AN: A little warning for all my underage/easily offended readers! There will be F-bombs dropped in this chapter. If you don't like it, skip that section! Again, if I mess up on subject material concerning psychological issues, feel free to tell me how it really works so I can possibly rewrite this later. Also, if there is any way I could improve the suspense in this chapter, tell me! I can take constructive criticism.
So far, RE6 is awesome! I am not able to play it right away (because I'm not allowed to have a console at college!), so I'm settling for walkthrough vids to get the storyline. Because I might be writing something RE6-related in the future~
Anyway, I'd like to thank my reviewers from last chapter. As of this post, it's just Sarah Victoria Cullen and Johnclaw Dragonhelm. (I did some beta work for his story, Monster, go check it out!) So thank you!
Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil or its characters. Non-canon characters are the exception, except for Delfredi and Veronica. They are OCs made by JediSpartan217, who also helped me come up with this story.
The two agents stared up at the intercom in shock as they took in the Delfredi's words. "What the hell do you want?!" Stevie shouted up at the camera, already aggravated enough by the madman's trap.
"I just told you: I want you to face your fears," Delfredi repeated. "In addition, I have decided to add a new rule: You are not allowed to speak to each other after this 'Playtime' begins. I will know if you do, and your friends will suffer consequences."
Stevie opened her mouth to object, only to be distracted as Kate pounded a fist on the glass door. The younger cadet looked over to see her partner shaking her head. "Don't do it," Kate silently warned. Given the fact that they were separated and locked in, there wasn't exactly any room for them to protest.
"Okay, so how the hell do we get out?!" Stevie tried instead.
"Your task is to retrieve the key inside that passage. 'Playtime' begin once you enter it," Delfredi instructed, "Without the key, you cannot leave."
"Gee thanks, Captain Obvious," the younger agent commented under her breath, getting more and more irritated with the madman as he spoke. "Did you get that one from 'Villains' Digest'?"
Delfredi apparently heard that comment and chuckled. "Best of luck," he added before leaving the agents on their own.
Stevie sighed dejectedly as her temper wound down. "Well that was a perfectly good quip wasted," she complained, "Now I have to make up a new one."
Kate nodded on the other side of the door. "Yes, but for the time being, it looks like it's up to you to get us out of here," she said, strangely calmer than she was a few minutes ago, "We know where the key is, and since this door is in the way . . ." Kate lightly knocked on the clear panel, emphasizing that she was unable to get through. However, it gave Stevie an idea.
"Kate, step away from the glass," the dark-haired agent warned as she pulled her handgun from her belt, "Let's see if this shit is bullet-proof."
The light brunette's eyes widened behind her glasses, but she stepped back enough to be out of range as her partner took aim. Stevie picked a corner of the glass frame and fired.
The bullet impacted, cracking the glass in a white spiderweb pattern. The panel had been damaged, but the glass still held together, with the bullet stuck in its own impression. Kate walked up to the glass and applied pressure the damaged area. It didn't give. "No good. Looks like I'm stuck here," she verified.
"Want me to try again?"
The older agent shook her head. "We gotta to save our bullets for a worst possible situation," she said, "We don't want Delfredi to accuse us of 'cheating'."
Stevie sighed as she put her handgun away. "So much for that idea," she muttered to herself, thinking quietly for a moment before deciding on her next course of action. "Sorry buddy, but seeing as you can't stop me . . . " the younger agent replied before turning towards the camera. With a decisive movement, the short-haired cadet threw up a vulgar gesture and held the pose long enough for the camera to see before she felt satisfied. "There. That should do it," she spoke as she let her arms down to sit at her hips, "Now all that's left is to get the key."
The two agents were silent for several seconds before Kate spoke. "You know what you have to do, right?"
Stevie smirked in assurance as she faced the ventilation passage in front of her. "This will be a piece of . . . cake," Her face fell as she realized what would have to happen. The younger cadet could fit through the vent easily; the real problem was completely different.
"Damn it!" the dark-haired agent thought, biting the inside of her cheek out of nerves, "Why the hell did Delfredi have to pick this as one of his tasks?!" Stevie shook her head. "C'mon already! Get a grip!" she mentally berated herself, "This is not a good time for a panic attack!"
"Stevie?" Her partner's voice broke her thought process, "Are you all right?"
The short-haired agent turned to check on her comrade, who had since adjusted to sitting on the floor. "Yeah," Stevie replied nervously, putting on a brave face for her partner. "I'll be . . . . fine."
The older brunette wasn't convinced; she knew how her partner reacted when it came to tight spaces. "Stay calm. Get in, grab the key, and get out," she instructed, leaning back against the wall of the short corridor in boredom, "I'm certainly not going anywhere."
The dark-haired agent exhaled heavily as she faced the vent again. As much as she hated the idea of crawling around in tight spaces, it was the only way to get the key that would lead them out of this mess. "Well, here goes," Stevie decided as she steeled her nerves and shoved her upper body into the vent. "I'm goin' in!" she declared to Kate as she crawled forward, bringing her legs in when she was far enough inside. "I'll see ya when I get out!"
Kate nodded, even though her partner couldn't see. As the bottoms of her partner's boots disappeared into darkness, a chilling, automated voice came over the intercom. "Playtime starts now."
Delfredi stood in the dark confines of the control room, his unshaven face lit only by the TV screens that served as his window into the facility. Each screen was fed by cameras set up around the building. The cameras weren't capable of receiving audio, but the video feed of the agents' 'Playtimes' were more than entertaining enough. While the cadets were occupied, Delfredi didn't feel the need to speak to them; he'd let their minds sabotage themselves this time.
Delfredi switched his gaze to another camera, stopping on a specific feed. The video in front of him showed Jill in one of the labs right outside the Licker chamber, hunching over a computer. Delfredi involuntarily twitched; he'd have to talk to Veronica later about leaving her computer terminal unguarded again.
In the meanwhile, there were some quick renovations to make. With the push of a few keystrokes, he locked the door into the stairwell and unlocked another door nearby. He smirked in satisfaction; that would keep the agent and the trainees separated for a little while longer for the time being. There was still a third 'Playtime' for them to complete, after all.
Delfredi's eyes returned to the image of Jill Valentine. She was enemy number one, as was anyone in the BSAA. That's what Delfredi had been told. Her face was familiar to him, but every time he tried to recall where he had seen her, his head would begin to ache as if a fist was pounding on his skull. Personally, he thought the female operative would be a well-suited asset to his cause. She just needed to understand.
The door to the control room closed behind him, bringing his thoughts to a halt. "Any news, Veronica?" he asked, his voice gravelly from fatigue.
"Everything is under control. Those BSAA brats discovered me and got away," she reported as she walked up and stopped short of Delfredi, despite the fact that he was much bigger than her, "But I was able to collect new data on the effects of G-xA gas in small doses."
Delfredi nodded in acknowledgment. "Excellent. I'll look over it next chance I get." With that response, the blonde woman walked up to his side and placed the notes she had taken on the console next to him. Veronica glanced up at the screens as she finished, only for a sour look to cross her face.
" Sir? Why do you insist on watching her?" she asked, not noticing the annoyed tone that crept into her voice as she glared up at the monitors.
"What do you mean?"
"Why ask for Jill Valentine? You've been so fixated on her activity," Veronica spoke as she drew closer to the muscular figure of her superior, not bothering to keep her agitation out of her voice, "Why does she warrant more of your attention than I do?"
Delfredi turned his head just enough to glower down at Veronica, his pupils cat-like slits that glowed in the darkness. "What was that?" he growled.
Veronica was caught off guard. The blonde woman flinched so hard that she nearly dropped her clipboard. "O-Oh! Nothing, sir!" she apologized, "I meant to ask why she is so important to our project?"
Delfredi turned his eyes back upward to the screens, staring at Jill one last time before switching the feed back to Stevie and Kate. "She is the only thing that can stop us from carrying out our plan. She's none of your concern. I'll take care of her myself."
Veronica's eyes narrowed darkly. "By 'take care of her' you do mean 'kill', right?" she asked, "We're still planning on taking her out of the picture, are we?"
Delfredi closed his tired eyes and exhaled briefly. He had not slept for days, and his body was beginning to feel the toll. "If it comes down to it, then yes, it's the only way this plan will succeed." He opened his eyes, casting his gaze back at the screens.
"Soon they'll be close to the point of joining me, and they'll finally understand what Wesker and I strived for. The past reveals the truth, and the truth brings reality."
Veronica looked up from the notes on her clipboard. "Reality, sir?"
"Yes. You see Veronica," he explained, "facing the truth about ourselves is our worst fear. And fear brings out a person's true colors. My truth, combined with their fears, will make them crumble."
Veronica nodded as she finished writing. "Very well, doctor." She turned and began walking to the door. "I'm going back outside. I'll call if I hear anything."
"You have my permission. Oh, and Veronica?"
"Yes sir?"
" . . . Change the password on your terminal. Jill Valentine just hacked into your files."
Veronica flushed bright pink. "Sorry sir! It won't happen again!" she apologized quickly before slipping out of the control room.
Jill Valentine scanned the map yet again; she lost count of how many times. She had been doing this over and over, even when her eyes began to hurt, convinced that she could find a way out of the facility. But she was having little luck. The map only showed the building's layout, with no labels on the rooms. "How does anyone get around in here?" Jill thought impatiently. She had tried retracing the route Delfredi had forced her to take, but the drastic changes from near-darkness to sterile white had left her eyes strained and her sense of location askew. She wasn't even sure where in the facility she was. Nevertheless, the blue-clad agent copied the map onto her jump drive as well.
While she waited for the information to finish downloading off of the computer, Jill took another look around the lab. There weren't as many abandoned papers in this room, and the lack of dust implied that somebody used this room frequently. Many of the papers had faded chemical equations scrawled on them, but they were incomprehensible to Jill. The BSAA agent moved a stack of the papers aside, only to uncover a small notebook, bearing the name V. Smithson on the bottom corner. "Probably the same person who sent out that e-mail," Jill thought as she picked up the notebook. Turning to the first page revealed a journal entry, most likely written for keeping track of progress. Jill flipped through the pages, stopping on an entry dated around a month ago. "Almost the same time Chris disappeared," the female agent thought as she began to read.
"01/02/2013
Delfredi has arrived and is in stable condition. The project can begin.
01/03/2013
Delfredi and I have started on our newest project. This Umbrella base will serve well for a testing ground and laboratory. Nobody will be coming back here as long as we keep a low profile."
After that entry, several pages had been ripped out of the journal. The next entry was dated less than a week later.
"01/08/2013
Experienced slight setback as the half-completed mixture and primary supplies spoiled from the storage room's poor ventilation. (Did Umbrella ever hear of lab safety codes?) Will have to try and recreate product from scratch once new supplies arrive.
01/10/2013
Received fresh samples of T and G. Delfredi and I have already begun preliminary research on the effects of both viruses. Tested them using three modified corpses ( Delfredi's choice; can't explain WHY). T is effective in reanimating bodies, but G produces no result. May be better if we combine the viruses into something new and test it, preferably on live subjects."
Jill flipped forward through pages of notes, stopping when she saw another familiar name.
" 01/18/2013
The samples of T-Abyss have arrived. Will combine with current 'Gx-virus' after research is completed. Hopefully when combined, mix will produce results similar to requested product.
01/24/2013
The 'Gx-A' strain is complete and ready for testing on live subjects."
That was the last entry, Jill discovered as she turned to the next page to find it ripped out. "Gx-A?" the agent thought as her eyes stayed on the page; the entry had been made a few weeks ago. "Is that what they've been working on?" The agent flipped through the pages again. "No mention of Chris anywhere. Only Delfredi," Jill noted, "Why would they combine all of those viruses if not to start a new outbreak?" The agent's thoughts became tense. Given that she had seen what each of those viruses could do by themselves first-hand, who knows how much death and destruction would occur if this new virus was released?
"'Gx-A' . . . . Whatever it is, I've got to make sure this doesn't get out!"
"Fuck, fuck, holy fuck!" Stevie thought rapidly as she squirmed through the vent. "I don't want to be in here!" Shortly after leaving Kate behind, the vent had begun to feel smaller and smaller until the sides of the vent made contact with the younger cadet's elbows and limbs. Her nerves began to tingle as she felt the walls closing in on her. Her breathing grew sharper and sharper. Her hands began shaking as flashbacks of being squeezed too tight began to come back to her. "Holy shit," Stevie breathed, closing her eyes so she didn't have to stare into the darkness ahead of her, "I gotta chill out. This is getting a bit much." The dark-haired cadet paused, taking time to calm herself down. Cursing like a sailor was actually a good coping mechanism; within two minutes, she was ready to go again.
Once she was calm enough to think clearly, Stevie produced a small flashlight from her pocket and turned it on. The clear beam of light illuminated the vent enough for her to see ahead. "Gotta focus," Stevie reminded herself, holding the flashlight with her teeth, "Kate is waiting on me." As much as she wanted to hear her partner's voice, Delfredi would undoubtedly do even more damage if they spoke. Stevie began crawling forward again. The metal of the vent groaned underneath her. She halted in her tracks, staying completely still. After a few seconds of reassuring that she was going to be alright, she began moving again. "Mother fuck this is not fun!" the younger agent thought, crawling forward a little faster now. She'd have to move quick if she wanted to get out.
A second beam of light interrupted the darkness, this one coming up from the room below. Stevie crawled towards the opening and peered past the bars and into the room. "Oh, you have got be fucking kidding."
Below her was the roomful of sleeping Lickers she and Kate had to pass through earlier, only now the Lickers were awake and crawling all over each other. It was then Stevie realized how many there were. "Fuck me, that's a lot of monsters." As she spoke, one of the Lickers snapped at another, hissing violently. " And they look hungry." The agent gathered her nerves and crawled onward, careful in her movements as the vent creaked again. "This thing better not collapse with me in it. I don't feel like becoming Licker chow."
Stevie moved past the opening, going deeper into the shaft. After several 'steps', the flashlight caught a gleam of plastic hanging in the center of the vent, an Umbrella logo decorating the middle. The dark-haired agent squinted for a better look. The shape of the object proved to be rectangular, and as it spun, a piece of black magnetic strip made itself visible. A keycard.
Stevie began to move quicker, only to hear the metal groan under her weight even louder than before. She stopped again. After many seconds of unease, the nervous cadet reached forward, beads of sweat sticky in the palms of her hands. A quick tug pulled the keycard free, snapping the fishing line it had been attached to. "Delfredi, I hope you know I really, really fucking hate you right now," Stevie thought as she began inching her way backwards. Right now all she wanted was to get back to her partner, punch Delfredi in the face, and get away from the tunnel. Not necessarily in that order.
A dull, echoing creak of metal forced Kate to open her eyes, then left her blinking up at the white ceiling in confusion. "When did I end up on the floor?" she wondered. Last time she checked, she had been leaning against a wall. "Did I fall asleep?" The quiet agent quickly recollected what had happened. Just after Stevie crawled into the vent, Kate decided she would try clearing her head with meditation, seeing as there wasn't much else to do. She had been able to clear her thoughts without interruption. Then at some point later her consciousness shut down. "I fell asleep!"
The light brunette shot upright. She prepared to call out to her friend, but then remembered Delfredi's new rule. She closed her mouth and sat back down.
The room hadn't changed at all. Same stark white walls, bright lights in the ceiling, the doors hadn't moved, and except for the occasional creak from the vent, there was no noise at all. It comforted the older cadet and yet unnerved her. Long periods of isolation made her anxious. The silence was nerve-wracking too. There was no way of knowing if her partner was alright.
Kate checked her BSAA-issued watch. By her estimation, sunset had been at seven pm. Now the watch read one in the morning. It had been six hours since the BSAA dropped them near the facility, which meant Delfredi had them trapped for five hours now. But she had no idea when 'Playtime' had started. Kate sighed. She could have been asleep from anywhere around five minutes to an hour. How much longer would it have to be before she and her comrade could get out?
A sickly feeling entered her stomach as Kate turned her gaze back to the open vent. The thought that her partner might still be in there, probably scared out of her mind, made her want to cry out in support and remind her that her comrade was still there. But she couldn't, not if someone was going to be hurt by doing so. "I hope Stevie's okay," the older agent prayed as she sat with her knees folded up in front of her, "She wouldn't leave without me, right?"
"Are you so sure?"
Kate's head jerked upward with alarmed eyes as a familiar accented voice entered her ear. She checked all corners of the room. No one was there. "Let me guess: you're here too?" she muttered.
"You didn't answer my question," Excella repeated, "Are you sure?"
Kate's shoulders hunched up, protecting her neck as she brought her knees up in front of her. "Stevie will be out soon. I'm sure of it."
"Liar. She might not return . . . In fact, she may have already left you behind."
The older cadet's blinked. She never considered that alternative. Could Stevie have already gotten out? No, Kate would have heard her partner reappear. But then again, the older agent could sleep like the dead if she was far gone enough into dreamland. But still, Stevie probably would have tried to wake her from the other side of the glass. Was Excella's suggestion even possible?
"Maybe she went ahead to find help?" the light brunette thought, pulling herself away from negative thoughts.
Excella scoffed. "Even so, you think she'll survive, come back, and free you? She won't; stop denying it."
Kate's feeling of unease grew, moving up to her brain as she thought about her friend. "She will come back . . . she will," the agent replied softly, more to herself than to Excella. "Just leave me alone. Get out of my head already."
The villainess laughed. "I can see ALL secrets you keep. Even your worst memories."
"What?!" Kate's head shot up, wide-eyed. She knew exactly what memories the former Tricell executive was talking about. " . . G-Get out of there! Those are personal! Stay away!" the insecure girl urged, grasping her head with shaky hands.
Excella chuckled. "Let's see, you've already wanted to die once, didn't you?"
The older girl's eyes widened as the memory came rushing back to her. It had been less than a month after her parents' divorce. Although her parents parted peacefully, it had still been the hardest emotional experience of Kate's life. It had gotten to the point where she just wanted the pain to stop, or at least have an injury to match the emotional pain she had felt. The only reason she didn't do it was that she kept thinking about it. The older cadet hadn't told anyone about it, save her mother several months later. ". . . That was a very dark time in my life. I don't want to go there again," Kate explained, eyes darting around the room.
"Ah, but there's more. That wasn't your first experience with death, wasn't it?"
Another memory came back to her. It was the night Stevie lost her dad. Kate had seen her friend's heart break that evening. That's when the quiet girl swore to herself that she would do everything in her power to stay near her comrades' sides. If any of them had to suffer, then it wouldn't be alone.
Both sets of emotional scars were still visceral years later.
Kate slunk back to the floor, laying on her side as she faced the wall. "I don't want to talk about it anymore. It's too personal," she replied quietly, recalling every emotion she felt.
"Poor dear," Excella crooned, "Are you finally giving up?"
Kate curled up into a ball, biting her lip as tears threatened to form. She had begun to feel drained, as if all the hope she possessed was slowly being siphoned away. All she could do was remind herself keep breathing and not give in. "You're not even real," she reassured herself.
"Aww . . . Is somebody in denial?"
"My partner's going to come back soon."
Excella scoffed, becoming frustrated with her victim's behavior. "Face it. She left you to die."
"That's not like her!" Kate retorted in disbelief, still curled up on the floor, "Stevie would never leave a comrade behind!"
"How do you know?" Excella countered, "That so called 'Loyalty' you are so fond of? Nothing! She was just using you, stop trying to deny it!"
Indignation began building up inside the older cadet. She wanted to object, but found no words to defend her partner's honor. She wanted to throw a tantrum, break something, anything to express her irritation. Instead, she took a deep breath and buried her emotions. They wouldn't help her, not in her current condition.
The older agent sat silently, ignoring the coldness of the tile floor. As much as she didn't want to believe Excella, the notion of being left for dead was beginning to feel a little too real. There was only one way to find out.
She sat up, faced the room through the glass panel, and folded her legs in a crisscross. "Enough with the head games, Excella," the older cadet warned in the calmest voice she could muster while clenching her teeth, "I'm getting pissed off."
She could sense the villainess' smirk. "Very good," Excella replied, "When you're not angry, you're weak."
The older agent controlled her breathing as another set of mental images flashed in her mind's eye. All the times she had "snapped", or gone "berserk". That behavior was something Kate had never been proud of, because whenever she snapped, she was in danger of hurting others out of blind rage.
The memory of the roof battle stood at the forefront of her mind. Even after four years, the older agent had no idea how to feel about her actions in that short moment of fury. If she hadn't relinquished control, the battle probably would have ended badly. ". . . I'm not that kind of person. Not anymore," Kate replied to the air.
"Don't be foolish," Excella prodded, "I see the monster that lies inside of you, just waiting to be stirred up again."
"But I don't want be that person!" the older agent protested, her voice transforming from calm to distressed again, "That's not who I am. And why won't you just go away!?"
Excella fell silent, then spoke slowly. ". . . If I leave, you will be ALONE." Kate's anger subsided as solemn memories began to replay in her head. The most prominent one was from her childhood, standing alone on the school playground while other children were having fun around her. The memory brought an ache to the older cadet's chest. It had never been easy for her to make friends. That's why she treasured Stevie and Mattie's companionship.
"You don't want to feel like that again, do you?" The older cadet shook her head. "Do not forget: I am your only companion here," Excella told her, "But, if you insist . . ."
"Please," Kate begged softly as the villainess' presence threatened to fade, "Don't leave. I don't want to be alone."
Several minutes passed; Kate didn't bother to keep track of time. She just sat and waited, even after her butt had gone numb.
Finally, a familiar sound of grunts echoed out of the vent, growing louder and louder. Kate looked up at the sound. After a few seconds of staring, a set of boots emerged from the hole in the wall, followed by a body. Stevie had returned!
Once completely out of the vent, the dark-haired cadet gave a tired sigh, then looked back to her patient comrade. Upon making eye contact, they exchanged relieved grins; both were happy to see that their partner was safe. Stevie sent a thumbs-up to her friend, silently asking if she was okay. Kate nodded, returned the thumbs-up, then nodded towards the keycard reader.
Stevie returned the nod, then rushed over to the card reader and shoved the keycard inside. A 'click' told the that the next door was unlocked, then the glass panel that kept the agents apart began to retreat into the ceiling.
Kate jumped to her feet. Once the door was clear of her head, the two women rushed to each other, meeting in a hug in the center of the room.
The two agents embraced for a long time, allowing each other's presence to alleviate their fears. When they finally parted, Stevie nodded towards the newly unlocked door. The two agents walked up, opened the door, passed through, and moved onward, one step closer to escape.
AN: Well, if anyone wanted to know about Stevie and Kate's emotional scars, there you are.
Reviews are awesome! They motivate me to get these chapters done! Even though I don't have as much time on my hands as I used to!