Who hurt George Trevor?
On the surface, it was an odd question to ask. All I knew about him was that whoever had designed the mansion had followed his art style. And if it had just been that, then things would have been fine. Sure, the mansion's architecture didn't match the traditional French 'style' for chateaus and mansions. But it was close enough to fit in while still retaining a relatively unique look. And if it had just been limited to that, then I wouldn't have wondered about his mental state.
No, the thing that made me question his mental state was the sheer number of annoying puzzles and hidden rooms.
I mean seriously, the hidden bunker that me and Christine had found last year had been one thing. On its own it could have been excused as one of Lord Henry's eccentricities. But the more we discovered, and the more puzzles and hidden rooms we encountered, the more I had to wonder if it was part of Mr Trevor's architectural style. The biggest bit of evidence to support that theory was the fact that he'd authored a book on Eastern European castles with almost three chapters dedicated to puzzle locks, hidden rooms, and other forms of architectural security. So it wouldn't have been out of the question if it had seeped into his specific style. After all, it gave a good explanation for why these hiding spots had been surprisingly well hidden. Case and point being the tiny room that had been squeezed between two of the bedrooms in the attic.
I just wished that the designer hadn't given it the same floorspace as a coffin. Though the fact that I wasn't alone up here certainly didn't help on that part.
"Hey! Watch it!" I hissed at Valerie as I pressed myself closer to one of the walls. Both to try and get out of my friend's legs and to avoid being kicked back down the ladder. The hidden room -though calling it a room was a bit of a stretch- probably occupied some of the wardrobe space of one or two of the staff bedrooms in the East side of the building. It was masterfully hidden, and was only accessible by a ladder hidden behind a bookcase in one of the classrooms below. But with space at such a premium, trying to squeeze two kids inside at the same time was sketchy at best.
"Stop trying to squish my legs!" Val complained, not even bothering to look back at me from her spot just ahead. Instead, she was entirely focused on slowly crawling forwards. Deeper into the dark crawlspace
"Then move up! I don't have a lot of room either." I hissed back at her, trying to keep my voice low to prevent it from carrying through the walls. In order to maximise the amount of available floor space, the wall's cladding had been removed and thin metal frames used in place of the traditional timber. It added a few much needed centimetres to the hidden room's diameter, though it did almost nothing to make the space any less cramped and claustrophobic. And if either me or Val were too loud, then we ran a serious risk of being heard.
To be honest, I probably shouldn't have followed Valerie up here. Even if I'd known how little room there was up here before climbing up, Val was almost entirely responsible for finding this place. After all, she found the key for this place only a few days after Anders recovered that list
from Ms. Anderson's room. The damn thing had been hidden inside a ring that she'd gained after completing a picture puzzle in the West wing of the mansion. The tricky part had been finding an appropriately sized lock for the little key. And with all the different hiding spots in the mansion, that had taken well over a year. If she hadn't needed to search the mansion essentially from top-to-bottom with a fine-tooth-comb, she probably would have got here well before me and Christine had found the bunker last year. Though as it turned out, we only found where it went a few days ago, after Val found a symbol on the bookshelf that matched the ring and eventually found the hidden keyhole. But now that we were inside, I had to admit that I was a bit disappointed. The little place was small, dark, and cramped. If it wasn't for a torch that we'd managed to swipe from the bunker we'd have been fumbling around in the dark.
Thankfully there was just enough room and enough light that I could make out what looked like some sort of door or hatch at the other end of the crawlspace. And for just a moment some wistful part of me hoped that it was nothing more than a simple way to keep whatever was inside safe and undisturbed. But the faint hope of this being a simple exercise was crushed when Valerie's attempt to open the door only yielded the tell tale click of metal knocking against metal. With Valerie pointing out the obvious a second later. "There are some doors up here! But they're locked."
"Is there a keyhole?" I asked, leaning to one side to try and get a better look at the cabinet. From a distance, it looked like a fairly basic looking wooden unit. It was completely devoid of any decorations or unneeded expense. But given that my best friend laid between me and the doors, and I hadn't developed Xray vision, I couldn't see very much at all.
"I don't see one, and it wouldn't make sense to put something behind multiple locks if the same key unlocks all of them." Val pointed out, tracking the torch around the doors and the floor as she looked. A few seconds of fruitless searching later, she laid the torch flat on the floor, and started searching by touch. A few seconds later, her search yielded a result. "There's a space in the floor. It looks like a hexagon, around ten centimetres wide and three deep."
"Does it look like something is meant to go in there? Are there tabs or little things on the inside that move when you poke them?" I asked, feeling my stomach drop at the development. I couldn't be sure of my suspicions just yet, but if this was anything like the rock puzzle, then we'd have to find whatever fit in that gap.
"Yeah! I think something is meant to go in here." Val announced as she inspected the depression. Figuring out her movements was practically impossible, but I had to guess that she was feeling around the inside face of the space. Poking at the various interlocks and key sections. I waited a few seconds for her to think on the subject, letting her mind wander as it tried to figure out the most likely item to go there. And to her credit, it didn't take Val very long. In fact, I even spotted the moment when she realised what I was thinking, as she stopped dead in her tracks and physically turned to face me. Which -given the cramped conditions- was quite the achievement. "Don't tell me, you think it needs the thing that's somewhere in the library? The spare insignia or whatever it's called?"
"Yep." I confirmed my friend's suspicions with a reassuring smile that I hoped would lift her spirits. Only for a tired groan from Val to confirm that it hadn't worked. She probably remembered our last search for the damn thing. Where we'd spent almost a full weekend going through as many of the books in the library as possible, and checking the room effectively from top to bottom. Only to come up with absolutely nothing.
And with her next question, it was obvious that she wasn't keen on repeating that. "Do we have to?"
"This stuff wouldn't be around here if it wasn't important in some way." I shook my head, as I answered, combining the two actions to make sure that Val realised that I wasn't going to be dissuaded from this course of action. She pouted at my answer, so I gave her a reassuring pat on the shin, before cocking my head back towards the ladderwell. "Come on. Let's get out of here. I'll give you some of my chocolate if you help me."
With our business in the hidden room put on hold, there was no point staying there. And with Val's support secured via sweets, I carefully reversed out of the crawlspace, back down the ladder, and into the classroom that the ladderwell was accessed from. I reached the bottom, paused to listen for any obvious threats outside, before pushing the bookcase aside, and stepping into the room. The classroom itself was simultaneously one of the more unique aspects of the mansion, but also among the most boring rooms in the mansion. It was a general-purpose teaching area, where all 20 of the children at the mansion received the majority of their education. There were a variety of posters on the walls, covering everything from maths to geology and even literature and art. But the majority of the room's floor space was taken up by five rows of two two-person tables, ten total. Each bench assigned to a corresponding pair of children, organised by shared bedroom.
Usually, the classroom would be fairly packed. But in the late hours between the final class and dinner, everyone else had been released to relax at the end of the day. The only people who'd stick around would be those who needed to put extra time into their studies. And as it turned out, the only occupant in the room was the third member of our operation. The one who acted as both our sentry, and the cover story for why we were here. Jonah.
"Did you find anything?" Jonah asked, looking up from some textbook on maths problems with an almost cartoonishly bored expression on his face. One that was completely unsurprising, given how much difficulty he had with his education compared with the rest of us. Though in this case his need for extra-curricular studies gave us a great cover story for why he was here rather than being outside with the other kids.
"Nothing, just a cabinet that we don't have the key for." I replied as I entered the room proper and started dusting myself off. Unlike the bunker, I doubted that the hidden room had been cleaned very often, so ensuring that I didn't have obvious dust on me would help maintain my cover. While I did that, I asked Jonah for his report. "Did anyone come in?"
"Ms Ludmila poked her head in to see if you were here, but I said you'd gone off to grab a textbook." Jonah replied, before reaching over and holding up a textbook. If I had to guess, he'd probably shoved it somewhere, and I could carry it with me just in case my handler showed up again. It was a decent cover story, and unless Ludmila had been stalking the route between here and the library it'd hold up pretty well.
"Thanks. Let's pack things up for the day, you've earned an evening off." I replied, giving Jonah a reward for acting as our sentry. And also because I simply did not want to be the one who tried to teach him whatever subject had made him get that bored, that quickly.
"Can we go outside? Ms Holtz says that this might be the last warm weather of the year, and I want." Valerie asked as she entered the room, almost causing me to jump. I hadn't heard her climb down the stairs, which either meant that I was getting sloppy, or she'd actively snuck up on me and Jonah hadn't warned me. Either one was possible.
"I'd like that." Jonah seconded Valerie's suggestion as he flipped his book closed and dismounting his seat. I couldn't be sure, but I could have sworn that he'd moved a bit faster than usual as he did, which only reinforced that he held a particular contempt for whatever he'd been studying.
"You know, if you're still having trouble with… whatever you're struggling with, maybe you should ask Christine for some help? I'm sure she'd be up for it." Valerie suggested, gesturing to Jonah's books as he made his way over to the door. It was a reasonable suggestion, all things considered. But as it turned out, he'd already thought about that.
"Maybe, but I made my deal with Tanya. So I'll stick with her." He replied, and I couldn't help but smile at that. Sure, the deal we'd made hadn't been made in ideal circumstances. Courtesy of him pointing a gun at me, and me trying to talk him into not running off and messing everything up for the rest of us. But the fact that he was dedicated to it was all the proof I needed that I was keeping up my end of the bargain. Or at the very least, offering a satisfactory service.
"That's a shame. She's helped me a few times with biology and stuff. I'm sure she'd be happy to help." Valerie shook her head as we followed him to the door, and out into the corridor. Thankfully, she'd moved up ahead of me, and remained focused on Jonah. Which was probably a good thing, as this was the first I was hearing about it. And to say that it surprised me was an understatement.
"I didn't know you were having trouble with biology." I pointed out, trying to keep my tone as casual as possible to avoid betraying my surprise. I wasn't unhappy about it, far from it, in fact. Valerie tended to stick with me out of habit, and usually I'd be the first to know about any problems she had. The fact that she'd dealt with this problem on her own was a positive turn of events. But the fact that she'd handled it and not come to me for praise was surprising.
And thankfully, my tactic worked. Valerie either missed or ignored my surprise, simply shrugging again as we made our way towards the massive set of stairs in the middle of the mansion. "It wasn't anything big, I just needed her to explain a couple of things. And I didn't want to waste our valuable language lessons on something boring like that. So I went to her instead."
"Fair enough. I guess it's a lot easier than trying to wrangle Alexia." I idly commented, before wincing at the fact that I'd let my own frustrations slip out. Not only was it disruptive to the conversation, but it was also a bad habit to get into. Nobody likes hearing other people bitching about their own problems. And venting my frustrations onto Jonah and Valerie was inconsiderate.
"Have you heard anything from her?" Valerie asked with a mix of concern and curiosity in her voice. She'd been the first person I'd told about my ongoing issues with Alexia, its slight improvement in the middle of this year, and the most recent problem that I'd run into.
"No. Nothing." I replied with a sigh and a disappointed shake of the head. I hadn't seen Alexia for over a month, as she'd been called back home. From what I'd gathered it wasn't anything serious, as Alexia was still sending work reports back to the Paris lab for me to proof-read, but it did mean that the last time I was able to talk with Alexia was a brief phone call to invite her to my birthday party a few days ago.
Ever since that whole conversation about 'legacy' in the lab our relationship had at least gotten back to normal, if not improved. Culminating in a sightseeing trip around Paris the day before she left. Alexia had been her usual self. But getting her out of the lab and into a more casual outdoor setting had been a big leap forward. And I'd hoped to push that a bit further by inviting her to my birthday party. Personally I didn't really care too much about the whole thing, but everyone else did, and I wanted to leverage that. After all the closer our relationship, the more useful I'd be to Lord Henry. And the more wiggle room I'd have around here. Maybe not to the same level as Christine, who was going down the surrogate daughter path, but enough to keep myself and a few others safe.
When I'd brought it up with Alexia she'd agreed to it. But when the day came she didn't show up. She didn't call. She gave me nothing but an empty seat at the table. And given how she hadn't called either before or since then, it left a fairly large and unfulfilled question mark about why she hadn't shown up. And given how the day itself had been nothing special, that loss had been all the more noticeable. Either way, I guess my unhappiness over how things had played out must have shown, as Val walked over and gave me a reassuring hug. Offering me some kind words to go with it. "Cheer up Tanya. I'm sure she had a good reason. And it's not like your birthday wasn't fun without her!"
"Yeah, I guess so. It just sucks when things don't pan out, you know?" I replied, putting on a smile as I gently returned the hug. In reality the whole thing had been pretty boring. Simply down to the fact that with twenty of us here there was at least one birthday a month. So the whole thing did tend to get a bit repetitive. Hell, outside of Valerie waking me up early so that she could give me her present before anyone else, there wasn't much difference between this year and the last. Said gift being a red and white wool scarf to go along with the jacket from last year. Both of them joined the small collection of gifts that I actually appreciated. Along with other practical items, and the stuffed bear that Val had given me for my first birthday here, as a replacement for the one I'd given her soon after we'd arrived at the mansion.
"I'm sure she had her reasons. She's your friend, right? Friends don't lie to each other." Val said as we reached the end of the corridor, and made our way out onto the mezzanine above the mansion's grand entrance hall. The late September sun peeking through the high windows, and casting the room in a warm shade of orange. One that actually matched the above-average temperature. Thanks to an unseasonable warm front coming up from the Mediterranean.
"I guess you're right. It's just weird that she hasn't called or anything." I replied with a shrug as we walked over to the massive staircase that dominated the room, and made our way down the first section of the staircase. Val paused for a second, before opening her mouth to reply. Only for someone to cut her off before she could continue.
"Ah, there you are, misha." A voice announced from the ground floor, interrupting the conversation, and causing the three of us to look down the stairs. Standing in the middle of the main hall was my handler, Ludmila. She looked up at us, and offered an apologetic smile before continuing. "My apologies Valerie, Jonah. Can I borrow Tanya for a little bit? Lord Henry would like to talk with her."
"Oh, did Tanya do something wrong?" Val asked, looking over at me with a worried expression. After all, getting summoned to the lord's office without prior warning was rarely a good thing.
Most of the time, we'd only ever see him twice in a year, when he'd arrive for his yearly check-ups. Him showing up out of the blue like this was nowhere close to normal, and for him to be showing up with my de-facto boss in tow implied that there was something serious going on.
"Not at all. We have a few questions and Tanya is the only one who can answer them." Ludmila smiled and shook her head, doing her best to dispel my friend's worries. And while it did seem to somewhat calm her down, Val still looked a bit uneasy. And in a testament of how well she knew my circle of friends, Ludmila noticed that, and gave me a quick glance in an attempt to get some backup.
"Val, it's fine." I added, offering Valerie a confident smile to try and calm her down before gesturing to Jonah and giving the two of them something to do. "Why don't you two go find Christine and Anders. They're probably up to something."
"If I recall correctly, a lot of your siblings are in the recreation room to watch that new 'Star Wars' film. If they're not there they'll probably be outside." Ludmila directed the other kids, and I couldn't help but feel a pang of envy. I wasn't really a fan of the series, and I'd already seen one of the films in Paris after work. But it was a lot better than the usual stuff we were allowed to watch. And that was entirely down to the fact that it was intended for adult consumption.
"Ok. We'll go there. Don't take too long!" Valerie finally decided, before leading Jonah down the stairs, and off into the east wing of the mansion. Val paused only to shoot me one last smile before she left, while Jonah simply followed after her.
With them gone, Ludmila took my hand and led me off towards the mansion's West wing. If I had to guess, the Lord had probably decided to have the meeting in one of the small staff rooms, right on the very tip of the wing. Either way, it meant I had a small amount of time to ask about why I'd been summoned. "So. What does Lord Henry want?"
"Lord Henry and Doctor Gräfe have some questions about your time at the Paris lab. Just normal stuff. They just want to know what you're up to and how well things are going." Ludmila replied with a polite smile and a shrug. Though if she'd expected that such a simple answer would satisfy me she would be mistaken. Neither of them had jobs that allowed them to just drop in for a chat without having some important reason for it. And if they were here together then it had to be a big one.
"Can't they ask Alexia, or check the reports I wrote? That should have all the information they need." I gently probed for the cause of the sudden visit with a fairly legitimate question. Ever since I'd started at the Paris lab a few years ago, Lord Henry had made a point of asking me about my work there and what I was learning while working for Alexia. And he was on the list of people who received monthly updates about our project. So he already had access to all of the information he would ever need. And if he had questions, Alexia would be better placed to answer them.
Ludmila was quiet for a couple of seconds as she considered her answer, before chuckling to herself and ruffling my hair as she answered. "Maybe. But they want to hear what you have to say about it. Those bland reports only give the cold, scientific side of things. They want to learn about your personal experiences, ok?"
A smile and a pat on the head weren't enough to dispel my concerns. But if her aim had been to make me focus on something else, then she absolutely succeeded. I'd never been one to care about my appearance, but when it came to meeting with the man who quite literally held my life in the palm of my hand I simply couldn't afford to leave things like that to chance. So I let the conversation die down and I turned my attention to fixing my hair and making my appearance look as tidy as possible. By the time I was done, Ludmila had managed to lead me almost all the way through the mansion. Past the dining room, past the main staff room, and into a series of staff offices just beyond.
"Well, this is it." Ludmila announced as we reached one of the rooms and stopped. Not that you would have been able to tell that the room was occupied, as the large oak door did a surprisingly good job of stopping any noise from escaping the room. That, or the Comte and the Doctor were sitting in silence while they waited for us. Either way, Ludmila stopped in front of the door and checked on me one final time. "Are you ready to see Lord Henry?"
In all honesty, I wasn't as ready as I wanted. The situation already raised a few concerns simply down to how quickly the lord of the manor had shown up, and the fact that he'd brought one of the head researchers from the Paris labs along for the ride certainly didn't help. And if that weird look from Ludmila was anything to go off, then there was probably something going on that I wasn't going to like. But if Ludmila was going to give me a chance to ask one final question before going in, then I decided to spend it well. I tightened my grip on my handler's hand, looked up at her, and forced some of my growing unease into my voice as I asked one last question. "Ludmila. What's going on?"
This time I actually managed to make a little bit of headway. I'm not sure what finally did it, maybe the rare note of discomfort in my voice had triggered something deep within her. Or maybe she'd recognised it as a sign that I knew that there was something wrong. The cause didn't matter as much as the effect. And that effect was a brief flash of… something across Ludmila's face. A ghost of emotion that betrayed her smile as artificial, and proved that she was hiding her real feelings from me. It almost looked like she winced at the question. As if something about it brought up an uncomfortable issue. She was quiet for a couple of seconds, communicating only by giving my hand a reassuring squeeze, before sighing and giving me a resolute look. "You'll find out inside, dear."
I would have said something, but Ludmila prevented it by reaching up with her free hand and knocked on the wooden door, before opening the door and leading me inside.
The staff office wasn't a very large room. With three of them stuffed in on the very end of the West Wing, they usually only had enough room for two desks -one against a side wall and one against the back- and two chairs for administrative work. Though this one had been reconfigured into a more traditional office. The room itself was rather small, and sparsely decorated in order to make the most use of the available space. But the few bits of furniture left made up for it with their quality. There was a shallow bookcase against one wall, one that was almost entirely filled with various books and folders. A plant of some kind by the window in a very well decorated pot. And while the small table which divided the room was relatively simple, very obviously featured a sort of turntable for a bulky computer monitor. The monitor casting a faint grey light onto the man sat behind the desk. The man responsible both for bringing me here, and partially for my placement at the Paris labs. Comte -lord- Henry.
"Ah, Tanya. Perfect timing." The aristocratic Frenchman smiled at me from the other side of the room gesturing at me to approach. The old gentleman was doing his best to appear warm and friendly, as usual. But given what Ludmila had just said and just how weird the situation was, I couldn't bring myself to trust him at face value. Not that I ever did in the first place, mind you. But today it held especially true.
"Good afternoon Mr Henry. Good afternoon Doctor Gräfe." I greeted the two men with my own smile, nodding first to the lord of the manor, and to the doctor who sat in one of the two chairs on my side of the table. Unlike lord Henry, Doctor Gräfe still wore his lab coat, as if he'd been snatched out of Umbrella's Paris branch and brought over here without time to change. Which, given the crumples in his coat, didn't seem too far out of the realms of possibility.
"Please, take a seat. And help yourself to some chocolate if you'd like." The lord smiled, and gestured at both a vacant leather seat and a small plate with some expensive looking chocolate on it. This, at least, wasn't out of the ordinary as far as meetings with the Comte went. He always tried his best to make us feel comfortable during the limited times when we saw him. And given the quality of the sweet treats on offer, it was one of the few times when I didn't mind keeping up appearances.
"I understand it was your birthday party a few days ago. That would make you… nine years old, I believe?" The French aristocrat started, leaning forward in his chair and giving me his full attention. It was a far cry from the exacting administrator that his position demanded. But the man preferred to style himself after a doting uncle rather than a distant head teacher. And it was a tactic that worked. Hell, Christine had even accidentally called him 'papa' once. Something that would have been funny if it didn't indicate that his tactic was working.
"Yes. It was very fun! There was a bouncy castle, and then we got to play a lot of games." I answered the French lord's question with fake enthusiasm, dialing up the 'cute kid' routine just a bit to try and come across as less of a threat. It was a long shot, but if I could lull either the lord or the doctor into a false sense of security, then they'd be more likely to lower their own guard, or make mistakes. Besides, I couldn't just ignore the fact that he'd spent time and money arranging it for me. So at the very least I needed to appear appreciative.
"Splendid! I wouldn't want our most promising young lady to feel undervalued." The lord smiled at the answer, adding a little bit of flattery to try and win me over. Or at the very least, to try and make me feel at ease. Thankfully he didn't spend any more time on the topic, as he gestured to Doctor Gräfe before bringing him into the conversation. "I was just talking about you with the Doctor. And he's been very happy to have your help, isn't that right?"
"Ah, yes, I was just talking with the Comte here about your work at our lab. And I must admit, you've surprised us all over the past few years." Doctor Graff remarked, speaking up for the first time since I'd entered the room. And with my attention now turned to him, it was pretty obvious that he wasn't nearly as prepared for this meeting as the Comte. His body language was all off. And even worse, when he noticed that everyone's attention was on him, he started rambling. "E-Especially with how well you've managed to integrate into Doctor Ashford's team. Or, rather, how you've practically become Miss Ashford's team. As I was just saying to the Comte here, a lot of our junior members of staff have had problems with her. But you've been able to get along just fine with her."
"A lot of the interns instantly treat her like a child rather than someone who's smarter than them. She doesn't take that very well." I pointed out as I picked up one of the chocolates and started unwrapping it. Both to keep up appearances as a relatively simply motivated kid, and because I doubted that the Lord would take it particularly well if I ignored them for the entire meeting, only to swipe half the plate just before I left. Besides, I highly doubted that he would have hidden anything inside them. If only down to the fact that if he wanted me gone he probably would have ordered Ludmila to lead me out of the mansion.
"Yes. I can see how. I know that when a few of my friends graduated from University, their PHD's went straight to their heads too. And I doubt that any of them would have expected to serve under a girl less than half their age, on such a major research project. Remind me, it was vaccine research, right?" The comte added, before turning to topic back to me with an open question. Unfortunately, I'd just taken a bite out of the chocolate, and I couldn't speak with my mouth full without running the risk of offending the older man's sensibilities. That meant that I was limited to simply nodding my head to answer. Thankfully that was enough to buy me a little reprieve, as the old man took my nod as an appropriate answer and continued. "It's very complex work to undertake. I trust that Alexia isn't putting you under too much pressure?"
"It's fine. She's taught me everything I need to know. I've even done a bit of work entirely on my own while she's been away." I replied a few seconds later after quickly swallowing my sweet, the rich delicacy going down smoothly.
"And how much did Alexia teach you?" Doctor Graffe asked, speaking up for the second time, before seeming to shrink a bit back into his chair at the sudden attention from everyone in the room. Or more specifically from lord Henry. Either way, he pushed on with the question, even if he did have to rephrase it in a more flattering way. "I mean, almost every time I walk past your lab, it's like you're doing something else. I just want to know how much you've learned from her."
I could see where his question was going. If they got a good idea of my true capabilities and found me easier to work with than Alexia, then I could easily see the Doctor wanting to either have me replace Alexia or to run a lab separately from her. If that had been his aim then he would have been disappointed with the answer that followed. "She taught me how to handle most of the tests and the theory around it, but I don't think I'm good enough to replicate her work. If that's what you're asking."
"And speaking of the prodigal daughter of the European branch, how did you get on with Alexia? It's no secret that a lot of people found working with her very difficult, but the two of you became very good friends. She must have really trusted you, right?" Lord Henry spoke up, turning the conversation away from the doctor's focus on Alexia's valuable work and towards the human aspect.
"Yes, I think so. She's relaxed a lot since the summer, and we even went out around Paris for a day. Here, Ludmila took a picture!" I was more than happy to report my success on the matter, reaching into my pocket and pulling out a photograph of me and Alexia out in the city and putting it on the desk. It wasn't much, but it was proof that I was making progress with her. And it was a neat way to sidestep the fact that he'd referred to Alexia in the past tense. I could ask about that later. For now I just needed to keep the tone and pace of the conversation consistent. "She didn't show up to my party, but I'm sure that she had a good reason for it."
At that, Lord Henry paused for a few seconds, just long enough for me to get halfway through my snack before carefully asking his next question. The warmth slightly fading from his voice as he took on a more serious tone. "This may be a hard question to answer, but did Alexia ever mention any problems at home? Or did she have any noticeable changes in behaviour after she returned?"
And there it is. Some annoying part of my mind commented as I recognised the turn in the conversation. The penny's dropped. They've got a problem with Alexia and they need me to figure it out.
Though like everything in this life so-far, it wasn't a topic that I could easily answer. On the one hand Alexia had been very focused on reclaiming our lost work after the last winter break, and given who she was that was an entirely plausible read of the situation. But the conversation I had with her about the whole 'legacy' thing back in the middle of the year made it clear that there had at least been some personal drama happening in the background. Except that bringing up something so personal would be a violation of her privacy. And on a topic that she obviously held close to her chest. That was proven by her being more willing to do non-work-related activities with me after the fact. Violating that trust to curry favor with someone like Lord Henry was a bad deal.
I considered the question as I reached over and picked up a second piece of chocolate.
I peeled away the foil wrapper, and then simply provided half of the truth. "She was pretty quiet after she came back from her holiday at the start of the year. But that was because we had to work hard to rebuild the work we'd lost when the cold storage freezer failed during the winter break. But we talked last time I was at the lab and she seemed fine."
"But she was spending a lot more time in the lab than usual. Did she ever indicate why she was doing that?" Doctor Gräfe pointed out, adding to the Comte's argument with his own issue. Effectively turning the conversation into a two-against-one situation.
"Not specifically. I just figured that she wanted to make up for lost time after the lab accident. And she works in another lab during the holidays so I guess she just finds it fun?" I stuck to my answer. Alexia trusted me enough to confide in me. I wasn't about to violate that trust without a very good reason. And to find that reason, I stopped the two men with a question of my own. "Why do you ask? Did something happen?"
"Tanya, we…" Doctor Gräfe began, only for a very conspicuous cough from somewhere behind and to the right of me to cut him short. Even if the forced cough wasn't an obvious hint to stop what he was about to say, then the fact that his eyes went wide after looking past me was a good enough sign that he was treading on ground that Ludmila didn't want him anywhere near to. The doctor looked at me, then at Ludmila, then back at me, before finally looking over at the Comte for support.
"Perhaps it would be best if we just showed you." Lord Henry announced, before reaching over and turning the computer monitor to face me. A feat only manageable thanks to the lazy susan-like turntable that it was mounted to.
The screen showed a lab of some sort from the perspective of a security camera. The lab itself was absolutely tiny, and lacked any of the windows that were common in the Paris facility. But it was well furnished with relatively modern equipment. There were cultivation tanks, incubators, cold storage freezers, and even a modern looking computer. But the thing that instantly caught my attention was the sole occupant of the room. Even with the poor quality of the camera, and the slight pixelation of the recording, the girl's long hair and small size made identifying her incredibly easy. Even if the jeweled brooch she wore around her neck wasn't a dead giveaway.
"Is that Alexia?" I asked, briefly looking away from the screen to address Lord Henry and gauge his reaction. But his face betrayed nothing, as he simply nodded to confirm my suspicions.
"Yes. And at the time, she's working on the virus that the two of you were working on." The Frenchman explained, pausing for a few seconds to remember its name, before saying it aloud. "The Veronica virus, I believe?"
"Is that what it's called? I thought it was Formica… Plasmo-something." I frowned, both at the self-aggrandizing name assigned to our joint project, and to cover for the fact that I hadn't been able to recall the scientific name of the virus. I knew its identification number, PV80/T, as that was easier to write on paperwork. But I couldn't recall its official name off the top of my head.
"Something along those lines. Though I suppose it doesn't matter now." The lord shook his head, his poker face faltering for just a second as he winced. As if the idea of what she was doing was somehow painful to him.
I didn't have to wait long to see exactly what made him so uncomfortable, as the recording switched to a view from inside the sealed workstation that Alexia was using. Inside, Alexia was transferring small amounts of some clear liquid from a test tube to a handful of tiny vials using a syringe. And given what Lord Henry had just asked, it didn't take a genius to figure out that the liquid was probably a test culture of the Veronica virus, and probably held a high concentration of the virus. Her method was simple and repetitive, following the same seven steps over and over again. Pick up a fresh vial. Fit her syringe with a fresh needle tip. Extract a small amount of liquid from the test tube. Dispense the small amount of the virus into the vial. Close the vial. Eject the syringe tip into a biohazard waste bin. Put the now loaded vial away. Rinse and repeat. It was normal grunt work in the lab, the sort of stuff that she'd often defer to me, while she analysed test results or wrote up reports.
And because of that experience, I could almost instantly tell that she was getting sloppy. Her movements were sluggish and inelegant. She'd combine steps, such as extracting viral material from the test tube while picking up a fresh vial, or putting the newly loaded vial away with one hand while ejecting the used needle into a waste bin. It wasn't uncommon, and I couldn't really blame Alexia for taking those shortcuts. But when taken together with her sluggish movements it could only mean that fatigue was starting to set in. And when people start to get tired they start making mistakes. Alexia was no different. Sometimes she'd fumble with a vial when putting it away. Or she'd accidentally knock the tip of the syringe against the side of the test tube. And on a couple of occasions she even missed the biohazard bin when disposing of the used needles. Picking up the syringe needles wasn't a risk, as she was wearing latex gloves and picking them up by the body. But the fact that she was making this many mistakes in only a minute or so of footage was unacceptable.
It was an obvious red flag. She should have stopped what she was doing, and at least had a break. If not packing things up for the night. But Alexia was nothing if not dedicated, and so she kept going even though she was tempting fate with every mistake she made.
I didn't have to wait long for her luck to finally run out.
It happened so fast. Alexia was just about to load another vial when her grip on the syringe faltered. The tip waved a bit and tapped against the outer rim of the vial. She must have been looking at something else at the time as she reflectively shifted her hand over to the left by a few millimeters. A move that would have made sense if she felt the impact rather than seeing it and assumed that the needle had tapped the inside of the rim as before. Had she been correct, the movement would have corrected for the misalignment. But she hadn't noticed that the tip of the needle was outside of the vial. And when she brought it down in one well-practiced motion the needle slipped past the edge of the vial…
And buried its tip right into the edge of her hand. Punching right through her glove and into the meat between her thumb and index finger.
I don't know if it was shock or tiredness that caused Alexia to freeze in place, leaving the syringe buried in her hand for a second or so. But when her mind finally caught up with what was going on she pulled the needle free and tossed the entire unit into the waste bin. She took a second to inspect the wound, before a single drop of blood welled up from beneath the latex, seeping out through the hole that had been punched through it.
The recording switched back to the lab-wide camera as Alexia pulled her hands out of the biosafety workstation. Just in time to catch her shocked expression as she snatched up a disinfectant spray from off a nearby table and sprayed down her hand. She briefly winced as the alcohol-based spray stung the tiny wound, but she ignored it. In spite of the situation she remained calm and followed lab rules to the letter, following up the disinfectant spray with washing her hands before immediately leaving the lab. Leaving her experiment behind.
I felt my breath catch in my chest at the sight. You didn't need to be a doctor to know that sticking yourself with a contaminated needle was never good. Especially in a biohazard lab with the threat of viral exposure. But the virus we'd been working on was practically something out of a horror movie. A virus so insanely aggressive and mutagenic that it left contaminated cells almost unrecognisable compared to their initial uninfected forms. One that after years of work and a near step-by-step guide on how the virus evolved, had managed to evade our attempts to synthesise a vaccine for it. We'd gotten pretty close towards the end of last year with a few useful test cultures and a few agents that had demonstrated the ability to impact the spread of the virus. But they'd been lost when their freezer failed.
We already had a small glimpse at what it could do. Those test samples that Alexia had brought in earlier this year had been mutated to an almost impossible degree. And if that virus could change an ant's cells to such a severe degree, I didn't want to know what sort of havoc the virus could wreak on a human body. And now not only had the virus made its way into a human host. Said host was the person who I was relying on to act as a lifeline.
It took a few seconds to contain my emotions. A bit longer than I would have liked, I must have been out of practice. So I went back to basics, took a deep breath, and I forced myself to focus on the present issue rather than letting my mind wander on needless hypotheticals. Panicking now wouldn't get me anywhere, and I simply couldn't afford to be seen as emotionally compromised right now. So I forced my voice to remain steady and level, before focusing on finding as much useful information as I could. "When did this happen?"
"We received this earlier today." Lord Henry answered with a dour tone, and letting a hint of sadness seep past his poker face. Part of me wondered if his reaction was because he felt some level of responsibility for Alexia, but that part was immediately shut down as I put my mind towards solving this problem. We'd have time to feel bad later, but now was not the right time.
"Can you restart the recording, please?" I asked, earning me a confused look from the old man. He didn't answer verbally, but he silently obliged my request and restarted the recording from the beginning. I couldn't, I wouldn't, just let my best lifeline in this hellhole just go up in smoke. Not without at least trying to salvage the situation. And to do that, I needed to understand exactly what had happened to Alexia in that lab.
I focused all of my attention on what Alexia was doing. How much of the test culture she was dispensing into each vial. Had she combined the motion of inserting the needle into a vial with the act of dispensing its liquid payload. And how much of the liquid she accidentally injected herself with. By the time the recording finished its second run, I had a pretty decent grasp on how much of the test culture Alexia had stuck herself with. And while I didn't know just how 'hot' it was with the virus, the tiny quantities she was working with were so small that we probably had some time to act. And I was confident enough with that assessment that I announced it to the room. "Alexia can't have received an immediately lethal dosage. She's using standard one milliliter vials and she's not filling them to capacity, so the overall dosage she would have received wouldn't be too large. If we move quickly we can help her."
I'm not sure what response I expected from the assembled adults. Some part of me had expected surprise or relief at the potential to save one of Umbrella's most promising doctors. But to my surprise, that wasn't the reaction I received. The only sign from Lord Henry that he'd even heard what I'd just said came from him tensing up a little bit and glancing past me to gauge Ludmila's reaction. I couldn't see her reaction, as she was right behind me. But I could quite easily tell doctor Gräfe's reaction. The man looked confused for a few seconds, before looking over at Ludmila with a surprised expression. He held his gaze on her for a few seconds before looking to Lord Henry for guidance, but when that yielded no guidance for him, the doctor tried to speak on his own. "Tanya, I don't think you-"
"We're very close to having an antivirus. We got close last year before we lost the test samples, but the method is sound. And we have the parts to make one. I can start working on it as soon as I get to the lab." I interrupted the doctor, cutting him off before he could undermine me. I knew what he was going to say. We didn't have a true antiviral agent ready to go. But I did know a few chemicals that could slow down the progression of the virus, and there were a few cell cultures that had shown some level of resistance to early strains of the virus. On their own they wouldn't do much, and even when put together I had my doubts that they'd do anything. But at the same time I doubted that there was anyone else on Umbrella's payroll who had a better chance of helping Alexia. And with her holding my only guarantee of safety and security I couldn't just let her slip away. And I couldn't let him get in the way.
"Misha. I think you need to calm down." Ludmila said from just behind me, putting her hand on my shoulder to try and calm me down. She probably thought that I was overreacting to the news and grasping at straws. And I could see how it looked like that. But what else was I meant to do? Sitting here would accomplish nothing.
"But we can help her. Why are we just sitting around when she needs help?" I asked as I snapped around in my seat and glared at my handler. Only for the frustration that had flared up in my chest to be instantly quenched by the look of remorse in her eyes. It knocked the wind out of my sails, and it filled me with dread that the situation could be worse than what they'd shown me. But that possibility was quickly shoved out of my mind. I was pretty sure that if the situation had resulted in Alexia's death, they'd just tell me. So I turned my attention to the man who held the final say on where I went and what I did. And put my case to Lord Henry himself. "Sir. Please. I can help her. I just need access to the lab."
"You should listen to Ludmila, she's trying to help you." Lord Henry said with a gentle, but firm, tone. An unsubtle hint that even he thought that I wasn't reacting properly to the news. A normal child my age should have broken down in shock or been more visibly worried. I recognised that. And the fact that letting my mask slip this much would have severe knock-on effects for how they perceived me. But I couldn't afford to react like that. I didn't have the luxury to be a wallflower in this incident. Not with what was on the line.
"I understand that you think I'm not thinking rationally right now, but please trust me. Past Alexia there isn't anyone else with experience in handling that virus. If what happened with Alexia has made you concerned about my own lab safety then I can assure you that I'll follow all additional measures that you insist upon. Just as long as I can do something to help." I replied, keeping my voice as calm and level as I could even though I could feel my stomach twisting itself into a knot. This wasn't going well. I couldn't just walk to the lab so I needed to get either the Lord or the Doctor on side. And right now neither of them were reacting well to my arguments.
"Tanya. Stop." Lord Henry ordered with a firmer tone as he stared me down. Unfortunately it wasn't an order that I could just comply with. It was obvious that my arguments weren't taking. I could only rationalise it as him not believing that I was up to the task. If only because the alternative would spell disaster for me, and potential doom for Valerie.
"I can't lose her! Please just let me…" I rallied once more with a desperate plea, only for the words to die in my mouth. As I started to speak the computer monitor flashed. The device switched from a still image of the recording's last frame to a side-by-side display of two scanned documents. The one on the right was a long and wordy report that I initially passed over in favor of the one on the left. And when I read the title -printed in bold along to top- my train of thought instantly came crashing to a halt, causing the sentence to trail off, and for the half-eaten chocolate in my hand to fall to the floor with a soft thud against the hardwood floor.
It was a death certificate.
"I'm sorry Tanya. But there isn't anything we can do. Doctor Ashford -Alexia's father- did everything he could, but she…" Doctor Gräfe began, only to trail off towards the end. Maybe because my expression had changed, maybe Ludmila or Lord Henry had gestured for him to shut up, or perhaps the doctor had decided to stop of his own accord. I didn't know. I didn't care. I wasn't paying any attention to him. I was too busy reading through the death certificate and the attached incident report.
The death certificate was a standard form which I quickly skimmed through and found no useful data. The incident report should have provided the most information on the incident; but it was full of assumptions, surface-level symptoms, and other bits of information that only hinted at what had finally killed Alexia. It would have been more informative if a proper autopsy had been performed. Though given that the incident report was penned by Alexia's father, I initially chalked that up to him not wanting to dissect his own daughter. According to the report, Alexia's condition rapidly deteriorated after she was infected. First reporting a headache and an itching feeling around the injection site. That quickly advanced into nausea and developed a rash on her hand. Attempts were made to control the spread of the virus by administering antibiotics and other drugs, but they didn't do anything. Alexia then suffered a seizure and stopped breathing. Attempts were made to try and resuscitate her, but they didn't work, and she was declared dead an hour later.
The report assumed that the virus entered Alexia's bloodstream and spread throughout her body, with the seizure occurring after penetrating the blood-brain barrier or when the virus attacked her nervous system. Backing up the claim was the fact that rashes had started appearing on other parts of Alexia's body. Though a note further down the report explained that further inspections and potential dissection had to be stopped as Alexia's rashes started developing small boil-like lumps. That was a clear sign that the virus was still hot and posed a risk of the virus spreading. So to prevent that Alexia's remains had been immediately cremated.
And just like that, my greatest chance of survival in this place went up in smoke alongside her.
That can't be right. Some discordant part of my mind announced, speaking for the part of my mind that simply refused to accept what I'd just seen. Only for Lord Henry to shake his head at me. As if he'd heard that internal comment. It confused me for a second before I realised with a distant sense of embarrassment that I'd accidentally spoken aloud.
"I'm sorry Tanya. But it's true. The incident occurred on Sunday…" Doctor Gräfe started, only for Lord Henry to glare at him. The man shrunk back into his seat, but it was too late, the damage had already been done.
"Sunday." I absently repeated the word, the word bouncing around in my head for a second before I realised the implication of what the Doctor had said. For a second I couldn't believe it. But when I glanced back at the death report, it confirmed that Alexia had died on the 24th of September, 1983.
The same day as my birthday.
Even though I'd watched her accidentally infect herself. And even though I'd read both the incident report and the death certificate; that revelation hit me like a punch to the gut. The fact that Alexia had suffered this accident on my birthday was one thing. But the fact that they'd kept it from me for so long was so much worse. It felt like a cosmic joke. It left me sick to my stomach, and a growing pressure behind my eyes.
In a single day I'd lost everything I'd been building for the past few years.
My distress must have been obvious. It was certainly bad enough that I didn't even notice Ludmila approaching until she appeared in my field of vision and wrapped me in a deep and tight hug. The Polish woman muttering… something in a soft and soothing voice. I didn't know, I wasn't listening. As in the act of hugging me the motion had jostled my head and unintentionally setting my gaze towards the desk. Where the picture of me and Alexia sat alone. Alexia on the left, wearing a white turtleneck and brown tartan-pattern dress. Myself on the right wearing a blue dress over a white shirt. Alexia gave a little wave to the camera while I gave a smile with my arm around hers. The picture was taken outside of a museum -the name of which eluded me at the moment- because the crowds inside had been too large for us to get a picture inside.
I'd been so close. I had her on my side. I just needed to push a little further and I could have cemented my position and guaranteed my safety. I don't think I could have gotten a way out of here right away, but it could have been on the cards. But without her, her project would be shut down. Without her, I'd lose my position at the Paris labs. Without her, my best chance of avoiding being handed over to weirdos like Doctor Marcus was gone. Without her, everything came undone, and I could do nothing to stop it. Without her, the last two years worth of effort had been for naught and there was nothing I could do about it.
I wasn't alone. I still had Valerie. I still had Jonah. I still had Christine. I still had Anders. But they were just as vulnerable as me. They could only help by means of providing bodies between me and a problem. Alexia could have just removed the problem entirely. With her gone, I felt no different to when I'd woken up in the car being smuggled in the night. If anything I probably felt a bit worse. At least back then I'd come from nothing and I had no idea what I was being dragged into. But now? I'd lost my cover. I'd lost my best asset. And one of the few people who's kinship I'd earned entirely on my own.
At some point, Ludmila started to hum the tune of that old Cossack song that she'd taught me. And Doctor Gräfe and Lord Henry left the room. Which was probably a good idea, as there must have been a pipe leak or something that was causing my face to get wet. Not that it mattered much after everything that had just happened.
I doubted that anything would top this as far as 'worst birthday' went.