Resident Evil:

The Whole Story.

Chapter Twenty-One.

To anyone on the street it would just look like any other office building, if you asked someone on the street as to what the building was they would tell you exactly what you would expect to hear. It was an office building, it probably sold insurance or perhaps was a small local office for a cooperation.

Only a few people knew that it was actually a front for Umbrella, it contained an elevator that went down all the ways to the large laboratory complex hidden beneath the city. It wasn't the only such building as the complex extended for at least fifteen city blocks and several bulidings in those blocks contained elevators that went down to the labs.

This building was actually used by Umbrella workers to do the bulk of the paperwork, the actual labs below did have an administration section but it only dealt with the paperwork that was far too...sensitive to be dealt with by employees who weren't aware of the truth, the paperwork dealt with by the office works were transfer requests and finical reports.

The building was only about a mile and a half from the police station that Wesker worked in so that was the one he would he use if he ever needed to go down to the lab. Up to this point he had avoided going down to the labs, it was Birkin'a domain and he had discovered that it was best if the two of them stayed out of one another's way.

But now he had no choice, he had been working closely with William over the past couple of weeks to see if the both of them could come up with a solution to the crisis, but now he didn't have a solution but he did have a plan.

Why Wesker had decided to tell William he wasn't sure but he imagined that he wanted to tell William because the other scientist was the closest thing that he had ever to a friend and he supposed that he wanted a second opinion from someone that he at least respected.

He pressed the button that opened the elevator and stepped in as the doors slid open, as the doors slid closed her hit four buttons in quick sequence and the elevator panel gave a ping before it began to descend deep below the city.

It was a long ride down and it gave Wesker plenty of time to think about everything, it was a dangerous plan. He would be leading the S.T.A.R.S into a scenario which they had no training for, it was highly likely they would get killed early on and he wouldn't get any useful combat data.

There was also the fact that he would most likely have to fake his death after he gathered all the date and destroyed the facility, Umbrella would never let him be if they realised that he stole from them and was still alive and selling the information to other companies.

Of course there was also the fact that he would be in the middle of the lab as well and would be in just as much danger, he did have some advantages in that he knew all the creatures that would be in the mansion and the lab and the fact that he knew the layout of the facility like the back of hand but that didn't really equal out to much when everything was considered.

He still didn't know where the leak had come from and there could be any amount of random mutations running around the mountains that would make things difficult, there was also the management training facility and he wasn't sure what he was going to do about that.

All in all his plan had it's flaws but he didn't see what other option he had, the lab and the training facility were too close to the city and it wouldn't be long be for the virus reached the city it's self when that happened steps would have to be taken to stop it from spreading any further and when that happened Umbrella would be damaged beyond any state of repair.

Umbrella would be able to hold off death for a while, they were all over the world, had more money than any other, had some of the greatest legal teams on payroll and had powerful connections in every government that they didn't already own.

But they wouldn't be able to hold it off forever, even if it took years or even decades Umbrella would fall and suddenly thousands if not tens of thousands people would be facing life sentences in jail. Umbrella had sprung a leak and he was taking a lifeboat before anyone else noticed that it was sinking.

The elevator eventually stopped and he stepped out, the harsh florescent lights always stung his eyes and the walls of the lab were so white that they were harsh in the bright light. He wanted to get out of here as soon as possible, he was here on his lunch break and Irons tended to be strict about people taking more time they were supposed to and Wesker was no exempt from that rule.

Right next to the elevator was a security station which was being manned by a stern-faced man in his late fifties with white hair, he peered at Wesker through the glass partition and spoke, his board voice muffled by the speaker. "Identification please."

Wesker took out his ID card and slid it through the gap at the bottom of the partition, the guard picked it up and seemed to be scanning the card's every detail and Wesker had to stop himself from sighing as he realised what he was dealing with, the guard wanted to exercise any sort of power he had so he was making him wait.

Around the time he was thinking of removing the guard's kidneys it seemed that the man had finished scanning the card and slid it back to him. "Purpose for visit?"

"I am here to see Doctor Birkin." Wesker said before he realised he would have to clarify which Doctor Birkin, given the Annette worked in the labs as well. "Doctor William Birkin."

"Doctor Birkin is extremely busy, do you have an appointment?" The guard grunted before a sip of coffee from a polystyrene cup. "Because if not then I'm afraid you're going to have to leave and come back when you have one."

Wesker again had to resist the urge to break through the partition and shot the guard several times in the face or maybe he would suggest that Birkin use him in one of his experiments. "Please call Doctor Birkin and tell him that Albert Wesker is here to see him, I'm sure he won't mind that I don't have an appointment."

The guard sighed and picked up the phone the was next to him, he only hit one button so Wesker assumed that it was a direct line to William's lab. "Doctor Birkin, an Albert Wesker is here to see...Yes sir but he doesn't have a...I understand sir." The guard placed the phone down on the receiver and looked up at Wesker. "He's waiting for you."

"Thank you." Wesker said before turning and walking away from the guard with a sneer on his face, he did hate being kept waiting. He had been keeping in touch with William ever since that day he had shown up at his home and while he had never been to these labs before in person he knew that the only was to reach William's personal lab was to go down an elevator near the centre of the lab, it was the only elevator that accessed that level.

As he walked through the sterile white corridors he had to dodge past several researchers dressed in the official uniform of lower level employees, a baby poo yellow shirt and black trousers or skirt depending on the gender of the wearer which Albert imagined that the human resources department got no end of complaints about.

Just as he was nearing the elevator that would take him down Wesker heard someone calling him by his first name, he turned his head to see a woman dressed in brown slacks, a black shirt and a white lab coat rushing over to him.

"Albert, I thought it was you." Annette said before she took a sip of her coffee, and going by the fact that her short blond hair was messy and she had large black bags under her blue eyes, she clearly needed it. "It's been a while, William told me that you stopped by the house and about the...situation. I trust everything is in hand?"

"Of course, no need to worry Annette." Albert said as he and Annette both stepped over to the elevator and he pushed the button to call it, there was every need to worry and he knew that Annette wasn't stupid enough to believe otherwise but they also both knew that if they panicked then everyone else would as well. "How are things with you and William, how is young Sherry?"

To be honest he didn't really care but he well aware that it was consider socially acceptable to ask.

"Sherry's good, I think, she's...very mature for her age and we've a lot of work to do so we often have to leave her on her own. But she's always able to take care of herself." Annette said while she looked down at her shoes for a moment before she looked back up. "And Will and I don't have a lot of time to spend with each other either, he's busy with G-virus research and I have my own projects take care of along with my other responsibilities, there isn't much time for a lot else."

Wesker was honestly surprised that the woman had time to eat or sleep, not only was Annette the deputy head researcher after William but she was also the facility's head administrator meaning she had to deal with all the paperwork. Wesker was honestly surprised the woman hadn't had a heart attack.

"Well, your work is important Annette. Don't feel bad." Wesker honestly didn't care how she felt but he knew that he had to say something or Annette would probably considering it him judging her and she would tell William and William would be mad at him and he didn't have the time to deal with all that.

"Thank you Albert, what are you here for anyway?" Annette asked as the elevator doors slid open and she stepped inside, Wesker following her. "Considering you getting in the only elevator in the entire place that can take you down to Will's lab I'm going to assume that you want to see my husband."

"Yes, I would like his opinion on something." Albert said as Annette took off the ID card that was clipped to her jacket and slid it into a slot underneath a keypad, the elevator could stop on other floors as an elevator that could go to only one would be impractical but it was the only elevator that went to down to Birkin's labs, there was a soft beep and the only button on the panel that was dark light up.

Annette hit the button and the elevator began to descend, the elevator was a lot faster than the ones in both the Arklay Lab and the Police Department and so it only took a minute for them to reach the bottom floor.

As soon as the doors slid open Annette stepped out and with a quick word of farewell hurried of in the direction of her lab, Wesker was glad of the brisk exit as he really did not wish to waste anymore time on small talk. He walked down the identical corridors of the lab for what seemed like ten minutes, passing by smaller labs and break rooms on his way.

He eventually arrived in front of two large steel doors, there was a key card reader next to the door and while Wesker did have his ID on him it wouldn't open this door, above the reader was a speaker phone and Wesker reached out to press a button on the box, there was a low ping and then a grumpy voice came out of the speaker. "Yes, what?"

"Good morning to you as well William, are you going to let me in?" Wesker asked before there was a moment silence, then there was a loud beep and the sound of something heavy behind the doors sliding away. Wesker took hold of one of the metal handles and pulled the door open, which took a great deal of effort as the doors seemed to weight a literal ton.

Beyond the doors was a large open space with several desks, a top each of which were dozens of test tube racks, microscopes, stacked piles of paper and a single computer. At the back of the lab were several incubators and high-tech centrifuges which could be used to synthesise vaccines and viral compounds.

Wesker couldn't help but feel a pang of resentment, this equipment was top of the line and of course William had it as his G-virus research was considered a top priority by upper management. The Arklay Lab had, in their words "Served it's purpose." And was not a priority for additional funding, Wesker imagined that the only reasons it hadn't been shut down was because there were still experiments being preformed and it was a good place for new researchers to get some experience as well as Spencer being nostalgic for the old place.

Still, working at the Arklay Lab had been better suited for his purposes as with upper management not keeping a too close eye he had been able to do a great deal of his work without any interference and that suited his purposes better.

Even so, getting the materials and test subjects he truly needed had always been a difficulty. William had never had that difficulty, he only had to whistle and all the subjects he ever needed were delivered to his door.

Speaking of William he was standing in the middle of the room, he was speaking to two other scientists who Wesker did not recognise; A man in his late forties with grey hair and wireframe glasses and the other was a young Japanese woman with black hair that went down to her shoulders who was also wearing glasses.

"The problem Doctor Birkin." The grey haired man spoke, his voice smooth and upper class and Wesker wasn't sure but he thought he could hear just the slightest hints of a British accent. "Is that while the G-virus does have the incredible regenerative capabilities that you hoped it would-

"The problem is that the virus is too unstable." The Japanese woman continued, reaching up to adjust her glasses nervously. "The mutations are so rapid that there is nothing that we can do to combat them without damaging the regenerative properties of the virus and when the subject mutates the virus tries to fix it but that causes more mutations, the long and the short of it Doctor Birkin is we're fighting an up hill battle."

To say that William looked happy with what he was hearing would be a lie, the man looked both furious and exhausted in equal measure and for a moment Wesker honestly though that he was going to hit something before he let out a bone weary sigh. "Thank you Fredric, Yoko. It's late and you've both spent longer here than you need too, take the rest of the night off and we'll look at it with a fresh pair of eyes tomorrow."

The two doctors nodded and left the room, if they were surprised by Wesker presence then they didn't show it, however Wesker did notice that the girl, Yoko, had been staring at him for a moment longer than Fredric had. He turned his head to look at William, taking in his red eyes and dark bags and messy hair. "Don't you think you should have a break and look at it with fresh eyes?"

"I can't, I can't take a break and I can't rest. I am so close, so damn close!" William shouted before he sighed again and rubbed his eyes. "I'm running out of time, not just because of what's happening up in the mountains but Spencer and the board are getting impatient, I guess they want the virus before the city becomes a horror movie."

"Well, you'd better hurry up. Never mind the virus and the city you know what happens to people who don't give Spencer what he wants on time." Wesker said before he smirked coldly. "Of course you do, it's how you got here."

William glared at Wesker before he spoke. "Why are you here Albert? At the very least couldn't you have phoned ahead?"

"You're a fool if you don't think the company monitors every single call we make, I needed to speak with you in private." Wesker said as he sat down in a cheap plastic chair that was near one of the desks, William raised an eyebrow but sat down in another chair.

"This...is unlike anything Umbrella has ever dealt with, it's had outbreaks in the past but they've never been anything like this. An outbreak in the middle of an environment filled with susceptible carries to the virus and surrounded by population centres? This the worst possible scenario, the U.B.C.S aren't equipped or experienced enough to deal with it and even if they were they wouldn't able to contain it." Wesker gave William a moment to let everything he had just told him sink in before he continued to speak.

"The end of it is that Raccoon City, hell maybe even all of Arklay, won't be standing much longer. The company, the government will not allow even the slightest possibility of the virus spreading and you're smart enough to know how they will do that." They both knew how they would do it.

"But the most important thing is, that Umbrella is a sinking ship." That got William's attention, almost like he had been shocked with electricity. Umbrella was the one allowing him to develop the G-virus and if Umbrella was shut down then he wouldn't be able to keep to his work.

Like a drug addict who had been threatened to be cut off by his dealer.

"What do we do?" William asked in a panicked whisper.

"Umbrella's a sinking ship, we can't do anything about that but what we can do is make choices. I would tell you to finish the G-virus as much as you can, and then offer it to someone. They are plenty of companies who would want a leg up over Umbrella, just find them." Wesker said and William looked at him shocked.

"You are talking about stealing from the company, that's insanity, it's suicide!" William shouted and jumped out of his chair, said chair falling and clattering down to the floor. Wesker sighed and stood up.

"I came to tell you this because you are the closest thing in my life that I've ever had to a friend, I imagine that many would think of that as something sad but I do not and neither should you. I've given you my advice and if you don't want to follow it than fine. I do not think we will see each other again William, goodbye. Live as you choose." And with that Wesker spun on his feet and began to leave the room.

"Wait!" Wesker tilted his head back to look at William who was standing there, he sighed and held up his before he walked over to a single sliver door which slid up as he approached, he stepped into the small room beyond and came out a moment later with a small sliver storage box.

"We aren't friends, but I know being the closest thing you've got is an accomplishment for me so take this." William said as he handed the box over. "I don't know what your planning and I don't want too, but this might help. There's a disk inside that will explain."

Wesker took the box and looked at it, as if he could see through it. "Thank you William, I wish you luck."

"Goodbye Al, try not to die." William said with a smile before he turned on his feet and walked over to the small sliver door and walked in, this time not coming back out.

It was time to go.

Wesker turned and left the lab and began to make his way back to the elevator, as soon as he stepped inside the elevator and hit the button that would take him back to the main floor his curiosity got the better of him. He held up the sliver box and gently pried the lid off.

Like William had said their was a small disk in a clear plastic case.

The other thing in the box, was a clear vial filled with a grey liquid...

End of Chapter Twenty-One.


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What do we think of Resident Evil Seven? I'm cautiously optimistic!