Jack's eyes fluttered open.
Cold liquid pressed against his skin. Something was covering his mouth—a breathing mask feeding him air in mechanical hisses. He was naked, suspended in a thick, viscous fluid that clung to every inch of his body. Dark glass loomed just inches from his face, sealing him inside.
Tubes were attached everywhere—his arms, his legs… even his most private parts.
Where the hell am I?!
Panic surged. Jack slammed his fists against the glass, but the heavy liquid dulled his movements, making them useless.
Then a voice cut through the muffled silence.
"Ah. Awake at last."
The dark glass brightened, revealing a man outside. Tall, pristine white lab coat. Silver hair slicked back. Silver-rimmed glasses gleaming under sterile lights. The same man Jack had glimpsed before passing out in the compound.
Behind him stretched rows of massive see-through tubes. Each one was filled with people—or what was left of them. Some floated with missing body parts. Others convulsed violently, arms jerking, veins bulging dark beneath their skin. One wore a Marine's dog tags, his lower body grotesquely replaced with spider-like legs.
Jack's stomach churned.
"Welcome, Subject Jack Hale," the man said, his smooth, clinical voice twisting into a crazed smile. "My name is Dr. Gregor Weiss. I am the head scientist of this facility."
Weiss leaned closer to the glass, amusement flickering in his eyes. "You are… how do I put this in military terms? Ah. Voluntold to take part in a clinical trial for the Aegis Virus."
Jack's muffled snarl vibrated against the breathing mask. He thrashed harder in fury, bubbles streaming upward.
Weiss chuckled, tilting his head like a man admiring an animal in a cage. He moved to a console beside Jack's chamber, tapping commands with leisurely precision.
"Yes, yes—good. Fight. Struggle. I discovered that one subject produced a higher synchronization rate when awake. Which is why I always perform the injection while my test subjects are conscious."
His smile widened. "And besides… I do enjoy the first moments of resistance. Only to watch them break. It makes the success that much sweeter."
Weiss scribbled a note on his clipboard, then announced in a clear, theatrical voice:
"Now, let's begin. Subject #199: Jack Hale. Age eighteen. Physically healthy and stable. Preparing for injection of the Aegis Virus."
Jack's eyes darted downward in horror as green liquid surged through the tubes attached to his body.
The fire hit instantly.
Liquid flame tore through his veins, searing every nerve. His back arched against the restraints as unbearable pain consumed him. Muffled screams echoed through his breathing mask, rising in frantic bubbles.
Weiss's soft laughter filled the chamber, delighted, like a conductor savoring the opening of a symphony.
"Yes. Yes! Feel it—the fire, the tearing of your weak, human shell. This is evolution, Hale! If you survive… you will be my masterpiece. Not that pathetic T-virus the higher-ups are so infatuated with."
Jack's vision blurred, edges turning white from agony. His heart thundered, then faltered, then surged again. His body convulsed until every nerve screamed raw.
And then—
A glowing white text burned into his vision, floating before his eyes like a hallucination.
[VIRAL SURVIVAL SYSTEM – INITIALIZED]
Subject: Jack Hale
Strain: Aegis Virus
Health Status: Fair
Sync Rate: 42%
Viral Infection: 0.02%
[Adaptation Acquired: Enhanced Cellular Recovery]
[Survival Instinct Protocols Active]
Then Jack succumbed to darkness.
Meanwhile…
High above the chamber, hidden behind tinted observation glass, Ada Wong—the woman in the one-piece red dress—leaned against a railing, arms folded.
Her eyes lingered on the man in the tube. Jack Hale. Eighteen years old. A Marine. Just another grunt dragged off the field like so many before him. Or so she thought.
But then she saw it.
Data flickered across the console. The sync rate was holding steady. The virus had stabilized where it should have shredded him apart.
Ada's brow arched ever so slightly.
"Forty-two percent!" Dr. Weiss shouted in excitement below, his voice dripping with sadistic delight. "While conscious. Remarkable…"
Ada hid her smirk behind her hand. She had seen enough failed experiments to last a lifetime, and this one—this soldier Jack Hale—was different. Not a mindless B.O.W., not another corpse-to-be. He had survived, and that made him valuable.
Too bad I'm not here for him. I'm here for intel… but…
Ada's mind began to turn, gears clicking into place. A plan was already forming.
Weiss tapped his cane against the floor, relishing Jack Hale's screams of pain like a conductor savoring a performance. "Oh, Jack Hale… you may just be my masterpiece."
Ada's eyes narrowed, her lips curling faintly as if she'd just heard a private joke.
Masterpiece? Not for long.
She stepped back from the glass, her heels silent on the catwalk.
Jack Hale wasn't just another experiment. He was an opportunity.
Ada tilted her head, the faintest smile playing on her lips. "Looks like I've found myself a new piece on the board."
With that, Ada turned and melted into the shadows, leaving Weiss.
Ada's heels clicked softly on the steel catwalk as she slipped deeper into the restricted observation wing. The alarms were quiet here, replaced by the steady hum of Umbrella servers and the rhythmic hiss of ventilation.
She produced a slim, palm-sized device from her clutch, pressing it to the nearest terminal. The screen blinked as it hijacked Umbrella's feed. Lines of code spilled silently across the display.
Her eyes scanned the data.
Experiment Log: Aegis Trial Group 7
Subject #192 – Sgt. Miguel Ortiz: Critical condition. Aegis injection unstable. Mutation: Pending.
Subject #193 – PFC Robert Klein: Severe physical breakdown. Mutation: Unstable. Under observation.
Subject #194 – Cpl. Victor Ramirez: Mutated. Terminated during containment breach.
Subject #195 – PFC Thomas Gallagher: Neurological degeneration. Subject transferred to Disposal Wing.
Subject #196 – PFC Henry Okafor: Early-stage mutation. Scheduled for secondary injection.
Subject #197 – Cpl. James Walker: Psychotic break. Sedated.
Subject #198 – PFC Alan Chu: Cardiac failure. Status: Deceased.
Subject #199 – PFC Jack Hale: Viral stabilization achieved. Sync Rate: 42%. Priority Subject.
Subject #200 – PFC Tariq Jabari (TJ): Neural resistance detected. Candidate for Proto-Tyrant Program.
Ada's lips curved faintly. Typical Umbrella. Their brilliance wasted on cruelty.
But Jack Hale was different. Stabilized where the others broke apart. That made him… convenient.
She shut down the terminal, extracting the data to her small device. Her mind was already working through angles.
She didn't need to tell him the truth. She didn't even need him to trust her. All she needed was for him to keep moving forward, smashing Weiss's toys and tearing down obstacles she had no interest in clearing herself.
Let Weiss think the Marine was his masterpiece. Ada knew better. Hale was just another piece on the board—one she could move where she pleased.
She tilted her head, the faintest smile playing across her lips. "Clear the path for me, soldier boy. I'll be right behind."
Then she vanished into the shadows, leaving Weiss to his games.