November 1998.
More than a month had passed since the nuclear destruction of Raccoon City. On the surface, the U.S. government's PR machine had papered over the incident as a "nuclear plant meltdown," but in the underground world, a vicious shadow war had erupted in full.
The upper echelons of the government had finally grasped the extent of Umbrella's loss of control. Raccoon City was a disaster someone had to answer for, and the government wanted Umbrella holding the bag. The moment the bomb hit the ground, Congress announced an indefinite suspension of all business dealings with Umbrella Corporation.
Publicly, the U.S. government filed lawsuits against Umbrella demanding damages in the tens of billions.
The move enraged Spencer beyond any concern for self-preservation. If he was going down, he'd drag everyone with him. He assembled a top-tier legal team, and in open Supreme Court proceedings they made no attempt to hide their accusations: the U.S. government had nuked Raccoon City specifically to destroy hard evidence of its own collusion with Umbrella.
Behind the scenes, military black-ops units began raiding Umbrella installations worldwide. Umbrella hit back without hesitation, deploying every weapon and B.O.W. at its disposal. Two giants had locked jaws in the dark and were tearing each other apart.
And Ryan's organization drifted through it all like a ghost, nestled comfortably in the deepest shadows, watching, and bleeding both sides dry.
Somewhere in the American Midwest, a decommissioned Cold War-era air defense bunker had been purchased and completely overhauled into the underground nerve center of Ryan's operation.
"Ryan, briefing from Carlos." Jill handed a file to Ryan at the head of the table, a trace of a smile on her lips. "The military raided one of Umbrella's transit hubs in Chicago yesterday. Both sides went at it until there were brains on the floor. After they finished killing each other, Carlos took Shadow Force in, slipped past the wreckage, and pulled out every piece of experimental equipment and data Umbrella hadn't managed to move."
"Nice work." Ryan took the file, flipped through it, and nodded. "Tell the guys, the government and Umbrella are at each other's throats right now. We play scavenger only, never expose the main force. Let them tear each other apart while we grow."
At the conference table, Dr. Bard and Annette Birkin were bent over the newly recovered data. Their research team was already taking shape.
"Any word from the scouting in Africa?" Ryan turned to Jill.
"A few U.B.C.S. veterans infiltrated West Africa under mercenary cover. Still searching. And that remote village in Eastern Europe you mentioned, we've got eyes there too, but nothing yet."
"Pain in the ass. We'll have to keep narrowing down the location." Ryan tapped the table. "What about the T-Veronica virus? Claire's been looking everywhere for her brother."
"Leon's been notified. He's inside the government now, and his intelligence network is wider than ours. The moment there's word on Claire, he'll pass it along."
Jill closed the folder and pulled a tiny black communicator from her pocket.
"One more thing. Last night, an encrypted channel with no IP address sent us an audio clip. A few seconds long."
She hit play. The recording opened with the sharp click of high heels, then a woman's voice, lazy and faintly amused:
"Package delivered. The boss is pleased. Pleasure doing business, 'friend.'"
Ryan listened to the end and the corner of his mouth turned up. Ada had made it back and delivered the goods. With the G-Virus in hand, she had the leverage to maneuver between the mysterious organization and Wesker, which was exactly the loose thread Ryan had left on purpose.
"Looks like every seed's been planted." He picked up his coffee and took a sip.
"There's one more thing, though." Jill's expression went dead serious. She drew several high-resolution satellite surveillance photos from a separate classified envelope and slid them in front of him.
"Our European intelligence network intercepted an internal U.S. military casualty report."
Ryan looked down.
The photos showed the perimeter of a secret Umbrella facility in the European mountains. American special forces bodies littered the ground. A heavy armored vehicle had been ripped in half by brute force. The scene was savage.
"A full-strength Delta team hit this site. Total wipeout." Jill pointed to one extremely blurry surveillance capture. "They weren't killed by zombies or a Tyrant. The last image the military transmitted showed... this person did it."
It was the back of a pale teenager in thin clothing. He stood in a pool of blood, half of a special forces soldier's body still dangling from one hand, his entire frame radiating a suffocating brutality and cold.
Ryan stared at that silhouette, and a line from the journalist Ben flashed through his mind, something he'd said in the second-floor office of the orphanage:
"A few months back, a young man came out the back door of an Umbrella research facility... looked a bit like this kid. He'd be about fifteen or sixteen by now."
"Ben was right." Ryan's gaze hardened by degrees, one finger resting on the photo. "The 'terminated' tag in the orphanage files was a smokescreen. The teenager Ben photographed months ago is him."
"G-001?" Jill's pupils contracted.
"Yeah. Spencer must have played his trump card." Ryan leaned back and let out a quiet laugh. "The government's got Umbrella cornered, and now they've unleashed this uncontrollable monster to bite back."
"Should we send a team to the site? Or track him?" Jill's hand was already on her holster.
"No." Ryan didn't hesitate, his eyes calm and focused. "This thing doesn't just have the raw power to crush normal people, he's got animal instincts to match. The site is swarming with U.S. military investigators and Umbrella agents right now. If we go, we expose ourselves."
He stood and walked to the massive world map on the wall.
"Spencer's using him as a wrecking ball, sending him head-to-head against the U.S. government. That suits us fine."
He turned to Jill and gave the order, highest priority:
"Pass the word. All intelligence assets and Carlos's Shadow Force, if they spot this kid at any conflict zone, do not engage under any circumstances. Abandon the operation immediately and pull out, no questions asked."
"We're in the shadows. They're in the light." The corner of Ryan's mouth curved. "Let the U.S. government feed bodies to this monster. We watch from the dark, wait for Umbrella's whole rotten structure to come crashing down, wait until our foundation is solid..."
He clenched his fist, knuckles cracking sharp and loud, his eyes showing undisguised killing intent.
"Then I'll handle this rabid dog myself."
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