The viewing area was just outside the visitor centre; beyond that was the stage, within a modest range of a tower. David felt it was prime time for something to go down. A brief look at the file. President Kimbal's schedule said he would show up at 17:30 pm with General Redfield to meet with Colonel Moore on stage with a small group. It was time.

The courier went away from Ranger Grant to talk with his companion; he came over to David with her shortly. The constant chatter of the bustling crowd outside made it hard to communicate.

"If we're going to be working together, it would be fitting to share some ideas. Is that okay, Agent Wesker?"

Wesker. That name always leaves a sour taste in his mouth. "I can handle a security sweep on my own."

"Okay… No disrespect, Agent, Uhm..." Six cleared his throat and spoke softer, "If we were to share a thought or two, we could get this over with quicker."

"Fine. What's on your mind then?"

The unknown woman glared at David. "I have ideas. But I think it's best if we split up." Six was about to speak, but her finger silences him on his lips. "Just listen. I have… experience with this kind of thing. The experience that will only be useful if I can move around of my own free will."

"Do I want to know where you got this experience?" Six asked.

The woman stepped closer to the Six, almost enough to feel his breath on her pale skin. "Trust me, William."

"William? That sounds much better than 'courier' now, doesn't it?"

The woman's eyes pierced hatefully at David. "What's it to you?"

"It's my business because it's my fuckin' job."

"David, is it okay for her to be excused?"

David sighed. "Do what you have to do to keep the president safe; that's all I'm asking."

"Alright, then. Go." The woman nodded to William and integrated within the crowd by the staging area.

"I will find you if I need you!" she called, most likely to William. She then disappeared into the crowd.

"William, was letting her loose into the crowd the best idea?"

"You got a problem with us?"

"I just don't think a civvie should be here, let alone a courier. It's not safe."

"I'm an agent too."

"Don't get me wrong, you're doing a bang-up job, only it's my job to protect the team. You and your friend look like magnets for trouble. Just sayin'."

"Is being a major dick one of your jobs?"

David snickered. "You wouldn't want to roast me, dude. I spit fire."

William paused a moment. "Roast? Whatever. This courier has a few tricks up his sleeve, you'll see." He walks to Grant with David close behind him. Grant hardly looked back from his radio. "Grant. I need you to let your men know that my companion acts on my behalf."

Grant glared at William. "That's a tall order. Even if I do that, I can't promise they'll work with her."

That was to be expected. "I understand. Just do it. She knows what she's doing."

Grant sighed and tugged his shoulder. "Alright, alright. It's your ass on the line if she fucks up," he bitterly added. "Anything else?"

"Where can I find the personnel records?"

Grant squinted in disgust and folded his arms. "Our men are trustworthy. We have periodic screenings of everyone here, and all group leaders report every individual under their command."

"Right. I don't doubt the integrity of your men. Nonetheless, a fresh perspective can't hurt. So, Ranger… the records," he sternly continued, "where do I find them?"

For a time, it almost seemed as if Grant would refuse to cooperate, as he simply stood and glared at William. Then he finally shook his head with an irritated look in his eyes and pointed to the visitor centre behind him. "The terminal at reception." William nods and leaves. "Christ, I don't get paid enough for this."

"This guy is really putting his nose where it doesn't belong. Nosey civilians..." David said, looking to Boone. "Now it's my turn."

"What is it?"

"Stay here with Grant and keep an eye on the towers."

"That's what I thought. No problem." Boone stood by Grant patiently. He slung his hunting rifle over his shoulder and watched the crowd like a hawk.

David turned to Cass. "Cass, mind if you…"

"Keep an eye on the crowd? Sure," she interrupted. Cass walked by David and kissed his cheek. "I'll just blend in anyway. My type of people." She strayed off and fully integrated into the crowd.

"What are you going to do, David?" Boone naively said.

"I'll keep an eye on things from the landing pad…"

Boone smirked. "Without me to spot for you?"

"Give me a break; I can snipe!"

From the ledge, David overlooked the entire crowd, all but that strange woman. With his hunting rifle close by, the building began to shake with the beating rotors of the sudden arrival of Redfield's vertibird. The president has landed.

Redfield held a long pole with a vast flag of the N.C.R.'s two-headed bear. He led Kimbal and Moore in a line towards the stage with a small group of soldiers playing the N.C.R.'s fanfare. It was like the old America's national anthem, only with a twist. The president has aged a bit compared to his portrait back in the general's office.

On the stage, during Moore's brief introduction, William found his way to the landing pad behind David. He noticed William but hoped he'd just do whatever he was doing and leave. He didn't; no matter how much David wanted him to fuck off kindly, it wasn't meant to be.

"David?"

"Dammit..." David mumbled to himself. "What do you want?"

"I think the Legion sabotaged the president's vertibird."

David focused his attention on William. "That's impossible. There was no one up here apart from me. I'd know about it if someone subverted General Redfield'svertibird."

"It was an engineer. I'll find the sabotage." William went off to thoroughly examine the vertibird's hull. The outside was smooth and was almost pristine.

"Knock yourself out. Figuratively and literally."

After minutes of listening to the president's boring speech that just went on and on to the point of falling asleep, the thrill of the event was dragging lower and lower. Cass waved to David on finding nothing, and Boone wasn't any more successful. That left William and his bitch. Overhearing William exclaiming, he came over to David with a C-4 explosive and showed it to him. He was just getting cocky and persistent.

"David."

David furiously faces William and sees the C-4 in his hand. "Jesus Christ! Get that out of my face!"

"Don't worry; it's disarmed. I found it latched onto the vertibird."

"What? Seriously? You best go to report it to Grant." David breathed heavily; having actually to thank someone he didn't care for was the hardest thing he had to do all day. "Not a bad pair of eyes you got there, Will."

"Thanks… I guess."

"That was a compliment."

"I know," William sneered.

A satisfied William slid down the ladder to the observation deck to Grant. It seemed he flagged William over at first but thankfully glad it was disarmed. David showed up behind William over by the radio back to Boone.

At some point, Grant got confused when that unknown woman came calling to him on the radio about Will. "Agent Six, I got a call on the radio. Your companion is at the watchtower behind the stage, and she asked you to come. She refused to say what it was all about, only that she needed you."

"Thank you. I'll go get her now." He hustled to the watchtower straight away.

David walks by Boone. "Found anything?" Boone said.

"William found a C-4 on the vertibird, don't worry. I didn't see anything, though."

"That makes two of us. I did see that guy's lady friend on the watchtower behind the stage doing something, but I couldn't make heads or tails out of it."

Grant picked up on their conversation. "What did you see?"

"She was talking to someone. Then there was a fight."

"A spy, maybe?"

"That's it; I'm cancelling the president's speech. We'll have a security team sweep the area; I'm not taking any chances."

Redfield and some rangers on stage quickly escorted Kimbal off the stage and sped back to the vertibird. The viewers and guests all started to scatter, apart from Cass who quickly regrouped with David and Boone.

"That went well," she sarcastically said, brushing her hands as if she was helping.

"Now, the president can vacate the area safely and quickly, thanks to you."

William and his companion were walking with an N.C.R. Ranger from the tower towards the viewing area. The ranger was red with rage from being tied with rope. The woman was dragging him towards a group of N.C.R. engineers.

David came down and confronted them to ask why they were manhandling a ranger. Just wasn't right. "W-T-F, William?"

"Don't fret. The ranger's a spy, and we're looking for another dressed as an engineer."

"That can't be right…" Boone comes over. "Boone, care to pitch in?"

"It's true, David. I saw that snake attacking her on top of the tower. I was going to shoot, but she took him down."

"For true? Damn… That's all well and good; let's find this other spy."

The woman poked William. "William, look!"

She had pointed to an equally frustrated N.C.R. engineer. Specifically, she looked for an engineer staring at the vertibird with a steamed look on his face. In his hand was what William would guess, a detonator, and he was pressing it repeatedly to no avail.

David walked towards him with William and their companions backing them up. They would all witness the total failure of the Legion's plan. While they approached, the engineer finally realised the C-4 had been disarmed and had difficulty containing his blistering anger.

David knew William had the situation under control, so he went back to the visitor centre with Boone and Cass; he was feeling tired. William smugly stood up to the engineer, showed the disarmed C-4 from his bag, and began to wave it slowly to him, mocking him, making a point.

The engineer froze on the spot. His eyes separated from the C-4 to William, to his captured compatriot, until resting on the strange woman. Then, with a determined look in his eye, the engineer reached into his jumpsuit and pulled out a Browning HP.

Shouting "True to Caesar!" at the top of his lungs, he opened fire. Not at William or David, but his compatriot. As the infiltrator slumped to the ground, the spy continued his gunfire at the woman. With a pained yelp in pain, she tumbled backwards to the ground.

Both William and David counted four shots before they could draw their sidearms. Cursing himself for not expecting a weapon, William furiously fired a .44 magnum round between the spy's eyes. William could never forgive himself if something happened to his companion.

"Lyannah!" William cried, lifting her off the ground.

David rushed over to William's side but reluctantly stopped in his tracks, burdened with the grief of not helping sooner and missing the chance to help someone in peril. He had one job.

Lyannah breathed for air, still having enough strength to sit up; she dulled the pain with a groan. Her plated armour covering her torso was marked with three bullet marks, chipping the black paint. William helped Lyannah back to her feet and was relieved to see that she was hurt but still alive and well.

Though it was undoubtedly a painful experience for anyone, none of the bullets punched through her armour. Wasn't much David could do to help. The Legion infiltrators were already dead. It made sense; the Legion would never let themselves be captured. Lyannah was merely the closest target after his partner.

To everyone's annoyance, the work wasn't over yet; there was the debriefing to attend, which involved both William's party and David's, to account for their actions that day.

The debriefing expressed how important the event was to the N.C.R. morale; it seemed important and equally uneventful from all the boredom. Behind the podium were speakers, alternating between General Redfield and Colonel Moore, both stating the president's safety and confirming the second battle approaching Hoover Dam the day after tomorrow. Apparently, it was all or nothing. Like an actual war...

David hated debriefings, hearing everything he already knew from an alleged Captain Obvious caricature; in this case, it was his father again. He would settle for an after-battle report, like parking tickets they can just be filed away; that was back when driving was a thing. He could bet no one these days knows how to drive a manual.

After the debriefings, the soldiers dispersed on their way to prepare for the battle. Boone and Cass were caught in the crowd and eventually wandered off out of the briefing room without David. William and Lyannah were the first ones out like a bat out of hell. David never saw anyone so eager to leave the debriefing.

David was stopped by Redfield for a private chat just as everyone left. They stood exactly, and the mood was sombre. Neither of them cared; they shared a smile as father and son. "You would not believe how hard it is to be me right now, son."

"Tell me about it. I'm the son of a legendary hero and a Demigod, and I can't even brag about it."

"Funny… Gloating is beneath us."

"You know, that got me thinking. With all this Sarkis malarkey, maybe I have power, but I just don't realise it yet."

"A likely story, but there are two problems. You were born before I was exalted, not after, and I'm the motherfucker here, not Sarkis."

"Ah, dad, why did you have to say it like that?"

"It's technically true. You and your siblings were all born from my broth. Nobody else's. Mine."

"I don't need to hear that."

"Oh, well. How are you doing, anyway?"

"Other than dying a little inside, I'm honestly not feeling good right now. "David whined, "Is there really a war going on this Sunday?"

"Unfortunately speaking. The second battle has been in the works for a while now."

"I'm having one of those days where I should have stayed in bed." David slouched against the wall behind him.

"Is there something, in particular, bothering you?"

"Lyannah…" David looked away. "I couldn't help her."

"I heard. Lyannah got hurt fairly bad, didn't she?"

"Yeah." David slowly rolled his eyes back to Redfield's. "I never felt so useless."

"You're anything but useless," Redfield warmly said, placing his hand on his son's right shoulder. "You honestly just need to start seeing eye-to-eye more."

"I'll try." David moaned, removing Redfield's caring hand from his shoulder. "Why is she and that William even here? This isn't a place for civvies to get nosey."

"She and William are a package deal, we needed his help, and he refused to leave her behind."

"What do you even know about her?"

"Granted, I know nothing about her, and I'm willing to admit that. I do feel something off about her. I don't think she's from Earthly origins."

David scoffed in disbelief. "So she's an alien?" She'd be a hot one though...

"Seriously, David, I'm not joking. There is more to our universe than meets the eye."

"I thought the universe was everything."

"Let me explain." Redfield breathed, sitting down on a chair opposite David. His legs were getting tired from the constant standing; older men couldn't be left standing around all day. "That is a common misconception of the parochial mind.

"Oh God, are you about to blow my mind again?"

Redfield shrugged. "The human mind's limitation only sees one universe, our universe. In reality, old universes die now and then, and new ones are born again. Each one is always different from the rest, and inside them are countless solar systems and galaxies and all that other shit. In our native universe must be Lyannah's world too." Redfield tapped his chin, recollecting something. "I sensed a great disturbance around the time Lyannah arrived; the scent of magic is all over her. I theorised she originated from Fourth Earth, but where exactly... I cannot say."

"Fourth? There's another Earth out there?"

"Yeah… You must've heard me mention our Earth, Third Earth. Some solar systems out there in space mirror our own, almost exact by creation and origins. It's not just all filler; the universe is fucking huge."

"But fourth? How many Earths are there?"

"More than you would think, technically. Sarkis was to investigate more of them in his younger days, but he spent plenty of time on Forth Earth. The wacky people over there made him feel more natural; I guess he's more human than I take for granted."

"What were they like?"

Redfield rubbed his arm. "Not nice. The whole planet was about two hundred years behind ours and living in a miserable dark age. A nasty era ruled by tyrants and wicked sorcerers."

"You see, that sounds like fun. Don't tell me it isn't."

"Sorcerers and mages lived lavish lifestyles while humans were treated as slaves."

"Still… at least it wasn't boring..."

"A hellish place where you don't have basic human rights or any justice and support? Do brutal punishments for not worshipping their Gods sound fun?" Redfield folded his arms. "I'll sooner be in the cold, dead ground before I worship the Faceless Ones."

"Pass on that then. What about the other two Earths?"

Redfield lowered his head. "We're not allowed to talk about them…"

"Why?"

"Forbidden."

"Oh well, not like I'll ever get to see them; you just spoiled that for me."

"Learning little bits about religion and alien life is good, even if most people prefer facts above anything else."

"I imagine there are rules for flashing your power about like a pretentious braggart. Could really get your point across."

"The only real answer to everything is just to live life your way and try not to think too hard about what's out there. Space itself is really, really big! Even Gods have trouble comprehending the sheer size and constant events going on every moment in time. We're talking about planets the size of atoms in the vast sea of the unknown."

"So, there's life out there?"

"Lots."

"To have this knowledge just to keep it to yourself is borderline selfish! The answers to questions people have been asking for generations, you had them but kept quiet!"

"Wasn't my choice. Humans are fickle; they're too easy led astray with the right words. The time wasted squinting at things that aren't there is better reserved for aiding the native planet and people." Redfield shrugged. "It's like that everywhere. You take care of your own, not others."

"Very selfish." David rubbed his head. "Hurts my head thinking about, well, everything. Like how do I live? Or what do I do? I feel so small."

"Just don't think about it. As long as you follow basic principles like respect thy neighbour and love thy father, you cannot possibly fail in life. Rules like that never change unless the occasion requires it to."

"Like what?"

Redfield mumbled." You know how to like…" He paused and fiddled his fingers. "Wesker. The good book says to honour thy father; that's the occasion not to since he was not worth it."

"Anyone could've told you that. Wesker was a real asshole."

"He died as he was born, a genuine person. I forgave him; that's the message."

David flared his eyebrows. "And everything in between?"

"Can we please leave it at that? You get the point. He was my father, and I should honour him, even if I wasn't fond of him."

"I know the 'rules' are just a guide, but how about the real truth?"

"Like the meaning of life?"

David nodded. "Yeah."

"We're not allowed to talk about that. Elder Code of Conduct."

[Speech 72/95] "Can't you make any exceptions? I'm your son."

[Failed] "That may be, but there are some things humanity must never know. The truth would tear the virtue of balance apart; it would be irresponsible of me to squeal."

"Do you even know it?"

Redfield's head sagged. "Aye… Sarkis and I both do. If I had heard it a lot sooner in my youth, I would've been a different man, perhaps very... bitter. I can see the truth behind it now that I'm wiser."

David exclaimed promisingly. "Oh well. At least we had a nice talk about it. I missed these long lectures you used to give us. It's great knowing there's life out there at long last, but on the topic of Lyannah…"

"She's a hothead, I know. Give her a chance; she's new to this world, something you share in common. Relate, listen and understand her; she might do the same."

"For you, dad, I will. Because it's my job."

Redfield stands up and places his hand on David's shoulder briefly. "You'll do what's right; I know it. I'm calling it in. You'll find the barracks on the left side outside. I'm sure Mr Boone and Cass are already there."

"I almost forgot. Cass and I eloped on Wednesday night," David gingerly said. "Just thought you should know… I... hope you're not mad."

"You're married? Again?" David shows him his wedding ring; it still had some shine. "Congratulations, son! I'm so proud of you. Somewhat speechless, to be honest."

"So… you're not mad?"

"Why would I?" Redfield held David by the shoulder and prodded his chest. "I have gained a daughter, and now we all have something worth fighting for. Life is really picking up."

"Do we have your blessings?"

"Yes, my son."

David smiled and hugged Redfield. "Thanks, dad."

"At least we're not alone now. You should probably find her and get some rest."

"A bit early, don't you think?"

"I'm just… overcome with emotion. I need to be alone with my thoughts."

David tilted his head. "You're thinking about mom, aren't you?"

"Is it obvious? How can anyone blame me?" Redfield slowly stared at the floor by his feet and slouched. "She was perfect... my whole world."

"I miss mom too."

"It's okay to miss her; I do every day. Ever since…" Redfield sighed with heavy grief. He couldn't mention the incident - the murder.

"Was her death... swift?"

Redfield walked to the shutter door without a word but stopped to rest his hand on the wall beside it. "There are no words that could describe what Drusilla did to your mother; I couldn't even recognise her once the dust settled." He sighed. "There wasn't enough of her left to bury."

David sat down on the chair behind him. "I'm sorry, dad," David sobbed, "this should never have happened." He sniffed. "I loved her so much."

"We'll make do. It was never your fault…"