Epilogue Side-Story
"The Hunt for Molly"
"..."
An intercom blared overhead, echoing the same dreary notice it had been making for the last twenty minutes. Something or another about all on-site staff needing to be debriefed about some new threat (there was
always a new threat) that was changing some of their security procedures. It was all very dull and uniform, but Molly could at least appreciate the need to keep everyone on the same page. From what she had perceived of the United Nations before her world was geek-central, she would have imagined a far higher gap between new recruits and the bigwigs up top, but that didn't seem to be a concern for this strange UN that spanned multiple dimensions. It almost felt like a family, in a way.
Well, not that Molly could speak for the many other branches of the organization. In her position, she felt always in on the loop of things around here. That was great with her, because... authority? Yeah, not so many good experiences with people in power for Molly.
For the moment, she was stationed at the group's headquarters, located in the ever-bustling New York City. Molly had never been to the same city of her world, so it was certainly a surreal experience for the young girl. She didn't really want to worry about how alternate universes worked or whether or not she or her sister existed in these other worlds, so she put that kind of thing out of her mind. It was just unnecessary stress-- a complication that Molly didn't need.
She had a job to do, and she would see it through. She had to, at least to make up for everything she had done.
"Hey, you. I assume you're able to ease yourself into the place alright?"
As Molly would return to reality, the voice of Carth Onasi, one of the higher-ranking members of the multiversal United Nations, would approach her rather abruptly.
From the point of view of most others, notably his occasional co-worker Akane Tsunemori, who climbed the ranks of the organization at an astonishing rate, just under a year, Onasi came off as a sort of gruff man who always seemed annoyed, irritated, or otherwise troubled about something that he couldn't (or wouldn't) quite explain, though some would say that this notion was partly subconscious, and that, while admittedly work like this could drain a smile from a man's face, the man always had a sort of deadpan expression that he often doesn't mean to have, even in the supposedly rare instances where he could be described as content for the moment.
Take right now for example. Though the tone in Carth's voice might have given Molly the impression that he was actually somewhat indifferent about her thoughts on working with the UN, he actually was somewhat concerned. Of course, after everything he had been through in his life, openly displaying concern that most men in his position would describe as a weakness, though not even Miss Tsunemori, a psychology major, could really tell what he thought, though the pain in his eyes when he wasn't fired up to do a job was apparently obvious if one looked close enough according to her.
That all being said, perhaps Carth had become aware of Akane's assumptions about him, but even he wondered what he was going to do about all that.
"Work like this can easily overwhelm you if you aren't careful, y'know. Join me for a quick coffee?"
Molly regarded Carth with a listless expression, her eyes half-lidded as she gathered what she could recall on Mister Onasi from memory. She tried not to look annoyed that he had interrupted her loner time as, after all, she wasn't
really annoyed. Molly just happened to naturally look annoyed in these situations. She just liked spending time by herself, so if anything, being approached like this just made her uncomfortable.
Thing was, Molly hadn't gotten around to interacting with Carth very much. She had the luxury of joining a personal section of the organization, so it was a given they would interact more eventually. She wanted to look on the bright side of it. You know, getting friendly with the bosses and all, but Carth seemed to be a bit of a hard-ass. It didn't help he reminded Molly of a few assholes she once knew.
Or maybe that was just because he was a man. Either way, kind of awkward for her.
"I, uh... Sure, I guess. Couldn't hurt." She managed a smile and moved herself to stand. Crossing her arms, she looked over Carth's shoulder.
"Lead the way."
With a silent nod, Carth turned around and began to walk, leading Molly to get some coffee, as he had said. As the two of them would walk in silence for a brief moment, going from room to room, the man would pose a question out of the blue, though it was hard to tell if he was just trying to start conversation innocently or learn something about Molly for whatever reason.
Maybe a bit of both, who knew?
"So, word has it from the Coalition reports that they so generously provided is that you're one of the people who was involved in the original Murder Game, the Crossed Incident?" Carth inquired, his arms formally crossed behind his back as he continued to nonchalantly stroll about,
"Surprised to see people like you still floating about in the stretches of the multiverse. If you ask around, you'll find that you're likely one of the first people in the entire multiverse to ever know about the Murder Games, since active action to stop them wasn't a thing until some time before the Monokuma Incident where the Coalition made themselves known."
Molly had walked alongside Carth in silence, not wanting to be the one to break it. Could you say awkward? Molly wasn't exactly the best at idle conversation, and her time spent in a post-apocalyptic world had only dulled those skills further. That and the fact Carth was her superior who she seriously didn't want to piss off made her keep her silence, at least until Carth spoke.
Of course he'd ask about all that. She had to wonder if he thought of her as a liability. Molly found herself reaching for her ice pick, Hilda, and gripping the familiar weapon. She found holding it calmed her nerves.
"It's not something I like to talk about," Molly said upfront, meaning to be as blunt as possible. She gave Carth a sidelong look as they walked.
"It was an awful, horrible experience that only got worse once it was over. Only one good thing came out of it--" Molly visibly winced at the thought.
Elsa. "--but then that was... whatever. So... Have you not met anyone else from that first incident?"
"I haven't personally, no," Carth replied, shaking his head briefly,
"Most of them have either died off, during either the Silent Hill Incident, the Arch Demon's Downfall, or... by other means," the soldier said, pursing his lips briefly as he remembered the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of one such person rather recently.
"Garrus Vakarian." Though the details weren't much to speak of, the incident itself was something Carth assumed that very little people knew about, the nature of it just being that he was mysteriously assassinated by an unknown assailant. In fact, it was probably just him and Ms. Akagi, Secretary-General Aquilus's personal adviser, and how Akagi even knew about that was beyond him, but he didn't push. The less invested he would be with the affairs of his superiors, the less likely it'd sting as much if he were ever betrayed again, as though it were a personal backstab from a friend...
Ahem.
Carth cleared his throat after realizing he spaced out for a brief moment."They either died out or just sorta disappeared into obscurity somewhere in the multiverse, though you might be able to find one or two hanging around with the Coalition, so maybe when you have free time, you can go take a look," he shrugged, the two of them eventually making it to a break room, where he and Molly would bump into the aforementioned "Ms. Akagi" herself.
"..."
If Carth was someone that made other people lightly uneasy, Ms. Ritsuko Akagi was someone who had the ability to downright scare some people, even those jaded by the hard politics of the multiversal United Nations. No matter what she ever seemed to be doing, the woman always looked like she was looking away at something else with great hostility or apathy, one or the other depending on the time of day and how much coffee and cigarettes she had, and practically never smiled, giving her a natural reputation as a sort of ice queen. Even with the Secretary-General, the only person in the Multiversal UN that she was second to in terms of authority, she rarely said more than two sentences at any given moment, so it was difficult to gauge what she really felt about certain people or things.
Even so, Carth gave a small wave, walking over to the machine and making a beverage for himself, fresh pot of coffee still hot and good, before walking to the side to let Molly do the same.
"Afternoon, Ms. Akagi."
"Hmm," Ritsuko simply shrugged in response, before her gaze would shift towards Molly, surprisingly piercing despite the fact that it would feel more like she was looking
through Molly than at her, though that in itself was arguably more chilling as well,
"I trust that our new... helper has been settling in just fine?"
Molly pursed her lips and pulled Hilda from its strap across her back to hold it firmly in both her hands. She held the weapon tightly until her hands strained from the effort. She didn't want to think about any of that, nor did she want to linger on the fact she was one of a relatively small few who still lived to this day. Misfortune seemed to follow those touched by the Arch Demon and any who sought to follow in his footsteps.
"Perhaps we're all cursed," Molly said, sounding grim,
"Wouldn't that be a laugh? It would make sense, don't you think?"
Molly didn't know much about the Coalition and, frankly, hadn't heard much positive about the organization from anyone who cared to talk to her about them. She wasn't even sure what the point of the group was with the United Nations as wide-reaching as it was. She didn't comment on other survivors like her possibly being a part of that organization, for she wasn't sure she would ever be able to face them. After what she did to Elsa, it would just be too much.
Molly sighed, only realizing after a moment that a new face had arrived. Molly gave Ritsuko Akagi a disconcerted expression, having never met the woman personally. Molly had certainly
heard of her, and the tone Ms. Akagi was giving her certainly told her what was said about the woman was true.
"I'm doing fine, thanks."
"I see," Ritsuko would reply, not even seeming to care about the response to the question that she herself had asked in the first place. Finishing up the cup of coffee that she had already been enjoying for some time before Carth and Molly had shown up, the woman would set down the mug, before continuing to speak without missing a beat, every word she spoke being lodged into Carth's ears,
"On another note, Mr. Onasi, I'm going to need your help sorting out the details for the latest discovered incidents submitted by the Coalition. Ever since the incident at the Multiverse Hotel, one can't be too careful with how to go about the Coalition's reports," she spoke, beginning to walk out towards the door, as though she had almost instantly forgotten about Molly.
It had seemed that she had decided break time was over for not just her, but for everyone else as well.
"Huh? H-Hey, at least lemme finish my... You're not even gonna wait for me, are you? Agh..." Carth could only reply, hardly even given a chance to reply as he would somewhat awkwardly jog towards her, mug in hand, following her out, though not before looking back and giving Molly a somewhat troubled shrug,
"Sorry, I guess duty calls. Maybe same time tomorrow I'll make it up? I'll introduce you to Miss Tsunemori, I think you two would get along okay."
Ritsuko cleared her throat.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm following you," the soldier grunted, the doors sliding open as the two adults would leave the room rather hastily, leaving Molly to herself before she knew it.
Molly watched the pair go, but couldn't say she was sad about it. Carth wasn't a bad man from the impression he gave her, but there was just something about him that seemed a bit off. Couple that with her trust issues, and they would probably never actually become good friends, no matter how hard he'd try. And there was nothing that needed to be said about Dr. Akagi. She was just... Dr. Akagi. For better or for worse. Probably for worse, but it couldn't be helped.
Still, as Molly would simply stand there, enjoying her own cup of coffee in peaceful solitude and subsequently walking over to the nearby window that ran the length of the room, idly looking at the city below, and deciding to use this free time to think to herself. After all that had happened with the Murder Games... The Arch Demon, Elliot, Elsa... Could she really move on from all of that? Sure, working a mundane yet secure job like this could be seen as a way of making up for what she had done, or rather, what she had been forced to do before, but... Well, it was a little complicated. Not even she knew exactly what she was feeling.
Perhaps it was that she had hoped to find peace by working with these people, but... It didn't seem to be working so far.
...
...
Several yards away, perched atop a rooftop nearby, the agent of the Umbrella Remnant known as SPECTRE adjusted the sights on his sniper rifle as he'd scan Molly, identifying her as the Progenitor he'd been looking for.
"Target identified. Wind shouldn't be a notable problem. Velocity measurement's all good. Feeling good, on fire today. Alright. Taking the shot... now," he spoke, seeming to communicate with someone via a radio built into his helmet.
SPECTRE was the eyes and ears of his squad. Though he arguably wasn't the best shot in the squad, that title perhaps belonging to HUNK, he was still quite exceptional in his own right. Besides, a target that was standing still was always going to be easier than a moving target. And with that said, SPECTRE eased his finger on the trigger and...
Molly would never see it coming.
BANG!
"!"
With such a powerful weapon, the bullet could be estimated to have been moving at around speeds of at least Mach 1. No ordinary human like Molly could have avoided something like that. And so, her fate was sealed.
CRASH!
When the bullet slammed through her brain, Molly was instantly dead before she even knew it, and her body collided into the ground, the glass mug of coffee she was holding easily shattering upon being dropped onto the ground as well. Her eyes lay open, staring up in the direction of the ceiling, but everything was, in reality, just black for Molly, who had died in an instant.
There was no remorse or pity behind the kill, and there was no dramatic flair about the nature of it, as SPECTRE built it to be so. He had made it so that this woman who had gone through much trauma in her life, waiting for something more dramatic to happen, would die such a pathetic death. To so suddenly, unwittingly meet death's door... Yes, this was going to be the fate of those who thought they could just kill Wesker and get away with it.
Security will be coming soon. After all, not just anybody would be able to get away with such an assault on the United Nations, but luckily, I am no amateur, SPECTRE thought confidently to himself, wasting no time in getting his gear and making a run for it.
As he would move, he would activate the radio in his helmet and begin speaking, contacting the mysterious person on the other end.
"It is done. Mission accomplished, sir."
"Good work. The boss will be pleased," the voice on the other end nodded,
"Report back to base when you can. Over and out," he continued, and with that, hanging up.
With the death of Molly, there was sure to be strife among the multiverse, mass panic over such a dastardly attack on the United Nations. The Coalition's morale had already suffered as it were, so it was only a matter of time before everything would fall apart.
For importantly, it was another Progenitor down for the count. And one step closer to attaining the power that they had been seeking.
Adachi Tohru -
UNKNOWN
Ahzek Ahriman -
DECEASED
Aiden Pearce -
ALIVE
Annie Hastur -
UNKNOWN
Ariel -
DECEASED
Bigby Wolf -
UNKNOWN
Chrom -
ALIVE
Claire Redfield -
DECEASED
Clementine -
UNKNOWN
Dallas -
UNKNOWN
Dandy -
DECEASED
Debra Morgan -
ALIVE
Ellie -
UNKNOWN
Elsa -
DECEASED
Garrus Vakarian -
DECEASED
Hatty Harrington -
UNKNOWN
Isaac Clarke -
DECEASED
Jill Valentine -
ALIVE
Katniss Everdeen -
DECEASED
Kinzie Kensington -
ALIVE
Kiritsugu Emiya -
DECEASED
Lambdadelta -
ALIVE
Lann the Clever -
UNKNOWN
Leo Barnes -
ALIVE
Luke -
DECEASED
Matt Miller -
ALIVE
Mikasa Ackerman -
DECEASED
Molly -
DECEASED
Oswald Mandus -
UNKNOWN
Rand Al'Thor -
UNKNOWN
RED Spy -
DECEASED
Rin Okumura -
DECEASED
Ryuuko Matoi -
DECEASED
Shiki Tohno -
ALIVE
Solaire of Astora -
DECEASED
Subject Delta -
UNKNOWN
Vi -
DECEASED
Wynne -
UNKNOWN
Collab between @Verite and @Atomyk
