Point of View: Gérald
As I was about to activate the transmission relay to oversee operations in Middle-earth for the next three days, a chilling sensation suddenly ran through me. It wasn't just a simple shiver, nor even an instinctive alert like the ones I was used to. No… it was far deeper, more unsettling. As if something had just broken at a fundamental level. As if reality itself had been rewritten around me without leaving me the slightest control.
Then the System's voice echoed—cold, mechanical, relentless—forcing itself directly into my mind without the slightest nuance:
Discovery of an extension to your tutorial world capable of resolving an anomaly created by the administrator. Your affliction preventing you from strengthening your own body should have been removed upon completion of the tutorial, but as your administrator is deceased, the action was not performed.
Your tutorial world having been destroyed, assimilation to standard world parameters initiated. Original timeline: twenty years after the destruction of Raccoon City.
The world of The Hobbit is paused during your actions in this world.
The "Raccoon City" facility will also be suspended during this exploration.
You will have one additional individual accompanying you. Designated companion: Leon S. Kennedy.
Due to the technical constraints of this forced transfer, you are granted access to all the forces of your modified Plagas Queen, as well as the capabilities of your enhanced Cadou, allowing the creation of independent Plagas.
You will also regain access to your primary version of the factory.
You have one month to retrieve a sample of "Elpis" in order to restore your original mutation. You may also gather as many resources as you wish. Do your best.
I remained still for a fraction of a second, the information overlapping in my mind. "…Seriously?" I muttered, incredulous. But I didn't even have time to finish the thought.
The world tore apart.
A brutal pressure seized me, as if my body were being ripped from reality. My vision warped, colors stretching as though they had lost all coherence, then everything vanished into a crushing void.
I was thrown without the slightest control, like a mere straw caught in an invisible storm, unable to grasp anything.
When my feet touched the ground again, the impact was sharp, violent. The air was different—heavier, colder, filled with a metallic, stagnant smell. I was no longer in my control room. I took a second to steady my senses before slowly lifting my head.
In front of me stood a gray, timeworn building, its windows dull, its walls marked by years of abandonment. A wooden sign, half-loose, creaked slightly in the wind:
Rhodes Hill – Chronic Care Center.
To my right, a black Porsche Cayenne, still relatively recent, was parked crookedly. The door hung slightly open, swaying faintly, and bloodstains covered the bodywork—irregular splatters mixed with longer streaks, as if someone had been violently thrown against the vehicle… or dragged for several meters.
I let out an annoyed sigh. "You really couldn't just let me move forward? You had to send me back into an alternate version of my own world… as if I had never existed in it?"
A dull noise caught my attention, and I turned just in time to see Leon stagger. He raised a hand to his head, his face tightening in pain, and I caught him before he could fully collapse. His body was tense, as if absorbing a brutal mental overload.
He finally lifted his head, his eyes still slightly unfocused, then looked around for a few seconds before speaking in a strained tone. "I've been briefed… I received the memories of this world's Leon. Combat techniques, general knowledge…" He paused, his eyes fixing on the building's entrance. "…but without the emotional attachments."
A silence settled before he added more quietly: "Without you."
I didn't respond, letting him continue.
"Raccoon City was destroyed. As expected. The T-virus spread across several zones despite the strikes. Umbrella fell… officially. But its research survived. Recovered by other groups." He took a slow breath, as if holding back a simmering anger. "This world is dominated by bioweapons. Governments, organizations… everyone uses them, as long as they can afford them."
His eyes narrowed slightly. "The world went to hell, Gérald. Completely."
He glanced at me, a faint, tired smile appearing despite everything. "If this… is the result of you not existing… then yeah. You're clearly a hero who made our reality better."
I let out a long sigh, an invisible tension leaving my shoulders as my gaze returned to the building. "At least… I was useful. Even if, in the end… I only saved our city."
A metallic creak echoed through the silence.
"Alright, like I explained to everyone—along with my abilities—my system threw me here with you so we can retrieve a serum called Elpis. It should restore the abilities of my original mutation, the perfected G-virus that lets me enhance my own body," I explained. "Right now, I'm probably comparable to a Pascal clone in strength—superhuman, but still below you or the other S.T.A.R.S. members."
He nodded before replying, "My counterpart is looking for a man named Victor Gideon, a disciple of Spencer. We can at least follow that lead to find your serum. If we landed here, then our answers are here."
I briefly summoned a mental interface, checking my access.
Primary factory: active.Infected can be controlled and instantly added to the factory.Previously unlocked models can also be captured instantly.
Perfect.
I turned to Leon."We'll stick together until I rebuild a small army…" I said calmly as I moved forward, my eyes already scanning every corner of the building. "Especially since I don't have a single weapon on me… and neither do you. Even if you've got superhuman strength from all the modifications you've received, don't overestimate yourself."
Leon nodded without argument, his serious expression a sharp contrast to the impulsiveness he once had. I noted the change without saying anything. The memories of his counterpart… they had really shaped him.
We stepped inside the building, and the marble lobby greeted us in a heavy silence. The lights were still working—too bright, almost aggressive.
"When a place is this spotless, it means there's something to hide," I said coldly, recalling the research facility where I had arrived with Rebecca. The entrance hall had reeked of wealth and looked immaculate with its tapestries and decor.
Then, without warning, a shrill alarm shattered the silence."Code six, Code six! All personnel, initiate emergency procedures!"
I turned to Leon with a faint smirk."Looks like we got here just in time for the party."He exhaled lightly, ready for a fight.
That's when I saw her.Upstairs, behind a metal gate, a young blonde girl was rattling the bars nervously, muttering under her breath in frustration. Her eyes darted everywhere, desperately searching for a way out.
"Gérald, we're getting her. She might have information," Leon said without hesitation.I nodded."Let's go. That kind of gate shouldn't be a problem if we work together."
We rushed up the stairs, our footsteps echoing through the empty hall. When we reached the gate, I removed my shirt and tied it around my waist before letting my dorsal vines deploy with a faint organic sound.
Leon grimaced briefly at the sight."Still as disturbing as ever…" he muttered as he grabbed the bars.
My vines coiled around the metal while Leon applied force from his side.The metal groaned, then slowly gave way under the combined pressure, bending until it created a wide enough opening.
"Let's move. Stay sharp," I said as I slipped inside.
We had barely taken a few steps when a terrified scream echoed down the corridor. We immediately accelerated, moving through a dim hallway lit by flickering lights. Shadows danced along the walls, distorting everything they touched.
Then I saw it.A massive, deformed figure was chasing the girl. Its skin hung in torn strips, its partially destroyed face exposing a twisted jaw and blackened teeth. Its abnormally long arms ended in sharp claws that scraped against the walls with every movement.
The creature passed under a light source and let out a shrill, almost inhuman scream. It recoiled violently, as if burned by the brightness, then leapt onto the ceiling with monstrous agility, clinging to it before vanishing into the darkness.
I narrowed my eyes, quickly analyzing the situation."We're dealing with something big…" I muttered. I turned to Leon. "Try to lure it here. I'll set a trap."
Without waiting for his response, I slipped behind a large unicorn statue. My vines silently spread across the floor, slithering through the shadows to form an invisible snare.
Leon gave a brief nod and moved down the corridor, deliberately making noise."HEY! Over here!" he shouted, banging against the walls.
The girl, drawn by the noise, stepped forward to look—but Leon immediately stopped her."Stay hidden in the lit room, kid!"
She stepped back just in time to avoid a monstrous hand that burst out of a hole in the ceiling exactly where she had been standing a second earlier.
The creature reacted instantly to Leon's noise. Unlike the girl, who remained near the light, he stood in the dim corridor… a perfect target.
It rushed toward him with alarming speed, its deformed limbs scraping along the floor and walls with a chilling sound.
Leon retreated without panic, perfectly controlling his movements, and passed in front of the cracked unicorn statue exactly as planned.
The creature—its once feminine silhouette now nothing more than a grotesque caricature beneath a tattered dress followed without hesitation… and stepped into my trap.
My vines burst from the ground and wrapped violently around its legs, throwing it off balance in an instant. It crashed to the floor with a guttural growl. Without wasting a second, I shoved the unicorn statue with all my strength. It toppled onto the creature with a heavy crash, pinning it down at least temporarily.
Leon immediately rushed in to pin the creature down, forcing its arms behind its back, but I felt the resistance right away. Damn… I underestimated its strength. The system still wasn't validating the capture, and the creature struggled more and more violently, its muscles contracting with unnatural power.
"Kid, hurry up and get through!" I snapped. "There's an opening in the gate! We won't be able to hold it for long!"
The creature shrieked as it thrashed, its claws scraping the floor despite Leon's grip. Thankfully, he held its arms firmly, buying us a few precious seconds. The girl didn't hesitate and sprinted forward, passing us without even looking back.
"Come on, Leon! Now!" I shouted.
We released the creature at the same time and immediately fell back. The statue bought us a brief moment—just enough to slip through the opening we had made in the gate. Once on the other side, we quickly put distance between us and it, pulling the girl along.
We had barely moved a few meters when the creature burst through after us.It grabbed the bars… and twisted them far more easily than we had.
I glanced at Leon. He did the same.A heavy silence passed between us.
Yeah… that stings the ego.
Fortunately, the moment it crossed into the light, its skin began to burn as if submerged in acid. It screamed again and recoiled sharply, retreating into the darkness like a wounded beast.
The calm returned.Relative… but enough.
I turned to the young woman, who was still trying to catch her breath."Now that things are a bit calmer… can you tell me who you are?"
She blinked, still shaken, clearly disoriented. I continued, more composed but direct."My name is Gérald King. And this is Leon Scott Kennedy."
I gestured toward my partner, but immediately noticed the young woman's gaze drifting toward my bare torso. She blushed slightly, and I quickly put my shirt back on, relieved she hadn't noticed my vines.
"Tell me your name, your profession… and why you're here."
She took a deep breath before answering."My name is Grace Ashcroft. FBI analyst, Bioterrorism Division—post-Raccoon City incident investigations."
Her voice trembled slightly, but she was clearly making an effort to stay professional.
"I was on a mission at the Wrenwood Hotel… an abandoned site where several suspicious deaths were reported. Victims linked to Raccoon City syndrome… late-stage mutations of the T-virus."
Her eyes flickered briefly, as if reliving what she had seen.
"Inside, I found traces left by my mother… a hard drive containing her research. She was investigating the same phenomena before her death."
Her jaw tightened."That's when I was attacked."
A brief silence followed.
"A man. Tall. Calm. He knew exactly who I was. I couldn't see his face clearly… but he was looking for me. Me."
Her fingers trembled slightly before steadying.
"He subdued me… and kidnapped me. When I woke up… I was here. Strapped to a table… while he was taking blood samples."
She glanced away slightly, gesturing toward the dark corridors around us.
"I didn't identify my captor. But he's conducting experiments… and preparing something bigger."
I stayed silent for a few seconds, processing the information while thinking: what kind of idiot sends a rookie analyst into the field? At least Rebecca was a field medic, not just an analyst.
Footsteps approached.
Grace froze instantly.
I turned my head.
A man had appeared at the end of the corridor behind us.He was aiming a weapon in our direction.
But that wasn't the most disturbing part.
It was him.
Leon.
But… older.
Much older.
In his fifties, his back slightly bent by years and battles, his face marked by scars and fatigue. His eyes, however, were still sharp… but carried the weight of a life far too long.
My Leon reacted immediately, stepping in front of me to shield me.
I placed a hand on his shoulder."Step aside. That weapon could probably go through all three of us."
I narrowed my eyes slightly, assessing the caliber."The last time I saw something like that… it was Barry. And it was three times stronger than a standard magnum."
Grace looked from one… to the other.Completely lost.
"Uh… why do your partner and him… look so alike?"
The older Leon didn't lower his weapon."That's exactly what I'd like to know…" he said, his voice deeper, more worn. "I had a migraine a few minutes ago… and almost got cut in half by a chainsaw because of it."
He paused.
"And the information I received… is seriously disturbing."
I froze for a split second, surprised.
…He got the memories too?
I looked at my Leon.Then the other one.
An equivalent exchange… maybe I can make use of this.
(Author's note: So, what do you think of my introduction to Resident Evil 9? I even managed to tie it in with Gérald's previous nerf, HAHAHAHAHA ^^)