(Disclaimer: It's rare to see me do disclaimers is this series, but I had to tell everyone that I couldn't write for a while because Fanfiction was updating or something other, not to mention I had a temporary writers block.)

Chapter 17

Rodney continued the day at school, another Monday that dragged on as slowly as the others, but he didn't see Amelia there, and it dragged on just a little slower than usual. He wanted to go home and see her, though he figured he shouldn't fret because she would probably be staying with them for a while. He couldn't do anything intimate while her memory was on standby, however.

Old boring school, old boring classes, old boring teachers. Everything was the same, and no one was aware that a new student was about to be a part of it. Lunch time. Old, boring lunch. Old, boring food. He took his tray of inconceivable food and sat at a nearby table, but he felt eyes upon him. He turned his head to see the same brunette as before. After staring at him for a few moments, she joined him at the table.

"So we meet again."

"Do you have anything else vital that you need to tell me?" Rodney asked.

"There isn't much I can say. I need to know Amelia's story before anything. Has there ever been anything she's explained to you that you didn't understand? Has she been remembering back to the accident yet?"

"She was saying all this talk about the accident. She asked herself when she was in a car. Then she asked me 'How could I have been driving when I'm only thirteen?' I knew something had to have been wrong then."

"The doctors didn't fill in all the holes."

"So you think it's true that they brainwashed her?"

"It's not impossible. After all, if you have amnesia, as both you and Amelia have admitted, you lose your memory. She, however, has a new life filled in for her."

"I've definitely spotted some holes. I was trying to think of things she's done out of habit and she started cracking her knuckles. Did she do that around you?"

"She cracked her knuckles, back, elbows, shoulders, neck, toes--"

"Anyway, when I pointed out that she has always cracked her knuckles, she looked at them like she wasn't sure if she always had or not."

"That's definitely something you need to confirm her on. Unfortunately, I'm only her friend, and you're only her boyfriend. Even though you're more close to her than I could be, there's only so much you can know about her."

There was silence, then the girl added:

"You cannot tell the doctors that you're her boyfriend."

"Why not?"

"If you told them that you're a close friend, they know you would take pity on her and watch over her. Because you are her boyfriend, however, it's only natural that you try and have her remember because you don't want to lose her."

"What could they do to me?"

"You don't know Umbrella. My mother used to work for them, and gave useful information of them away to Jill--"

"Who?"

"She's an old friend of my mother's. She's ten years, at least, younger than her, but still a friend. She's one of the top personal of STARS."

"So, what did Umbrella do to her?"

"Eventually, the leak lead back to her. One day, a man dressed as a physician knocked on our door to have an appointment scheduled with her, and wanted to take her to Mission. I.. haven't seen her since."

"You don't think they--?"

"I know exactly what they did. Most likely, they put her through the same therapy as Amelia. If she proved to still remember too much and they failed to reformat her memory.."

"But couldn't they see that Amelia had too many holes in her memory?"

"She's obviously being used for something else. I would mind what you say. Have you had a doctor check on her yet?"

"One of the doctors of Mission said he would check with her weekly."

"Then it should be getting time to check on her. I would have a talk with her before that time comes to make sure she doesn't tell them that you've tried to move her memory along."

"What would they do to me?"

"You wouldn't be as lucky as Amelia or my mother was to have their memories erased. That would be merciful, but I fear they will use you as a subject to the updated Reproduction Project."

"Reproduction Project?"

"It started in Raccoon City, and also ended there when the city was leveled. That Project is the whole reason Raccoon doesn't exist anymore because it got so out of hand."

"What exactly is the Project?"

"It started in cosmetics and quickly made it's way up from there to cell growth/reproduction. They wanted to see if they could make a chemical that could make cells new again and cause reproduction of cells to move faster, like that similar of someone twenty years younger, if were, say, forty. If the chemical is injected into the muscles, then followed immediately by the anti-virus--"

"Anti-virus?"

"--Shut up! Lemme finish!"

"Sorry.."

"--Then it should have ended in results of cell reproduction, thus, making you look younger. One of the flasks that contained the T-virus, as it was so called, however, was broken. When airborne, it is a deadly chemical, and it killed everyone in the facility, but their cells continued to reproduce, including their heart and brain cells, their nervous system, even after their death."

"Thus resulting in.."

"Something similar to the walking dead movies people like to watch, but who was going to believe that? Umbrella had to cover it up. Assumptions would be made of a lie if they didn't cover it up any ways. It was blamed on STARS and Alice McKinley."

"Alice McKinley..?"

"You ask too many questions--"

"No, listen! Amelia calls herself Alice McKinley!"

The girl was silent for a moment. "Mere coincidence?"

"Hardly. We've gotta find this Alice McKinley."

"Although I considered Jill, who I mentioned before, as a close friend, I just wasn't close to her, but she's actually my first cousin."

Rodney raised his eyebrows. "So you know where to find her?"

"I have a good idea. If not, I've got some mean hacking skills and I may be able to track her."

"I never caught your name."

"Hannah."

"Hannah, I think you and I are gonna get along just fine."