Infinity, progressing from Arasaka

"Mommy, Daddy..." the girl murmured in her sleep, curled up on the sofa. Her little face was already streaked with tears.

A blonde, blue-eyed woman with long, flowing hair and a pale face gently stroked the girl's back with pity. "Sherry, Sherry, don't cry... Mommy's here."

Squeak.

Ta-da!

“Annie Birkin, Executive Officer Russell wants to see you.”

The company security guards pushed open the door, and the loud noise woke the girl. The adorable girl immediately buried her head behind her mother in fear, peeking out half her head and looking at these fully armed 'thugs' with fear in her eyes.

“Annie Birkin, I thought she was dead. Although she can’t compare to William, she is still a rare talent in virology.”

An unfamiliar male voice.

“It was just something I did casually. I wouldn’t hold a grudge against William’s widow... Besides, it seems like everyone in that family has a problem with me,” Vera’s voice said.

The shadows enveloped Annie.

“Annie Birkin, I have no ill intentions toward your family. Now, an opportunity is presented to you: an opportunity to live in anonymity, sever ties with William Birkin, allow Sherry to grow up safely, and serve the Commonwealth.”

------

Chapter 040 T-Virus Arrives in Night City

Annie Birkin was taken away by Derek C. Simmons.

Shirley Birkin was left in Vera's military technology.

Ostensibly, she's being cared for by the military science's welfare institutions as a disaster orphan from Raccoon City, but in reality, she's a hostage. And Vera is the honorary dean.

She couldn't completely trust Annie, or perhaps she was also wary of Simmons.

Although Vera has a thousand ways to monitor Annie, rationally speaking, Annie's greatest strength is that she loves someone wholeheartedly. Before, it was Dr. William. Even after he became a G-creature, she did not give up on waking her husband. In the original timeline, she died for this very reason.

Today, Dr. William, once a target for military science product exhibitions, has been reduced to ashes.

Annie was forcibly abducted from the underground research facility by MSF, which changed her fate of dying. Moreover, Sherry is still alive. As long as her daughter is alive, the possibility of Annie acting recklessly or going crazy is extremely small.

This is also why Vera dared to use her and put her on Simmons' side.

In exchange for Anna becoming a federal secret employee, Vera wouldn't interfere with how Simmons used her.

She will block the information that Shirley Birkin is Dr. William's daughter.

Well, thanks to Vera's fame, William Birkin, as her biggest dissident at Umbrella and the prime suspect in the Raccoon City incident, has a terrible reputation.

In the employment contract, Annie will have the opportunity to visit Sherry at the Military Science Welfare Institute every month, with no time limit thereafter. The Military Science Institute will also provide Sherry with above-average educational opportunities and personalized development, including financial assistance and anti-bullying care.

If Sherry dies, and there's no chain holding her back, Vera will kill Annie immediately.

What a load of rubbish! Just bring up the word 'love,' and Vera can't fathom Annie's behavior. Who knows when she'll have a nightmare, recalling all the little things she did with William and Shirley, and then take it out on Vera, going crazy and causing some mess that Vera has to clean up?

"Mommy...Mommy, I want my mommy."

After Annie was taken away, even though the room was filled with dolls, cute animal pillows, Barbie dolls, and other cozy decorations, Shirley still curled up in a corner of the sofa, wiping away tears, too afraid to even cry out loud. During the days of the Raccoon City disaster, Shirley, who had inherited her parents' intelligence, already knew that the adults were annoyed by that kind of sound.

She is so sensible and endearing.

"Don't cry. It's just a temporary separation, like before. Your mother has just gone out to work. Be good, okay? She'll be back with you in a month at the latest."

Vera, who was about to leave the room, paused, waved for the bodyguards and guards to leave, stepped over to Shirley, bent her knees slightly forward, and gently stroked the little bean's fur.

"Woo..."

Shirley glanced at Vera, then immediately slipped away.

"You should recognize me, right? I'm your father's colleague, a former colleague."

"Mmm..." Sherry nodded in a barely audible voice, her eyes filled with tears. "Daddy...Daddy said you're a bad person..."

Vera: "..."

“What an honest and good child. As for whether I’m the bad person your father says I am, I think you’ll be able to judge for yourself when you grow up, little Shirley.” Vera’s voice was gentle, but it carried an undeniable tone. “Lift your head…”

"Well..."

Sherry bit her lip lightly, and her pitiful little face slowly lifted up.

"Remember what I look like. Consider me your half-guardian. I will support you until you grow up. If you encounter any difficulties, feel free to contact me."

Vera pulled a small, silver-plated card from her pocket. It was black with gold trim and gold foil engravings of bright red patterns. "This is my personal business card."

"We will not replace lost items, so please keep them safe."

"...Um."

Squeak.

The sound of the door closing softly.

"Boss, Oswell E. Spencer has requested a secret communication." The secretary waiting outside the door saw Vera come out, stepped forward, and followed behind Vera by half a step, reporting in a low voice: "As usual, ignore it?"

"As usual."

After Vera "discovered" and exposed the Raccoon City incident and Spencer's embezzlement of Black Umbrella's funds, she unilaterally cut off all contact with Spencer.

Old Deng, stay away from me!

"Instruct MSF security forces and industrial park security departments in states like California to increase alert, especially around my residence and home in San Francisco..."

After explaining some things to prevent Old Deng from making a desperate move, Vera was too lazy to bother anymore. She left the Washington Military Science Division building and headed to Capitol Hill. She planned to argue a few more times and then find an opportunity to leak the location of Spencer's family castle to the black market... Then, she returned to San Francisco.

...

three days later.

In San Francisco's Military Technology Industrial Park, the park's headquarters building is still undergoing logo replacement and interior decoration changes.

Da da--

After a brief administrative meeting at the Military Science Building in the city center, Vera walked briskly into the lobby.

After attending Chris Redfield's Medal of Valor award ceremony and banquet on October 1, she voluntarily ended her trip to Washington and returned to the West Coast.

The Medal of Valor, officially known as the Public Safety Officers' Medal of Valor, is the highest national honor that the USA's police and fire departments can receive, equivalent to the military's Medal of Honor.

Regardless of Chris's true feelings, the president's summons and the awarding of the Medal of Valor made him, as a former Air Force officer, Raccoon City police officer, and SWAT officer, feel a strong sense of honor and eager for his achievements and those of the STARS to be recognized. He had to go.

At the White House, Chris, along with his sister Claire and other surviving members of the former STARS, offered a salute of gratitude to Vera.

During this time, Vera extended another invitation to Chris to join the military technology team.

As she expected, Chris refused. Then, Vera introduced Chris to Simmons's biological crisis prevention and emergency response organization, which was still in the planning stages.

It's the kind of situation where the name is undecided, there's no funding, not enough staff, and no official staffing quota...

Chris readily accepted.

He brought his own food and, along with Jill, went to Simmons, demonstrating his firm resolve to bring the remaining crimes of Umbrella to justice.

Seeing that they were having a lively conversation, Vera took her leave.

Yes, that's a relief.

The Umbrella remnants who refused to accept Vera's reorganization naturally needed to be dealt with severely. Very well, let Chris and his team of BOW experts handle it. As a strategic partner of the Pentagon, military technology can receive and collect virus samples from behind and provide appropriate support and treatment.

They ostensibly use the expertise of military technology to understand the characteristics of viruses, research prevention and control methods and compile them into a book, and produce and mass-produce vaccines, inhibitors, neutralizing agents...

Chris also had to cooperate and try to preserve the virus samples before sending them over.

beep-

After dismissing her bodyguards, Vera took the direct elevator from her office to the underground storage room.

With nuclear bunker-level protection, Vera passed through layers of access control and arrived in front of a set of embedded, sealed glass cabinets.

Enter the password, and the system will recognize your facial and body features. You will then be allowed to proceed.

The airtight compartment was opened, revealing several metal boxes with red and white umbrella-shaped logos placed inside.

Kaka.

Vera operates a built-in robotic arm with a mechanical lock combination to open a metal box, inside which a spiral-shaped container filled with blue and green liquids is quietly kept cold.

Green represents the T-virus; blue represents the T-virus vaccine.

It was Vera who ordered the MSF to secretly transport the samples from Raccoon City.

"A supervirus... I don't really think it's feasible, it's too ugly."

"The byproducts of T-virus research are more useful than the virus itself directly affecting humans. Instead of thinking about some kind of overnight evolution, the ability to extend human lifespan and slow down aging is enough to entice those old guys who are already dead and have developed significant resistance to various 'longevity drugs'."

Vera shook her head gently.

She didn't intend to use it herself.

She then manipulated the robotic arm to close the metal box, stabilize the container, seal it, and lock it. Then, she picked up the metal box and precisely placed it into the slot. After a complex mechanical transfer process, the metal box slowly rose from the operating table.

Vera picked it up and weighed it in her hand.

"Are you ready?"

She turned her head to look at the wall, the gleaming metal facade reflecting the image of a tall woman with pale blonde hair.

With a thought, Vera's eyes flashed, and in the next instant, on the metal wall, several barely perceptible muscle lines seemed to appear on her face, the traces of a metal prosthetic implant under her forehead became visible, and a black clover logo with white stripes appeared on the collar of her clothes.

Aragaki Clover.

"give it to me."

She said it, and I said it too.