A huge thanks to wulfgarfang. I was already believing that the previous chapter has been so incredibly bad that I scared everyone away. Well... perhaps I did?

Here is the final chapter of Ab Initio.

Chapter IX

Wesker picked up the Magnum on his way to the RCPD, stowing it securely inside his vest. If he could avoid to let the STARS know anything about his additional equipment, all the better. Both BOW bullets and Birkin's sedatives were thrown onto the seat beside him. He didn't have time to decide on the quantity he would take with him. Until Alpha team was busy making final preparations, he would be able and catch up on that.

Wesker pulled the car into the driving lot of the police department. He noticed the lack of many other vehicles and relaxed. It was still early. Very early. Two hours before the normal shifts began and three until Alpha team was supposed to gather in their office.

He had insisted on coming so early, for one because he was sure the team would be here long before their official briefing was to take place and secondly, because it would be too suspicious for him to be absent in such a delicate situation for too long. Irons had probably been a lousy liar about his whereabouts and despite the seriousness Wesker couldn't deny a slight curiosity on what the Chief had told STARS; for they had certainly asked where their Captain was.

He strode towards the entrance, sedatives and bullets for now tucked away in one of the many pockets. Despite the early hour the main hall of the police department was occupied by a secretary. She was probably taking in the emergency calls from desperate citizens, who couldn't get their cats off a tree. She briefly looked up as Wesker entered, but returned to whatever her attention had been on before.

The STARS office was located on the second floor. Before opening the door Wesker could already hear talk inside. It turned out to be Joseph Frost who sat in front of the radio station, unsuccessfully trying to get a sign of live from Bravo team. When the captain entered, he stopped in his contacting attempts.

"You're early, captain."

Wesker ignored the comment, "Have there been any developments?"

Joseph shook his head, "None so far."

"Well, continue then. The others will be here soon. I take it everything is prepared?"

At this Joseph nodded eagerly. "Kept Chickenheart up all night to check out the chopper."

'Chickenheart' was Brad Vickers' nickname among his fellow teammates and it fit perfectly.

Wesker briefly wondered why Joseph was sitting here instead of Jill, whom he had actually instructed to do so, but he guessed the two had replaced eachother after some time. He dismissed the thought immediately and turned back towards the door.

"I'm going to talk to Irons," he said, not waiting for Joseph's answer. However, the police chief's office wasn't his goal this time. The destination he seeked lay at the other side of the RCPD. The letters 'Armory' were inscribed on the door and Wesker pushed it open, relieved to find it empty of people.

Before STARS arrived he would make his own little preparations. Wesker moved to one of the benches and discarded his vest. Its contents sounded against the wood when he put it down, but first he was going to take care of decent protection.

The police office provided all sort of equipment and for once Wesker was glad that he had such a repertoire to choose from. He looked at various protective vests first and picked one out that was his size.

He knew that later, he would be very thankful for the kevlar standing between him and the T-virus. Wesker also selected a pair of shinguards. They might come in handy if any of the MA-39 got out. The dogs liked to jump at legs and for all Wesker cared they could bite their teeth out on the kevlar.

The vest would protect his torso should he encounter any Hunters. The specimen they kept at the Arklay Facility were especially vicious. Cruel and fast, he knew from experience. One claw could be enough to end a man's life and that would go against his plans. Wesker didn't like it when somebody – or something – brought his plans to naught.

He took his time in putting the armor on, making sure that it sat perfectly and wouldn't hinder him in any movement. The leg protection he wore under his combat pants and he would pull the tactical vest over the kevlar one, so STARS wouldn't see it.

Wesker couldn't possibly know what they were thinking, but he could be sure to assume that they wouldn't expect something on this scale. While the T-virus would catch them off guard Wesker would be prepared – as he always was.

He put the tactical vest back on, feeling the presence of some objects in one of the pockets. Curiously he fished the contents out and it turned out to be the BOW rounds and Birkin's sedatives.

There was a flash of worry about Birkin, but Wesker discarded it quickly. Birkin was much too terrified about his precious G-virus to screw this up. Letting Umbrella's pets loose on Raccoon would not only cost him his position as head researcher, but also the work he had devoted his life to.

Personally, Wesker doubted that Birkin could handle such a kick in the teeth. Mentally he wouldn't. And from there it never takes long to fail physically too. He was too centered on what he was doing.

Too dependable on his research.

Too dependable on Umbrella.

Albert Wesker was not.

For the time being he put the sedatives back down and headed over to the locker that contained the ammunition. He took out the keys necessary to open it and was soon faced with the decision of what he would take with him. And how much of it.

Given the amount of ammunition that the RCPD stored here, you could say that they prepared for the next world war. It gave Wesker a lot of possibilities. He had to keep in mind that Barry would later still supply them all with the standard weapons and ammo to go by, so he shouldn't take too much along with him. Once more he had to consider that he would have to keep his extra inventory secret.

In the end he settled with three additional clips for the Handgun and the BOW rounds for the Magnum. To make it less suspicious the items were distributed across all the pockets of his vest and combat pants. When Wesker was satisfied he turned back to the box of sedatives.

Those, he would have to store securely. Opening the box, Wesker's eyes fell on a multitude of vials, certainly all tranquilizers of different intensity. He glanced at some of them, recognized familiar names he had grown to learn by heart over the years.

One vial, however, was unlabeled. Wesker took it out, scanning its contents, but he couldn't discern it. Had Birkin accidentally grabbed some fake? In the hurry he must have been it seemed a probable explanation to Wesker. He shrugged, and put the vial back into the box, taking out the other sedatives to inspect them.

That's when he noticed the paper.

Wesker furrowed a brow when he realized that the scribble was addressed to him. Stowing the phials in another pocket of his vest, he grabbed the letter.

And frowned.

We go way back, so I hope you forgive me cutting the formalities. I don't have much time. I must describe how to use the item in question.

The sample you have been given is from one of the mutation stocks. It possesses a unique characteristic. It should be injected into the host at least five minutes before needed. The results are almost immediate, but they do require a few minutes to completely take effect.

The substance in question provides the subject with a heightened regeneration metabolism, healing wounds almost instantly.

Even in death, as long as some portion of the host remains, it can reconstruct the rest, and bring it back to life. During this process, there is a brief period where the host appears, for all intents and purposes, dead.

In experiments with animals, seventy percent of the subjects came back to life, with no visible side effects. Twenty percent initially accepted the substance, but their organism disintegrated it before full impact could take place. The remaining ten percent remained dead.

The substance hasn't been tested in connection with the viruses yet, neither has it been injected into a human host. However, my theoretical research leads me to the assumption that, due to its origin being the antibodies against the Progenitor, it could abolish the T-virus from the host system.

I'm not sure how this will help.

Put it to good use.

No doubt, the 'substance' was the unlabeled vial and it caused Wesker to glance skeptically at it. This was Birkin's doing. Despite the fact that it could only be him, Wesker also recognized the handwriting. He had always had trouble making out the researcher's scribble.

All that, though, was quite irrelevant now. Wesker read the note again, but even then he was at a loss of what to do, and that didn't happen very often. Questions raced through his mind and to his disliking he had too few answers to satisfy them.

Why?

How?

Birkin was no fool. Why should he provide Wesker with such a valuable substance?

If it was valuable at all. He frowned. Perhaps Birkin just wanted him out of the way, wanted to stop him from leaving Umbrella.

No.

He had only told Birkin of his leave after the researcher had retrieved the sedatives. Had Birkin known before? If so, he was a good actor. The concern in his features had seemed so real, it was hard for Wesker to believe otherwise. Or had Birkin fooled him to such an extent that he hadn't noticed?

Even if the sample proved to be real, how had Birkin managed to keep silent about its discovery? How had he managed to keep its existence a secret from Umbrella? Such an outstanding finding didn't pass unseen and as head researcher Wesker would have been informed about it.

But every thought led back to the one question. Why had Birkin given it to him? If it was so effective as he claimed Birkin should have kept it for himself, especially in regards to his G-virus and Umbrella's want for it. Perhaps he had more of the concoction?

There were endless possibilities. Wesker didn't know what to make out of it. Why hadn't he opened the box of sedatives earlier? In Birkin's presence? He tried to bring the events back from his memory.

Birkin had arrived, given him the phials and… shoved the Marcus report in right after, not giving Wesker a chance to inspect them. And then the Elminators had escaped their cages and the last thing Wesker had had in mind was to look at the serums.

Had that been intention on Birkin's side? Why hadn't he wanted to give Wesker the little present during their observation of the Training Facility? More questions could have been solved that way, not leaving him in total darkness.

He briefly contemplated calling Birkin, but he doubted that the researcher could tell him anything on the phone. If Umbrella was unaware of the substance's existence Birkin wouldn't risk drawing any attention to himself. Neither would Wesker.

Somehow he doubted that Birkin had given him the vial out of comradeship. That was out of place, and why would the scientist have wanted Wesker to escape the Mansion alive anyway? Had he finally registered the danger the facility posed if not being taken care of? Had he wanted to avoid a further spill of the virus? Was Birkin such a humanitarian-

Suddenly the door behind him opened, and Wesker turned around quickly, not having heard the sound before. Poking her head in was Jill, a mix of surprise and confusion marking her features upon seeing him.

"Finally!" she said relieved and entered the room completely, "We've been searching the whole building already. Everyone is present, Captain."

He nodded, acknowledged the fact and unbeknownst to Jill tucked the vial into one of his pockets. They were early. Too early.

"I'm on my way."

There was no time left to solve the mystery around Birkin.

There was no time to speculate, to assume, or to believe.

There was only time to act.

Resolutely Wesker left safety behind him to lead the STARS into their unpreventable doom. He had their loyalty. He had their trust. He had the power.

All human actions have one or more of these seven causes:
chance, nature, compulsion, habit, reason,
passion,
and
desire.

-Aristotle

THE END

First of all, let me elaborate on the quote. Passion and desire, those are the two driving forces for Birkin's and Wesker's actions.

Birkin's passion for his life's work urged him to participate in Umbrella's and ultimately, Wesker's game. He did it solely to ensure that nothing gets out and he can continue research on the G virus.

Wesker action's are fueled by desire. Of which nature remains as of yet unknown. Be it power, wealth, we don't know. But whatever he wants, he has the devotion and the means to get it. Soon, his resources will multiply.

And now, Wesker's virus: I kept to the game script I found on the net pretty much, except ridding it of all its positive attributes. If Birkin had possessed such a powerful substance in the first place, he would have never given it to Wesker. And Umbrella would have known of its existence, so would have had all researchers who worked with him. If it had been the breakthrough, Birkin would have given it more attention.

Well, now that you've stuck with me for so long, what about giving a last (or first) review? Tell me how you liked the story. It would mean a lot to me, even if I get negative comments. Then I would know how I could improve.

--

A little preview:

bene merenti
success to those who deserve it
During the Mansion Incident Albert Wesker is murdered by his own creation, the Tyrant. The mysterious virus saves him, but can he cope with the side effects?

--

I hope to see you soon! If you want answers to all those questions, we'll meet again.