Deep in the Atlantic, thousands of meters below the surface.
The water here was freezing, the pressure enough to crumple ordinary steel like tinfoil, and not a single ray of sunlight could reach this absolute darkness.
But not far from a massive trench on the ocean floor, a nuclear submarine hung motionless like the carcass of a dead whale. In its blind spot, a Star Fire micro deep-sea submersible, sleek and coated in radar-absorbent material, had already docked against the hull like a ghost.
The hatch slid open without a sound.
Ryan, wearing a light black overcoat, strolled inside as casually as if he were walking through a park.
This submarine was one of Neo-Umbrella's secret bases, and the first trap Carla Radames had carefully prepared for the real Ada.
Ryan made his way upward through the maintenance corridors along the submarine's keel. The lights along the route flickered dimly, and the air reeked of machine oil and something biological rotting.
Around a corner, two mutant crewmen carrying assault rifles, compound eyes already budding across their faces, were patrolling aimlessly. Before they could make a sound, Ryan's silhouette slipped between them like a phantom.
Two faint cracks of bone, barely audible. Both mutants' cervical spines shattered instantly, and they crumpled onto the metal grating without even their guns making a clatter.
Ryan shook out his wrist and didn't bother pushing deeper into the submarine's core.
He knew Carla had rigged the interior with security systems and puzzles, but he had zero interest in those amateur-hour tricks. He walked straight to the area near the submarine's dive staging chamber and found a reasonably clean section of thick steam pipe to sit on.
He pulled a thermos from his coat pocket, unscrewed the cap, and poured himself a cup of black coffee that was still steaming.
He was waiting for someone.
About half an hour later.
A dense burst of bubbles churned up from the deep-water pool beneath the staging chamber. Then, with a soft hum of machinery, a spherical single-occupant deep-sea pod broke the surface and its hatch slowly opened.
A lithe figure emerged, bracing both hands on the edge of the metal platform and vaulting up with effortless grace.
At what she believed to be a sealed, absolutely secure entry point, she hadn't bothered with formalities...
Then she saw him.
Ryan sat on the pipe two meters away, a steaming cup of coffee in his hand, his gaze fixed squarely on her. Pure, unabashed appreciation.
Ada froze for only an instant.
She looked at this man who had absolutely no business being at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, her voice carrying a note of surprise but never losing its languid composure.
"You came all the way out here just to catch me like this?"
She spoke while unhurriedly pulling on her red shirt jacket, her long fingers working the buttons with deft precision, every movement dripping lethal elegance.
Ryan smiled, took a sip of coffee, and didn't take the bait on that loaded tease.
He set the cup down and pulled a tactical tablet from inside his coat, tossing it over.
Ada caught it cleanly.
"Someone left a top-secret mission file on this submarine, signed with your name." Ryan watched her from his perch on the pipe. "Codename 'Ada Wong.' The sub's security systems, fingerprint, voiceprint, all of them flagged your identity with the highest clearance."
Ada's fingers paused on a button. She looked down at the tablet. On the screen was the submarine's internal data that Ryan had already intercepted and cracked.
"One more thing." Ryan's voice dropped lower, carrying a weight that pressed against the walls of the hollow metal chamber. "Edonia, Eastern Europe. Someone wearing your face used something called the C-Virus to send Chris Redfield's squad straight to hell."
Ada's fingers stopped completely.
Her gaze lifted from the tablet back to Ryan. Those eyes that always carried a hint of playful mischief had gone entirely cold. As a lone wolf who'd spent years operating in the gray, she knew exactly what this meant.
Someone was using her identity to stage a massacre big enough to put the entire world on her trail.
"Simmons used your DNA to build a perfect impostor." Ryan's tone was flat as he dropped the final bomb. "Her name is Carla Radames. Simmons wiped her original memories and implanted everything that belongs to Ada Wong. She's completely convinced she's the real Ada Wong."
A brief silence.
The only sound in the chamber was the muffled echo of seawater against the metal hull.
Ada tossed the tablet back to Ryan, turned around, and pulled a tactical belt and her grappling gun from a waterproof bag, strapping everything on with crisp efficiency.
"You came all the way to the bottom of the Atlantic and hacked into this submarine just to give me a briefing?"
"I came because I had nothing better to do." Ryan straightened up and casually brushed off the hem of his coat.
"By the way, this sub's about to go down." Ryan walked over to her side and pointed toward the control room deeper in the corridor, the one that had been Carla's. "Carla left a self-destruct sequence in the main control system. The second you walk in there and pick up that forged mission file, it triggers. Every watertight compartment locks down, and the whole thing sinks straight to the bottom of the trench."
Ada turned her head and glanced at him through her visor.
"Let's go. Nothing useful here."
Ryan wrenched the sealed heavy valve open with his bare hands. The moment they climbed into the submersible and initiated separation, a string of muffled explosions rumbled from deep within the submarine. Carla's self-destruct had triggered after all.
The hull shuddered violently as freezing seawater rushed in. The massive nuclear submarine imploded in a chain reaction on the ocean floor, a giant steel coffin dragging countless mutants and conspiracies with it as it slowly sank into the deeper reaches of the trench.
...
On the surface of the Atlantic, a Star Fire stealth recovery vessel disguised as an oceanographic research ship sat quietly at anchor.
Ada stood on the broad deck, the salty wind tousling her still-damp black hair. She held a cup of hot coffee Ryan had handed her, watching the white bubbles churning on the distant surface.
She just stood there, looking out at the horizon, and spoke.
"The clone. What did you say her name was."
"Carla." Ryan walked up beside her, gazing out at the calm sea.
"Carla." She repeated the name under her breath, her tone so flat it betrayed nothing, as if she were reading off the name of a complete stranger.
Ryan turned his head and studied her profile.
"Simmons destroyed her, and now she's destroying the world. What do you want to do about her."
Ada was silent for a long time. The sea wind snapped her red shirt jacket taut, and in that moment the pride and resolve of a world-class operative were on full display.
"Find her first." Ada took a sip of coffee, her gaze deep and cold. "Then see what choices she makes for herself. If she insists on playing the part of some deranged impostor, I don't mind ending this farce personally."
The sea gradually settled. Ryan looked toward the horizon.
That direction was Eastern Europe. Edonia. The fires of war were raging there, and the monsters spawned by the C-Virus were devouring lives. Chris Redfield might still be lying unconscious in some crumbling safehouse, lost in despair. Sherry and Becky should have already dropped into those ruins and begun tracking down Jake Muller.
And somewhere in the world, Carla Radames was wearing Ada Wong's face, pulling Simmons's strings, preparing to unleash that blue storm across the globe.
Ryan stretched and turned toward the interior of the ship.
"Ryan."
He stopped.
Ada still had her back to him, watching the patch of ocean that had swallowed the submarine.
"The coffee wasn't bad."
Ryan smiled and pushed open the cabin door.
"Next time I'll get you something better."
The board was set. Every piece was in play.
[This novel is now COMPLETE. Read the entire series right now on Patreon: patreon.com/NiaXD]