A.N: Still don't own a damn thing
To all reviewers - I can't be bothered writing out seperate notes to all of you so just a general thank you!
To Paul/Shadow - Without publicising this all over the net...I'm not interested in you like that...and please don't try to come over for muy birthday...We're going to have to have a discussion...so I'll be on to talk to you on Thursday
Chapter 3
Wesker sat in a comfortable black leather chair in his office, reclining slightly, a glass of wine clasped in his right hand. His eyes were closed, for the moment, as he gave his mind a brief break from work, though he would have to get back soon. After he went over the contamination with Aaron, he would have to return to the labs.
With that thought, he pushed himself up from the chair, snatching up his sunglasses off the desk, brushing a piece of dirt from his black shirt. He didn't slip the shades on immediately; instead he walked over to a small mirror that hung on the wall. Stopping in front of it, he gazed distantly at his reflection, his thoughts drifting to his plan. Shaking his head, he returned to staring at his reflection, taking in what he saw, his red and yellow reptilian eyes roaming over his features. Dipping his head slightly, he pushed back a few loose strands of blonde hair, into the rest of the slicked back mass. He ran hand over his pale skin, and slipped the shades on, grinning sadistically at some unknown thought.
Wesker didn't consider himself a particularly vain man, he didn't spend hours staring at his reflection and drooling over it, but, with the position he was in, appearance meant a lot. His appearance was all about intimidation, because intimidation lead to your own sense of power and power was his game. And he was excellent at intimidating people.
At six foot tall, he was one of the taller people in the facility, but height didn't mean a whole lot. He often reflected as to what made him so intimidating. It may have been his tall height and rather muscular build, especially as most of the scientists here were as thin as pencils. Wesker may have been in his mid forties, but he wasn't showing any signs of that, granted he didn't look twenty years old, but he was still as slim as when he was, and his build, though not massive, was still probably more than everyone else in the facility combined.
However, whilst some scientists were genuinely terrified of his physical size, most brushed it off. Then again, most hadn't been cornered by him with no way to escape unless he let you.
Wesker shrugged to himself, it was everything about him that intimidated people, his height and build, his flat, smooth, slow voice. His startling coldness was one of the main things though; they say that the eyes are the windows to the soul, so he kept his covered, so that he couldn't be read.
That summed him up pretty well, cold and unreadable. He had met a woman once who was convinced that she could read him, and she had, he had openly let her, because when she saw what he was like, it almost broke her. He had reminded her after that she had been looking for a warmth and kindness in him…something that simply didn't exist. If it did, it was so small that it made no difference to the rest his nature.
Wesker snapped his head up and strode over to the desk, slipping into his chair when he heard a knock at the door. He straightened himself out, even with Aaron, he still had to be cold, in fact, he had to be worse than usual because he had to show Aaron who was boss.
"Enter," Wesker called, lowering his head to look at the paper work that was sitting on his desk. He had to look professional in front of Aaron; it would only take a slip in his demeanour and superior attitude for his 'accomplice' to become full of himself. Wesker knew this, he had to, in fact, it would be stupid if he didn't know, after all, Wesker created the creature and had modelled him after himself…so he knew him through and through.
A young man stepped into the room, closing the door behind him with a small click. Wesker carefully glanced through the shades at his visitor, then returned to the papers.
The man walked to the desk, somewhat stiffly, before sliding into the chair opposite and looking to his superior, waiting for him to speak. The blonde man ignored his companion for a moment, slowly filling in a section of the sheet before signing it off and setting the pen down to the side, carefully and slowly, as if to draw out the slight tension in the room. Finally, he let the pen go and looked up at the other man.
"Well Aaron, I trust you had no trouble in getting here seeing as how you're on time" Wesker drew his words out slowly, making sure he kept his voice cold.
"No, I did not have any trouble" Aaron replied, somewhat robotically, his words pronounced carefully so that almost every letter was emphasised. It was somewhat clear that he was unused to having to speak, unpractised at the art of conversation.
"Good, that means no-one suspects you…either that or they just don't want to argue with me. After all, you are my…student"
"Yes" Aaron replied automatically, that unrehearsed tone evident.
"…did you get the data?"
"Yes"
"Well, what is it?" Wesker snapped, impatiently, brushing at a loose strand of hair. He slumped back into the chair, Aaron was technically only two weeks old, he wasn't really comfortable with speaking fluently yet, or understanding people's meanings. Which created suspicion as to why the boy was so 'slow'.
"Mutations are spreading rapidly through both worlds. Test world number one has a 'demon sword' in it…it is referred to as the Soul Calibur world. In effect, the virus is strengthened and mutated itself as it enters the world through the portal. Once it that world the virus infected the sword, which has acted as a catalyst, further strengthening the virus. The sword is emanating the virus throughout that world." "Excellent…what form are the mutations taking?"
"Generally the flesh will thicken immensely, taking on a dull red, brown or green colour. The veins multiply, rising to just under the surface of the skin, spreading randomly across the body. More recent subjects have developed wounds lined with teeth and are starting to develop yellow eyes on any part of the body"
"And these are all influenced through the sword catalyst?"
"Yes"
"Interesting. Very interesting." Wesker turned to the computer, calling up several folders and files, typing the information in.
"Do we have a subject yet…one who is infected, but not mutating yet?"
"No, the humans infected are immediately destroyed by the warriors who defend the sword."
At the news, Wesker growled, adjusting his sunglasses slightly.
"…meddling fools, they'd get along well with Redfield and his motley crew of do-gooders…what else?" he asked, before turning back to the computer and typing more data in. A moment afterwards an animated image of a molecular DNA structure appeared, and he studied it intently. He nodded at it.
"Judging from the sample of DNA from the sword, the virus should let the body and mind be controlled once it's in the later stages…we'd have an army of bio-weapons, completely under our control." Wesker paused, grinning, then turned back to Aaron.
"The other world?"
"Each race that live in that one country are affected in a different way…somehow, the virus is also being confined to that land"
Wesker looked at him "That doesn't matter; we have enough samples and subjects from that one."
"The dominant race, the Hylians, have been affected the least, their leaders protect them from further infection. Carriers are destroyed immediately"
"Well, at least these people aren't as dumb as I suspected…but not so much as to stop our plan. They're several centuries behind us after all"
Aaron nodded in agreement and Wesker let a flicker of a smile pass across his face.
Aaron, as Wesker had christened him, was not strictly human. He had been created, not born. Therefore, everything Aaron knew had been taught to him by Wesker, his personality, his knowledge, how to act…everything. It seemed, however, that Aaron was starting to get his own personality. As long as he stayed subservient though, Wesker didn't care…too much anyway.
"The Hylians" Aaron started "seem to turn inside out, looking somewhat like the T-virus Chimeras, but with additional flesh and the internal organs remain"
"Uh-huh"
"The Gorons, a rock-eating race that live under an active volcano, take on a reptilian appearance, growing scales and the eyes turn to slits. Some take on the form of…" he paused for a moment trying to find the correct word "dragons. They also sprout tentacles"
Wesker nodded, turning to the computer.
"You have a photograph of the original creatures and they're mutated forms, yes?"
"I do, yes. For all of the races"
Wesker opened his mouth to request them, but he was surprised when the young man pulled a small black carrying case off the floor, unzipping it as he laid it on his lap. The blonde man looked inside the case to find every document to do with the virus inside. Reports of the mutations, dating from when Wesker himself had had to go and check up on the race, while Aaron was still underdeveloped, neatly filed into a ring binder. Patterns of growth, chemicals that were present in the demon sword, information on the subject worlds. Everything was there, including tapes of the citizens' activities and photos of the people, paired with what they turned into.
Aaron took the relevant information out of the case and turned it over, opening the other side to reveal a large, silver metal box, the letters 'HCF' stamped on top of it.
Wesker gathered the papers and photos together, pulling them towards him. He felt the corner of his mouth twitch when he saw the letters on the box. HCF was the company that Wesker worked for, a pharmaceutical group, engaged in bio-weapons research. They were much like the Umbrella Corporation that Wesker had left eight years ago, whilst on a mission, but Umbrella was shut down two years ago, thanks to Chris Redfield and co.
It really was unfortunate that Aaron had to use equipment stamped with the companies name, it could give them away so easily.
Aaron tapped the keys on the top of the case and it slid open smoothly to reveal various scientific equipment. A small gun, used for administering the virus, the actual virus, contained in a sealed tube, the thick silver liquid lying flat and about a half-dozen syringes, all filled with blood samples from test world number two's races.
Aaron pulled the tubes out of the case, sliding them to Wesker and closing the case, slipping it back into the black bag. That done he leaned back into the seat, pushing his black hair away from his forehead, combing it away with his fingers.
Wesker flicked through the papers documenting the changes before he turned to the photos. The first test world was rather normal and uninteresting, save for the presence of that biological demonic sword. The second world, however, was a scientist's paradise. There were six races, and for the most part, all different. There were the Gerudos, a strange race consisting entirely of women, the Kokiri, a race of immortal forest children, the Zoras, an aquatic humanoid race, the Gorons, a rock eating thick skinned race. The Hylians were the main inhabitants, distantly related to the Sheikah, or shadow folk, and these were the ones that interested him most…the Sheikah and Hylians. They seemed so normal, so human, unlike the other freaks in test world two. For the most part the dominant race was bright, creative and strangely beautiful and there was something more about them. What is was though, Wesker couldn't pin point, this world had the possible chance to use electric appliances, yet they were 500 years or so behind this world.
Wesker shook his head slightly, and let his hidden eyes roam over the photographs laid out before him, all those races, so strange, but intriguing. One caught his eye especially. There should have only been twelve surveillance shots in front of him, but there were actually sixteen. He gathered the extra four into his hands and studied them; three different people were in the glossy pictures.
The first, a young woman that couldn't have been older than twenty, sitting on stone steps at the head of what seemed to be a garden. She was sitting with her head slightly turned towards the camera, her eyes locked onto something on the floor. The girl was dressed in a long pink dress, a golden headpiece laid across her forehead, just below her hairline. Her long golden blonde hair was pulled back from her face, falling down her back so that it pooled onto the floor because of its length. Her ears were one of the things that gave away the fact she wasn't completely human, they were small, but pointed, almost leaf shaped. The main feature though was her eyes, incredibly light blue and clear, and her undeniable beauty, the skin just a shade pinker than pure white. She was a testament to his previous thought, they were strangely beautiful.
The next two pictures proved that further. Two young men, about the same age as the girl, were in separate photos. They were identical, save for eye and hair colour, and the scar one had through his left eye. One of the boys was blonde, his eyes dark blue, but bright and full of life, and the other had dark blonde hair and jade green eyes. Unnatural colours, but intense and beautiful. Their faces had an elegant look to them, soft but strong, all their features angled and tipped to perfection.
The final picture was of the three standing together, full body shots, and the girl, was pregnant.
"Aaron," Wesker began, looking across to the creation "why do you have these?" he held up the pictures, showing them to him
"I thought it might be interesting to see how the two blonde Hylians react to the virus"
"Explain…and why those two?"
"They are husband and wife, and she is pregnant…it could be an interesting study to see if the child was born mutated…and she has not seen the mutations yet"
Wesker watched Aaron for a moment, staring at him, seeing if he could make him uncomfortable under the scrutiny. Aaron showed no signs of discomfort, just stared back stolidly.
Finally, the blonde pulled his gaze away "I see…you're right, it will make an interesting study…but you must make sure that only the child gets infected, not her. This may be scientific, but I would love to see how these sensitive people react when their child is born a freak" his face broke into a broad grin "Emotional torture is so enjoyable when you can't suffer it…how far along is she?"
"About five months, sir"
"Then there's still enough time for the child to mutate…you must keep a close watch on her and see that it gets infected"
Aaron nodded "You are aware of the mutations of the other races now?"
"Yes, you can go now…get back quickly. I have to return to my duties in a moment"
Wesker closed the files on the computer, and shut it down. Taking the documents, he walked over to a small filing cabinet, pushing it out of the way to reveal a slight silver patch. Rubbing his gloved hand over it a number panel appeared and he tapped in the code, slipping the information inside the new compartment, along with the samples.
Sealing it he turned back to Aaron, to see him gathering his case up and walking to the door. He slipped out without a word, the pasty white hand on the door the last thing Wesker saw as the door closed. Tilting his head down and looking over the top of his sunglasses, he stared at the door for a moment, before murmuring
"Spread your disease, you only have to touch her…after all…you are the Anodyne"
I hope that was enlightening for you.
As a note, I won't be updating for at least3 weeks now. I'm on work- experience this week and next, so I'm going to be tired and sick of staring at computer screens. The week after I'm on holdiay, but I'll try to get a chapter up on the monday after I come back
See you then!