Chapter 1

'I don't think I've ever been more bored in my entire life,' Dr. Albert Wesker thought to himself as he stood in a secrete passage, looking through hidden peepholes in the wall to Raccoon City Hall's meeting chamber, waiting for the power players to begin their little emergency conference. A couple days had passed since Spencer's Estate had blown up, and the entirety of that time he'd been locked away at Grady's Inn in the executive suite.

Apparently, Trent had been using that room for the last few weeks, but Wesker hadn't been aware that he was even in Raccoon City till he was taken there. Infuriatingly enough, Trent hadn't even been at Grady's Inn anyway, and he still had yet to see him. The only people he'd seen were Sergei and Ivan, and one of those two wasn't even a person… anymore anyway.

Ivan had been the one to usher him out of Grady's Inn and taken him in a limo to City Hall before sneaking him in through a secret panel in the alley and then into these passages. It was apparent to Wesker that George Trevor must've had a hand in constructing City Hall, because the building was giving him serious Spencer Estate vibes. Ozwell had contracted George to do multiple renovations around Raccoon City many years ago, so it added up.

As the double doors leading into the meeting chamber opened, Wesker finally understood why he was there, as Trent moved in, being followed after by the slob of a police chief that had been a thorn in his side for a long time: Brian Irons.

"What is Lord Spencer going to do about them?" Irons asked as he closed the doors behind him.

"He is busy with other things, Chief," Trent responded before gesturing toward the massive table where many other people were gathered and waiting, clearly annoyed that they'd had to wait for so long.

Irons huffed and took a seat beside Police Commissioner J. C. Washington, whom sat at the front of the table. All the way at the other end of the table sat Mayor Devlin Harris. Occupying the other chairs in the room were Umbrella Security Chief Charles Coleman, Umbrella Spokeswoman Amanda Whitney, City Councilman Edward Weist, S.T.A.R.S. Assistant Director Tom Kurtz, State Senator Michael Warren, Umbrella Industrial Services Representative David Bischoff, and Dr. Ellis Benjamin.

"Mr. Trent," Coleman stated, straightening his tie. "We were hoping that more of the Umbrella board would be here."

Trent flashed his trademark grin as he removed his trench coat and fedora, placing them on the coat rack. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but the board are extremely busy. As their liaison from Red Umbrella, it is my responsibility to make sure that things run smoothly in Raccoon City. The founding fathers feel the same why, which is why I gave the response I made to Chief Irons about Lord Spencer's stake in things. I am only here as a courtesy, and I ask that all of you make certain that no one knows of my presence in this city. All of you here now are to be the faces of this situation."

Tom Kurtz stood up. "And why exactly was I brought down from home office? Shouldn't Director Palmieri be here?"

Trent cleared his throat. "You're going to be replacing Marco as Director very soon."

Kurtz raised an eyebrow. "I am?"

"The time has come for all S.T.A.R.S. branches to accept Umbrella's control," Trent told him. "Marco Palmieri doesn't play ball well. We learned that a several years ago with the unfortune incident in Chili."

"An incident that could've allowed us that merger," David Bischoff pointed out. "Umbrella lost out big time over that, but Palmieri wanted everything done by the book, and then The United States Supreme Court wouldn't allow the merger."

"And there was nothing I could do from that," Michael Warren reminded them. "Regardless of the fact that I'm running for president next term, it won't help us in the current state of things."

"Let's not get too far off subject with the Chili situation," Trent told them. "We need to keep our invested interests on Raccoon City."

"And those damn surviving S.T.A.R.S.!" Irons exclaimed, pounding his fist on the table.

"Brian, that's enough," Commissioner Washington scolded.

"Umbrella has a huge problem with them, Jonas," Irons said. "They could talk."

"And no one is going to believe them," Kurtz said as he took a seat again. "If I'm going to be taking over as director, it means that the S.T.A.R.S. will be able to discredit them."

"And with a good PR spin, there'll be nothing they can say that anyone will believe," Amanda Whitney said.

Trent clapped his hands together. "Very good. I'm sure you all know what needs to be done. Mr. Bischoff, get a team out to the Spencer Estate's ruins and quickly begin assessing. We'll have our Raccoon Fire Department's people go with you to make certain that it's deemed a fire that was started from the Raccoon S.T.A.R.S. You'll be able to put any PR spin on that with Miss Whitney. I need Commissioner Washington and Chief Irons in total agreement on suspending the renegade S.T.A.R.S. survivors. Discredit and disavow. If we get this done quickly enough, the damage to Umbrella's image will be minimal. You have packets in front of you that details every step that we are all to make in the coming weeks. Follow these steps to the letter, or you will answer to me. Dismissed."

With that, they all stood up and moved out of the room, leaving Trent alone as he grabbed his trench coat and fedora from the coatrack. "You can come out, Dr. Wesker."

Wesker tilted his head, simi surprised, but not really. He figured there was a good chance that Trent had ordered Ivan to bring him here.

It was Ivan actually from nearby that opened a panel, flooding light in the passageway. The advanced Tyrant stepped through first, and then Wesker followed after him.

Wesker watched Trent intently as he placed his fedora and trench coat down on the table and then put his hands in his pockets.

"I trust you've enjoyed my suite at Grady's Inn the last two days?" Trent asked.

Wesker nodded, but he said nothing.

Trent grinned his trademark grin that would send shivers down anyone's spine, but he knew that Wesker was one of the few men that would never admit to it if it did affect him. "I suspect you're wondering why it was me that orchestrated your survival."

"Amongst other things," Wesker said. "You had Sergei and our friend here retrieve two others that night. I've not seen either of them since."

Trent nodded. "That's by design. You're not supposed to see them."

"And why is that?" Wesker asked.

"Checks and balances," Trent replied.

"Sergei said that, but he only meant it in regards to one of them," Wesker said.

"Well, it applies to both, but only one of them is in regards to you," Trent told him.

Wesker smirked. "Are you… concerned I'm going to go rogue?"

Trent managed yet another grin. "Can you blame me? You were a wild card before."

Wesker pulled off his sunglasses, revealing the new cat eyes. "Before you did this to me, you mean?"

"It was the only way to save your life," Trent explained. "You should be thanking me. Well, me and William Birkin."

"This was Bill's doing?" Wesker asked.

"He doesn't know that it was for you," Trent explained. "He thinks you're dead, just like everyone else."

"Just like Annette," Wesker said.

Trent raised an eyebrow. "Annette? I thought you had a liking for Dr. Ellen Smith."

Wesker smirked. "She was a distraction that I was glad to put a bullet in at the mansion."

Realization hit Trent. "Ah, your illustrious past from before you were tasked with running a S.T.A.R.S. branch. I'm guessing Dr. Birkin still doesn't know about any of that to this day."

"And I would hope it would remain that way," Wesker told him.

Trent waved him off. "William isn't going to be a problem much longer. Jay Reston is putting together a team that will retrieve the Birkins and the G-Virus. They're going to be evacuated from Raccoon City in the coming months."

"Why?"

"That's currently classified."

"When Annette Boyd is concerned, it is my concern."

"You still use her maiden name."

"That's who she will always be to me."

Trent cleared his throat before grabbing his trench coat and putting it on. "Understood. Everything is going to become clear very soon. I need you to be waiting for my call. There's a lot of work to do." With that, he put his fedora on and moved out of the room.

Ivan motioned back toward the secret passage as Wesker stared at the door Trent had just left through. 'So many questions left unanswered. I will rip your throat out if I don't start getting something soon.'

Patience had never been easy for Dr. Albert Wesker, and that was more obvious as the days went on. He grew extremely tired of the executive suite at Grady's Inn, but when he finally got to go out into the world, it was for something that he hadn't expected as he found himself standing in Barry Burton's living room, looking at the absolute devastation to the place.

"You've been here before, right?" David Bischoff asked as he moved up, putting a stick of gum in his mouth.

"Yes," Wesker replied in annoyance. "Barry loved throwing barbeques and holiday parties. The man is obsessed with food. If he didn't work out every day like a madman, he'd be four hundred pounds."

"Do you miss those days?" Bischoff asked.

"Not for a second," Wesker replied. "Having to pretend to be someone I wasn't annoyed me more than being locked up in that suite for the last couple months. Why exactly am I even here now?"

"Your former team is working with someone," Bischoff replied. "We haven't figured out who, but we've been narrowing down the list."

"Several of Kurtz's S.T.A.R.S. attacked this house," Wesker said. "I read the briefing on the way here. Many of them were killed, and not a single one of my former team were killed as well."

Bischoff nodded. "That's right."

"So, I was brought here to see a failure," Wesker observed.

"We were hoping you could fill in a few gaps," Bischoff told him. "If there was anything out of place here, perhaps you could find it."

"The place is in ruins," Wesker said with a sneer. "I couldn't begin to find anything out of place. Have you found any finger prints?"

"Just the people we expected," Bischoff replied, starting to feel massively on edge from Wesker's tone of voice.

"Has anyone tracked down Kathy, Moira, and Polly yet?" Wesker asked.

"They're hiding very well," Bischoff replied. "We've checked every possible family member, friend, and acquaintance across the country. Burton knew what he was doing when he sent them off."

"That was because of me, since I was having them watched," Wesker explained. "I suggest doubling your efforts in finding the Burton women. You get them, you'll be able to draw him out, and we can find out who their sympathizers are."

He sighed, pulling off his sunglasses, massaging the bridge of his nose.

"The headaches are back," Bischoff observed.

Wesker nodded. "Whatever Trent had Sergei inject in me has been having a field day for the last month. It's probably because I haven't been stretching my legs, using the abilities. This virus in me is getting antsy." He sighed. "We need to look into avenues outside of Barry. Track down family and friends of the others. Bring them in and use them to accomplish what we want."

"We'll have to take them somewhere other than Raccoon City," Bischoff said.

Wesker raised an eyebrow as he put his sunglasses back on. "Why?"

"If we have them near the targets, they'll try to rescue them instead of turning themselves in," Bischoff explained.

Wesker nodded. "I suggest you start with Dick Valentine." He smirked. "You'll find that he will be the easiest to obtain."

Bischoff appeared confused.

"He's incarcerated," Wesker informed. "You'll have to cut a lot of red tape to get him out, so it may take time, but get it done. Jill won't be able to resist trying to rescue her father."

A few days later, Wesker found himself on a plane leaving Raccoon City with Sergei Vladimir. They were taken to Maine, where they rode a car the rest of the trip to Caliban Cove, a facility that Wesker had only heard about in passing once and never thought about it again.

When they arrived, they were shocked to discover a firing squad there and the burning taking place all over the exterior facility. Amongst the men were Umbrella Security Chief Charles Coleman, who shook both of their hands.

"What is this?" Sergei asked.

"The remaining B.O.W. unit here," Coleman said, gesturing toward a large pile of bodies that were on fire. "Dr. Griffith's notes called them Tri-Squads, advanced zombies that retained their motor skills and could use weapons. They could've been utilized in battle and sold to the military, but apparently Mr. Trent wants the entire project scraped since it was off the books."

"And exactly what was it that happened?" Wesker asked. "We weren't really given any kind of debriefing before leaving Raccoon City."

Coleman pulled out a file and handed it over. "This was from what little we could recover from the security feeds. I'm sure you'll recognize one of them."

"Rebecca Chambers," Wesker said. "So, the reports were incorrect. She left Raccoon."

"Either that, or one of the others in that group was at Burton's the night Kurtz had the place attacked," Sergei offered.

"That's reaching, but it's possible, I suppose," Wesker said.

"I faxed copies to Kurtz's office," Coleman assured them. "We should know soon who the others are, but only two made it out with Chambers: the white man and the black man."

"Where's Dr. Griffith?" Sergei asked.

"Dead," Coleman replied. "Along with the rest of the staff. There was an explosion in the caverns. Whatever was going on here, we aren't sure, but there was a lot of stuff that makes me think we might have avoided something cataclysmic."

"So, you're saying that these S.T.A.R.S. may have done us a favor?" Wesker asked.

Coleman nodded. "It appears that way, but we won't know for sure until they're captured."

"I want to question them myself," Wesker said.

"Then you and Mr. Trent are in agreement," Coleman said. "He told me before you arrived that he's putting you in the field. You're going to be implementing your plans yourself to find the S.T.A.R.S. renegades and all of their associates."

Wesker smirked. "Finally."