Chapter Text
Alana Howzer wiped the back of her hand over her forehead, straightening her back. She had just moved the final box into her new home in Raccoon City. She pulled her cell phone from her back pocket, unlocking it to call her parents. She let them know she had moved in safely, and that she had to be up in the morning for her new office job. When she was finally able to fall into bed after unpacking everything, she breathed a sigh of relief.
She walked into her new job at the Umbrella Corporation, in their pharmacy department, making her way down to the lab. She was only an assistant, and knew nothing about science at the level she would need to in order to understand what they were doing. Her day was filled of menial tasks that no one else wanted to do. She caught a glimpse of a tall man with his blonde hair slicked back in one of the labs as she dropped off paperwork to another employee. She caught him watching her as she talked, explaining what she had been told to deliver, but thought nothing of it. She was a brand-new employee, after all. Of course, he would watch her to make sure everything was in order. She saw him once more that day as she delivered coffee to one of his colleagues. When she returned home that night, she was exhausted from all the walking she had done.
Her morning alarm came too early, only it didn’t sound like her regular alarm. It sounded like metal scraping against metal. She rolled over and heard a chain clink. She sat up and found that her left wrist was shackled to a wall. A tall man in black leather was standing at a nearby table in the small, dingy room she found herself in. She could see a black leather trench coat draped over a chair.
“Good,” he said in a deep voice that sent chills down Alana’s spine. “You are awake. I hope you were not too uncomfortable.” He turned, making his face visible to her. He wore sunglasses even though it was relatively dark in the room, and it added to his menacing aura. She could see that he was muscular, which meant if tried to fight back, she’d probably never stand a chance against him. It was still dark enough in the room that she couldn’t fully make out his appearance. The man slowly walked toward her. “Do you know who I am?” She studied his face, praying the correct name would magically pop into her head so she wouldn’t have to find out what happens if she’s wrong. She knew what kind of predicament she was currently in. He bent down and gently held her chin between his thumb and index finger. “Of course not. How could you? Unless you have heard the name Albert Wesker.” Alana’s eyes went wide, and he chuckled, releasing her chin. “So you have heard of me.” She worked for Umbrella, and had heard the whispers of someone named Albert Wesker. His name was usually accompanied by the same repeated rumor: That he was responsible for creating some kind of virus that could destroy someone from the inside out, and he wanted to destroy the world with it. No one ever seemed to take the rumor seriously, as he had never been stopped, let alone found. He suddenly backhanded her, causing her vision to blur momentarily. He straightened.
“Whatever you have heard about me before now, I want you to forget it.” He slapped her again. “Is it forgotten?” Alana nodded, earning another slap. “I did not hear you.”
“Yes!” she sobbed. “It’s forgotten!” She dropped her head down.
“The proper term is it is. Quit stumbling over your words as if you were the common rabble, and speak to me clearly.”
“It is forgotten.”
“Good.” He sank down in front of her, balancing himself on the balls of his feet. He raised her head slightly with his hand. “That was not so hard, now was it, pet?” The way he called her pet should have disgusted her, yet it enticed her. Despite the fact he had slapped her several times, she found his voice soothing. And now she had a face to a name.
“So you are Albert Wesker,” she said quietly. He stood, forcing her to look up at him. “Why do you want to destroy the world?” She could feel his piercing gaze from behind his sunglasses.
“I thought I told you to forget what you have heard about me?”
“Can I ask one question?” He inhaled and his lip curled up into a sneer for a moment.
“Very well. One question.”
“Are the rumors true?” He looked down at her, watching her.
“No,” he said after a moment. “They are not. They believe I wish to destroy the world with Uroboros, but I want to save it. The world is overpopulated, and the chaff must be separated from the wheat. I am the God that will separate this chaff and usher in a new world.” Alana blinked up at him.
“You want to wipe out humanity.”
“I want to push humanity to be the strongest it can possibly be.” Alana was silent for a moment.
“If you are a God, then you are not human.” He brought up his hand, and she flinched, waiting for it to connect with her cheek. Instead, she heard something squelching, and saw thick black tentacles extend from his wrist.
“I am not. I am more than any human could ever hope to be.” The tentacles retracted back into his arm, and he brought his hand up to remove his sunglasses. His eyes were glowing an orange-red, his pupils slit like a cat’s. “Forgive me for my rudeness, dearheart. I am Albert Wesker, though you should be able to recognize me. We have, after all, been in the same room… three times now, if you count this moment.” It hit her. He was the scientist in the lab the day before. He walked over to the wall and flipped a switch, bathing the room in agonizing light for a moment. His blonde hair was all the confirmation she needed that it was indeed the same man. He turned back to her. “Might I hear your name, pet?”
“Alana,” she replied. He raised an eyebrow at her, expecting more. “Alana Howzer.” He nodded.
“Now, then, Alana Howzer.” The way he said her name sent shivers down her spine. He slowly strode over to her, leaning down until his lips nearly brushed her neck. “I will have you know that you have been personally separated from the chaff by your new God. You shall experience what it means to push humanity beyond their limits, my little lamb.” He pulled away, gently caressing her cheek. “My precious little sacrificial lamb.”