Three months had passed since Chris's debriefing. Not a single trickle of evidence to Piers being alive, or his whereabouts, had been discovered since then. The days seemed to drag on, Chris's apprehension to the situation most likely being the culprit for it. Nightmares plagued his sleep at night, and his memories haunted him by day. The soldier spent an especially long time in the shower that morning, one arm pressed against the wall, his head resting against it. He hardly so much cleaned himself as he did just stand there, hoping the water would somehow erase the thoughts that followed him. It wasn't as therapeutic as he'd hoped.

A bottle of Jack Daniel's remained in his quarters. Though technically it was against the BSAA's regulations to store alcohol in agents' rooms or have them drink while they were there—a simple matter of safety precaution—Chris had snuck it in there a while ago. Only a fourth of the bottle remained, the rest of it having been consumed in some other nights long ago. He didn't used to be so much of a drinker, but his time wandering bars in Eastern Europe and trying to drink his wages, bringing a strike of amnesia with it, made him appreciate its prowess. Well, maybe not so much prowess as it was controllable destruction. Chris dried himself off and threw on some fatigues, then sat down on his bed and stared at the cabinet where the Jack resided. He sat there in silence for a few minutes, decisions running through his head. I don't need it, he tried to convince himself. I shouldn't need it. His emotions were still stirring in his mind, his complete desperation from losing his entire team once more, and this time his partner, being held back by a mental wall that was slowly breaking down as each day passed with no more information. Though he still continued his missions, Chris only did so because he felt he owed it to Piers to take back his word of his retirement like he had asked. He was slowly getting past not having Piers as his second-in-command anymore, but Chris feared every mission that he would come back alone. The BSAA captain got up and walked toward the cabinet, digging out the bottle of Jack, and momentarily stared at it in his hand. Piers wouldn't want this. He'd be damned if the liquid bronze wouldn't feel good down his throat right now, but he knew it was too easy to spiral back into the mess he was in but a few months ago.

"You know you shouldn't drink that during work hours."

Chris was alarmed at the sudden intrusion to his thoughts. Were he in any other situation he would probably stow the bottle back in shame, but he hardly had much of a care anymore for what people would think of him as he was grieving. He looked up and noticed a woman at the door, her face all too familiar and yet completely unexpected.

"Jill?"

His longtime partner smiled at him, her figure cloaked in blue like she always was. She was leaning against his door, arms crossed, as though she had been there all this time. Since her escape from Wesker in Africa, the BSAA had agreed to letting her retake her old position, but only if she had undergone retraining, rehabilitation, and a psychiatric evaluation. They wanted to be sure that any traces of the mind-controlling virus had been completely dispelled, and that there was no possibility that she would relapse or unconsciously continue to support the efforts of Wesker, despite Chris and Sheva having completely terminated both the man and his plans those years ago. Her mind had also muddled from her capture and forced attack on her old friend, creating a form of PTSD that took years of slow progression back into her military lifestyle before she was comfortable in combat again. Chris had kept in contact with Jill regularly, even visiting her when they would allow it at times, until the situation in Edonia made him completely disappear for several months. He had been so caught up in his own recovery upon his return that he had neglected to keep up with her. Surprised, yet delighted to see her, he asked her, "When did you get back?" Jill smirked, then walked over to him.

"Just now, actually. They debriefed me about the whole situation in China." She stopped just in front of him, placing a hand on his shoulder and staring right in his eyes. She leaned into him and gave him a hug, and after some hesitation Chris put down the bottle of Jack and returned the embrace. Unprofessional, perhaps, but he needed the support. They separated and she locked eyes with his, her gaze bright but her expression serious. "They told me about Piers. I am so sorry." The apology was genuine, and Chris knew she was speaking from experience. He was in a lot of pain when she was presumed dead as well, but at least at that point he wasn't trying to recover from a dark place in his life. If he lost her right after his disappearance from Edonia, he probably would have tried to drink away his memory then as well. "If you ever want to talk about anything, let me know." Chris left her without a comment.

"So…" He tried to find words to continue the conversation. "Are they letting you back in yet?" He put the bottle back in its hidden place in the cabinet, untouched. Jill nodded, although she let out a slight sigh.

"Yeah," she exhaled, "but I must always be accompanied by a team or at least a partner who can keep their eyes on me at all times. They're convinced I won't turn psycho and try to kill everyone but they don't know if that will change in a battle situation. Other than the simulations, I mean." Chris let out a smirk and shook his head. It was perhaps the only emotion other than sorrow he had shown in months.

"Well for what it's worth, I trust you."

"I trust me too, but I guess I'm not really the final judge of that." She turned around and started walking towards the door. "Anyway, the reps need to see you right now. They've got Sheva on one of the coms—apparently they had a break-in."

"What?" Confused, Chris followed her as she left the room. "Anything taken?"

"Yeah, and it sounds bad. I dunno the details though, they didn't tell me much."

After walking down a few hallways and passing many of the busy rooms and employees about, the two arrived in a conference room that contained a few of the BSAA representatives from Chris's debriefing three months ago. Sheva's presence was displayed on a projected image against the wall, her face lighting up when she saw the old friend walk in.

"Chris! It's so good to see you," she told him. "You had me worried for a while there."

"It's good to see you too, Sheva," he replied, his voice full of relief of seeing a familiar face. "What happened down there?"

"Right," she began. "Someone broke into our headquarters last night. We don't know who it was but they came in with brute force. We had to send a medical team to take care of all the injured. Our communications were damaged during the encounter and we just got them back online or else we would have told you sooner."

"Did you see who it was?" Chris immediately questioned. Sheva shook her head.

"I was not there, but so far the witnesses we've asked did not see anyone. They didn't even know there was an intruder until they were attacked and knocked unconscious." This seemed rather suspicious to Chris.

"No one saw anyone at all? What about the video feeds?"

"We already went through all the feeds we have; there's nothing there. There are some instances where you can see some sort of interaction happening, but you can't see the source at all." Sheva sounded just as confused as he was. "We suspect whoever the intruder was may have been cloaked." Jill and Chris looked at each other in disbelief; cloaking was possible with some BOW's, but it was rare, and as far as they were aware none of their enemies had such a technology that could be used by unaltered humans yet. A brief flash of the invisible snake-like BOW flashed through Chris's mind, and the man had to drift his eyes out of focus until the memory of his teammates being killed had subsided.

"Was anything taken, Sheva?" he finally continued. Sheva nodded, concern softening her voice.

"Yes, and you're not going to like it. Do you remember...P30?"

The captain's brow narrowed at the mention of the name. Jill seemed more shocked than he was, or at least she expressed it more than he did, though it seemed those emotions quickly turned into anger.

"You mean that stuff Wesker had injected into me?" She seemed to also be worried, though not so much from the robbery itself but by the thought that the brainwashing chemical was now out in the open somewhere. Chris had no doubt that the memory of her being forced to attack her old partner were flashing through her mind at the present. She would never wish that fate on anyone, not for what it did to her.

"Yes," Sheva confirmed. "The vial we had stored for testing was stolen. The injecting device, however, was left behind, and we suspect that may be because it is broken beyond repair." Chris shook his head.

"This isn't good," he commented, returning his view to Jill beside her.

"You can say that again," she added. "I don't know who these people are or what they're planning, but it sounds bad."

"How much of P30 was in the vial, Sheva?" Chris asked.

"Not very much, especially after the testing we had done throughout the years. It was only however much was left in the device after we took it from Jill."

"So that's not very much then," Jill resonated.

"But it could be enough to study and produce more," Chris noted.

"Really? But we've hardly found a way to reverse-engineer it."

"True, but if it's Neo Umbrella that stole it, they'll find a way faster than we'd be ready for it."

"Are you even sure it's Neo Umbrella?"

"I don't know. But at the moment, the suspect list is pretty slim. I don't know of any other organizations that have cloaking abilities, and by the sound of it, that was a BOW that busted in there. If they're anything like their predecessor, I have no doubt that they will continue to follow through with their plans until we destroy them once and for all." Sheva let out a murmur of concerned understanding, while Jill seemed to be lost in her thoughts. Chris continued, "Is there anything else you need to report, Sheva?"

"No, but we'll be sure to let you know if we find anything else."

"Understood. You be careful now."

"You too, Chris." With that, one of the representatives—the woman who lead Chris's debriefing—ended the call.

"As Agent Valentine had said, this is an incredibly troubling situation," she began. "I can only imagine if someone has stolen the P30 that they have full intention to create more and use it."

"And if they succeed, we'll have an army of brainwashed super soldiers to deal with," Jill muttered. The representative nodded.

"Indeed, and with the gigantic hit Lanshiang was to both our men and resources, this is something that can easily become a problem to both our security and the security of the world."

"They just stole it, though," Chris interrupted. "It's going to take them a while before they make enough to fit a whole army. If that's even what they're planning..."

Jill shook her head in discontent. "Maybe so, but when Wesker forced me to battle you, I nearly killed both you and Sheva just by myself."

"True, but most of that was when he gave you that extra dosage," Chris commented. "However, the default dosage would definitely be enough to overpower many men depending on what the thief is planning to do with it."

"And we don't know who they are or what they are planning, so there's an extreme risk here," the representative added. "I would imagine if they have stolen the P30 they are fully aware of what it is and how it may work, and I would assume they will be making their own device to replace the one that was taken from Agent Valentine, if they haven't made one already." She walked closer to the two and placed her hands behind her back. "I'll be sending a team to the BSAA West African branch to assist Agent Alomar as well as working on bolstering security and sending out teams to see if we can catch the culprit. Until then, I want you to—" The representative was suddenly cut off by the door swinging open and one of the BSAA employees running over to the representative. He muttered something into her ear, and immediately a look of concern swept across her face. She thanked the employee and he once again ran off, and she returned her gaze to the agents before her.

"I've just been informed that there has been a bioterrorist attack in the Middle East."