68. Jill
Chris, Leon, and Claire left the room, leaving the three women to deal with the paperwork. Jill sighed, watching the files transfer to the storage drive on the screen. In recent years, Jill had improved her skills in many things, including her talent for opening all kinds of locks and her battle techniques. However, there was something that Jill had never been able to do, and that was dealing with computers.
In short, it was much easier to copy the information and let the organization's CIOs analyze the content than break her head trying to figure out how to understand the data.
"Let's see..." Rebecca mumbled, rummaging inside a cabinet.
"What are you looking for?" Helena asked.
"Well, isn't that obvious?" Rebecca said. "Claire was a patient here, so that means...her file should be somewhere around."
"You're looking for Claire's file?" Jill asked.
"Yes," Rebecca said. "These files don't say much, but I'm curious to know what they had about Claire. Judging by the files we have checked, it seems that the psychiatric profile was a selection parameter for the tests."
"They chose to work with people who had clinical psychiatric disorders," Helena said. "We already knew that, but I guess this confirms it."
"Why would they use psychologically unstable people?" Jill wondered.
"I'll never understand how these people see things anyway," Helena sighed.
Jill agreed. After all these years, she still didn't understand how those scientists' minds worked. Wasn't science supposed to help people? It had begun with Umbrella, but even after Raccoon city got decimated and Umbrella fell into doom, things had not changed. New companies appeared with novel viruses, and terrorist groups wreaked havoc, harming innocent people.
It was an endless cycle of death and suffering.
"Aha! Found it!"
Rebecca pulled out a folder with a triumphant look. Jill left the computer and approached to take a look as well. The folder was thick, compared to some of the folders Jill had seen Rebecca and Helena skim over earlier. When Rebecca opened it, the first thing Jill noticed was Claire's photo on the first page.
The woman in the photograph looked sick and weak, like the Claire they had in the Welsh Sea. Her eyes lacked the life and energy that the current Claire radiated. It was a sad picture, and Jill was sure that if Chris saw it, the soldier would rampage.
"What does it say?" Helena asked.
"Let's see..." Rebecca answered, "It's general info. Claire Redfield, age 34, height 1.64 m, weight 53 kg. Blood type O-negative. Historical record: previous exposure to progenitor virus variants: T, G, Veronica, without known infection. Confirmed infection with Phobos variant, asymptomatic non-carrier. Reduced levels of cortisol due to a SERPINA6 gene polymorphism. "
" What's that?" Helena asked.
" Oh, SERPINA6 is the gene that codes for the production of corticosteroid-binding globulin. It regulates the levels of free cortisol, one of the hormones associated with stress," Rebecca answered. " So that's why she didn't get affected by the T-Phobos!"
"What do you mean?" Jill asked.
"There was that fascinating study some years ago that detailed the viral mechanism of the T-Phobos strain. The author was anonymous, but they showed that the infection didn't depend on emotions but rather biochemical responses to fear and stress. It also showed why males were more predisposed to suffer the infectious form of the virus over the latent form that was more common in females. It was a top-notch study. "
"A study about the T-Phobos," Helena said. "Why does it sound like it was Claire's?"
"Now that you mention it," Rebecca said, "You might be right. WHO and other research centers had the paper, but no scientists ever claimed credit for it."
"Well, Claire shines for her modesty, doesn't she?" Helena said. "She mentioned before that she studied T-Phobos, so..."
"Yeah! I should ask her."
Jill could understand that Rebecca was so eager to have a science discussion with Claire, but that was something that could wait when things had gone back to normal. Right now, the BSAA soldier was more interested in the contents of the file.
"What else does the file say?" Jill asked.
"Oh, yeah. Let's see," the medic's attention returned to the file once again. "Ehm, the genetic map shows an important gene variation induced by the virus. Active and infective forms of the virus are no longer in her body. Experiment using module TAMP-protocol."
"TAMP-PROTOCOL? What's that?"
"It doesn't say," Rebecca answered. She flipped through the pages trying to find the meaning of the words. "Oh, Claire's diagnosis is in here, too. It says that Claire suffers from Dissociative identity disorder. "
"Multiple personalities?" Jill said in shock. "No, that's impossible. Claire doesn't look like someone with that problem. Aren't people with multiple personalities switching back and forth from one personality to the other?"
"Well, I specialize in biochemistry," Rebecca said. "Psychiatric disorders are Hiwamura's area, but from what I recall, alters can stay dormant until there's a trigger sometimes."
"You're saying that Claire has a second personality?" Helena asked.
"I don't know," Rebecca said, "That's what they wrote here."
"How do we know that information is trustworthy?" Helena asked.
"Well, to be frank," Rebecca said, eyeing the rest of the file. "The document seems too well written to be made up. According to this, the alter is more aggressive and impulsive than the core. The file mentions a case where the alter hurt another patient when he attempted to assault her and another girl."
"Wait, does it say the name of the patient?" Helena asked.
"Eh, let's see..." Rebecca said, "Jacob McMillan, why?"
Jacob McMillan. The name sounded familiar. It took Jill some minutes to realize why. It was the BOW that had attacked Claire during the New Year.
"Claire told Leon that she'd never had physical interactions with McMillan," Helena said.
"Well, if the Alter was the one who did it, there's a chance that Claire wouldn't remember," Rebecca replied. "Amnesia is a symptom of DID."
"Has she shown any drastic change of personality?" Jill asked.
"No, if she did, Leon would have made a fuss already," Helena replied, crossing her arms.
"Well, maybe it was induced by something they did here," Jill reasoned, "if that's the case. It'd make sense that she doesn't suffer it now that she isn't here, right?"
"I wouldn't know," Rebecca shrugged. "That's something we should ask Hiwamura."
"Does it say anything else?"
"Well, there's a full-time table of medication and other stuff," Rebecca said, "but they're coded so, it doesn't tell us much. Should we ask Claire?"
"No, if she doesn't have problems now, I don't think we should. We don't want to cause a trigger or something," Jill said. "We can ask her at another time."
"Agree," Helena replied. "It might be a sensitive topic."
"We should warn Leon and Chris, however. Just in case..."
"I'll tell Leon. You can tell Chris," Helena suggested.
"Fair enough," Jill nodded. "Talking about the Ceasar. Chris..."
The women turned to the door as Chris and the rest of the team entered the Medical Office. To Jill's surprise, the group had two faces that she didn't recognize.
One of them was a young man with straw-colored hair, green eyes, and fair skin. He was thin, but his arms seemed toned. He had something long hanging on his back and an improvised utility belt on his waist. He wore simple clothes, torn in some places and visibly dirty.
The second person was a teenage girl with the same straw-colored hair and green eyes. Her hair reached to her hip, and her dress wasn't the best. The girl was holding on to Claire's arm while hugging a rag doll.
The two unknown people turned out to be Claire's friends. At least of them had survived the carnage that took place in the Asylum. Claire had introduced them as Liam and his baby sister Lily. Seeing the siblings made Jill unconsciously look at Chris and Claire. It was so unfair that someone as young as them had gotten infected only to be test subjects.
They learned from the siblings that there were other survivors. They weren't in their best conditions, but being alive was good enough.
"It's nice to see there are survivors for a change," Jill said as they were walking down the stone steps.
It seemed that their plan had changed, and if they planned to enter the underground facilities, they would need some additional gear. So, the consensus was to return the ship, pick up the things they needed and then head to the infamous place.
"Yeah, I guess they know how to defend. Honestly, the boy could have fooled me into thinking he was a sniper. He knew how to throw those fucking pebbles..."
"Pebbles?
"The kid attacked Harris and Barry by throwing them pebbles," Chris explained. "They thought they were getting shot, so Harris shot back in defense."
"How can you confuse pebbles with ammo?" Jill laughed.
"Well, the kid knows how to throw his stuff," Barry replied. "I could swear it was someone shooting us with some fucking silenced gun."
"I suppose it makes sense, though," Jill said, thoughtfully. "Considering those creatures rely on sound to track their prey."
"Yeah, which reminds me. What the fuck are we going to do down there?" Barry asked. "We're not exactly silent."
"We'll have to be," Chris sighed. "Things will get complicated, but maybe we can ask Claire's friends for help. Who knows what's beyond that door they were talking about."
"What do you think about the stranger they were talking about?" Jill asked. She saw Chris grimace.
It was strange for him to do such an expression at a time like that, but knowing him, it was because he already had a suspicion who it could be.
"I saw Leon's face," Chris said grumpily. "I bet he is thinking the same as me. Ada Wong."
"Ada Wong?"
"That cheeky Chinese spy?" Barry asked.
"The very same one," Chris grunted.
Chris had some hostile brushes with the spy. Ada Wong had had nothing to do with the deaths of Chris's men in Edonia, but the soldier still mistrusted the woman, and Jill suspected that in part it had something to do with Claire as well. That big brother side of Chris would never disappear.
"How did that woman get here?" Barry asked.
"The question isn't how," Chris said. "Why? Ada Wong doesn't show up randomly. If she's here, she has a motive, and that motive is a virus. I would bet someone hired her to steal whatever they have down there."
Unfortunately, Chris was probably right. It was unlikely that Ada Wong would have come to this island unless it gave her profit. That was how spies and mercenaries worked.
"Sir, I think we have everything," Connor said.
"Good. Did you contact HQ?"
"Yes, sir."
"Great," Chris nodded. "Alright, men. I don't know what awaits us down there, but something is sure. It won't be nice, and it won't be easy. Stay focused, and watch each other's backs."
"Sir, what's gonna be the plan?" Harris asked.
"We'll decide that after we talk to Henry and his people. They have more experience at this, so we should strategize based on their advice. We are jumping into this blindly, but that doesn't mean we will do things recklessly. Understood?"
"Sir, yes, sir."
Something was happening when Jill and the rest of the group arrived at the survivors' settlement. Claire's group and three of the survivors, Henry, Liam, and a woman named Julie, were standing over a table, discussing something.
Jill noticed that there was something over the table. It was a bunch of papers that lined together formed a...
"Is that a map?" Jill asked when they arrived at the table.
It was, indeed, a map. It was not a printed map but a handmade map on several sheets of paper instead of a single sheet as normal maps. The sheets were wrinkled, battered and in some cases, the lines looked shaky and insecure. As if the hand that had drawn them had needed a lot of effort to do them precisely.
"Oh, good timing," Claire said. "Yeah, it's a map, well, sorta. I drew this while I stayed here. Sometimes under heavy drugs, so they might not be perfect."
"Wait, you drew this?" Chris asked with wide eyes.
Jill was impressed. Even if Claire made the disclaimer that it might not have been 100% accurate, it was a significant achievement. The master lock picker could not imagine how much work and effort it had taken to draw it.
"Yes," Claire answered. "I kept a journal so that I wouldn't lose all my sanity. The drugs and other things made my memory faulty, so I tried to write down everything I considered relevant before I forgot it. We were cross-referencing to make it more accurate."
"Since you all have arrived," Leon said, "It might be a good time to strategize."
"Good, that was the plan," Chris nodded. "So what do we have until now?"
"Ok, recapitulating," Claire said, pointing at the map. "These are the hunting grounds. It's a large area divided into sections; each section holds BOWs of a certain level."
Claire pointed at the map again.
"1 to 3, hold the easiest to defeat or avoid. 4 to 7, are stronger; then, we have 8 to 10. Those are the hardest."
"So they are physically separated, we can trace a route avoiding those areas, "Chris suggested.
"That's the tricky part," Claire sighed. "See that clock tower over there? Each time the clock marks 12, 3, 6, and 9, the maze changes its layout."
"How does that fucking work?" Barry asked.
"I wish I could tell you, but I can't. Since the clock is working, I assume the rest does, too," Claire sighed. "Now, the things we want are here: sector zero. That's the only one piece that never changes. The rest flips back and forth. We know, however, that sectors nine and ten will always go the closest to zero."
"But vermin there are too cheeky to take on," Liam said, "not even us know what's in there. The only person who's been close enough to one of the higher sectors has been Claire."
"Yeah, I escaped when I was somewhere here..." Claire replied, pointing at a blank space between two sheets. The transition between sector 7 and 8, in the third quarter. "
"Third quarter?" Jill asked.
"The layout between 6 and 9 'o clock," Claire replied.
"How many possible combinations are there?" Chris asked.
"I wrote 12," Claire shrugged, showing them her notes. "I don't know if there are more or if they put new ones after I left, though."
Jill looked at the notes Claire had placed on the table. The annotations and drawings were clear and concise in some but chaotic and hesitant in others. Perhaps her conversation with Rebecca and Helena had begun to skew her, but Jill couldn't help wondering if the differences didn't reflect a second personality.
"We didn't see any beyond the ones you pointed," Henry said. "So I would assume those are all."
Claire nodded.
"There are two functional doors, here and here," Julie said.
"What happened to the other ones?" Rebecca asked.
"We don't know where they are, or they are blocked," Liam shrugged. "This one opens up near the first sectors, and this goes in by the middle ones, right?"
"Depending on the time, this one should open between six and seven, or seven and eight," Claire nodded.
"Then that leaves us two possibilities," Leon said, pointing at the map. "We take this route, sticking to the lower sectors, but we spend more time in the maze..."
"Or we jump in with the higher ones and reach area zero faster, but we deal the risk of messing with stronger BOWs," Helena said. "Tough decision."
Yes, it was a tough decision. Jill pondered their options. If they went with the first plan, they would play it safe, but they would spend a lot more time underground. More time would mean spending more resources. If they went with the other plan, there was a chance that they'd meet stronger monsters. Both ideas had their downsides, so it was a matter of weighing the pros and cons.
"Which door did the woman you saw use?" Leon asked.
"This one," Julie said. "She might have used the long route. Slow but safe."
"But she's way ahead of us..." Chris said, "We'll have to use this one."
Chris pointed at the second door and looked at his companions for confirmation.
"I guess we don't have a choice," Claire sighed. "Three groups then?"
"Three?" Jill asked. "What do you mean?"
"Large groups don't last long. It's too dark and too cramped. We'll scatter at some point. If that happens it is better if we are in clusters. Julie, Liam...?"
"We'll help," Julie nodded. "There might be answers in there for us, too."
Claire nodded.
"Then that's it. I'm with Rebecca, so I guess I stick with Leon and Helena," Claire said, looking at the blonde. The agent nodded. "Chris is up to you how the groups work on your side. Each group will get either Julie or Liam. You need someone who's been down there before."
Claire's reasoning was logical, and Jill saw Chris nod.
"You already know how these monsters work. Hearing and smell are their best weapons. If you can stealth pass them, do it. Don't engage," Claire said. "Survived most of it like that."
Chris nodded.
"What time do we leave?"
"Let's see..." Claire said, looking at the clock tower. "It's better if we start on 6-7 and not 7-8. I guess our best bet would be at 18:00 hours."
"That's...Five hours from now," Jill said, checking her watch.
"Yeah, we better use that time wisely."
Claire looked at Leon again. Jill saw the agent rest his hand on her shoulder, and the two held each others' eyes for a while before Chris interrupted them while giving orders.
Jill's eye traveled to the clock tower and sighed. Why did those people have to make everything so complicated?