1. Jill
November 5th, 2016. 8: 00 A.M.
The blond woman passed the security stand, smiling at the friendly guard who had received her. After the kidnapping incident, TerraSave had become warier about their security. Entering the building became a tedious procedure, but she was a regular visitor, and her BSAA badge helped a lot.
It had been eight months since the incident in Germany and Claire's death. Her loss had been a big hit, not only TerraSave but to BSAA, too. That without counting the emotional turmoil that the news had caused. She knew, from Chris, that his sister was always good at leaving marks on people. She hadn't had the chance to get to know the girl well since their schedules were busy all the time, but the people who did know her seemed deeply affected. Chris entered a state of depression that was even worse than the episode he'd suffered in Edonia, but in this case, he had not drowned himself in alcohol. She guessed that he did it in his sister's memory. The girl had hated his drinking habits, after all. The Burton family had seemed affected, as well. Barry had made silent mourning, but his daughter had cried a lot, and even half a year after, some things could still trigger her tears. Then there was Leon, he too, was a silent mourner, but Jill was good at reading people, and she could tell that, after Chris, he was the most affected one. Even the workers in TerraSave are still mourning. They had not chosen a new head to replace Claire, and so BSAA had been handling things until they decided for someone to take over.
Jill pressed the button in the elevator and waited. Her frequent visits were usually to check on things in the place, but today it was different. She had received an urgent call from their chief, summoning an emergency meeting. He gave her no details, but the message said that she had to report to TerraSave HQ immediately. When the door of the elevator opened, she found the familiar figure of Chris standing in front of a wall. He was watching it with a pained expression, and Jill felt her heart shrink.
It was the memorial wall. At least that was how everyone in TerraSave called it. The wall had been Claire's idea, from what she'd heard. She recalled the voice of Dr. Hiwamura as she had explained to her some months ago, on her first check visit.
"Claire thought it was just a good way to honor the fallen. Most of these people died without leaving a body behind, and most have no graveyards or family to mourn them properly. She said real heroes are not always remembered, and that at least we should give them the honor they deserved as a big family. "
The Memorial Wall was something simple. It was a wall filled with pictures of TerraSave agents who had died in action, and there was a table where people could leave flowers or other gifts. The most recent photo, of course, was Claire's. She saw the pretty portrait set on the table, and she noticed that, unlike the rest, her picture was not placed on the wall.
"Claire was always good at fooling us with her deaths. Some of us still find it hard to accept it was real this time, so no one has had the heart to hang it. Hanging it would somehow mean she is gone while having it there is like she'd come to the office one morning and shout at us for slacking off. You may think it's stupid, but people should reach acceptance, slowly."
Jill could understand, though; she put her hand on Chris's shoulder and looked at the pretty picture on the table. Someone had placed a small bouquet of orchids next to the photo.
"You got her flowers today?" she asked, surprised.
Chris shook his head.
"No, it wasn't me. I guess one of her subordinates left it here this morning. A close friend, probably. Orchids were her favorite, but not many knew that." Chris replied softly.
Jill squeezed the man's shoulder comfortingly.
"What are you doing here? Came to see her?" she asked.
"No, not today," Chris said, putting his hands in his pockets, "I got a call from Adams, something about an urgent meeting. I just thought of passing since I was here."
"You, too, huh? I wonder what this is about…"
The pair walked to the meeting room and knocked. A voice, that they recognized as their chief's, told them to come in, and they pushed the door open. Jill was surprised to see that not only they had not been the only ones called to the meeting. Beside their Chief, Edward Adams, there was TerraSave CEO, Ian Wentworth; the new Security secretary of the U.S, Renard Hopkins; Dr. Hiwamura, Barry, and Leon, too.
"Ah good, Valentine and Redfield. We were expecting you. Please take a seat, would you?" Adams said, signaling the two empty seats at his left.
Jill and Chris sat down, exchanging quizzical looks with the rest of the present. None of them seemed to have any idea about the reasons for the meeting.
"I believe most of you are thrilled to know the reason we have summoned you here." Adams said, reading their thoughts, " I am sorry that this meeting came up unexpectedly, and I apologize if it interrupted any important task."
She saw the man look apologetically at Leon. The man nodded in reply, and she guessed that he was probably in some important assignment when he'd gotten called out.
"However, we considered that you need the first to be notified due to the circumstances…" the man continued.
"What circumstances are you talking about? I am not very patient, and you should know that already, Ed," Barry groaned.
"Yes, of course, I do, Barry. Let me fill you in about this. Yesterday we received an urgent report from a TerraSave/ BSAA team stationed in Cardigan Bay, Wales.
Adam pushed a set of folders at them. Jill flipped some of its pages, reading some random lines. It was a regular report of a sea patrol, but the words "Sea Wreck" and "Survivor" caught her attention.
"Four days ago, the sea-patrolling team found a body floating at the coast: a female in her 30's, barely alive, severely wounded, and highly dehydrated. She was taken to a TerraSave Health Center in the area immediately. She had no identification on herself, but a rescuer from the station seemed to know her."
"Oh…?" Barry frowned.
"There is a picture of her at the end of the file," Adams clarified.
Jill flipped to the end of the folder, and her eyes went wide in shock. The woman in the picture had her face covered in bruises and cuts that made her features barely recognizable, her hair was shorter, but it was still the same burgundy color she remembered.
"She said her name was Claire Redfield."
A heavy silence filled the room, and Jill could believe what she'd just heard. Claire Redfield? Was that even possible? When the Manor exploded. There's no way that someone survived that explosion, especially with the wound she had sustained and the cleanup team hadn't found any corpse, but still, even if she had managed to escape from that place alive, how had she ended up in Wales?
"Sir…?" Chris mumbled.
"I know, Chris. We have already arranged for a DNA test to confirm it."
"What if she is a clone...made up by Neo-umbrella?" Leon's voice muttered, "They have done it, and DNA would match."
Jill's heart broke. Among all the present, Chris and Leon were probably the ones who would be the happiest with the news, but their past experiences made them untrustful. It was painful to see that among them, both seemed to be the most skeptical.
"There's a way to...corroborate if it isn't a clone." Dr. Hiwamura said, and everyone in the room turned to her.
"Please, elaborate," Hopkins said with interest.
"Cloning searches to reproduce healthy cells, so naturally, pathologies wouldn't be copied unless it was genetic. If the pathology originated from external factors, it can't be copied."
"My sister was healthy...what are you trying to say?" Chris said with a frown.
"She was a carrier of remnants of the T-Phobos," Hiwamura said, crossing her arms, "She was infected with an inactive strain of the virus."
"Wait, what?" Barry snapped, "she got the antiviral, just like Moira and Natalia. Does that mean…?"
"Moira and Natalia are clean. The vaccine was developed based on the virus we found in Claire's body. She volunteered to be the test subject at the time, so the final version of the drugs did not affect her infection. We have to keep track of it. That was one of the main reasons why I got transferred here. The virus exists in Claire's body. However, it's lost its infectious capacity. It keeps invading cells and replicating, but her immunological system neutralizes the excess of sick cells. That prevents it from growing into infective doses..."
"What are you suggesting, Dr. Hiwamura?"
"If she got cloned, her immunological system would have been reset, and even if they had infected the "new" version with a sample of T-Phobos, the virus would be active, unlike the one infecting Claire. What happened to Claire was an ecological adaptation. To put it simply, unless they had a clone go through a physiological restrain that she went through and under a replica of conditions, the probability of them generating the same reaction is impossible."
"Wait, are you telling me that she was infected by a variation of the t-virus all this time? Damn, that's probably the reason she got targeted eight months ago. How can you tell us this now?" Chris snapped, hitting the table.
"We kept it secret for the same reason." Wentworth said, shaking his head, " When I talked to Claire two years ago, she told me she wanted it that way. Besides Dr. Hiwamura, the men sitting here, and Claire herself. No one knew of this fact. The information was classified, even to her friends to prevent something like that from happening."
"If she knew...then why didn't she get someone to protect her? Fuck! This could have been prevented…" Chris cursed.
"Chris, calm down…" Jill said, pulling his arm and trying to convince him to sit down again.
"She rejected the idea. Bodyguards would have attracted unnecessary attention. I don't think that Claire suspected this to be the reason behind her abduction either."
Chris did not reply. He clenched his fist in anger.
"Dr. Hiwamura, is it a trustworthy way to confirm Ms. Redfield's identity?" Hopkins asked.
"I am 99% sure, sir. I'd need to do the test."
"And...could you do that if we send you there?"
"Well, if you can drag the whole lab there, yes."
"Guess that's a no. We need to bring the woman here." Adams muttered.
"I am sure I can contact the local consulate for help." Hopkins said, "However, will she be in condition for the trip?"
"Was….she injured badly?"Jill asked.
"Yes, according to the medical report attached. It's a miracle that she is still alive." Wentworth sighed, " Multiple lacerations in her body, including organ damage. She lost a lot of blood, and some of her injuries got infected due to seawater. There are more details inside those files."
"There was evidence of a struggle. It's a fair guess that she escaped from someone or from somewhere."
Jill was starting to see what all this conversation was going to be.
"Sir, you don't think..." Jill began.
"Claire is a tough cookie…" Barry commented, "always was, always will be. Wherever she was, you can bet that she did not sit down like a docile pup."
Jill knew that Barry was probably right. If Claire had been in a difficult spot, the woman would definitely fight her way out.
"Sir, any idea of where she came from?" Jill asked.
"Unfortunately no, the first assumption was that she'd come from a wrecked ship, but the theory was later refuted when the rescuer recognized her. Listen, I understand this news must be shocking, but if this woman is indeed Claire Redfield. There's no doubt that there is some sort of bioterrorist hazard associated. I want you to go there and investigate the area. See if you find any clues."
Adams looked at the three BSAA agents, and they nodded.
"Agent Kennedy." Hopkins spoke to the blond, who had stayed quiet until then, "Your orders have changed. This woman has been labeled as an especial witness. You will go as a representation of both the DSO and USA, and we don't know what sort of things she might have gone through. We all agreed that it'd be better if the escort was to be someone she knew."
"I understand." the blond nodded.
"As for Dr. Hiwamura…"
"I'll check her state, yes."
"Very well, you leave today at noon. Please make the proper preparations.