The year 2004 is approaching; I just need to hold on a little longer to reach that golden year of 2007, when I won't have to slave away at the limit of my capabilities anymore. Who even came up with, spread, and made me believe that creating my mega-corporation — even with connections — would be easy? Definitely an evil bastard, the culprit of all my countless misfortunes, piling up like a snowball on my head. And it all started after the destruction of Umbrella's bio-weapon factory. I, the cool guy, announced out loud how I was going to bend the world to my will.
But in the end…
The world bent me over: it ruthlessly set me before countless stacks of paperwork and forced me to simulate the life activity of an entire financial department. If I were a lazy person, I would have given up back when I was buying the complex in Manhattan, in the center of New York. Turns out it's not so easy to find almost a billion dollars, even by harnessing Javier Hidalgo to work like a hamster on a wheel. Alexia and I had to urgently prepare a whole series of projects, among them those "for the benefit of society." With these, we at least managed to find investors not from the shadow sector, and also win a couple of patents from the government. And this is where the second dog is buried, the one that was beaten with a stick three times before death. Paperwork wasn't enough; I was also slogging away in the lab for an entire staff of research scientists.
Only one thing was comforting: I wasn't suffering alone. As the boss, I'm supposed to work less than my subordinates, so poor Alexia regretted three times that she dared to climb out of cryogenic sleep. The aristocratic blonde almost became a shut-in, looking warily at the real world, afraid to meet people and engage in live communication. Why is that? People brought her reports, triggering a chain of immediate actions from the manager; live communication was a means of reminding her to do new work as quickly as possible. She even muttered out loud that she wouldn't mind returning to the capsule for another fifteen years. For that, I always delivered a fair lecture: "I'm not planning to die alone at work; we'll die on the same day and hour." We're like a real couple in love, such romance, right down to the grave.
Our romantic moods were only dispelled by flashes of bioterrorism. Numerous outbreaks swept across the world, from Africa to remote corners such as Antarctica. It all started with a viral epidemic in South America, which nearly affected my main sponsor from the underground. The government sent Leon Kennedy and Jack Krauser, two operatives, to deal with the incident and eliminate the threat.
Javier nearly died because of this, but he was saved by the timely arrival of the Black Watch under the command of HUNK. Not his sister, but the Grim Reaper himself decided to join the new company after Umbrella's downfall. We generously rewarded great talents, provided various benefits and discounts for employees — a full set of privileges so they would work well for us. HUNK performed his duties excellently, evacuating the drug lord along with his daughter away from the T-Virus epidemic.
Following that, there was an incident with an underground Umbrella base. Morpheus D. Duval, an outstanding scientist, was obsessed with beauty and grace, striving for the ideals of the greatest narcissist of all time. When I met him, he dreamed of the complete destruction of the ugly world to create a perfect one on its ruins.
He dreamed of building a beautiful world on the ruins of the current, ugly one, and as they say, questionable, but okay. He was competent enough in managing a technological ship and an underwater biological laboratory inside a sub-biosphere. But not good enough for Umbrella. During the virus leak in the Arklay Mountains, Duval was blamed for all the troubles.
Pure betrayal, no matter how you look at it, but incompetent fools were sent to eliminate him, and they failed the mission to liquidate the undesirable element. Morpheus escaped, gathered a whole cult of admirers of his beauty and talents, and then built an underwater bunker with a lab inside. The research conducted there was quite interesting, judging by the information received from Ada Wong. It involved crossing the G and T viruses to prevent one of the viruses from becoming dominant. But in 2002, all plans went to ruin.
What was the problem? Negligence from the narcissist, who preferred to admire his reflection in the mirror rather than comply with safety measures. The virus leak led to the complete annihilation of the personnel, forcing Duval to resort to a risky move: blackmailing China and the USA. A genius of thought, king of tactics, or king of idiots… With his actions, he forced the governments of the two countries to pay fifty million dollars to hire mercenaries. According to intelligence, he wanted to use the money to seize one of the African countries and build a new lab there. Of course, he was promised payment, how could it be otherwise, but they forgot to mention that they would send elite assassins after him.
They caught up with Duval right after the incident on the luxurious cruise ship called the Queen Zenobia, formerly the Spencer Rain. But after Spencer was declared wanted, he had to go underground. To survive, Umbrella's founder tried to sell his company's latest developments. However, Duval attacked the ship and caused chaos. He not only stole the developments but also gave away his location, thanks to which he was found by two elite agents from China and the USA, who then somehow got rid of him. The details, unfortunately, remained unknown; the incident was carefully classified.
And just a year after the incident, a biological attack was carried out on the floating city built in the Mediterranean Sea. Terragrigia, the world's first city fully powered by solar panels and including dozens of offices of major companies, where the cost per square meter exceeded my former monthly salary as an outstanding Umbrella scientist — the city was destroyed.
The perpetrators of the incident, the terrorist organization Il Veltro, weren't particularly hidden. They attacked the city with the goal of destroying the solar energy generation technologies.
The terrorists somehow got hold of the method for creating elite Hunters and released them as a heavy artillery, simultaneously spraying the virus from planes. The situation quickly spiraled out of control, and to prevent further spread of the virus, the government decided to completely destroy the floating city. The original method was a satellite reflecting sunlight with such power that it literally incinerated everything to the atomic level. Just a joke, of course, but the city heated up so much that the impenetrable Hunters burned, and the concrete jungle turned into ruins.
Against the backdrop of all these events, I had to slave away in a boring laboratory, attend investor council meetings, and monitor the functioning of GENTEK, which was gaining more and more influence in the world. I missed three good ways to have fun, replacing them for the sake of the dream of world domination. A terrible oversight on my part, and I blame myself every day for not stepping down from the duties of CEO. Ah, right… The culprit of all my misfortunes is Alexia Ashford. She refused to become the head, nominating me instead. Even then, it seems she calculated that she couldn't handle it alone. The proud Ashford family, blah-blah-blah, but in reality, laborers incapable of world domination, only giving ninety-nine percent effort.
— Are we finally finished? — the blonde whined plaintively, preventing me from collapsing properly. I leaned against the wall, and the girl propped up my head so it wouldn't crash to the floor. We had been working for a week straight, and I was burning as if from a nuclear bomb explosion.
A week-long marathon to create a technology for intervening in the human genome, which in potential will help humanity get rid of problems such as the very word "disease." Someone has HIV? No problem, we'll rewrite the entire body so it's as good as new, for only a million dollars… Oh, I still have to go through medical research, create patents, and verify with clinical trials. I don't want to… I want to shoot zombies…
— If someone does the patent and clinical trials for us, then yes, — I spoke lifelessly, trying to push away from the girl with effort.
It was awfully stuffy in the room, and she was sticking to me, preventing me from relaxing. Although we were enemies six years ago, suffering has brought us closer, as have a thousand and one meetings of investment holders — both underground and state-run. Las Plagas, if I get to you, I'm even ready not to hit too hard… More accurately, hard, but for a very long time, so as not to kill you immediately. I want a vacation.
— We've created a miracle, — Alexia whispered, looking at the device we created. It resembled a flask, into which organic matter is placed for complete control of all processes occurring within it. We created it at the cost of everything, but it was worth it. We can create truly amazing things, modifying any virus without much strain.
We just need to get a sample, and we will remove any side effects from it. And the cure for all diseases — that's just for the investor council reports. Although, miniature capsules to bring the technology to the masses… All the engineers will have to work in hell again, in an even hotter one than ours.
"Interesting, you're an engineer, and you want to work for us. Do you have a personal life? Haha, what a joke. Forget about it, as well as freedom and human rights. Who even invented these rights when there is an amazing substitute — 'duties.' Now you are a proud GENTEK employee, until death from overwork do us part. Hahaha!" — I mentally repeated the super-mega corporation's job interview process.
Exaggerating, of course, but the essence remains the same. I'm already like a zombie, everyone's a zombie… I urgently need to go on vacation. It's decided! Starting tomorrow, I'll vanish without a trace, covering up all evidence of where, why, and most importantly, for how long I've gone. Alexia, your time to slave away for two has come!
Something unpleasant vibrated in my pocket, forcing me to leave the world of dreams for harsh reality. My hand feverishly plunged into my pocket, pulling out a smartphone. A painfully unpleasant number was displayed on it, and not even my sunglasses could hide the caller's identity. Swallowing hard, and repeating the intake of air a couple more times, I nervously swiped my finger across the screen and answered the call as if I were being called from the horror movie — The Ring. "You will die in seven days…"
— Mr. Wesker, security will be in the lab shortly. The expected time for the conference is one hour, at 7 PM local time, — the secretary's merciless voice hit no less than a sledgehammer between the legs. I wasn't hit, but my imagination suggested that the comparison was very appropriate.
— Understood, — I calmly replied, ending the call, all the while trying not to crumble the cursed device in my hands. I can destroy anything, but I cannot postpone the time of the GENTEK VIP meeting. It's tough being the boss; I want to come down from heaven to earth. It's quite hot in heaven, and there's no air to breathe.
— Again? — the girl forced out plaintively, trying to stand up, leaning against the wall. — I want to die… I think, um, I'll take a vacation.
— I was going to offer you the same thing, — I hit her with words no worse than a roundhouse kick. — Otherwise, Las Plagas will capture someone else, or the cult itself will take over the world. We need the parasites to continue research on the perfect super-god genome.
— No, — she shook her head. — I'm going to rest in bed for a week. Enough research… I advise you to do exactly the same. And not dump everything on me.
Alexia threw a double-edged hint, making me gasp. Indeed, it's time to catch up on lost time. Alexia is a sweetheart in many ways and can nicely brighten an evening after a hard day's work.
I'll also include Claire Redfield in the process; she's been looking for her brother in my mansion for six years now. She is simply obligated to work off the rent. That thought sounds quite tempting — working it off, especially when I'm not the one who has to work it off. Besides, the girl still owes me for the T-Immortality prototype.
First, I, as a good comrade, tested it on Jill Valentine, with whom I maintain good relations, and then I injected Jen and Claire. I only skipped Sherri, but the G-Virus flows in her; it's too risky to mess with it. I need a chimera under the bed like the ocean needs an extra glass of water. Excuse me, I'll pass.
Getting to my feet, I put myself in proper order. More accurately, I went to the restroom, where there was a sink and a minimal kit to maintain my perfect appearance. It is not fitting for me to walk around with stubble, the gaze of a monster, and bags under my eyes that look like two black holes.
Brushing my teeth, hair spray, perfectly wiped black sunglasses — as befits a representative of a multi-billion dollar evil corporation, where even the CEO is forced to fear death from overwork. And I'm almost immortal! Well, if rockets weren't shot at me, you could practically consider the world to be in my pocket. It's a shame that this world sometimes sends signals of the Black Watch's arrival.
First, I picked up Alexia, who had managed to change into a dress along the way; she has some fetish for purple colors and white elbow-length gloves. She is also a fashionista, draped in jewelry with red rubies that match her high-heeled shoes. A rather unusual choice for a blonde; usually, they try to wear more red for contrast, not limit themselves to a couple of trinkets. But, you see, she's smart; she knows best. And there is no sarcasm in my thoughts at all.
We soon entered a spacious corridor that could cause a shudder in an unprepared person. The group of heavily armed bodyguards was capable of intimidating a small army squad, let alone ordinary assassins. The red lenses in their gas masks not only instilled fear but were also very useful when dealing with flashbang grenades. The rifles could penetrate medium-thickness metal, and their skills — Lady HUNK first, and then HUNK himself, took care of that. There were no disputes about their skills.
Is it legal to keep such forces in the center of the city? Before the bioterrorism outbreaks and the increase in my personal importance, it was impossible. But I have whitewashed my reputation quite well, promoting GENTEK's ideology — "Breaking the boundaries of humanity." A person should not get sick, mutate, or be subjected to other suspicious processes, being unable to counter anything.
— Alpha Group, target is in place, — HUNK replied on the radio, gesturing to indicate that the path to the car was safe. Uh-huh, if you don't count a couple of problems threatening the world because of the living Spencer. I contacted my acquaintances, but they haven't gotten back to me yet; they're probably still searching. Umbrella's founder has gone into hiding, right in the Mariana Trench.
Be that as it may, apart from a couple of assassination attempts from the Organization and one from Umbrella, there were no serious problems. Just like today, we calmly got into the armored limousine and reached the skyscraper, at the top of which the meeting was about to begin any minute now.
The building of the future… Tears well up at the mere thought of how much was spent on the appearance and the glowing DNA structure diagram. It was with these complex calculations, the debit and credit, that my thoughts were preoccupied. Alexia was more cheerful, anticipating the alluring freedom. The most intoxicating wine is freedom, as the old geezers usually say. Damn, I'm getting old too; good thing I stopped the aging process in time. You must always stay in shape.
Walking into the conference room and sitting down in the leather chair, I received all the greetings with a majestic look before opening the meeting. Where, to my surprise, I was informed about the kidnapping of the President's daughter, Ashley Graham. In fact, this news served as the reason for the emergency gathering of almost everyone, because the consequences of the kidnapping could significantly drain our assets, or, conversely, make them grow.
A beauty in distress who was kidnapped. According to special services intelligence, the Los Iluminados cult is involved — it is the one that controls the Las Plagas parasite. The puzzle began to come together, allowing me to understand a simple truth: the world itself is against me. It swamped me with work, only giving me a break right before the most fun event — the President's daughter's kidnapping. I've never slept with a President's daughter; she must be rescued immediately!
— Los Iluminados is just dust; there's no need to panic, — I stated, interlocking my fingers.
— Do you have a plan? — asked the government representative, an extremely important person who could literally cut twenty percent of all GENTEK funding.
— Of course, — adopting a more comfortable position, I adjusted my sunglasses. — GENTEK is the founding father of a bright future. We will prevent the cult, potentially linked to the late Umbrella, from in any way using the daughter of America's first person.
— We already sent our people to Spain, but communication was lost. And all of our best operatives are already on assignments. Thirteen days ago, there was a severe outbreak of the G-Virus in Africa, more extensive than six years ago, — the government representative spoke heavily, grimacing because of the details being voiced in front of outsiders. But it's not so easy to contact me; I am either here or nowhere. I try not to engage in any contacts, including private conversations, arguing that my interests and the company's completely coincide. Silly, of course, but we are an almost completely monopolistic organization; we have the right to show off. — We need Black Watch personnel.
— You will get even more; I will personally supervise the rescue operation and do everything in my power, — I almost didn't lie. It seems the time has come to contact Ada Wong and find out the details to start acting more openly. But that will be tomorrow; tonight I have more interesting things to do than chasing prospective opportunities.