July 23rd, 1998, 9:10 AM
The crisp morning air was a slap in the face after the heat and stale taste of sex in the hotel suite. Eddie felt strangely light, as if he had expelled a poison he didn't know he was carrying. Beside him, Karen walked with her usual stiff posture, but there was a new fluidity to her movements, a loosened tension in her shoulders. Their eyes met for a brief moment. No words were exchanged. None were needed. Something had changed between them, a silent pact sealed in the sweat and violence of the night.
The entrance to the underground laboratory was nondescript, hidden beneath an Umbrella maintenance building. But appearances were deceiving. As soon as they descended in the industrial elevator, the atmosphere changed. The air became cold, sterile. U.B.C.S. (Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service) soldiers patrolled the white corridors, their assault rifles held at ease but ready.
Eddie watched them with an inward smile. Watchdogs. Dogs that Spencer would pull back one by one when the time came to unleash his mastiffs to tear William Birkin apart and steal his precious G-Virus. But that time had not yet come. Birkin's masterpiece was still imperfect, and Spencer did not accept flawed products.
They passed through a series of security checkpoints, steel doors hissing open and shut behind them. Finally, they reached a central atrium. A woman was waiting for them.
She wore a pristine white lab coat and high heels that clicked on the polished floor. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail, and she wore a severe, almost anxious expression. On her chest, an ID badge read: Dr. Annette Birkin.
"Eddie Cai, I presume," she said, her voice sharp, without preamble. "I'm Annette Birkin, Dr. Birkin's wife."
"A pleasure," Eddie replied, his charming smile switching on like a light. "This is my head of security, Karen LesProux."
Annette's eyes darted to Karen for an instant, appraising her, before returning to Eddie. "My husband is busy. I'll show you to your station. Follow me."
She turned and started down a corridor, the sound of her heels echoing in the silence. "The defenses here are automated," she said, without looking back. "Don't touch anything you don't know. Dr. Birkin will see you when he is free."
The laboratory was surprisingly empty. Many areas were sealed, accessible only with higher-level clearance. Eddie knew what was behind those doors. The cages. The operating rooms. The test subjects. Nine out of ten researchers at Umbrella were monsters in white coats.
"I've heard that Dr. Birkin has made incredible progress with the original T-Virus strain," Eddie said, his voice laced with false admiration. "Isolating sequences no one else has managed to map. A… monumental work."
Annette stopped, and for the first time, her severe expression cracked, replaced by a flash of pride. "My husband is a genius."
"I know," Eddie continued. "That's why I'm here. To learn from him. Would it be possible to consult his preliminary notes on Project-T? Just to get a general picture of his genius."
The flattery was shameless, but effective. Annette's pride in her husband was her greatest weakness.
"Wait here," she said.
She walked to a workstation, opened a locked drawer, and pulled out a heavy binder. She returned to Eddie, holding it out to him.
"These are William's notes," she said, her voice softer. "You may consult them here, in the lab. But they are not to leave this room. Clear?"
"Crystal," Eddie replied, taking the binder. His smile was genuine this time. In his hands, he didn't just hold notes. He held the key to accelerating his work by months, perhaps years.
As Annette walked away, he opened the binder. He didn't notice the look Karen gave him. A look that was no longer just that of a bodyguard. There was something else now. Something more complicated. And far more dangerous.