Chapter Twenty-Three: Wut?

"Much unhappiness has come into the world because of bewilderment and things left unsaid."

― Fyodor Dostoevsky

Claire -

"Not really, expected a bit more action to be honest. " I shrugged at him. I knew he wanted me to feel guilty, but I refused. "What is all this? What is Uroborus?"

"Uroborus is my current line of research. These are subjects that have had minimal or no mutations after being exposed." He answered, walking inside. Slowing slightly his lips ticked downward when I backed up at his approach. So, perhaps I was a little nervous I was in trouble after all...

"How quickly Brutus becomes her. " He remarked coldly. Pausing near one of the input consoles to type something. "Issac, or patient 0492, is the furthest along. He was suffering from an incurable degenerative disease, but the bonded cells have regenerated his muscles enough he should learn to walk again."

The file I'd seen had matched his description. He pulled up another, a face that matched somewhere with those on the large wall I presumed. "Pamela, patient 0499 had advanced cancer that had spread through much of her body even after the mass on one of her lungs was removed. The foreign tissue is now gone, cannibalized by the virus, and healthy tissue has been left in its place. Would you like further examples? Personal information?"

"Don't get mad at me, between us I am not the one with a history of underhanded activities." I snapped, not sure I could fully trust his comments. Also a bit frustrated with myself for getting caught so quickly. I should have just grabbed info along the way instead of pausing to read it. "Another note said the bonding process is very rare. If these are the success stories, where do you keep the rejects?"

"Wesker!" He had grabbed my hand and was pulling me out of the room and farther down the hall. Why was he suddenly hurrying me along? "Stop."

"Or what? You will shoot me? If you think you are fast enough, reach for the pistol." He retorted. He'd definitely noticed I'd brought my gun. Though really, that was fair, I didn't know what he was making down here.

"No you temperamental jerk, I am not as fast as you." I snapped back, stumbling to keep up with him. "If you plan to show me you can do it without ripping my arm off."

He released me, I noted a moment of pause as he looked me over. He didn't utter an apology but I was certain one had been on his lips. Then he turned to keep walking. I followed, rubbing my wrist, what was it with the men in my life always trying to drag me everywhere without really asking? Then, he'd done less damage than Leon, so I doubted he'd consciously tried to hurt me.

"The disposal facility. " He nodded to the double doors we paused near. "Those that can't adjust to the infection usually mutate and die. Some require being put down, but often the body is already so compromised they don't pose a major threat. The people in these trials are all dying, normal medical professionals cannot save them."

I grimaced gagging slightly at the smell of burning corpses when we walked into a large crematorium. Wesker continued as if the stench didn't bother him "We are a small percentage of hope, and yet hope at all."

"The note…" I coughed again, the stench was so heavy I was glad I'd skipped breakfast. I exited again, taking deep breaths of stale but less death permeated air. Wesker joined me back outside, clearly unhappy with my little spy mission.

"The note talked about deployment and raising numbers." I challenged weakly, still nauseated.

"Yes, we try to improve numbers between each group. This isn't the only testing room." He was scowling now, walking again as I tried to keep up. "I have work to do without reports of you wandering into possibly dangerous areas with sensitive equipment. Would you have me take you through every broom closet to allay your fears?"

Part of me wanted to insist on it, yet, he was still walking. He acted as if this were some sort of chore he was forced to endure as I followed behind. My hesitation in answering didn't improve his mood for he began to walk down toward the last door in this hall. "Come on then, we'll start at the top."

"I'm sorry...I just. You wouldn't talk to me, so I got nervous. If it's as innocent as it sounds then why are you mad? That I didn't trust you, or that I caught you being up to something you shouldn't be?"

"Claire…" He said my name tiredly. It was the first time I'd seen him look almost exhausted, even for a split second. He nodded toward the elevator. "Come on, we'll start on the helipad, I'll go over things as I work if you don't mind. I can give you your tour on our return."

He set his hand over the pad near the doors and after a moment the biometric scan opened the reinforced panel with a mechanical hum. I felt odd, like this wasn't the way this was supposed to go. Nervous. Then, given his history, I doubt I could be blamed. Perhaps I was just overreacting though. I'd been wrong about things with Wesker before…

I followed him toward an exit I hadn't been allowed through prior to being with him. He walked through the maze-like halls of the place as though he knew it well. Leading me toward whatever destination he had in mind. I wasn't sure what work he had on the helipad, but I doubted I'd get a full tour today. I felt a bit as though I was in trouble for wandering, like the time he'd pulled me into the S.T.A.R.S. office after catching me at the station. It was sort of a funny thought, beer pong had left me in this entire mess that was my life. Drinking will get you nowhere kids.

He had given up the blue uniform years ago now, replaced with the black leather he favored now. A reminder that he wasn't the man I'd met then, even if I'd seen glimpses of it over the years...even if I wanted him to be. He was something else now...and the stakes were a lot higher than pissing off my older brother.

"Quiet, considering your insistence a moment ago. What do you want to know, Claire?" He sounded worn. I knew he'd been busy, but I hadn't realized it was this much. Even that brought me back to the time he'd fallen asleep in his office. His work ethic hadn't changed, nor had his ability to make me feel guilty for disturbing him. There was more to this work though, he wasn't a cop then and I doubted he was a philanthropist now.

"I need to know what you're doing Wesker. If it was as innocent as all this, you would have shown me freely. You wouldn't have mind control devices stuck to members of your staff." I observed, annoyed he wasn't surprised by my keen observation skills. I'd realized Gionne wasn't just convinced to behave by normal means.. "I'm not stupid. You could have set up those people as just a smoke screen."

We walked out onto a large concrete area with a metal screen overhead that was unfolding. Some sand blew across it, though it was mostly clear. It was definitely a jet, military grade and high dollar. He continued toward it as the cargo area opened. Other men and women were starting to load tanks on board.

"I am good with smoke screens, Claire. A bit obvious if that was my only plan. I do charge the people, I'm not a bleeding heart. Though, you want to know what else Uroborus is involved in." He remarked, pausing near a tank to look over numbers before moving to the next. "You want to know what I'm doing that has your hackles raised."

"Well, yeah…" I wasn't expecting him to just spell that out. I nodded though.

"The Uroborus virus has been in development for years. Being refined from its initial deadly state to something that could be properly utilized in humans. The strain can push a small percentage of humans past the normal human threshold. You are among those, I've made certain your DNA bonds nicely." He explained, starting to do checks on equipment on the plane.

"Okay…so then...what are you doing?" I had a sinking feeling I knew where this was going, but I didn't want to accept it.

"I plan to release it into the atmosphere. Humanity needs something to jump kick it's evolution after years of allowing themselves to be complacent." He gestured on the plane, following up after I climbed in. I felt a bit numb at his comment, like it wasn't real…

"The survival rate is only ten percent…" I finally managed. "That's madness."

"Actually, you read an older report. The survival rate is much closer to twenty percent now." He corrected me.

"You can't kill most of the world!" I stopped him where he'd been securing a tank, glancing at them and back at him. He had them here...was this happening now? "You have to stop."

"One man's madness is another's clarity." He remarked, lowering my hand gently to keep preparing. "You'll survive, we'll rebuild the world together."

"That's not the point." I scowled, wondering what I could do to take this stuff apart. Nothing with him standing right here. "Those are millions of innocent people."

"Billions." He corrected again. "A population culled from the weakest to make way for a better race. Was that not the point of your charity, to make the world better. We can do that, we can make a permanent change instead of just licking wounds."

I could hear Chris telling me that he'd warned me about this as I watched some of the tanks slide into places made for them in the sides of the main compartment. Were those missiles he was loading now? I couldn't have a break down now, I had to do something about this. I shook my head, as if hoping this was something I could deny the existence of. As if that simple action could actually do anything.

"You can't." I stopped him again as he was making preparations, taking his hand. "Wesker, you can't kill billions of people. Of innocents."

"Why not? They are ignorant, not innocent. Have they actually stepped up to do anything about the groups that continue to test on them like rats? Have they even bothered to care?" He shook his head at me, but at least had stopped preparing while we spoke. "You know there are still protests in parts of America that every single biohazard outbreak was just a hoax."

"Yes, some of them tried to protest TerraSave once...but that doesn't mean any of them deserve to be killed." I took his hand, glad at least he'd paused for a moment. "You can't want that."

"People are willfully stupid. Content to sit mindlessly listening to whatever the propaganda tells them. They let this happen, they encouraged it with their lack of action. If they took a moment to consider what the companies around them were actually doing they would have seen it. Does all of humanity deserve to suffocate and slowly turn into incapable beasts for the ones willingly clinging to weakness?"

"You aren't going to reason me into agreeing to this, Wesker." I frowned at his speech. "You, you promised me if I came with you that my brother would be fine. That my friends would be safe. I have lots of friends, one in four odds aren't promising."

"I've only ever promised to safe-guard your brother, and there were precautions taken for him and a few others." He muttered with distaste. "It was costly, but I've kept my word. Your brother and several of the people close to you have been safeguarded."

"You...how?" I didn't like this news. I'd only been here a few days.

"Some were captured, others were dosed without knowing it was happening. Your brother, it was slipped into his food for some time now by the staff at the diner he frequents for breakfast. Does the method particularly matter?" Wesker returned his attention to making sure the ship was ready for departure.

"How long has this been your goal?" I was having trouble breathing as I thought about it. I'd been dreaming about, wanting, a man that I'd convinced myself wasn't insane while he was preparing this sort of plan. It didn't seem possible...it felt unreal and yet I knew it had to be the truth…

"You can't do this Wesker. I...it's wrong." I shook my head at him, getting between him and his wall panel. "Please."

"This is why I'd wanted to keep you uninformed, Claire. If you wouldn't have known it was coming, it would have been easier for you." He didn't push me out of the way, so that was good. "It doesn't change anything."

"Not true, it changes things. It changes things." I insisted, repeating the words like a mantra that might end the insanity.

"What does it change?" He asked. "Wasn't it you that said you would always choose me?"

"Yeah, but then you went and decided you needed to personally end the world." I answered. "I feel I get a little leeway on this one."

"Then, you'll learn to adjust." He leaned closer to me, arms reaching up around me to continue clicking on the pad.

I pushed him back, noting the moment of amusement in his eyes...for it was clear I could do little to actually hurt him. I kissed him instead, I didn't know what else to do. It wasn't like it was the first time...I dearly hoped it wouldn't be the last…

"Can't I do that for you now?" I breathed when he broke away from me. "Can't you adjust to this world? If you do this...I won't adjust. I won't be with you when it's all over."

"You will. The world will need you. I can give it form, but you can offer it soul. You can choose what to teach the survivors, how to shape the moral rules of the world moving forward. If you want it to be a place without men like those that Umbrella, you can do that." He leaned down to kiss me lightly again. "Claire, you know it's tempting. You worry for all the people that will die, but you have a hard time letting go. We can create a future in whatever image we desire."

"I don't want the world, Wesker. I want you." I snapped, trying to keep the tears stinging my gaze from falling. "That's what I always wanted, was you. I thought that's what you were promising me when I left with you. Us, together...not whatever this is. Am I not enough? Shouldn't I be enough? Are you going to just leave me again? Are you going to choose death over me?"

"I'm not, dear heart. Sweet Claire, you don't have to cry over this." Wesker promised, pulling me closer to hug me. His voice uncomfortably confident, it was as if we weren't having the same conversation. "I wouldn't choose anything over you. You just can't understand, you don't have the same vision as I do. You will come around."
"I just told you, I can't. I won't. If you do this, we're done. Whatever world comes out on the tail end of your plot, I won't be involved with you at the end of it." I retorted, shaking my head. Tugging my hands from his grasp. "Please, Wesker. Listen to me. This work, it's amazing. Can't that be enough? Doesn't it show that you can be good? That you can help people? That you can do so much for humanity without trying to reset them?"

His brow was furrowed, but he was listening. He wasn't still updating any files or numbers. There was something human beneath the monster, I was sure of it. I could convince him to stop this. I could talk him down.

"Please Wesker, I just want you. We can go somewhere. Just us." I insisted, pushing his hair back where a strand had dropped from the slicked style. "Let's just be us."

"I...we tried that." He replied. "They tore it apart, they hurt you. They'll keep coming. This offers us more protection than hiding in a corner of the world ever could."

"Oh, is the great Albert Wesker telling me he can't keep me safe?" I raised a brow at him. "This will only put more of a target on our backs from the survivors."

He hesitated again. It was something. He wasn't as dedicated to this as I'd first thought...he'd had some misgivings before I brought them up. Even if they were only related to me, I'd take that. I could get him to stop this.

"Claire!" Chris' voice pulled me out of the conversation and the moment passed. A red glint took over Wesker's gaze as he pulled me behind him and slid both of us behind a pillar in the cargo area. Wesker's arm was bleeding, he'd taken a hit in his shoulder from the shot so I didn't get hit. Why was my brother here? How had he found this place so quickly? Could his timing be any worse? "Get away from her WESKER!"

"Ever the inconvenience." Wesker hissed. The softness he'd had with me a moment before was replaced by hate. I reached out to try futility to stop him, but he'd already charged into the room toward my brother.

End Chapter

Chris is such a pain in the ass here. He's trying to help...he is. He's just bad at it in this case. So, action picked back up a bit, and we're at our climatic moment from 5. Only a few chapters left! I've even started roughs for another Wesker/Claire fic (though that one is not a priority as I gotta finish going back over my roughs for this one first).

-Aura

To my reviewers:

Evo-500 - I thought it was the drug in the scarab? I dunno. I could be wrong, sometimes the lore of RE can be really difficult to get exact answers for.