Inside the Las Vegas base, Jon watched the catastrophe unfold from beginning to end.
This was no accident. It was a great purge, orchestrated by humans themselves.
Such an act was beyond his imagination. Under normal circumstances, no life—whether as an individual or as a collective—would ever willingly embrace self-annihilation.
Take, for instance, the destruction of the self. Convincing a being to end its own life is already exceedingly difficult, for inscribed within the very code of life are three fundamental imperatives: survival, reproduction, and evolution. These are instinct, woven into the fabric of existence.
They are not tied to willpower, temperament, or character. Yet they influence every living being at every moment.
And yet here was Isaac, carrying out a cleansing of the entire species, an act that betrayed the will of his own kind to live. War may bring destruction, but even war holds within it the faint spark of hope. Isaac, however, pushed human civilization straight into the abyss—all for his own selfish desires.
But that was not what troubled Jon most. What weighed on him was something else: the detoxifying airborne agent against the T-Virus. It existed, Jon knew, and yet Isaac had never once mentioned it to him.
"This old dog doesn't trust anyone. He always keeps one last hand hidden."
"Prepare a squad," Jon ordered calmly. "We need to retrieve some specimens, Andre."
"Yes, Doctor."
On the screens before them, the Hive appeared like a vision of hell on Earth. Andre secretly felt fortunate—fortunate that he had seized the chance to follow Jon here to the Las Vegas base. Not only had it granted him access to the precious R-1 serum—something rare even within Umbrella itself—but it had also placed him far away from immediate danger.
The strike team departed, heavily armed. Their mission was unregistered in the Red Queen's system. No one would know they had gone.
"Doctor, the T-Virus has already fully erupted inside the Hive. Raccoon City itself may no longer be safe. Shouldn't we prepare some defenses?" Andre's worry was plain; one wrong move here could mean death.
"No need," Jon replied. "We won't enter Raccoon City. We'll wait outside Arklay Mountain."
A formation of armed helicopters thundered across the night sky.
By the time they arrived, darkness had already fallen.
"Prepare yourselves," Jon instructed. "We may need to bring some things back with us."
"Yes, Doctor."
Within Raccoon City, Alice and her group had already surfaced from the Hive. But Umbrella would never let its test subjects walk free.
Anyone emerging from the Hive was a potential carrier of the T-Virus. Whether still in its incubation stage or already manifesting strange symptoms, Umbrella considered them perfect living material for experimentation.
Matt's infection was already advancing. His left arm sprouted grotesque growths, like flesh germinating from within. He and Alice were seized the moment they emerged, dragged away by Umbrella researchers.
Matt was transformed into a Nemesis. As for Alice, they injected her directly with the T-Virus.
Thus began the project known as "Nemesis." In the eyes of Dr. Cain, these two subjects represented divergent paths for T-Virus research. Which of them would prove the more perfect creation?
"Doctor, shall we intervene?" Andre asked.
Jon shook his head. "There's no need. We wait. They'll come to us."
And so they waited, deep into the night.
"Doctor, Umbrella has already launched the cleansing protocol against Raccoon City. We may experience energy wave interference here. Shouldn't we seek cover?"
"Don't worry, Andre."
The strike was a surgical one—a tactical nuclear missile, roughly five kilotons of TNT—aimed squarely at Raccoon City. Their position behind the mountain was safe enough. At most, they would feel the tremor.
"Brace yourselves."
Andre bellowed the order as the sky lit up. The troops scrambled to absorb the coming shockwave.
"Commander, we have a situation!"
A soldier monitoring the skies shouted. Andre rushed over.
"What is it?"
"Commander, a helicopter is inbound from the direction of Raccoon City. It looks like a company bird."
Andre's brow furrowed. Could this be the very reason the Doctor had chosen this place? Whatever it was, it demanded his full attention.
"Doctor, along with the shockwave there's an Umbrella chopper—looks like it's going to crash… into the gorge, barely a dozen meters away."
Andre's suspicion deepened. Could it all truly be part of Jon's plan? The location, the timing—it was too precise. How had he foreseen this?
"Prepare yourself, Andre. Our guests are about to arrive."
Andre signaled, and his squad sprinted toward the gorge. Overhead, a helicopter spiraled down in flames, trailing smoke, plummeting toward the forest canopy.
The crash was brutal, but the dense woodland softened the impact.
"Move, hurry! The bird's gonna blow!" shouted a Black soldier inside the wreck.
"Help me!" Carlos strained, dragging Alice out of the burning wreckage.
Behind them stumbled a young girl and a tall, athletic woman—Jill Valentine. Once of Raccoon City's elite S.T.A.R.S. Alpha Team, she was quick, skilled, but notorious for insubordination. Recently demoted, she was paying the price of her recklessness.
"Sorry… if she hadn't saved me, Alice wouldn't—" Angela's voice broke with guilt. On the helicopter, a loose pipe—jarred by the nuclear shockwave—had torn free. It was aimed at her, but Alice had stepped in its path. The steel pierced her abdomen. Her body now lay lifeless.
Jill gently stroked the girl's head. It wasn't Angela's fault. Perhaps, she thought bitterly, this was the only kind of death that could ever set Alice free.
"Wait," Jill suddenly raised her hand.
Carlos froze. "What is it?" The others tightened their grips on their weapons.
"It's too quiet."
L.J. rolled his eyes. Was this woman paranoid?
"Maybe we made too much noise crashing in. Birds, animals—they're asleep."
"No. Something worse is out here," Jill whispered, pistol raised, eyes sweeping the treeline.
Angela tugged at her sleeve, pointing. Jill followed her gaze—and froze.
Soldiers in Umbrella uniforms emerged from the trees, weapons leveled.
Within moments, they were surrounded.
"Shit," L.J. cursed. "This time we're not getting out. Maybe better to go down fighting."
"Hold on," Carlos murmured. "They're… different."
These troops weren't the same as Umbrella's usual security force. Their gear looked similar, but not identical. Something about them felt… enhanced.
"Hey! Who are you? What do you want?" Carlos shouted.
Andre, leading them, swept his gaze over the group. The Doctor's targets were all present. With a gesture, his men disarmed them, then cleared a path.
Step… step…
Footsteps echoed from beyond. Everyone knew without looking—this was the man who would decide whether they lived or died.
"So… this is Alice?" Jon crouched beside her lifeless body.
"What are you doing?!" Jill shouted, surging forward, only to be held back by Carlos.
"No need to panic," Jon said calmly. "I mean you no harm. As for who I am… in time, Alice herself will tell you."
"What are you talking about? Alice is dead!"
Jon shook his head. "Dead? No, no… Alice does not die. Collect the samples. Then…"
His eyes slid toward Angela. This girl—her body somehow maintained equilibrium with the T-Virus, balancing it with her own disease. Useful. And Carlos—yes, Carlos had survived infection longer than Rain, despite equal exposure. Perhaps his blood too held something of value.
"Take the girl and Carlos. Release the others."
"No! She's just a child!" Jill roared. Angela's fate in Umbrella's hands could only mean horror.
"Soldier," Jon's voice sharpened, "are you teaching me how to do my work?"
Andre's elbow slammed into Jill, sending her sprawling. He didn't even glance at her. Only Jon's restraint kept her alive.
"Foolish woman."
Carlos, at least, understood. With dozens of rifles trained on them—many enhanced with R-1 serum—resistance was suicide.
"Doctor, all samples collected," Jon's assistant in a lab coat reported. "But why not take them all?"
"One is enough. We can clone the rest."
Carlos's eyes widened. "You mean… clone Alice?"
"If Umbrella dares to tamper with the T-Virus, why not cloning?"
"Then why us? What use are Angela and me? You trying to recruit me?"
Andre burst into laughter. The squad joined in. Recruit him? Ridiculous.
Carlos flushed. If not recruitment, then… what?
Andre leaned close, amused. "You think you're tough?"
"I'm no weakling," Carlos muttered. "I'm a squad leader. Don't think just because you're big that I'll back down. If it comes to a fight—heh."
Andre smirked. "Then let's find out. Defeat me, and you can leave with the girl."
Carlos looked to Jon.
"Trust him," Jon said mildly. "This is just after-dinner sport. Not worth my attention."
Outside the gorge, Carlos squared off against Andre. Freedom—his and Angela's—hung on this one fight.
"Come then," Andre beckoned casually. "Show me the strength of a squad captain."
"How many moves do you think before the Commander drops him?"
"One at most."
"No, two."
"Three at the outside."
Carlos clenched his fists, fury burning. Was this how little they thought of him?
(to be continued…)
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