A Touch of Red
By evolution-500
Genres: Horror/Friendship/Romance
Feedback: Always welcome
WARNING: This story contains violence, coarse language, mature themes and disturbing imagery. Reader discretion is advised.
Disclaimer: KILLER INSTINCT is a property belonging to Rare and Microsoft while RESIDENT EVIL is a property belonging to Capcom. I do not own any of these characters.
Chapter Eighteen: Orchid
The moon brightly hovered over Sabrewulf castle, peaking through dark clouds as it bathed the sprawling mansion grounds below with its silver rays down, giving their contours a slight glow that Orchid appreciated.
She was never much of an art connoisseur - Orchid had neither the time nor the patience to indulge in such frivolous exercises such as art history - but she was a woman with an eye for detail, and the moonlight made the job easier in terms of determining the layout and key checkpoints for navigation.
Allowing her eyes to roam, the spy carefully monitored every patrol route, crevice, guard, combat android and security camera, making note of every detail no matter how small, calculating the time and distance to cross each section with clockwork precision.
She made note of every potential hiding spot and escape route in sight, every point of entry, every blind spot for the cameras, assessing potential threats and weighing her chances of success and failure.
Once she finished, Orchid then swept a hand through her dark hair and adjusted her jacket, checking her watch.
Ten p.m.
Operation was going to commence in three...two...one.
Starting the stopwatch, Orchid smiled as a cloud swept over the moon, blanketing the mansion grounds in darkness.
Time to go to work.
Stepping through the front entrance of Sabrewulf Castle, Orchid carefully closed the door behind her, her inquisitive brown eyes looking around in all directions for signs of trouble.
Taking an earpiece out from her coat, the spy slipped it on, pressing Morse Code into the receiver.
Waiting on the line, Orchid carefully listened to the Morse Code from the other end, asking for a passcode.
Tapping the answer back, she waited a minute, then two as the verification process took place.
Finally, she heard a slight ding, indicating the code's acceptance.
"Black Orchid here," she spoke softly. "I'm in."
"Roger that, Orchid," Krauser spoke from the earpiece. "Is the line secure?"
"Affirmative. I'm using a highly encrypted channel, so we should be able to speak freely without being monitored."
"Good. I'll patch you through to the boss."
Orchid waited, tapping her foot lightly on the marble floor.
"Report," Wesker's voice spoke from the other end, replacing Krauser's. "What's your position?"
Orchid glanced around the building. "I'm currently in the main hall of the castle," she answered. "From what I'm seeing so far, security is pretty tight. I managed to find a suitable distraction or two for the Baron's boys to deal with, so I should have a few minutes at least. Any thoughts in terms of where I should start first? I was thinking perhaps the Baron's personal computer."
"Negative," Wesker replied with a clipped, business-like tone. "Baron Von Sabrewulf's computer will be heavily encrypted, so entering will take a lot of time. My recommendation is to save that for last and start with the lower levels and work your way up, see if you can hack some of the terminals, servers, hard drives and cameras down there. Your orders are to gather every Umbrella file that you can get your hands on - it doesn't matter how seemingly insignificant. Furthermore, I want every file that you can find in relation to Ultratech's activities, more specifically their Project Fulgore and Odyssey. Leave no stone unturned."
"Understood. Anything else?"
"Yes. See if you can collect the blueprints for those last two. Also, on the off-chance that you should happen to stumble upon any samples of T-Virus that haven't been disposed of yet, I want them collected and secured. Anything else of potential value, I will provide a bonus in addition to your fee."
Orchid hummed, placing a hand on her hip. "Copy that. Over and out."
"Good luck, Orchid."
Turning the earpiece off, the spy cracked her knuckles.
Time to get down to business.
Navigating her way down a spiraling set of concrete stairs, Orchid carefully masked her steps with practiced ease, always checking for cameras, androids and guards, peeking around every corner to make certain that no one was around.
Taking out a small tablet, Orchid hurriedly ducked under a camera as it turned away from her, using her handheld device to hack the camera.
A smug grin formed as she control, the words "ACCESS GRANTED" highlighted in bold on her screen.
Like taking candy from a baby.
With cat-like grace, Orchid slipped through the shadows, hijacking every camera with ease, until finally she found herself at the foot of the stairs, where she was greeted by a door with an electronic lock.
Taking the keycard out from her pocket, she waved across the panel.
"Please state your name into the microphone," an automated female voice spoke.
Taking out a miniature recorder, she played it.
"Uh...The name's Ted. Ted Carpenter."
Seconds counted down as the artificial intelligence analyzed the vocal patterns.
"Voice recognition confirmed. Please provide DNA verification," the voice said, a slot in a wall opening up, showing the outline of a hand.
Orchid rolled her eyes.
"Bossy, aren't you," she murmured, taking off her right fingerless glove and slipping her hand inside, watching as a green light scanned it from the tip of her fingers down the palm.
Once the light faded away, the red light pinged and turned green.
"DNA verification complete. Access granted. Welcome, Security Officer Carpenter."
"Thank goodness for disposable synthetic skin," Orchid commented as she eyed her fingers, stepping inside.
Technology truly was a wonder in the modern age, for where else would one be able to scan and replicate one's very own fingerprints with such startling ease?
She would need to dispose of it afterward, but right now she had a job to do, so she was going to need dear old Teddy's fingers to take her places, including some of the forbidden areas of Sabrewulf Castle.
"Let's see what you're hiding, old man," Orchid murmured as the door closed behind her.
It all seemed too easy for her liking.
She had been careful to avoid detection, hacking every security camera that should find,
Coming upon a door with a slot, Orchid tilted her head curiously.
Drawing the slot back, she stared through the tiny window into the next room, where she noticed someone kneeling on the floor - a small pale girl with long black hair that sat in the center of its containment cell, looking to be only five-foot-four. Dressed in the tattered remnants of a red kimono that was held in place by a red obi sash around the waist and decorated with white lotus flower designs, the girl seemingly looked barely over eighteen, holding within both hands a long naginata that had a red ribbon tied around the blade, the girl weeping.
Upon seeing the crying girl, Orchid felt her brow furrow as she shifted in discomfort, her mind torn between acting on her conscience and her instincts, which were warning her to stay away.
Part of her wanted to call out to the girl, if only to find out who she was, if not comfort her, but Orchid refrained from doing so at the sight of the naginata, which was long, sharp and pointed.
Even in the darkness, it freshly gleamed, looking ready to draw blood, and Orchid had no doubt that as soon as the door opened, the girl was going to use it.
Why the Baron allowed something so dangerous in the hands of a small girl was beyond the spy, but regardless, there was no doubt that the girl was in distress.
For several moments, Orchid wrestled with her conscience, torn between doing what was right and what was sensible.
Closing her eyes, she looked away with a sigh, shutting the slot behind her.
As much as she wanted to help that girl, she couldn't.
Not without seriously compromising her position and mission.
Sometimes it paid to look the other way, to not think or care about those one encounters.
Opening her eyes again, her brown orbs narrowed in a steely calculating gaze as she scrutinized her surroundings and went to work.
Once she finished hacking the cameras, she went about her task and started to check the desk drawers, searching for anything of potential value.
Occasionally she found the odd file or two, sometimes a photo, typically of a person's family, spouse, children or dog, sometimes the odd postcard.
One photo had a picture of a smiling man surrounded by a bunch of people, beaming brightly at a birthday cake.
Staring at the photo, Orchid let out a slight scoff. "Sometimes people are just born lucky, I guess."
Putting it back into the drawer, she rummaged through the various folders and files, scanning them carefully one document at a time.
Once in a while she would find some jewelry, the occasional wallet, credit card, watch or some money, all of which she pocketed.
Shaking her head with a scoff, Orchid pondered just how careless some people were.
Then again, who was she to complain - money was money, after all, and it paid to be practical about things.
It didn't matter where it came from; the way Orchid saw things, any money found was hers, and combined with what she may be able to fetch on the black market with the jewelry along with the completion of the job, she was building a nice little nest egg for herself.
"Finders keepers, losers weepers," she drawled, stuffing a twenty dollar bill into her jacket pocket.
Once she finished with the desks, Orchid turned her attention over to file cabinets, thumbing her way through the pages.
Finding nothing of value, the spy took out a handheld computer and started to hack some of the nearby hard drives, watching as a red screen bar filled up before flashing green.
Pride flared and swelled through Orchid's chest as a toothy grin formed on her mouth.
"Damn I'm good."
Navigating the corridors proved to be more of a trying exercise that sorely tested Orchid's patience compared to other sections.
Various androids and guards patrolled back and forth, sometimes in groups of three or four, occasionally intermixed.
Once or twice she would use a distraction such as hacking and triggering an alarm in some other distant section in the facility, drawing them away, but occasionally, she would just wait it out and bide her time before making her move.
Sometimes she would hide under desks while other times she would hide around corners.
What frustrated Orchid, however, was how well concealed the Umbrella documents were, nor was she able to find anything for Project Odyssey nor Fulgore.
Granted, she managed to collect many interesting memos and notes, including references to a "Project Cinder" and a "Project R.I.P.T.O.R.", but a lot of the documents were carefully and extensively redacted, making things difficult.
Meaning she would have to check every file cabinet and hard drive in the entire castle, which would probably take all night, much to her frustration.
Letting out a tired huff, Orchid facepalmed, shaking her head.
"So much for this being easy," she muttered.
Looking back to the recovered files, she scanned through them, hoping to find something.
As she glanced over to her more recent findings, Orchid suddenly paused, blinking several times before looking back at them, her brows furrowing.
Wait a minute...something wasn't right.
Wasn't "Cinder" and "Riptor" the names of Killer Instinct's characters?
Orchid had never really cared much for the tournament, nor had she ever admittedly cared enough to watch the program; generally, she either tuned it out or changed channels, but even she knew that children loved its roster of characters.
After all, hardly any television programs out there had a werewolf duking it out with an ice being, a walking skeleton and a dinosaur.
Why would Ultratech staff have files on Riptor and Cinder?
The spy pondered for a while, until a light bulb went off, causing an annoyed scowl to form on Orchid's face, the spy facepalming.
Oh God, had she mistakenly taken files from the tournament's production team without realizing?
Some middle management moron must have fucked up and misplaced files.
Figures.
Pinching the bridge of her nose, Orchid indignantly huffed, blowing some bangs aside.
"What was that?" A deep, masculine voice called, causing the spy to tense up.
Crap, just what she needed.
Looking around, Orchid hurriedly unscrewed a vent in the far right corner, crawling quickly inside before placing the covering back on.
"Do you see anything?" Another voice called.
Backing carefully away, Orchid watched as lights flicked across the vent grate before disappearing.
"Nothing," the other guard replied. "All clear."
Orchid patiently waited, watching and listening carefully as the flashlights and footsteps receded, growing more distant.
Sighing in relief, she shuffled around and started to crawl on her hands and knees before shuffling down onto her belly, grimacing at the dust bunnies around her.
"Not exactly my night, is it?" she lamely remarked.
Sliding forward, Orchid ducked under some overhanging pipes, twisting her body around through the various loops and curves.
She must have crawled forty or so feet when the vent suddenly collapsed underneath her, sending her rolling and tumbling to the floor below, landing on something hard before rolling again, falling onto her back, a sharp pain flaring up Orchid's spine, causing the spy to wince and groan.
Thankfully she didn't break anything, but she was definitely going to feel that in the morning.
Groaning, Orchid struggled to sit right up, her eyes opening, only to find herself in pitch darkness.
"Ugh, where am I?" she muttered, coughing. "And what is that smell?"
A thick, pungent odor hung in the air like rotting meat, along with something that smelled distinctly like shit.
Placing her hand down onto the floor for support, the spy quickly retracted her limb upon it making contact with something wet.
"Great." Lifting her hand, Orchid's nose wrinkled, the woman gagging and coughing. "Ugh! What the-?"
A loud snort caused her to sharply look up in alert, the sound making her absolutely still.
Something was in the room with her.
Something big.
Squinting in the darkness, Orchid struggled to see, her unease growing as she heard heavy breathing, followed by a breathy hiss.
Swallowing, she felt around in her pockets, taking out a small flashlight.
Flicking it on, Orchid inspected her hand, making a face as she wiped it off on the wall before looking around to inspect the room that she was in, only to receive a jolt as she suddenly found herself face-to-face with a massive ugly snake-like head, its orange scales glinting under the light along with its yellow underside.
Stiffening, Orchid stared wide-eyed at the creature, its unblinking green eyes staring into hers, its serpentine tongue flickering and tasting the air as it hissed.
For several seconds, the two of them stared eye to eye, neither of them moving, the stink of its body suffocating.
Pushing itself off the ground, the snake-like head rose.
Something like chains clinked as it moved, and as it lifted itself up, Orchid suddenly became aware of it having a pair of muscular arms with wrists bound in shackles, rising up onto a pair of sturdy strong legs with black claws that looked more like oversized sickles.
"Oh my God," Orchid murmured softly, eying the creature before her as she became aware of how precarious her situation had become.
A great tail with a spear at the end swished around in agitation, the room too small and cramped for the creature to move around in as it rose to a towering height, easily dwarfing her.
Rearing its head back, it let out a deafening roar, a sound so loud it made Orchid's ears hurt, revealing an impossibly wide maw that was filled with a series of razor sharp teeth along with a huge pair of viper-like fangs that dripped with venom.
Recoiling, Orchid barely avoided the creature's bite as its snapped mere inches from her face, the spy crawling toward the door as the beast scrambled after her, only to find its movements halted by the manacles on its wrist.
Pushing herself up, she slammed her weight into the door, pushing and clawing at it frantically, glancing in the creature's direction as it clawed and gnawed at its chains.
"Come on," she muttered, "come on! Open. Open!"
Scraping and biting at the chains, the beast growled as it wrenched at them, trying to pry itself free.
'Looks like it's stuck,' Orchid noted, 'so that should at least buy me some time.'
As the creature gave it one last gnaw, it opened its mouth open very wide and spat something green out, the smell strong and potent.
That smell...it smells like-
Orchid's eyes widened as she saw steam started to rise from the chains, the metal slowly corroding.
Well shit, so much for that.
Looking back to the door, Orchid narrowed her eyes in concentration, controlling her breathing until her brown orbs started to glow a bright yellow in the darkness, the air ionizing around her.
"What the hell was that?!" A visored security guard whipped his head around, glancing to his partner. "Did you hear that?"
"I did," the latter nodded. "On me."
Raising their rifles, the two proceeded down a hallway, the lights flicking on with their movement before turning left through an archway.
Flicking on the lights in the room, they took a right and proceeded down a few meters, where they heard a series of furious roars, the noise causing them to visibly flinch and glance uneasily at one another.
"Jesus, what the hell's gotten it so riled up?" One guard wondered.
"Don't know," his partner replied, "but whatever it is, it's seriously pissed off right now, and judging from the way it's banging against the door, it's gotten free of its chains somehow."
The other one let out a groan. "Ohh, that's not good."
"Should we go in?"
"No, fuck that! I'm not dealing with that fucking acid spit, man. I'm calling this in." He pressed into the headset of his helmet as he spoke into his radio, the creature banging and roaring in the background. "Command, we have a situation. The R.I.P.T.O.R. unit has gotten free of its chains. I need a containment team down in Sector Four along with reinforcements."
"Did you see that?"
"See what?"
"I saw some light over there!"
"I didn't see shit, Benson," the guard retorted before speaking into the headpiece again, "I repeat, we need a containment team down in JESUS!"
The two security guards jumped back with a jolt as the cell door as it angrily slammed onto the floor, revealing its occupant in full as its black claws scraped against the crushed steel frame on which it had landed.
Turning its head, they helplessly watched as R.I.P.T.O.R. lifted its head and bellowed a hungry, primeval cry from time long forgotten.
"SHIT, IT'S LOOSE!" One security guard cried, raising his assault rifle along with his partner.
Orchid felt the heat dissipate around her as she pushed herself from the floor, glancing over her shoulder at the two terrified security guards as both he and his partner open-fired, discharging everything from their magazines into the oncoming beast.
She didn't stay to help, nor did she know what became of them - the spy kept her eyes firmly on the path ahead, sprinting as fast as her long legs could carry her for, her heart drumming in the back of her throat.
Alarms sounded, mixing with gunfire, while speakers monotonously droned, "Alert! Security personnel to Sector Four! Alert! Security personnel to Sector Four!"
Orchid flinched as she heard the guards screaming, followed by a horrible wet tearing, the woman paling in fright as she travelled down corridor after corridor.
Hearing something heavy rapping across the floor, Orchid risked a glance over her shoulder as she saw the beast bounding after her with a startling speed, its mouth and teeth all bloodied.
Checking one door, then another, Orchid ran blindly down a path, taking a sharp turn around a corner until she found herself in some sort of laundry mat with a large three by four foot dumbwaiter.
"You there!" Startled by the Baron's voice, Orchid looked around and saw a camera with a speaker. "Ja, you! Get into the dumbwaiter, quickly!"
Looking doubtfully at it, the spy raised an eyebrow before looking back at then entrance, where she spotted the reptile as it appeared.
'Fuck it,' she mentally shrugged.
Better to be alive rather than dinner.
Lifting up the shutter, Orchid hurried crawled inside, drawing her legs inside before attempting to draw the door down, only to find it stuck.
"Oh for fuck's sakes!" She growled, watching the creature as it hungrily eyed her, letting out a low growl as its forked tongue flickered and tasted the air, its saliva and venom spilling in thick globs onto the floor.
Grabbing the shutter, Orchid jerked it violently, repeating the motion several times.
Rearing back its snake-like head, the beast charged forward with outstretched claws, its black scythe-like clawed feet clacking rapidly along the floor in her direction.
Come on...come on!
Wrenching the shutter down, Orchid flinched with a jolt as the shutter was bent inward, the beast's claws and teeth scraping at the metal.
Hearing a loud hum, the spy glanced up and watched as the dumbwaiter sprung to life, the lift slowly ascending.
Panting, Orchid slumped back against the cramped space in relief.
Granted, it wasn't a good position to be in, but still, it was better than nothing.
Who knows? Perhaps she could use her own feminine charms to convince the Baron to let her go.
After all, when was the last time the old man had felt a woman's touch?
A wry smile of cold amusement crawled up the corner of Orchid's face as she contemplated the irony of her position.
Whether she slept with the Baron or not, she was fucked either way, so she might as well make the most out of a bad hand.
Shifting uncomfortably, Orchid squirmed, cursing the fact that she was stuffed in such a cramped space.
If only she was able to reach for her makeup mirror, if not her lipstick; a woman has to make herself look suitable, after all.
The dumbwaiter jolted slightly as it stopped.
Squirming slightly, Orchid reached up with her hands and started to fix up her hair, sliding her fingers carefully through her bob cut as she attempted to tidy herself up.
Well, looks like it's show time, so let's get ready-
The shutter violently drew upward, startling the spy, but it was the unexpected visage that greeted her that caused a jolt as she recoiled, letting out a frightened shriek.
"Well, well!" A blue fur-covered lupine mouth grinned, its owner's glowing green eyes standing out from the gloom, its teeth razor sharp and glistening. "Isn't this an unexpected surprise!"
Rearing his fist back, the last thing Orchid saw was the beast's fist as it socked her hard in the face, knocking her out instantly.
Author's Notes: Shout-outs to StarAquarius and Egyptianmaus for their help - thank you so much, you two! I really appreciate it enormously! :D
