1Through the looking glass
"What are you so nervous about? You aren't even getting out of the helicopter," Vincent asked the shivering soldier across from him. The rookie had been shaking since the chopper left the ground, making it harder and harder for Vincent to enjoy his moon-gazing. "I don't even want to go near that island, and you have to go straight through that shit. Aren't you even a little afraid?" the rookie stuttered out. Vincent kept looking out the window at the red moon. "Scared of what?" The rookie was flabbergasted as he heard that. "That place is crawling with that fucking virus and God only knows what else! How in Christ's name can you say 'of what'?!"
Vincent continued to stare out the window with a lackadaisical tone and expression, "You still haven't answered my question, what should I be afraid of?" A look of hopelessness and confusion appeared on the rookie's face. He put his face in his hands as he explained, "That island, the communication was cut. We don't even know what happened there yet, but there was probably a spill, and that whole town there and the new thing they were working on." The rookie had to stop because he was near hyperventilating. Vincent knew why the soldier was so nervous. He always tried to read the files on anyone involved with his missions. This guy was nearly bitten by a virus carrier at one of the labs within a few months of his arrival. The thing's teeth actually brushed up against his neck. He was a low-level guard and expendable, which meant he'd be used for experiments instead of cured of the virus. The experience left the guy shaken and unusable for anything that directly involved the virus.
Vincent laughed softly and smiled warmly as he looked at the rookie. "Your name is Jack Plisken right? How long have you been working with Umbrella?" Jack looked surprised by the sudden interest after two hours of silence and no eye contact. "Yeah, that's my name. How did you know?" Vincent waved his hand at him as he told him, "I read most of your files, but I can't remember how long you've been here." Jack readjusted himself in his seat as he prepared to talk. "I've been here nearly five months. Umbrella bailed me out of an Iranian prison for a decade worth of service. They're even paying me better than what I got as a mercenary," Jack finished. Vincent was still smiling. A lot of Umbrella's guards and nearly all of their UBCSs were criminals that Umbrella bailed out. "All of Umbrella's hired guns owe them something," he though as a brief grim expression comes over him. "You probably don't know who I am then do you?" he asked as he leaned in closer to Jack. "No, I just no you're good." Vincent shook his head and chuckled. "I'm not good, I'm great," he corrected as he grinned. "Well," he said as he got the last laughs out of his system, "I'm vaccinated against the T-virus so I don't have too much to worry about from a bite, as long as it's not a very big bite." Jack looked puzzled again. "They have vaccinations against it? Why didn't I get one?" He asked with his voice wavering, like a child's when told Santa isn't real. Vincent laughed again as he told him, "Of course they have a cure, but you either have to be great at what you do, or do something that warrants a reward. Before you ask, the materials that make up the vaccine are too expensive to vaccinate everyone." Jack understood, but still had another question. "What did you do to deserve one? I mean to be great, you had to do something big right? That's the way you got vaccinated right?" Vincent leaned back and stared out the window again, his mood taken another swing for the worst. "Lets just say Umbrella's got a lot invested in me, so keeping me," Vincent paused for a second, struggling with the words, "human... is in their interest."
Jack sensed the shift and saw that Vincent's chatty mood had passed. Some awkwardly silent moments passed with only the noise of the helicopter's blades cutting the air to be heard. Jack pulled some papers out from behind his back as he cleared his throat to speak, "The reason they sent me along was to make sure you were prepared for this mission. You've already been given the maps right?" Vincent reached inside his hunter green trench-coat and produced several maps. "Okay you got those. You also have your weapons and ammunition right?" Vincent opened his coat this time, revealing a combat knife, magnum revolver, and three bags with six quick loaders each strapped or holstered to his belt. "Finally, you know your orders right?" Jack asked. Vincent bent over in his seat as he ran both of his hands through his dark brown hair, slicking it back all out of his face. Since it had grown down just past his jaw line he had begun to do this when annoyed. "Of course I know my orders," Vincent muttered in a voice close to a growl. "My mission is to confirm whether there has been a spill and find out the circumstances behind it if possible. If there has been, I am to gather any information about the unrefined T-Virus variation that was being researched on Lamprey Island, and possibly recover a sample. I'll be able to find it in the Ashford Laboratory which can be accessed through the Spencer Research Facility. I'm to leave the island via the escape route in the cavern and report to Serenity Island to be pulled out and returned to base. It's been 48 hours since the communications were cut, so there is a big chance that there are no survivors left on the island. A good percent of the island residents didn't know what was going on though, so if I do encounter any, I am to shoot on sight. That's all right?" Vincent grumbled. Jack was flipping through papers and nodding as he turned. "Yeah, that's all," he said meekly as Vincent went to looking back out the window. "Some job I did preping him," Jack muttered as he put his hand on his forehead. Another period of silence hung in the air for a moment as Jack looked at Vincent and Vincent looked at the moon. Jack suddenly remembered a piece of information that his and Vincent's superiors added at the last second. He dug into his pocket and produced a small earpiece with a microphone attached to it. "They said that they wanted you to keep in contact with them with this," he said as he handed the small radio over. Vincent placed it into his ear and adjusted the microphone close to his mouth, but not touching his skin. He pressed a button on the side of the ear piece and began to speak. "Testing, testing, do you read me?" A man's voice with a Russian accent replied, "Loud and clear Agent 9. I trust the soldier has briefed you on your mission and did an equipment check?" Vincent looked at Jack as he said, "Yeah, He did all that. Did a good job too." Vincent and Jack both smiled at each other, Jack's being bigger for the fact that he hadn't really briefed Vincent at all. "We want you to contact us if you find anything useful or interesting. Understand that Agent 9?" Vincent stopped smiling as he went back to talking to the voice. Jack began to wonder why Vincent's mood soured every time they talked about the mission or his past with Umbrella. "And what's with 'Agent Nine'?" Vincent's mood got worse as he answered, "Yeah, got it chief." There wasn't a reply.
Vincent leaned back into his seat and covered his eyes with his hands as he asked, "How long till we arrive pilot?" The pilot held up five fingers in reply. "Five minutes huh? Not to long then," he laughed as he placed his head against the small window next to him. "Why do you get so upset when it comes to Umbrella? And why did that guy call you Agent 9?" Jack managed to ask, despite the red lights and warnings that were telling him not to ask. A smirk appeared on Vincent's face as he started, "I get upset because Umbrella helped me. I sold my soul to them, so I do whatever they tell me to do. Been that way for three years. He called me Agent 9 because of what they did to me and that is how they know me, as a number." Vincent looked straight at Joe as he asked, "Do you know how old I am? I am 23. I will work for Umbrella for the rest of my life with no pay. That's how much they helped me out, and that was the terms I agreed to. Even if I knew what I know though, I would still agree to work for them. As much as I hate them, I hate the way I was to begin with more." Jack adopted his familiar look of confusion as he asked, "If they helped you out so much, why do you hate them?" Vincent laughed as he replied, "They helped me out only to help them. Now they own me. That is why I hate them."
It was Jack's turn to stare out the window this time, wondering if in some part they owned him and everyone they "helped out". He took noticed of how the sky was clouding up with thunderheads as they approached Lamprey Island, the island the Spencer Research Facility was on. The crimson moon was swallowed by the black clouds, giving them a scarlet lining. "Ominous, isn't it?" Vincent asked as he looked toward the island as well. He was looking at the rising smoke from illuminated parts of the island. It appeared that three large fires were just dying out in the city. "Guess I'll report that when I get there," he mumbled as the fiddled with the ear piece and microphone. Jack wanted to know what he meant when he said "the way he was to begin with". He knew better than to ask about that though; a lot of Umbrella's guards and soldiers didn't like to talk about their past, and he knew that Vincent would be no exception.
They had finally arrived at Lamprey Island. It had been an uncomfortable ride after Vincent's little speech. The silence had hung around and lingered like the smell of death or a fart. The chopper began to hovered over a rocky cliff, the highest point of the island from what they could see. The island was a plateau that rose out of the ocean five or six stories at high tide, with this cliff being the only really uneven point on the island. Before the town and facilities had been built the island had been covered by forest, and despite the development 3/4 of the large island was still forest. There was also a large cavern that Umbrella was making use of. The town really just served as a stress-reliever for the scientists. Living in a normal environment helped keep stress low and accidents at a minimum. It also served as a good front for Umbrella's activities. Umbrella had a good thing going with Lamprey Island, had being the key word. "Here we go," Vincent muttered as he opened the door. Jack produced a rope ladder for Vincent to climb down, but Vincent told him to put it back. He simply told the pilot to get a little lower and the helicopter dropped a few feet. "See you later Jack," Vincent told him as he looked down to the ground. "Yeah, see you later, I hope," Jack answered back, looking down as well. "Your not going to actually jump, are you? It's way too high," he told him as he walked away from the opening. The helicopter began to turn and leave though. Jack spun around and found that Vincent was gone. Running to shut the door, Jack saw him walking towards the forest on the island. "How did he do that?" Jack wondered as the chopper pulled away from the island, Vincent becoming smaller and smaller until he was only a spec on the horizon. "Good luck buddy, I think you'll need it," Jack muttered as he took his seat again.