Village: Resident Evil VIII

Chapter Forty Five: An Odd Invitation

For a moment when Ethan's eyes first opened, it was like the events of the previous day were nothing but a dream, probably because the blowing storm outside the window looked just like it had the first time he spent the night at Castle Dimitrescu. The large warm bed, the crackling flame in the fireplace, and a beautiful blonde laying partially on top of him, snoring softly when he kissed her on the forehead. There was only one piece of Rose left to get back, now, and for a moment the outsider was ready to jump up and get back to searching… but this was stopped when fatigue prevented him from even sitting up.

No, Ethan needed a break, just like he had after dealing with Chris's initial attack, the Lycan raid, and Alcina Dimitrescu. Donna's tests, Salvatore's flood, and the fight against Tobias weren't much easier, so for right now the outsider put his arms a little tighter around Bela. It felt like he had only closed his eyes for a second, but suddenly there was the orange light of sunrise coming through the bedroom window, causing him to wake up again. The blonde was gone as well, her side of the bed empty when Ethan sat up, but he hadn't even gotten to his feet when she came back into the room with a… with a small serving cart?

"Good morning." Bela said cheerfully, sitting down next to him once the cart was in place. "I figured you'd be hungry, so I made us breakfast."

Coffee, eggs, toast, not exactly a five star meal, but with as hungry as the outsider was, this might as well have been something like Beef Wellington. The blonde made sure that he had everything he needed before making her own plate, and then she got a big smile on her face when Ethan refilled her cup once she had finished her own coffee. Once they were finished eating, she casually pushed the cart with her foot so that it rolled a good distance away, before surprising Ethan when she got on his lap so that she was straddling him, putting her arms around his neck and kissing him deeply.

"I'm just going to say it; I'm in love with you, Ethan." Bela said bluntly, again surprising him. "You're strong, brave, handsome, loving and caring, and you're amazing in bed… any woman who would choose a job over you is an idiot, but I won't ever do that."

Obviously she was talking about his first wife, but it was strange… he didn't remember telling her anything about Mia… or had he? Thinking was difficult when a beautiful woman was on the outsider's lap, and before his lagging brain could catch up to the moment, the two of them were doing a lot more than kissing. Pretty soon another big piece of the morning was lost, leaving a blue sky visible through the window after it finally stopped snowing, but Ethan and Bela had yet to leave the bedroom. Now he was holding her again, considering taking another nap before getting back to the hell that was known as this village, when something else unexpected happened.

White noise filled the room as a small television set that the outsider hadn't noticed before activated, its glowing screen filled with static for several seconds before some kind of image came into view. It was kind of like those old fashioned Please Stand By title cards when the Emergency Broadcast System would be tested, only instead of an American Indian, there was the black and white emblem of a horse surrounded by an even larger horseshoe. The image remained where it was while the sound faded in and out between static and some kind of old fashioned trumpet fanfare, and then the face of Karl Heisenberg came into view.

"We interrupt this presentation of 'Ethan Shags the Vampire' to bring you this special bulletin." The hat man said as if this were a newscast. "Alcina Dimitrescu and Salvatore Moreau were found brutally murdered in their homes, while Donna Beneviento officially supports the plan after getting Ethan all drugged up to do… whatever. Negotiations with the BSAA are progressing slowly, and everything's on the board, so the question on everyone's mind is… Ethan, are you ready to play?"

"What the hell is he talking about?" Bela whispered quietly. "BSAA? What do they have to do with anything?"

"I don't know." The outsider replied. "Donna wouldn't really tell me anything, and… well, you got me to talk to her in the first place, so… shouldn't you know something?"

The whole setup on the small Television screen was absurd almost to the point of laughter; Heisenberg sitting behind a workbench in what looked like someone's garage, reading off from a piece of paper like he was in a news studio. The blonde seemed to be just as confused as the outsider was, but then yet another surprise appeared when she started to get out of bed, when the hat man let out a sharp whistle, prompting her to get back in bed and cover herself up like… like this was somehow a two-way transmission.

"Ethan, I know it's hard to pull yourself away from an ass like Bela's, but you've got to try." Heisenberg continued. "Now we can help each other out here, Ethan; you want the last Rose container, and I want to discuss some things with you in private, and it can all happen if you get your lazy ass out of bed and come to my factory, like… right now. Your girlfriend knows where it is, see you soon."

With that, the image vanished, replaced by static and finally the small Television shutting off before the outsider could even react to what the hat man had been saying. Ethan assumed that the factory was the one with the smokestacks that he had seen earlier, and if that final glowing container was there, then what other choice did Ethan have but to go? Bela seemed hung up on the other thing Heisenberg said, which was mentioning somehow negotiating with the BSAA, and not understanding how that was possible. The outsider agreed, believing that from what he knew of Chris Redfield, there would be no negotiation with the rulers of this village, even if contact was made.

Maybe it had been some kind of bluff to make Ethan feel more rushed to get down to the factory, but that wasn't necessary because he needed that last container no matter what… he still didn't know what to do with those glowing orange things once they were all together, but that could be worried about later. Hopefully the Duke would know what to do with them, and actually the outsider still needed to go see the big man anyway, because this time he planned on entering the next part of this hell-hole village with a weapon.

"I wouldn't take a gun in there if I were you." Bela said, watching Ethan as he got dressed. "Karl has the power to create electromagnetic fields and control metal… remember when he captured you in that tavern?"

Oh yeah, he remembered… how could he forget? Having just escaped the Lycans with Elena, they took shelter inside that building, and then it was like every metallic object in the place came after him like angry hornets. That was also the last time the outsider saw Elena, something else that he was going to have to ask Heisenberg about, but… again, Ethan didn't remember telling the blonde about this… must have been when they were talking and he was too tired to remember what he said to her. The important thing right now was no metal, so… so what the hell was he supposed to defend himself with? A baseball bat?

"I'm gonna go see Duke before I head to the factory." The outsider said, tying his last boot. "I don't know, maybe he has something that can help me if things go bad in there."

"Just be careful, all right?" Bela asked, sitting up and scooting over to him. "I meant what I said, Ethan… I'm in love with you, and I want you to come back to me."

Kissing again while he assured her that everything would be fine, Ethan was feeling surprisingly confident about his chances, given that he had already survived Alcina, Donna, and Salvatore, not to mention Tobias. All right, it was time to go, so the outsider didn't waste any more time in leaving the castle, even though part of him wished that he could just stay there with Bela. Even though their relationship started off with violence and torture, being with the blonde had really helped Ethan with dealing with Zoe's death. If not for Bela, the outsider might have gone crazy with how many times his brain forced him to relive seeing his wife gunned down… and Chris still hadn't even told him why.

The weather outside in the village was a little better this morning, still cold as hell, but at least it wasn't snowing. That, and his clothes had been able to dry out by the fire all night, so there was no more chance of hypothermia, and hey… maybe the inside of the factory would be warm like the castle and Donna's house. Duke was sitting in his usual spot, kind of perched on the back of the wagon as if expecting customers to start showing up at any moment, but Ethan was pretty sure that all of the villagers were dead… so why was the big man there at all? What was he getting out of all this?

"Well, good morning, Ethan." He said cheerfully after spotting him. "You're looking much better this morning."

"Yeah, I feel a lot better, too." The outsider replied, trying to figure out how exactly to ask this next question. "Hey, you don't happen to have any kind of weapons that aren't metal, but… I don't know, also won't get me killed right away when I try to use them, do you?"

Honestly, wood was the only kind of weapon that Ethan could think of, but he didn't much like the idea of trying to fight off a Lycan or anything worse than that with a club or a spear. A crossbow or something might have been better, but not much because the arrowheads couldn't be metal, either. On top of all this, the outsider didn't have any way to pay him for the weapon even if he did, which meant that he was probably out of luck either way, because even Tobias had paid the big man for services.

"From what you're asking, I assume you're on your way to meet Karl Heisenberg, yes?" Duke asked, raising an eyebrow. "A man who can move metal is nothing to sneeze at, Ethan, nor is the factory he lives in, but… I could give you a little something to protect yourself… if you were to do a little something for me in return."

Before the outsider could ask what this little something in return was, the big man took a 9mm pistol out of one of the nearby drawers, and tossed it to him. Explaining that this oddly lightweight weapon was called a LEMI, it was a prototype constructed from some old plans scrapped back in the 90's, detailing a pistol that was made of hardened plastics instead of metal. Even the bullets were made of hardened ceramics that had been sharpened to a point, sacrificing a lot of their stopping power, but ideal for a political assassination, or… maybe for protecting oneself against someone who could control metal.

"The price of this weapon is simple." Duke continued, tossing him a couple extra clips. "Karl hasn't allowed anyone else inside his factory for years, not his siblings, not me, not even his beloved Donna. So, all I need you to do is stop the door from locking so that a couple… friends can sneak inside later. Sound good?"

If Tobias had been still alive the request would have worried him, but the soldier wasn't, and Ethan wasn't exactly friends with Heisenberg, so he agreed. Laughing in excitement and clapping his hands, the big man lastly gave the outsider a small backpack which contained the three Rose containers he had already retrieved, explaining only that Ethan would probably want to get them all back together as soon as possible. He wasn't sure what that meant, or even how to use the things once he had all of them, but it would have to be worried about later. For now all Ethan could do was put on the backpack, turn away, and start walking toward the black smoke coming from the factory in the distance.