Chapter 65: Mr. Death Gets an Upgrade
With the blue light of the Lab fading, the dominant-type Las Plagas in the center of the interface gradually went slack.
The tentacles that had been moving continuously across its surface drooped flat, as if it had just come through a lobotomy.
Its own consciousness had been completely erased by the System. What remained was a shell running on nothing but instinct.
Matthew looked over the capability upgrade options that were still available for it. He didn't choose to enhance any of them.
"System. Open the Modification interface."
[Please enter customization requirements.]
Matthew looked at the prompt for a moment. "I want to turn it into an external tool. Something that doesn't need to be implanted in a body but can control the entire Las Plagas parasite network from outside."
Dozens of modification options appeared.
[Biological Wetware: Connect to the back of the skull as needed to log into the Las Plagas Mental Network.
Cost: 1,000 System points.]
[External Mental Link: Enhanced mental capability. No physical neural connection required — simple physical contact is sufficient to log into the Las Plagas Mental Network.
Cost: 2,000 System points.]
[Mental Network Direct Link: Greatly enhanced mental capability. Establishes a dedicated mental connection for Matthew specifically, allowing direct login to the Las Plagas Mental Network.
Cost: 5,000 System points.]
He read through the full list.
His eyes settled on one.
Mental Network Direct Link. Exactly 5,000 points — which matched one Mid-grade Free Modification use precisely.
No System points spent.
"Select Mental Network Direct Link. Apply one Mid-grade Free Modification use."
[Mid-grade Free Modification count: -1.]
The moment the notification cleared, Matthew felt as though an invisible pair of VR glasses had materialized on him from nowhere. To connect to the Las Plagas internal network, all he had to do was put them on.
"This is..." He said it quietly to himself. "A strange feeling."
He engaged the network.
Dark-red points of light appeared in the space in front of him. The nearest cluster came from the cryogenic storage beside him — five points brighter than the rest, flickering with a steady pulse.
Five superior-strain Las Plagas spores.
Somewhere below his feet, in a different direction, a dense field of red points moved like stars. Countless of them.
"What's down there?" He recognized it almost immediately.
The Amber storage.
Those were Las Plagas spores still unextracted from the Amber — not yet developed, but already alive.
He pulled his attention back and reached for one of the superior-strain specimens on the table.
[Superior Strain Las Plagas: Greatly enhances the host's physical condition upon implantation. Capable of restoring severed limbs and pre-existing disabilities. Allows weaponization of the limbs in combat.
Does not impose the mental overload or insect-transformation associated with standard Las Plagas.]
[Defect: Can be forcibly controlled by the dominant-type.]
[Capabilities: Weaponization. Superior physical condition. Limb restoration.]
He studied the defect.
Someone at Umbrella might have listed "can be forcibly controlled by the dominant-type" as a problem.
They would have been wrong.
Without that feature, the dominant-type was a shell commanding no one. The defect was the entire point.
"System. Modification."
He stated his requirement: "I want the host to gradually become loyal to me through subconscious influence, while maintaining their own will and personality in daily life."
Several options appeared. He selected the cheapest.
[Subconscious Hypnosis: The host will develop increasing loyalty to Matthew in various ways over time. In the final stage, while retaining their own will and personality, they will find themselves unable to refuse his requests and will follow his instructions and arrangements.
(Note: The duration of the hypnosis process is determined by the strength of the subject's own consciousness.)
Cost: 500 System points.]
"Modify."
A blue flash.
The first superior-strain specimen received its customized trait.
[System points remaining: 6,400.]
He set it aside and picked up the second specimen.
"I want the host to come to regard me as an object of complete faith in a very short period of time, while still maintaining their own will. Willing to follow my every word."
More options. He selected the cheapest again.
Whether it was expensive or inexpensive made no difference as long as he wasn't the one receiving it.
[Will Distortion: The host's psyche will be rapidly reshaped and directed toward total belief in Matthew.
(Note: Individuals with exceptionally strong willpower may quickly detect the anomaly, which can trigger parasite rejection and result in implantation failure.)
Cost: 500 System points.]
"Modify."
Another blue flash.
The second specimen was done.
He stored the two differently modified strains in separate containers.
Then he took out his phone and sent Hunk a message.
Shortly after: a knock at the office door.
"Come in."
Heavy boots on the floor.
Hunk entered in his standard gear and walked to the desk with his usual directness.
"Sir. You wanted to see me." The voice came steady from behind the mask. He stood at attention in front of the desk, looking at Matthew without particular expression.
Matthew kept it brief.
"Hunk. Based on what I've observed across our recent operations, your performance has been consistently outstanding. I have a great deal of confidence in you."
"To help you carry out future assignments even more effectively, I've put in a company request for a new type of enhancement agent. No side effects. Significantly improves physical performance. Repairs severed limbs and wounds. In the right circumstances, it can take down certain B.O.W. types without firearms."
He slid the injection across the desk — the superior-strain specimen modified with Subconscious Hypnosis.
The second specimen, the one with Will Distortion, Matthew had separate plans for.
"Will you accept?"
Through the mask, Hunk looked at the injection for a moment.
"Sir." His voice was steady. "Thank you for your confidence in me. I accept."
"Good. Go ahead."
"Yes, sir."
Hunk pushed up his sleeve, found the vein, and pressed the needle in.
The fluid entered his bloodstream. The Las Plagas parasite took root at a speed that left no room for the body to object, and began remodeling the host from the inside.
Hunk felt his chest tighten. His temperature climbed fast. His breathing came short and quick, and his heartbeat pressed against his eardrums hard enough that he could feel it in his skull.
Then it passed.
What replaced it was a lightness he had no previous frame of reference for.
Every injury he had carried from his years in the military — the ones that had never quite healed, that he'd learned to work around and ignore — was gone. His breathing opened up in a way it hadn't since before he could remember.
Hunk stood in this body and had the brief and disorienting sensation of someone who had just come into the world fresh.
If he had to describe it in any way: it felt as though he had been freed from a worn-out body that had been holding him back for years, and been handed one that had never been used.
Whatever doubt had been left in him disappeared completely.
What remained was gratitude, uncomplicated and total.
"Sir." Hunk straightened fully. "Thank you for your faith in me. I will not let you down. Whatever assignments you give me, I will carry them out better than before."