Disclaimer: Ada Wong is referred to a lot from here on out. I know that wasn't actually Ada, but I don't think Chris ever learned that.
"Tell us again what happened, Captain Redfield."
The BSAA captain heaved a great sigh at the question he had been asked for the...fourth, fifth time now? He was exhausted, the disaster that happened at the underwater facility being only hours ago. When his escape pod had finally emerged on the surface, contact with his communicator was reestablished and immediately he was contacted by the BSAA, desperately concerned of what had happened to both he and his partner. Chris informed them of his situation, requesting a search and rescue team to find Piers. The memory of his infection and his body floating in the water was burned into the man's troubled mind, keeping his thoughts muddled. They had reason to believe the young sharpshooter was dead, and given the fact that it had been hours since the search team had been dispatched, he could have most certainly drowned by now. But they also had reason to believe that he was alive, if just by denial or stubborn insistence. The lack of a body could confirm that Piers had managed to escape to land, and the healing powers he now possessed as a BOW could have saved him from drowning, but Chris had nothing to prove this other than witnessing his partner's body floating in the water after his incredible attack against the beast that had stalked their escape. He sighed as he prepared to explain himself one more time.
"When we reached the main room, it dawned on us that the entire purpose of the facility was to act as an incubator of sorts for one specific BOW, a human/sea creature hybrid dubbed as Haos for Neo Umbrella. We had managed to activate the lifts to take us to the upper levels, but then the BOW hatched from its cocoon and attacked us."
"This is when you were separated from Agent Sherry Birkin of National Security and the man she was escorting, Jake Muller, correct?"
"Yes," Chris simply nodded.
"Do you have any idea where they went after that?" He shook his head.
"No. They ran into a room that was sealed by heavy blast doors behind them. The way there had been destroyed by Haos soon after."
"I see." The BSAA representatives stared at Chris with a mask of monotone emotions, making it difficult for the hardened agent to determine what their thoughts were. "Continue, please."
"Piers and I managed to escape the creature and reached a large storage room of sorts. We had only a moment of relief when it came back again and had thrown us across the room. Piers was impaled by a thick piece of shrapnel in his shoulder and was pinned against a wall. The BOW then threw a large chunk of debris at him, which crushed Piers's arm and made it impossible for just myself to free him."
"And then you say this is when he took the injection?"
"Yes." Chris halted his words, trying to read the eyes of the representative, but it was just a reflection of the mask of stone his own emotions were following. "At this point the BOW had grabbed me and was trying to kill me by strangulation. The syringe we had confiscated from Ada Wong had flown from my bag and had landed on the ground not too far from Piers's position."
"And then you say he forced himself free from where he was pinned—severing his entire right arm from the shoulder in the process—dragged himself to the syringe and gave himself the injection, simply as a means of saving you?"
"Yes."
"And you admit neither of you had any idea of what the injection contained before that moment?"
"No, we didn't." Chris could feel his eyes slightly narrow as the representative tapped her fingers against the table, a chorus of whispers and muttered words circling around him. A different representative followed the question.
"And you believe that this is a new virus, or at the very least, one that is enhanced from an existing one, created by Ada Wong and Neo Umbrella?"
"Yes."
"Interesting…" the representative muttered. Once again, the room had stirred into a blend of hushed voices, until the woman questioning him before raised her hand to silence them.
"It might interest you, Captain Redfield, that both Sherry Birkin and Jake Muller had escaped the facility," she stated. Chris's eyes perked up at this.
"Are they both ok?" he immediately questioned, more concerned for the young Sherry's condition than that of Wesker's son. The woman nodded.
"Indeed, the both of them were picked up by National Security and Agent Birkin has since filed her report. Normally, we don't collaborate on matters regarding bioterrorism with National Security, but given how you two had crossed paths at an important point, and we had found that Agent Birkin's superior, Derek Simmons, was one of the minds behind Neo Umbrella's inception, we found it in our best interest to receive a copy of Agent Birkin's report." The representative went through the notebook in front of her, taking a moment to go over the bullet points she had listed. "In it," she began, "Agent Birkin details how she and Jake Muller were detained at an unknown facility in China for six months, undergoing experiments pertaining to the development of Neo Umbrella's viruses. It would seem that Ada Wong had used Jake Muller's blood, who naturally produces antibodies to the C-Virus, as a way to enhance it. We are uncertain of what ways this includes, but given the situation of what happened with Simmons, as you have already been informed about, we believe it is a way to make the virus much stronger, practical, and usable. Derek Simmons was still able to retain his free will even after undergoing many transformations, as well as completely skipping the process of these 'cocoon' stages you have spoken of. Given what you have described having happened to young Agent Nivans, we believe he had infected himself with this enhanced version." Another mutter encircled the room, and Chris took a moment to mull over the words. Though he kept his face blank from emotion, his mind was filled with many—confusion, concern, perhaps even desperation.
"Where are you going with this?" he questioned, dreading if there was something they hadn't yet told him about. He stared down the BSAA representative, she returning his gaze.
"My point is, Captain, it is not out of the question to consider Agent Nivans a threat now." Chris's fingers clenched at this, his muscles suddenly feeling tense. A threat. A threat?
"A threat?" he spat, almost slamming his fist on the table. "To who? He saved my life!" His voice was raising now.
"Indeed, Captain Redfield, but he is also infected by a virus we know little about, and seeing the destruction that Derek Simmons caused in China, it is well within our right to be concerned." The representative remained seated, her words being of a calm matter, though she struggled to speak over Chris's booming voice. "Now, you say that Agent Nivans had tried to remain behind, and had to trick you in order to do so. It is easy to conclude from this that he was well aware of the consequences his actions could create, and therefore wanted to terminate himself before the mutation had fully taken over him, is it not?" Chris breathed heavily at the representative's words, refusing to take his narrowed eyes off hers. "But his attempt was foiled in the sense that Haos had once again captured him, essentially saving him from the resulting explosion of the facility, and leaving him adrift in the water after he had killed the BOW. Our men are now out there looking for him, as they have been for many hours, and have not come across him. You cannot blame us for being concerned about this situation."
"Concerned for what?" Chris asked, his voice now calm but stingy from the remainder of his anger. "Saving a young man's life?"
"Calm yourself, Captain, and understand what we are trying to do here." She glared into his eyes, her body remaining motionless, mirroring Chris's current behavior. "We don't want to lose him either. I don't want to lose him either. This bioterrorist attack has caused more than enough people to die and we have lost many of our men. Agent Nivans is a great asset to the BSAA and we will do everything in our power to find a way to rid him of the virus. National Security has already given us a sample of Jake Muller's blood and all the information we need to create a vaccine to prevent infection of the C-Virus, and the UN has agreed to collaborate with us which will help speed up the process. But as captain of Agent Nivan's team, as well as being the co-founder of this organization, we feel you have a right to know that there is a very real possibility that he can become a threat to the well-being of the world, and should it come to it, we will have to terminate him." They sat in silence, the usual rounds of whispers being absent as all eyes were on Chris. Chris left them without words for a moment, his mind too mixed to form his thoughts into words.
"So what are you saying, then?" he began, focusing entirely on the woman before him. "That this search isn't to rescue him at all, but to make sure he gets into our control before he loses his own?" The representative didn't nod or shake her head at this.
"Our intention is to save him," she finally responded. "But it is better if he is in our custody should his mutations overpower him so that we may stop him first." Their eye contact was never broken, the tension between them being almost visible. It twisted Chris's muscles at the very thought of her words. "Now," she said, almost sighing. "I understand you must be exhausted. We will continue searching for Agent Nivans, and should we find him, we will let you know immediately. Until then, get some rest, and we will discuss the situation in the morning." Chris slowly got up from his chair at these words, standing still for a moment and looking at the group of representatives seated at the table. He then turned around and left without saying a word, the event that just transcribed still being processed.