"Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to extend my heartfelt greetings to all the guests attending today's hearing. I believe today is special. This hearing is being broadcast live on television and held jointly. This is the first time anything like this has happened anywhere in the world, making it a moment of extraordinary historical significance."
At the dais, a refined-looking middle-aged white man wearing gold-rimmed glasses drew the assembly into a solemn mood with his measured tone.
Next came a long series of introductions.
Among those seated in the front row were financial experts from Wall Street, former senior officers from the U.S. military, public health experts from Britain, lawyers from France, and even a moderately well-known science fiction author.
Susan and the others were seated like defendants in a courtroom. Until it was their turn to speak, all they could do was wait in misery.
"The experts in this room, along with everyone watching this hearing, will ensure the fairness of the proceedings. I now declare the hearing on the 'Umbrella Corporation security crisis from several months ago' officially underway!" After the chair finished reading his statement, he began explaining the Raccoon City crisis to those in the dark about what had happened.
Combining the evidence provided by the Umbrella Corporation with the information gathered in their investigation, then embellishing it, they produced a five-minute video.
The video was much like Duncan's attempt to distance Umbrella from the incident, but it was narrated in a strange tone that made viewers feel something was off.
The ending was particularly egregious: "Out of humanitarian concern, the Umbrella Corporation provided aid worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the victims." When the female narrator read the words "hundreds of millions of dollars," her voice rose several decibels, dripping with malice.
As soon as the video ended, the camera suspended from a mechanical arm rushed toward the Umbrella team, as if trying to capture the guilty expressions on each of their faces.
Fortunately, the Umbrella representatives attending the hearing were all professionals. Susan's expression remained untroubled. She had already resolved to resign, and whether Umbrella fell or not had little to do with her anymore. As someone planning to get out, all she had to do was follow the procedure to the end.
When the video finished, the chair looked down at his notes and said, "As a giant multinational corporation, Umbrella bears an inescapable and significant responsibility. In the Raccoon City incident, we saw the sense of responsibility expected of a giant multinational corporation, as well as Umbrella's earnest efforts to make up for the lives lost. So the first question before this hearing is: 'Safety'!
"Now, please welcome Mr. Lowell Leonard."
From that moment on, the hearing began to veer off course.
Lowell Leonard, who had taken the stage to speak, was a British public health expert. Since he was merely an expert in name, with only a string of academic credentials to his name and no government position, he was free to speak his mind.
His first words hit everyone like a blow to the head.
"How dare you!" The somewhat portly public health expert stood up and pointed at Susan, launching into a tirade. "The Umbrella Corporation secretly possessed extremely dangerous biological weapons. Not only did you conduct research in secret, you also caused a leak. What a terrifying and irresponsible thing to do! You didn't report it to the United Nations, nor did you invite soldiers from other countries to be stationed at your research facility to provide security. You conducted your research recklessly—how dare you!"
Beep, beep!
The phone Susan had placed on the table vibrated softly. The Red Queen's prompt appeared: interrupt the speech, clarify that the T-virus was not a biological weapon, and reiterate Umbrella's people-first stance. Direct everyone to the company website to compare the virus research facility with research facilities in other countries.
Knowing what to do, Susan pressed the microphone button, trying to interrupt the public health expert's spit-flecked tirade.
She pressed the button, but her voice did not come through the speakers and carry across the hall. No matter how she tried, she couldn't get the microphone connected.
Even the cameras around them weren't filming the Umbrella team. They were all trained on the public health expert's expressive face.
After several unsuccessful attempts, a new prompt appeared on her phone: maintain silence.
The Red Queen had already reached its conclusion: almost everyone was against them. If they couldn't speak, they should stay quiet and wait until their allotted time to respond. Surely they wouldn't be unable to speak even then!
As it turned out, they fucking could be.
"Umbrella Corporation representative, please answer the question: Does Umbrella possess biological weapons?"
After the public health expert had ranted for half an hour, the British representative summed up his argument and posed the question.
"Ahem..." Susan pressed the microphone button and gave a tentative cough. This time, her voice successfully came through the speakers and filled the conference hall. "The T-virus is not a biological weapon. We have converted the results of our research into—"
"Then why does the T-virus kill people, and why did it cause such severe consequences in Raccoon City?" The British representative didn't give Susan the chance to continue. He raised his voice a few notches and interrupted her.
Stifling her frustration, Susan glanced at her phone screen before answering, "The T-virus does not have high pathogenicity after it has been processed. As for the Raccoon City incident—"
"So it isn't highly pathogenic, which means it's still harmful to the human body, right?"
"Yes... but any—"
"Good! Even a highly pathogenic biological weapon remains harmful to humans after being processed. Why is Umbrella conducting research on such a dangerous biological weapon on its own?" The British representative slapped the wooden table and glared at Susan with his small eyes. His words couldn't be described as merely sharp; they were absurd.
Even Susan, who had been pushed to the point of caring about nothing, gritted her teeth in anger.
Even the Red Queen was left speechless. The people who made the rules weren't following them, making the artificial intelligence that did follow them look like a fool.
Everyone there was pretending to be insane. The Umbrella team members were all raising their hands to request the floor, and the head of Public Relations even asked the staff to check whether the sound system was working properly. There was clearly a problem, but they insisted there wasn't.
In the end, the whole group was seething with anger, yet they couldn't afford to lose face by doing anything "rude," or they would inevitably be maliciously smeared.
There was no way for them to win in that conference hall. If they spoke, they were interrupted. If they raised their hands, they were ignored. If they left, they would be criticized. It was as if all they could do was silently endure the others' wild fabrications.
"The hearing is suspended. Mr. Donald, please turn off your microphone."
Just as a group of people were putting on an energetic performance and getting worked up, the chair at the head of the table suddenly spoke, cutting off the financial expert in the middle of his act.
A sudden flurry of camera shutters sounded outside the conference hall. The doors swung open, and several middle-aged American congressmen ushered a young man into the room. Behind them came a huge swarm of media reporters, like moths to a flame.
Duncan strode into the conference hall and surveyed everyone present. The force of his presence made some people in the room feel short of breath.
"Sorry I'm late!"
The smiles vanished from the faces of those in the gallery who had been watching the show. Seeing Duncan again sent their spirits plummeting like a roller coaster dropping from a mountaintop. Panic left them feeling weightless, and even swallowing became difficult.
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