Emma watched as Kendo kept a vigilant, suspicious eye on Noah, treating him like a prime suspect. Out of the simple empathy of a child, she felt a bit embarrassed for him. To break the tension, she stepped forward and started chatting with her father about everything she had experienced at the playground the day before.
As Emma spoke about her outing, her face lit up with joy. She was incredibly thorough, detailing every little thing—even the people she bumped into and the fact that Noah's hands were so sweaty from fear that she could feel it.
"So, you were a good girl and listened to Noah? You didn't talk to any strangers, right?"
Kendo asked Emma dotingly. He was likely worried that a total lack of social interaction might make Emma too withdrawn, so he pressed her on the "talking to strangers" part out of curiosity.
"Well, not exactly. When I was dragging Noah to the playground, I accidentally bumped into a red-haired lady."
"Did you say sorry to her?"
"I did, I did! I told the lady I was sorry, and she said it was okay, and then we left!" Emma chirped. "That lady had short red hair. She looked really cool—kind of like Officer Jill!"
A red-haired woman...
Hearing Emma's words, Noah began to scan his memory in detail. A woman with a natural military aura, someone who gave off the vibe of being a professional or having undergone intense training. On top of that, Emma said she looked familiar at first glance. Could she be another character from the Resident Evil universe?
First, he ruled out Rebecca Chambers, who had that Ayumi Hamasaki look. At this point, she was only eighteen and still looked like a young girl, so it definitely wasn't her.
Reviewing the female characters present in this timeframe... there weren't many left in the main series. It certainly wasn't Ada or Claire.
So who could it be? If not from the main games, then maybe a spin-off?
The realization hit Noah like a ton of bricks.
This woman sounded exactly like Marissa, also known as Tweed, a member of the Echo Six squad from the Operation Raccoon City DLC!
Could it be that the Delta Force and Echo Six were involved in this banquet too?
If the Delta Force and Echo Six were present, it explained perfectly why the Leech-version of James Marcus had passed up the chance to start trouble at the banquet.
Noah's mind raced as the pieces fell into place.
If he had realized the identity of that red-haired woman sooner, he wouldn't have had to act so recklessly yesterday. He wouldn't be under Jill's constant surveillance right now, and he wouldn't have made that bet with Katherine.
He wasn't sure if this outcome was good or bad.
Yesterday, Katherine had said that if another violent incident occurred, he would become her advisor. While that technically kept him alive, it would undoubtedly cost him his chance to escape Raccoon City easily.
Wait, that's not right, he thought. She said she'd do whatever I told her to do. If that's the case, I'll just take her with me when I leave the city!
Not only would that keep the original plot somewhat intact, but he'd also get to run off with a high-tier beauty. It was a win-win.
Thinking about it that way, yesterday's gamble was a massive success.
Noah couldn't help but let out a genuine, devious smirk.
The smirk hadn't even lasted a few seconds when the door to the gun shop was kicked open. It was Jill.
Jill was in a hurry, her face grim as she walked straight toward Noah. Kendo and Emma were both startled by her expression, but they could tell the timing was wrong and didn't ask what was happening.
"A brutal attack occurred in the outskirts last night!"
Jill's short sentence made Kendo and Emma's mouths drop open. Only Noah wiped the lecherous smirk off his face, replacing it with a look of "I told you so" as he stared at Jill.
Noah knew the attacks were inevitable, but he hadn't expected it to happen this fast.
"This morning, a citizen filed a report. He said a friend who went to the banquet with him went missing after it ended."
"Just missing?" Noah asked, surprised.
"Let me finish," Jill snapped, clearly annoyed by the interruption.
"The man's friend said during the mid-afternoon that he wanted to see the Mansion. Even though he knew the area was under Umbrella's lockdown and control, he wanted to see it anyway. He ignored all warnings and went there alone."
"The guy who filed the report wasn't interested in architecture, so he didn't go. But when the banquet ended that night, the friend never came back. He figured the guy had just finished his tour and headed back to the city early on his own, so he didn't think much of it."
"Who would've thought that by this morning, there was still no word from him? That's when he went to the R.P.D. to file the missing persons report."
"And what happened?" Kendo pressed curiously.
"The result was that they found the missing man's body near the Mansion. He looked like he'd been devoured by some unknown creature. The body was a total wreck—bones exposed, with not a single patch of intact skin left on his body or his face."
"..."
Hearing this, Kendo felt a wave of post-traumatic relief. Yesterday afternoon, he had been planning to visit the Mansion himself. If it hadn't been for Jill and Noah's intense discouragement, he might be looking exactly like the man Jill just described!
"Did the other S.T.A.R.S. members go out to investigate?" Noah asked quickly. If S.T.A.R.S. was deployed now, it meant the entire Resident Evil timeline was shifting, and he would have to navigate a completely unknown future.
"No. Chief Irons was about to dispatch regular officers to the Mansion area for an investigation, but before they could even organize the team, Umbrella's private security had already transported the victim's body to the city police station."
"Wait, you're telling me Umbrella's private security brought the body back themselves?"
Noah was baffled. Why would Umbrella be so helpful? Wouldn't it have been better for them to dispose of the evidence in secret? Why would they hand over a body mutilated by their own escaped Cerberus dogs to the police?
"Yes. And according to Chris, after they handed over the body, they specifically had a private meeting with Chief Irons."
A private meeting. That explains it.
The purpose of that move was likely to warn Irons. To tell him to stop interfering with the area around the Mansion—that those zones were under Umbrella's private jurisdiction. Or, it was a warning to Irons that they had returned the body so he could close the case and be done with it, but he was strictly forbidden from sending more personnel to the outskirts.
Because if Irons actually mobilized, it would cause a city-wide panic, making everyone realize just how dangerous the Raccoon City perimeter had become.
But Noah was still confused. If a violent attack happened on the very day of the banquet, didn't that make the whole banquet plan useless?
Why didn't Umbrella step up their security even further?
Maybe the purpose of yesterday's banquet wasn't just to quell public anxiety?
Noah was filled with doubt. He immediately began to replay every detail of yesterday's events in his head, determined to conduct a full post-mortem to grasp the current situation.
Yesterday's attendees included the Mayor's daughter, the police, Umbrella's William Birkin, Marcus, and the woman he now deduced was Marissa.
Recalling the plot, William Birkin had originally planned to defect to the U.S. government with the G-Virus, which led to the virus leak during the struggle for the samples.
Defecting to the U.S. government?
Marissa from the Delta Force Echo Six squad?
In an instant, everything became crystal clear to Noah.
Even Katherine's behavior yesterday made sense now.
That banquet yesterday... it was a setup by the Mayor's daughter! Taking advantage of the crowd, she had created an opportunity for William Birkin and the Delta Force squad to make contact!
And the reason she was willing to hire him as an advisor was surely because she had gathered some piece of intel during her communication with Birkin and Echo Six.
Damn, so that's how it is!
Noah realized that while he thought he was the one controlling the board, he had actually walked right into a masterfully crafted game of chess.