Chapter 54: The mystery box.
-The following day.-
"And where is Ada now Jack?" The therapist Jamie Willows questioned as Jack sat uncomfortably on the couch. Her office was meant to be a place of security, a place to unwind and tell. Yet all Jack could do was think about the very question she asked.
"Work.some emergency at work." He answered.
"What kind of emergency could that be?" The woman asked, writing something down on her pad.
"Something about a computer failure.she is a computer analyst after all.why all the questions about my wife?" Jack defended.
"Jack, you've been seeing me for awhile now, and in the thirty two sessions we've had Ada has come to four. All excuses for her absences are work related, business trips, emergencies." Ms. Willows implied.
"What are you saying then!?" Jack paused, lowering his voice.
"Jack, I think its time you confront your wife about what's really going on." She said coldly.
"There's nothing going on, Ada has a busy career." Jack continued to protest her questioning and implications.
"Are you sure? Have you ever visited her at her work, have you ever seen a ticket for one of those many trips around the world?" Ms. Willows stopped, waiting for Jack's defense. As much as he hated thinking of it, he was not 100% sure what exactly Ada's life was like. She was always distant, but at the same time forthcoming. Still, he resented this woman's remarks.
"I." Jack was speechless.
"What if I told you I knew more about Ada then you think." Ms. Willows remarked.
"Like what.?" Jack immediately snapped back.
"Like she's been lying to you.she's not a computer analyst Jack. She never was." She informed. Jack sat back, thinking about her claim on Ada. Deep down, however, Jack had always known this, that Ada wasn't revealing the whole truth about her job, about who she was. Fighting against almost every ounce of his will, Jack continued the conversation onward.
"How do you know this?"
"Jack, Ada works for the government, specifically a branch of the CIA called HCF. She's an operations officer for this 'Directive', and has been for five years now." She said. Jack's eyes widened, and disbelief overcame him.
"I don't believe it, how do you know all of this?" Jack repeated.
"Because Jack, I work for a corporation called Biotech Frontiers. Our public face is that of a pharmaceutical company, however outside the public's eyes we are trying to win a battle that could save mankind. HCF's main goal is the investigation of the Umbrella Corporation, who is secretly conducting experiments on a bio-weapon called the Tyrant Virus. HCF tells their operatives that they're working to destroy Umbrella, when in truth they are more interested in using the T-virus for HCF's personal use. Biotech was formed to destroy both HCF and Umbrella. Ada is working for people who are shielding her eyes, Jack." Jamie Willows placed her notepad down, informing Jack of more then he needed to know.
"Ada doesn't know.?" Jack said after absorbing all the information given to him. "No, and we need her help in order to take down HCF. If Biotech has any chance of defeating this threat, we need Ada." She insisted, leaning forward to whisper to Jack.
"Why not ask her yourself.?" Jack said back, placing both hands over his eyes.
"We've tried, however she needs time to confirm information we've given her."
"What kind of information?"
"About her mother." Willows replied, sitting back firmly in her chair.
"What about her.never mind. Well, why come to me with all this.??" Jack coughed out.
"Because we can't wait any longer for Ada to make up her mind Jack, and she knows to much for us to just let her go. We need you to work for us." Willows implied.
"What do you need me to do?" Jack asked.
"Well, just recently HCF's Chicago Division was attacked by a Biotech squad, in order to retrieve the Computer Core. We had no choice in the matter, as the core gave us invaluable information. Because of this, we believe that Ada may not come forward to us even if she confirms the information of her mother. This is why we need you to report on your wife to us, give us any information that could help. Tell us when she's taking trips, and to where. We need to know what she is up to, and what her plans are." Willows insisted.
"So, you want me to spy on my wife.?" Jack said slowly.
"Yes."
"I.I can't do that. No matter what Ada's done, she's still my wife and I won't betray her." Jack defied. Jamie Willows sighed deeply, concluding that Jack's mind could never be changed.
"I'm sorry to hear that." She replied while opening her briefcase. Jack jumped up as she pulled out a small tranquilizer gun in the form of a pistol, and fired.
******-Vanderzan Island-******
"This is Cessna 12-A, Freelancer to flight control, requesting to land." Ada said through her headset as she flew the small plane across the sea to the small, lone island ahead.
"This is flight control, request to land granted on runway 14. Please transmit security codes for secure access. Welcome to Vanderzan Island Freelancer." The voice on the opposite end of the radio replied. Ada pushed the yoke to the left, and lined up to land the plane on the runway ahead. The sun began to set on the ocean, beaming and glistening across the horizon and beyond. Ada removed her sunglasses and pulled of the headset as the plane slowed to a halt on the landing strip.
"Agent Wong, my name is Scott Freeman, I'm second in command for this facility. We were all a little unprepared when we learnt Division 6 of all places was sending an Agent." A wily man greeted Ada as she jumped down from the plane, the intense heat beating against her body as an unwelcome difference to the cool flight over from Spain.
"Yes well after the attack on Division 6 we learnt that a man named James Peters may have valuable information." Ada lied, when she was in fact on an unauthorized visit to the prison island.
"James Peters? I don't understand, he has no affiliation with Biotech, believe me we've spent years just interrogating him." Freeman insisted as the two walked to the jeep compound to acquire transportation to the prison facility.
"He hasn't been interrogated by me." Ada implied, jumping in the passenger's seat of a readied jeep.
****************************************
The dank basement smelled of mildew and dryness, and as the elevator stopped Ada could feel the countless souls that had perished here over the decades. Vanderzan Island was converted to HCF's sole prison facility, to accommodate security leaks and "acquired" targets. This was a place Intelligence section used often to gather information. As she walked down the dirt filled corridor, from inside several doors to her left and right came voices, sometimes as loud as screams and sometimes barely audible. Finally reaching the end of the hallway, Ada placed her hand on the doorknob and stopped.
"I'm going in alone, I'll contact you when I'm finished." Ada didn't look up from the doorknob, yet still spoke to Mr. Freeman.
"Of course." He replied, turning after a short hesitation.
Ada walked in the poorly illuminated room, squinting to find her way. Ada immediately reached above the door and pulled out the cable connecting to the surveillance camera, allowing for total privacy. Reaching the table, she sat slowly on the metal chair, placing her arms crossed on the cold table's surface. Aside from her booming heartbeat and repeated breath, Ada could hear someone sitting on the opposite end of the table.
"Who are you." A male's voice asked. The man sounded elderly, very tired and weak.
"My name is Ada Wong." Ada simply put. She could tell by his sudden halt in breathing that he knew the name.
"You can't be, this is another trick." He insisted, struggling in what sounded to be handcuffs.
"No, I am Ada Wong. And you have information I need." Ada replied. After a long silence, he finally answered her.
"She always knew you'd start tracking her down someday." He simply put.
"My mother." Ada didn't ask, but told. She could see through the lone ray of light, from the one light bulb in the room, that he nodded to her response.
"Then you know where she is.?" Ada now questioned.
"No, not anymore. How much do you know of your mother Ada.?" Peters coughed out.
"I know she was an operative.for HCF. I know she ran because of me.I know she's still hunted down even today." Ada said.
"This is true. Though, don't think she regretted running.Ada.she loved you from the start. She wanted you to have a life, the one HCF didn't want to exist. She ran because she knew if she remained, not only would her life be terminated but yours as well." Peters informed.
"So how do you fall into all this?" Ada questioned.
"She needed my help to get out of the country, we were old friends, Sam and I. After giving birth to you in Russia, we parted ways. She took you back to the States to place you in an orphanage while I secured our lives together using old contacts. I was prepared to settle down in Mexico with her, yet she wanted to fight back against HCF. We parted ways once more in '73, and I never saw her again. Back in '79, I received word that an assassin got her in Cuba, she never stood a chance Ada.I'm sorry." He paused, letting Ada accept the truth. Finally the real truth settled in, Biotech had been lying to her all along. Yet why would they allow her to pursue the truth? Too many questions.
"She's dead.?" Ada whispered.
"Yes.I'm sorry Ada. But before we split up in '73 she told me to tell you something.She wanted you to know how much she cared for you, and how she knew you would grow up to become something more then your potential. Ada, your mother's dying wish was for HCF to be destroyed. You could do this.somehow." Peters insisted, leaning forward into the flickering light. But what could she do? Biotech had lied to her in order to get her to betray HCF, yet she knew her mother would have wanted her to destroy the people that hunted her down for years. Two choices. Join Biotech and take down HCF, who have indeed lied to Ada all along, or inform HCF of the truth, risk her life and family because of withholding information and take down Biotech. She didn't trust either of them. Yet as Dylan had told her, she didn't need to trust. Emotions overwhelmed her as the truth sunk in, her mother was dead, and she was faced with two impossible situations.
"Thank you." Ada said quickly, leaving the room in a hurry as Peters screamed for her to let him out. As she exited the room, Ada fell against the wall and covered her mouth to hold back crying.
********************************************
"Did you find out anything?" Scott Freeman yelled, chasing Ada as she walked down the airstrip to her plane.
"Plenty." Ada replied when suddenly her cell-phone went off.
"Wong." She said into it, holding the phone up to her cheek.
"Ada, where are you?" Julia said on the other end, still standing in the disaster area of Division 6.
"Busy at the moment, why?" Ada quickly said, thinking of an excuse.
"Ada.we intercepted a 911 call at your neighbors house.Ada someone's broken into your house.and.Jack and Brynn are gone." Julia informed, stopping Ada in her tracks.
-The following day.-
"And where is Ada now Jack?" The therapist Jamie Willows questioned as Jack sat uncomfortably on the couch. Her office was meant to be a place of security, a place to unwind and tell. Yet all Jack could do was think about the very question she asked.
"Work.some emergency at work." He answered.
"What kind of emergency could that be?" The woman asked, writing something down on her pad.
"Something about a computer failure.she is a computer analyst after all.why all the questions about my wife?" Jack defended.
"Jack, you've been seeing me for awhile now, and in the thirty two sessions we've had Ada has come to four. All excuses for her absences are work related, business trips, emergencies." Ms. Willows implied.
"What are you saying then!?" Jack paused, lowering his voice.
"Jack, I think its time you confront your wife about what's really going on." She said coldly.
"There's nothing going on, Ada has a busy career." Jack continued to protest her questioning and implications.
"Are you sure? Have you ever visited her at her work, have you ever seen a ticket for one of those many trips around the world?" Ms. Willows stopped, waiting for Jack's defense. As much as he hated thinking of it, he was not 100% sure what exactly Ada's life was like. She was always distant, but at the same time forthcoming. Still, he resented this woman's remarks.
"I." Jack was speechless.
"What if I told you I knew more about Ada then you think." Ms. Willows remarked.
"Like what.?" Jack immediately snapped back.
"Like she's been lying to you.she's not a computer analyst Jack. She never was." She informed. Jack sat back, thinking about her claim on Ada. Deep down, however, Jack had always known this, that Ada wasn't revealing the whole truth about her job, about who she was. Fighting against almost every ounce of his will, Jack continued the conversation onward.
"How do you know this?"
"Jack, Ada works for the government, specifically a branch of the CIA called HCF. She's an operations officer for this 'Directive', and has been for five years now." She said. Jack's eyes widened, and disbelief overcame him.
"I don't believe it, how do you know all of this?" Jack repeated.
"Because Jack, I work for a corporation called Biotech Frontiers. Our public face is that of a pharmaceutical company, however outside the public's eyes we are trying to win a battle that could save mankind. HCF's main goal is the investigation of the Umbrella Corporation, who is secretly conducting experiments on a bio-weapon called the Tyrant Virus. HCF tells their operatives that they're working to destroy Umbrella, when in truth they are more interested in using the T-virus for HCF's personal use. Biotech was formed to destroy both HCF and Umbrella. Ada is working for people who are shielding her eyes, Jack." Jamie Willows placed her notepad down, informing Jack of more then he needed to know.
"Ada doesn't know.?" Jack said after absorbing all the information given to him. "No, and we need her help in order to take down HCF. If Biotech has any chance of defeating this threat, we need Ada." She insisted, leaning forward to whisper to Jack.
"Why not ask her yourself.?" Jack said back, placing both hands over his eyes.
"We've tried, however she needs time to confirm information we've given her."
"What kind of information?"
"About her mother." Willows replied, sitting back firmly in her chair.
"What about her.never mind. Well, why come to me with all this.??" Jack coughed out.
"Because we can't wait any longer for Ada to make up her mind Jack, and she knows to much for us to just let her go. We need you to work for us." Willows implied.
"What do you need me to do?" Jack asked.
"Well, just recently HCF's Chicago Division was attacked by a Biotech squad, in order to retrieve the Computer Core. We had no choice in the matter, as the core gave us invaluable information. Because of this, we believe that Ada may not come forward to us even if she confirms the information of her mother. This is why we need you to report on your wife to us, give us any information that could help. Tell us when she's taking trips, and to where. We need to know what she is up to, and what her plans are." Willows insisted.
"So, you want me to spy on my wife.?" Jack said slowly.
"Yes."
"I.I can't do that. No matter what Ada's done, she's still my wife and I won't betray her." Jack defied. Jamie Willows sighed deeply, concluding that Jack's mind could never be changed.
"I'm sorry to hear that." She replied while opening her briefcase. Jack jumped up as she pulled out a small tranquilizer gun in the form of a pistol, and fired.
******-Vanderzan Island-******
"This is Cessna 12-A, Freelancer to flight control, requesting to land." Ada said through her headset as she flew the small plane across the sea to the small, lone island ahead.
"This is flight control, request to land granted on runway 14. Please transmit security codes for secure access. Welcome to Vanderzan Island Freelancer." The voice on the opposite end of the radio replied. Ada pushed the yoke to the left, and lined up to land the plane on the runway ahead. The sun began to set on the ocean, beaming and glistening across the horizon and beyond. Ada removed her sunglasses and pulled of the headset as the plane slowed to a halt on the landing strip.
"Agent Wong, my name is Scott Freeman, I'm second in command for this facility. We were all a little unprepared when we learnt Division 6 of all places was sending an Agent." A wily man greeted Ada as she jumped down from the plane, the intense heat beating against her body as an unwelcome difference to the cool flight over from Spain.
"Yes well after the attack on Division 6 we learnt that a man named James Peters may have valuable information." Ada lied, when she was in fact on an unauthorized visit to the prison island.
"James Peters? I don't understand, he has no affiliation with Biotech, believe me we've spent years just interrogating him." Freeman insisted as the two walked to the jeep compound to acquire transportation to the prison facility.
"He hasn't been interrogated by me." Ada implied, jumping in the passenger's seat of a readied jeep.
****************************************
The dank basement smelled of mildew and dryness, and as the elevator stopped Ada could feel the countless souls that had perished here over the decades. Vanderzan Island was converted to HCF's sole prison facility, to accommodate security leaks and "acquired" targets. This was a place Intelligence section used often to gather information. As she walked down the dirt filled corridor, from inside several doors to her left and right came voices, sometimes as loud as screams and sometimes barely audible. Finally reaching the end of the hallway, Ada placed her hand on the doorknob and stopped.
"I'm going in alone, I'll contact you when I'm finished." Ada didn't look up from the doorknob, yet still spoke to Mr. Freeman.
"Of course." He replied, turning after a short hesitation.
Ada walked in the poorly illuminated room, squinting to find her way. Ada immediately reached above the door and pulled out the cable connecting to the surveillance camera, allowing for total privacy. Reaching the table, she sat slowly on the metal chair, placing her arms crossed on the cold table's surface. Aside from her booming heartbeat and repeated breath, Ada could hear someone sitting on the opposite end of the table.
"Who are you." A male's voice asked. The man sounded elderly, very tired and weak.
"My name is Ada Wong." Ada simply put. She could tell by his sudden halt in breathing that he knew the name.
"You can't be, this is another trick." He insisted, struggling in what sounded to be handcuffs.
"No, I am Ada Wong. And you have information I need." Ada replied. After a long silence, he finally answered her.
"She always knew you'd start tracking her down someday." He simply put.
"My mother." Ada didn't ask, but told. She could see through the lone ray of light, from the one light bulb in the room, that he nodded to her response.
"Then you know where she is.?" Ada now questioned.
"No, not anymore. How much do you know of your mother Ada.?" Peters coughed out.
"I know she was an operative.for HCF. I know she ran because of me.I know she's still hunted down even today." Ada said.
"This is true. Though, don't think she regretted running.Ada.she loved you from the start. She wanted you to have a life, the one HCF didn't want to exist. She ran because she knew if she remained, not only would her life be terminated but yours as well." Peters informed.
"So how do you fall into all this?" Ada questioned.
"She needed my help to get out of the country, we were old friends, Sam and I. After giving birth to you in Russia, we parted ways. She took you back to the States to place you in an orphanage while I secured our lives together using old contacts. I was prepared to settle down in Mexico with her, yet she wanted to fight back against HCF. We parted ways once more in '73, and I never saw her again. Back in '79, I received word that an assassin got her in Cuba, she never stood a chance Ada.I'm sorry." He paused, letting Ada accept the truth. Finally the real truth settled in, Biotech had been lying to her all along. Yet why would they allow her to pursue the truth? Too many questions.
"She's dead.?" Ada whispered.
"Yes.I'm sorry Ada. But before we split up in '73 she told me to tell you something.She wanted you to know how much she cared for you, and how she knew you would grow up to become something more then your potential. Ada, your mother's dying wish was for HCF to be destroyed. You could do this.somehow." Peters insisted, leaning forward into the flickering light. But what could she do? Biotech had lied to her in order to get her to betray HCF, yet she knew her mother would have wanted her to destroy the people that hunted her down for years. Two choices. Join Biotech and take down HCF, who have indeed lied to Ada all along, or inform HCF of the truth, risk her life and family because of withholding information and take down Biotech. She didn't trust either of them. Yet as Dylan had told her, she didn't need to trust. Emotions overwhelmed her as the truth sunk in, her mother was dead, and she was faced with two impossible situations.
"Thank you." Ada said quickly, leaving the room in a hurry as Peters screamed for her to let him out. As she exited the room, Ada fell against the wall and covered her mouth to hold back crying.
********************************************
"Did you find out anything?" Scott Freeman yelled, chasing Ada as she walked down the airstrip to her plane.
"Plenty." Ada replied when suddenly her cell-phone went off.
"Wong." She said into it, holding the phone up to her cheek.
"Ada, where are you?" Julia said on the other end, still standing in the disaster area of Division 6.
"Busy at the moment, why?" Ada quickly said, thinking of an excuse.
"Ada.we intercepted a 911 call at your neighbors house.Ada someone's broken into your house.and.Jack and Brynn are gone." Julia informed, stopping Ada in her tracks.