Location: Beneviento Estate, The Workshop
Date: July 18, 2020
Time: 09:55 AM Local Time
The workshop smelled of sawdust, old varnish, and dried flowers. It was a tomb for memories, filled with the porcelain eyes of a hundred dolls staring blindly into the dark.
The storm outside battered the windows, a chaotic white noise that isolated the manor from the rest of the world. But inside, the atmosphere was sterile, controlled, and predatory.
Alen Wesker sat in a high-backed velvet armchair, his legs crossed, his posture relaxed yet ready to strike. He had removed the wide-brimmed fedora and the heavy duster coat, draping them neatly over a nearby mannequin. Without the "Hat Man" silhouette, he was arguably more terrifying.
He wore a fitted black tactical turtleneck that emphasized his chemically enhanced physique, his eyes hidden behind dark sunglasses even in the dim light. He cleaned his fingernails with a small, silver scalpel, waiting.
"Status," Alen commanded. His voice was a low rumble, devoid of empathy, demanding only data.
He held a portable bio-scanner—a proprietary device from his own lab, far more advanced than anything Umbrella had ever produced. A holographic display projected a wireframe model of Donna Beneviento's internal biology floating in the air between them.
<< Scanning complete, Master, >> Trinity's voice echoed in his earpiece. << Analyzing the host-parasite interface. This is... unique. >>
"Elaborate," Alen said, checking a vial of blood he had drawn from Donna's arm minutes earlier. The crimson liquid swirled under the light.
<< Unlike the other Lords, Donna Beneviento's mutation is not primarily physical; it is neurological. The Cadou parasite has fused with her frontal lobe and limbic system. >>
<< However, the data indicates a massive anomaly. Her consciousness is not contained solely within her biological brain. >>
Alen glanced at the floor where the doll, Angie, lay lifeless in a heap of white fabric.
"Distributed processing," Alen deduced, a faint smirk touching his lips.
<< Precisely. Due to extreme psychological trauma and social withdrawal, the Cadou adapted. It 'partitioned' her consciousness. Approximately 60% of her personality—specifically her aggression and social capability—has been offloaded into the doll, Angie. They are connected via a high-frequency bio-signal. >>
"She turned herself into a dual-node network," Alen mused, the scientist in him genuinely intrigued. "The body is the server; the doll is the user interface. If one is destroyed..."
<< ...the feedback loop creates a lethal voltage spike in the other, >> Trinity finished. << If Ethan Winters destroys the doll, Donna Beneviento's brain will liquefy instantly. If you attempt to cure her without addressing the doll, the system will crash. >>
"Inefficient," Alen muttered, closing the holographic display. "But solvable."
The Awakening
A sharp gasp broke the silence.
Donna Beneviento's single visible eye fluttered open. Her vision blurred, swirling with the aftereffects of the Phobos frequency, before focusing on the figure across from her.
The recognition was instant. Not of him, but of the face. The sharp jawline, the slicked-back blonde hair, the aura of absolute, terrifying superiority. She had seen the classified files Mother Miranda kept in the damp dark of the lab.
"Wesker?" she breathed, her voice cracking. The terror was primal.
She scrambled backward, pressing herself against the cushions of the chaise lounge, pulling her black mourning veil tight around her scarred face.
"You... you're dead," she whispered, shaking. "The volcano... Miranda said you were dead!"
Alen didn't move. He didn't even uncross his legs. He simply watched her panic with the detached curiosity of a researcher observing a specimen in a petri dish.
"Albert is dead," Alen corrected, his tone smooth, bored, and chillingly calm. "I am the evolution. Compose yourself, Donna. If I wanted you terminated, you would not have woken up."
Donna trembled, her eye darting to Angie, who lay out of reach on the floor. She tried to summon her pollen, to create a hallucination, to hide—
"Don't," Alen warned. He didn't raise his voice, but the command hit her like a whip. He tapped his temple. "My Cognitive Dominion is currently active. I am jamming your signal. To your mother, and to your dolls, you are currently offline. You are in a dead zone."
Donna froze. The mention of "Mother" made her flinch. "What... what do you want?"
"I want to audit your system," Alen said, standing up.
He walked toward her, looming tall and oppressive. "I know what you are. A failed vessel. A broken woman hiding behind a puppet. Mother Miranda considers you a mistake. I consider you... unrefined potential."
Donna's eye went wide. "You sound like her. That woman... Alex Wesker."
Alen paused. The air in the room seemed to drop ten degrees. He stopped mid-step.
"You know the name?"
"The Queen of Fear," Donna whispered, clutching her chest. "Miranda... she spoke of her. The experiments on Sein Island. The madness. Even Miranda was disgusted by her methods. She said Alex Wesker didn't just break bodies... she broke souls."
Alen's jaw tightened. A flash of genuine annoyance crossed his face behind the sunglasses.
"My mother had a flair for the theatrical," Alen said, dismissing the memory of Alex with a wave of his hand. "I prefer efficiency."
He leaned down, bringing his face close to hers. He smelled of sterile chemicals and expensive leather.
"I am offering you a transaction, Donna. I have a prototype vaccine. It can rewrite the Cadou parasite. It can sever the chain that binds you to Miranda. It will cost you a significant portion of your power, but you will retain your life. You will be free."
Donna stared at him. "Free?" The word sounded alien to her. "But... Angie. She is part of me. If I change... she dies."
"Not if you follow my design," Alen said, straightening his cuffs. "The problem is that you are a distributed network. To save you, I must save the doll. I must inject both nodes simultaneously."
The Architect's Plan
Alen began to pace the room, outlining the plan with surgical precision.
"Here is the strategy. Listen closely, because I do not repeat myself."
Phase 1: The Decoy Signal
"First," Alen said, holding up a gloved finger. "We need to fool the Administrator. If Miranda suspects you are being cured, she will trigger a mutation remotely to kill you. To prevent this, I will create a Reverse-Engineered Cadou. It is a bio-mimicry device. It will broadcast your frequency to Miranda's network, telling her that you are still a loyal, enslaved dog, while in reality, we are cutting your leash."
Phase 2: The Theft
"Second," he continued. "You have a task. I need you to create two high-density mold replicas. One of yourself. One of Angie. These will be the decoys. When the time comes, we will feed these decoys to the wolves—specifically, distraction when it will come
Donna looked at him, her mind racing. "You want me to fake my death?"
"I want you to delete your existence," Alen corrected. "But to synthesize the Reverse-Engineered Cadou, I need raw material. You have access to Miranda's laboratory beneath the Ceremony Site."
"Yes..."
"Steal them," Alen ordered. "I need three un-gestated Cadou parasites. Fresh samples. Do not fail me."
Donna looked at her trembling hands. For decades, she had been a prisoner in her own home, terrified of the world. Now, this man—this terrifying ghost—was handing her a key.
"Why?" she asked, her voice barely audible. "Why save me?"
Alen put his hands in his pockets, his silhouette stark against the window. "Because Miranda is a sloppy god. And I am building a better pantheon. Do we have an accord?"
Donna looked at Angie, then back at Alen. A spark of defiance, buried deep under years of trauma, ignited.
"Yes."
The Intruder
"Good."
Alen abruptly grabbed his coat and hat. His demeanor shifted instantly from scientist to soldier. He tilted his head, listening to a sound Donna couldn't hear.
"Target approaching," Alen stated. "Heavy footsteps. Metallic resonance. Magnetic distortion detected. Sector 4 approach."
"Heisenberg," Donna whispered, panic rising again. "He checks on me. He hates me."
Alen slid into his duster, the "Hat Man" persona returning in an instant. He opened the back window, the storm howling outside.
"Play your part, Donna," Alen commanded, stepping onto the sill. "Act like the doll. I will be watching."
With a swirl of black fabric, he vanished into the blizzard.
Seconds later, the heavy iron doors of the manor groaned open downstairs.
Karl Heisenberg stomped in, shaking snow from his trench coat. He carried his massive hammer casually over one shoulder, his round sunglasses glinting in the gloom. He looked around the silent house with a sneer, chewing on a cigar.
"Donna!" he bellowed, his voice rough, arrogant, and distinctly American. "Wakey wakey, doll-face!"
Donna sat on the sofa, freezing. She grabbed Angie, pulling the doll onto her lap. She couldn't speak. Her throat was closed with anxiety.
Act like the doll.
Donna moved her hand inside the puppet. Angie's head snapped up.
"What do you want, grease-monkey?!" Angie shrieked, her voice high, manic, and shrill. "Can't a girl get some beauty sleep without you stomping mud all over the carpet?!"
Heisenberg stopped at the doorway of the workshop. He raised an eyebrow, amused. He sniffed the air.
"Smells sterile in here," Heisenberg grunted, eyeing the room suspiciously. "Like a hospital. And I felt a... dip in the network. Miranda felt it too. She sent me to see if you finally cracked up and died."
"I'm fine!" Angie yelled, flailing her wooden arms wildly. "Just doing some... redecorating! Maybe I was thinking about killing you! Get out! Get out!"
Heisenberg chuckled darkly. He walked closer, looking at Donna. She sat perfectly still, her head bowed, hiding behind the doll.
"You're a freakshow, Donna," Heisenberg muttered, shaking his head. "Even for us. Whatever."
He turned around, swinging his hammer onto his shoulder with a clang.
"Just make sure you're ready for the ceremony. Mother Bitch is getting impatient. Don't make me come back here."
Heisenberg walked out, his metal scraps rattling, the door slamming behind him.
Donna sat in the silence, her heart pounding against her ribs like a trapped bird. She looked at the open window where Alen had disappeared.
For the first time in her life, she didn't feel lonely. She felt... armed.
She looked down at Angie.
"We have work to do," Donna whispered.
Status:
Mission Phase 1: Complete.
Asset Acquired: Donna Beneviento.
Next Objective: Secure Cadou Samples.
Threat Level: Heisenberg Suspicion - Low.
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