Location: The Trevor Manor (FOB Alpha), Sub-Basement Laboratory
Date: July 18, 2020
Time: 09:00 Local Time
The silence of the laboratory was broken only by the rhythmic clicking of a keyboard and the low hum of the server banks.
Alen Wesker sat at the main terminal, bathed in the blue glow of the monitors. He typed with a terrifying, fluid speed—no wasted movement, no hesitation. His posture was rigid, aristocratic, a perfect mirror of the man who had once tried to drown the world in Uroboros.
To his right, a stack of encrypted dossiers from Dr. Amelia Richard lay neatly arranged. To his left, a beaker of the refined Necrotoxin bubbled quietly.
He stopped typing and stood up. The silence held for a moment before he moved to the cryo-fridge. He retrieved a slab of raw, high-grade venison.
In the corner, the massive white shape of Freya, the Arctic Wolf, lifted her head. She did not beg; she waited. Alen placed the meat on her designated mat.
"Consume," Alen said softly, patting her head once. It was a rare, fleeting gesture of warmth before the mask of the Scientist slid back into place.
He returned to the desk, his face hardening.
"Trinity. Status report."
<< Good morning, Master. Trap diagnostics are green. >> The AI's voice filled the room. << Last night's yield was substantial. Nine Samca units intercepted by the aerial nets. Seven Lycans secured in the perimeter pits. Necrotoxin lethality has increased to 94% within 10 seconds of exposure. >>
"And the Vaccine?" Alen asked, crossing his arms.
<< Promising. The 'Sepulcher' prototype has achieved a 50% synaptic severance rate in the test subjects. It is successfully rewriting the Cadou parasite's biological code, effectively disconnecting the host from the local network. >>
"Acceptable," Alen murmured. "But not perfect. Continue the trials. I require total severance. These creatures... they are merely hardware running a corrupted operating system. I intend to wipe the drive."
The Interruption
Suddenly, a proximity alert flashed red on the main screen.
<< WARNING: HIGH-LEVEL SIGNAL DETECTED. SECTOR 4 - VILLAGE OUTSKIRTS. >>
<< ID MATCH: WONG, ADA. >>
Alen's eyes narrowed behind his sunglasses. He stared at the screen where a satellite feed showed a figure standing on a distant ridge, peering through high-tech binoculars toward the village.
She was dressed differently than usual. She wore a tight, tactical stealth suit reminiscent of a plague doctor's attire—a discarded concept for this theater of operations, yet she wore it with lethal grace.
"Ada Wong," Alen said, his voice dropping an octave, dripping with disdain. "The eternal mercenary."
<< Shall I deploy the capture drones, Master? >>
"No," Alen replied coolly. "Connect me. Let us see whose payroll she is haunting today."
[Connecting...]
Miles away, on the snowy ridge, Ada Wong's secure communicator chirped. She tapped her earpiece, expecting her handler.
"Report," she said.
"You are far from your usual hunting grounds, Ada."
The voice froze her blood. It was low, smooth, and utterly devoid of humanity. It wasn't the voice of the young agent she had met in Texas. It was the voice of the man she had betrayed in 2004. The man who had died in a volcano.
Albert.
Ada flinched, her hand instinctively going to her sidearm. The PTSD from the Amber Mission—the Island, the betrayal, the sheer crushing pressure of Wesker's presence—flooded back.
"Alen?" Ada whispered, her composure slipping for a fraction of a second. "I... I heard you had left the grid."
"What are you doing in the Village?" Alen demanded. He didn't ask; he interrogated. "Are you here on my grandmother's orders? Or are you chasing ghosts for a dead organization?"
"It's none of your concern, Alen," Ada replied, regaining her icy demeanor. "I have my own contracts."
"Undoubtedly," Alen scoffed. "You always were a vulture, picking at the scraps of greater men."
"Couldn't be a worse time to call," Ada deflected, scanning the horizon. "This place... it's compromised. Local saturation is imminent."
"I am aware," Alen said. "I have read the script. Your little act of defiance changes nothing. Stay out of my way, Ada. If you interfere with my variables, I will treat you as a hostile entity."
"Always the charmer," Ada muttered. "Just like him."
"Stay safe, Miss Wong. The weather is turning."
[Call Disconnected]
Alen cut the line without waiting for a goodbye.
<< She is a liability, Master. >>
"She is a chaotic variable," Alen corrected. "But currently irrelevant. Keep her under surveillance. Despite her history with Amelia... I do not trust her."
The God in the Machine
Alen turned his chair to face the whiteboard, which was covered in diagrams of fungi and neural networks.
"Trinity," Alen began, his voice taking on a professorial tone. "I have finalized the analogy for the threat."
<< I am listening, Master. >>
Alen stood up and drew a large circle.
"You must stop thinking of the Megamycete—the Black God—as a biological entity. It is a Cloud Server."
He tapped the center of the circle.
"The Megamycete is the Hard Drive. It stores the consciousness of every person who has died in this valley for centuries. It is a massive, biological database."
He drew lines radiating outward.
"The Mold is the Network Infrastructure—the optical cables. It transmits data."
He drew a crown at the top.
"Mother Miranda is the System Administrator. She has Root Access. She can read, write, and execute files at will. The Four Lords? They are VIP Users with elevated privileges."
He pointed to a sketch of a Lycan.
"And these... the monsters. They are Glitch Bots. Failed uploads."
"And the Cadou?" Trinity asked.
"The Cadou Parasite is the Modem," Alen finished, a cruel smile touching his lips. "It is the receiver that connects the biological hardware to the Wi-Fi. My vaccine... is a connection jammer. I am going to disconnect them from the server."
The Legacy of Fear
"Master," Trinity hesitated. "Your logic is sound. But you intend to confront Donna Beneviento. Her power is distinct. She does not rely on physical strength. She utilizes the Cadou to secrete hallucinogenic pheromones. She manipulates the psyche."
Trinity paused.
<< You are vulnerable, Master. The trauma of the White Room. The memories of Alex Wesker. If Donna accesses your mind, she will use your grief against you. >>
Alen stood very still. The room seemed to get colder.
Then, a low, dry chuckle escaped him. It was a sound devoid of humor.
"You think I am afraid of hallucinations?" Alen asked, removing his sunglasses. His eyes glowed with a terrifying intensity. "You forget my lineage, Trinity."
He walked to the mirror, adjusting his collar.
"My mother, Alex Wesker, was the Queen of Fear. She spent her life studying the breaking point of the human mind. The T-Phobos virus runs in my veins. It did not just grant me immunity to fear... it gave me dominion over it."
"Dominion?"
"I possess a capability I have kept dormant. A legacy from Alex. Cognitive Dominion."
Alen turned to the empty room, raising a hand.
"While Albert gave me the body of a god, Alex gave me the keys to the mind. I can treat the world as a digital-biological interface."
"I can emit a bio-electric field—a 'Phobos Frequency.' It strikes the amygdala directly. I do not need to fight Donna's hallucinations. I can override them. I can broadcast a 'White Noise' signal that jams her control. To her, I will be a void. A ghost she cannot haunt."
He picked up a tiny, insect-sized device from the table. A Micro-Drone.
"But I do not use it lightly," Alen whispered, staring at the drone. "Because when I open that door... I feel her. I feel Alex. The cruelty. The desire to break things just to see how they work. It erodes the man I am trying to be."
He crushed the thought, closing his fist around the drone.
"But for Donna Beneviento... fear is the only language she understands."
The Hat Man Cometh
Alen walked to the armory locker. The transition was complete.
He donned the tactical turtleneck. He pulled on the combat trousers. He threw the heavy, ballistic-weave duster coat over his shoulders, the fabric absorbing the light.
Finally, he placed the wide-brimmed fedora on his head. The shadow covered his eyes, leaving only the faint blue bioluminescence visible.
He holstered the Samurai Edge – AW Model-01.
"Trinity," Alen commanded, his voice deep, resonant, and final. "Watch the Manor. Feed the wolf. Keep eyes on Ada Wong."
<< Where are you going, Master? >>
Alen turned toward the elevator, his silhouette looming large against the lab lights.
"I am going to visit the dollhouse," Alen said. "It is time to introduce Ms. Beneviento to a real nightmare."
Status:
* Alen Wesker: Deploying.
* Ability Unlocked: Cognitive Dominion (Restricted Use).
* Target: House Beneviento.
* Objective: Sever the connection.