Quarantine Room 15. Right below a biohazard symbol and an Umbrella logo, it was printed on a placard: Quarantine Room 15. Using the very same needle she bypassed the card reader on her own door with, Alice made quick work of fooling the electronic lock and getting inside.
What awaited her and Rain most certainly did not look like Matt. In fact, the thing laid on the operating table hardly appeared to be human at all. The figure was positively massive—probably a good seven feet tall. His leathery skin was stretched taut, leaving various holes that exposed the red muscle beneath. Some splits were closed with staples.
What had Umbrella done to him?
Rain kept close to the exit, watching Alice process the sight before her.
"Before we wake him..." Alice's eyes scanned over the monitors situated all around. "I want to be sure that he'll still be in there."
"Is there even a way to know?"
The only possible means Alice could think of were those damn files. If they could gain access to all of that information in the database locked behind higher clearance, she was certain she'd find the answer. "There might be." All she needed was the right passcode. "Stay here."
Rain simply nodded in acknowledgment as Alice left.
It had gone unnoticed on the way over, but the door nearest to Matt's was slightly ajar. Alice poked her head into the room. It was small and dark, occupied only by a chair and a desk crowded with electronics. Behind the five monitors, there was a window—no, not a window, a two-way mirror. Matt and Rain were visible on the other side.
Alice started rooting through drawers.
Left to her own devices, Rain pushed herself off the wall and slowly began to circle Matt.
His scent was strange. Despite his torn flesh, the strong smell of living meat was absent. He was... almost sterile. There was something distinctly chemical, too. Rain imagined it to be what she'd smell if she walked into a mortuary.
Her attention was drawn to three large cuts on his left bicep. There was a clear attempt to close them up, but root-like tendrils had begun to poke out anyway. She thought of the blue-eyed man.
She could see his features contorted in pain, his entire form tense as he clutched at the bright red, oozing cuts on his arm.
Then, suddenly, she was back on the operating table.
There were voices all around, but Rain couldn't make out a word. She couldn't move. She may have not had a body at all. Dark figures surrounded her, tools of all sorts and colorful vials of liquid in their hands.
Just past them, she could see Alice. She thought it was Alice, anyway. Her head was facing away from her.
Furthest from Rain, there was someone else. The skin on his head had been carefully peeled back and the bone was cut open, exposing his brain...
Alice pulled a scrap of paper out from beneath a stack of manila folders. A series of numbers were scribbled on it. It was the third set she had found. Yet again, she tried to access the files, inputting the password when the computer asked for one. It didn't work for hers.
However, it did work for Rain's. A window full of text popped up.
A small microphone sat beside the keyboard. Alice leaned down and pushed the button on its base. "Hey. Can you hear me in there?"
After a moment, Rain looked up at the ceiling, then over toward the mirror. "Yeah."
"I think I'm finally getting somewhere."
Subject arrived clothed in a black T-shirt, black pants, black sports bra, grey boxers, socks (left white; right black), black boots, and a utility belt with an attached thigh holster. The thigh holster was empty. A sheath on the back of the belt contained a military-grade bowie knife with a 6" blade. From the pouches on the belt, two 9mm ammunition cases were removed. Both were empty. According to a silver patch stitched onto the front of the belt, the subject was a member of Umbrella's own Sanitation, which was a commando unit sent down into the Hive on 09/28/02. The right hand was wrapped in gauze. Hanging from the neck were military dog tags belonging not to the subject, but rather one "J.D. R. Salinas".
Various injuries have been observed. An avulsed bite (1" pen.) was found between the forefinger and thumb of the subject's right hand, alongside a three-dimensional bite (.5" pen.) just below the thumb on that same hand. A two-dimensional bite was found on the subject's right forearm. On the left side of the neck, a three-dimensional bite (.6" pen.) was found. All tooth prints are consistent with that of human teeth.
Blood testing reveals that the subject is infected with the T-virus on a massive level, and received a late dose of the antivirus. By all counts, the subject should have turned hours before arrival. Instead, a unique reaction seems to have occurred.
Varying levels of brain activity have been logged. Resting heart continues to fluctuate but remains abnormally low. Blood pressure continues to fluctuate but remains abnormally low. Eyes were first noted to be the same light blue seen in some other T-Virus test subjects upon arrival, but have since started turning a dark brown color.
Umbrella personnel present at the time of collection noted that the subject was capable of clear verbal communication, but quickly regressed into the volatile behavior typically seen in those infected with the T-virus.
Further testing has been scheduled. The subject is currently under close observation. If we can fully understand how this reaction occurred, we could be looking at a massive leap forward in progress...
'Seems like even Umbrella can't figure you out, Rain,' Alice mused. It might have been more accurate to say that Umbrella didn't get enough time to, though. They weren't guinea pigs, and they would be leaving this place soon. All three of them. Hopefully.
She typed Matt's name into the search bar, successfully pulling up his file as well.
Subject has been chosen for the Nemesis Program...
Rain got a few steps closer to Matt. Alongside the odor, there was something else. A feeling. A bad one. It was difficult to explain, but the smaller the distance between them, the more she started to experience an unpleasant tingling in the back of her skull that urged her to keep away. It made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.
Earlier, she had assumed the safe feeling Alice brought her was because she was a vaguely familiar face in the midst of everything else abruptly becoming alien. Now, Rain recognized that it was because Alice was like her in some way.
Alice was...
Rain was unsure what Alice was, but the feeling of similitude was definitely there. With Matt, it was almost the exact opposite.
When she forced herself to get even nearer, she found that a small part of him did actually feel like Alice. It was very, very faint. Nothing but a whisper.
"He's almost gone."
Alice's gaze darted back up to the two-way mirror. Rain was leaning over Matt, her face obscured by her dark air. Alice spoke into the mic. "What do you mean?"
"He's almost gone," Rain repeated. "I can barely feel him in there."
Momentarily disregarding how odd that sounded, Alice began to scroll further down, searching for something that told her otherwise.
The NE-α parasite has completely overtaken the subject's body...
Alongside successful parasitization, implementation of the P50 Scarab prototype has made the subject a useful tool for Umbrella...
The P50 Scarab prototype is a permanent fixture attached to the brain...
The subject is now ready to follow whatever instructions are fed to it remotely...
It is capable of intelligent thought and decision-making but has no free will of its own...
No free will.
No free will.
No free will. The words continued to repeat in Alice's mind. For a while, she simply stood there with a lump forming in her throat. Once all of her silent what-ifs had run out and her hope wanned completely, she was left with an incredibly difficult choice to make.
In the end, she went with the one she wanted so desperately to avoid.
Project Nemesis was terminated.
