Wesker had always wanted to meet Alex. He had never met the one that Spencer had kept close to him, only hearing of whispered rumors and saw simple reports from him. Nothing beyond. No personal information. No files. It was as if he could be a ghost.
But his voice, there was no mistaking the trained edge with which he spoke. No misunderstanding him.
The man had a goal and it was evident to see he was intelligent.
But he would fall to Wesker, as Spencer had.
He didn't bother pulling out his weapon. He likely wouldn't need it. Since his body had adapted to the viral concoction in his body he was well beyond human. He was faster, stronger, barely required food or sleep, bullets hurt but he healed, as some examples. The only sign outwardly was the red-gold eyes beneath his shades.
He had ascended to perfection.
What if Alex had the potential of the same? The thought brought with it scientific interest. Wesker had always been fascinated with virology and human evolution. Even though they were dead he almost would have liked the other Wesker Children to have survived. He didn't see them die but knew the mark beside each name in the file suggested death. On the flip to that he didn't want a potential of competition. If Alex was capable of what he was, in theory, he was a threat.
Wesker didn't like that thought.
A beep in his ear indicated it was time. They were about to infiltrate the underground facility and he needed to focus.
The stats from the schematic showed it was a 7-level complex with various branching hallways, rooms and sections. The two lowest they had only seen the outline of, suggesting it was the red zone, where the secrets lay. The structuring was thick enough to prevent them from seeing into the rooms, hallways and what was inside them.
Wesker could see HUNK a bit ahead to the right and he dashed forward to the structure.
It was short, but long and made of some variant of steel, wood and copper plating. When HUNK signaled for Clover and Jackel, both a few feet away, the pair stepped forth to check the door. A quick nod confirmed it was locked and they set to work on the apparent, and half hidden, keypad. It only took a minute as the others drew closer.
"Alright boys." HUNK's voice filtered through their earbuds. "I expect this to be efficient. Pairs of two. Jackel, Clover, you both take out guards. Meister, Regal, you get any scientist and researcher." He glanced to the four individually, familiar with their unique vest emblems. "Tryst you shadow the first pair, Vanyu the second." Shielded eyes flicked to them.
The pairs confirmed.
"Silv will protect entryway and Carp will secure the first elevator or stairwell we find. Wesker and I have crowd control. Ready?"
A soft cough directed a pause. "Sir, how will we know what Alex looks like?" It was the voice of Meister.
"Right, either check badges or demand names. He will likely be dressed as a scientist, so guards are fair game. There is the chance Alex knows we are coming here. So be on the side of caution." HUNK said carefully, followed by a chorus of sir!
Wesker wanted this fast and effective. Kill guards, kill people who was obviously not Alex. If Alex was anything like Wesker or Spencer it was likely there were experiments here. So potential 'fun' lingered in his mind as Clover took the side of the door and his partner took a stance before the door.
Clover shorted out the keypad as Jackel raised a foot. He kicked down the door in one powerful strike. The same second he did that Clover activated his program, having already hacked into the surveillance system. Cameras would see nothing. "Go!" A sharp hiss, the team swarming in.
It was dimly lit, cleaning supplies scattered around one wall, one corner contained sheets of metal, wood and potted flowers. The next corner had discarded electrical equipment. The last corner was covered beneath a thick, lumpy looking sheet on a pallet. In the center was what looked like a room that just kind of had not wanted to be hidden. The left, right and back wall were wood, open in the front where they could see a dark elevator. A camera hung in each corner but they would see nothing.
"We're expected." HUNK snapped. They fanned around, checking the room more thoroughly. "Let's make this fast. Silv, this is your post, guard it."
The selected soldier saluted, practically bouncing with energy as he moved to stand by the elevator. He snapped up his rifle, looking alert.
"Clover, get that elevator going. First sub floor."
"Right!" Clover ran up to the elevator, opening the control pad at the right wall. He lifted an arm, revealing a datapad strapped to his arm. He tugged out two wires from the side and plugged them into the side of the panel and went to work.
It took a minute before the lights to the elevator kicked on and the low hum of gears echoed.
"Alright, considering space we'll do this in two groups. Silv remains to guard the entrance. Wesker, you'll go down first with Jackel, Carp and Tryst. Then you'll send it back up for Meister, Regal, Vanyu, Clover and I. That fine?"
Wesker smirked and the rest nodded. "I'll leave you some, do not worry." The blonde said slowly as the first group boarded the elevator.
Clover keyed in the commands manually, stealing the floor plan through the joined network in the same action. "Alright, you'll be safe, I've got full control of the elevator. Good luck." Clover said, nodding to them.
Wesker turned his head toward HUNK and nodded. His masked ally tipped his head back. The elevator doors slid down and clicked shut. Momentary darkness cast over them before the lights flickered on and the elevator descended.
The door clicked open and Jackel had hardly any second to respond. They were shifting out, the first floor eerily quiet. He lifted his rifle, tensed as Clover's voice in his ear said, "I just sent you all the map via your phones. You can look at it to determine where you are and where each location is. I've already marked off the last two floors, flagged as red zone."
Each nodded and began to move out. Jackel hung close to-
The entire room momentarily shook before the lights flickered. Emergency lights kicked on just as the primary faded and a sort of coldness filled the corridor they were in. It was.. too quiet.. and it felt wrong.
"Wesker, we have a problem." HUNK's voice, this time.
The blonde turned to study the group as they hung just in front of the elevator, the lights off and it was already noticed that the elevator was not working now.
"We're locked down here." Wesker summarized.
"Yeah, when the lights killed all power shifted from the elevator to the backup generators. Clover-" A pause, shuffling noises. "-Clover is trying to re-route power now. He's having difficulty, it's almost like someone is playing with the electric. From the map, there should be a generator room on the second and fourth floors. Problem is, the only way to get to the second floor is across the first floor, there's a stairwell tucked in the back of the lounging area."
"I'm hearing there's a 'bad news' to this sir?" Tryst's voice filtered through the earpieces.
"Yeah, uh.. about that." Clover's voice, now. "It took me awhile, but I hacked into the surveillance feeds. I've been going through them the last two minutes.. and uh, let's just say you aren't alone. Electric might be down now, but this place is wrecked on the lower floors."
A momentary static noise filled the comm and everyone cringed. Wesker was just about to rip it out when it corrected itself.
"Status?" HUNK's voice came.
"Uhh.. Sir?" A voice behind Wesker caused him to turn, shaded eyes noticing Carp point down the corridor. A shadowy shape was standing there under the red emergency light, swaying back and forth.
Tryst tapped the comm in his ear, "Possible enemy sighting, seems.. intoxicated?"
The low sound of a moan carried down the hall and everyone tensed except Wesker.
"B.O.W." Wesker coolly said.
"I got him." Carp lifted his pistol and took a shot, sighted accuracy allowing the bullet to hit between the eyes. But the person only staggered before slowly walking towards them.
Wesker keyed his comm, "Clover, do a thermal scan. Find any abnormal body temperatures. Average is around 98 degrees Fahrenheit."
"Sir!" A moment of silence as the person shuffled, moans getting louder as it got closer. "I.. don't know what to make of this. Sir, on your floor the lowest temperature is 75 and the highest spikes from 80 to 101 degrees." A cough. "The degrees aren't what I'm concerned about primarily; it's what else I found. I did a full reading scan. The stats aren't to human standard, they fit more.. animal."
"Looks like our dear Alex has been playing with the virus." Wesker said with humor. "Clover, hack into the system and pull as much data as you can. Projects, reports, notes, any file or video."
"You're lucky I brought extra drives to store it on." The snarky retort came.
"Alright." Wesker said to his team, eyeing each one for a moment. "Kill anything infected on sight. Kill anyone turning."
"Sir!" Tryst, Carp and Jackel understood.
Wesker moved toward the infected, reached out to grab the head between his gloves and squeezed, crushing it in a splatter of blood.
"He's uh.. scary when he's with a purpose.." The soft voice of Carp muttered.
A chuckle came from Jackel. "Wait til you see him pissed."