Chapter 11: Memory of the Beginning
November 10th, 1997......
Just another usual day at the office. Martin, my partner, was an African-American cop, and had just brought in another loony who was ranting and raving about something that's just happened in the neighbourhood. As I said, nothing unusual.
("I remember Martin's name.... He was mentioned as one of the terrorists who was involved in the incident," Jill claimed.
"That's right, Martin Heranger. He was my partner in crime. And a good friend too.")
Anyway, I stood up and went over to see what it was all about. He sat the guy down in a chair in the office. The guy was stark raving mad. At least that's what I thought at the time.
"I swear on my momma's grave! It was huge! A monster with sharp fangs man!"
Martin looked at me and raised an eyebrow. I shook my head and sat down across from the guy. Martin handed me a file, and I flipped through it, glancing up at the guy. He looked around quickly, shaking, absolutely terrified. I kept the file open as I spoke to him.
"So, Mr Franks. Jake. Can I call you that, Jake?"
He nodded. "I swear officer. I saw it! It killed the homeless guy down on 34th!"
I looked back down at the file. "You have a record, Jake. Can you tell me what for? Or do you want me to remind you?"
"What? You think I killed the guy?!"
I closed the file. "We'd believe you if you could show us proof."
"I'll show you proof! I... I have a tag!"
Martin passed me a piece of green plastic. The tag had a logo and a number.
"Umbrella, huh? They're harmless. This is probably just from one of the monkeys they use to test their products."
Martin nodded. "Trust us Jake, Umbrella ain't up to nuthin'. We checked them out only the other day."
"Why?"
"That's classified information, Mr Franks," I said, turning the tag in my hand. The number of the tag said T-023. I shook my head. "Maybe you'll feel safer in lock-up for tonight, Jake?"
He looked at me. "No way, man. I gotta get out of this town. Freaky shit is goin' on here!"
I shrugged. "Listen mate. You're either shittin' yourself or you're yankin' our chains. What'll it be?"
"You don't believe me? Run a search on that lab! There's some big shit goin' down! I swear! They're makin' monsters in that joint!"
I rubbed my forehead with my hand as Martin lifted him to his feet and led him out.
"Hey! Zeik! Take this guy and file his story, would ya?"
"Sure thing!"
Martin came back in. "How many?"
"10. I dunno Marty. Maybe we should check them out again."
Martin shook his head and grinned. "You're not seriously startin' to believe those nutcases, are ya?"
"There's just that little fraction of truth in everyone's story. All I'm saying is we should check them out again. Maybe we overlooked something. Or maybe they weren't showing us something."
"You saw everything, Dani. The only thing they're makin' in there is the Greenies pissed. Don't worry. They're just an international enterprise. Nuthin' to their names except an animal cruelty investigation years ago."
I laughed. "Animal cruelty. We know they do it. But we couldn't charge them, now could we."
"Nah. And we all know they employ the legal system. Look if it'll make you happy, I'll get another warrant. It'll piss off the chief and it'll piss off Umbrella, but if it'll satisfy you."
I smiled. "Thanks Marty."
November 15th 1997...........
"As I'm sure you were told officers, last time you graced us with your untimely visit, we here at Umbrella are completely concerned with making the consumers happy," she added with a laugh, "Not monsters."
I smiled as best I could and nodded. "We're sorry to continually inconvenience you, Doctor. But the department requires that we investigate any continued complaint. Not that there's anything wrong with your company, of course."
The scientist who greeted us in the lobby of Umbrella's Chicago office-laboratory nodded.
"Well, no sense in standing here and talking about it, let's get it underway."
Martin turned to her as she led us into the hallway. "Our warrant allows us to investigate anything that catches our eye that may be worth investigating."
She nodded. "I understand Sergeant Heranger."
I looked at her. Apparently she had flown in from another laboratory in the country to 'handle' us. I couldn't help wonder why they would be so intent upon a particular person guiding us around the premises.
"Now officers, what we do have in development here is classified, so I do ask you to please keep it undisclosed."
I nodded. It was a fair request. She opened the door at the end of the hall and showed us in.
(Annette leaned back. "Just a quick question, did you find out the name of the scientist?"
Danielle nodded. "....Yeah.... Why?"
"Who was it?"
"I was just getting to that.")
"So, why were you flown in to take care of us, Dr Birkin?"
Dr Birkin crossed her arms. "I know the most about what is going on here in Chicago, as well as my husband, but he is awfully busy in our Raccoon City branch."
I knew she wasn't giving us the whole story. My suspicions had been roused, and I thought that perhaps Annette Birkin had really only been asked to handle us, because she was the one who could cover up best. Spared no expense on our behalf. Dr Birkin looked at me.
"Is there something you'd like to know about, Detective? I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have."
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do have something I'd like to ask you Dr Birkin."
"Fire away."
I pulled a folded sheet of paper from inside my jacket and read through it.
"This is a written record of a conversation with a witness who claims that creatures bearing ID tags with your company's logo on them have been killing people in the slums. It's not the first, as you may know, and every one of these people comes in, terrified and panic-stricken. Do you have anything you could say to explain these occurrences?"
Dr Birkin went with the flow, as if expecting the question. "What's to say that these so-called 'witnesses' aren't killing the people themselves and blaming the company for some reason?"
I raised an eyebrow, and Martin laughed.
"Heh. If you want Detective Lanza to understand you, you'll have to tell her this way. Dani. What the good doctor is saying is this; how do we have a bloody clue that the Greenies aren't offing the deroes to make a story about Umbrella?"
I shook my head and waved him away. "Well, Dr Birkin-"
"You can call me Annette."
"Very well," I shrugged, "Annette, can you tell me about these? The forensics did some DNA tests on them, and found them to be contaminated with an as yet unknown bacillus specimen."
I showed her a series of evidence bags containing six different coloured ID tags. A flash of panic shot through her eyes. She stared at the tags as if trying to identify the specimens they came from, but I was certain she was calculating the situation, and she soon came out with an answer.
"They must have come from the animals in the Keeping Room. We've had a few of the specimens escape recently," she told us hazily. I looked at Martin.
"We weren't told about any 'Keeping Room' last time we were here."
Annette had gained her composure now. "They mustn't have thought it of any importance to the investigation. I'd be pleased to show you that there is nothing going on in the labs below us that is in any way illegal or 'God-playing'. We're not making monsters, you'll see that."
I was sure we would.
Annette led us quickly through the halls towards the elevator that led down. She seemed jittery now. Opening the elevator with her key card, we stepped inside.
"Well officers, I'll be showing you the Keeping Room first. There's nothing in there in any way unusual."
I remained skeptical, of both Annette and the loonies that had given their reports. I wasn't going to believe anyone until I was sure I had evidence. However, Annette's behaviour was too panicky to say that Umbrella wasn't hiding anything. The elevator stopped about five floors down. I remembered visiting the other floors last time we were here. Obviously the scientist who took us around last time didn't have access to the lower levels. Either that, or he was hiding it. Annette let us off first.
"This is the first of our special laboratories. In these labs, we test our newest products."
"On animals, I'd say," Martin cut in. Annette was becoming uncomfortable, it was in her eyes. We were backing her into a corner that she didn't want to be in.
"...Yes.... However, we do have a legal license to do so."
"Mind if we see it?"
Annette shrugged and walked over to a door at the side of the room. The room we were in was fairly busy, with benches covered in test tubes and electronic devices, white-coated scientists working with the assorted chemicals. Annette waved us over and walked into the room, which was a filing room.
"We have a copy in here. This should be in order," she said half-proudly, handing us a document. Martin nodded.
"Fine, fine," but as he handed it back he turned to me and whispered, "I wonder how many families they had to threaten to get that written up."
Annette showed us to the door. "If we may continue."
November 29th 1997.......
"Not another one."
"Two. Another two. But this time, we've got something a little different. Maybe there really was something the guys at Umbrella weren't telling us."
I looked down at the photograph. "Marty, what is this? Some kind of joke? Surely this is... a hoax?"
"One of those 'loonies' took a photo of a creature that he shot down in his backyard which killed his dog. Forensics are out there already."
"And how come we're not?" I asked, flipping through the other photos.
"We can go down to the lab, they've got the monster — and what's left of the dog — down there."
I stood up. "Yeah, okay. Let's go." We walked out. I turned to one of the younger men in the room. "Hey! Zeik! I want you to dig up anything you can on Umbrella. Past cases against them, public accusations, law suits, company backgrounds, names of employees, anything you can. I wanna see something on my desk when I get back."
Zeik Maguire stood up without so much as a question why and headed off to the filing room. I followed Martin out of the room.
The monster was hideous. It had yellow and black speckled skin, and looked like some sort of ape.
"What the hell is this thing?"
Martin shook his head and turned to the forensic scientist next to him.
"What have you got?"
He checked the documents on his clipboard and paced around the metal bench.
"Well, we've conducted a close examination of the creature and found it to be a mutation of a primate. The claws are fairly advanced, and it has some reptilian-like characteristics. It seems to have been crossed with some sort of amphibian, not likely to be a frog, but a newt or salamander most likely; it's difficult to tell at this stage. The brain cavity is also quite large," he flicked through the other pages in the file. "Another interesting fact," he said, pulling off his glasses and leaning over the dead beast, "Is that those bacteria we found on the tags are quite abundant in its bloodstream. We've identified the type of bacteria as viral. It is an as yet unknown strain of virus."
I leaned over and looked at the monster. Attached to the monster's neck was a yellow, plastic tag. I checked it. The Umbrella logo was the first thing to catch my eye. Its red and white triangular pattern arranged like a Trivial Pursuit pie stood out boldly. I stood up straight.
"I've seen enough. I think we need to pay Annette Birkin a visit down at Umbrella Inc. Coming Marty?"
Martin looked up. "What'd you find?"
"Umbrella ID tag. They've been hiding this all along. One or two escapes. I'll bet they were talking about the monster, not the animals."
Martin nodded. "Yeah. I'll get another warrant."
I nodded. The scientist put his glasses back on and leaned over the dead monster. I looked over at him as I walked away. Suddenly the monster rolled over and lashed out at the scientist, claws swinging. The scientist screamed in pain as he coiled away, clutching at his face. The entire side of his face had been sliced off by the creature's claws, exposing the bone beneath. The monster swung out again, and took his head off completely. I scrambled away quickly, tipping over a tray of surgical equipment as I did so.
The creature turned and squealed, standing on the bench. It centered its attention on me and leapt from the table, screeching as it came down against my arm, tearing the cloth of my overcoat. I drew my gun and shot at it. It took the shot and came at me again. Martin ran over and shot at it also. I fired again, and the creature screamed in pain as it collapsed to the floor, lying in a pool of its own blood.
Martin grabbed my shoulders as I sank to the ground, staring at the monster, shaking. It twitched slightly, and Martin placed his gun against its flat head and fired, blasting a hole in its skull. I stood up and walked slowly over to the dead forensic scientist and picked up his nametag.
"Dr. Henry Blackworth. Martin, please report this to the chief. And don't worry about that warrant."
Martin looked at me. "What? Why not? We can't do anything about Umbrella unless we have a warrant."
I shook my head. "No, we can. That laboratory is in the warehouse district. We'll blow the place sky-high."
"What!? We can't do that! Its illegal, and we can't prove anything!"
I spun around to face him. "Proof?! What the hell do you call that thing? Besides. Its not illegal for us, if we're not in the spotlight."
"You're not gonna go see Al Brasco are you?"
I nodded. "He owes me one, Marty. I'm
sure he'd like to singe Umbrella's tail feathers too."
December 1st 1997..........
Al Brasco was one of the 'respectable criminals' who dealt in organised crime. To put it simply, Godfather Al was a Mafia boss. Dealing with the Mafia was dangerous in many ways, but I was willing to take that chance to make sure Umbrella didn't go any further. I knew about Umbrella. I had known for ages. But I'd tolerated it, because I was skeptical. I had been told a long time ago by an old friend named Lachlahn McDoughal, who's sole existence was to bring down Umbrella. But I'd passed it off as bitterness for them laying him off. He'd said that he had quit, but back then I was sure he had been fired.
Godfather Al had been in danger of prosecution when one of his men became a police informant. Umbrella had been behind the prosecution, which arouse when Al had stepped into their space and caused one of their experiments to go public, resulting in a lawsuit within the company. Back then, when I was just a street officer, I'd been approached by Brasco's 'family' and asked for a favour. I managed to pull the appropriate ropes and get Brasco off the hook, and he'd offered to help me out if I needed a hand 'if you know what I mean', he had added with a grin. Well, now I needed a hand. I approached the guy at the bar.
"You know where the Godfather is?"
The barman looked at me with wide eyes. I narrowed my eyes and looked at him.
"I'd like to speak with Godfather Al today if you wouldn't mind, my friend."
He nodded quickly and ducked into the back for a moment. I tenderly touched my arm where the monster had slashed me and sighed as I waited for his return. He came back and whispered in a hushed voice.
"Mr Brasco will see you now."
I nodded and walked into the back room. The Mafia boss sat in an armchair at his desk smoking a cigar. He was tall, thin and well dressed in a black suit and red satin tie, his eyes shielded by dark shades and his jet-black hair slicked right back. He stood up as I walked in and shook my hand.
"Danielle, what a pleasant surprise. We're off the record, aren't we my friend?"
I smiled. "Quite. I sorta need that favour we talked about."
Al sat down behind his desk and leaned forward. "Hmmm. What did you have in mind?"
He had a thick Italian accent. I remembered my father also having a similar voice, and I knew that he had worked with Brasco several times. That may have been why I wasn't uncomfortable around Brasco. I pulled an envelope out of my inside pocket.
"Umbrella has overstepped its boundaries and I think it's time to put them a little bit back over the line."
He sucked on his cigar and read the papers. Picking up the photographs of the monster and its victims, he nodded, laughing.
"Heh heh. Yeah. This is what the public needs to see. That Birkin woman, her husband is behind all this. What do you want us to do, my friend?"
"Do you think you can suss it out for me? Get some more evidence? I can either build a case in court, or gather some evidence to justify the 'removal' of Umbrella from the city."
"I like the latter."
"I figured you would."
Godfather Al nodded. "You got a deal, Danielle. It's not just a repayment for that little deed back a while ago. My incentive for this, I get my 'two cents worth' back at the company, you catching my drift here?"
I nodded. "What you're saying is, revenge is sweet."
He laughed. "You'd fit in with the family, Danielle. Sure you won't reconsider my offer? After all, your father was a made man, you know."
I nodded. "I know. But I'll stick to my job. I think chasing Umbrella around may become a second occupation."
"Well, we'll take care of this for you, Danielle. You take care of yourself."
"You too, Godfather. Keep the pictures if you like."
"Sure will."
I left, knowing that I'd left the job in capable hands.
December 6th, 1997.........
I was a bit startled when the phone rang out at midnight. I swung around as soon as I heard it and answered it quietly, hoping that it wasn't anything really important. It was Al Brasco.
"I dunno how off the record we are on your line, Danielle. Maybe it would be best to talk face to face. Can I count on you bein' at Godfather's meeting place at 1o'clock?"
I didn't know what was going on, but I agreed and quickly got dressed, locking the windows and the front door, running down the flight of stairs to the garage and taking out the car, driving down the backstreets with the headlights off. I reached the old warehouse Brasco used to hold meetings in and waited out the front in the shadows. Before long, a black BMW pulled up alongside the warehouse, and Brasco, accompanied by three of his best men climbed out.
"Godfather Al. What seems to be the problem?"
Brasco looked around for a moment. "We're ready to pull off your job for you, Danielle. But we don't know that lab. We need you to show us the way."
I turned away for a moment. I figured that would be the case.
"Fair enough. I figured it would come to this. I just have a request."
"Anything, Danielle."
"I want my partner to come. We know that place as good as each other."
Brasco nodded. "It's good as done, my friend." He clicked his fingers and turned to one of the men. "Phone that Heranger man. Do it now and tell him that Godfather Al wants him to come to the old warehouse. Tell him that Danielle asked. He'll know what you mean."
Danielle nodded. "Let's get this over with."
Danielle has finally revealed her past dealings with Umbrella, but will the allies
they hope to find in Bio-Counter welcome them with open arms now that they are
marked by the company?
Only time will tell in Chapter 12: Time Spent in Reconnaissance
