"Mr. Wesker, this way please. Mr. Howard has been expecting you."
The receptionist bowed politely, her smile warm but unmistakably respectful.
Evenson smiled.
"Are you sure that’s alright? I didn’t make an appointment this time."
She lowered her head slightly.
"You must be joking, sir. Mr. Howard instructed us that if you ever arrived, you were to be shown in immediately, regardless of the time."
"In that case..."
Evenson nodded.
"Lead the way."
Status was usually measured by value.
The first time he’d visited this building, he’d waited nearly three weeks for an appointment that lasted all of five minutes.
Now he was being treated as an honored guest.
The reason wasn’t difficult to guess.
His first meeting with Howard had left quite an impression.
More importantly, the "Tyrant Serum" had performed beyond expectations.
Even though Howard’s operation had failed to secure the Obelisk, the serum itself had exceeded every expectation. Combined with Evenson’s carefully crafted image of the nonexistent Umbrella Corporation, Howard had naturally filled in all the missing pieces himself.
People were remarkably good at terrifying themselves.
Howard had followed the assault on the classified military depot with obsessive interest.
The Obelisk had been his life’s obsession.
For operational security, he hadn’t dared maintain real-time communication with the assault force. U.S. military signal intelligence wasn’t something to underestimate.
Once everything was over, however, he spared no effort gathering every detail.
The mission had failed.
The Obelisk had slipped through his fingers yet again.
If nothing else, he wanted to know why.
He immediately contacted the mole embedded inside the facility.
The same chief of staff who had persuaded General Talbot not to deploy armored vehicles.
What Howard learned shocked him.
The Tyrant squad had held off four Army companies for fifty-six minutes.
Even after the military escalated to armor-piercing depleted uranium ammunition, the Tyrants hadn’t collapsed.
They had grown even more ferocious.
At one point, they had nearly shattered the Army’s defensive line.
Without the sudden arrival of five Apache attack helicopters, the operation might actually have succeeded.
Howard couldn’t help regretting his impatience.
He had waited sixty years.
Then, at the decisive moment, he’d rushed.
If he’d delayed just a little longer...
If he had replaced the two ordinary human operatives with two brainwashed mutants...
Perhaps the Obelisk would already be his.
Normal mutants weren’t capable of defeating a modern army head-on.
But their bizarre abilities made them ideal infiltrators.
A handful operating behind enemy lines could have sabotaged communications, launched surprise attacks, and bought the Tyrants precious extra time.
Yet alongside the regret came something else.
Awe.
Twenty Tyrants had nearly defeated four Army companies.
And Umbrella had handed him those twenty monsters as nothing more than payment for a business transaction.
Howard no longer doubted the organization’s strength.
If twenty could be spared so casually...
Then five hundred probably weren’t beyond their reach.
The thought alone was enough to inspire genuine fear.
The receptionist led Evenson into the same office where they had met before.
This time, Howard was already waiting inside.
No hidden room.
No bodyguards insisting on a full search before the meeting.
That, in itself, was a gesture of respect.
Not that searching him would have accomplished much.
Howard had personally watched him crush a stainless-steel chair after undergoing "Veronica Enhancement."
Even if they stripped him naked, Evenson could still kill someone with a finger.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Mr. Howard."
As before, Evenson offered his hand first.
Unlike last time, Howard immediately accepted it.
"It’s good to see you again, Mr. Wesker."
After the brief greeting, Evenson got straight to the point.
"So."
"Did your operation succeed?"
Howard’s smile stiffened.
"...Unfortunately not."
"There were some unexpected complications."
"What a shame."
Evenson sounded sincerely sympathetic.
"Was the failure caused by our product?"
In truth...
He couldn’t have cared less whether Howard succeeded.
All that mattered was that Howard had acted.
Howard shook his head immediately.
"Not at all."
"Your company’s serum exceeded every expectation."
"The fault was entirely ours."
"We rushed the operation."
"In that case," Evenson said calmly, "I assume you didn’t invite me here to complain about product quality."
He smiled.
"You called me to settle the remaining payment."
Howard nodded.
"Exactly."
He opened a drawer and placed a small metal box on the desk.
"Siberian Division."
"Mission Report."
"December 16th, 1992."
Evenson opened the box.
Inside was a single compact disc.
"A copy," Howard explained. "Naturally, we kept the original."
"I wouldn’t expect anything else."
Evenson hadn’t seriously believed they’d surrender the original file.
"I thought obtaining this would take much longer."
Howard smiled proudly.
"I’ve been with Hydra long enough that the younger generation still shows a little respect."
In reality, even he had been surprised by how quickly the Siberian facility had cooperated.
Evenson casually produced a laptop from thin air.
The lid bore Umbrella’s familiar red-and-white logo.
Howard stared.
Evenson inserted the disc.
"You don’t mind if I verify the contents?"
"Not at all."
Howard’s attention wasn’t on the disc anymore.
It was on the laptop.
The last time they’d met, Evenson had casually produced the serum from nowhere.
Howard had dismissed it in the moment.
Now...
An entire laptop had appeared out of empty space.
He finally couldn’t suppress his curiosity.
"...Is that some kind of magic trick?"
Without looking up from the screen, Evenson answered casually.
"Oh, this?"
"Nothing special."
"A spatial folding ability."
"One of the little bonuses from Veronica Enhancement."
"It’s mostly useful for storing random junk."
"Honestly, I keep running out of space."
He sounded almost inconvenienced.
Howard, meanwhile, was stunned.
Mostly useful?
If it could store a laptop...
What else could it store?
Weapons?
Vehicles?
A missile?
A nuclear warhead?
The possibilities were enough to make anyone uncomfortable.
Evenson browsed the files.
"Only the video?"
Howard forced himself to remain calm.
"That’s everything."
The disc contained only the footage of Tony Stark’s parents being murdered.
Nothing else.
Howard knew perfectly well the original mission archive contained far more.
The Winter Soldier.
The secret enhanced soldier program.
A mountain of classified Hydra research.
The Siberian Division had made its position crystal clear.
We’ll give you a copy of the assassination footage out of respect for your seniority.
Everything else stays here.
Even if Howard had somehow obtained those files...
He had no intention of handing them over.
So he simply insisted that this was the complete report.
Evenson watched the video once.
Then ejected the disc.
"No problem."
"This is enough."
He smiled inwardly.
You fool.
The only thing I actually wanted... was the video.
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