Leon remained silent for several seconds.
He was leaning slightly forward in his armchair, his forearms resting on his thighs, while his gaze regularly shifted between me and his younger counterpart.
Eventually, he let out a long sigh.
"I'm having a lot of trouble with all the memories I got from this guy," he said, gesturing toward my Leon with a slight nod of his head.
My Leon raised an eyebrow.
"Trust me, the feeling's mutual."
The older Leon looked at him.
"What do you mean?"
My Leon folded his arms.
"I have your memories too. Well, a good portion of them."
He paused briefly before shaking his head.
"And I don't even understand how you survived half the things you've encountered."
This time, the older Leon looked genuinely surprised.
My Leon continued.
"I'm much stronger than a normal human. Faster, tougher, better regeneration... and I've got eight enhanced Plagas inside my body."
He briefly gestured toward his own chest.
"And yet, even with all that, when I look at some of the things you fought without any biological enhancements..."
He slowly shook his head.
"I'm not even sure I could guarantee I'd make it out alive."
A strange silence followed that statement.
Grace looked at the older Leon with a slightly different expression.
Emily and Marie even peeked a little farther out from behind my Leon to study this seemingly indestructible old fossil with newfound curiosity.
The older Leon merely grimaced.
"A lot of luck."
"Way too much," his younger counterpart corrected.
"We'll come back to that later."
His attention immediately returned to me.
His expression became serious again.
"What really bothers me are your memories."
I didn't answer.
"They tell me you conquered your world."
Grace's eyes widened slightly.
Jeff slowly turned his head toward me.
I raised a finger.
"That's a bit of a—"
"You used the Plagas to take control of a massive portion of the world's population."
I lowered my finger.
"All right. Fine. Technically, the term is appropriate."
Leon didn't smile.
"But after that, you didn't do what you'd normally expect from someone who managed to take control of the planet."
He began counting on his fingers.
"No mass slaughter. No cult built around yourself. No populations enslaved for your own amusement. You didn't start exterminating anyone you disliked, and you didn't even really change the everyday lives of most people."
He frowned.
"From what I've got in my head, you mostly used your influence to prevent wars, keep biological weapons under control, expand your businesses, and continue your research."
I calmly nodded.
"More or less."
"Then why?"
The question was simple.
"Why go that far in the first place?"
I spent a few seconds considering the best way to explain it.
"My Administrator."
Leon frowned.
"The one mentioned in your memories?"
"Yes."
I leaned farther back into the armchair.
"My world was a tutorial. Literally."
Grace opened her mouth.
Then closed it again.
I could hardly blame her for that reaction.
"And the Administrator in charge of that tutorial had an annoying habit of altering events to create new challenges."
I made a vague gesture with one hand.
"A scientist would appear somewhere. A new viral strain would be developed. Some creature would receive an absurd enhancement. Something that should never have happened would suddenly happen simply because I needed something new to fight."
Leon listened carefully.
"So I looked for a simple solution."
"Control everyone," he summarized.
"Exactly."
I shrugged slightly.
"If I controlled enough people and organizations, then theoretically, my Administrator couldn't simply make some scientist appear out of nowhere, have him secretly work for ten years in some forgotten laboratory, and then produce a biological weapon capable of surpassing everything I'd developed myself."
Jeff gave me a strange look.
"Your solution to stop someone from creating a monster was to conquer the world?"
I turned my head toward him.
"I tried the reasonable solutions first."
"Of course."
"They didn't work as well."
The older Leon slowly rubbed the bridge of his nose.
I continued more seriously.
"And since that world was a tutorial, I knew I'd eventually have to leave it. I also wanted to make sure I could keep what I'd built."
My expression softened slightly.
"In the end, it worked. I obtained Raccoon City as my personal Factory. Part of my infrastructure. My creatures. My resources."
I looked toward my Leon.
"And most importantly, the people I care about."
My Leon gave a slight nod.
"So yes."
I turned my attention back to his older counterpart.
"I'm satisfied with the outcome."
Leon remained silent for a few seconds.
He clearly hadn't decided that my methods were acceptable.
But at least he now seemed to understand the logic behind them.
"All right."
He straightened slightly.
"Let's say I accept that."
His gaze hardened again.
"Now explain what the hell you're doing in my world."
"That's much simpler."
I gestured toward my own body.
"If you really received my Leon's memories, then you know something infected me at the end of my tutorial."
Leon nodded.
"And that I lost a large portion of my strength."
"I know."
"The System discovered afterward that it never should have happened. My original evolutionary ability should normally have been restored when the tutorial ended, but the Administrator responsible for it was already dead."
I tapped my chest twice.
"As a result, I'm currently nowhere near my normal state."
Leon gave me a faint smirk.
"You still take a punch pretty well."
I absently ran a finger across my now perfectly healed lip.
"You hit pretty hard for your age."
His expression hardened.
"I can do it again."
"Message received."
My Leon barely managed to suppress a laugh.
I continued.
"The System found a solution here. A serum called Elpis. It's somewhere in the ruins of Raccoon City, and it should be capable of destroying the infection that's blocking a large portion of my abilities."
Leon's demeanor immediately changed.
"Elpis..."
"Yes."
He stared at me for a few seconds.
"You got Gideon's information?"
I smiled slightly.
"I'll admit that I did."
"How much?"
"Everything he knew."
Leon closed his eyes for a moment.
"Of course."
"The Plaga is very useful for that."
"That's exactly the kind of sentence that gives me migraines."
I shrugged.
"Still, what I discovered through him should worry you a lot more than my methods."
This time, Leon didn't immediately respond.
I continued.
"Your organization is strange."
Grace looked up.
"What do you mean?"
I turned my chair slightly toward her.
"You're an FBI analyst."
She slowly nodded.
"Yes."
"An analyst."
I deliberately emphasized the word.
"Not part of a tactical unit. Not a field specialist in biological weapons. Not military. Not even an agent accustomed to entering potentially contaminated facilities alone."
Grace's eyes widened slightly.
She already understood where I was going with this.
"And yet, after what happened at the Wrenwood Hotel, you were the one sent into the field."
Her expression fell slightly.
The hotel.
Her mother.
Everything that had led her here.
Leon immediately noticed her reaction.
His gaze returned to me.
"Where are you going with this?"
"Something doesn't add up."
I leaned slightly forward.
"Even after discovering how serious the situation was, your organization seems to have continued sending a ridiculously small number of people."
I gestured toward Leon.
"One actual field agent to handle a case involving biological weapons, kidnappings, human experimentation, and a network organized enough to make hundreds of people disappear?"
Jeff frowned.
"Six hundred beneath this building alone..."
I nodded.
"Exactly."
Leon remained perfectly still.
"You think we've been infiltrated."
"I don't think you've been infiltrated. I know you have."
I then pointed toward Grace.
"Because when an FBI analyst gets sent into a situation that should normally have required an entire team specialized in biological weapons, either someone is unbelievably incompetent..."
I deliberately let the sentence hang in the air.
"...or someone wanted her to end up there."
Grace went pale.
The older Leon immediately turned toward her.
For several seconds, no one spoke.
Then he slowly looked back at me.
"You know something."
It wasn't really a question anymore.
I nodded.
"Yes."
Leon waited.
"There's an organization called The Connections."
His expression subtly changed.
I continued.
"They've been involved in enough bioweapon-related incidents that their name starts appearing regularly once you begin looking behind the major organizations everyone already knows about."
I raised one hand.
"Umbrella drew all the attention. So did Tricell. Other groups made enough noise to turn themselves into obvious targets."
I slowly closed my fingers.
"The Connections, on the other hand, preferred to remain in the shadows."
Leon wasn't taking his eyes off me anymore.
"According to the information I have access to, they're connected to the bombing of Raccoon City and several other incidents involving biological weapons. But their specialty seems to be collecting whatever everyone else leaves behind."
I began listing them calmly.
"Umbrella research. Tricell data. Work involving the Plagas. Information connected to the Megamycete..."
At that last word, Leon tensed.
He knew exactly what it meant.
"They aren't necessarily trying to become the next Umbrella," I continued. "At least not publicly. They collect data, samples, and research from organizations that eventually collapse one after another."
I leaned back into my armchair.
"Which means they've had years to accumulate the scraps left behind by almost everyone."
This time, no one in the room looked particularly relaxed anymore.
Even my Leon had lost his smile.
The older Kennedy remained silent for several seconds before asking:
"And you think they have someone inside our organization?"
I let out a quiet breath.
"Someone?"
I shook my head.
"They've infiltrated practically every level of government, and not just in the United States."
Leon's expression hardened further.
"How deep?"
"Deep enough that some extremely high-ranking people have worked directly or indirectly with them for years without anyone realizing it."
I thought for a moment before giving him the most obvious example.
"Simmons was one of them."
Leon froze.
This time, his reaction was impossible to miss.
"Simmons?"
"Derek C. Simmons," I confirmed. "If you want an idea of the kind of people The Connections can have in their ranks, start with him."
Grace's mouth opened slightly.
Even my Leon straightened.
His older counterpart, however, said nothing for several seconds.
He obviously knew the name.
And judging by his expression, he probably knew the man who carried it far too well.
"Are you sure?"
"About the information I have? Yes."
I shrugged slightly.
"That said, I can't give you a complete list of their members in this reality. Twenty years have passed, things have changed, and my knowledge isn't perfect."
I paused briefly.
"Even Gideon didn't know all of their members."
I lightly tapped the armrest of my chair.
"But if you want somewhere to start digging, The Connections is probably an excellent lead."
Leon remained thoughtful.
I could almost see the memories and events of the past several years running through his mind as he tried to figure out how many strange decisions might suddenly make sense with this new information.
But that wasn't really my problem anymore.
Or at least, not immediately.
I straightened.
"Now, I don't know exactly what you're planning to do with all of that, but I've still got something to retrieve."
Leon looked up at me.
"What?"
"Something beneath the helipad."
He stared at me.
"Something?"
"A disposal device and, more importantly, a gigantic reservoir filled with contaminated blood."
His expression immediately became much less enthusiastic.
"And why exactly do you want a reservoir full of contaminated blood?"
"Because I found a machine that turns infected blood into useful resources."
I paused briefly.
"Ammunition, medicine, injectors... ninety-percent alcohol from my blood, for reasons I still completely fail to understand."
My Leon gave me a small smile.
"Still haven't figured that one out?"
"No. And it's annoying me."
The older Leon briefly closed his eyes.
"Of course you have a machine that turns contaminated blood into ammunition."
"Rhodes Hill is full of surprises."
"I noticed."
I calmly stood up.
"So I'm going to retrieve whatever interests me beneath the helipad. After that, I'll take the helicopter and head to Raccoon City to find Elpis."
This time, my gaze shifted toward Grace.
Then Emily.
Then Marie.
The next decision was far more important.
"There's something I need to settle before I leave, though."
Grace frowned slightly.
"What?"
"You."
She immediately tensed.
I raised a hand at once.
"Nothing threatening."
I gestured toward the two little girls.
Emily was still standing close to her, while Marie had gradually emerged from her hiding place behind my Leon.
"I don't know exactly what's going to happen once I retrieve Elpis."
I wanted to be perfectly clear.
"The System might let me stay here until I decide to leave. Or it might consider my mission complete and immediately send me back to my world."
Grace looked toward the two girls.
I continued.
"So I'd rather ask you now than realize too late that I no longer have the opportunity to come back."
I looked directly at her.
"If you want to come with me, I can take you with me when I leave this world."
Silence fell over the room.
Grace stared at me.
Then she looked at Emily.
Then Marie.
Both girls immediately looked up at her.
I made no attempt to influence her decision.
"You don't have to make this choice because of me. Your world is here. So is your job. You probably still have people you care about."
Her expression tightened slightly at that last sentence.
I immediately understood why.
Her mother.
I didn't press the issue.
"But Emily and Marie have practically nothing here. And if you come to my world, they'll have access to the best care I can provide. They won't be treated like biological weapons or test subjects."
Grace remained silent for several more seconds.
Then she looked at Emily.
"What do you want to do?"
The little blonde barely needed to think about it.
"Come with you."
Marie immediately nodded.
"Me too."
Grace briefly closed her eyes.
When she opened them again, her decision had been made.
"I want to come with you."
I simply nodded.
"All right."
Leon immediately cut in.
"Wait."
I turned toward him.
"What?"
He gestured toward Grace.
"You're just going to take her to another reality like that?"
"She just gave me her consent."
"I'm talking about how."
"Ah."
I finally understood the problem.
"My Factory."
Leon stared at me.
"I know what it is. I have the memories."
His expression made it perfectly clear, however, that there was a considerable difference between possessing memories of my ability and personally witnessing it in action.
I turned toward Grace.
"Before that, we just need to take one small precaution."
I held out my hand.
A tiny seed appeared in my palm.
At first glance, there was absolutely nothing impressive about it. It simply looked like an apple seed, slightly thicker than normal.
Grace eyed it suspiciously.
"That's the parasite?"
"A modified Plaga, yes."
Leon was on his feet almost instantly.
"Gerald."
"Calm down."
"You just asked an FBI agent to swallow a parasite."
"When you put it like that, admittedly, it does sound bad."
Grace grimaced slightly.
"Because it is."
"Technically."
I held the seed out to her.
"This one has nothing in common with wild Plagas. It won't take control of your body or alter your personality. It'll integrate itself into your system, and most importantly, it'll allow me to keep you safely inside the Factory."
Grace hesitated.
"Does it hurt?"
"No."
She looked toward my Leon.
He casually patted his stomach.
"I've got eight."
The older Leon slowly turned his head toward him.
"The last people I saw with that many Plagas looked like some kind of deformed freaks, and they only had four."
Grace took a deep breath.
Then she took the seed.
She studied it for another second before placing it in her mouth and swallowing it with a slight grimace.
For several seconds, nothing happened.
Then the Plaga awakened.
Grace instinctively placed a hand against her stomach.
"I can feel something."
"That's normal. Don't move."
The parasite gently began integrating itself into her body.
No convulsions.
No pain.
No visible mutation.
Just a strange sensation of warmth gradually spreading through her body as the Plaga established its first biological connections.
Grace suddenly inhaled.
Then the sensation disappeared.
"That's it?"
"That's it."
She blinked.
"I was expecting something much more horrifying."
"I've had plenty of time to improve the procedure."
The older Leon hadn't taken his eyes off Grace.
"Are you all right?"
She ran a hand over her stomach before nodding.
"Yes. I can barely feel anything anymore."
That seemed to reassure him.
I then turned toward Emily and Marie.
"All right. Your turn."
Emily immediately walked over to me. She already knew enough about my ability not to be afraid, so I gently placed a hand on her shoulder.
She disappeared instantly.
The older Leon froze.
His eyes locked onto the spot where the little girl had been standing only a fraction of a second earlier.
Marie stepped forward next.
She disappeared as well.
Grace looked at me one last time.
"Should I join them?"
"Yes. You'll be perfectly safe."
She nodded, and I placed my hand on her arm before Grace disappeared as well.
Only Jeff remained.
He stared at the spot where the three of them had just vanished before looking at me.
"I guess I'm coming too."
"If you want to," I replied.
Jeff briefly looked around Rhodes Hill.
His former workplace.
The facility where he had nearly died.
Then he sighed.
"Yeah. I'm coming."
I touched his shoulder.
He disappeared as well.
The silence that followed was almost comical.
I turned toward the older Leon.
He hadn't moved.
His eyes shifted repeatedly between me and the four spots that were now completely empty.
"What?"
He remained silent for another second.
"I knew you could do that."
"Yes."
"I have memories of you doing that."
"Yes."
He looked once again at the spot where Grace had been standing only a few seconds earlier.
"But it's a lot more disturbing when you actually see it happen."
I smiled slightly.
"Fortunately, there's very little chance you'll have to see it again."
"I doubt that."
I headed toward the exit, with my Leon following behind me.
"All right. Now that everyone's safe, I'm going to get my blood reservoir."
The older Kennedy watched me walk past before suddenly breaking into a violent coughing fit.
That was when I noticed the blood.
I stopped for a moment before reaching out and placing my hand against his neck.
Before he could pull away, I removed every trace of infection from his body.
He quickly stepped back, but almost immediately froze when he realized something else.
The pain that had been tormenting him was gone.
"What did you do?" he asked suspiciously.
I simply sighed at his continued distrust.
"I removed your infection. It looked like you were still suffering from some lingering effects."
He stared at me as though I'd just done something impossible.
"Thank you..." he finally said. "Can you do that for a few others? At least three?"
I calmly resumed walking toward the exit.
"Bring them to Raccoon City. I'll take care of them quickly before I leave."
(Author's note: I know, this was a very dialogue-heavy chapter, but the next one is coming soon.)