"The memories of a man in his old age, are the deeds of a man in his
prime." Cassandra sang. The halls in this part of the facility were quiet
except for the screams of the dying. It made an odd backround noise to the
upbeat song. "You shuffle in the gloom if the sick room, and talk to
yourself until you die."
"Cassandra." Catherine said, a file in her hand.
"Life is a short warm moment, and death is a long cold rest. You get your chance to try, in the twinkling of an eye, eighty years with luck or even less." She strummed all the more violently, affecting deafness to her older sister.
"Cassandra!"
Cassandra gave a vicious slash at the guitar, snapping a string on her guitar.
"What do you want?!"
"This lab report needs to be double checked." she flopped it down on the desk of her younger sister. Cass's face turned a slight pink. "Can you do it for me?"
"There's more to life than the labs, Cathy!" snapped Cass. "Like, what I was doing now? That's called a habit. We people have them to pass the time in other ways than peering into microscopes."
"For you, maybe. I happen to take my work seriously."
"Grow up."
"I am already grown up!"
"You're like a child playing scientist." Cassandra stood, carefully placing her guitar down.
"Oh God!" someone shrieked from down the hall. Neither of them cared. The man was restrained, although someone really should have knocked him out. What a shame. Catherine had turned pink, then scowled.
"Fine. I'll look over the lab report myself. At least I am not going to the gun range every day."
"Who told you I was doing that?" Cassandra demanded. She was, but Uncle Oswell would be furious when he heard the news. He didn't think it was 'ladylike' for Cassandra or Catherine to be on the shooting range. Too many men, too much danger. How her uncle expected her to cope in a real mission, Cassandra did not know.
"Amelia Merandez told me." sniffed Catherine. "You get back to your little illusion, then." and she stormed off. Cassandra scowled after her sister.
*
Ruben Salven strode down the hill. Lydia was in the apartment, but his mind was on other matters - of the lady variety. Spotting an arrogent looking blond clad in black with an absent look in her eyes of thought with a brother, he smiled. His first mistake was mistaking the look of thought for one of stupidity.
"Aah, the hunt begins." he rubbed his hands together gleefully. "I'd do the stupid out of her." And with that, he pranced over.
"No, Afred," Alexia was sneering, holding a styrofoam cup at arms length, "I said I wanted _early grey_". She gave a despondant little sniff and turned away petulantly, rolling her eyes. Things were going from bad to worse for the Ashford name, she reflected as she arched a golden eyebrow at the genetically inferior being who appeared to be frolicing towards her.
Salven smoothed back his hair, but on the smile that the girl in the mailroom thought was 'cute', and threw out a hand to lean against a wall before he realized that one wasn't there. He cleared his throat instead.
"Hello!" he said brightly. "I'm Ruben Salven." he winked and grinned at her, then glanced at her brother, wearing a jaunty black coat with lace at the edges. "Would you mind going and... doing whatever it is poofs do while I have a little chat with your sister?"
Alfred looked like he was about to strangle himself with all of the insults struggling to come out of his mouth. His eyes blazed like fury, and his face turned beet red.
"Do... not ... disrespect... Alexia ... like that!" he finally managed to choke. Salven gave him a blank stare, then turned his attentions back to Alexia.
The statuesque blonde tilted her chin up haughtily at Salven, her ruby lips curving upwards into a sneer. For a moment it appeared that she was lost for words, but this soon subsided into a derisive laugh. "I don't think you understand, cretin," she sneered, "*I* am Alexia Ashford!" she tossed her hair over her shoulder proudly and waited for the simian to cower before her.
"Cretin?" Ruben smiled. "Oh, you must have read a book or something! Alexia? That's a pretty name. And you don't have to be so proud about little old me trying to um... suitor you."
At this, Alfred's eyes nearly bulged out of his head, he reached for a sniper rifle that wasn't there and tried to throw insults at this man. All that came out was:
"You... don't... Alexia... superior... Ashford... failure... intellectually... inferior... die!"
Alexia paused for a moment and frowned. This wasn't right, she reflected. Why was this neanderthal treating her like...an ordinary woman. She shuddered at the mere thought, and turned to her brother with an icy glare, before turning her wrath on Salven,
"How dare you?" she exclaimed, before bringing the back of her hand sharply across Salven's face, "Alfred! Dispose of this defective soldier ant at once!"
Salven stepped back, rubbing the side of his face, but still grinning. "So, playing hard to get?" He was interrupted by Alfred lunging at him, managing to get a punch or two in before Salven simply snaked out from underneath him, a gun in his hand. "Listen, buddy - your sister's grown up." He said the words in a lewd way - as usual. "So how about you go and acquaint yourself with Roger? You two would be the perfect match."
Alfred let out a hiss of vexation, then glanced at Alexia as though pleading for help. Alexia sighed. Her brother was slightly above average, but still a pathetic, genetically inferior fool.
She slid a a nail gently against her wrist, causing blood to spurt out gently. It trickled over her wrist, hitting the floor in flashes of flames. The imbecile stared.
"Your blood..." he said weakly, ashen faced and disbelieving. Perfect. Alexia gave a nasty smile, and the man backed off.
"Sorry." he said, trying to smile. "But uh... I'm not into circus freak chicks." And with that, he bolted. *
The sleek black jet landed on the Paris runway, and Team Biohazard filed out neatly. They all headed their seperate ways - Tweek and Foxx off into the city, Reeve and Ada were going to check out a computer shop, leaving Hojo, Scythe, and Cora to head up to the facility. To Cora's surprise, there was a old looking man, with a light of authority in his eyes and a cold face. His face was pale from hard work, but his hair was black and his eyes dark brown.
"Sir!" Scythe gave a sharp salute.
Hojo and Cora exchanged confused looks. His clothes were meticulous, although flecks of ink splattered across his fingers. He didn't have the look of an officer, more like a clerk.
/Stop it. You're getting paranoid. You don't need to pyschoanalyze everything around you./
"Sir!" she repeated Scythe's action, Hojo only a heartbeat behind her. The man smiled.
"At ease, Scythe, Phoenix, Hojo."
The three relaxed. The man smiled - he wore no identifying tag. Then again, no graduated officers did and very few scientists even bothered.
"Phoenix, I trust that the decision to bring your sister into Delta Team isn't bothering you?" the man asked.
"WHAT?!" Cora stared. "Amelia ... on ... Delta Team?"
"Oh. She speaks like you already know it and you've already taught her all you know. No matter." Oswell waved off the concerns of the furious agent. "You'll be taking on two rookies, Scythe. A medic and a B.O.W. expert."
"Who?" Scythe's face was smooth and his voice was level, but he had an air of irritation. Cora didn't blame him. She had been pathetic herself as a rookie, and Hojo was still struggling with trying to keep his easy going air in missions.
"Catherine and Cassandra Spencer."
"You want me to babysit your nieces, Oswell?" Scythe asked softly.
/Oswell? Oh shit, this is *the* Spencer./
"Yes. And if you value your life, you will."
"Phoenix." Scythe said. Cora nodded.
"Yes?"
"I'm putting you and Hojo in charge of them. You better not screw up."
"But Scythe! I have to look after my sister /and/ look after them?"
"You'll manage."
Spencer looked upon this with a dry amusement that made Cora want to hurt him.
"Yes, Phoenix. Please do try. I think it would be a growing expierience for all of Team Biohazard."
"Yes ... sir." Cora finally muttered, wilting under the stares from Scythe and Spencer combined. "I'll try to get on with your niece. But ... will you let my sister leave Delta Team?"
"Now, Phoenix! I didn't make any promises!" chuckled Oswell Spencer.
"Please, sir." insisted Cora.
"I'll speak to Linden later." Spencer finally said.
"Thank you, sir! Thank you!" Cora said. Scythe scowled, waiting until Spencer had nodded and exhanged a little more small talk before turning on Cora.
"Well, you definately came off the worse in that."
"Why?"
"Because you pulled your sister into negotiations. If a hand is laid on one of the Spencer girls..." Scythe exhaled.
"Then what?" Cora demanded.
"Then Amelia won't be on any UBCS team. She'll be dead."
/Oh, shit./ Cora cursed in her head. /What have I done?/ she crammed her hands into her pockets. /Stepped in dog shit, that's what./ *
"Cassandra." Catherine said, a file in her hand.
"Life is a short warm moment, and death is a long cold rest. You get your chance to try, in the twinkling of an eye, eighty years with luck or even less." She strummed all the more violently, affecting deafness to her older sister.
"Cassandra!"
Cassandra gave a vicious slash at the guitar, snapping a string on her guitar.
"What do you want?!"
"This lab report needs to be double checked." she flopped it down on the desk of her younger sister. Cass's face turned a slight pink. "Can you do it for me?"
"There's more to life than the labs, Cathy!" snapped Cass. "Like, what I was doing now? That's called a habit. We people have them to pass the time in other ways than peering into microscopes."
"For you, maybe. I happen to take my work seriously."
"Grow up."
"I am already grown up!"
"You're like a child playing scientist." Cassandra stood, carefully placing her guitar down.
"Oh God!" someone shrieked from down the hall. Neither of them cared. The man was restrained, although someone really should have knocked him out. What a shame. Catherine had turned pink, then scowled.
"Fine. I'll look over the lab report myself. At least I am not going to the gun range every day."
"Who told you I was doing that?" Cassandra demanded. She was, but Uncle Oswell would be furious when he heard the news. He didn't think it was 'ladylike' for Cassandra or Catherine to be on the shooting range. Too many men, too much danger. How her uncle expected her to cope in a real mission, Cassandra did not know.
"Amelia Merandez told me." sniffed Catherine. "You get back to your little illusion, then." and she stormed off. Cassandra scowled after her sister.
*
Ruben Salven strode down the hill. Lydia was in the apartment, but his mind was on other matters - of the lady variety. Spotting an arrogent looking blond clad in black with an absent look in her eyes of thought with a brother, he smiled. His first mistake was mistaking the look of thought for one of stupidity.
"Aah, the hunt begins." he rubbed his hands together gleefully. "I'd do the stupid out of her." And with that, he pranced over.
"No, Afred," Alexia was sneering, holding a styrofoam cup at arms length, "I said I wanted _early grey_". She gave a despondant little sniff and turned away petulantly, rolling her eyes. Things were going from bad to worse for the Ashford name, she reflected as she arched a golden eyebrow at the genetically inferior being who appeared to be frolicing towards her.
Salven smoothed back his hair, but on the smile that the girl in the mailroom thought was 'cute', and threw out a hand to lean against a wall before he realized that one wasn't there. He cleared his throat instead.
"Hello!" he said brightly. "I'm Ruben Salven." he winked and grinned at her, then glanced at her brother, wearing a jaunty black coat with lace at the edges. "Would you mind going and... doing whatever it is poofs do while I have a little chat with your sister?"
Alfred looked like he was about to strangle himself with all of the insults struggling to come out of his mouth. His eyes blazed like fury, and his face turned beet red.
"Do... not ... disrespect... Alexia ... like that!" he finally managed to choke. Salven gave him a blank stare, then turned his attentions back to Alexia.
The statuesque blonde tilted her chin up haughtily at Salven, her ruby lips curving upwards into a sneer. For a moment it appeared that she was lost for words, but this soon subsided into a derisive laugh. "I don't think you understand, cretin," she sneered, "*I* am Alexia Ashford!" she tossed her hair over her shoulder proudly and waited for the simian to cower before her.
"Cretin?" Ruben smiled. "Oh, you must have read a book or something! Alexia? That's a pretty name. And you don't have to be so proud about little old me trying to um... suitor you."
At this, Alfred's eyes nearly bulged out of his head, he reached for a sniper rifle that wasn't there and tried to throw insults at this man. All that came out was:
"You... don't... Alexia... superior... Ashford... failure... intellectually... inferior... die!"
Alexia paused for a moment and frowned. This wasn't right, she reflected. Why was this neanderthal treating her like...an ordinary woman. She shuddered at the mere thought, and turned to her brother with an icy glare, before turning her wrath on Salven,
"How dare you?" she exclaimed, before bringing the back of her hand sharply across Salven's face, "Alfred! Dispose of this defective soldier ant at once!"
Salven stepped back, rubbing the side of his face, but still grinning. "So, playing hard to get?" He was interrupted by Alfred lunging at him, managing to get a punch or two in before Salven simply snaked out from underneath him, a gun in his hand. "Listen, buddy - your sister's grown up." He said the words in a lewd way - as usual. "So how about you go and acquaint yourself with Roger? You two would be the perfect match."
Alfred let out a hiss of vexation, then glanced at Alexia as though pleading for help. Alexia sighed. Her brother was slightly above average, but still a pathetic, genetically inferior fool.
She slid a a nail gently against her wrist, causing blood to spurt out gently. It trickled over her wrist, hitting the floor in flashes of flames. The imbecile stared.
"Your blood..." he said weakly, ashen faced and disbelieving. Perfect. Alexia gave a nasty smile, and the man backed off.
"Sorry." he said, trying to smile. "But uh... I'm not into circus freak chicks." And with that, he bolted. *
The sleek black jet landed on the Paris runway, and Team Biohazard filed out neatly. They all headed their seperate ways - Tweek and Foxx off into the city, Reeve and Ada were going to check out a computer shop, leaving Hojo, Scythe, and Cora to head up to the facility. To Cora's surprise, there was a old looking man, with a light of authority in his eyes and a cold face. His face was pale from hard work, but his hair was black and his eyes dark brown.
"Sir!" Scythe gave a sharp salute.
Hojo and Cora exchanged confused looks. His clothes were meticulous, although flecks of ink splattered across his fingers. He didn't have the look of an officer, more like a clerk.
/Stop it. You're getting paranoid. You don't need to pyschoanalyze everything around you./
"Sir!" she repeated Scythe's action, Hojo only a heartbeat behind her. The man smiled.
"At ease, Scythe, Phoenix, Hojo."
The three relaxed. The man smiled - he wore no identifying tag. Then again, no graduated officers did and very few scientists even bothered.
"Phoenix, I trust that the decision to bring your sister into Delta Team isn't bothering you?" the man asked.
"WHAT?!" Cora stared. "Amelia ... on ... Delta Team?"
"Oh. She speaks like you already know it and you've already taught her all you know. No matter." Oswell waved off the concerns of the furious agent. "You'll be taking on two rookies, Scythe. A medic and a B.O.W. expert."
"Who?" Scythe's face was smooth and his voice was level, but he had an air of irritation. Cora didn't blame him. She had been pathetic herself as a rookie, and Hojo was still struggling with trying to keep his easy going air in missions.
"Catherine and Cassandra Spencer."
"You want me to babysit your nieces, Oswell?" Scythe asked softly.
/Oswell? Oh shit, this is *the* Spencer./
"Yes. And if you value your life, you will."
"Phoenix." Scythe said. Cora nodded.
"Yes?"
"I'm putting you and Hojo in charge of them. You better not screw up."
"But Scythe! I have to look after my sister /and/ look after them?"
"You'll manage."
Spencer looked upon this with a dry amusement that made Cora want to hurt him.
"Yes, Phoenix. Please do try. I think it would be a growing expierience for all of Team Biohazard."
"Yes ... sir." Cora finally muttered, wilting under the stares from Scythe and Spencer combined. "I'll try to get on with your niece. But ... will you let my sister leave Delta Team?"
"Now, Phoenix! I didn't make any promises!" chuckled Oswell Spencer.
"Please, sir." insisted Cora.
"I'll speak to Linden later." Spencer finally said.
"Thank you, sir! Thank you!" Cora said. Scythe scowled, waiting until Spencer had nodded and exhanged a little more small talk before turning on Cora.
"Well, you definately came off the worse in that."
"Why?"
"Because you pulled your sister into negotiations. If a hand is laid on one of the Spencer girls..." Scythe exhaled.
"Then what?" Cora demanded.
"Then Amelia won't be on any UBCS team. She'll be dead."
/Oh, shit./ Cora cursed in her head. /What have I done?/ she crammed her hands into her pockets. /Stepped in dog shit, that's what./ *