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Authors: John Shirley
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going anywhere until I know where we are, and exactly what’s going on here.”
Wesker sighed.
“You are in the prime Umbrella Testing Facility.” He chuckled and added, “The belly of the beast.”
Alice lowered her knife. Ada lowered the gun and stepped back. But each woman kept a wary eye on the other.
“Explain Tokyo,” Alice demanded flatly. “I saw it destroyed.”
Wesker adjusted his shades.
“What you just saw was a detailed re-creation. Nothing more. It goes on for a few city blocks—that’s all.”
“I was outside…”
“Were you?” Ada asked. “Saw the night sky, did you?”
“It was night,” Alice insisted.
“Stars? The moon?” Alice didn’t reply, and Ada added dryly, “I thought not.”
Around the room, a series of monitors flickered, then showed downtown views of Berlin, Tokyo, New York, London, and several other cities she didn’t quite recognize.
“The testing floor,” Wesker said, “is a mile across. Three hundred feet high. The ceiling is black. It’s usually night in there. But isn’t that when the monster comes out, anyway?”
Alice still wasn’t convinced.
“It was raining…”
“Sprinkler system,” Wexler replied, sounding almost bored. “Fitted to the ceiling for climate control. They can even make it snow, if they want to.”
It all began to sink in.
How many mock cities were there, here in this facility? And why?
“Why build such a place?” she asked.
“Simple,” Wesker said. “The Umbrella Corporation derived its primary income from the sale of viral weaponry. Something that’s impossible to test in the real world. So Umbrella re-created the center of New York, simulated an outbreak, then showed the results to the Russians—and sold them the virus. Then they simulated an outbreak in Moscow… and sold it to the Americans. An outbreak in Tokyo…”
“They sell it to the Chinese.”
“An outbreak in China…” Ada added.
Alice nodded.
“They sell to the Japanese.”
“Everyone had to have it,” Wesker said proudly. “The Umbrella Corporation built a new arms race. Only this time it was biological, rather than nuclear. Highly profitable…”
Alice glanced around the control room, a chill tightening her skin as she imagined it. She stared at the doomed cityscapes displayed on the monitors. She hadn’t known about this, back when she was Security Chief of Umbrella. The corporation was notorious for keeping its most secret projects on a “need to know” basis.
Most likely they’d realized she was having doubts about the corporation’s T-virus research.
“And this,” Wesker went on, with a flourish of his hand, “is where it all happened. Umbrella’s greatest investment—their greatest creation. Like I said, the belly of the beast.”
Alice sheathed her knife, drew a pistol and turned it toward the floor to ceiling window.
“So why don’t we just get the hell out of here?” she said to Ada.
The Asian woman glanced at her watch, and calmly held up her hand.
“Sunup is in less than a minute. Why don’t you just see for yourself?” She nodded toward the window. Alice looked, but still saw nothing but darkness.
Then the first rays of sunlight penetrated the gloom outside. There was something oddly diffuse about the sunlight, as if it were filtered through some translucent medium. It illuminated icy blue mountains—only the mountains were inverted . The sunlight intensified, filtering through the icy blue peaks.
Through the…
“Ice!” Alice gasped. She was seeing the crystalline-blue mountains of floating ice floes. The light spread, and underneath the ice floes lay the great, angular sprawl of the facility, built right into the seabed.
The corporation had built their facility under the Arctic ice pack. As more and more light penetrated the waters, a gigantic concrete and steel bunker became visible. On it was emblazoned the hammer and sickle of the old USSR…
8
Alice gazed for a long moment at the frigid
Wesker sighed.
“You are in the prime Umbrella Testing Facility.” He chuckled and added, “The belly of the beast.”
Alice lowered her knife. Ada lowered the gun and stepped back. But each woman kept a wary eye on the other.
“Explain Tokyo,” Alice demanded flatly. “I saw it destroyed.”
Wesker adjusted his shades.
“What you just saw was a detailed re-creation. Nothing more. It goes on for a few city blocks—that’s all.”
“I was outside…”
“Were you?” Ada asked. “Saw the night sky, did you?”
“It was night,” Alice insisted.
“Stars? The moon?” Alice didn’t reply, and Ada added dryly, “I thought not.”
Around the room, a series of monitors flickered, then showed downtown views of Berlin, Tokyo, New York, London, and several other cities she didn’t quite recognize.
“The testing floor,” Wesker said, “is a mile across. Three hundred feet high. The ceiling is black. It’s usually night in there. But isn’t that when the monster comes out, anyway?”
Alice still wasn’t convinced.
“It was raining…”
“Sprinkler system,” Wexler replied, sounding almost bored. “Fitted to the ceiling for climate control. They can even make it snow, if they want to.”
It all began to sink in.
How many mock cities were there, here in this facility? And why?
“Why build such a place?” she asked.
“Simple,” Wesker said. “The Umbrella Corporation derived its primary income from the sale of viral weaponry. Something that’s impossible to test in the real world. So Umbrella re-created the center of New York, simulated an outbreak, then showed the results to the Russians—and sold them the virus. Then they simulated an outbreak in Moscow… and sold it to the Americans. An outbreak in Tokyo…”
“They sell it to the Chinese.”
“An outbreak in China…” Ada added.
Alice nodded.
“They sell to the Japanese.”
“Everyone had to have it,” Wesker said proudly. “The Umbrella Corporation built a new arms race. Only this time it was biological, rather than nuclear. Highly profitable…”
Alice glanced around the control room, a chill tightening her skin as she imagined it. She stared at the doomed cityscapes displayed on the monitors. She hadn’t known about this, back when she was Security Chief of Umbrella. The corporation was notorious for keeping its most secret projects on a “need to know” basis.
Most likely they’d realized she was having doubts about the corporation’s T-virus research.
“And this,” Wesker went on, with a flourish of his hand, “is where it all happened. Umbrella’s greatest investment—their greatest creation. Like I said, the belly of the beast.”
Alice sheathed her knife, drew a pistol and turned it toward the floor to ceiling window.
“So why don’t we just get the hell out of here?” she said to Ada.
The Asian woman glanced at her watch, and calmly held up her hand.
“Sunup is in less than a minute. Why don’t you just see for yourself?” She nodded toward the window. Alice looked, but still saw nothing but darkness.
Then the first rays of sunlight penetrated the gloom outside. There was something oddly diffuse about the sunlight, as if it were filtered through some translucent medium. It illuminated icy blue mountains—only the mountains were inverted . The sunlight intensified, filtering through the icy blue peaks.
Through the…
“Ice!” Alice gasped. She was seeing the crystalline-blue mountains of floating ice floes. The light spread, and underneath the ice floes lay the great, angular sprawl of the facility, built right into the seabed.
The corporation had built their facility under the Arctic ice pack. As more and more light penetrated the waters, a gigantic concrete and steel bunker became visible. On it was emblazoned the hammer and sickle of the old USSR…
8
Alice gazed for a long moment at the frigid
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