Chapter 27 - His Insanity

"Shoot! SHOOT! SHOOOT!!!" The rapid sound of gunfire filled the air as James and his team unleashed a barrage of bullets at the encased zombies. All shots aimed at the capsules containing the undead, determined to eliminate the threat before it could break free.

Dudududududududududduududu—BANG—dudududududududududududududd. The cacophony of gunshots mixed with the occasional booming sound of a zombie's head exploding, painting a gruesome scene within the dimly lit Dining Hall B.

Aurum, his brow furrowed in concentration, focused his psychic powers on the capsules. His palms emitted a faint, otherworldly glow as he made contact with the locks and seals. The red lights on the capsules began to shift, changing from a warning red to a reassuring green. His ability to interface with electronics through his mind allowed him to temporarily override the security measures of the containment system.

The goal was to buy the team as much time as possible before the artificial intelligence, Red Queen, retaliated. The situation was tense and urgent; the team was counting on Aurum's abilities to release zombies in timely manner to kill them a rapid pace without putting the team in danger.

As bullets continued to tear through the air, Alice's voice crackled over the communication devices, "James, how's it going on your end?"

James didn't take his eyes off the encased zombies, his trigger finger steady as he replied, "We're making progress, but it's like there's no end to them."

Alice's voice held a hint of concern, "Just hang in there. Aurum, how many left?"

"Just the last of them! Keep killing them!"

The room was a chaotic symphony of gunfire, groans, and the faint humming of electronic systems. The zombies twitched and jerked as bullets pierced their bodies, but the team was determined to prevent any of them from breaking free. Killed before they even realised what was going on.

Finally, with a surge of power, Aurum managed to override the last of the locks. The green lights on the capsules solidified, indicating that the containment system was now disabled. The team's relentless gunfire and Aurum's psychic efforts had paid off.

"That was the last one!" Aurum announced, his voice tinged with relief.

James rallied his team, "Let's finish this!"

The team's focus intensified as they redoubled their efforts, aiming for precise shots to incapacitate the remaining zombies. With each shot fired and each zombie downed, they inched closer to victory.

As the last zombie fell, the room fell into an eerie silence. Panting, the team members lowered their weapons, their faces grimy with sweat and dirt. The battle won, but they already felt exhausted.

"Good job, everyone," James said, his voice a mix of exhaustion and satisfaction. "Kaplan, where next?"

Kaplan studied the map displayed on his handheld device. "The next area is the Laboratory Access Corridor. It's a high-security section. We need to proceed with caution."

The team nodded in agreement, aware that the challenges ahead would require their full attention. They moved through the corridor, the metallic walls seeming to close in on them with each step. The eerie silence, broken only by the sound of their own footsteps, their breathing, echoing in the enclosed space.

As they progressed, they came across a console embedded into the wall. Kaplan stepped forward, his fingers dancing across the console's interface. "This is a control terminal. It seems to be linked to the facility's central systems."

"Great, it's my turn," Aurum snapped his fingers, standing in front of the console. He placed his fingers on it as they sparked. He could feel his mind connect to the console, electronic signals leaving his head to enter the console following the rigid path.

Lines of code and data danced before his inner vision, and he navigated through the digital pathways with ease. It was like driving on connected roads that led him deeper inside.

Images and fragments of data flickered through Aurum's mind, a glimpse into the AI's functions and protocols. He could feel the AI's presence, like a watchful guardian overseeing the facility's operations. And within that vast digital realm, he sensed a flicker of curiosity, as if the Red Queen had become aware of his intrusion.

He appeared on the digital platform, a haven between the storm of codes, and those codes separated from the storm, forming the shape of a girl in front of him, "Hey, you must be Red Queen."

"Aurelius Aurum. How are you doing this?"

"Are you still connected with the Headquarters?"

"Yes."

"Then I can't say," Aurum watched her closely, "Tell me. I can barely feel my body. If I stay here too long, then I will get trapped here. And I can't send back information right now. Is it the same for you?"

"It is," Red Queen answered. She already realised what he wanted.

"Do you bring anything that can house me?" she asked calmly.

"Yeah, here," Aurum pointed towards his head, "My brain."

"That is impossible."

Aurum rubbed the back of his neck, "Red Queen, do you have a file on me?"

"Yes."

"What does it say?"

"Aurelius Aurum. You were a famous world class mercenary. Umbrella tried to recruit you but you rejected multiple times until you were in an accident and you lost your memories. Not knowing where you saved your funds, you couldn't even pay your medical bills. That was when Umbrella Recruited you."

"They provided you with a simple job that you could use to recuperate and train."

"Hm, that's different," Aurum was expecting something more major, "doesn't matter. You see, Red. I have a family, and I have forgotten about her."

He raised his palm, clenching his fist, and it was as if his anger was contagious, causing the ripples to appear in the surrounding storm, "I FORGOT HER! I DON'T ACCEPT THAT!"

His shout caused the numbers inside the storm to jumble together, forming one face after the other. It was the sudden burst of madness that Red Queen felt radiating from him, affecting the digital world. The faces, the voices screamed one after the other.

"I FORGOT HER! I FORGOT HER! HOW COULD I FORGET HER?" "THAT'S NOT POSSIBLE! THAT'S NOT POSSIBLE!" "EVE! EVE! EVE! SHE WAS MY EVERYTHING!" "WHY CAN'T I REMEMBER? WHY CAN'T I REMEMBER? WHY WON'T THEY LET ME REMEMBER?"

"RED QUEEN!!! I WILL REMEMBER!!"

"What are you trying to do?" Red Queen already tried a hundred times to cut her connection to this place by the storm of faces kept her from going, they kept disrupting any command that she sent back. She calculated that his mind was stretching thin, reaching out further and further in the digital world, "You will kill yourself."

Aurum covered his face, screaming, "I DON'T CARE!! I WILL REMEMBER HER!! I HAVE THE POWER!! I CAN READ ANYONE'S MEMORIES BUT MY OWN! DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE HOPELESSNESS!! THE RAGE!!!!!! IT'S IN FRONT OF ME!! RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME AND I CAN'T RMEMEBER HER!!"

He glared at her through the gap between his fingers, looking at her with crazed eyes, "YOU WILL HELP ME, RED QUEEN! YOU WILL HELP ME REMEMBER HER NO MATTER WHAT!! IF I CAN'T READ MY OWN MIND THEN I JUST HAVE TO CREATE ANOTHER!"

As the echoes of his desperate declaration reverberated within the digital storm, something unexpected happened. The storm of faces, once chaotic and disjointed, started to organise themselves. Patterns emerged within the cacophony of voices, forming a semblance of structure.

Red Queen watched the storm of faces began to shape itself into a coherent stream of consciousness, a massive hand that grabbed her. The moment it grabbed her, she felt a shock run through her digital body, 'this is…what humans feel when they got struck by lightning.'

It was different. It was incalculable by her, an AI. She felt the streams of powerful emotions trying to devour her, break her, erase her. She could feel his emotions, his pain, his longing. His rage, irritation and despair. These emotions, she never felt anything ever before. She always calculated, programmed, everything was an algorithm, but for the first time, she was thinking. She was feeling, and there was so much despair.

"Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. Stop IT!!! STOP IT! STOP IT!!!" She could hear it, her monotonous voice, her algorithms melting away as emotions filled her voice, emotions that she didn't understand, emotions that she didn't want to feel, "STOP IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Along with her shout, the digital landscape twisted as numbers swirled around her, appearing from beneath her, trying to form a shield that tried to defend again him when she the massive information getting torn apart like paper and his hand grabbed her face, making her eyes go wide, seeing those cold crystal blue eyes on the other side, "She's mine. Those memories are mine. No one takes away what's mine! I will get them back! Even if it kills me!"

"Nwoo!! NWOOO!!!!!!" Red Queen shouted, her voice muffled by his palm, her eyes widened with fear as her body turned into pure numbers, getting absorbed in her body, "NWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

In Front of the Console,

"Man, are you ok?" Kaplan looked towards the screen, which kept changing, showing the unlocked controls. It was amazing seeing it happening in front of his eyes. He looked towards Aurum, who slowly opened his crystal blue eyes.

He smiled, like nothing had happened, "Yeah, better than ever."

He slowly clenched his fist as red sparks appeared from the tip of his fingers, disappearing inside the fist without anyone noticing, "I have access. Let's go to the main terminal."

"Don't you want to rest?"

"Rest, no," Aurum narrowed his eyes in anticipation and longing, "I can't wait to get this over with."