The pounding on the reinforced door faded behind them as Ada led the way through a narrow maintenance corridor.
Jack kept the steel rod gripped tightly in his hand, footsteps echoing beside hers. His head was still full of guilt from Chu's death, but now his eyes kept sliding toward Ada. She moved like she belonged there—heels silent, posture composed—while he felt like a mess.
Ada didn't look at him. She tapped a panel at the next junction, slim fingers moving with practiced precision until the red lock light blinked green. The door slid open with a hiss.
"You don't have to trust me," she said smoothly, stepping inside first. "You just have to stay alive. Lucky for you, our goals overlap."
Jack remembered the new path he'd just unlocked. Without saying anything, he willed the system to pop up in front of him.
[VIRAL SURVIVAL SYSTEM]
Subject: Jack Hale
Strain: Aegis Virus
Health Status: Good
Sync Rate: 42%
Viral Infection: 0.02%
Adaptation Skills
Branch 1 – Soldier's Path
• Enhanced Recovery (Tier 1): Heals faster from minor wounds (cuts, bite wounds, bruises).
• Reflex Response (Tier 1): Slightly improved reaction time, allowing better accuracy with small arms.
New Hidden Branch 2 – Bonds Path
Ada Wong: Dangerous Alliance
• Cautious Instincts: Passive awareness buff. Jack Hale gains a heightened sense of danger when partnered with Ada (+5% chance to detect ambushes or traps).
Jack frowned at the new bond skill tied to Ada Wong, the system showing in plain text just how shaky his alliance with her really was. He closed the screen quickly, turning his attention back to her.
Jack's jaw tightened. "Overlapping goals don't mean I won't end up with a knife in my back."
That earned him a sidelong glance. Her lips curved faintly, more smirk than smile. "Then keep your back to the wall, soldier boy."
Jack followed reluctantly, muttering under his breath, "Goddamn spy games…"
The corridor opened into a wider chamber. Rows of Umbrella security cameras lined the corners, their red lenses blinking. Before stepping inside, Ada's eyes flicked up at them, then to Jack.
"Stay still."
Before he could ask why, she slipped something from her utility belt—a compact device no bigger than her palm. With a quiet beep, she pressed it to a panel, and the cameras' blinking red lights went out one by one.
Jack blinked at the strange device. It looked like a cell phone, but not like any he recognized. No buttons, just a smooth black surface. "What the hell is that?"
"Something you weren't issued in basic training," she said calmly, sliding the device back into her belt. "You bring the muscle, I'll handle the locks."
Jack gripped the rod tighter. "So I'm your blunt weapon, huh?"
Ada's smirk returned. "You're quick on the uptake after all."
The VSS flickered suddenly in his vision, faint and intrusive:
[VIRAL SURVIVAL SYSTEM]
[Synergy Detected: Ada Wong]
[Minor Buff: Awareness heightened when in Ada's presence]
Jack blinked, quickly willing the screen away before Ada could notice the flicker in his eyes.
Ada paused in her tracks, as if weighing how much to tell him. Her voice dropped lower.
"...Your squad? One of them is just up ahead."
Jack's chest tightened. "What? You saw them?"
Ada's eyes flicked toward the next steel door, where red strobes bled faintly through the cracks. "One of my intel sources confirmed recent experiments in that lab. If your friend's still alive… that's where he'll be."
She stopped at the reinforced steel door, her fingers gliding across the panel with practiced ease. The lock blinked from red to green with a soft hiss.
She didn't step inside. Instead, she turned her head slightly toward Jack.
"After you."
Jack frowned. "What, ladies first doesn't apply here?"
Ada's lips curved into that infuriating little smirk. "You've got the weapon, soldier boy. Seems only fair you test the waters."
Jack hesitated. He realized, not for the first time, that Ada carried no visible weapon. With a grimace, he stepped forward into the lab.
The stench hit him first.
Rot. Chemicals. The metallic tang of blood.
Rows of shattered containment pods lined the chamber. Fluids pooled across the floor in dark smears. Shadows shifted behind cracked glass. Jack's stomach clenched when he realized some of them were moving.
One pod hissed open with a wet pop. A figure stumbled out, dragging itself into the dim red light.
"Klein…" Jack whispered.
Klein's hospital gown hung in tatters, his skin crawling with blackened veins. His ribs jutted unnaturally, pushing out against stretched skin. His arms were long, ending in claws. His eyes, once wide and nervous, were milk-white—feral, predatory.
The thing that had been Klein gurgled wetly and staggered toward him.
"Goddamn it… not you too…"
Then the emergency intercom crackled to life:
Breach detected. Emergency lockdown initiated.
Jack spun around just in time to see the steel door slam shut.
"Ada!" he shouted, slamming the butt of his rod against it. His voice echoed back, but there was no reply.
He glanced at his VSS, relief flashing when he saw the buff still active. She's still there… maybe she's working on a way to get me out.
Behind him, containment pods burst open one after another. Shambling figures crawled free—villagers, Marines, all warped by the virus. Jaws snapped, claws scraped against the steel floor.
Jack turned back around, sweat breaking across his brow. He raised the rod. "Shit…"
Meanwhile, behind the reinforced door, Ada connected her device to a nearby terminal, pulling up the camera feed inside the lab. The screen showed Jack standing alone, surrounded, rod in hand.
Ada smirked, tilted her head low, and leaned casually against the wall.
Show me what you can do, soldier boy.
All the zombies shrank behind the one at the center.
Klein.
"...Klein," Jack rasped, tightening his grip on the metal rod.
Klein shrieked, a raw, ear-splitting sound, then lunged.
Jack sidestepped, swinging the rod with every ounce of strength. The steel cracked across Klein's jaw, snapping his head sideways—but the creature barely flinched. It snarled, swiping back.
Claws slashed across Jack's chest.
"Argh!" Jack hit the floor hard, blood spilling warm across his uniform. His vision blurred, but the system flickered:
[VSS]
[Enhanced Recovery – Active]
Minor healing engaged.
Warning: wound severity exceeds recovery threshold.
Jack forced himself up, coughing blood. "Goddamn it—"
One of the mutated undead in Umbrella tactical gear lunged. Jack swung wildly, smashing the rod through its skull.
The corpse collapsed, and from its belt spilled a pistol—the matte-black gleam under the red warning lights.
Jack's eyes widened. He snatched it up and ejected the mag. Half full. "Better than nothing."
Klein roared, barreling toward Jack again.
Jack raised the pistol, his hands steadied by Reflex Response. He fired—BANG! A round tore through Klein's shoulder. Another—BANG! Straight into his head. Klein staggered for a moment.
This gave the rest of the monsters time to swarm.
Jack fired again, aiming for their heads, killing a couple more. All of a sudden, Klein tried to sneak behind him, but with the help of Ada's passive bonus, he just turned his body in time, narrowly missing another claw swipe.
Out of desperation, Klein slammed his body into Jack. His teeth snapped open, trying to bite.
Jack shoved the gun into Klein's wide-open mouth and squeezed the trigger—click. Empty.
"Fuck!"
Klein bit into Jack's right forearm that held the gun to his mouth. His teeth sank deep into Jack's flesh. His enhanced recovery failed to keep pace—the pain was overwhelming, his strength fading.
Then the system blared across his vision:
[Viral Survival System]
Infection detected – Bite wound sustained.
Viral infection +0.11%
[New milestone reached: First Infection]
[New Branch Unlocked – Shield's Path]
[New adaptation acquired: Viral Resistance (Tier 1)]
Jack didn't care about the system prompt. His strength was still fading. He reached out blindly, grasping—and luckily found the old metal pipe.
With a roar, Jack gripped the rod and drove it into the bullet hole he'd made earlier.
The mutant spasmed, clawing wildly, before Jack felt Klein's jaw weakening.
Jack shoved Klein's corpse off him. His chest heaved. His arms trembled. His wounds still spilled blood in terrifying amounts.
The system flickered again:
[VSS]
[Health Status: Critical]
[Recommendation: Patch up the wound and rest for 24 hours]
Jack spat blood onto the floor as he glared at Klein's mangled corpse. "Rest easy, Robert Klein… you deserved better."
But the fight wasn't over.
The other infected were still circling in. Half a dozen zombies dragged themselves toward Jack.
Jack tried to stand, but the battle with Klein and the blood loss were too much. He could barely keep upright, much less fight back.
The infected surged forward—
—and the reinforced steel door hissed open.
Muted cracks echoed through the lab, sharp but strangely subdued—like a hammer striking padded steel.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Three infected dropped in clean headshots before Jack even realized what happened.
Ada Wong stepped through the doorway, one hand holding a black pistol with a custom suppressor, her other hand steady on the grip. She didn't waste a breath—her movements were smooth, practiced, surgical. Two more rounds, two more infected dropped.
Jack blinked, stunned. "...You had a gun this whole time?!"
Ada didn't answer as she cleared the rest of the infected, leaving only the two of them.
She moved past him to a console, hooking her device into it. After extracting whatever information she needed, she finally turned back to Jack.
"Okay, leaving your muscle here bleeding to death," Jack muttered, sulking.
Ada walked toward him and reached out, pulling him up, steadying him. Her grip was firm, cool—but not unkind. "Easy, soldier boy. You've lost a lot of blood."
Jack gritted his teeth. "No shit, Sherlock…"
Ada studied his wounds before leading him toward a small medical room. She checked it quickly—no rot, no signs of infection. The air was less suffocating here.
She eased him down onto one of the beds, then searched for a first aid kit. She found several stacked neatly in a cabinet.
Jack winced as Ada tore his uniform open, exposing the deep claw mark on his chest and the bite wound on his forearm. The wound oozed dark, sickly blood.
Ada's eyes narrowed. "That wound didn't turn you like them?"
Jack met her gaze, lips pressed thin. He couldn't tell her about the system, about the viral infection percentage. "Don't worry. Looks like the virus doesn't have any effect on me."
Ada gave him a look that said she didn't believe him. Still, she pulled disinfectant and gauze, cleaning the wound with quick, practiced movements. Her touch was careful but efficient.
"You don't strike me as the type to just roll over and die," she said softly, her usual smile absent. "So don't start now."
Jack's eyes closed briefly as the sting of alcohol hit his wound. He bit back a groan. "Funny… didn't think you cared."
Ada's hands didn't falter as she wrapped gauze tightly around his torso before moving to his forearm. Her voice was calm, smooth. "Don't mistake practicality for sentiment. You're more useful alive than dead."
Ada's fingers brushed his skin a little too gently, and her eyes lingered just a moment too long before she looked away—Jack wasn't sure if she was telling the truth.
Jack hissed, his hands clutching the bandages. "Guess I'll live to see the next day."
Ada leaned back on her heels, snapping the first aid kit shut. "Don't flatter yourself, soldier boy. You're still bleeding on my heels."
But her faint smirk couldn't quite hide the way her eyes swept over him—calculating, and something else he couldn't place.