Chapter 90: Ask Umbrella for Medical Expenses (Patreon)

"Kid, cut your old brother some slack here. I'll admit it — I let greed cloud my judgment before, and I kept things hidden. That's what got S.T.A.R.S. so badly hurt."

"But I understand now. Without everyone here at the station behind me, my authority means nothing."

"I've really been reflecting on this. I'm begging you — show some mercy, give me a chance."

"I didn't have a choice. Umbrella's people are everywhere in Raccoon City. If I hadn't gone along with them, I'd be the one who ended up dead."

"I truly didn't have the nerve to cross them — not when my own hands weren't clean to begin with. I — I — I just didn't have a choice..."

Ivan still said nothing. He simply picked up the cup of black tea on the desk and took a sip.

Watching him, Brian's panic deepened further. Given the momentum Ivan now carried — splashed across front pages in countries around the world — if the man wouldn't back off and everything Brian had done came out, he would be finished for good.

He had no choice. There were secrets he'd never meant to reveal, but to hold onto his position now, he'd have to speak them anyway.

"Ivan, what I'm about to say isn't aimed at you, and it isn't a threat."

"Don't take it the wrong way." Brian paused, then drew a deep breath, as if steeling himself.

"From what I've heard, Umbrella isn't going to let anything happen to me."

Something shifted in Ivan's mind. From the sound of it, Umbrella had already made Brian some kind of promise.

Sure enough, what Brian said next confirmed the suspicion.

"Yes, I'll admit I'm not a good man. But you can't bring me down — not now, at least."

"Or rather — if you insist on making a move against me, Umbrella won't let you walk away from it."

"To keep things from spiraling any further out of control, headquarters in Europe has already dispatched a squad — their best-equipped special forces unit, the U.S.S." As if to cover his nerves, Brian picked up his teacup and gulped down a mouthful.

"Do you know what the U.S.S. even is? They're Umbrella's suicide squad. Every mission they've ever run, they say, has a completion rate of a staggering hundred percent."

"So if you really do try to move against me, the U.S.S. will destroy every piece of evidence, every witness, whatever the cost. You probably think I'm threatening you right now."

"But Ivan, don't forget — in this city, the true master isn't the mayor, isn't you or me, and isn't anyone at all. It's that colossus looming over all our heads — the one called Umbrella."

"Honestly, I think you're a talented man. In all these years, there haven't been many people who've earned my respect — but you're definitely one of them." With that, Brian sank back against his chair, spreading his hands helplessly.

"Ivan, I promise you — I won't do anything rotten ever again."

"Let's call it off. This fight between us doesn't accomplish anything."

Ivan shook his head at that.

Assuming he still refused, Brian started to say something more — only for Ivan to wave a hand.

Seeing that, Brian bit back whatever he'd been about to say.

Fortunately, he didn't have to wait long. Ivan spoke directly.

"Chief Brian, is there still a virus research facility in Raccoon City?"

A bead of cold sweat trickled down Brian's temple. He wiped it away without thinking.

He wanted to find some excuse, but given everything he'd already said, anyone who wasn't a fool could guess why the U.S.S. had chosen this exact moment to enter Raccoon City.

Wasn't that basically announcing to the world that something was still rotten in Raccoon City?

"Ivan, I won't hide it from you. As far as I know — yes..."

"Though I don't know exactly what they're researching in there, whether it's the t-Virus you exposed at the hearing today."

"But Umbrella clearly values it a great deal. That's exactly why the U.S.S. has come here."

Ivan nodded.

"Then, Chief Brian, have you considered what would happen if the Arklay Mountains incident repeated itself here in Raccoon City?" Round and round it went — the conversation had circled straight back to where it began.

"Stop clinging to false hope, Chief Brian. If a viral outbreak happens in Raccoon City, you won't escape responsibility for it."

Ivan's words mercilessly crushed the last shred of wishful thinking Brian had left.

Before the hearing, he hadn't believed things at Arklay could have been so extreme.

He'd taken Ivan's words seriously enough at the time, but his sense of false hope had run deep.

After all, he hadn't seen the evidence himself back then. Now that Ivan had made it all public —

— it was easy to foresee: if a viral leak struck Raccoon City again, this city of a hundred thousand people would turn, in an instant, into a city of the living dead.

Even Brian, worldly as he was, swallowed hard at the thought of that scene.

A sudden self-loathing rose in him — hatred for ever getting tangled up with Umbrella all those years ago, for letting things come to this, where Raccoon City itself now looked set to become his grave.

Brian let out a sigh, slumping into his chair, all his old bluster gone.

"Ivan, none of this matters — there's no point in saying it. Umbrella is far too powerful, well beyond anything you or I could stand against. One way or another, I'm already a dead man..."

"If that's how it's going to be, I'd rather die a little later."

Looking at Brian's dejected face, Ivan didn't offer him empty promises. Instead, he gave honest agreement to Brian's assessment.

"You're not wrong. That's simply human nature."

Brian genuinely had no idea how to respond to that. More than anything, he had no idea what Ivan was actually after.

Did he want power handed over? Did he want Brian to step down immediately and answer for his crimes? Neither seemed to be it.

Brian found himself baffled. If he were in Ivan's position, there'd be no reason to drag this conversation out so long.

Just grab the benefits sitting right in front of him and walk away.

What did it matter to him whether the other man lived or died?

So in the end, all Brian managed to squeeze out was —

"So..."

"So why not take it one step at a time? At least start from here, now — who can say what the future holds?"

"One step at a time?"

Brian turned the phrase over in his mind again and again.

After a moment, he said nothing, only waved a hand.

"Ivan, let me think this over properly. Right now, what I want to know is — can you stop targeting me?"

Ivan answered honestly.

"I can. But that's not a permanent arrangement."

"I understand. In that case, S.T.A.R.S. is yours to run."

"Whatever equipment or gear you need, write up a list and I'll take care of it."

"Through official channels?"

"Of course... not. Umbrella made this whole mess — I'm the one stuck cleaning up after them. It wouldn't make sense if they didn't throw me some 'medical expenses,' would it?"

Shaking Umbrella down for money? Well, that was Brian for you.

"Right. If there's nothing else, Chief Brian, I'll head back now."

Watching Ivan rise to leave, Brian hurried to remind him of something.

"Wait, Ivan — you forgot this appointment letter."

As he spoke, Brian pulled a document from the drawer and pressed it into Ivan's hands.