"Why a helicopter? I bet we could have flown in on a plane and not on this big noisy wreck." Alfred was muttering to himself, shoulders hunched as if to cover his ears against the roar of the helicopter's blades chopping at the air.
Alexia smirked to herself, but mostly ignored him. He was just sulking because he didn't want to come this far from home just to see another underground lab. The one at home was empty and boring, so why should this one be any different? But Alexia knew better. This was a fully operational lab, the foremost in the country, and it would be vastly more exciting than her own modest complex back on Rockfort.
Leaning to the side, she could peer out the window. Below her, stained a beautiful shade of rosy pink by the rising sun, spread a forest made up mostly of evergreens: pines towered, stabbing their eternally shaggy boughs at the sky. Among them spread the broad-leafed trees; oak, poplar and sycamore spread their foliage in homage to the sun.
The trees rushed by for some time, until below she caught a glimpse of glinting metal and an expanse of tawny concrete. The helicopter slowed, tilting slightly, and lowered almost gingerly onto the landing pad marked out with streaks of paint. Alexia saw a single human figure standing a respectful distance away: black on black, with sunglasses ever perched on his nose. Alexia thought it odd that Wesker had a habit of wearing those dark shades even when he was inside. Well, it made him easy to pick out in a crowd, that was for certain.
She tugged on Alfred's arm and hopped out of the helicopter, immediately being buffeted by the turbulent wind spinning away from the blades. Wesker had stepped up to greet them, and turned with a silent wave to beckon them away from the landing pad. Had it been less noisy, Alexia would have been upset by what seemed very curt. Of course, part of that was just Wesker's nature, as she had come to realize.
Once they were away from the landing pad, Alexia could take a moment to admire the beautiful scenery. Rockfort was mostly devoid of much flora or fauna thanks to the paramilitary base, so it was a rare treat to be so immersed in ruggedly handsome nature. Mountainous terrain had always appealed to her more than other environments; that was, unless she was forced to camp in them for any longer than an hour.
"Welcome to the Arklay base," Wesker said, slowing so that he wasn't talking over his shoulder at them. "I hope the trip was smooth."
"It was, actually. I haven't had the chance to travel by helicopter much; it's an interesting change from planes," Alexia answered smoothly.
"A noisy change," Alfred muttered, waggling a finger in his ear.
"The helicopter was a necessary evil, I'm afraid. The nearest airstrip is the Raccoon airport, and though Umbrella has jets flying in and out regularly, it would have been impractical for you to fly in there with all the civilian traffic," Wesker explained. He meant it to sound apologetic, Alexia was sure, but his expressionless face and neutral tone didn't do much.
"It's quite all right. Well worth the chance to see a fully-functioning Umbrella base. Though I fear when we go back home, I'll never be content with the facility there again." She knew without turning to look that Alfred was making a face, and she was glad Wesker wasn't looking either. Even with the number of times she'd warned her brother to behave, he had little self-control. It was so frustrating.
Soon they came out of the sparse trees and the twins realized why the Arklay lab was more often referred to simply as "the mansion." Rising three stories off the ground was an edifice that, while not a match for the Ashford palace, was artistic in its own right. Alfred gaped at the mansion, and Alexia knew his heart had been won. He was a sucker for grand architecture.
Wesker paused, turning to look at them, when they didn't continue into the clearing that cupped the mansion's grounds. If she looked hard enough, Alexia might notice a faint upturn at the corner of Wesker's mouth. "Compared to your home, the mansion is hardly impressive," he commented wryly.
Alfred tore his eyes away at last. "It's still nice," he protested, clearly embarrassed that he'd been caught ogling.
"True. I suppose since you seem to like it that much, neither of you will mind staying in the residential rooms in the mansion proper," Wesker said, and Alfred tried so hard not to look excited.
Alexia smiled genuinely. "Of course not! I assume that's where the research team lives?"
Wesker waved them on, and once they overtook him he walked on. "Some of them. Most of us live in Raccoon itself and use the Ecliptic Express that runs between the city, here and the Training Facility to get around."
"Why would you live in some crowded city when there's a perfectly good place to stay right here?" Alfred asked, perplexed.
"Because the mansion wasn't designed to hold as many people as we have. The project has grown since the mansion itself was built, and because this is the 'public' edifice that hides the existence of the lab, we can't alter it easily. Also, since Umbrella has a presence throughout the city, they own several apartment complexes in Raccoon and offer discounts to employees that live in them."
Wesker pushed the front doors of the mansion open, and Alexia was hard-pressed to keep her excitement at bay. The more she learned about this facility, the more she wanted to see. If they had so many people here that a place this size couldn't hold all of them – and if the company had such a strong hold over the city nearby… the possibilities were endless.
"Would you prefer to have a look around the mansion first?" Wesker asked, looking at Alfred. Her poor brother was trying not to look around in avid curiosity and failing badly.
Alfred perked up and looked to Alexia. Oh, he was giving her the puppy eyes. He knew how much architecture bored her, just as much as her "science" bored him. "Is there a way for one of us to do that, and the other to go down to the labs?" she asked, turning to Wesker hopefully. Anything to get out of looking at boring art…
"Not unless one of you were to find someone else to guide you. The lab and the mansion are easy places to find yourself lost, and without security clearance, you wouldn't be able to go much of anywhere."
Alexia ignored the hopeful look Alfred was giving her. "We'll have plenty of time to explore the mansion later, right?" At Wesker's impassive nod, she smiled. "Then if you don't mind, I'd like to see the labs." If Alfred looked disappointed, she didn't see it, and instead followed as Wesker strode off.
As it turned out, they got a truncated, partial tour of the mansion anyway, since for some reason Alexia didn't quite understand, Wesker led them through part of the mansion before they finally got to where the labs took over. Alexia had no hope of retracing their path; this place was even more convoluted than her labs at home! Then again, the whole place was designed to be completely secret, and if they were going to keep trespassers from infiltrating the lab, they needed to make it nearly impossible.
"Who designed this place?" Alfred asked in wonderment as they rode an elevator down to the main floor of the lab.
"A man by the name of George Trevor. He has been dead for nearly fifteen years," Wesker said, smirking slightly at the way Alfred's face lifted slightly and then fell when he learned the man was dead. "He specialized in creating boobytraps, hidden passages, and secret rooms in his designs, and Lord Spencer paid him well to make the mansion un-navigable except by the ones who know the floor-plan. Even the researchers who live here have to be careful not to detour into a boobytrap. Overseeing the construction of this mansion was Trevor's last act, if the records are to be believed."
If that wasn't ominous, Alexia didn't know what was. "How did he die?"
Wesker shrugged. "I don't know. I never looked that closely at the file."
Translation: ask me when we're not twenty feet deep in other Umbrella secrets and I might tell you. Alexia wasn't as naïve as Wesker seemed to think her. She could read between the lines of his evasive responses quite well, thank you.
The elevator doors slid open, and Wesker led them down a hallway that looked so much like the network of corridors under the Ashford palace that, at first, Alexia was confused. But as they passed what looked like the offices of the higher-ranking researchers, the bemusement faded.
Wesker suddenly developed a hitch in his step and halted. Alexia looked up to see his brows disappear beneath his shades as he frowned, lips tight. "I'll be back, wait here," he said lowly, then strode stiffly toward an open door just down the hall. Something had irritated him, evidently.
The twins hurried forward and pressed themselves against the wall next to the open door – the door to Wesker's office, as Alexia noted from the placard on the wall – and listened to the conversation going on inside.
The first voice Alexia heard was unfamiliar – a deep, bass rasp that spoke a language she recognized but knew nothing of: Russian. "Вам дали точные заказы, котор нужно не продолжать с испытывать вариант альфаы, или имею рапорт от вашей команды что вы имеете людской объект испытания в реальном маштабе времени. Что смысль этого?"
Wesker spoke then, but to her frustration he responded in the same tongue. "Я нет одного, котор нужно обвинить для той ошибки, полковника. Я был с основания когда одно из моего partner' работники s вытерпели случайное облучение к напряжению. Он имел человека быть изолированным как пример. Имел я, котор будут здесь вовремя я положил бы человека вниз." Alexia had no idea what he was saying, but she could tell from the tense quality to his voice that he was angry, and working very hard to conceal it. The fact that she could hear his irritation was an indicator of the severity of his foul mood.
"Уверено вы и ваш соучастник не совершает такая же ошибка снова, друг. Следующее время я не буду будьте добры." The stranger's answer was spoken in a dark, warning tone that sounded even more menacing for his gravelly voice. Then, Alexia heard heavy boots scraping and clumping against the floor and she quickly shoved Alfred away from her and down the hall. It wouldn't do for them to be caught eavesdropping.
The person that exited Wesker's office was a mountain of a man with long silver hair. The huge man bore scars on his face that pulled his right eye into a blind squint, but the other eye was dark and piercing. He stared at them for a moment, brows beetling in confusion, then turned to Wesker as the much younger man oozed out of his office.
"Comrade, what are these children doing here?" the towering man rumbled ominously. Alexia was thankful that he was speaking English, even if it was thickly accented.
Clearly, the twins were the last people Wesker wanted to see lingering in the hallway, looking guilty. "Those are Alexia and Alfred Ashford, Colonel. They took over from Dr. Alexander on Rockfort island, if you'll recall."
Alexia took a small step forward. "It's a pleasure to meet you, sir. You must be Sergei Vladimir."
Sergei's eyebrows drifted slowly up his forehead. "Yes, I am. I did not expect to see the commander of an important installation so far from home. What brings you to Comrade Wesker's laboratory?"
"A short visit, sir, that's all. I wanted to see what a fully-functioning research lab was like, since the facilities I have on Rockfort are rather limited at the moment." Alexia smiled winningly, hoping the displeasure in Sergei's thunderous voice would fade. Even without the warning Wesker had given her not to get on this man's bad side, all her instincts were telling her not to cross him.
"Mh, yes. My officers on the training grounds tell me that you are doing your own experimentations on the Ashford property." His lips pulled back into what was probably supposed to be a smile, but looked like a wolf baring its teeth in a silent snarl. "I am pleased to see the next generation of Umbrella's youth showing such great interest in maintaining the company's great name. Soon I should like to visit your base myself, but now I have other work to do. I bid you a good day, Comrades." Stepping back to look at Wesker, he gave a curt nod, and swept off down the hall, taking up almost all the space.
Once the elevator doors slid closed, Alfred took in and expelled a shaky breath and leaned against the wall. Alexia looked up at Wesker's stoic face. "I see what you meant about him. He's rather intimidating."
"Rather infuriating, you mean," Wesker growled, lips tight. "I need to make a call." With that, he turned on his heel and stormed back into his office, all but slamming the door.
"What do you think that big guy said to make him so mad?" Alfred wondered aloud, looking just as perplexed as Alexia felt. In the few encounters she'd had with Wesker, she had gotten used to his impassive and largely emotionless affect, and to see and hear him so overtly angry was slightly shocking.
"I have no idea, Alfred. I don't think we want to know," Alexia remarked candidly.
Wesker was not so angry that he raised his voice, so even though Alexia pressed her ear to the door, she couldn't hear anything other than muffled voice-sounds, and nothing intelligible. When his voice stopped and she vaguely heard him replace the receiver in its cradle, she backed up and put on her most innocent expression.
Wesker emerged once more from his office, shutting the door behind him, and shot the twins a glance that might have been apologetic. "I'm sorry for that interruption. Col. Vladimir delights in pushing my buttons."
"What was the issue?" Alexia asked, trying to balance manners with her insatiable curiosity. She wasn't used to workplace politics going on in a lab setting, and she was hungry to know everything she could.
Wesker studied her for a moment before saying, "Follow me and I'll show you." He turned on his heel and strode off down the hall, and Alexia eagerly trotted after him. Even Alfred looked interested as they went around a turn and to another elevator, which carried them deeper underground to the farthest basement level.
The temperature was noticeably cooler. That was the only real indication that they were deep beneath the earth's surface, since this part of the lab was lit and furnished exactly as the others were. However, there was a stark difference between the two sectors: where they had been before was the administrative area, whereas this had the look of storage. High-security storage. It had the feel of a prison in some ways, and Alexia felt Alfred press closer to her uneasily.
As they proceeded, muffled sounds became audible: mostly, restless grunts and growls. Alexia's heartbeat sped up. This was where they kept their test subjects!
Wesker took them to the end of a short hallway. Each of the doors along this corridor were reinforced, and locked with fingerprint scanners. He stopped at the last door and pressed his thumb to the pad. The door unlocked with a heavy sound and hissed open. Alexia hurried after him, trailed by a wary Alfred who bit back a yelp when the door slid closed behind him.
Alexia's attention went immediately to the rear of the room, where a thick observation window looked into a cement-walled chamber empty except for a single, dark shape. She blinked when Wesker flicked the lights on in the observation room; inside the chamber, a single light also flickered on, illuminating its lone occupant. Alexia sucked in a breath.
No sound came through to them from the cell, but Alexia imagined that the creature gave a low groan of protest to accompany the motion of shrinking away from the sudden light. It was once a human, a largely unremarkable adult male, and it still largely resembled its former life. However, its skin was mostly gone, revealing underlying muscle still with scraps of subcutaneous fat clinging to it near where skin still remained. Its eyes were shot with blood, turning even its scleras crimson.
The zombie recovered from the momentary light-blindness and turned in place, confused, until it was facing the window. It began shuffling forward, and Alexia watched it, fascinated, as it approached until it was mere inches from the glass.
"It's a one-way mirror on the other side. This type of infected relies almost entirely on sight and smell, so even though it sees its reflection, unless it hears or smells something like prey it won't do anything," Wesker said.
Since the creature had soon given up examining whatever it saw in the glass, it had turned once more, shuffled sluggishly back to the middle of the room and gone back to standing eerily still. "Odd. I thought they tended to be especially aggressive."
"They are, especially this strain. That's why it's in a solitary, sound-proofed holding cell. When no prey is immediately available they go into a semi-dormant state to conserve energy."
"What happens when they think there's prey nearby?"
Wesker almost smirked. "Try tapping on the glass and you'll see."
Alfred looked at Wesker as if concerned that the man was insane, but Alexia knew it was perfectly safe. So she stepped over to the observation window, raised her hand, and rapped her knuckled on the glass.
No sooner had she pulled her hand back to tap a second time when something hit the glass with a boom.
Cliff-hanger, dun dun duuuuuhh!
No one attempt to translate that Russian. I put it through the Yahoo translator so it's going to be garble. -lazy- and yes, I did up the rating, since zombies are a bit too gruesome for K. I knew my lowest-rated RE fic wouldn't stay that way for long. XD
Dokidoki: you sorta spammed my inbox with review alerts, but as soon as I saw that devART page I forgave you and spent the next hour or so laughing my head off. Thanks for the link!
Everyone needs to look at this comic because it works so well with this fic. (edit out the spaces; FFN tried to eat the link)
http:/ practicalal. deviantart. com/ gallery/ #/ d1zifcf
