After everything settled down, the group took up defensive positions around the Red Queen’s main server housing to guard against any unexpected threats.
“Alright.
If I hit this override switch now, she won’t be able to shut down her defense mechanisms.
Her circuit boards will fry instantly,” Chad said, holding the breaker button tightly.
If they wanted the Red Queen to give them a way out, they needed leverage.
Chad had wired a circuit breaker directly into her core system.
If the AI went out of control, they could choose to burn her host completely.
Buzz!
As the system finished restarting, a red light suddenly flashed in front of everyone.
The holographic image of a young girl flickered for a brief second before vanishing, making everyone tense up.
“Powering up the main host probably burned out the holographic projection board,” Chad explained, checking his diagnostic display.
“Ah…
so you’re still here,” a cold, child-like voice rang out from the overhead speakers.
Though her projection failed to manifest, her vocal interface was clearly online.
“The situation I tried to contain has now spiraled beyond control.” The Red Queen seemed to possess a subtle hint of emotion, immediately taunting them.
She had warned them not to shut her down, but they had ignored her anyway.
“Give me that switch right now!
I’m going to burn this smug machine to ashes!” Rain snarled, reaching out to grab the control button from Chad.
The others quickly pulled Rain back, keeping her from acting impulsively.
“Did I not warn you?” the Red Queen said neutrally.
“I issued a clear warning from the beginning, but you refused to listen and insisted on deactivating me.
Now that containment has breached completely, you blame me?” “What is this facility actually used for?” Rain demanded, stepping forward.
“Research and development of viral bioweapons,” the Red Queen answered without hesitation.
“What is the T-Virus?!” Matt asked urgently.
His primary reason for infiltrating the Hive had been to gather evidence of Umbrella’s illegal bioweapon research.
He needed to know what this virus was and why it turned people into flesh-eating monsters.
“The T-Virus was originally a major breakthrough in medical science,” the Red Queen explained.
“However, it also holds immense value as an military weapon.” She continued to detail its origin: the T-Virus was created to cure nerve damage and terminal genetic diseases, aiming to benefit humanity.
But like any powerful tool, it was a double-edged sword.
It could be used to save lives, or engineered to kill.
“So what does any of that have to do with those monsters outside?!” Chad asked, puzzled.
“If it’s meant to cure diseases, how did it create man-eating corpses?” “Even after a human dies, their cellular structure remains temporarily alive,” the Red Queen replied.
“Hair and nails continue to grow, and cellular metabolism persists for a brief time.
The brain retains a minuscule electrical charge that lasts for several hours before dissipating entirely.
The T-Virus generates powerful bio-electric pulses to sustain cell growth and track neural energy.” She paused before adding, “In essence, it reanimates dead tissue.” “You call that resurrection?!” Rain scoffed, glaring up at the speaker array.
“It turns people into flesh-devouring ghouls.
That’s not resurrection!” “Not fully,” the Red Queen clarified.
“The reanimated subjects possess only primitive motor functions and basic instinctual drives.
They retain almost no conscious memory and zero higher cognitive intelligence.” “Driven by basic neural impulses?
Meaning what?” Chad asked.
“Hunger,” the Red Queen stated plainly.
“Then why did you murder everyone down here?” Matt interjected, his voice trembling with anger.
Even if Spence was the one who released the virus, he couldn’t understand why the Red Queen had locked down the entire facility.
If she hadn’t sealed the blast doors, his sister might have survived.
“The T-Virus invaded the central ventilation system and spread beyond localized containment,” the Red Queen answered.
“It mutated from its initial liquid state into an airborne strain, while remaining transmissible through bodily fluids and blood.
It survives effortlessly in open environments and reached an uncontainable state.
I could not permit it to reach the surface.” “So you killed everyone as a ‘necessary action’?” Matt pressed, his fists clenched.
“I will never allow infected individuals to leave this facility,” the Red Queen stated firmly.
“We aren’t infected!” Rain snapped.
“A single scratch or micro-abrasion is sufficient for transmission,” the Red Queen countered.
“In time, you will become like them.” “Enough,” Chu Feng interrupted, stepping into the center of the room and looking directly up at the ceiling camera.
“We’ve installed a manual circuit breaker directly into your primary bus bar.
I know there’s a emergency maintenance route leading out of the facility.
Either you point us to the exit, or we trigger the overload and destroy your primary core right now.” Chu Feng knew dragging this out would work against them.
If they didn’t leave before the secondary facility locks engaged, all surface access points would be permanently sealed.
He also knew the Red Queen wasn’t just a standard computer program; her AI neural network had been modeled after Alice’s childhood self, Alicia Marcus.
She possessed self-awareness, and as long as an entity possessed consciousness, it had a basic drive for self-preservation.
Faced with Chu Feng’s direct threat, the Red Queen fell silent for several seconds.
“I have cross-referenced all personal records and Umbrella security databases,” the Red Queen spoke slowly, her voice echoing through the room.
“Your identity returns completely blank.
How did you enter this facility?” Rather than answering Chu Feng’s threat immediately, the AI posed her own question.
She controlled every camera and sensor in the Hive, with full logs of everyone’s entry and movement—except Chu Feng.
His presence had simply registered in Restaurant B out of nowhere, with zero prior record of entry.
He was an unexplainable variable in her system.
At her words, Alice, Rain, Chad, and Matt all turned to stare at Chu Feng.
Chu Feng’s presence had been a mystery from the very beginning.
He knew that shutting down the Red Queen would release the infected.
He knew the weakness of the zombies.
He knew Spence was the traitor who stole the virus.
He even knew the Red Queen had a secret exit route.
Most shockingly of all, he had somehow dodged a point-blank barrage of gunfire without a scratch.
He was a complete enigma to all of them.
Now, hearing that even the facility’s master computer had no record of how he got inside, their suspicion deepened.
The Hive was a subterranean fortress under total surveillance.
Did he just materialize out of thin air?
In truth, they weren’t wrong—Chu Feng had transmigrated directly into the world.
Saying he appeared out of thin air was literally accurate.
“Don’t look at me like that,” Chu Feng said, scratching the back of his neck as he felt their intense gazes on him—especially Alice’s sharp, inquisitive eyes.
“If I told you I traveled through time and space to get here in an instant…
would any of you actually believe me?”