manufactured | INBOX

[It takes him longer than he would like to sort out an answer.]

...I don't know. It was a job that I was good at, so I was fine with doing it; I didn't mind doing what Umbrella wanted me to do while I was there, so I did it without complaint.

I think I liked the people, however. They respected me there, but they also seemed to like and care about me. It was...strange, and I never did fully get used to it. But it wasn't a bad thing..

Well, I suppose that's better than resenting it, ja? I'm glad they were good to you.

[...It really is a shame things hadn't worked out for Wesker.]

Most of them were legitimate - people who were there because they wanted to help others, they weren't with Umbrella. I was there to ensure they didn't find anything they weren't supposed to, and to cover up or destroy anything they stumbled across involving Umbrella's activities.

The others were civilians. Normal people.

I see... I can certainly see where that would be very jarring, given what I know of your life. It must have been hard to believe that they really did want to help others, ja? I imagine it was difficult to relate to them.

I don't think I understood them at all, really. I found Chris and Jill to be naive at best...they were like spoiled children to me, thinking that they could change the world with their presence and their intentions when they were unwilling to truly work or suffer for it.

There wasn't really anything to relate to, even though they certainly seemed to think they could be close to me in some way.

...It sounds difficult. Lonely, even. I'm sorry.

[Maybe something like that wouldn't have made much of a difference in the end, but the fact that he could never be close to them in any way bothers Jaeger a bit.]

...I don't know if I truly felt lonely or not. I think in some way I might have, otherwise I wouldn't have kept people around me as long as I did, but I didn't recognize it as such.

I'm not surprised you didn't recognize it. Given everything you went through... well, I can see where you'd never want to be around people again. I'm glad you had some relationships, even if none of them were very good or healthy.

Some were better than others; some went well until they rather suddenly didn't, some were just...odd, I suppose.

[Speaking of odd relationships, he'll pass the last photo over to Jaeger; it's of a man who appears to be in his late fifties or early sixties, perhaps, though he's got a broad, strong build and doesn't seem to be suffering for his age any. He has some pretty severe facial scarring that indicates someone absolutely went to town with a knife on him at one point - down the left cheek as though he was just straight-up stabbed in the face, half a Glasgow smile starting at the right corner of his mouth and extending upwards a bit, and deep scars above his eyes as though someone may have tried to slash them out - but there are implications that he was good-looking before all that happened to him; his haircut is...stupid, but likely something Jaeger will find familiar.]

That's Sergei, incidentally.

[He'll take it and it doesn't take long for him to smirk a bit.]

My, he really does have the same hairstyle, doesn't he...

[That's honestly really goddamn amusing.]

He certainly is impressive.

That's certainly one word for it. He was about half a foot taller than me.

[And Wesker is not a short man.]

I figured he'd be tall, but not that tall...

[He has no idea what to make of this, oh my god. Here, you can have the picture back.]

[Just hand him his photographs and we can all try to ignore how freakishly huge Sergei Vladimir was.]

He was a former colonel in the Red Army, back before the Soviet Union collapsed. Apparently one of the Umbrella CEOs took him in after that happened, as he felt he had nowhere else to go; he was given a purpose that way, something to do with his life. He reminds me a bit of Krauser in that way - I did the same for him after he left the US military.

Sergei didn't know about that, however; he told me about his own experiences shortly before he died, though I didn't understand why he was telling me anything about it at the time.

I see... He really does sound like an interesting person. He was the one who was trying to bring Umbrella back, ja?

He was. I imagine it was because he felt he didn't have much else left.

Sergei was a very strange person in general, honestly. He called some of the more intelligent mutations his "brothers," for some reason; he also liked to insist that machines had feelings that were beyond human understanding. He would tell me that he was glad we were such good friends and had such a healthy, functional relationship immediately before trying to kill me; he commented on how peaceful Russia is before mentioning that he was looking forward to burying me there. It was..."interesting" is a good word for it, if a bit mild.

...He sounds like he was... an experience...

[ohhhhh my god why did any of that happen???]

I know we had a fairly long history that I actually didn't find terrible. I only remember fighting him once, that time I told you about with the mutation, and that was when I killed him; I had several opportunities to kill him before then, but I didn't. I'm fairly sure I found him fun in some strange way... I liked that he was interested in me, I think, even if he was frustrating about it.

It certainly sounds like you two had a strange relationship...

[...still better than birkin, tbh.]

Professionally speaking, I don't know what his relation to me was, as far as Umbrella was concerned. I believe he may have been one of my superiors, but it's possible we weren't even following the same chain of command.

Interpersonally, however, it was...certainly strange. Most relationships within Umbrella were, I believe.

It sounds that way...

[...]

What do you think about him now?

[It doesn't seem like you have lingering feelings like with Birkin, but he's curious anyway.]

[He's quiet for a moment at that; he's...honestly not sure, and it takes him a while to sort through his thoughts.]

I saw him once. Back in October, in the fog. Someone else was with me, and my priority was getting them away from him; had it just been me, without any civilians there, I think I would have stayed. Either to try to talk to him, or to fight him if he didn't feel like talking; I have no doubt he would have killed me if it came down to a fight.

He was mutated at first, when I saw him; I didn't recognize him. He transformed back, however, and once I realized who it was I wasn't interested in running anymore.

...I'll be honest, I'm not sure I really understand. I can think of a few people I'd like to fight from my past life, but if I genuinely thought I'd be in any danger, I wouldn't have any interest in pursuing it.

But things were complicated in your past life, and I imagine many of those feelings are still present, ja?

...They are, yes, as little as I like them.

[Honestly, sometimes he's glad Yeager didn't give much of a shit about anything...]

I'm sorry, Albert. It sounds very difficult... Of course, if there's ever anything I can do to help...

[He just sort of trails off there. He's not really sure there's anything that could be done, anyway.]

You've been helping me a great deal tonight, actually. I appreciate it.

INBOX | RECOLLE

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)