34 Keanu Wick, John Reeves
It has been five hours, Chris said that we might arrive in an hour or less. The traffic was great. I only saw two or three cars passing by, once in a while. The climate wasn't that hot either, because surprisingly there's a lot of trees the closer we get to Arklay County.
Claire was sleeping at the passenger seat. She was so excited and energetic that she missed her sleep last night. I was sitting behind Chris while admiring the scenery. So far we have passed a lake, rivers, and even a mountain marking the border of Arklay County. Now I know why Raccoon City was called an Isolated City.
While I was enjoying the breeze. It thought of the thing that I found in my bag yesterday. I released the seat belt and climb toward the cargo space. Since there's a lot of empty space over, I just sat there and started opening one of the boxes.
"Edward, careful," said Chris after looking at what I was doing from the rear mirror.
"It's okay, I just want to look at my bag." It didn't take long for me to find it. I just sat down right there and took out the silvery metal object. I observed it up and down, inside and outside.
'Where did I see it? It was really familiar.'
As I sat there being clueless, I take out a pad from the bag and write something on it. 'Regina, can you read this?'
[You're calling for me, Sir?] Her stiff voice echoed in my head. It reached her. Although this way of interacting had limited use and left a record. At least, I could interact with her in a covert mode.
'Do you know what this silver thing is?' I continued writing my question.
[It was called Blood Oath Marker, Sir. It was used to indicate a blood oath between two individuals.]
No way... The murky memory suddenly turned clear like a water spring. This object was the one used in the movie, John Wick. I guessed in my mind, 'don't tell me, that the J on the letter was John Wick himself!'
However, I disregard it as a pure coincidence. I shifted my attention toward the one who leaves this object inside my bag. Who was it? Is it Mervin? Probably. The mysterious robber? No, he/she came in after I found it in my bag.
Suddenly, the SUV slowed down. We arrived at a gas station, Mizoil Gas Station. Chris wanted to refill the car's gas before continuing our trip. He turned off the engine and walked out. We could see each other from the dark glass window as we waved.
'Uhh... I want to pee...'
I opened and closed the door slowly as to not wake the sleeping Claire. I walked inside the store and passing the snoring Jerry, the Gas Station's employee. The toilet was right behind the store, beside the storage room.
The almost 6 hour-long trips would finally end. Soon, we will arrive at Raccoon City. I could hear, Chris's voice as he was waking up the sleeping Jerry. I washed my hands and wipe it using the last paper of the tissue roll.
Suddenly, I heard the sound of the car's engine as it sped up onto the road. 'Huh? No way...'
I ran out of the door, slamming it, and startled Jerry who was almost drowned back to his sleep.
"Wha... Where did you come from, kid!?"
I ignored him and ran outside. The car was already far away. I shouted to call him back, however, there's no sign of the car slowing down.
"Shit..." I flopped on my knees and shouted dramatically, "Noooooooooooooo...!"
Damn that uncle of mine. It really made me wanted to shoot him once in a while.
Jerry approached me and asked, "Did they just throw you away kid?"
"Ha Ha... Funny..." I stared at him while laughing sarcastically.
"Well, I could offer you a ride later, but I could only leave once the other employee takes my shift.", offered Jerry.
"...and when it would he come?"
"Not that long, at least in 6 hours."
"How in the world would 6 hours feel not that long?"
"Well, if you want, there's an unused bike over there." He pointed at the chained BMX in front of the store.
I looked at the road where Raccoon City is and then toward the bike over and over again until finally, I sighed and just take the bike. Jerry was surprised at my choice. Why the hell the kid would rather choose a bike and didn't wait for their family coming back to pick him.
'Ehh... Not my responsibility.' He went back into the store and put a magazine on his face to help him sleep.
'Okay, now what, I haven't tried riding a bike in a while.'
I stared at the bike under me. I seemed to have no experience of riding a bike in my past life. Dad didn't teach me about riding a bike either. Now that I think about it, Dad was bad at parenting. The only thing he taught me was how to use a handgun.
"Regina, can you teach me how to ride a bike?"
[I can instruct you, Sir. No need to worry. Besides, your stats would allow you to pick up how to use bikes faster than others.] assured Regina.
"Uhmm, can't you just install the knowledge to me? Just like how you installed the language and firearms mastery?"
[I can't, Sir. The system is still under maintenance and I could only install a basic mastery only when you need it to get out of special or dire situation.]
"How is it not a dire situation?"
I stopped nagging and started pedaling. I fell several times, with each time getting better and better until I got the hang of it. The extra stats really affect my adaptability. The Dexterity keeps my body in balance, even when I didn't push the pedal. If anyone saw me, they might think that I was doing a trick.
Slowly, the bike moved forward. I was getting steady and moved faster with every rotation of the pedal.
"Yeah! I get it!"
The wind got stronger as the bike moved faster on the road. This might have been a bad idea if not for the deserted road. But, I can't help but enjoy the breeze as I go. That was when I found the road curving to the right.
"Oh right. I haven't learned how to turn yet..."
I slammed the bike at the nearby tree and my body flew a few meters away. There's not much of a pain, but I felt pathetic.
I get up and cleaned my body from the dirt and leaves. There was a huge plated sign at the side of the road.
"Welcome to Raccoon City, Home of Umbrella."
I could see rows of building on the horizon. Shit... Do I really need to do this?
As I question my life choice again for the hundredth time, I heard the sound of a car coming behind me. I could see the silhouette of the car, a gray Ford Mustang Boss 429 with black double lining.
'It's beautiful.' This is the first time I see the beauty of muscle cars. When I grow up, I must buy one of them and do a road trip across the states.
I waved both of my hands in the car. It slowed down beside me and rolled the window down. Then, I saw the man who was riding it. Keanu fucking Reeves. He looked a lot like when he was starring in The Matrix movie, but with a beard and longer hair.
'Damn, it's just John Wick with shorter hair and younger face.' I thought while chuckling, not realizing the weight of my thought. I waited as he recited one of his recent famous lines.
"Get the fuck up, Samurai. We have a city to burn."
Just kidding... I hope he would say it though.
"Need a ride?" He looked at my dirty clothing. He found it weird that a small kid like me was in the middle of nowhere. He asked, "Where's your family?"
"Umm, we got separated on the way to Raccoon City. Can you take me there?"
He opened the other door, "Well, get in then..."
I didn't hesitate and hop on. The man was a bit amused as he asked, "aren't you too straightforward when meeting a stranger? You should've put more of a guard."
"Why? Are you a bad man?" I tilted my head, acting innocent.
"You never know." He didn't say anything and pushed the gas pedal after I put on the seat belt. "What's your name, kid?"
"Edward Kavka," I replied. "What's yours?"
I asked him back, but he didn't immediately reply. As I started moving my eyes toward the scenery, he replied, "John. John Wick"
The world suddenly stopped rotating as I mutter the holy word human had invented to express their life in my mind.
FUCK.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
0.30 PM, Umbrella Headquarter, Illinois, USA.
On the highest floor of a skyscraper, in a luxurious office, a woman was sitting on the sofa. There was also a thin old man in a wheelchair accompanied by a man in a business suit, looking at the monitor screen on the wall. It was showing the process of merging the Genma flesh with the parasites at the cellular level.
"Interesting. You are the first one to succeed so far, Alex." praised the old man.
"You're too generous, Earl Spencer," replied Alex Wesker, smiling. In her head, she was attracted to what Earl Spencer meant by 'so far'.
The old man's identity was, of course, Ozwell E. Spencer. The President and CEO of Umbrella. An aristocratic British billionaire as well as the first virologist who found the precious flower, Stairway of the Sun, and started the whole Bio Organic Weapon movement.
"Is your test subject ready to be used immediately?" asked Spencer.
"Not yet, Sir. The parasite that we injected still lays dormant inside the Tyrant's body. It seems to be slowly evolving as it merges with the body." explained Alex.
"Hmm... What exactly was the difference between the normal Tyrant and Nemesis?" Spencer was curious about it. This was the first time he worked with a parasite since the founding of the company. He never expected that the Wesker girl would choose the unstable parasites as her main project to improve the Tyrant. In his mind, the Tyrant series was already perfect.
"As we know, the Tyrant was known to be all muscle and no brain. Which means, it couldn't be given complicated commands and couldn't use any weapon either. The parasites would act as a second brain to cover this shortcoming..."
"But, the parasite was highly infectious, which would become a nuisance and a lot of resources would be wasted to cover it up." the businessman interjected. After hearing it, Alex was furious, she almost reached into her pocket for her pen and stabbed the man right on his neck, but Earl Spencer stopped her.
"Alex. Behave." With just two words, the boiling magma inside her chest turned cold like ice, returning to the ever so calm persona. As a Wesker, only Earl Spencer could control her.
The businessman was Derek C. Simmons, a member of an underground group The Family as well as the bridge between the U.S. Government and Umbrella's B.O.W.s trade. He was supposed to leave after a business meeting, but Earl Spencer invited him for tea. As a partner, it would be rude to refuse the invitation.
"If there's nothing to discuss anymore, I will bid my farewell for the moment, Earl Spencer. It was a nice tea," said Derek, standing up while fixing his suit's buttons.
"You're welcome," replied Spencer.
Derek walked out of the room and called his assistant. "Let's go, Ada. There's nothing much to see here."
Alex saw a short-haired woman in a red dress walked behind him, accompanying Derek to the elevator without saying anything.
"So? What's the deal, Lord Spencer?" Alex didn't waste the time and asked straight to his face. After Derek went out, there's only the two of them left in the room. There's no need to act reserved anymore and discussing the project that could be done by reading a simple report.
"You never changed, Alex. Always impatient," said Spencer, acting disappointed.
"If I am impatient, then I would have become the true leader of Umbrella." retorted, Alex.
"So you admit that you want what I have?"
"Nahh, it's tiring, just look at you as an example. So tell me now. What do you want from me?"
Earl Spencer, pushed a button on his wheelchair. Soon after, a woman came in.
"Show her." instructed, Spencer. The huge screen that was showing Nemesis earlier suddenly changed, showing another picture of an odd creature or specimen.
"What's this?" Alex asked.
"Read the report." 5 minutes passed as she read the thick report papers. Her mouth was gaping wide as she asked Spencer another question.
"What... what do you want me to do with it?" Alex was flustered, this is the first time she felt this way.
While hearing his answer, the report papers on her hand fell. It contained detailed information about the existence of Genma in Japan, 500 years ago. She then turned her head toward the picture, it was the frozen body, Guildenstern.
"I want you to turn me into a God."
