Chapter 56 - Five Minutes To Save The World

Upon entering the room, Alice and Zeel could see a well-dressed Isaac sitting looking as comfortable as ever.

"The bad seeds return, or should it be the prodigal daughter? Or perhaps son?" Isaac said with deep meaning lacing his tone "Come on in don't be shy. After all, you have less than five minutes to save the world,"

Isaacs even gestured to the watch on his wrist when mentioning the time.

"You're really him?" Alice asked confused since she had killed many Isaacs before this one, each who thought they were the real deal.

"First, I need you to place your weapons on the floor," Isaac replied in a no questions could be asked tone.

"Why would we do that?" Zeel questioned.

"Because you're here for this," Isaac replied as he takes out the vial followed by guns coming out of the walls and aiming at both Alice and Zeel.

"I had to take extra precautions you see as I didn't believe anyone could successfully combat Project Exodus and survive. But might I say you are remarkable,"

"So you have known about me all this time?" Zeel questioned.

If they had known of him from the start, it would prove more efficient to eliminate him as quickly as possible, unless they were waiting for something?

"Yes! Protocol dictated that I was not to be woken up unless two things happened. One of which is occurring now, The Umbrella Corporation is threatened with a crisis that could affect the repopulation plans.

In this scenario, I am to be awakened first and if I cannot handle the matter, the board of directors will be awakened to make a decision as a collective.

Second is my favorite, in the unlikely scenario we made a great scientific breakthrough that could cause a paradigm shift that directly benefits Umbrella Corporation," Isaac said as he recounts Umbrella Protocol.

He then turned towards Zeel and said "You're such a curiosity, I studied the blood we collected and noticed that the T-virus in your system was not integrating with you like it did with Alice, instead it was being suppressed entirely,"

"Well, I don't know if I should be proud or disgusted by the fact you have taken an interest in me?" Zeel said as he watched the guns aiming at him mostly, instead of Alice "And most importantly you have taken an interest with me on a biological level, Alice might get jealous,"

"If he wants you that much, I can compromise," Alice said as she directed a knowing look towards Isaac, indicating that she approved of his chosen preferences.

"Very funny, yet intriguing to see that a clone has its own original sense of humor," Isaac said and then continued "Clones are nothing but worthless imitations right, Alice?"

"No!" Alice replied a bit shaken, how could she not hear the true meaning behind those words?

She had thought about it countless times before but always denied it. It's not like she wasn't prepared to discuss this topic with Zeel someday but she had to bear it right now.

"Oh come on you thought you were the original? … Sadly that honor belongs to her," Isaac said pointing behind Alice as a fairly advanced-looking wheelchair strolls up from behind.

In the wheelchair, you could see an older looking version of Alice.

Alice looked around for a bit before her eyes settled on Zeel for confirmation, if she was truly a clone, Zeel would have known long before this.

Zeel nodded in confirmation as he began admiring the wheelchair "Yup this is the original Alice or Alicia,"

"What did you base that on? The sweet tech in the wheelchair?" Alice asked rolling her eyes hoping for a more convincing answer.

"Yeah, I did base it on that," Zeel replied as he shrugged before looking directly at Alicia "That and the fact that her cells lack certain plasticity, so there are two possibilities: she is the original and is extremely sick with a form of an incurable disease or at the very least she was a first-generation experimental clone. Either way, she is before you were made,"

"You need to hurry Alice; Time is running out," Alicia said with great emphasis, not minding the way Zeel was currently looking at her.

Seeing Alice shaken up, Zeel was a bit frustrated that he could not act, sure he could detonate the bombs early but it would lead to unforeseen circumstances.

He was currently attempting to change some core programming on the Red Queen servers. Alice was also urging her nanites in the worst-case scenario that she had to use 'EMP' or 'Self-Destruct'.

"When the others wake up, I will convene a meeting to get rid of your shares, becoming the sole owner," Issacs bragged, not minding Alice or Zeel.

Alicia did not seem concerned, but Alice was incredibly anxious. Alice knew that Zeel could care less about the outcome, so it was her own efforts that would determine the fate of her home planet.

"Yes, that reminds me. You're a co-owner but Wesker is just an employee," Alicia said, alternating her gaze between Zeel and Alice.

Alicia then nodded her head, as if she had made up her mind.

"So, my loyalties lie with Dr. Isaac. What is your point?" Wesker replied not even hiding the fact he didn't like his own boss.

"I know. Wesker, you're fired and Zeel you're hired," Alicia said as The Red Queen quickly processed the order marking Zeel as protected from all actions and Wesker open to retaliation.

All of a sudden the guns pointing at Zeel turned to Wesker and began firing.

Isaacs, not letting the moment pass, rushed out of the office with the vial, followed by Alice and Zeel.

Isaac barely made it to the lift before Alice sent a dozen knives after him. Isaac was genuinely surprised as he had been notified that Alice had lost her abilities.

Issacs managed to maneuver around many of the daggers Alice threw with telekinesis.

Zeel rushed toward Issacs, sending a kick which was parried before Isaac responded with a fist that was slashed through by a dagger from Alice.

Zeel tackled Issacs causing them both to slide onto the lift that acted as an elevator to the deeper levels of The Hive.

Finally catching up, Alice jumped in the fray as the trio began a three-way battle with the lift constantly moving upwards.

The whiplash from the fast movement did not hinder any of the fighting trio since they were all enhanced to peak human physiques.

The lift continued upwards at an astonishing speed, flashing past each sector of the Cryo-chambers containment.

Zeel could see the bombs placed earlier flashing with a red light.

The bombs were keyed into the heart rate of both Zeel and Alice, in the event they failed to complete the mission.

However, the bombs also had a trigger that could set them off. Zeel and Alice chose bombs that could not be hacked for this very reason.

The lift suddenly paused, causing all parties to freeze for a moment before it began descending at an astonishing speed, too fast for their falling bodies to catch up.

Zeel knew they had to find a stable foothold before they reached terminal velocity since it would take a lot out of Alice to slow them down.

If things continued like this they would fall to their deaths, Alice was not strong enough to stop their descent at this rate.

Zeel thought about jumping off with Isaacs but the anti-virus was still on the latter. He would have to be extremely careful with his tackle.

Zeel slowed his perception of time, gathered strength in his legs, and tackled Isaac off the lift into one of the many rows of Cryo-chambers sustaining the Umbrella High Command.

Alice didn't even notice when Zeel and Issacs were gone, but luckily, the telekinetic pulse allowed her to figure out the section they entered.