CHAPTER II: FUND-CUTTING THREATS
Gamma Unit One's truck was holding Alphas One, Two, and Three. Three was driving, while Two was in the back, preparing the restraining vests. One was preparing for his mission. "Three, get that headset on," he commanded. "Yes, sir," Three said. All three of the men were wearing headsets, directly wired to their teammates, the other two Gamma Units, and the monitors in the Umbrella Corporation's Board of Executives' chamber in the Hive. Gamma Unit One, which consisted of Alphas One, Two, and Three, was stationed outside of a Brookfield, IL orphanage, which received 95 of its annual funding from the Umbrella Corporation. Unit One's mission had been drilled into their heads many a time: get the orphanage manager to sign forms which released three young girls, one age three, one age four, and one age five, into Umbrella's custody. They were under orders to start by neogotiating the funding contracts to that if the orphanage owners did not comply, their funding from Umbrella would be immediately cut off. But if the orphanage owners chose not to comply, even after the threats have been made, they were allowed to use force to make sure that the forms were signed. If all came to all, they were allowed to murder the orphanage caretaker to insure that the police would not come after Umbrella. But, if the murder took place, the team would have to get out of the area, with the girls, within five minutes. If necessary, the team member going in (Alpha One, Alpha Four, or Alpha Seven) would be able to call backup (Alpha Two, Alpha Five, or Alpha Eight) to help retrieve the girls. "Home Base, this is Alpha One. I'm going in."
Minnie Holsted heard a knock on her office door. "Come in, please," she said. A man entered the doorway. "Sir, it's 10:00 at night. The children are asleep. Please try not to make too much noise." "Sorry, Ms. Holsted," he said. "I work for the Umbrella Corporation, and I'd like to go to bed this evening, too, so I'll get right down to business." "What can I do for you, sir?" Minnie asked. "You know that Umbrella gives us 95 of our profits." "All right, ma'am," the man said. "The corporation requires you to release three of your little girls into its custody in order for your funding to stay intact." "What?" Ms. Holsted asked. "Wh...which ones?" "These three," the man said, pulling a file folder out of his pocket. Minnie examined the forms and found a picture attached to each one. They were three of her favorites, three-year-old Samantha, four-year-old Kaitlin, and five-year-old Rachelle. "Why these ones?" "Just the ones the corporation requested, ma'am." "Can't I choose any boys instead?" Minnie asked the man. "No, I'm afraid not. The corporation requires girls from all three orphanages." "What do you mean all three?" "We also have men at the orphanage in Gary, Indiana, and downtown Chicago." "Well," Minnie said, "you can do whatever you want, but I'm not releasing those girls to you unless you tell me what you're going to do to them." "It's more than my job's worth to tell you that, Ms. Holsted," the man said. "Well, then," Ms. Holsted said, "I guess I'm not signing your damned forms." "Oh, yes, you are," the man said, "because we will cut off all of your funding from us and other companies if you don't. Your kids will be left homeless." "That's fine by me," Ms. Holsted said, "because I couldn't give a rat's ass about those kids. I'm just in it for the money." "All right, then, I'll kill you if you don't sign them." Minnie suddenly had a look of fear in her eyes. "Fine, then," she said. "If you torture those little runts, all the better." She signed the forms and promptly said, "I'm going to bed." Alpha One waited until she was out of the room and then said over his comlink headset, "Alpha Two, the forms are signed. Help me get the girls. Alpha Three, be in position in the back of the truck." He heard two "Yes, Sir"s on his comlink, then went to meet Alpha Two at the door to the dorm room.