September 18th, 1998, 3:30 AM, The Underground Laboratory
"They're disposable," Eddie said, almost to himself, staring into the black coffee. "A staggering cost for a single-use weapon. Inefficient."
"Exactly," Annette confirmed, her voice a whisper in the lab's silence.
"Then why continue down this path?" Eddie asked, looking up at her. His eyes burned with a feverish light, a mixture of exhaustion and a sudden, devouring passion. "Both the T-Virus and the G-Virus are crude instruments. They can extend life, perhaps, but at what cost? They turn men into monsters. I don't want to become a monster, Annette. I want to live."
He stood, beginning to pace, the energy coming off him almost palpable. "Have you ever considered true immortality? Not just a longer life, but eternal youth? A body free from all disease, forever?" He stopped in front of her, his gaze intense. "That is my goal. A serum that doesn't just rewrite the code, but perfects it. A serum that goes beyond Birkin's work, beyond Marcus's. Beyond anyone's."
Annette watched him, fascinated and frightened. The idea was insane, heretical. But it was also… seductive. Who didn't dream of such a thing?
"That's… an ambitious idea," she murmured.
"It's an idea that needs help to become reality," he said, his voice softening, becoming more intimate. "Your help, Annette. You have a knowledge of this field I can only dream of. Together, we could accelerate the process by years. I don't want to be involved in William's and Spencer's stupid power struggles. It's a waste of time. I just want to do my research. In peace. I just want… to live."
The last word was a whisper, laced with a false vulnerability, a calculated sadness. And it hit its mark. Annette's heart, already cracked by her husband's coldness and fear for the future, began to melt.
"Okay," she said, her voice barely audible. "I'll help you. Consider this the beginning of a… collaboration. But I'm warning you, Eddie. If you're plotting something against my family…"
"I would never," he interrupted, his expression suddenly serious, almost wounded. "You have my word."
William is already a dead man, he thought. And I won't be the one to pull the trigger. A man who betrays Umbrella without a foolproof exit strategy is just a corpse that doesn't know it yet. Even Albert Wesker, with all his cunning, moves in the shadows, waiting for the collapse to strike. William is just an arrogant researcher. A sacrificial lamb.
Annette, convinced, or perhaps just wanting to be, nodded. "For the T-Virus to bond with a host in a stable manner," she began, her voice turning professional again, "the baseline physical condition is crucial. Strength, endurance, but above all… the quality of the internal organs. The heart, specifically. It must be able to sustain a hyper-accelerated metabolism. That's why the Tyrants fail. Their bodies become too powerful for their hearts."
An illumination. The inspiration struck Eddie like an electric shock. The heart. It had always been the heart.
"Annette… you're a genius!" he exclaimed, and in a surge of both genuine and calculated joy, he hugged her. It was a brief, almost brotherly gesture, but enough to catch her completely off guard.
When he pulled away, he was already back at his workstation, his mind racing with new equations, new possibilities.
Annette stood frozen for a moment, stunned. A small, sad smile touched her lips. Perhaps it wasn't a bad idea to have a friend in this den of snakes. A younger brother, almost.
But then the smile vanished. She thought of William. His obsession. His betrayal. She knew about his contacts with the military. She knew he was playing a game he could not win. And he wasn't worried about her, or Sherry. His only allies were himself and Albert Wesker, a man who didn't even trust his own shadow.
What are you doing, William? she screamed internally, a cold anxiety clenching in her stomach. What the hell are you thinking?
Without realizing it, her nails dug into her palm until she drew blood. The crack in her heart had just widened. Soon, it would shatter completely.