Chapter 8

"Tessa Maat Arrives"

July 33rd 1981

Brian heard the tick-clock, tick-clock that was characteristic of low body weight and high heels, and that was odd because there weren't a lot of women in the Arklay Complex. The new girl must have arrived. He yawned and checked his watch. It was 10:26am. He had been up all night and was in need of sleep. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Brian peered into the microscope in front of him and wrote on a clipboard without looking at what he was writing, confident that he was staying on the correct lines. He was not working on the T-Virus, but rather a cure.

Brian was beginning to question the affect that XCL-1 was having on the female subject. It was working. Slowly, but it was working. At the rate it was working, it would have her fully cured by the year 2005. He couldn't wait until she was 52 years old to have her back to normal.

"What are you working on?" a sweet voice asked from behind him.

Brian pulled his bloodshot eyes from the microscope and turned to look at the owner of that voice.

A woman stood some ten feet behind where he was slumped over the piece of lab equipment. She was about 5'6" with brown hair and hazel eyes. She was dressed in a red skirt with a black blouse and a white lab coat.

Brian was about to puke if he saw another lab coat.

The woman had a lopsided smile on her face as she looked at him and asked again, "What are you working on?"

Brian blinked sleepily, "Just a side project. Tessa Maat, I presume?"

"That's right," she said and smiled sweetly as she came closer.

"I'm Brian Jackson," Brian said and held out his hand, which Tessa shook.

Brian turned from his project to Ms. Maat and leaned back against the counter, "When did you get in?"

"Just a few minutes ago. I haven't had enough time to look around."

Brian felt a bit of his cynical nature seep into his next question; "Do you have a strong stomach?"

Tessa blinked, "I like to think so, why?"

"Some of the work we do down here is kinda…" Brian thought for a second, then said, "Gruesome. Blood, guts…stink. All of that stuff."

Tessa's eyes widened, "Oh, I see. Thanks for the warning."

"No problem. If you need anything, just let me know. The head researcher here is a kid named William Burkin. He and Albert Wesker work together quite a bit, you'll be reporting to them, but don't bother looking to either of them for advice on personal issues," Brian said with a smile.

Tessa let out a laugh and stood a little straighter, "Thank you Mr. Jackson."

"Please, call me Brian. Mr. Jackson was my father's name."

"Okay, Brian," Tessa said with that smile which hadn't left her face yet, "Could you tell me where my quarters are?"

"Down that hall," Brian said, pointing to a doorway, "Turn left, then just follow the signs. I hope you don't mind bunking up."

"Not at all, now if you will excuse me, I'll go put my things away and then I need to take a nap. That helicopter ride was tiring."

Brian got up and shook Tessa's hand again, "Sleep well. We tend to wake up kind of late here, so you'll get plenty of rest."

"Okay, Brian. Good Night."

"Good night, Tessa."

Once Tessa Maat was gone, Brian turned back to the microscope. On the small glass tray was a drop of the female subject's blood. Under the high magnification, Brian could see the T-Virus attacking the red blood cells. Taking a small syringe filled with a golden liquid, he let a drop of the fluid fall onto the blood. Almost immediately, the T-Virus in the blood sample died, and the red blood cells began to heal.

Smirking, Brian leaned back and stretched; "Gotcha, ya mother-fucker."

He picked up a vial that was filled with the golden liquid and wrote on it, "XCL-2", before sitting it back where it was and, putting the papers and notes in his pocket, got up to go to his room.

"Hey, Joe," he sang as he walked down the hall, "Where you goin' with that, gun in your hand?"