58 - Answers (2)

Meteor ZUBA's existence was only known to the highest echelon of powerful governments. They found out that it would 'land' on Earth and that it was filled with rare resources.

It wasn't a big meteor by any means; it was a normal-sized one, but according to NASA and other space stations, they concluded that it was filled to the brim with resources.

So much so, that it almost started a silent war between Russia, China,

and the United States. The first two entered a deal, and the United States, after thinking about it, decided to let them be after those two governments gave enough benefits.

It was the wrong choice, as Umbrella, one of the biggest and nastiest pharmaceutical corporations, was the one who guided and funded the two countries, as it had discovered there was something unusual inside the meteor. So, they decided to research it.

Besides, if it ended up just being a meteor filled with resources and nothing more, it was still a meteor filled with resources, so it was a win-win situation for Umbrella, as it would have the opportunity to study the meteor alongside allied countries and not lose money in the process.

So, after making sure no one leaked the existence of said meteor and after discovering the likely place where it would land, Russia, China, and Umbrella started to act in a hurry.

The meteor crashed in a hidden place in Paris, and because of that, France was one of the governments that had the most benefits, so they hid and purged anything related to the meteor and its crash.

Because they were so relentless about it, the meteor stayed hidden from the public eye, and Umbrella, along with all countries, started to study it. Even the United States studied it, but the countries that had the most information and access were Russia, China, and France.

And study Meteor Zuba, they did. On the outer layer, it was filled with rare resources. So much so that Umbrella didn't lose money and even gained double the amount she paid. Her partners, Russia and China, also greatly benefited because of it.

But what Umbrella was really after was inside. After extracting the outer layer until depletion, the inside of the meteor was revealed. Inside, it was something that caused waves in the science community.

Inside it, there was a liquid of unknown origin. To not just say bad things about Umbrella, they did their utmost to extract the liquid without anyone slightly touching it. They managed to do so and used their base in Paris, as it was most close to the site of the impact, as their main research base, with China being close second and Australia being third.

In the first month, they did the basic research: finding out how it reacted to certain elements (food, water, etc. After one month of that, Umbrella gradually started to pump up their efforts.

It started with rats, and they found out it changed the DNA, changing the appearance, among other things. The studies also showed signals of increased aggression, but the life expectancy of the rat improved by leaps and bounds.

So, the upper echelon, seeing that, got greedy. They began to up their efforts, so from rats, they went through all sorts of animals.

Fish, horses, chickens, spiders, etc. No one stopped Umbrella because of the money and the possibility of living longer, so she did not stop.

And, surprisingly, the results were always the same. The aggression went up, and so did the life expectancy.

The scientists tried everything they could to find a way to diminish the aggression, and, finally, after countless trials and errors, they 'managed' to do it.

The rat was stronger, faster than normal, had a longer lifespan, and was docile. Blinded by their success and the chances of living longer, they didn't just stop there.

They continued their studies until, finally, after 'careful' consideration, they decided to test on humans. Of course, it was highly unethical, but they decided to push forward anyway, thinking about the money and the benefits they would gain from it.

FIRST TEST ON HUMANS

On the file Jonathan was reading, there were videos too, and he clicked on the first in chronological order. It showed the first-ever trial on humans.

One man looked at a woman inside a tank of water. He looked at her, then down at his tablet, and said, '' Alice, 32, is suffering from cancer alongside other complications... We will begin to administrate the liquid.''

The woman, who looked very frail with skinny arms and no hair, looked at the scientist and nodded, signaling she was ready. ' I'll survive this!'

Just like the man said before, she had cancer. In fact, she was the one who volunteered herself for this test, as she had been given a few weeks to live.

The only reason she managed to get the chance to volunteer was that a friend of hers worked at Umbrella and, after gaining OKAY from the higher-ups, gave the desperate Alice a 'chance' to get better.

The scientist looked at her sympathetically and said, '' I thank you for your sacrifice. We will lead humans to a new era because of you.''

Of course, if nothing goes wrong, Alice would basically be ' reborn', as the liquid showed great vitality increase. So, she would also greatly benefit from it.

After saying that, the man began to administer the strange liquid originally from ZUBA. At first, nothing happened, and everyone clapped. The first video ended just like that.

The second video, filmed a week later, showed Alice coming out of the water tank. She had just been released, and the sedatives were stopping working. Just in case, there were several soldiers on the video, aiming their weapons in Alice's direction.

Umbrella was anything but stupid and was prepared in case something went wrong. But nothing happened, and only a confused Alice was standing there,'' What happened?''

The scientist smiled and said, ''You managed to survive the ordeal, and based on what I'm seeing, you must have gained something in the process.''

Alice looked down at her nude body and was surprised to see the muscle on her arms. She touched her belly and said,'' Since when did I have abs?''

The scientist put on a jacket to cover her, pointed at her head, and said,'' There's more.''

After Alice touched her head, which was supposed to be bald thanks to chemotherapy, she was surprised to feel her hair. A lot of it, '' What is this?'' She just woke up, so she was still a little confused and dizzy, but she could still recognize that her hair was back and started to cry a little.

'' I can't say for sure since we haven't done any tests yet, but based on what we know about the liquid, there is a high chance your cancer was cured.''

After passing the confused Alice to a nearby soldier, the scientist turned to the camera and smiled, '' We are witnessing what could be the next big discovery of humanity.''

The video then came to an end.

Jonathan then clicked on the next, and on it, the same scientist that was with Alice in the first video was once again on the camera. This time, he was excited, '' We have put subject A, or patient 0, in quarantine right after she woke up. Her progress is... remarkable.''

The scientist showed a few graphics to the camera, '' The cancer is gone. Completely gone.'' You could see his excited face, '' The amount of money we could gain with this discovery is astronomical. And she gained a few more things.''

He grabbed the camera and showed Alice 'fighting' against a few trained soldiers from Umbrella. Fighting was a loose term, as she was toying with them.

'' She can absorb knowledge like I have never seen before. Her strength is almost inhuman, as she could face 10 trained men without breaking a sweat. There could be more things we do know about, but at this point, we can say the experiment is a success.''

However, the man soon changed his tone, '' But I don't recommend using the liquid on other humans yet. The variables are enormous, and even though subject A, or patient 0, showed good progress, we don't know how another human would react.''

'' We can't use her blood. At least not yet.''

The man surprisingly showed some resistance to testing the alien liquid on more people. You can't blame him, though, as Alice was showing signs of being a superhuman, and the things they were dealing with were literally alien.

Regardless, the video came to an end. 

The file only had one more video, and Jonathan clicked on it. This time, the man was a shell of his former self, his excited face nowhere to be seen, replaced by a worried look.

'' I told the higher-ups to not use patient 0 blood or the alien liquid in other subjects as it could cause unforeseen consequences... They didn't listen.'' He sighed and continued explaining, '' A daughter of an important member of Umbrella suffered a horrible accident. The chances of her surviving were almost 0%. Her dad used his influence on the company and used Patient 0 blood for an emergency transfusion of blood. The daughter immediately showed signs of recovering, but... what I feared happened.''

The scientist grabbed the camera and showed a zombie trapped in a cage, '' This is what became of her. After she woke up, she started attacking other people, even her family. After a lot of fighting, Umbrella managed to subdue her, but not before she killed one of our own and injured another with bites and scratches.''

'' We don't know what's happening with her or how to reverse it, but my gut tells me this won't end well. I can only pray and continue my work, trying to revert whatever happened to her.''

Right after the video ended, there was one file below labeled The Beginning of the Apocalypse.

After Jonathan clicked it, it showed that the Umbrella personnel that was bitten or scratched started to attack other people, just like the daughter of the higher-up. If it was an isolated thing to only one Umbrella base, it would not be dangerous, as it could be contained after they realized something was wrong, but the period of incubation of the virus was different for everyone.

Some of the soldiers who were infected had already been transferred to other bases before they transformed. After they transformed, it didn't take long for other people there to be bitten and scratched. And so, the cycle began, only this time in the outside world.

It didn't take long for the world to fall, and Umbrella didn't fare any better. For a few months, they maintained their strength, but now only the base in Paris is still working.

Jonathan suspected it was thanks to patient 0 or/and Meteor ZUBA being here, but he had no way of knowing that for sure.

----

After Jonathan read those files and watched the videos, he could only sigh and curse those people on top, ' Because of money, FUCKING MONEY, they destroyed the world! They had the chance to stop before it was too late, but no, they had to fuck things up.'

It was almost like fiction meets reality. In other media, generally, greed was the main factor that led the world to destruction, and this time, it was not different. 

Of course, the main factor that caused the apocalypse was using patient 0 blood to save someone's daughter, something even Jonathan could see himself doing, but all of this wouldn't have happened if they left things alone in the first place.

Jonathan was angry and wanted to just destroy everything there, but he continued to read the files on the computer. After checking one by one, he found one labeled DIARY.

He began to read, and his expression changed a few times while doing so. Jonathan found something out about those people down here, 'So, they are being forced to 'work' here, huh?'

Basically, almost all people here had their families taken hostage and forced to 'work' on finding a cure. They have been like that since the beginning of the apocalypse, and some people were even from other bases.

' Umbrella is really trash.'

But that begs the question: Where are the true people of Umbrella if all those down here were forced on this path?

' Perhaps the people on the upper floors?'

Jonathan thought of that because of how Veronica acted—almost like she was above others. ' Typical of villains, forcing the work on their hostages... Now I feel bad.'

With this new information, Jonathan now didn't want to use plans A, B, or C, as it would cause deaths to the families of those trapped here. Of course, there must be evil people up there, but the majority must be the family of those down here.

' ... Fuck!' But Jonathan knew he would do it if push came to shove, so he just hoped the situation would not happen and he could leave the place unbothered. The chances of that happening were slim, though.

Deciding to ignore those for now, Jonathan searched the files once more to see if he could find where patient 0 was.