hurting Jill or getting hurt and I didn't want to do either of those things in the first few hours I was here. Sure, I wanted to be able to do something, but I'd gotten pretty accustomed to being alone the last week and a half.

"I know you'd probably think it stupid, but I'm gonna trust him for now." I explained, sitting on the edge of the bed. "I get he's not really a good person, but he's good to me. He's not just a monster. I can convince Wesker to let you go. He said eventually he could lower the drugs, and that was an opening. He is willing to let it happen."

Was I convincing myself, or Jill-bot?

"He's clearly up to something, again." I observed. "He keeps talking about this project, and it sounds very important to him. I am a little worried. I know I just said that he's not a monster, but that's only to a limited group. I get he's still basically a dick to everyone else...he's just...my problem to try and keep contained."

Not that I'd been doing a great job of that. Keeping Wesker on a leash was akin to trying to lasso a hurricane. He was always off doing anything he wanted...even now I wasn't in any form of control. I was going along with this little prisoner scenario, but I was still in jail and under guard. Did it make it any different than Jill just because I'd agreed? If I suddenly asked to be elsewhere, I doubt he'd let me be. If I lost my temper this would get farther and farther from pretend voluntarily.

I needed to talk to him. Figure out what was so important and why. Figure out if he'd be willing to tell me more of what was happening with Jill...why he would bring me here if he really wanted it to be secret but wanted me to choose? Then, I wasn't sure he'd had a choice after the BSAA had shot up several of his safehouses…

Ugh. Did he really have to run off the moment we got here?

Wesker -

I could just kill her…

Gionne was still talking.

Going on about a variable in the data that she wasn't happy with, not that it mattered to me...since I was the one that had put it there. I knew it wasn't the problem she believed it could be, but I had to listen to her concerns as if it were real all the same. Deception had exceptionally dull moments. Keeping the she-beast content had been a goal until we reached launch, but really at this point I didn't need her. I'd have to give a director position on the project to another researcher, but I doubt they would argue. Even those 'loyal' to her were often just very good at hiding their discontent with her bizarre personality and lack of professionalism.

I offered a vague smirk at some joke she told, imagining how easy it would be to snap her neck helped make the humor real. Then, as desirable as crushing her vertebrae beneath my boot would be...my plan was to attach a scarab to her chest and force her loyalty. The project would still need a director capable of independent action and thought, but it would make life the next few weeks exceedingly more enjoyable. People would be suspicious, but only a few outside Gionne and I that had worked on the mind-control device actually worked at this facility.

Gionne had always been a sacrifice and she was tagging along beside me toward the area of the facility where we refined the P30 like a lamb to the slaughter. She probably presumed I just wanted more for Jill, though I'd always been careful to keep a full supply at the ready in my quarters. I knew we were making more of the systems, I'd just need to attach one to her. I'd be giving her that third nipple she had always deserved, given her status as a witch.

Her mouth was still spewing complaints when I interrupted by driving the sharp 'feet' of the scarab into her chest. The horror that came across her face mingled with the pain of the object digging into her body despite her hands clawing at the metallic surface. It was the most I'd enjoyed her face to date.

"Albert…" She hissed, eyes between shock and betrayal as the drug began to take over her system. She twitched as if wanting to reach for something, anything, to use against me. As though such weapons would mean anything. "...why?"

"Don't fret Excella, you haven't outlived your usefulness quite yet." I remarked, smiling as some of the light in her eyes dulled with the effects of the drug. "You'll be a loyal little kit until the end though, won't you?"

"Yes, sir." Her words lacked the emotion of before. Now she was devoid of protest. This early into the drug she'd have no resistance to it. She was more a puppet than even Valentine. Others would undoubtedly notice some difference, but by the time they realized it was more than an illness, Uruborus would already be complete.

"Avoid any meetings not absolutely required of you." I began to set her commands. "Speak when you must, otherwise act ill, look it if possible. Give command of this facility to me, today, with your highest in command. Excuse yourself otherwise with some illness. Short of an extreme emergency, you are not to leave your quarters until I come to speak with you. Understood?"

"Yes, sir." She nodded. "Anything else."

"Let me know the moment you believe anyone could be suspicious. If you start to gain any control come to me immediately for a new dose." I added, amused as she left the room. I turned to the other researchers inside, shooting them before they could finish a protest. A minor sacrifice to freely spend the next few weeks with Claire.

Claire - (A Couple Weeks Later)

Wesker had thus far, been largely true to his word.

I hadn't expected him to give me my own quarters and a badge access to a couple of the floors. Other people around seemed suspicious of me, but they were polite enough the few times I'd tried speaking with them. Mostly the people here seemed very overworked, this 'upcoming project' was taking almost every waking moment of those that worked here. That included Wesker. So of course, when he hadn't been with me, I'd been trying to decipher just what he was doing.

So far, it didn't sound promising. Though, I had only picked up small tidbits that he hadn't told me himself. He'd often avoided the subject, or was quick enough to alter to different topics that I knew it wasn't something he wanted me completely understanding. Which given his track record, was mildly terrifying. Then, it was hard to know how to switch between the mindset of 'I choose you' to 'what the fuck you doing now?' without just coming off wrong. More when I couldn't know for sure just what his plan was.

I'd heard Uroborus many times, so I knew that was the general name of the project. Not promising really. I knew it was a dragon or snake thing eating its own tail, that alone wasn't exactly promising as a visual. The symbolism of it didn't help, the cycle of life and death? This all was too close to other shady ass shit Umbrella had done, and it made me far from comfortable. Still, I didn't know what the project actually -did- yet. I wasn't expecting fluffy bunnies, but I knew there was more going on than what I could see in the areas he'd given me access to.

Today he was out of the facility for some work related thing for a while, so I was planning to finally figure out a way into one of the labs or somewhere more useful than my quarters and the upper floors that weren't very research based. I planned to figure out a way into the lower floors today. I'd done some basic looking around, and the good old 'climb through a vent' seemed to be the way to go from what I could tell. The lower floors had to have air after all, and generally when areas got that low, they needed shafts large enough they wouldn't be easily blocked. That meant, a passage of some kind, even if not one really built for people to walk through.

I had to make my best guess based on the layout of above floors what shaft might be the safest, but thankfully I still had been allowed to keep a pistol and my hunting knife even in the facility. I had tried to talk to Wesker, but I didn't know what else to ask without being insulting or starting an argument, so I figured I'd just do a little spywork. Jill wasn't stalking me at the moment, he'd taken her with him. He'd also assured me Gionne wasn't still a problem, so I figured this was my best chance. I made swift work of the screwdriver I'd gotten from one of the maintenance closets. Yep, definitely big enough, but it went down a bit farther than I'd like. I tied off a small rope in hopes of having a way out later and climbed down a floor, peeking through the vent.

It was dark, and I didn't want to risk if there were workers being seen by trying to shine a light through that probably wouldn't help me see anyway. Even if they were in rooms around it, they'd probably spot weird beams of light. So far this was a bust. I continued to rappel down to the next shaft, thankfully I at least already saw light out of this one, but it would also put me six floors down. Not generally the best areas to be in these sorts of facilities. Then, I spotted another light further down, so at least it wasn't the bottom floor.

This vent seemed to lead into a research area. I could see lots of metal or plastic surfaces. As I tried to peek between the layers of metal I realized there were several large centrifuges along one wall. Most of the desk spaces had microscopes. I didn't see any people present now, but one of the desks had a cup and some papers on it. If I made it quick I could get in and snatch those papers before they got back.

I lacked a way to undo the screws from here so I made an executive decision to kick in the grate and climb inside. I moved swiftly over to the papers after setting the vent back against the wall. Perhaps from here I'd be able to explore a little more. I flipped the folder open but the whole first page was just numbers. I moved to the next page. I did spot the word Uroborus so I paused to look.

"So far, the full rate of bond with the host is at ten percent. A few more small tweaks should allow us to press that to twelve percent before release." I scowled at that...then...it was another virus. Not T, or Veronica...but something new. Full bond? What did that mean? Safely? The way it had bonded to Wesker to alter him without really mutating him? Ten or twelve percent before release? Shit...what did that mean? They were close by the language.

What happened to the other eighty-eight to ninety percent?

"Shit Wesker, what are you doing down here?" I whispered as I shut the file, putting it in my backpack. and moved for the door. It still didn't prove wrongdoing, but it wasn't looking good. I barely opened the door to glance down the hall. It was lit like in here, but I still didn't see anyone walking around. I did hear people chattering somewhere up the hall. A break room maybe? I wasn't sure. It didn't sound like anyone was concerned by the tone of the voices but I couldn't make out specifics. Did I go deeper then? I needed more than just the report in the room. It didn't actually discuss what Uroborus did. It was just describing how well it bonded to DNA…

I sucked my teeth in frustration and closed the door, heading back to the vent. Deeper it was. I had to find more than this. If this level of research was happening, then this facility would have B.O.W.'s kept somewhere, probably in the lowest levels. I did what I could to pull the vent back up against the wall before continuing my rappel. Level seven was lit up, looked from here like eight and nine were as well...then a much further window I couldn't gauge the floor of. I wasn't going to make it past seven without trying to personally climb instead of using the rope...which would mean a lack of any return trip. I wasn't ready to take that step yet.

The view into seven was more promising. I saw tubes not exactly the same, but pretty close to things I'd seen in other facilities. They were empty, which was sort of on the good side of the scale in favor of Wesker. Then, they existed, which wasn't. The room looked mostly empty, like it wasn't really used. I supposed at least, that was a start. I wasn't sure why they kept it lit, but at least this was something. I could even possibly use it as a way down if I could find some steps.

I kicked the vent in again. I didn't see anything of worth here to grab so I headed right to the door. The hall here was like the one above, but it was quieter. I didn't hear any random voices, a few distant beeps or moving liquids. So there was SOMETHING down here, just nothing where there were people chatting in a relatively carefree way nearby. That had be a sign of shadier dealings, right?

The hallway didn't have as many doors and they were spaced a bit farther as well. If it was like the upper floors, the stairwell and elevator would be to the right down around a corner of the hall. I wasn't sure what was on the left, but I was more likely to find anything I was looking for not just by using the stairs. Besides, the stairwells usually had camera's, I'd noticed not all the above inner rooms had as many camera's as the Umbrella facilities I'd been too. There wasn't the icon absolutely everywhere either. Tricell was this one, though I wasn't super familiar with them. I guessed they were just the latest bad corporation hiding behind a smokescreen of bureaucratic red tape to cover their less morally acceptable choices.

I padded down the long hall nervously, memories of the facility in Russia springing to mind. It was cleaner here but I knew how swiftly that veneer could stain. I passed a few doors before pausing near one that read B.O.W. viability testing. Definitely a winner on shady ass labels.

A deep breath later I pushed through the door. This was closer to what I had expected, but still more sterile than I was used to seeing places like this. Dozens of people were resting in tubes that wallpapered one half of the auditorium sized room. A large, presumably reinforced, glass panel cut the room in half. Thankfully I had entered in the not caged possible monster part of this divide.

This part of the room had lots of monitors and screens, likely sending data from the unconscious people. None of the vitals looked to be in poor condition and none of the test subjects had any visible mutations. I walked up to the computers, surprised there weren't passwords to get in. These people needed better security. I opened a file for one of the men and looked it over.

Suffering from a degenerative disease, patient 0492 has managed to bond with the Uroborus virus and now is beginning to reform tissue systems previously thought completely dead. Months from now he should make a full recovery if his system continues to improve at this rate. That wasn't what I'd been expecting...they were helping people with diseases that couldn't be solved?

"Enjoying the tour?" Wesker's voice alerted me that my clandestine activities had reached an end.

End Chapter

Way to super spy there Claire. You did all right considering the circumstances. Okay, 4 more chapters after this one. More about detailing them out and rereading as the lion's share is already written. As always, I hope everyone is still staying safe out there.

-Aura

To my reviewers:

Evo-500 - I thought the pod is what put the drug in her system?