Scythe figured he should be grateful for the break and not being saddled with a hysterical Cora. The way he figured, women were wired to have many settings, the two main ones being Normal and Hysterical Bitch. When they were on the second setting, it was well for anyone to stay away. He didn't deal much with women; they weren't in high regard as soldiers, but when he did he was constantly exasperated with the way they acted. They took insults to heart, pouted over the stupidest stuff, and cared about
Nonetheless, when Cassandra came back from visiting her, Scythe stopped her in the halls. Hysterical bitch or not, he wanted to know how Cora was doing. The girl had spunk, but her losses would affect anyone. Maybe a little sympathy would not be out of order.
"How's Phoenix?" he asked. Cassandra blurted out an answer that did not fulfill his curiosity.
"Oh my God, have you seen Uncle Oswell? He is going KILL ME!" She took a deep breath , giving the team leader a panicked look. "I skipped lab duty again and this guy managed to get loose and he smashed everything in there. I am going to go hide, if you see him tell him it wasn't my fault okay bye!" and then she rushed off, baggy shirt and hair streaming out behind her. He wondered if God hated him more than usual today. It was like everything he touched turned to total shit.
With this cheery thought at his back, he stalked down the halls and into the computer lab, sitting down in the chair next to Ada.
"What the hell," he asked tiredly, "is wrong with the women on this team?"
Pandora gave him a very flat look.
"Oh, thanks." she asked. "My day is just chippper, thanks Scythe." And then she turned back to her terminal. He sighed, realizing the mistake that he had just made.
"I don't mean like that." he explained patiently. "You're not like that."
"Oh?" she raised an eyebrow at him. "So I'm not crazy then, I assume." Her voice turned more threatening. "Or am I not a woman?"
"You're the exception." He raised his hands in a pacifying gesture
"Thanks, I guess." she grinned slightly. He gave a slight snort of laughter. She brushed a hand through her shining cap of dark hair, apparently ordering an AV cable off of an internet site. Whatever that was.
"Do you know what happened to Cora in Uranium City?" he finally asked. "Did she confide in you? You guys are pals, right?"
"No. She didn't." Ada shook her head. "Even if she had, I wouldn't have told you anyways. Secrets stay secret."
"I'm the team leader, I would like to know if one of my team is
going off the deepend."
"We're all insane here." Ada said. He wondered if she was joking or not. He decided that she was. He certainly wasn't crazy. Everyone else was, perhaps, but he was in full control of himself.
"Thanks anyways." he offered.
"Also, Scythe?"
"Yeah?"
"I did a little poking around on your hard drive, to try to clear up hard drive space." she gave him an incredibly frank look. "Let me just say that the deletion of your porn folder cleared things up, a LOT."
He felt his face turning incredibly red. "Get to the gym, do a few laps," he finally said. "And stay away from my files. I'm setting up passwords from now on."
She stood gracefully. "You think that can stop me if I want to get through?" she winked at the commander and strode out. Scythe rolled his eyes. Was every woman mental?
vvvvvvv
Cora's muscles were burning and she was exhausted as she flopped down onto the sofa. She immediately went to the tiny fridge to find that it was empty. That little gym that Madeline Spencer had put into her cottage was the only thing she could stay focused on for more than five minutes. She couldn't make it past a chapter in a book or the first commercial break of a TV show. Something was niggling in the back of her brain…
Oh, yes. That was right. You had to go shopping every morning here. What a stupid tradition. Not only was all the television in French but you had to stock up this small fridge just to buy what you needed for the day? And that meant that you had to go outside and people would talk to you. In French. It was AWFUL. Cora would stand there and stammer at them and finally manage to stammer out that she did not speak French awkwardly in the tongue she did not know.
She considered going back to the facility, where most people spoke English, but then they would send her on a mission. And she could not face that, not yet. So instead she headed out awkwardly to the market. She was hungry.
So, she timidly ventured out of the little house and made her way to the market.
"Bonjour!" the man at one of the little market stalls said to her. She was astonished at the French markets, stalls all lined up next to each other all hawking goods to sell. It reminded her of Mexico markets except for one thing. She hated it. She had left Mexico a long time ago and she wanted it to stay back there, because Mexico was mostly a time of good memories and she had had mother and Amelia.
No one spoke Spanish, they all did so in French or in broken English. So she did the best, pointing and speaking what she knew in French. As such she came away with a lot of apples and bread, she wasn't sure what anything else was called. Sometimes she would point at something, and the vendor would give her an odd look, so she quickly ceased it.
Life, she reflected alone, could be a very lonely thing without your family, and it was even lonelier when you were a B.O.W. One thing that wasn't lonely at all, however, was the constant paranoia that she felt of someone peeking over her shoulder. Alexia and that goddamn bond her virus had created.
Maybe there was a reason to go back after all.
vvvvvvvvv
Catherine Spencer looked in her small wooden mailbox on the wall and pulled out two sheets of paper. One was from Hojo, and she crumpled it up and tossed it in the waste basket. The second one was more formal.
Dr. Catherine Spencer
You have been promoted to the office of the Head Assistant to Dr. William Birkin. You are to be under this position effective now.
Regards, Umbrella Inc.
Catherine glanced at this paper for a while, who could have sent it? Didn't William have the authority? If so… she smiled to herself. She admired William very much, he was intelligent and more importantly, he was a noted scientist! He had many important advances!
Best of all, he had stuck up for her in front of that snooty Alexia Ashford. With a smile, she folded the paper in three and put it in her pocket. Her sister came up behind her.
"Hey, Cathy!" beamed Cassandra. "Have you seen Uncle Oswell?"
"Last time I saw him, he was coming down to check on you in the labs."
"Crap." Cassandra frowned deeply to herself. "He's gonna be mad at me…" she heaved her shoulders. "Hey, I have a letter!"
Cassandra Spencer.
You have been promoted to the office of the Head Assistant to Dr. Alexia Ashford. You are to be under this position effective now.
Regards, Umbrella Inc.
The younger sister stared at it, rubbed her eyes and then her mouth dropped open.
"They have me as the assistant to Alexia Ashford!" she said weakly. "That's not fair… She's going to kill me and turn me into a monster, I can just tell."
"Consider it your comeuppance, Cassie." Catherine said. "A chance to turn over a new leaf. It's not that bad."
"Yeah. At least I have more authority than you." Cassandra sighed slightly, shoulders hunched.
"Well, no, I was promoted as well." Catherine said, sounding very smug. "I'm Head Assistant to William Birkin." Catherine smiled to herself. Even though she had nothing but sympathy for her sister, she was still amazed at her turn of luck. Her sister stared at her, obviously angry at how unfair this had turned out.
"You get your loverboy and I get the Queen Bitch!" Cassandra exclaimed, perhaps more loudly than she should have, because someone cleared their throat.
"You were saying?" a soft voice said, and Alexia Ashford glided in, all serenity and ice. Cassandra grimaced at herself before turning to her new superior.
"I was just talking to Cathy about the job, you know how it goes, with the coworkers and whatnot…" Cassandra muttered. She knew it would have no affect, and indeed Alexia's face was as hard as cold as it ever had been. Alfred lurked behind her, glaring at the girl who had insulted his Alexia.
"I just recieved the news from your Uncle about this news." Alexia said. "You are now obligated to follow me on any and all pursuits that I may choose."
"As well as any of mine!" Alfred piped in. Alexia glanced at him, indifferent.
"As well as any of Alfred's, providing it does not clash with your services for me."
"That's ridiculous!" Catherine stepped in to defend her youngersister, who was looking more and more disheartened by the minute. Alfred glared her down.
"You have no power over what Alexia does," he said angrily. Alexia ignored them both.
"Also, I expect you to clean up your appearance and be presentable," she said, inspecting the undone sneakers, baggy cargoes, and tight neon - pink t-shirt that read "Make Love, Not Wara" that the Spencer girl was wearing. Cassandra was glowering at the scientist as if she didn't like any of the words coming out of her mouth.
"That's ridiculous," she muttered. "When Uncle Oswell hears about this slave driving…"
"He assigned you to this position." Alexia's voice was like a
whipcrack "I think it would be unwise for you to disregard the authority I currently have you under, girl. Now, I have some other things with which to inform you. Follow me."
Cassandra sulked after Alexia, leaving Catherine alone, feeling a great degree of pity for her younger sister.