Gaiden: Resident Evil SIV

Chapter One: Umbrella's Desperation

In the aftermath of Raccoon City's destruction, which had officially been declared a US government operation to contain a deadly disease, the pharmaceutical conglomerate Umbrella began to suffer a loss of fortune. Once a provider of more than a third of all employment throughout the small Midwestern city, and a trusted household name throughout the world, the company fell under suspicion and mistrust after the survivors of Raccoon City began to come forward with their stories.

Although these outlandish tales of illegal genetic research and artificially created monsters roaming the streets were not enough to bring legal action against Umbrella, the frequency and similarity of each survivor's account was enough to frighten their investors. Then a few months later, after it was claimed that a power plant meltdown caused the destruction of a corporate town on the remote island of Sheena… this incident became known as The Second Raccoon City once a handful of survivors came forward once again with similar stories.

Investor pullout, loss of major installations due to both laboratory accidents and attacks from rival organizations, and continuous scrutiny from governments around the world, all added up to Umbrella's stock collapsing… financially a worse fate for the company than any legal action. This did not mean the end for Umbrella, though, not yet anyway, but it did lead to massive reorganization of remaining funds and resources. After all, even the partially destroyed facilities housed valuable research data and specimens, which couldn't just be left there.

Desperate to consolidate their remaining resources into the few fully functional bases that remained, Umbrella began to employ tactics to transport the data and specimens around the world via means that were even less stable and secure than their previous methods, including the use of transportation that was open to the public. To combat this dangerous practice, and prevent the possibility of more virus outbreaks like what happened in Raccoon City and Sheena Island, a new organization was formed.

The fledgling Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance, or BSAA for short, was created to investigate the illegal creation, transport, and sales of Bio-Organic Weapons, or B.O.W.'s like the ones created by Umbrella. Consisting mainly of survivors of the previous outbreaks, and granted limited unofficial support from a few countries such as the United States, Australia, and Nigeria, the BSAA would eventually be recognized by the United Nations and gain funding from several large pharmaceutical companies such as Tricell by 2003…

But was still struggling to prove itself in 2001… when they were tossed into the nightmare that would become known as the Starlight Incident…

"Good morning, Agent Kennedy." The security guard said after the scanner turned green. "Have a good day, Sir."

Being addressed as Agent and called Sir by people was still something that Leon Kennedy was having difficulty getting used to, even though it had been going on now for three years… since only about a month after Raccoon City. The Agent had never imagined himself being a government suit, hell, back in the Police Academy he hadn't even been sure if he was going to graduate, until the need for emergency replacements had come up, and he had volunteered.

Stepping through the metal detector after putting his ID Card back into his wallet, Leon collected his service weapon, a standard issue 9mm Beretta, from the tray on the other side, and put it back into his shoulder-holster as he stepped into the lobby of the headquarters building. The sun was just starting to peek over the nearby buildings, flooding the room with bright orange light through the large east-facing windows, making him have to put up his hand to shield his eyes as he walked across the highly shined marble floor toward the elevators, when something was suddenly in his path.

A splash of brown liquid that left a large stain on the white button down shirt that the Agent was wearing under his suitcoat, followed by a burning sensation that made him cry out while holding the shirt away from his skin as much as possible until it cooled. The cause of all this: a stern looking young woman in a red blazer and pencil skirt, holding a now empty cup of coffee. She let out an annoyed huff while glaring at him through her thin glasses, as if she were angry at him for what happened, but at least the coffee on him was cooling down.

"What are you doing, walking around with your hand over your eyes like that?" She demanded in a voice that was slightly higher than Leon expected. "I was planning on drinking this, you know."

"I'm sorry, all right?" The Agent replied, moving the front of his shirt around to try and dry it with moving air. "The sun was in my eyes, I didn't see you… here, come on, I'll buy you another cup."

This was a genuine attempt to smooth things over, but apparently the young woman wasn't having it; getting a little red in the face while glaring at him with an even angrier expression. Instead of accepting his apology like any rational person would have done, she crushed the empty cup in her hand, before tossing it into the nearby wastebasket hard enough so that it made a noise, which was impressive since the cup was nothing but thin Styrofoam.

"I do not have time for another cup." She hissed, making Leon think for a second that she was going to hit him or something. "I have a very important meeting to attend, and I did not spend all night driving to this office to have my time nor my coffee wasted by some idiot who thinks he's playing Marco-Goddamn-Polo in the lobby."

With that, she turned around and walked away, stepping heavily enough so that her high-heels made a clack-clack-clack as she headed toward the elevator. Maybe she was an ass because her shoes were too tight, the Agent thought, comparing her to the Grinch in that Dr. Seuss story, or maybe because her dirty blonde hair was tied up so tightly in a bun that it had to be hurting her face. The young woman had been pretty enough, but with that personality, she might as well have been ugly.

"I do not have time for another cup." Leon mocked quietly in a high pitch voice as she vanished into the elevator. "I have a very important meeting to attend."

The saddest part in all this was how that ever since Raccoon City, the Agent had automatically expected every woman that he encountered to be as capable, good natured, and pleasant to be around as Claire Redfield had been during their fight to escape the police station. To him it just seemed logical that if a nineteen year old college student with no training whatsoever could handle herself that well in such an extreme situation, then why the hell couldn't trained government Agents be civil while nothing was happening?

It really was too bad that the two of them had to go their separate ways, and Leon hadn't even heard from her since he had gotten that weird email from her back in November of 98'. He had considered looking her up a couple times, but after having to deal with that brother of hers… was it really worth it? He had been trying to tell Chris that she was in danger, and the guy had gone all overprotective father on him, demanding to know what his relationship was with Claire, and how exactly they knew each other, acting like he had caught them in bed together or something… not that Leon hated the idea of being with Claire or anything.

Shaking his head to bring himself back into the present, the Agent remembered that he had his own meeting to attend, and finished making his way over to the elevator, where he had to wait for it to come back down to the ground floor. It felt like everyone that walked past him was looking right at the coffee stain on his shirt, making him feel a bit self-conscious to the point where he really wanted to yell out something like 'hey, at least it's not zombie guts' or something like that… yeah, not a situation he ever wanted to find himself in again.

After what felt like forever, the elevator doors opened with a soft ding from above, and the first thing he noticed was that the light coming in through the windows was not as harsh, most likely due to the slight tinting over the glass… so why the hell couldn't they install that in the lobby? The floor was carpeted, too, muffling his footsteps and generally reducing the echo of every ambient sound as the Agent moved down the hallway, toward the designated office, which thankfully was not too far away.

"Go right in, Agent Kennedy." The receptionist behind a desk said with a polite smile when he showed his ID. "The Director is expecting you."

Leon smiled back, thinking in his mind about telling the woman form the lobby 'see, was that so hard?', before walking up to the solid wood double doors, and pulling them open. He had to squint again as the intense sunlight came back, making the Agent wonder why this office wouldn't have tinting when the hallway outside did, but he could still see enough to find his way across the office to one of the chairs that was in front of the Director's desk. The windows were right behind her, making him only able to see the shadow of her thin frame and shoulder length hair, but that would have to do, he supposed.

"Glad you could make it, Kennedy." The Director said. "This is Agent Amanda Pricely, on loan to us from the Chicago Office."

"We've met." An unpleasantly familiar voice replied from the chair next to his. "After what happened with the coffee, I'm surprised he didn't come pogo-sticking down the corridor blindfolded."

Oh Lord, Leon thought once he realized who was sitting next to him, it was that girl from the lobby… what the hell was she doing in the same meeting as him? His thoughts were interrupted when the Director pressed a button on her desk that caused the doors to lock, while shades rolled down over the windows, making the Agent once again unable to see for the few seconds it took for his eyes adjusted to the darkness.

"Well, I'm glad that you two are already acquainted." The Director continued as a projector screen came down on the wall next to them. "Because you're going to be working together on your new assignment."