Just as the group was about to board the train for NEST, a roar echoed from the passage behind them.
Lear, with one foot already on the train's step, was jerked back by the soul-tearing howl. He pivoted instantly to face the depths of the tunnel; Leon and the others followed suit, training their eyes on the shadows and drawing their weapons in a state of high alert.
A twisted silhouette, still retaining fragnts of a human outline, erged from the darkness.
The monster wore a white lab coat. Its left side was tattered and indistinguishable from an ordinary zombie, but its right arm had mutated into a grotesque, oversized deformity. The skin had sloughed off, leaving raw, crimson muscle tissue and bodily fluids exposed. A massive eye had sprouted from its shoulder, and its back writhed unnaturally, as if sothing were fighting to burst through from the inside.
"William!"
Annette cried out as she recognized the monster's face. "Damn it! What is he doing here? I thought he was still at the Laboratory."
Annette clearly hadn't expected William to appear here, her eyes wide with shock. However, after a brief mont of stunned silence, she regained her composure. She turned to urge Lear and the others onto the train, then led the way inside.
Lear complied with Annette's urging without hesitation and stepped onto the train. He had no intention of fighting William here, especially since he noticed the monster was still in its G1 state. Killing him now was pointless; it was better to lure him to the Laboratory and use the terrain and the facility's self-destruct sequence to finish him off for good.
Once everyone was safely aboard, Annette pulled the switch in the control room. The train groaned to life, wheels churning as it slowly pulled away from the station.
Inside the train, after Lear praised Friday, his peripheral vision caught Annette sitting in a corner. She was staring at the William back at the station with a look of imnse complexity, her fists clenched tight as she took deep, shivering breaths.
Moved by the sight, Lear gestured for Friday to go to Claire and Alyssa while he walked over to Annette's side.
"Annette, don't dwell on it. Once your husband injected the virus, he ceased to be the man he once was."
Annette took a long breath, her tense shoulders slowly sagging. "I know..." she whispered. "William was too arrogant, too obsessed. He treated the G-Virus as his life's work. He believed only he could control it, only he was worthy of that 'achievent,' and only he had the right to rule over it."
As she spoke, she pulled a small mirror from the pocket of her white lab coat. Her fingertips traced the back of the mirror, where a faded, yellowing photograph was tucked—a family portrait of Annette, William, and Sherry.
The background of the photo was the Eiffel Tower, the structure draped in sunlight. The family of three stood before it; Sherry was in Annette's arms, laughing joyfully, while a smiling William stood behind them. To anyone looking at it, they were the picture of a happy family.
Annette's fingers brushed lightly over the photo. A faint smile touched her lips, though it was tinged with an unmistakable bitterness. As she smiled, tears began to fall uncontrollably.
"That was our last family trip before we ca to Raccoon City. Back then, developnt on the G-Virus hadn't started, and William hadn't beco so obsessed. This family... it was still a whole family."
Looking at the woman weeping silently before him, Lear found himself at a loss for words. Annette wept for a mont before raising her hand to haphazardly wipe away the tears, forcing a slightly stiff smile.
"I'm sorry, Lear. I've made a fool of myself. Just now... I lost my composure."
Lear shook his head gently, his gaze falling on the reddened corners of her eyes.
"It's alright. But I have a question, Annette, and I hope you can answer it if possible."
"Go ahead, Lear," Annette said, her voice raspy as she carefully tucked the mirror away and looked up at him. "At this point, there is nothing left that cannot be said."
Lear turned his head to glance nearby. Ada was crouching down to tend to the injured Leon, applying the First Aid Spray once again. The young Leon seed a bit restless, the tips of his ears flushing slightly red, clearly embarrassed by Ada's attention.
After confirming that Ada wasn't paying attention to them, Lear turned his gaze back to Annette and continued, "Since you are so desperate to prevent the G-Virus from leaking, why did you put a sample inside Sherry's necklace?"
Hearing Lear's words, Annette was clearly stunned for a second before she smiled bitterly. "Lear, I think you've misunderstood sothing. There was never a virus inside that locket. How could I ever give sothing so dangerous to my daughter? That locket is just a key."
"A key?" Lear narrowed his eyes, his tone laced with suspicion. "To what?"
"A key to open Pandora's box," Annette sighed softly, her tone strained.
"It was a birthday gift I gave to Sherry. At the ti, the G-Virus had just been successfully developed. The excitent William and I felt was beyond words, but it happened to coincide with Sherry's birthday, so I gave it to her as a present. That locket is actually the key used to open a storage locker—inside that locker is the G-Virus itself, along with the corresponding serum."
Lear stroked his chin, thinking it over. Sherry isn't carrying the G-Virus. It seems the plot is leaning more toward the Remake setting.
Thinking this, Lear felt a sense of relief. He had been worried that if Sherry's locket contained the G-Virus, sending her away would be no different than delivering a lamb to the slaughter.
Seeing that Lear didn't press further, Annette said nothing more and sat quietly to the side.
In her eyes, what Lear knew and how he knew it didn't matter. Though this man seed suspicious, he was far more trustworthy than that woman. The concern for Sherry in his words didn't seem faked.
The train continued to accelerate. Before long, the sound of brakes screeching echoed from outside. As the train slowed, the group could faintly see a massive, futuristic tal door appearing ahead through the windows.
The carriage doors slid open, and Annette was the first to step out, walking toward the gate with Lear and the others following behind.
Reaching the gate, Annette raised her hand and brought an ID wristband close to the sensor.
Beep—
A crisp electronic chi sounded, followed by a chanical female voice: "Welco back, Dr. Birkin. I wish you a pleasant workday."
Hiss—Clunk—
As the double-layered tal doors slowly ground open, a stark white, high-tech hall appeared before their eyes.
The group stepped into the hall. The cleanliness and order of NEST stood in such sharp contrast to the disgusting filth of the sewer they had just escaped that it gave them a sense of unreality.
As they took in their surroundings, Annette's voice drifted softly. Her eyes were unreadable as she lightly stroked the Upgrade Chip on her ID wristband, her tone heavy.
"Welco to... NEST."
Her voice was very faint, as if she were rely whispering a murmur to herself. No one heard her except for Lear.
(Translated by yourtl.app)
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