Author's Note: I figured I should drop the Janus alias seeing as Umbrella probably has their version of an APB out on her but I really dislike creating character names and decided to write the chapter instead of spending 3 hours trying to pick the 'perfect' alias. By now, everyone should know who she is anyway and for those of you who don't, you'll find out soon enough. Not really an important point, I just thought I'd save someone from saying "She wouldn't use that alias again." Once again, thanks to Jediferret for reading this prior to posting and giving me her honest opinion.

See the previous chapter for my disclaimer. Standard review stuff, please let me know what you think but absolutely no flaming. Thanks

Italics denotes thought

Chapter 2

The woman formerly known as Janus Prospero makes her way down a sterile, brightly lit corridor. With a small staff of 50 including all the scientists, lab assistants, administrators and security, the halls are practically empty. Her forged Umbrella ID should get her past most inquiries about her presence but, just in case, she has a 12-gauge insurance policy under her jacket.

Her trip to the main lab takes about 20 minutes and occurs without incident. Once inside, she counts two employees working. Falling back on her experiences as head of security, she begins walking through the lab, stopping occasionally to examine various experiments. She has always found it interesting that acting as if you belong and have a purpose usually puts people at ease. This situation proved to be no different.

A tall woman notices her and starts moving in her direction. The woman's demeanor reminds her of her 7th grade Science teacher, old and depressed. She asks, "May I help you?"

Janus answers, "I'm Janus from the Manhattan office. I was told to acquire your bi-weekly progress report."

"I'm Dr. Marks. I was just preparing to send it tomorrow." The tall woman appears to be somewhat confused, "They've never sent someone to get it personally, before."

"They are interested in an eyewitness account of your progress, as well as, the usual hardcopy report." Janus explains with a slight smirk on her face.

Dr. Marks' nose lifts. She's not used to younger people ordering her around. "I see." Dr. Marks sighs. She has work to do and doesn't really have time to show one of Umbrella's little pets around. Still, this woman, Janus', could prove to be useful in advocating her research. "If you would wait for a few moments I can give you the tour and explain what we're doing here."

Janus inquires, "Do you mind if I look around a bit? I promise not to touch anything."

Dr. Marks grants her permission, "Very well. If you have any questions, please, ask either myself or my assistant, Gregory."

Janus nods and notes the young lab assistant patiently waiting for Dr. Marks to return to what they had been doing. Once they're distracted by their work, she returns to exploring the lab and approaches a computer terminal. Inserting a data stick, she selects the run command, starting a program that will search for the information she needs and automatically copy it for her. As she waits for it to finish, she spots the lab's refrigerator. Through its glass door, she can see a familiar looking vial. On closer examination, she sees it is not filled with the green t-virus she usually associates with the vials; rather, it is a silver-white color. The label called it 'tG-v'.

Dr. Marks notices her interest and approaches her, "I see you've noticed our current project."

Janus remarks curiously, "Yes, a t-virus variant?"

Dr. Marks explains their research to Janus, "Yes, a combination of the t-virus developed by Drs. Spencer, Marcus and Birkin with the G-virus developed by Drs. William and Annette Birkin. An earlier attempt to combine the two viruses was conducted by Dr. Duvall late last year but the results were lost when his employment with Umbrella was terminated. We've had very gratifying results from the limited experiments we've conducted with it."

"I see." Janus says.

"The results are in the progress report. If you'd wait another moment, I can try to arrange a demonstration." Dr. Marks is obvious proud of their achievement:

Janus nods her head in agreement, "My personal report can only be improved by seeing your results in action."

Dr. Marks goes off to arrange the demonstration. Janus sees her data has been found and copied and goes to the computer to retrieve the data stick. She grabs a metal case used to carry glass vials. It's just large enough for two vials and will fit in her pocket. Opening the refrigerator, she reaches in and removes the vial containing the tG-virus. Instantly, a piercing alarm goes off.

Dr. Marks whips around toward her, panic etched across her face, "NOO! What have you done?"

Ada enters the school building, the sounds of her footfalls echoing off the scarred linoleum and stone walls. The school, like the rest of the town, was deserted and in disrepair. Still, it was evident that the person in charge of its closing had taken great care in doing so. Everything not nailed down had been sold or thrown away so there was very little trash. Graffiti covered the walls and lockers and most of the windows had been broken by vandals. Ada rolled her eyes, vandalism seemed so…pointless. Why not just blow it up if you hate it so much? She smiles.

They don't let children play with explosives.

She began her search for the secret entrance. The facility she was entering was relatively new, built to hide White Umbrella's secret experimentation from the nosy government. They had hidden the entrance in the abandoned school. According to her information, it was located near the gymnasium which was, of course, the point farthest from where she was currently standing.

Walking down the main hall, she comes to a set of heavy metal doors. They are held closed by a thick metal chain and padlock. She considered her options. Shoot the lock off, quick yet unchallenging, noisy, a waste of good ammo, and totally lacking in finesse. Look for the key, time-consuming and probably futile. Finally, pick the lock, not as time-consuming as searching for a key but more challenging and satisfying that shooting it.

I haven't used my lock picking skills in a while; better make sure I'm not rusty.

Opening the lock, she continues. Exploring the empty classrooms reveals nothing. The cafeteria however produces a 5-digit number haphazardly jotted on the blackboard.

Hmmm, conspicuously inconspicuous, the pass code perhaps?

Noting the number on her PDA, she resumes her exploration. As she enters the hallway leading to the gymnasium, she notices the side halls are completely blocked and boarded up.

It looks like they don't want me doing anymore exploring.

She rounds a corner and hears an almost inaudible click. Slipping back around the corner, she pulls her weapon and peeks around to see what she's up against. Two remote sentry machine guns are pointed down the hallway.

Aww, and I was hoping they'd just let me in.

Taking another peek, she spots the infrared and motion sensor node on the top of the gun's casing. If she can shoot them out, the guns will still be live but unable to detect her.

Amateurs.

She takes a deep cleansing breath, slowly letting it out and releasing all the tension in her body. Opening her eyes, she springs out into the hallway and fires off one round, taking out the node of the left gun. She doesn't see it happen because she's already aiming and firing at the second node. As the sentries continue to monitor the hallway, only now blind, she admires her handiwork. Removing her clip, she replaces the two rounds and reloads.

Are they trying to tell me they mean business?

Beyond the sentries is another hallway, also boarded up along the sides. Anticipating another pair of sentries, she is surprised when the floor begins to crumble beneath her feet. Reacting instantly, she runs for the end of the hall, the floor disintegrating almost under her feet. Reaching the end, once again on solid ground, she looks back. They had dug underneath the floor and placed metal spikes there. Replacing the linoleum, no one would know until it was too late. If she had been a little slower, they would have impaled her.

Ok, I guess they DO mean business.

Finally, she reaches the gymnasium. It's typical, used for basketball games and school assemblies. The bleachers are out, creating large shadowy recesses for enemies to hide. Ada edges through the large room, carefully covering as many hiding places as she can.

This is the perfect place for an ambush.

Still, no one challenges her. Checking the second of three doors at the far end reveals the coach's office, empty. The door to the left is the boy's locker room. Rows of lockers hide nothing and the shower is also empty. The final door, on the right, is the girl's locker room. Once again, she finds nothing until she enters the shower area. A medium-sized tiled room with shower heads along the walls, it looks normal enough. By the light switch is a section of tile about 4" by 4" that's not quite the same color as the rest of the room.

Well, well, what do we have here?

Ada breaks the tiles, revealing a small keypad. Entering the numbers obtained in the cafeteria causes a large section of the back wall to slide away. Ada approaches and reaches for the handle of the now exposed metal security door. She opens it to a large, well lit glass and steel corridor. A loud siren and flashing red lights broadcast all is not right. Still, her mission comes before all else and she enters the corridor. The heavy door closes and seals behind her.

To Be Continued…