28 Enlightenment, Part 2

Word count 12,384

Rebecca Chambers frowned, thinking deeply on what had happened in the last half-hour.

There had been the shocking revelations in Aeon's backstory, alongside the true nature of both himself and the two women at the top of Insight Corp., a name that made a lot of sense when one knew of Aeon's past and the personal meaning he would give to that word.

And then… there were Aeon's words to Chris, on the nature of his divinity… and the consequences of it.

After his shocking speech, Lucy had called for a break, in order to give everyone time to recover from all that had happened and been revealed.

And right now, Rebecca was staring, mind awhirl, at Aeon who had his back turned to them all, hands clasped behind his back, staring out of a nearby window at the world beyond.

What did he see, she wondered, whenever he did so?

Did he see all the joys of humanity, all the ways that mankind made this world a place filled with beauty and wonders?

Or on the contrary, was his sight filled only with mankind's darkness, and he was, even now, listening to all the prayers of desperate people across the world, knowing he could make it all stop… if only he let go of his beliefs on free will?

Aeon was a tall, strongly-built man with broad shoulders… but she couldn't help but fear that even he could not hold the weight of the world on his shoulders forever.

The weight of several billions of lives was not so easily carried, and the fact that he was still trying his best to do so, simply because it was not in his nature to not try and help make the world a better place, spoke greatly of the strength of his convictions… and his willpower.

Finally, she steeled her courage and stepped forward.

Jill, Chris, and Barry were talking quietly not far from her, the deep frowns on their faces making it clear that the latest revelations had troubled them greatly, which she could certainly sympathize with.

But in the end, right now she was more concerned about Aeon himself than the secrets he revealed. There would be time to think about all of this later.

So instead, she walked up to his side, smiling at him.

"Hey. You alright?"

Aeon blinked, glancing away from the window to Rebecca, and her smile turned softer, a note of concern in her green eyes.

"What you said to Chris was…" she trailed off, at a loss for words for a moment, before her expression turned determined.

"I wanted to thank you."

He tilted his head, looking curious.

"Thank me?"

She shrugged slightly, an amused grin on her lips.

"Well, apparently you went and decided to become the first actual god, a benevolent god at that, of our world, if I understood your words correctly. And you and Oedon, Lucy… all three of you actually went a step further, by deciding to live here, on Earth, to share in humanity's joys and sorrows directly, instead of watching it all from your version of Heaven. I just thought that, everything else aside… I'd thank you for that. I'm not much of a religious person, never really been… but I must admit, after having to fight real life monsters, knowing that humanity has gods watching over us does help. And then there are your words about the fact that you apparently created the afterlife?"

She shook her head.

"The idea of there being nothing after death… after the last mission, that terrifies me. The idea that the last I could see of the world, is me dying on a battlefield… or becoming a zombie… and that's not even talking about everyone else. I… hadn't had the time to get to know the members of the Bravo Team of S.T.A.R.S. all that well... and now I never will… but knowing that they are still there somewhere, up in an afterlife and free of danger… It helps."

She paused. "They are, right?"

Aeon nodded. "They are. All of them. I'm here for you all, remember? If not me, the human avatar of my true self, then at least my greater self is."

He hummed, closing his eyes for a second before smiling, glancing again at Rebecca.

"Richards wanted to thank you, by the way."

She froze. "You mean-"

"Yup. He never really got the chance to say it, but he was really impressed by your medical skills. Though he also wanted to apologize, since he ended up wasting all your hard work in the end."

Aeon chuckled. "He was very sheepish about that, even if he considered it well worth it in order to save Chris."

Rebecca laughed, shaking her head, a weight on her heart disappearing thanks to Aeon's words.

"That sounds like him, alright." she agreed, a soft smile on her face, happy to know that despite everything, Richard apparently died happy.

Aeon smiled, before that smile turned into a smirk.

"Of course, last I saw him, he and the other dead S.T.A.R.S. members were getting thoroughly drunk off their asses in the bar area of the afterlife, and he had two lovely ladies at his side who seemed pretty impressed by his heroics, so I'd say it all worked out pretty well for him."

Rebecca's jaw dropped, before she bursted out laughing, attracting the attention of everyone in the room.

She waved them off, slowly getting her laughter back under control, before she grinned at Aeon.

"Tell him that his kind words are appreciated, but that I'll still give him an earful when I'll next see him. I worked hard to save his life, and he just threw it all away a few hours later?"

She shook her head.

"He's lucky that I can't get to him, or the next time he needed anything involving needles, it would have ended up his ass."

Aeon laughed, before giving her a two-finger salute. "I'll make sure he knows that his medical officer hasn't appreciated his idea of 'recovering' from his wounds, and that he better watch his back the next time you'll cross paths with him."

"What are you guys talking about?" wondered Chris, with Jill and Barry close by, looking curious as well.

"Oh, nothing. Just that Richard is apparently already getting drunk and picking up ladies in the afterlife using tales of his 'heroics'." Deadpanned Rebecca while using air quotes, lips twitching into a smirk.

Her fellow S.T.A.R.S. members blinked in shock, and the next few minutes were filled with a flurry of questions directed at Aeon over the fates of their dead teammates.

Needless to say, learning that they all were fine in the afterlife was an obvious weight off everyone's back (and hearts), and the discussion swiftly dissolved into a mix of fond remembrance of amusing stories about the dead, alongside occasional add-on by Aeon who revealed some tidbits about the afterlife and those within.

While Rebecca herself was very happy to know her dead teammates were doing alright, she still couldn't help but glance at Aeon from time to time.

While the current talk might have distracted him, his previous words still weighed heavily in her mind, and she wanted to try and help make the weight on his shoulders a bit lighter somehow.

Well, becoming a Hunter like him might be the best way to go about that. If nothing else, she'll be stronger that way, and she would thus hopefully take on missions that he would have to do by himself otherwise.

That, and from the sound of it, there weren't any Hunters besides him in this world. Having others like him, a team he could trust, should go a long way in helping share the burden of protecting the world from the monsters and abominations who threaten it.

Eventually, the break ended, Lucy calling them back to the table they had starting this meeting on.

So much had already happened… and she had a strong feeling that there was much yet to come.

Still, a glance around showed that everyone looked focused, even eager to keep going, Chris himself looking much more relaxed that he had been at the start of the day, the stories of Richard's "adventures" in the afterlife having obviously eased the guilt of his death at least somewhat.

"Alright. We've made a lot of progress, and covered some important subjects so far. However, now that we are all on the same page when it comes to the events of the Arklay Mountains, and about Aeon's past and our divinity, it's time to get to what we truly gathered here today to talk about."

Lucy looked at them all in the eyes, before finishing.

"Let us talk about Umbrella and every other faction involved in the creation of Bio-Organic Weapons of War."

Rebecca swallowed, her body tensing in anticipation, and the rest of her team leaned forward, looks of obvious interest on their faces.

This was it: the answers they all came here for, the knowledge they needed to protect the world, and to make sure that something like the mission in the Arklay Mountains would never happen again.

"The origins of Umbrella Corporation," began Lucy, and the holo-projector began showing various images "lie with the eugenics movements that dominated the Europe and North American debates in the early 20th century. The company's three most prominent founding members were Dr. Oswell E. Spencer, The Earl Spencer; Dr. Edward Ashford, 5th Earl Ashford, and Dr. James Marcus, who were university classmates. Further early work was also contributed by Marcus' protégé, Brandon Bailey; the 16th Earl Beardsley and his daughter, Mylène; and France's House of Henry, from which Christine and her father were part of. All of these people were virologists with some associations with the eugenics movement either by themselves or by association to another prominent figure. Umbrella's immediate pre-history truly began in 1966, when Dr. Marcus developed a hypothesis that a mythical West African flower known as the Stairway of the Sun bestowed powers to its consumers by a mutagenic viral infection. In a trip to the Ndipaya tribal lands of West Africa, the fabled flower was discovered in an underground garden and a virus was discovered in it. However, flowers cultivated in the United States failed to replicate the virus."

Lucy took a sip of water, before sighing.

"Requiring significant funding beyond their aristocratic links to bring about their dream on eugenics, Spencer formed Umbrella Pharmaceuticals on behalf of Ashford and an indifferent Marcus and established a base in the Ndipaya garden so Progenitor samples could be transported over the Atlantic instead. Requiring more money, the three agreed to a plan later known as the 't-Virus Project', where they would independently develop strains of Progenitor to sell to the US military as a weapon."

Lucy paused, before giving them a look. "So yes, if you are wondering, the U.S. does know of the threat that B.O.W.'s represent… especially when many in the government want to be the ones using B.O.W.'s."

There were grimaces and scowls across the faces of every S.T.A.R.S. members, and Rebecca felt sick at the thought that the U.S. government was completely in the know about Umbrella's research… and actively, if discreetly, approved of it.

Nonetheless, Lucy kept going, a scowl on her own face.

"The t-Virus Project expanded considerably over this period thanks to research led by Dr. William Birkin at the end of the 1970's, inspired by Marcus' independent but otherwise unrelated work in 1978, which saw the abandonment of t-Virus as a weapon of death and instead utilized its mutagenic properties to keep the infected alive in a mentally-damaged, homicidal, and cannibalistic state capable of maintaining activity after a cardiac arrest."

"As Umbrella's power increased, the founding circle began warring amongst themselves. Dr. Ashford was the first victim, killed in 1968 by his own prototype t-Virus in an accident believed to be masterminded by Spencer. Marcus became unpopular with the executive body due to his use of executive trainees as guinea pigs and was eventually executed by the Umbrella Security Service in 1988. Edward's son, Dr. Alexander Ashford, was not a virologist and so became an irrelevance to the bioweapons project, and though his genetically-engineered daughter Alexia restored the Ashford prestige, both became infected with the experimental t-Veronica Virus and disappeared from public life, believed to be dead. The surviving son, Alfred, grew into minor administrative roles, his family no longer a threat to Spencer. Beyond the three founders in Spencer's inner circle, Dr. Brandon Bailey is forcibly kept in Africa to this day. Drs. Henry and Beardsley died at different points in the early 1990's and their respective daughters, Christine and Mylène, took control of their facilities in Europe. Although Mylène Beardsley had plans to take over the company, she was not a serious threat."

Lucy took another sip of water, her blue eyes cold as ice over what she was speaking about.

"With the realization of a rare immunity to the virus, the t-Virus Project expanded again in the early 1980's as laboratories across the world developed chimeric animals known as Bio-Organic Weapons that would be sent out by militaries to kill survivors. By this period, the Umbrella Corporation itself had grown to such a size that it required regional subsidiaries to handle operations. Umbrella USA held control over American facilities and administration and was based in Chicago, with the Arklay Laboratory being its main facility for bioweapons research until the opening of the NEST in 1991 within Raccoon City for research on the G-Virus, a Progenitor viral strain capable of repairing dead tissue that could, in theory, transform infected people into superhumans just as Spencer wished."

"In theory." repeated Chris.

Lucy nodded. "Considering the rest of Umbrella's virus projects and their outcomes, I have great doubts that whoever is infected with the G-Virus could, in any way, shape or form, be still considered 'humans.'"

There were several grimaces across the room at that.

"Umbrella Europe" continued Lucy after a moment, "was formed during the 1980's out of the partial integration of national branches in Western Europe out of frustration of Umbrella USA's influence over research. Umbrella Europe, from what we know, is pioneering the Nemesis Project, a plan to create an intelligent parasite that would serve as a replacement brain to work around Umbrella USA's failure to prevent the t-Virus from causing brain damage and loss of intelligence. This plan ran alongside Umbrella USA's Tyrant Project to develop a superhuman weapon, and was integrated in 1998, this year, to create the Nemesis-T Type as a European achievement, while Umbrella USA's own counter to it was the Talos Project to develop an organic computer link so a sophisticated AI could pilot a Tyrant instead."

"Oh, great. Just great. Tyrants with intelligent parasites and fucking A.I. now. Why am I even surprised? What's next? Tyrants with rocket launchers?" grumbled Jill, looking equally disturbed and pissed about the news of deadlier Tyrants being created by Umbrella.

To be fair, Rebecca was no different, and by the look of their faces, Chris and Barry wholeheartedly agreed.

Aeon snorted. "Oh, you've got no idea." he muttered, and Rebecca, the only one close enough to hear him, threw him a wide-eyed look at his words.

"In any case, aside from the two chief continental groups was Umbrella Japan Co., Ltd. which administrated Umbrella's research into biotechnology and machinery for this purpose in 1987. At the end of the decade, Umbrella also acquired the Queen Zenobia, Queen Dido, and Queen Semiramis for the Paraguas Line Company, which would transport bio-weaponry overseas along with the separately-purchased Spencer Rain. Planes would also transport bioweapons cargo via the Antarctic Transport Terminal, a facility first opened in the 1960's for the Ashfords' research, but would be almost solely used as an international shipping depot following the disappearance of Dr. Alexia Ashford in 1983. Nonetheless, Umbrella USA oversaw the most successful sectors of Umbrella, with an estimated one-third of Raccoon City's 100,000 inhabitants working for its subsidiaries active there."

Yet again, the members of S.T.A.R.S. grimaced, not liking being reminded of how utterly omnipresent Umbrella's influence was in Raccoon City.

"In the early 1990's, the Collapse of the Soviet Union allowed Umbrella to expand its paramilitary organizations, the Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service and Umbrella Security Service, as well as the Umbrella Intelligence Division and its Monitors, which are the equivalent of the NKVD of Umbrella. The U.B.C.S. itself was founded via agreements with mercenaries formerly from Communist guerrilla fighters and nationalist terrorists arrested soon after the collapse, alongside retired soldiers from the Warsaw Pact states. In 1994, a boot camp for anti-B.O.W. training was set up on Rockfort Island, administered by Alfred Ashford, the grandson of Edward. Its military expansion from this point is linked with the U.B.C.S.' founder and commanding officer, Colonel Sergei Vladimir, whose special genes gave Umbrella USA an opportunity to finally mass-produce the Tyrant line by experimenting on his clones."

"Wait, wait, mass-produced Tyrants? Clones? What?!" interrupted Jill, looking immensely disturbed.

Rebecca could only numbly agree, because the thought of mass-produced Tyrants was a terrifying one.

Lucy merely grimly nodded. "I am afraid so. Colonel Vladimir considers the Tyrants his sons, and considering his Soviet past, he is eager to create as many of them as he can. Human-waves tactic, but with Tyrants. Though the fact that he considers them his sons, and still wants them to go and die for him and Umbrella, should tell you much about the man."

Rebecca clenched her fists tightly, as much disgusted as she was terrified by the idea of an army of Tyrants.

Though the fact that Umbrella's military leader was a Soviet monster was horribly appropriate...

"By this year, Umbrella would have an imposing air unit, consisting of Black Hawks, Little Birds, CH-53 Sea Stallions, AV-8 Harriers, and C-130 cargo planes. Its ground forces are armed with M4A1 carbines and MP5 submachine guns, with the USS equipped with British-made S10 gas masks. In its intelligence expansion, Umbrella had successfully implanted moles within the US military, such as Dr. Albert Wesker, and learned of American ambitions to eventually abandon support for Umbrella with the use of their own bioweapons program. Umbrella's influence over the nations it was selling arms to was nonetheless still strong, to the extent that when the No.57 Plant in West Africa suffered an outbreak in 1994, the U.B.C.S.'s massacre of everyone in the nearby town was covered up by the government, and a case of human experimentation gone horribly wrong in a hospital in the Arklay Mountains ended with no police investigation and the media failing to identify Umbrella to the incident and the hospital simply closed in 1993. A news reporter who investigated the case was murdered in 1996 and his body was dumped into the nearby Aimes River, with no follow-up investigation to link him to the case."

"Wait, I heard of that one. The case remained close to this day due to a lack of leads... " Chris paused, before scowling. "Fucking Umbrella. Of course they killed nosy journalists, why am I even surprised? To say nothing of that entire village…"

"And a government once again helped Umbrella." Rebecca said softly, a dark look in her eyes.

Aeon smiled grimly. "Trust me: it gets worse."

"Tell me, are you aware of the Federation of Pharmaceutical Companies? Sometimes called the Global Pharmaceutical Consortium?" Lucy asked.

Rebecca was the only one who nodded, probably because of her own status as a medic.

She frowned. "Now that you mention it, Umbrella is one of the most powerful members in it…"

Lucy smiled.

"Indeed. You probably aren't aware, but Insight Corp. is not, in fact, part of that group. Not because we don't have what it takes to join, but…"

She sighed. "Because it's a den of vipers. Groups like Umbrella, Shén Yà Pharmaceutical, Tricell, and even Gentek… all of them are incredibly corrupt, and all of them are either currently creating, or would love to create, B.O.W's. The fact that Insight Corp. has refused to join has led us to have something of a bad reputation among the members of the Federation, and we had to get creative at times to avoid several attempts at pressuring us to join or be taken over, but we've managed. Then there are other groups, like the Organization and the Family…"

She paused, before pursing her lips in thought.

"Shén Yà Pharmaceutical and Tricell are currently in the second category, those with no actual experience in creating B.O.W's, so while they are problems in the future, we'll focus on the others first, as the ones actively being problems."

"We'll start with the Organization. It is a rival group to Umbrella, and they wish to both destroy Umbrella and steal their data in order to profit from it. They have advanced technology and large amounts of resources - financially, politically, among many others - at their disposal, and they have effective free-reign in their sphere of influence. The Organization made repeated attempts to cripple or damage Umbrella's key operations and facilities, knowing that these acts of sabotage could eventually dismantle Umbrella's influence and power."

"The Organization's activities truly began to spike up this year, when Ada Wong, who I believe you already heard of-" they nodded, remembering the name of the spy Aeon had warned them about "-was sent to infiltrate the Arklay Laboratory near Raccoon City and was 'romantically' involved with the new head researcher, John Clemens, as a means to steal intelligence for her company. John was very serious about his relationship with Ada and even used her name as his computer account password. However, Ada Wong was actually in Raccoon City at the time, seeking to find and take data from Raccoon City's NEST."

She paused, before smiling grimly.

"Recently, at the start of July, Albert Wesker, who needs no introduction,-" they all scowled at the name, making Lucy smirk "- decided to form an alliance with the Organization. As a means to introduce himself, he required combat data from various B.O.W.'s released during the outbreak in the Arklay Laboratory. While working undercover for Umbrella, he personally led his own team in, which is all of you here, to serve as test subjects and to facilitate the acquisition of the necessary data."

"Wesker would eventually activate the Tyrant, the creature whose combat data was most needed, to dispose of you all when you turned out to be harder to kill than anticipated, and to help him fake his own death. After you destroyed the Tyrant, the newly-made superhuman Wesker was lacking combat data, and initially considered the plan a failure. However, Wesker did manage to secure combat data from other B.O.W.'s that his teammates had fought, and this was surprisingly enough for him to become a high-ranking operative of the Organization, from what we have discovered."

"For all that they have a lot of power, they don't have the decades of experience with B.O.W.'s that Umbrella possesses." explained Aeon. "So when Wesker showed up with a relatively small amount of data, by Umbrella's standards, in their HQ, the Organization immediately made him into a high-ranking operative."

He paused. "His personal knowledge of B.O.W.'s helps, too."

Chris scowled. "The Organization, huh? Good to know. I'll make sure to keep it in mind if I cross their paths."

Lucy nodded at him, before continuing, the holoprojector showing another image.

"This is Derek Clifford Simmons, a national security advisor to the US government, and more importantly, the leader of a secret fraternity which was founded sometime in the Age of Enlightenment. The exact year of founding of the Family is uncertain, but it was founded prior to the American Revolutionary War by members of the English Simmons family. The Family's global headquarters is based in New England, in the limestone caverns near Tall Oaks which could be accessed through a secret entrance at Tall Oaks Cathedral. Though heavily associated with the American political process, the Family focuses on the goal of furthering bio-weapons development and would later assist in committing acts of treason. The Family is known for its globe-spanning network of lodges and its enormous financial influence. Its core belief is to maintain global stability, though this can otherwise be seen as creating a stable world best suited for the organization's needs. This policy was acted upon by taking senior civil service roles, which could make them the ears of those with considerable power. The greatest issue with this man and his group is that they are dedicated to the proliferation of Bio-Organic Weapons, and even their wide-scale use in war. As such, he can only be considered an enemy of Insight Corp., as we seek to end any and all research into B.O.W.'s if at all possible. The fact that he is ready to take drastic measures to hide any proof of an US involvement in Bio-Organic Weapons means that any attempts to let the public know of the US government secret bioweapons project will result in him considering any of us a target… which is particularly important considering the last two groups of today's briefing. "

She paused.

"Of passing interest is that he and Ada Wong know one another and have worked together often in the past. Whether that continues for long or not remains to be seen."

"When you say that he is ready to use drastic measures to hide any involvement of the US with Bio-Organic Weapons, how bad are we talking about?" wondered Jill.

"From the assassination of a US president to the use of nukes to destroy any city that is suffering from an outbreak… especially if that city hold links to secrets Simmon would prefer remain hidden."

Rebecca paled, and the others were no better.

That was… they did say that he had committed treason, but this was far beyond mere treason!

"Right. Secretly evil Illuminati leader is evil, got it." dryly replied Chris, staring hard at the picture of the man in question.

"Indeed. Now, we are going to briefly look over Tricell and Shén Yà Pharmaceutical, and then we'll go over the two groups that, after Umbrella, are potentially the most dangerous in the world… Well, I'd say they are actually the most dangerous in the world, really."

"That's a rather impressive claim, considering everything we now know about Umbrella. Research facilities all over the world, private armies and special forces, mass-produced B.O.W.'s… how can you top that?" wondered Jill, looking grim.

"You'll find out soon." replied Lucy, just as grimly.

"In any case, let's start with Shén Yà Pharmaceutical, which is based in China. They may look like a pharmaceutical company on paper, but in reality, they are a front for the research and development of a B.O.W. program for the Chinese military, and they have worked with and against Umbrella over the years. They are a threat, mostly because the Chinese government is willing to pay any price to get ahead of America on the research of B.O.W.'s, so don't be surprised if they try to send agents in any regions where they hope to get data about B.O.W.'s. An example of that was during the Bosnian War, where both Umbrella and Shén Yà Pharmaceutical were secretly involved, seeking to profit from the conflict engulfing the region."

"Wait, B.O.W.'s were used in the Bosnian War?" wondered Jill.

Lucy nodded. "They were, yes. Not many, but some. Umbrella wanted to use said conflict to test the effectiveness of their B.O.W.'s in an actual war, you see."

"Figures that those bastards would be involved in that mess…" Chris grumbled.

"Indeed. Now, for the next company: Tricell."

"TRICELL Inc., or simply Tricell, is a multi-industrial conglomerate, prominent in the Federation of Pharmaceutical Companies. It is a conglomerate of three organizations descended from Travis Enterprises. Its name is derived from the triumvirate of "cells" that formed it."

"Tricell's foundations can be traced back to Thomas Travis, an 18th century merchant during the Age of Exploration, who founded a trading company. When the firm entered the 19th century, Thomas' wealthy descendant, Henry Travis, inspired by the likes of Sir David Livingstone, funded an expedition to the African continent. This would have a dramatic impact on the future of the trading firm."

Henry made five expeditions to the continent in all. In his 34 years of travelling around West Africa, Henry developed an extensive, 72-volume encyclopedia on the region by detailing the lives and traditions of its various peoples, the local geology and ecology. Unfortunately, upon his return, his Natural History Conspectus was viewed upon by the scientific community as being largely fabricated or prone to literary license and as a result, only few copies were printed."

Lucy paused, scowling slightly.

"Based on the tales that survived into the 21st century, Henry's elder brother, who ran the Travis firm, was the cause of this disassociation with Henry's work, the elder brother having intentionally questioned Henry's work in order to make sure that only the company would believe in the existence of the potential wealth that his younger brother described. Henry fell into a state of depression and died on the second year of his return, having failed to become a childhood hero like Livingstone."

"Oh look, more greed causing pain and death. Why am I even surprised, anymore?" wondered Chris, shaking his head with a disgusted look on his face.

Lucy grinned grimly. "Welcome to the corporate world, where greed is law and money is king. Either way, at the end of the 19th century, the firm made its first expansion by using the geological information from Henry's encyclopedia to make significant inroads in Africa's natural resource extraction by mining for precious metals, oil, and natural gas. It was during this process that the company began obtaining samples of various African animal and plant species, intending to sell them to the naturalists within the scientific community. The medicinal qualities of some of these samples are noted by the company as a potential source of revenue, thus creating the third 'cell' of the company which was the pharmaceutical sector in the mid-20th century."

"In the 1960s, the company went through a significant change with the three sectors by becoming the 'cells' of the new company, 'TRICELL'."

"The three portions that make up Tricell are the Pharmaceutical, Natural Resources, and Shipping sectors."

"The pharmaceutical cell was founded after medicinal herbs were first collected from Africa, the shipping cell had foundations in the Travis family's business trade with Asia, and the natural resources cell was known for its extraction of fossil fuels, operating an extensive oil facility in West Africa."

"The important part here is that because of Henry, Tricell's leadership is fully aware of the flower discovered by Umbrella's founders. They've been trying to get their own hands on it for a while now, but Umbrella has been careful in making very, very sure that no one would get access to their metaphorical golden goose. That being said, if they ever succeed…"

Lucy trailed off, face grim, and the implications were clear: if Umbrella fell, Tricell would most likely follow in Umbrella's footsteps in the study of the Progenitor virus, and from there, the creation of their own extensive B.O.W.'s program.

"It never ends, does it? If it isn't Umbrella, it's someone else." Barry shook his head, looking tired.

"Welcome to the wonderful world of corporate greed." sarcastically replied Lucy. "If there is a demand, then there will be those willing to supply it… no matter how illegal and immoral it may be."

"And it apparently takes literal gods to create a benevolent corporation. Well, thanks to this briefing, I'll never be able to look at any pharmaceutical company the same way ever again…" grumbled Jill, a scowl on her face, and all S.T.A.R.S. members agreed.

Rebecca herself frowned deeply. Knowing about Umbrella was one thing, but to learn that so many other corporations were almost as bad was…

Well, it was both chilling and enraging. Rebecca had begun to see Umbrella like a cancer upon humanity the more she had learned of it, one who sought to always grow, spread, and infect everything it touched, until such a time where it would kill off all non-infected cells… that is to say, the rest of humanity.

But the fact it wasn't alone in it… For the first time, she truly contemplated how close to the brink of destruction the world might be, if no one stood up to the cancers upon it.

Aeon and the others were those trying to heal a sick body, and the more she learned, the more it became clear that they needed all the help they could get.

When she thought about it, becoming a Hunter would be like a surgeon trying to cut out the infected cells in a body, with Lucy, Oedon, and Insight Corp. as a whole being the support medical staff…

Well, she thought with a grin, I did want to be a medic. I suppose that, in the end, it all comes down to the same: saving a body from disease, using whatever methods are required.

Rebecca nodded to herself. Once more, the outcome remained the same: she needed to become a Hunter, in order to be better able to help people.

Though she wondered if Lucy might be willing to employ her as a doctor... She didn't have the actual title currently, but Rebecca was more than willing to work hard to help in whatever ways she could, and at the difference of the rest of S.T.A.R.S., she could put her intelligence to hopefully create cures for the people at risk of being victims of viruses like the t-Virus.

"To be fair, it isn't like only the corporations are involved in researching B.O.W.'s, which brings us to the last two groups in this briefing: one is a corporation… and the other is an actual branch of the US Army." declared Lucy, and when she said these words, all three gods turned grim.

Lucy took a deep breath, and the projector showed new images.

"Let us start with Blackwatch. Blackwatch Special Forces, officially designated under 1st Biological Warfare Command, is the Black Ops military force of the United States responsible for the containment of biohazard/viral outbreaks."

"Their motto is, and I quote:

'When we hunt, we kill!

No one is safe!

Nothing is sacred!

We are Blackwatch!

We are the last line of defense!

We will burn our own to hold the red line,

it is the last line to ever hold!'

As you can imagine, that reveals a lot of what their preferred tactics are like."

"So, the specific part of the US Army supposed to handle bio-warfare… are a band of sociopathic killers? Great, just great." sarcastically replied Jill, looking disgusted and disturbed both.

Rebecca agreed, grimacing hard and thinking of Billy.

The more she learned about the secrets of the US Army, the less she liked what she was hearing…

"Blackwatch, huh? Can't say I ever heard of them… did you, Barry? You were in the army longer than me." asked Chris, but Barry shook his head.

"Can't say I ever heard of these friendly-sounding bastards before, no."

Lucy nodded. "As expected. Officially, Blackwatch does not exist. It is a Black Ops unit that is given free reign when it comes to containing viral outbreaks. The organization has access to vast stockpiles of military arsenal and experimental technologies, in addition to controlling the most refined information control technologies, vital to preserving the ignorance of the American public."

"Furthermore, they have full authority over American military forces and local police when it comes to biological warfare - they can request any information and any amount of military force to serve under their command."

"Each member of the organization is single-mindedly dedicated to its goal and fully believes that the end justifies the means, no matter how distasteful the means are. As such, Blackwatch soldiers will execute infected humans without hesitation, use area of effect weapons in urban areas, and deploy heavy armor and gunships in crowded areas just to destroy a single infected."

"They will also not hesitate to firebomb entire city blocks just to suppress the infection, regardless of other military and civilian presence. Some members have even been noted as possessing a cruel and sadistic streak while doing so. This approach earns them the ire of any jointly deployed military forces, who usually consider them gung-ho, barbarians, bloodthirsty psychopaths, and worse."

"Well that's just fucking great. So the army in charge of protecting us from the monsters are in fact even greater monsters themselves. Government-backed monsters, with full authority to order and kill anyone they damn well please. My trust in the US government is going up in smoke by the minute in this damn briefing." complained Barry, looking pissed and thoroughly done with this shit simultaneously.

A feeling fully matched by everyone from S.T.A.R.S., who could only contemplate in horrified awe the sheer evil of what they were learning.

"Oh, it gets worse." Aeon said, chuckling darkly.

"Worse?" exclaimed Jill, staring in horror at him.

Lucy nodded grimly, before continuing.

"Blackwatch was established on June 9, 1962 by DARPA and the Department of the Army, with its base of operations at Fort Detrick, Maryland. The purpose for Blackwatch was to protect America from biological attacks. Its original mandate was the research and development of biological weaponry for use against foreign powers. In pursuit of that mandate, Blackwatch created the Redlight virus and used it in the Carnival I and Carnival II projects."

"Following the Hope, Idaho fiasco and Operation Altruistic, however, its mission was changed to its current one: detection, concealment and prevention of outbreaks of unknown viruses, both modified and natural, on American soil. The actual viral research and development of biological weapons was outsourced to Gentek when Raymond McMullen established the company in 1979. Gentek researchers later went on to create a new and more devastating virus in Project Blacklight."

"Wait, you mean-" began Jill, looking even more horrified.

"Yes. The US government has their own version of the Progenitor virus, codenamed Redlight, and to be perfectly blunt? Redlight makes the t-Virus look like a cute and cuddly example in comparison. And Blacklight is to Redlight what the G-Virus is to the t-Virus."

The members of S.T.A.R.S. looked in stunned silence at Lucy for a long moment, before Chris took a deep breath… and began loudly and viciously swearing at the news.

Rebecca herself clenched her hands, trying to stop them from shaking, because the idea that there was a virus out there that made even the best of what Umbrella possessed look weak and pathetic was utterly terrifying.

"How…" Jill licked her lips nervously, eyes filled with fear. "How bad is it, exactly?" she asked softly.

Lucy sighed, before using the projector to show new images.

"It all began in 1963, with the Carnival I project. During the project, the Redlight virus was injected into chimpanzees. The results were surprising; all subjects exhibited some form of positive and beneficial development, heightened intelligence, increased strength, and numerous other symptoms. This success paved the road for Carnival II - experimentation on humans."

"Carnival II took place in 1964, a year after Carnival I. After the success of Carnival I, Blackwatch opted to test out the Redlight virus on humans. For this purpose, they created an artificial town, Hope in Idaho, filled with a variety of ethnicities and backgrounds. The cover story was that it was a military experiment to test self-sufficient towns in case of a nuclear war. The virus was disguised as a 'harmless' solution, simulating fallout and the townsfolk eagerly participated in the tests, literally 'rolling up their sleeves' for the researchers to inject them with the substance."

Lucy grimaced, and Rebecca certainly sympathized. This was like sending hundreds of people to be slaughtered like cattle, and the fact it was done by the US government made her feel sick at the very thought.

"Formally, the project began on June 11, 1964. As part of it, 461 subjects were infected with DX-1118, a variant of Blacklight."

"Initially, the results were nonexistent. Unlike the Carnival I chimps, humans did not exhibit any immediate changes or alterations. It was not until 1965 and the birth of the first of the so-called 'Hope Children', that the effect of the virus manifested. The Hope Children were children born in Hope from parents who were injected with the Redlight virus. The total number of Hope Children was 27. They usually lived less than three years.

Each one of the Hope Children had some sort of abnormal ability. This showed that the virus was trying to achieve something, yet failed in reaching its goal. After the death of the children, their bodies were preserved for future reference."

Rebecca and the others grimaced at the images shown, which did nothing but show the cruelty of it all.

She couldn't even imagine what the parents had to have felt, living in that nightmarish town and knowing any children you try to have would turn out like… this.

"The experiment continued, despite the fact that most of the town was infected. It was not until the untimely death of the last of the Hope Children that the situation became critical."

"The virus had no effect on humans at first. On August 8, 1968 however, Elizabeth Greene's unique strain of the virus took control of the whole town, turning the people into mindless slaves, seeking to protect her at all cost. In response to the biological threat, Blackwatch conducted Operation Altruistic, leveling the town and securing Elizabeth Greene, beginning a new era of biological research on July 7, 1969."

"Damn..." whispered Chris.

"What happened to Greene after that?" wondered Jill.

"Due to the infection, Greene's biology had changed. Her aging seems to have stopped and she did not exhibit any degenerative effects common to most human beings. Her body was producing new virus strains on a daily basis. She went into a dormant state akin to brain death. Greene was transferred to Fort Detrick on August 1, 1969 for containment, and held at Fort Detrick, Ward F, for several months. Blackwatch then hired Dr. Raymond McMullen, the Director of Gentek, to continue experimentation with gene manipulation."

"On October 1, 1978, she was transferred to containment at Governor's Island Medical station, New York. Then she was moved to the Gentek building, located in midtown in Manhattan on January 1, 1989 for study in Project Blacklight, as Test Subject 001 at Dr. Raymond McMullen's request. She remains there to this day." Replied Lucy.

"So Blackwatch has their own Lisa Trevor, basically, and they've been experimenting on her for 40 years in the middle of fucking Manhattan. Damn it, this is just…" Chris passed a hand through his hair, looking thoroughly disgusted.

"Indeed." agreed Lucy. "And that brings us to the last faction of interest of today: Gentek itself."

"Due to Dr. McMullen's expertise in genetics, the organization Blackwatch would contact him in 1989 for his aid in their continuation of viral biological weapons research."

"Upon Gentek's recruitment, they officially became the professional face of Blackwatch. Hiring the top biological research scientists in the field, the company became key researchers for the Redlight Virus and later, the Blacklight. As one would suspect from a company of their type, their facilities are highly secure and go so far as to employ security measures that some may call "borderline paranoid". One of their employees was known to have described the company as a 'network of need-to-know silos'."

"Because of their work for Blackwatch, most of the company's top secret research centers around Elizabeth Greene. The extensive studies performed on Greene revealed that she carried a grand total of 14 different strains of the Blacklight Virus within her, with her acting as a sort of incubator towards its evolution. Dr. McMullen agreed to carry out this research and was known to be fascinated about the virus itself."

"That being said, the US government, partially because of the influence of General Peter Randall, the leader of Blackwatch and a man who was the captain charged with capturing Greene in Hope back in 1969, has been pushing for greater autonomy in the creation of B.O.W.'s for the US Army. Thus, if an outbreak from an Umbrella virus were to occur in any city of the US, it is almost certain that Blackwatch would collect samples, in order to study and create their own t-Virus infected B.O.W.'s through Gentek."

"While the thought of these people creating their own B.O.W.'s from the t-Virus is certainly disturbing, can you tell us more of what, exactly, the Redlight and Blacklight viruses are capable of?" asked Chris.

Lucy nodded grimly.

"Very well. Based on the data from Hope, these are several known results of the virus…"

"Infected citizens are ordinary people who have been infected by the Blacklight virus and have undergone minor mutations, becoming carnivorous walking corpses virtually devoid of intelligence and driven completely by their base instinct to feed and procreate the virus by infecting others. Their augmented characteristics include increased damage resistance, enhanced strength, and various growths and deformities."

"Their attacks, while lethal to non-infected humans, pose almost no threat to armored vehicles and greater infected beings. These Infected behave like the generic zombie, but the issue is that, at the difference of regular zombies from the t-Virus, the Redlight gives even greater strength and durability than the t-Virus, alongside even greater aggressiveness."

"In other words, Redlight zombies can run, jump, and require two to three magnum shots to the head to kill, instead of one or two at most." finished Aeon.

"So zombies on steroids. Got it." deadpanned Jill, looking thoroughly unamused at the concept.

Lucy nodded. "Correct. Then, we have the Walkers, who were once citizens or soldiers mutated due to exposure to the Blacklight virus. They are incubated within a hive and released from large pustule-like growths on the hive's outer walls. Unlike their 'cousins', Walkers have massive deformities all over their bodies and well-developed muscle mass, alongside a blade functioning as one of their arms. The clothing they wear is often very tattered, in shreds, and barely hanging onto their fleshy hides. The Walkers are capable of killing a foot soldier in a single blow, jumping inhuman heights, and crawling up vertical surfaces."

"So essentially human-looking Lickers in terms of threat level. Understood."

"Next are the Hunters. Hunters are incubated and hatched from infected water towers and hives. Hunters are large, brutal, heavily mutated humanoid beasts with reddish, hairless skin, bulging muscles, sunken eyes and a lipless mouth. They bear a fitting resemblance to a shaved gorilla, and their reflexes are equal to that of a canine."

"Just a few Hunters working together can tear apart tanks with ease and kill large groups of soldiers. They're able to climb walls, throw objects, leap great heights, and can deal and absorb a great deal of damage, with tough hides resistant to small arms. They also have a speed that belies their size. Hunters are a threat that greatly surpass their Umbrella counterpart."

"Furthermore, there exists a variant known as Leader Hunters. Stronger and faster than regular Hunters by orders of magnitude, a lone Leader Hunter is a serious threat to contend with. They can take far more damage than a regular Hunter, and cause just as much damage to match. They pounce on their foes until they've succeeded in killing the enemy, can throw debris over great distances with surprising accuracy, and can summon regular Hunters to aid them in battle. Nothing short of heavy tanks backed up by heavily-armored infantry alongside air support can truly hope to survive these monsters, at least, not if they have regular Hunters by their side, as they almost always do." Lucy grimly said.

"In other words, a Leader Hunter is essentially what happens if you mixed a Licker with a Tyrant, made them stronger and smarter, and gave them a pack to lead." clarified Aeon.

Rebecca swallowed at that, and the others weren't really better.

If they had encountered any of those in the mansion, they would have died. No if or buts about it.

Well, Aeon would have been fine, but everybody else…

Rebecca was suddenly incredibly grateful that Umbrella never got their hands on the Redlight virus.

As bad as the t-Virus was, it couldn't create things like these.

"Now, those were the variants seen during the Hope Outbreak. Do understand, however, that if there ever is a second outbreak, it is very likely that new forms of infected will appear." finished Lucy.

"Well that's just fantastic." tiredly grumbled Chris, to the unanimous agreement of everyone present.

"Well look on the bright side: we have now finished the briefing focused on the threats endangering the world!" cheerfully announced Lucy, much to the joy of every S.T.A.R.S. members, who all but collapsed in their respective seats in relief, much to the obvious amusement of the gods in the room.

"Oh thank god!" Chris cried out, before blinking and blushing as all three gods grinned at him.

"You called?" joked Aeon, eyes twinkling.

"Chris's bad choice of words aside," began Jill, passing a hand through her hair and looking thoroughly exhausted by all the horrifying revelations of the day, "What exactly is there left to talk about today? Because we've been at this for some time now, and as utterly fascinating, and terrifying, as this all was I really want to go get drunk and try not to think about everything that I learned today."

"Well, I'd like Oedon to talk a bit about what projects Insight Corp. has been working on to help protect the world, and then Aeon has something to talk to you about." replied Lucy, who waved at Oedon to take over while Lucy served herself a glass of water to hydrate her parched throat after this rather long briefing.

"Thanks. As Lucy said, I feel that we shall talk quickly about some of the projects we've been working on to help protect the world. First, you'll no doubt be very happy to hear that we are already working on a t-Virus vaccine, thanks to various samples Aeon brought from the Arklay Mountains." announced Oedon with a smile.

"Wait, really? When did you have the time to take those samples?" questioned Rebecca, happy to know a cure was being created, but rather confused on when, exactly, Aeon had the time to take those samples, considering she certainly didn't remember him doing so while he was with her and Billy…

"I took them while you were resting, after we arrived in the Spencer Mansion but before S.T.A.R.S.'s Alpha team showed up." answered Aeon.

Rebecca blinked, before nodding.

So that's what he was busy doing while she was resting...

Now that she thought about it, collecting samples to create a vaccine from them was probably his primary reason behind his presence in the Arklay Mountains… or maybe secondary, after making sure to stop the risk of a wider outbreak in its tracks.

"Well, that's certainly a relief to hear. How long do you think it'll take you to create that vaccine?" asked Jill, and Rebecca could clearly see the hope in her voice for getting a dose of it herself.

Not that Rebecca was much better, since she was just as eager to get her hands on it herself.

"Not long. I am a goddess, after all." pointed out Oedon with a grin.

She sighed deeply a moment later however.

"That being said, the real problem is mass production and distribution of the vaccine. We can easily give it to those affiliated with us, but we can hardly give it en masse to, say, the people of Raccoon City, not without having to explain what the vaccine is all about, and… well."

Rebecca grimaced, and her teammates weren't long behind.

Trying to vaccinate 100,000 people without a damn good reason was impossible, and they couldn't reveal the reason without publicly revealing all they knew about Umbrella and the t-Virus, which…

Well, after all they had learnt of both Umbrella and the US government, they had great doubt that this would end well.

"Fuck." cursed Jill, looking disgusted all over again.

Oedon nodded. "Indeed. We can't give out the cure to the t-Virus without explaining what the t-Virus is all about, and with Raccoon City so utterly controlled by Umbrella, the authorities and media would work together to utterly discredit us, so we probably wouldn't even succeed in convincing the people of the city to believe us of the need for it in the first place."

"Fucking hell… is there anything we can do?"

"Not without an actual outbreak forcing Umbrella's hands to become tied." answered Oedon, looking apologetic. "As long as there isn't unquestionable evidence proving the need for said vaccine, we can't actually give it to the people who need it most. And by that point…"

"By that point, who knows how many would have died already?" finished Chris, looking both incredibly pissed and tired.

Oedon smiled sadly. "Exactly."

The members of S.T.A.R.S. fell silent, grim looks on their faces.

Then Jill sighed, and looked at Oedon.

"Alright, so besides giving us even more reason to hate Umbrella, what else have you got for us?"

"Well, we are almost done with project FLASHLIGHT, though I'll let Aeon explain this one."

They all looked at him, and Aeon grinned widely, hands going into his deep pockets to draw out…

Huh, Rebecca was pretty sure she had never seen or heard of any kind of weapon that glows blue…

"Behold! The first plasma guns in the world!" he shouted with a wide smile.

"Plasma guns?!" shouted Barry, and Rebecca wasn't much more controlled, because seriously, actual plasma guns?

"Yup." replied Aeon, clearly smug, before putting them on the table and waving his hand, several different new guns appearing.

"Sadly, we don't have much more of those ready quite yet, but what we are mass producing are these guns:"

"Thousands of Lasguns by the end of September, alongside Laspistols, Long-Lases, and Shotlases. Considering that a single shot of a Lasgun can dismember or decapitate an infected with the t-Virus due to how devastating laser weapons are against unarmored targets, we are going to ensure that the Armed Forces around the world will have the perfect weapons to handle B.O.W.'s. We are also working on more powerful versions for Special Forces, such as the Plasma Guns you're holding. I'm hoping to sell these weapons to Blackwatch when a big enough outbreak happens, not only to better ensure that their leaders will be willing to fight for a city in danger, but also to increase the usage of Lasguns in the U.S. Military afterwards, and from there, the rest of the world. It'll change human warfare greatly, but Umbrella and their likes leave us no choice. Humanity needs better weapons to handle the monsters of tomorrow, and Insight Corp. will be there to produce them."

"That's…" Jill stopped, before sighing.

"On the one hand, giving better weapons to Blackwatch, or humanity as a whole for that matter, sounds like a recipe for disaster… but then again, after this briefing, I can't argue the need for it. Especially if an outbreak of Redlight or Blacklight happens again."

Chris grimaced, but nodded in agreement.

"I agree that humanity obviously needs better weapons, but I am really uncomfortable at the idea of Blackwatch having these kinds of weapons to use as they see fit. Though I imagine that you are trying to use them in a 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' situation, with Umbrella as the enemy of everyone?"

"More or less." agreed Aeon. "They have an army and a lot of influence in the US government. We'll need both in the times to come, so the overall plan is a defeat in detail of our enemies. Start with Umbrella, then focus on the other threats that need to be dealt with. If we try to fight them all at once, we would just paint a huge target on our backs. Better to deal with our enemies one at a time."

Chris scowled, but nodded.

"I don't like it, but not fighting a war on several fronts is a basic strategy for a good reason."

"Indeed. And speaking of waging war, Insight Corp. has its own private military known as I.S.I.S. Right now, we've got 150 men and women provided with the best equipment that we can provide them. So if a city-wide outbreak happens, Insight Corp. will try to join in the fray and help as much as we can." continued Oedon.

"Well, that's good to hear. I've got a bad feeling we will need all the help we can get in the future, if this briefing was anything to go by…" dryly commented Barry.

"That's the same reasoning that we had, yes. And that lead us to the last subject of this meeting." Aeon replied, before looking at every S.T.A.R.S. members in the eyes.

"Who among you-" he said softly, but firmly "-are willing to become Hunters of the Dream, much like I was once, with all that it implies?"

At those words, a weight fell on the room, as all knew that this was no decision to take lightly.

They had known as much from the moment Aeon had shown them exactly what being a Hunter meant.

"To be a Hunter is to walk with death and madness." softly declared Aeon. "It is to fight the worst horrors imaginable… many of which are beyond human imagination. It is daring to walk into the abyss and slay all that lives within it. We are not afraid of the nightmares that threaten existence, because we are the ones who bring fear in the hearts of those very nightmares. But makes no mistakes, to be a Hunter is to have a life built on sacrifices. It is to willingly choose to rush where angels fear to tread. You will know terrors, and you will know horror. You will know agony the likes of which you can't imagine right now."

He sighed.

"All of this… just so that others may never have to experience what you have, so that the innocents may live in peace, without fear, in a world where the monsters in the dark will never gain the power to threaten those who live in the light. To become a Hunter is to sacrifice a peaceful life, so that others may live it in your place. It is to become the greatest protector of a world in dire need of them. So tell me… how much are you willing to sacrifice, in order to have the power to protect the world from the monsters that would see it burn?"

There was a long silence following his words, before Rebecca stood up.

"You know my decision already. All that I learnt today only furthered my conviction that the path ahead of me is the one I need to take." she declared, as all eyes turned to look at her, but she cared only about the dark ones in front of her.

"You are right. The world needs protectors, and I joined S.T.A.R.S. in order to help make it a better place. The Earth is apparently filled with corporations and other groups that would see us all die, or worse. I am a medic, but there are many ways to help. If the world needs me to take up a weapon and fight for its sake in order to prevent the diseases that seek to infect it from the inside out to damn us all… then that's what I'll do." she said firmly, not a shred of doubt to be found in her voice.

She meant every word. These corporations and other groups were like cancers to humanity, and she wanted to help be a remedy to them.

And if that meant cutting away the infected part of a body to save the rest, then so be it.

These bastards at Umbrella certainly didn't seem to care if they cut her down.

Well, let's see if they liked a taste of their own medicine!

Aeon smiled at her, a measure of pride in his eyes that made her blush slightly, but she remained firm.

Finally, she sat down, and the room's attention shifted to Barry.

He swallowed… but shook his head.

"I'm sorry. I… my family…"

"It's alright." Aeon said softly. "There's nothing wrong with wanting to try and live a peaceful life, Barry. Especially when you have a wife and two daughters to worry about."

He paused, before continuing.

"If I were you, I'd take your family far away from Raccoon City, maybe leave the country altogether. Maybe go to Canada?"

Barry nodded, looking relieved by Aeon's understanding.

"Yeah… yeah, I might do that. Again, I'm sorry, but…"

"Don't be, Barry. You did enough back in the mansion, now go focus on those you love, okay?" gently said Jill, a small, sad but understanding smile on her face.

Barry nodded silently, still looking slightly guilty but also determined to do right by his family.

They all turned to look at Chris, who grimaced, looking hesitant for a long moment, before sighing deeply.

"I can't say I'm not tempted… Seeing what Hunters were capable of in your memories certainly was impressive… but, I just... "

He trailed off, and Aeon gave him a long look before smiling slightly.

"Don't worry, I think I get it. I will point out however, that this is a standing offer, and that you can change your mind at any time… as long as you are certain of your decision if you contact me to join, then I'll gladly welcome you."

Chris nodded in thanks, looking frustrated, but not at Aeon, but more at... himself?

Rebecca frowned, not sure what was up with him, but understanding that something was clearly weighting on his mind.

"Are you sure, Chris?" asked Jill, looking rather surprised by his decision.

"Leave him be, Jill. If this is what I think it is, it isn't something that can be solved without some time to himself." interrupted Aeon, glancing at Chris for a second.

Jill visibly hesitated, glancing from Aeon to Chris, but eventually decided to not comment.

Instead, she bit her lip, staring at Aeon for a long moment as she thought deeply on all that she had learnt… and then she nodded.

"I'll join too. I almost died several times in the Mansion. And if the threats of B.O.W.'s in the future are only going to grow stronger… Then I need to get stronger myself. Besides, I agree with Rebecca. I joined S.T.A.R.S. to make a difference. I doubt that I'll be able to remain long as a S.T.A.R.S. member considering that Umbrella will try to silence us so I am going to need help if I want to save the world from the likes of Umbrella. All of humanity is in danger because of them, and this isn't a war that I can fight on my own. I want to help people, Aeon. I want to protect them. That's why I became a cop in the first place, I wanted to help people. But this isn't something a simple cop can fight. So I'll join in, in the hope that I can save more lives, make a bigger difference as a Hunter than I can as a cop."

Rebecca smiled, happy that she won't be the only S.T.A.R.S member to join in with Aeon, and from there the meeting devolved in a few last minutes details and questions, before Aeon opened a portal back to Raccoon City for Chris and Barry, though she and Jill were asked to remain behind for a moment.

Once they were gone and the portal closed, Jill sighed, looking confused at where Chris had been sitting.

"I don't understand, why didn't he join? I can understand Barry, but Chris?" she said softly, frowning deeply.

"I'm not surprised myself. I honestly expected it." replied Aeon, looking more relaxed in his chair now that the greater part of this meeting was over.

"What do you mean?" wondered Jill, frown deepening and Rebecca couldn't help but lean forward, rather curious herself.

Aeon sighed, drinking a glass of water before looking gently at Jill.

"Think, Jill. Chris had had issues with authority all his life. That's why he left the army. When he joined S.T.A.R.S., he thought that he had found his place at last, and even came to greatly respect Wesker."

Aeon paused, but Jill swallowed, a look of realization in her eyes.

"And then we were betrayed, by Wesker himself. So now he is both angry and lost, and probably doesn't really know what to do, except to try and take revenge on Umbrella… and Wesker, now that he knows he survived."

"But he still carries the scars of the betrayal and seeing several friends die, so he just… really isn't ready to do something as important as choosing to join in as a Hunter right now. Honestly, I prefer it this way. I would have tried to help him if he had joined, but he was wise enough to know that he isn't really in a good mental headspace right now, and preferred to not make a decision that he might regret later. I believe that he will eventually join in, but only after he has had time to think and make peace about what happened in the mansion, and where he wants to go from there." finished Aeon, raising his glass in salute to Jill's understanding of the situation.

Jill frowned at his words, but she was obviously thoughtful rather than annoyed, and she eventually sighed and nodded.

"I guess it explains a lot. He did seem stressed when I talked to him before this meeting… I suppose that his respect for that bastard Wesker is really making things worse for him, huh?" she said softly, looking both sad and angry.

"Exactly. Again, I believe that he will eventually get better, move on, and grow stronger and wiser from all that has happened, but it'll take some time before then, and this is a path I think he must walk alone until he has the answers he needs."

Then Aeon straightened, and gave them both a firm look.

"Now, you both choose to become Hunters. I respect your reasons for it and won't bother asking you again if you are certain. As such, we must now handle the first requirement of being a Hunter, having the blood of a god in your veins."

He stood up, Oedon and Lucy following suit.

"I will not join you, I have more work to do for Insight Corp." declared Lucy, before she bowed slightly.

"Nonetheless, I look forward to working with you in the future for the sake of creating a better world. And you two… try to not break them too quickly, will you?" she said, giving a dry look to both Aeon and Oedon.

"I have no idea what you are talking about." innocently replied Oedon.

Lucy opened her mouth, but Oedon interrupted her with a grin.

"After all, you certainly enjoy it greatly whenever I or my husband break you."

Lucy coughed, before making a swift exit, blushing all the way.

Aeon threw an amused glance at his wife, while Rebecca and Jill blushed slightly themselves.

"You just had to tease her, didn't you?"

Oedon shrugged shamelessly.

"There was far too much heavy talk today. It was about time I broke the tension somehow."

Aeon rolled his eyes.

"Yes, truly you have made a great sacrifice for all of our sakes and should be honored thoroughly for it."

Oedon grinned. "Well, I certainly always do enjoy it greatly whenever you 'thoroughly' honor me-"

Rebecca coughed, face reddening with every sentence spoken and by now looking bright red.

"We should probably get on with whatever needs to be done, right? Right?" she desperately asked, fearing that she might yet find out quicker than expected just how good Aeon is in bed.

The fact a part of her actually wanted them to keep going, to escalate things, did not help...

Oedon pouted, though the twinkle in her green eyes made Rebecca fear and look forward to what she might have in plans for the future…

"Agreed. This way, you two." said Aeon, as another portal opened, which revealed…

"Huh."

Rebecca blinked, Jill doing the same, as they now stood in what they recognized as the Hunter's Dream… if the Hunter's Dream had a mansion instead of a small workshop.

"Welcome to the Hunter's Dream… our home." Oedon declared, a smile clearly visible on her face.

They looked around, noticing the glowing white flowers, the tombstones and more had not changed, but that the hill which had the workshop now had a beautiful mansion at its place.

"You redecorated it." said Jill, looking with interest at the building in front of her.

"As the role of the Hunter's Dream changed with its owner, isn't it only natural that its contents would be changed too?" asked Oedon, smiling at them.

"But come, let us not waste more time. I know that Aeon is certainly eager to get started on training you." she declared, looking with amusement at her husband, who was waving them forward from the entrance of the mansion.

Entering the building, Oedon and Aeon led them to a room filled with medical equipment, and soon enough both Jill and Rebecca were looking with anticipation at the IV attached to their right arms.

"So… that's your blood?" wondered Jill, looking at the blood bag filled with a deep black liquid connected to the IV, though she frowned when looking into it further made her wonder if the little star-like lights she was seeing were tricks of the light or something more…

"Indeed. Or more specifically, it's my true self's blood. In as much as my true self can bleed, that is…" he whispered at the end.

Rebecca took a deep breath, and then did her best to relax.

It was only the blood of a god, surely it wouldn't end badly?

… Oh who was she fooling, she was nervous as all hell.

Deep breaths, Rebecca. She thought. Deep breaths-

The blood entered her body.

Her eyes widened-

And then the cosmos opened itself to her, as three Great Beings of incomprehensible power turned to look at her.

As stars and galaxies and more flew by her and through her, as she witnessed the rise and fall of civilizations, the beginnings and ends of species, and the birth and death of the stars themselves, all three Great Ones remained a constant, forever both part of and yet beyond the Creation they watched over.

And in the center of it all, she saw a man whose body was made of the very fabric of Creation itself sitting on a throne, and every star that shone in his cosmic flesh seemingly turned to look at her, as if hundreds of billions, if not trillions, of eyes had finally found something worthy of their full attention.

For a moment that could have lasted from a fraction of a second to an eternity beyond the lifespan of entire universes, the stars merely observed her, seeing her and then through her, to everything that she was, is, and could be, and a near infinite number of images flashed before her, where she was both alive and dead, fighting by the side of her fellow S.T.A.R.S. members or against them, but every time she tried to focus on a single image, a billion more appeared.

Finally, the flow of images turned to a trickle, which itself stopped on a single image, where she saw herself, wearing clothes eerily reminiscent of Aeon, fighting a monster bigger than any that she had yet seen, an axe in one hand and a sawed off shotgun in the other.

The god before her considered that image for a long time, before it spoke at last, a unmistakable measure of approval in its voice.

H̸̪̞̠͛́̕U̸̻͇̺͛̓͠Ǹ̵̟̔͒͜T̴͚͙̟̒̾͠Ë̵͖̻́́̚R̸͎͖̼̽̈́

Rebecca Chambers felt the meaning of the word, saw the destiny of blood and death before her, and welcomed it for the wonderful future that awaited at the end of it all that she would help create.

After all, the night and its nightmares may seem long and impossible to overcome…

… but all nights end eventually, and with it, all the nightmares they contained. Who knows? Humanity may even think it all a mere bad dream one day…