Chapter 9

Bindi tensed her arms, holding them up like her manual instructed. Breathing quickly, she flicked out her arm, mimicking the form of a strike. At the last moment though, her hand split apart at the seams, the bones within extending in an array of shard, secured by one end. They whistled through the air as the limp appendages cracked like a whip. As she pulled back, the muscles in her hand tensed, and the hand pulled itself back into the proper shape, bones clicking back where they belonged.

A frustrated sigh escaped her as she shook her hand, snapping the last few bones into place. It wasn't fast enough. She couldn't afford to be sloppy. Taking stance again, she tried it again, trying to get the muscles to right themselves faster. She had made great progress early on, but it seemed to be slowing, and reducing it was getting harder and harder.

More irritatingly, she could feel her skin beginning to heat. She would only be able to practice for a bit more before giving it a break. She wanted to reduce the time by so much more before it hit that point.

In some ways, it reminded her of the practice of flagellation; penance and absolution through pain. Even her hand resembled a cat o' nine tails as it lashed the air, and she imagined it would have a similar effect on an enemy. The idea made her smile; her power, given by God, could mimic one of the most infamous forms of punishment.

As she pulled her hand back, the hand refused to snap together, and she growled as she manually held the pieces together, forcing them back together. Guess that meant it was time to give it a break. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she cradled her hand against her stomach, giving it time to knit itself together.

She wondered how long this would go on fort. She could only practice in solace for so long. The thought had crossed her mind that it was all a lie; they had only promised to let her help in order to keep her distracted long enough to figure out what to do with her.

It was not impossible, but they had done so much, and gone through so much for her that it just seemed like too much of an investment. Especially if they were going to teach her to fight. Making her more deadly could just result in it backfiring on them.

It didn't help that there was a mission going on.

When she first heard about it, she didn't think much of it at all. Why should she care after all? But she couldn't help but feel her worry rise, especially after hearing about the fact that the same virus she was infected with was suspected to be involved.

Something about that made her feel angry, like nothing she had felt before. The idea that the same person who infected her could be making more was bitter enough, but she realized there was a real probability that she had been data in testing for the virus itself.

But something deeper made her ire rise. Envy. She hadn't seen what the virus could truly do yet, but if there were creatures that gave themselves to it, they could easily surpass her power, or even Nanan's. The virus had made her stronger, and she had kept her mind. If something new cropped up that she could not beat, it would make them stronger, and her the inferior specimen. She didn't know why that bothered her, but she had resolved to not let that be the case.

Mostly though, it was fear. If they found someone else like her, they could replace her. She was a liability, but there was the chance they found someone more friendly, less risky. And then they would not need her, or Nanan. Then…

The BSAA would never do that. From everything she had heard and seen, they were good people, who believed in helping anyone harmed or threatened by the viruses, including people like her. It was people like Chris that kept it like that.

That was part of the reason she was nervous. Chris was heading the mission. Based on what she had heard, he had the highest success rate of any member of the BSAA, and participated in some of the most important and deadly missions of all time, and come out fine. But he was only human.

She was not.

Standing up, she held her weakened hand to her stomach while lifting the other one. Stretching her hand, she prepared to practice with the other hand. She was just limbering up the muscles when she heard the outer doors open. Surprised, she turned, surprised to see Merah in the lock.

Something was not right. Bindi could immediately tell. Though Merah did not like her in the slightest, there was a sense of bristling anger that surpassed anything she had seen. Add to that the fact that she was being escorted by several guards, and Bindi knew something was going on.

"Come on. We're going to collect your friend. No time to dally," Merah instructed quickly, her posture authoritative. Bindi turned slightly, feeling uncomfortable with the tension.

"What's happening?"

"We're moving you to another facility for the moment," Merah explained, a hint of exasperation in her voice.

"Why?"

"I'll tell you on the way. Come on, we need to get moving." Sensing there was no other option, Bindi slowly stepped forward, approaching Merah. As she approached, the other guards stepped aside, sliding into flanking positions.

As they stepped into the airlock, Bindi felt quite claustrophobic. The heavy shields they were carrying didn't help at all, and Merah basically was plastered to her side.

It was then she realized they were protecting her. She had seen this exact formation in her handbook. It was designed to protect an important personnel. "What's the risk?"

Merah glanced at her, as if not expecting the question. She seemed to want to speak, but cut herself off. "I'll tell you once we reach the armoured car."

Bindi had no time to argue as they reached Nanan's enclosure, and the guards parted to allow Bindi to enter first. Despite herself, she felt nervous. Whatever was going on, it was serious.

The door opened, and the form of Nanan rose from her hibernation, turning to look at them. Her tentacles raised for only a moment before she spotted Bindi, settling down. Bindi glanced at Merah, who just motioned for her to bring her over.

"On me!" she half-shouted, using the command they had practiced a couple of times. Nanan obeyed readily, moving in close. Her tentacles came up to embrace, but Bindi shook her head. "Later."

Once they were inside the airlock again, things faded into uneasy silence. The mixture of the guards' boots, and Nanan's slithering was unnerving. They eventually reached a shutter, which made a tremendous clattering noise that set Bindi's nerves on edge as it rolled up.

In a small garage, she could see a pair of armoured vans had already been set up, ready and waiting. Merah began motioning about, giving commands. "Cover all sides! I want people in place! Post that door!"

"Get Nanan in one of the vehicles. You and I will take the other," she added, glancing back as she walked forward, her gun ready. A pair of guards opened the back of one of the cars, and Bindi turned to Nanan.

"You stay in there. I will see you soon. Be good," she commanded softly, watching as Nanan slithered into the opening, disappearing into the darkened back of the car. She barely had time to pause as Merah motioned for her to hop into the other one. Bindi stepped up, with Merah following behind closely. The guards stepped up into the car, closing the door behind them. As soon as the doors closed, Merah rapped her knuckles on the side of the cab, and the vehicle's engine growled into immediate action.

In less time than she had to process it, they were off.

"Here's the situation," Merah said, causing Bindi to snap into focus. "Right now, we are taking you to another facility. One we designed a while ago in case there were ever any people like you. You will be kept safe there until otherwise stated."

Merah sighed, holding her face in her hands. The acton surprised Bindi; Merah had been annoyed or angry before, but this seemed like more than that. "The mission did not go so well. There is a distinct risk they could be after you and Nanan, so we cannot let them get their hands on you. As the commanding officer right now, it is my job to make sure you are safe."

"Wait, isn't Chris the commanding officer?" Bindi asked thoughtlessly. Before she heard the reply, she already felt the answer coming to her.

"Chris is...not available right now. He went AWOL shortly after the end of the mission. Most of the team he was on were killed, and only Piers and him made it out. They were taken for medical attention, but Chris disappeared from the hospital not long after regaining consciousness."

"That's not the end of it, is it?"

"I wish," Merah said sadly, taking her phone out of her pocket. Tapping quickly, she flicked through a few photos. "There was a person responsible for the team's failure. We managed to recover these photos from the body cams."

Merah handed her phone to Bindi, who looked at the pictures with widening eyes.

It was the same woman who infected her.

She was glad Merah took the phone back, because she would have crushed it otherwise. "She used some kind of needle bomb to deliver the infection to the team. It was the same thing you have, but with a few tweaks. They already worked to change it. Even worse, the target we were tracking was lost after the chopper we were extracting it with was taken down by an unidentified B.O.W. There were a lot of things we were not expecting."

Bindi looked numbly at the images as Merah swept through them. Various enemies flashed by her eyes, no two alike. It was her worries materialized. They had everything from giants to bulky monsters, none of which she could make a dent on. She doubted even the most basic ones would be phased by her attacks. Trained teams of professionals had lost to them.

Merah fell silent, leaning back in her seat. Bindi had a thousand questions, but simultaneously felt like asking none of them. She needed time to process this. Everyone did.

Merah performed a cursory tour of the facility. Neither of their hearts were really in it though, and soon it was just the two of them in Bindi's new room. Admittedly, it was much nicer than her cell, as it was an actual bedroom. Even so, she could see they had gone to great lengths to make it safe, and she had no doubt that it hid several fail safes in it.

Merah wasn't even fully focused on her. Her headset crackled now and again as the teams of guards moved through the facility, making sure all the safety features were running properly. Occasionally she spoke to them, but mostly she was silent.

"So what happens now?" Bindi asked hollowly.

"We stay here and keep you safe," Merah explained with a half shrug, looking away. Though she did not say it, Bindi could tell Merah was angry with her. Bindi couldn't blame her.

Had she been uninfected, Merah would not have been stuck guarding her. Then she could have gone to help Chris. Bindi doubted it would have helped much, especially considering the circumstances, but no doubt it weighed on her mind. And now she was stuck in a building, continuing to guard the same thing that had taken her Captain.

All because she was deemed too weak to defend herself.

"Merah," she said coldly, clenching her fists. The woman looked over at her, an intense look in her eyes. Bindi met the look with her own determined one, standing up. "I need you to teach me how to fight."

Merah was silent for a moment. When she spoke, it was flat, and hollow. "Why on earth should I do that?"

"If you teach me to fight, I can defend myself. Then you can go out and help your friends. That's what you're thinking, right? That I am the reason why Chris is gone?" Bindi knew she was pressing a very delicate subject, but it was her only ticket out.

Neither of them looked away from the deadlock, and Bindi could feel her hand twitch. She was suddenly quite aware of the weapons Merah was carrying. What would happen if Merah decided to just end her? Would she do that?

"Fine. But not today. We need to make sure everything is in place before we can do that," Merah said at last, breaking the lock. "In the meanwhile, I am going to check in with the guards. I would recommend getting rest."

Merah shut the doors behind her, and Bindi could hear the seal tightening. Despite the quaking in her body, Bindi could feel a sense of strength and confidence returning. Soon she could take her fate into her own hands, and become her own arbiter.

When she found the woman who did this to her, she would exact God's own punishment against her.

That marks the end of this particular story! As you will likely guess, that means the next thing up is RE6, but there are a few notes on that. First off, RE6 was...disappointing. It had some interesting ideas, but just did not pull it off right. While I will be covering the arc, I will be adapting it differently, and taking my own spin on the idea.

This fact, paired with the size of the game itself, means that it will be a bit before I get around to actually writing it. This break also coincides with finals, so it makes sense to take a bit of a pause here to prepare for what will likely be a larger project. Until then, I may put out an occasional extra, but it will depend.