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Comte Pierre Henry enjoyed working from home.

His working arrangements had always been a bit weird. On some weeks, he practically lived in the upper two floors of the company's European head office, on others, he was jumping between different countries to personally deal with issues. Ranging from negotiating with difficult suppliers to wrangling uncooperative project leads, and sometimes overseeing the removal of certain troublemakers. All of which required him to stress out over every minor detail, and caused no small amount of trouble for his secretary. But here, in the comfort of his own home, he could afford to take a load off and relax. He didn't have to worry about dressing in stuffy and over-tailored suits, as he didn't have any meetings with management or clients. He didn't have to worry about sleeping in a stiff cot that never seemed to properly support him, as he could retire to his comfortable king-sized bed. And he didn't have to worry about keeping an exact watch on how long he spent at lunch in some sterile cantine, instead, he could take his time to enjoy whatever he liked on the balcony overlooking the valley below.

Of course, working from home was an option that only the rich and influential could afford. It required a lot of expensive infrastructure to set up, it required connections to industry experts in network connectivity, and it also required a home large enough to serve as both a workspace and a living space at once. But those were things that the Comte certainly wasn't lacking. His job as an executive paid more than enough to cover anything that he couldn't just bill to the company, and his home had more than enough space to accommodate a comfortable and modern office area without sacrificing living space. After all, it took a lot of effort to run out of space inside a castle of all places.

The Loire Castle was, as the name implied, a castle located in the Loire Valley. Specifically, in the valleys and hills of the Upper Loire region, where the terrain afforded the old structure with a commanding view over the local area. The old structure dated back to the 18th century, and was nestled in the hills overlooking the river, and the small village that sat on its bank. The village had no name, neither did the old castle. Both had lost the rights to a name thanks to the rather unsavoury actions of the previous Comte, who'd collaborated with the Fascists during the war. But their poor decisions had been a boon for the Henri family, as his father had taken both from its Vichy occupiers during the war, and had earned enough honour during the action to lay claim to the grounds after the previous owners met their just fate at the end of a noose.

And to the victor, the meagre spoils. When his father had first entered the castle, the whole place had been in a sorry state, courtesy of decades of neglect. He'd done what he could to organize the locals to clean up the castle to get them back to work, but a sniper's bullet had cut short both his life and his plans. His father's dreams had remained unrealised for nearly thirty years, as the castle languished in disrepair and legal limbo. Much had happened in those thirty years, Pierre had grown from a conscript with a rifle to a well-respected member of the gentry. His surname had changed from Henri to Henry as his mother anglicized the name, for reasons that he still couldn't understand. And by the time the castle was finished, he was the head of the European branch of Umbrella Pharmaceuticals, one of the world's leading medical companies.

But like every company, Umbrella had no shortage of secrets. Usually, those secrets would be nothing more than some corners cut or weird deals by management. Scandalous stuff, but no risk to the company overall. But Umbrella's closet was packed full of so many skeletons that he'd been afforded the significant grant required to work remotely. Some parts of his job demanded the kind of secrecy that could only be found behind high walls and past armed guards. But the one that concerned him today was one that, if ever leaked to the public, would cause quite the scandal.

Project Wesker, named after the doctor who had been appointed to run the program, was an eugenics program of unprecedented scale. The first batch had been so large, and so costly, that it had been the entire reason why the Umbrella company had been founded in the first place. To generate the funds required to support the program. Henry had known that Umbrella had been founded to finance certain… ethically questionable programs back when he'd helped establish the company back in 1967. But he'd only learned about Project Wesker after he'd been promoted to the head of Umbrella's European branch back in '78. The branch had originally been headed by one of the other founders of the company, Lord Beardsley, but he'd been forced to give up the position due to a combination of his declining health and a desire to spend his remaining time with his daughter Mylene. And with Beardsley gone, Henry had been the only other person who could be trusted to take over the job. He'd learned a lot of Umbrella's dirty little secrets during his first week, from the minutiae of its bioweapons programs, to just how many people were consumed during the various experiments conducted by the various black-book programs. But one of the most shocking of all was the fact that Umbrella had been established with the sole purpose of funding Project Wesker.

So much money spent, so many candidates, and so many failures.

That first attempt at Project Wesker had been an exercise in throwing good money after bad. Part of that had been down to the decentralized approach used in that first program, which had seen millions of dollars sent to families that had only seen the Wesker candidates as sources of income, rather than the future of humanity. But worse than that had been the families that had bonded with their candidate, and had refused to instil them with the moral character that the project required. Either way, that first batch had severely underperformed. And given how much money had been spent on it, even a company as productive as Umbrella simply couldn't afford that level of waste.

And that's where he came in. One of the main reasons why he'd been promoted to head the European branch had been the fact that he had experience in cutting back on unnecessary costs and streamlining systems. After all, he'd been the mastermind behind the Asia branch's procurement network. So after looking at the results of the first batch, he'd wagered to Oswald that he could produce many more successful candidates than the first batch, for the same investment. Sure, they'd need to bring a lot of stuff in-house, and that could affect the candidates. After all, only one member of the first batch had ever figured out that they'd been involved in Project Wesker, while everyone involved in the second batch would eventually figure it out. But he wagered that a centralized approach would guarantee that the candidates in the second batch would be properly indoctrinated, and would increase the number of candidates who'd reach their expectations.

It had taken a bit of sacrifice on his part, namely his family's mansion, to support one of the batch two's sub-groups. But giving up his home had come with a few advantages. It had given him greater prestige among the small circle of like-minded leaders, and it allowed for all of the candidate's needs to be met in a comfortable environment. Because of that, they were already seeing the results they wanted. The children's intellectual development was superior to other children their age by a significant margin. Meanwhile, providing a healthy diet and ample exercise helped to ensure that they grew up strong and healthy. And introducing the children to the correct beliefs was going well. Of the three, he was most concerned about that last one. They needed to instil the correct perspectives early, while the children were still malleable. Unity among their peers, a disdain for the wastefulness of war, disgust towards disease and pestilence, and a sense of superiority over the ignorant masses. And, of course, a sense of family with both their batch members and their handlers. The former for unity, and the latter to provide an exploitable emotional hook to pull on.

In that sense, a lot of the groups involved in the second batch were on track. There had been some incidents that had affected the project. A fire at the Pacific Islands facility had resulted in the injury of a couple of candidates and their handlers. And a couple had gone missing from the South American facility. And there had almost been an escape at the French facility. But those were a handful of incidents that affected less than a dozen candidates, a drop in the ocean, given how they had over two hundred candidates. But given how strict the pass rate was for successful candidates, they couldn't afford the loss of even a single candidate. That was why a handful of guards and staff members had been volunteered for use as test candidates in other experiments after the incident at the French facility, even though it had ended with the return of the candidate, and without major facility damage. Once the investigations at the Pacific Island and South America facilities had been concluded, Pierre was sure that many more people would be liquidated as a result.

Pierre couldn't help but sigh at the unwanted expense. Finding and hiring replacement staff would cost a lot of money. And while the project was funded from a significant portion of Umbrella's profits, obtained and laundered through fake shareholders, it wasn't the only black project he had to look after. With five different labs handling a wide variety of programs, he needed to keep the money flowing. If only to make sure that those dogs in the USA branch didn't get more of a leg-up on them.

Henry was going through the 4th lab's bi-annual reports when the phone on his desk started to ring. He frowned, as he wasn't expecting any calls today, but he still picked up the handset. As soon as the device touched his ear, the smooth voice of his secretary filtered out of the high-quality speaker. "Comte Henry, Doctor Marcus is calling from Racoon City in the United States. Should I ask him to call during office hours?"

"No, no. Put him through, please." Henry replied. Out of the five founders of Umbrella, Marcus was one of the three members left on the board. The other two are himself, and Lord Spencer. Lord Beardsley had once been on the board, but his retirement from the head of the European branch came with him stepping down from the board. As for the missing fifth member… well the less said about Edward's untimely end, the better. But Marcus' star had fallen following an incident at his training centre, and he'd become something of a pariah in the company as a result. But Marcus was still his friend, so he couldn't just decline his call. So he put on his friendliest voice as the line audibly clicked over, and he was connected to the incoming call. "James! My old friend, how are you doing?"

"I'm doing well, thank you, Pierre." The upper-class American voice crackled across the line a couple of seconds later. The noticeable latency was an unfortunate byproduct of trying to talk with someone across the Atlantic Ocean, where the call had to be routed through dozens of inter-connected telephone lines. "How have you been?"

"Oh, just drowning in paperwork my friend. It makes me wish I was back in the lab!" Henry replied with a genuine longing. Sure, his skills were mostly on the business side of things, but he'd done some time in the lab. And working alongside his old friend Edward's son, Alexander, had been just what the two of them had needed to get over the older Ashford's untimely death back in '68.

A few seconds later, a small chuckle reverberated across the line, before the doctor spoke again. "Well, if you're ever looking for a change of scenery feel free to ask. I could certainly do with a bit of company."

"So, what can I help you with, my friend?" Pierre asked, leaning back in his chair. Marcus wouldn't be calling about any test subjects, as Henry knew exactly where they were sent, and what he stood to gain from their final assignments with the company. As such, he knew that none of them were being sent to the Doctor.

"Well, I was hoping that I could ask you for some help. I'm looking to re-establish the Executive Training Facility, and I was hoping that I could count on your support when it came to pitching the idea to the board." Marcus explained, and Henry winced at the idea. The Umbrella Executive Training Facility had been a boarding school just like his mansion, and after it had closed down Henry had headhunted former staff members to work at his mansion. And given the… rumours they brought with them, the alarm bells were already going off in his head.

"Really? I thought that you'd given up on the idea of running a school?" The French aristocrat asked, gently probing at the American and trying to figure out his angle. If he had to guess, this was an attempt by Marcus to regain some sway with the board, rather than being locked up in the basement like some mad scientist. Unfortunately, Pierre had more than enough experience with that sort of doctor, and he didn't like the idea of his friend going down that route.

"Well, the times are changing, and if I don't do something soon then I might lose my seat on the board." The doctor explained, confirming the director's suspicions. "Say, you're looking after one of the Wesker groups, aren't you? At that mansion of yours?"

"Yes." Pierre replied in a carefully neutral tone. As both of them were members of Umbrella's board, they both knew about the project. But Pierre would be damned if he put them at risk for anyone else's benefit.

There was a pause, longer than the usual latency, before the doctor spoke again. And this time, Marcus' tone was more soothing than before. He'd probably recognised that Henry found the idea of anything concerning the children to be a sensitive topic. "Don't worry, my friend, I'm not planning to steal them away in the night. I was hoping that I could arrange for a visit to the mansion, just to see how everything is handled. And while I'm there, we can talk more about my plans, and how they can benefit you."

"I guess a visit wouldn't be too much of an issue. After all, I am planning on dropping in later this year for a check-in. Maybe you'd like to tag along?" Pierre offered with a far lighter tone. He was glad that the children weren't at risk, and allowing Marcus to have a look around wouldn't be a major issue. Besides, he did owe it to hear his old friend out before he made his position known to the board.

"That would be wonderful." Marcus accepted the offer and sounded as if he was going to continue before a distant chime interrupted him. After a few seconds, the doctor brought the conversation to a close. "Ah, it appears that my time is up. One of my experiments is almost complete. Maybe we can talk later?"

"If we're both still awake, then sure." Pierre replied with a weary smile. In truth, they probably wouldn't talk later. International calls like this always took a level of planning that made spontaneous acts a bit difficult. But he wouldn't deny his friend the option. "Have a good day, James."

"You too Pierre." James said, before the line went dead, and Henry started to feel conflicted about his offer. In all reality, working with Marcus was a gamble. The man had an unenviable history and far too many rumours around him. But on the other hand, the Comte was reminded that there were always benefits to investing in people who others had lost faith in. The greatest example being his long-standing friendship with the Ashford family.

The Ashfords were an unfortunate story. The family had been in decline for many years, since before the second world war, thanks to rumours about the connections between the Ashford family and the Nazi party. They'd been on the mend in the post-war years, as his friend Edward Ashford had been one of the founders of Umbrella and a talented virologist. But his unfortunate death back in '68 had seemingly sealed their fate. But Henry had stuck by his son Alexander in the years after that, and it seemed that once again the Ashford name was on the rise. Courtesy of the newest enigma to drop onto Henry's lap.

Alexia Ashford…

The newest member of the Ashford family was quite the enigma. Alexia was a genius in every sense of the word. Of course, she had a particular bend for the biological arts, but given her family that was to be expected. She'd graduated from university in the time it took most children to master the multiplication table. It was a truly outstanding feat, but one to be expected given her stock. She was most definitely a natural prodigy, and Henry wouldn't consider any… alternative explanations.

Sure, it was technically possible that she had been tampered with. He'd worked with her father on some of his genetic breakthroughs, and Alexander had played around with the idea of making a genetically modified person back when they'd first identified the genetic markers responsible for intelligence. The technology was there, and more than one buyer had asked about it. But initial results on the modification front had caused the two of them to entirely rethink the idea. Without proper control, increasing the markers for intelligence always came at the cost of either mutagenic cell collapse or stunted development in other areas of the mind. So Henry doubted that Alexander would do something as stupid as modifying a human. And because he trusted that his old friend's son wasn't stupid enough to tempt fate, Alexia could only be the product of a natural miracle.

Of course, if he'd known about the miraculous child, he would have given her and her brother a place at his estate. Sure, placing them there might have resulted in some complications when the time came to bring in the Wesker children, but giving the Ashfords a way to develop alongside other children would have done wonders to foster emotional growth in them. But their father's near total isolation to the remote corner of the Pacific had left the children with only each other to rely on for the majority of their childhoods, something that hadn't done young Alexia any good at all. She was smart, incredibly so, but she had nobody to call a friend, and as such she shared her secrets with nobody. She had an inflated ego and often missed social cues, making her very difficult to get along with. As such, her research team consisted of essentially just herself and a couple of staff members who had nowhere else to go. That was something that the Executive Board considered problematic when she became the head of her bio-research project. And especially so when the project made use of a Progenitor Virus derivative. He'd already seen one Ashford lost to that damn virus, so he understood the board's hesitancy at the prospect of losing another.

It was these factors, the fact that Alexander trusted Pierre enough to allow his daughter to work in his labs and the fact that Henry was the de facto manager of one of the newer Wesker batches, which made him perfectly placed to figure out how best to crack the girl's shell. And given the assets at his command, he figured the best way to do that would be to provide the enigmatic Ashford with a friend.

But who to choose? Given what he had to work with, it would have to be a Wesker candidate, and that significantly limited his choices. Some of the candidates were right out, such as candidate 223, who was too untrustworthy to make the grade. Others were dropped due to a lack of skill in the field, 215 would have been a good choice because he looked similar to Alexia's brother, but he struggled too much with biology to be a viable fit. And of the few that remained, their behaviour didn't match what Henry thought would gell well with the Ashford girl. Candidate 201 was too timid to extract any useful information, while 214's disposition would rub her the wrong way. And 213 lacked the independence required to work on her own, given her close connection to her roommate.

That left only two choices. Candidates 203 and 211.

211 was a good choice for several reasons. She was the closest physical match to the unknown girl's physical development index. She had a photographic memory, which meant that she'd pick up on what Alexia was doing very easily, and hopefully, she could give a good report on exactly what was going on in that lab. She was also refined and came from an upper-class background, something that still influenced how the girl acted. But 211 was still an unknown factor. She was a good choice, but she hadn't been tested before. There was always a chance that taking her out of the controlled environment of the mansion would yield bad results. After all, one of the other groups in batch two had attempted a field trip with similarly unproven children. That had almost resulted in one hell of a media incident. And given how she'd be meeting Alexia at the Paris facility, they couldn't afford any slip-ups. She'd connected well with her handler, but that alone could no longer be counted on to keep the candidates in line.

But candidate 203… now that one had been tested and had come out strong. She was smart, both when it came to her education and in more spontaneous situations. After all, she was currently the only Wesker candidate to date to solve one of the hidden puzzles at the training facilities. She was also a prodigy when it came to biology, with a sound understanding of cellular mechanics at a young age. A fact that both Doctor Gannt and several handlers had made sure to highlight in their most recent reports. But above all else, she was charismatic and loyal. She'd proven herself in the recent incident at the mansion, proving herself more attentive than the dolts that his contact in the Foreign Legion had provided him for security at the estate. After personally leading a search party, she found and recovered candidate 223, convincing the boy to stay at the mansion, even when he had a gun pointed at her. It spoke not only to her loyalty but also to her ability to connect with children who were emotionally distant. Both of which would be essential if he decided to try and have her connect with the Ashford girl.

But 203 had her issues. And the biggest among them all was the fact that she was hiding something. She was smart, but it didn't take a genius to figure out that the young girl was doing her level best to hide her true skill set. She knew things that hadn't been taught to her and didn't appear in the mansion's extensive library. Of course, they were things that could be inferred from what she already knew. But if that were the case, why would she try and hide it? And then there was how calmly she'd reacted when held at gunpoint. The only emotional outburst she had was when 223 questioned her relationship with her handler, which was a good sign that she was developing an emotional bond that they could exploit. Did she have prior experience in remaining calm in that sort of situation?

How much of herself was 203 hiding from them? And how well did they truly know her?

Ultimately, Henry could only work with what he knew. And that was the facts he'd already established. 203 was cunning, smart, and loyal. It didn't matter if that loyalty was born out of a genuine love for her fellow candidates, her handler, or out of recognition that she stood to gain more by staying at the estate rather than trying to escape. Everything he knew pointed to 203 being the best candidate for the job. And who knew? Maybe they could dress the whole thing up as a reward for her bringing in 223, or maybe as a birthday gift? Either way, if they could show 203 receiving a reward for good behaviour, then maybe they could use that as another carrot to use when it came to bringing the children in line.

A few keystrokes later, the Director of Umbrella's European branch drafted an email to the head of the mansion and the Paris lab's director, containing 203's marching orders and what he wanted out of her visit. He quickly pulled up a sanitized copy of 203's personal profile and gave it a once-over. Aside from an accurate picture of the candidate -one showing a girl with messy blonde hair and striking blue eyes- and accurate information on her age and attitude, the document was mostly a falsification. As far as the document was concerned, 203 was the daughter of an umbrella worker, who was receiving education at a boarding school on the company's dime. Hell, the document even used her handler's surname in the place of her true one. But the document told enough about 203 for her to be allowed out, while not presenting a security risk for the project as a whole, so he attached it to the email for the Paris lab's benefit, and sent it off. If some corporate spy happened to intercept the email and read it, then it would appear to be nothing more than an underhanded, but still perfectly legal, attempt to get two children to make friends with each other.

It was underhanded, but Henry was sure that 203 would be able to handle it. After all, she was a Wesker. One of the shepherds of the new world, and potentially one of the people who would lead humanity to a bright new future. Hell, the only issue he could think of would be if Alexander had a problem with his daughter socializing. But if that proved to be an issue, and if Alexander tried to drag his daughter back to that isolated island that he called home, Henry would be more than willing to… take Alexia into his care. He'd already seen one Ashford lost to a tragic accident. He hoped that little 203 could save Alexia from following her grandfather's tragic example.

And besides, maybe letting 203 poke around an Umbrella lab would be a good thing. This wasn't a work placement, but maybe an early introduction would help form her career path?