Chapter 5: Treasures

9:53 AM January 3rd 2000, Unknown Village, Carpathian Mountains, Romania

12 years earlier…

The walk through the tunnel was silent, save for Miranda's footsteps. Even though she had high hopes for Vector, the feelings of uncertainty and doubts have still not left her. Her mind was building many scenarios of what the Cadou could do to Vector. The most desired one was still trying to find its way inside, but the unwanted ones were not letting up. Shaking her head in frustration, she shooed the thoughts out of her head.

The exit to the abandoned medieval fortress was blocked by a heavy metal door. One with a design that reminisced the fortress' occupied days. But she was still strong enough to push it open, leading her into the fortress ruins. Its location and purpose had been long lost to time and forgotten by the rest of the modern world. Not that it mattered to Miranda. She trekked through the ruins of the fortress before multiple snarling sounds can be heard from the floor level above her. Looking up, she eyed a dozen unkept humanoid creatures and a further two dozen ganged up in front of her. But despite their threatening appearances, they made no move to attack her.

These were Lycans.

They were one, with the other being death, of the two most common results of her experimentations with the Cadou on the village's men. Mutated men who had devolved into feral creatures with wolfman-like appearances. But retained enough intelligence to attack in organised packs, wield weapons and even ride horses. Miranda had found use for them as her underlings and hunters, but that didn't stop her from looking at them with disdain and disappointment. This fortress was hidden away from the village, so it made the ideal home for them as well.

The Lycans all stepped aside to make a path for her. As Miranda strode through the horde, their growls and snarls died down to mere grunting. Miranda knew that they would not harm her because of their connection to the Mold, which in turn was connected to her. She didn't see her two larger Lycan subordinates, Urias and Urias Strajer, among the crowd of Lycans, meaning they were elsewhere in the fortress ruins.

Eventually, she had made it out of the fortress ruins and back into the blizzard. It had calmed down to a degree since she was outside with Karl, carrying Vector to her lab, but it was still powerful enough to bring any mortal down to their knees before succumbing to frostbite. But Miranda remained unbothered by it as she crossed the bridge leading back to the Heisenberg Factory. Hills dominated the landscape around the factory, but Miranda knew that it was just the metal junk that littered the grounds day in and out covered in snow. But the helicopter was a brand new arrival, so it was not covered as much .

Other than being half buried in snow, the state of the helicopter had not changed. Miranda half expected Karl to start dismantling the helicopter by now, but judging from the other wreck that littered the yard, he would not get to that anytime soon. The inside of the helicopter was a complete and utter mess. Because the windshield was gone, snow had flooded the helicopter's cockpit and making its way towards the back. A low hum was coming in from the inside. She was surprised the Lycans didn't show up, looking for survivors to eat, or Heisenberg trying to dismantle the helicopter in his factory.

Before Miranda could climb aboard the wreckage, she spotted the half-buried handgun Vector tried to reach for earlier. Picking it up, she got a better look at it. The handgun was of an average size, but it looked like it had some work done to it. The lustre of the metal was dulled down, given it a more greyed appearance. Clearly, this had seen much combat and action. Initials were engraved onto the left side of the wooden handle.

C.R.

'Who was this C.R.?' Miranda thought, 'Were they someone who knew Vector? Or are these the initials of Vector's real name?'

She slipped the handgun into one of her pockets and proceeded to board the helicopter as intended. When she stepped into the cockpit, the damage from the consoles was less than expected. Some of the gauge indicators were still lit up while a red blinking alarm light was going on overhead. Some sparks still flew at random intervals from the consoles, indicating the helicopter was still active. Noticing a key in the console in front of the steering handle, she turned it and slid it out. On que, the lights were replaced with darkness and the gentle humming was replaced by silence. The mighty aerial beast was not put to rest for what was left of its ruined existence, never to fly again.

She proceeded to go through the storage compartments in the helicopter's body. Her first discovery was a few antibiotics and drugs found in the medicine kit. Then there was a few ammo magazines for the handgun, some loose bullets, a small container labelled MRE, and a few unrecognisable electronic devices. She also found a worn grey backpack that had a file in it. She proceeded to stuff the backpack with all the treasures she had discovered. In the final compartment, she took out three items. A photograph, a second handgun and a combat knife.

Pocketing the photograph, she inspected the gun. This this one was different than the engraved one. It was slightly heavier and the metal was much shinier, indicating it was well cared for. There was no name or initials on it to identify its owner. A small cylindrical device as attached to the underside of the barrel with a red lens on the end.

Miranda pondered to herself. "Two handguns, a knife and an advanced suit to go invisible? Doesn't sound like a normal military man."

The knife was roughly the size of a dagger and appeared to be custom made. One of the edges was serrated and the other went all the way straight. The handle was black and so were the sides of the knife. There was some dried blood on it, but didn't look very recent. She remembered Vector had a knife holster on him, so it made sense that this knife would fit in it.

But then she noticed something on the handle. There was that same symbol that was on Vector's suit. If the symbol was a logo of a weapons company, could said company have manufactured this knife and his suit? Or was it something else?

She packed the last of the things. But still no sign of the box that Vector had mentioned. She was about to exit the helicopter when something caught her eye. Poking out of a small pile of snow in the corner of the helicopter's body was a little black corner that didn't appear part of the helicopter itself. Shuffling over, she dusted the snow off the object.

It was a small black box. The outside was covered in leather, but she could feel solid matter underneath it. Probably metal. The lock on it was technological in nature. A small screen and buttons with the numbers one through nine surrounded a singular keyhole. Miranda looked inside the backpack and around the inside of the helicopter for the key, but there was no sign of it anywhere.

"Great," muttered Miranda to herself, "I've found enough equipment to supply a soldier for a battle and a key isn't among them."

But then she remembered something. She didn't take the time to go through Vector's utility belt or his vest pockets. The key may very well be in there. If this box meant so much to Vector, it made sense that the key to opening it would be close to him.

Stuffing the box back into the backpack, she set off back towards her home in the village. Her mind continued to linger with questions. Like pieces of a puzzle that she couldn't quite put together without guidance from Vector.

"Did you find the box, Mama?" asked Eveline.

"I did, sweetie," replied Miranda, "I had made my way back to the helicopter and searched through it to find the box. But it was locked and I couldn't find a key inside the helicopter anywhere."

"But why would you want to look inside the box?" asked Rose, "Isn't it wrong to look through other people's things."

"It is wrong," replied Miranda before she chuckled, "But your Mama's curiosity got the best of her and she wanted to take a peek. And because I wanted to make sure that nothing inside it was damaged inside during the crash so that when Vector got it, I would tell him that decided."

Miranda already knew that nothing would have been damaged inside the box, because she remembered it was one hell of a tough box. Still, she told that last part just as a way to justify her actions, despite how dumb it might sound. She left out the part of her finding the guns and knife so as to not put the images of such things in the kids' heads.

"With no other option, I took the box back to my place," continued Miranda, "I remembered that Vector had pockets on his uniform, so maybe the key was with him.

Miranda remembered that she had every intention of uncovering the secrets behind the box, but she had also found out something else from the treasures that she recovered.

She had discovered what had made Vector so…special.

Miranda had made it back to the laboratory, where Vector had not moved from his position on the table. The first thing that Miranda did was empty out the backpack of its contents. The two handguns, the bullets, the file and the blade were placed on a table, but Miranda kept the photograph in her hands. Now that she was in the well-lit environment of her laboratory, she got a closer look at what was depicted in the picture.

It portrayed six people in a variety of combat uniforms that gave off an aura of being special forces military team. None of them were the same, but looked rather custom made to each of their own liking. She noticed that the strange red and white octagon symbol was on their arms. Miranda already recognised one of them as Vector, but the others were a mystery to her. From the age of the photo and the looks of the team, the photo was probably taken a few years ago. There was a table in front of them. And sitting on them were six different pieces of headgear. But she instantly recognised Vector's.

Vector was standing between a raven-haired woman and a brunette woman. The raven haired woman appeared to be the youngest of the group. Her face told Miranda she was of Asian descent. Japanese? Chinese? Korean? She had her hair cut just above the shoulders in a bob cut, but pushed aside at the middle of the forehead. Her outfit lacked Vector's hexagonal patterns, suggesting she had a different role. She wore a backpack on her back with several metal compartments. Her thighs had holsters, but instead of holding weapons, they held glass containers. Like she was a scientist rather than a fighter. But what kind of a military team has time to do science when there is fighting to do. From the look on her face, she appeared to be rather indifferent compared to the rest of the group. Perhaps she was simply hiding her emotions. Or did she lack emotions completely? Her headgear was simply a metal and plastic mask that covered her nose and the lower half of her head. Some kind of high-tech gas mask.

The brunette woman next to Vector who appeared to be in her late thirties or early forties. From the looks of her, she was the eldest of the group, but looked like the fittest female member. Her hair was done up in a bun, not a single strand loose. He uniform was skin tight and had several pockets lined against her abdomen while revealing a little of her cleavage. Her headgear was a gas mask with a single filter in the middle. But unlike Vector's, this one had a clear glass faceplate the revealed the wearer's eyes.

Perhaps the most noticeable person besides Vector was a rather large man. Or perhaps he was merely a medium-sized man wearing very large attire. Regardless, he looked very well-built. The man had a bald head and brown skin. The features on his face suggested he was from a society that predominantly spoke Spanish. Was he from Chile? Mexico? Maybe even Puerto Rico. His uniform was the heftiest and heaviest-looking of the entire group's, being fitted with thick armour. Some ammunition magazines were on his belt and a rifle was slung on his back, suggesting he was good with big guns. A shotgun rested in his hands. Shells for it were either strapped to its side or on a belt around his waist. But perhaps his most distinguishing feature was his left leg. From the knee down, it was composed of a metal prosthetic leg. The man had obviously suffered an incident where his leg couldn't be saved and the only way for him to walk again was a metal replacement. But from proud he stood, it seemed like the leg was a badge of honour rather than a reminder of a bad memory. And from the smirk on his face, he gave off an aura of someone who had a sense of humour. His headgear was like Vector's, but the lenses were edgier and whole thing looked more like a helmet than facemask.

Next to the large man was a woman with blonde hair. Like the brunette's, her hair was done up in a bun. Her outfit reminded Miranda of a butcher's attire. All dressed in leather with straps and belts all over. Guards on her boots and knees. A leather skirt that split in two at the front and went down to just above her knees. Miranda soon noticed a scabbard on her thigh for an elongated machete. Perhaps she was the most brutal member of the team. That knife would fit her right in. Her gas mask appeared to be the most normal looking out of all the headgear being a simple strap-on with blue-coloured lenses and a single filter.

Standing next to the large man, was perhaps the shortest member of the bunch. If only by an inch or two. It was a man with brown hair and light skin. His outfit was perhaps the most simple-looking. A vest with various electronic gadgets and pockets, a utility belt, a lightweight sniper's uniform and laced combat boots. But his headgear was perhaps the most unusual of them all. It was a strap-on mask, but the eyes were extended out like a snail's antennae. Miranda's mind was currently trying to figure out the use for such a piece of technology.

Miranda's eyes wondered back to Vector's unmasked past self. He didn't look that much younger than he did right now. His uniform was not damaged like it was now. In fact, it looked like he had just got it because it was in great condition. No cuts. No bloodstains. His face showed a slight smile for the photographer. An assault rifle rested in his hands. Turning the picture around, she was a number written onto it.

U.S.S. DELTA TEAM 120394

By the time she had put down the photograph, Miranda's mind filled to the brim with questions, not knowing which one she wanted to figure out first.

'Just what was this U.S.S.? What kind of team was Vector really a part of? Who did they work for? What was their true purpose? And what did the number mean?' thought Miranda, 'Only Vector can answer these questions when he awakens.'

Miranda sighed as she looked at Vector's body. She might as well have reworded that thought as if he awakens. The results of her previous experimentations yielded more deaths than Lycans. Even if there was some trace of the mysterious substance left in him, could it still help Vector pull through the power of the Cadou?

Opening the first belt pocket, Miranda slipped her hand inside in search for its contents. Miranda pulled out she assumed was a small first aid kit. The inside of it revealed a roll of medical tape, clean bandages, a small bottle labelled Universal-Grade Antibiotic, another bottle of which was labelled Universal-Grade Disinfectant and a suture kit. On both of these bottles, the symbol appeared again, but it was accompanied by a name.

Umbrella Corporation.

That name rung some bells in Miranda's head. Her former pupil, Ozwell E. Spencer, had spoken of such a name when he left her a letter from his previous visit. But he simply referred to it simply as 'Umbrella' back then. Now it was starting to make sense to her. The company's logo was must have been inspired by the symbol that united the Four Houses of the valley, which meant that he successfully transformed his ambition into a reality. He also mentioned the discovery of a virus called 'progenitor' that he had allegedly discovered in Africa with his colleagues. A virus that he believed was the key to evolving humanity. She looked back at Vector's body and couldn't help but get a deep feeling in the pit of her gut. The fact that Spencer mentioned a virus that he hypothesized could evolve humanity and now she had met someone who was not only probably connected to Spencer somehow, but demonstrated non-Mold capabilities that no normal human had?

'Could it be Progenitor that Vector is infected with? Is that the source of his abilities?' thought Miranda.

But then Miranda remembered something else. Picking up file she left on the table, the glanced at its cover. The Umbrella Corporation logo was present along with the name, but there was also something else.

CLASSIFIED

Umbrella Corporation T-VIRUS SPECIAL RESEARCH DIVISION

T-VIRUS SUBJECT:

VECTOR