Gaiden: Resident Evil SIV

Chapter Thirty Five: Umbrella's Doom

HONEYMOON CRUISE LINER STARLIGHT LOST WITH ALL HANDS

April 17th, 2001 by Alyssa Ashcroft

Disaster struck early this morning when the ocean liner Starlight, a favorite for newlywed couples for more than seven years without incident, was lost with all hands just before entering international waters off the coast of South Carolina. Authorities are still investigating what caused the well-known ship to vanish beneath the waves, but from what little evidence has been able to be collected so far, it is speculated by the US Coast Guard that it was a combination of getting caught in a freak tropical storm, and the possibility of collision with a smaller vessel that may have been running with its operating lights off.

As of this report, no survivors have been found, and it is believed that when the Starlight went down, it happened so quickly that there was no time for reaction from the passengers or the crew. As this is a developing story, new findings and other changes to the official record will be presented to our readers as they come available. Our hearts go out to the poor victims of this great tragedy, and to their families back home.

No longer able to stomach reading the official explanation for things that happened involving Umbrella, Leon tossed the newspaper onto the nightstand next to his hospital bed, only to have it slide right off and then scatter across the floor. A whole day had passed since the Starlight went down, and although the storm was still going on outside the window of his room, the rain had let up for a while; just long enough for HQ to send a helicopter to pick him and Barry up from the Umbrella submarine, which had run out of fuel a short time after.

Flown back to South Carolina, the Agent figured that they were going to be taken right to the nearest hospital for treatment of their quite extensive wounds, but instead they were taken to a secure government facility, which made sense because there would be no curious civilians around to ask questions. This place was filed with patients, too, so they two of them were taken to separate rooms, probably so they could each be debriefed without influence, and then there he was… Leon Kennedy lying on a bed in a hospital gown, with IV's going into his veins, and nearly enough bandages to be the lead in The Mummy Returns.

A small Television was mounted on the wall in the corner, but this place didn't have cable, so his only choices at 10:00 PM were reruns of Star Trek: The Next Generation, or something called Smallville, which didn't seem very interesting. The newspaper was now beyond his reach, and nothing was on TV, so he was just turning off the bedside lamp to try and get some sleep, when the room's main lights were turned on, making him groan with frustration.

"Hello, Agent Kennedy, how are you feeling?" The Director asked as she walked in carrying a small bowl with a spoon in it. "I brought you some Jell-O from the cafeteria, and you'll be happy to know that I asked them to give you the good sedatives tonight, so you'll sleep like a baby… but first we need to go over a few little details from your report."

Of course they did, Leon thought as he took the bowl with his one still working arm. No one had bothered him all damn day, but the moment he tried to go to sleep, that was when questions needed to be answered. Overall, the mission had been a huge success, resulting in the stopping of a massive viral outbreak, the capture of an Umbrella submarine which he had been assured would serve the government nicely, and most importantly the recovery of Cora's database computer, which not only proved that civilian ships were being used to transport illegal materials, but had blown the lid right off on dozens of the company's pet projects.

The details that needed to be cleared up were the deaths of Agent Pricely as well as Captain Cora and her team, along with the details of exactly what happened with the high level BOW's, as he had referred to them. These questions were pretty easy to answer; Amanda was infected by Gillette, Cora was infected by Tobias, and the Umbrella team was slashed to death by a monster called Reynaldo. As for the BOW's, Gillette and Reynaldo were both killed by an explosion of P-Epsilon gas, and Tobias was shot in the back by… hey, wait a second… oh, no.

"Director, this is really important." Leon said, his whole tone going from casual to tense. "Gillette and Reynaldo were completely destroyed, but was the body of Tobias Liquid recovered by the Coast Guard? Did they recover anyone? Anyone at all?"

"No, Agent Kennedy, no bodies were recovered." She replied calmly. "Your report said that most of the infected passengers were located in the interior sections when the Starlight went down, so they were likely trapped, while the others… well, if the engines were still going, then they would have been sucked down and chopped up by the rotors, wouldn't they?"

He supposed so, but the part that was worrying the Agent was how he had finally, just now remembered where he had heard of P-Epsilon gas before the Captain had shown it to him onboard the submarine. In Tobias's file on Cora's database, it listed P-Epsilon gas as the cause of his mutation, and when he and Barry fled the sinking ship, that green cloud had still bene there… if it had hovered over the swimming pool, then… then what killed Reynaldo and Gillette… might recharge Tobias.

"You're sure no one survived?" He asked again. "You're sure no bodies were recovered?"

"Yes, Agent Kennedy, I'm sure." The Director replied, pushing his bowl toward him. "Now, you enjoy your Jell-O, and then get some sleep; consider yourself on vacation, Agent, with your only objective being to get better… we'll handle everything else involving the Starlight."

Leon seemed satisfied with this, and followed her advice, eating the Jell-O, which was actually pretty good, as she left. Of course, if he had somehow been able to follow her out of the room, he would have seen the Director walk right to the elevator, and after making sure that she was the only one inside the car, take a small key out of her pocket. Inserting the key into the lock that was labeled as reserved for use by the Fire Department only, she turned it all the way around, pulled it back out, and then leaned forward so that the wall mounted security camera could scan the retina of her eye.

Once this was complete, the elevator started down from the fourth floor where Leon and Barry were resting, past the ground level, and down through the sub-basements… but not stopping just yet. The indicator lights on the floor buttons no longer registered the car's location, but still it went down, until finally stopping without even making the typical sound of the door's bell as it opened into a long corridor. This place was brightly lit with fluorescent light fixtures hung by thin chains from the ceiling, and on both sides of the corridor were heavy doors like the kinds that could be found in a Super-Max prison.

The Director wasn't interested in any of them, though, instead continuing on to the end, where two heavily armed and armored guards had to use both of their key cards to open the final door. Once the electronic locks were released, the heavy metal door swung open to reveal a transparent containment cell, where a single prisoner, naked as the day he was born, was lying on the floor, shackled by a dozen chains that were bolted right down to the concrete underneath him.

"Hello again, P-001." She said, looking down at him after walking up to the transparent wall. "Agent Kennedy says you're a danger, and he even guessed right in how you survived. Personally, I think the luckiest part for you was somehow avoiding the Starlight's rotors when it went down… but I've convinced him that you were lost at sea. Now, have you thought about my offer?"

"You mean helping you or dying?" The prisoner replied weakly, coughing up a little blood when he laughed. "I'll do anything to destroy Umbrella, even work with scumbags like you, who lie to their best people… but there is one more thing."

The Director scoffed at the very idea of this creature asking for something, and she was just starting to remind him of his situation, when her words turned into a startled gasp when he sat up and punched the wall hard enough to leave a tiny dent in the material. The shock of this caused her to stumble backwards and fall down while the prisoner stood up as much as the dozen chains would allow, and then he growled like an animal as she scrambled to her feet.

"My name is Tobias Liquid, not P-001." The prisoner stated as his gray eyes glowed yellow for a second. "Now… shall we get started?"