Chapter 19: Laboratory Beneath

Ethan was now standing in the mansion's basement, calmly observing large boxes that were piled high and placed on top of a trap door. The way to the lab below was undoubtedly there, but Barry had shut it off for security reasons because the kitchen was close to the entrance, even though Ethan didn't think the monsters could climb ladders.

It should be okay to keep it open for the time being since he wasn't even able to detect any living monsters below, he thought. After a little period of time, the trap door leading to the underground was open to be used after Ethan approached the boxes and carefully moved them away from the top of the trap door.

Evidently, it is not locked. When he finally opened the trap door itself, which created an audible creaking sound that reverberated throughout the basement, he could see the ladder, the concrete floor below, and what appeared to be on-going lighting, suggesting that it wasn't at all dark.

Seeing that there was no interruption anymore, Ethan put his legs on the ladder, but just as he was about to descend, he could hear someone coming down from the stairs near him.

It was Jill; she looked down at him, frowning and crossing her arms. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, what are you doing here?" Ethan asked back.

Jill stared at him for a while before sighing deeply. She approached closer, now just in front of the trap door. "Go on. Get on with it."

Ethan raised his brow, looking up at her face, before shaking his head in amusement.

"Alright, do whatever you want."

Stepping onto the chilly concrete surface, Ethan walked down the ladder toward the passageway. He left the area around the ladder and took a look around. The room is dull in color and the walls are completely unpainted. There are several pipes and ventilation vents running through the walls.

He took another step forward, touched the handrails, peered down at the edge of the floor, and noticed water flowing from top to bottom. It doesn't smell, looks normal in color, and has the appearance of a typical sewer for clean water.

Jill then came down the ladder and also looked around. "The light's still on." she said.

"Was it turned on the first time you were here?" Ethan asked.

Jill hummed. "Yeah."

"Maybe the power is connected to the whole mansion." Ethan commented. "Come on. Let's go further."

The two of them then proceeded to move across the area, navigating the lab's underground pipes and chilly walls. The majority of the lights flared up considerably too brilliantly, slightly impairing both of their senses while some flickered or just didn't operate.

They descended a staircase, the sound of the railing rattling echoing through the air, and when they reached the bottom, they found themselves in front of a door, which caused Jill to scowl sharply.

She pushed it half way, stopped, and shut it again.

"You want to tell me what you're doing here now?" Ethan raised his brow. "If you want to enter, just enter. That's the prison."

"I know." she murmured. "I just want to see it."

"Why are you obsessed with Wesker's memories? Do you have a crush on him or something?"

"It's not about Albert, Ethan." she grumbled. "It's about the other kids. Albert must not be the only one who survived this place; someone that came from here must still be running around somewhere."

"I'm sorry, Jill, but no one survived except Wesker." Ethan sighed. "You'll see later once we're inside the lab."

Jill frowned. "Don't tell me…"

Ethan just nodded.

Jill clenched her fist. "I wish I was the one who killed Spencer rather than you."

"Let it go, Jill." Ethan said, touching her shoulder. "What's done is done. If you want to do something, just make sure no victims ever appear again."

"Going against HYDRA, then?"

"I wouldn't recommend that, but…" Ethan shook his head. "Let's just continue to the lab."

Ethan then continued walking, while Jill just paused there, watching Ethan's back. "Well what are you doing here then? Just looking around?"

Ethan turned his head toward her without stopping his walk. "Me? You can say that…"

Jill raised her brow; she didn't like his tone one bit. Without waiting anymore, she followed Ethan deeper into the underground area, towards a metal door at the end of the corridor.

Ethan slowly opened the door, and a bunch of irritating smells entered his nostrils. He was disoriented for a bit, but he quickly recovered, entering the actual lab. It was… depressing to be sure. Without context, the lab had just a bunch of giant liquid tubes that had unfinished monsters with missing limbs in them, but with context…

"These are… Albert's friends, huh…" Jill approached one of them, touching the tube and looking at it sadly. "God damnit…"

Ethan ignored her. He kept looking around, again, all this stuff felt familiar to him, yet it was unfamiliar too, as it wasn't his memories. He then stood in front of a computer, turning it on quickly as images began to appear on the screen, images that caught the attention of Jill.

"Looking around?" She asked, getting no answer, though as she approached him, she stopped, and turned to the dead monster just beside it, the one who supposedly killed Wesker. The monster had sharp claws, it didn't look like it had skin, but the muscles were as tough as steel itself. Jill just gulped, she walked towards it, inspecting the body in detail. "They turned into monsters for sure…"

Meanwhile, Ethan used the password inside his mind to unlock the computer. He then browsed the files that existed within the drive, and picked on a particular file, looking at the code.

"E-01," he murmured. He stood up from the seat, and walked around, looking at the tube's label.

And then, he found it. A tube, with a mere small child that had been turned into an abomination. Its neck had seemed to have been expanded like a frog's neck, and its eyes were opened, albeit lifeless.

Jill saw what Ethan was doing. She turned to the computer and saw what Ethan was reading in the files. "Test subject… seems to have the ability to spread the virus using an airborne medium… a red gas— Ethan. What are you doing?"

Before she could finish that question, however, Ethan had already moved. His tendrils have entered the tube and started to consume the biomass of it. Not even a second later, the body was gone, and a feeling of ecstasy rushed through Ethan's mind.

"What the fuck?" Jill frowned. "Are you serious?"

"Wesker only had the super strength and tough skin and muscle that the rest of these guys have," Ethan explained calmly. "When I looked around Spencer's mind, I saw this guy, an anomaly, different from the other kids, with the ability to spread the virus without coming into contact. I can control infected because of Wesker's virus that he got from the lab, and with this, I can…"

"You want to create more monsters?" Jill questioned, frowning deeply.

"No, Jill, no." Ethan sighed. "I could modify the intensity of the virus. I could… make it so that the infected won't feel anything, they won't even notice that they have the virus."

"What are you going with this?"

"Using Wesker's abilities that he got from the lab. I could see, I could hear from the infected. Which means…"

"Someone that is infected is now your spy…" she murmured. "Without even knowing it."

"Exactly."

"Can I do that?" Jill asked.

"No. No no." Ethan shook his head. "I figured out what's the difference between us."

"Well, what is it?"

"Do you hear the voices in your head?" Ethan asked. "To consume. To evolve."

"Y-Yeah.. I do."

"But do you hear the words… To Multiply?"

"To multiply? No. I don't hear it."

Ethan chuckled. "Can you do this?" Ethan's arm then quickly sprouted a blade, and the other arm, a claw.

"Jesus…" Jill was surprised at first. She tried to do that… but… she can't. "No. I– I can't."

'Can you hear this?' Jill was even more surprised, as she just heard Ethan's words inside her mind. "How'd you do that?"

"Wesker's powers. Technically you're an infected too."

"Wait…" Jill frowned. "Wait, wait… that means… You can see what I see?"

"I mean, I haven't tried it yet—"

"Don't," she said, a deep threat in her words. A shiver ran down Ethan's spine. "If I noticed you doing that. I will strangle you."

"Alright, alright, jeez…" Ethan looked away, clearing his throat. "You can't send a thought to me, correct?"

Jill tried it, no response. "I don't think so," she said. "But I can send thoughts when I touch you."

"That's a different concept, I think." Ethan hummed. "You see, your biomass, the one that turned you into… like me… was mine. So I guess because of that when we touch each other, we're temporarily connected as if my biomass became mine again… if that makes sense…"

"That…. Sounds gross… Ethan, seriously?" Jill scrunched up her face. "What if I touch Claire?"

"Should do the same thing," Ethan stated. "Again, Claire's biomass was once mi–"

"Was once connected to the source, let's just say that," she grumbled.

"Sure, whatever." Ethan cleared his throat. "And due to that, it's technically still in the same frequency, so you can do the same thing to her. You can try that if you want."

"This is all confusing… and disgusting…" Jill shivered. "What else can I do?"

"Well, you can consume people, you can… take their memories," Ethan said. "The more you consume people, the heavier you are, the more punches you can take, the stronger the punch you can give, and… wait, can you turn into Wesker?"

"Turn?"

"Morph into him." Ethan clarified. "Just think about his form, and your body will do it by itself."

Jill just frowned, but she thought about it anyway. The next thing she knew, her body quickly transformed. She walked to the nearest glass, watching the reflection. "What the hell…" Jill transformed back, she didn't like it one bit.

"Ugh… yeah that's weird…" Ethan coughed in embarrassment. "I guess that's it then… though, you could still hear the words 'To Evolve', how do you evolve…?"

"Whatever," she grumbled, walking past him towards the exit. "I'm going to go to the dorm rooms to clean up. This shit's making me feel dirty…"