Part 5
July 31, 1995
It was summer again and seventeen years from the time I first visited the place. Whenever I went there I was remembered the smell of the winds from that day. Nothing has changed since then, even the buildings and surroundings. I could see Birkin, who had already arrived, standing on the heliport. I had not seen him for a long time. Four years have passed since I left Arklay Laboratory.
At that time, when Birkin's G-virus project was approved, I applied for my transfer to the Information Bureau and was readily accepted. It must have looked natural for everyone that I was giving up my career as a researcher and seeking a change. Actually, the G-virus project was beyond my abilities. Even if I did not have any reasons to find out Spencer's true intention, it was true that I felt my faculties as a reasearcher had reached their limits.
In spite of the downdraft caused by the helicopter, Birkin never took his eyes off the research papers. Although it seemed he still visited Arklay regularly, he was no longer a researcher at that facility. Sometime ago, he had been transferred to a huge underground laboratory in Raccoon City, which was his base for the G-virus project headed up by himself.
Quite honestly, four years ago, I never thought that Spencer would approve the G-virus project because it was founded on an unknown belief and deviated from the original concept of a biological weapon.
The distinct difference between the G-virus and the T-virus was that the organism infected by the G-virus continued to mutate by itself. Because a virus is an unprotected form of a gene, it can easily mutate. This mutation can happen when a virus is left on its own, but once a virus is in other organism, it is a different story.
A gene in an organism's body hardly mutates even though its structure was modified by a virus, unless some external influences, such as exposure to radiation, takes place. However, an organism infected with the G-virus keeps mutating itself without any external influence until it dies.
Similar characteristics did exist in the T-virus. When we placed the Living Biological Weapon under certain circumstances, we recorded some genetic recombination caused by an activated virus in it's body. However, in the case of the T-virus it always needed some external influences to trigger the recombination and the results were always close to what we predicted. G-infected organisms totally lacked such predictability. No one could foresee what recombination it would take, and whatever means to stop the process it kept mutating nonetheless, making our manipulation worthless.
Seven years ago, Birkin found signs of this effect in the female specimen. On the surface she had not changed at all, but internally, she changed continously and remained alive by merging and coexisting with all the experimental viruses she was administered. And the twenty-one years of internal mutation evolved her enough to accept the parasitic organism Nemesis. The G-virus project was trying to push this abnormality to the ultimate limit. But, the end result of this project could be either the evolution of the ultimate organism or total destruction. Can we call this a weapon?
What made Spencer approve this project? Even though I had been in the Information Bureau for four years by this time, I could still not understand his motives. And now, Spencer does not even come to Arklay. It is as if he had foreseen something was about to happen there. The image of Spencer fading away from me like a mirage in the desert. But an opportunity must present itself sometime. If I can survive until then.
The lift was carrying both Birkin and me to the highest security level, to the place where we saw him for the first time. The new chief researcher John, Birkin's successor, was waiting for us there.
He was transferred from the Chicago laboratory and was said to be an excellent scientist, but he seemed to be too normal to work for this laboratory. He had doubts about the cruelty of the research and reported to his superior to correct the situation. That caused a big enough stir even in the Information Bureau. It was everyone's opinion that if any information was leaked, it had to come from him. We ignored John and started to give her final treatment. To kill her.
She has regained a little intelligence after taking in Nemesis. But, it resulted in nothing more than making her behave strangely. The odd behaviour continued to escalate. Nowadays, she peels off other women's faces and wears them over her own. The records show that she behaved in the same manner when she was first given the Founder Virus. We were never sure what made her react in such a way, but her termination was decided after three researchers had become her victims. Now that the study of the G-virus was on track she lost her status as a valuable specimen.
The termination of her vital signs was checked and confirmed repeatedly for the next three days. Then, the body was taken away to some location at the instruction of the Laboratory Manager. Even now, I still do not know who she was and why she was brought here. Of course it was exactly the same for other specimens. However, she had not been there, the G-Project might never have existed and if that was the case then Birkin and I would be in very different situations.
As I left Arklay Laboratory, I was thinking things over. Just how calculating is Spencer?
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