A Star's Descent

Chapter Eighteen: Confessions

A Star's Descent

By evolution-500

Disclaimer: House of the Dead and Resident Evil are properties belonging to SEGA and Capcom respectively. I do not own any of these characters.

MUSIC: ARPHE - DANTE'S INFERNO

Chapter Eighteen: Confessions

She didn't know when she had drifted off, nor did she know for how long. The only thing Rebecca knew was that it had been the sound of doors creaking that caused her to stir. Pushing herself off from the wall where she rested, she rubbed her eyes as a figure approached.

"Richard!" she exclaimed.

* * * * *

Richard Aiken strode dejectedly toward the altar, watching as the young medic got up from the floor with a large book in one arm.

"Good to see you, Richard," Rebecca greeted.

"Good to see you too," Aiken replied, trying to muster up what little energy he had into his voice. "You look tired."

The medic scoffed. "I've felt better," she admitted. "Where's Forest?"

Aiken frowned at the question. Part of him hoped that she wouldn't ask.

So much for hope.

"I couldn't find him," Aiken answered as he shook his head regretfully. "He's gone."

Rebecca's lips parted slightly, then stopped as she stared down at the floor.

Seeing her expression, Aiken felt obligated to provide some form of assurance for the girl. He stepped toward her and opened his mouth to speak when he caught sight of something white lying at the altar.

Turning his head, his eyes widened. "Christ, what happened to him?"

Looking over to where he stared, Rebecca shook her head.

"We don't know," she answered.

Seeing the scars that covered the youth's torso, Aiken stared like one confronted with a set of hieroglyphics.

"I...I found something," Rebecca spoke.

His eyes turned in her direction.

"Yes?" Aiken prodded.

She bit her lip, then brought up a book, pulling it open to a specific page.

"You have to see this," she said in a soft, nervous whisper.

Crinkling his brow in confusion, Aiken looked questioningly at her before taking hold of the book.

Seeing the illustration, he scanned the page. "What's this?"

"Do you remember those journals that Star guarded?"

"This is one of them?"

"Yeah," Rebecca replied. "Check out the other pages after."

"Why?"

"Just look."

Humoring her, Aiken momentarily paused as he saw the next set of images, giving a slight nod of understanding before continuing on.

Now he understood why Rebecca seemed so spooked.

Various diagrams illustrated the creature's anatomy, breaking down each and every part in considerable detail. A lot of advanced technical terms were used, referring to the armored pieces on its shoulders and legs as "solar panels with crystalline silicon-celled modules", the horns as "frontal cranial antennae" and the exposed wires and tubes as "pneumatic artificial muscles". What made the drawings seem more than mere fantasy, however, was the fact that they went so far as to include weight ratios, mathematical and physics equations, chemical formulas and other stuff that all came together in such a way that made it seem possible for this thing to be built.