William's Night

William sat on the floor, waiting for the progress bar to finish, and kept muttering, "Hurry up, hurry up!"

Why was that?

Because of a person, or something else?

Once the progress bar reached halfway, William's mood somehow settled down again.

He turned to look out the window. Through the gap between the tall buildings across the street, he could see the bustling crowd in the central plaza and the lights gradually brightening the night.

His mind seemed to have gone wrong. The microcomputer in his hands no longer felt heavy, and even the act of breathing seemed to have slipped beyond his body's control. It was as if his soul had left his body, peering through it to glimpse the truth.

What was the Umbrella Corporation like?

The Umbrella Corporation of the past had been no different from any other capitalist enterprise. But under the arbitrary rule of its current leader, it had become less terrible.

Employees who used to slack off and complain were now smiling, and those who had once threatened to quit suddenly felt proud to work for the Umbrella Corporation.

Citizens no longer held a bias against the Umbrella Corporation. Instead, they liked it more and more, and they liked the changes Umbrella had brought them.

No matter how you looked at it, the Umbrella Corporation was changing for the better.

So what was the point of what he was doing?

The colored lights carried the beauty of life and the happiness of the citizens. And what he was doing seemed to be destroying that happiness.

If the Umbrella Corporation failed in the end, Janice might never get to see a world like this...

Why was he thinking of her?

William suddenly came to his senses and shook his head, but he couldn't shake off those thoughts clouding his mind.

"William?"

Suddenly, a familiar voice called his name.

William's heart jumped. He immediately turned his head and saw Janice standing in the yellowish light, wearing a dress and watching him with a puzzled expression.

When had she gotten here?!

Janice had accidentally spotted William in the plaza and thought he'd had a change of heart and come to meet her, so she'd gone after him.

But she hadn't caught up with him. Instead, she'd followed him all the way into the company and witnessed this scene.

Janice's gaze swept over the microcomputer in William's hands. She saw the data storage device and the cable connected to the office computer, but didn't think anything sinister was going on. She merely asked, puzzled, "I saw you in the plaza just now and thought you'd come to meet me... What are you doing?"

"I'm taking care of some work, and fixing this computer, too." After getting over his initial panic, William relied on his solid professional skills to make up a story and try to get away with it.

Janice was an ordinary woman who knew nothing about electronic components, so she readily believed him.

But things didn't go William's way. Seven or eight men in suits, earpieces in their ears and Tasers in their hands, suddenly rushed into the Procurement Department's office area and quickly surrounded the two of them.

"Hands up!"

"Keep your hands where we can see them, now!"

"Get up!"

The deafening shouts startled Janice. Confused, she raised her hands instinctively and glanced at William, only to see a deep, bitter smile on his face.

William dropped the microcomputer and raised his hands as instructed. He'd been discovered. It seemed there was no way around the Umbrella Corporation's security system after all.

The ones who'd come to arrest the corporate spy were several of Duncan's old acquaintances: Rob, Bark, Kevin, and Snow, who had crossed over with him to the Marvel Universe, along with two Clone security guards.

They knew quite a lot by now. After leaving the Security Force, they'd joined Umbrella's dedicated intelligence department, where they specialized in detecting and apprehending spies.

This was their first operation, and they'd successfully caught a big fish who'd been lying low for five years. They were all excited. In no time, they'd bound William's hands behind his back and searched him, finding only his phone and wallet.

Janice, still standing nearby with her hands raised, was ignored. Once she realized that, she quickly lowered them.

Seeing William get arrested, she cried out, "Wait! Why are you arresting him? He was just helping fix a computer... right?"

Not wanting to damage the hard-won image of the Umbrella Corporation, Kevin explained to the anxious Janice, "He's a corporate spy. We have conclusive evidence, and we're arresting him to hand him over to the police. If you have any questions, you can check the announcement on the internal forum later. And if you're not convinced, I have a recording as proof!"

Hearing that the William she liked was actually a corporate spy, Janice's mind went blank with a roar. She stared blankly at William, his hands bound behind his back.

Seeing Janice's dazed expression, William felt a little better. He nodded silently.

The moment he'd become a corporate spy, he'd prepared to be discovered and sent to prison. Even if he went to prison, he had enough money to live comfortably, so he hadn't been very afraid.

But now, faced with Janice's increasingly disappointed expression, William's heart was far less calm than he'd imagined.

"The company's first exposed corporate spy! And it turned out to be Mr. William, who's worked here for five years!"

A young voice came from the entrance to the Procurement Department.

Everyone turned around, then froze in surprise.

The newcomer was Duncan. He'd received the news and happened to be passing by, so he'd come down from the president's office to watch.

His arrival made Bark and the others stand even straighter. It also temporarily distracted Janice from the shock of learning that William was a corporate spy.

"Relax. Today's a special day."

Duncan walked into the Procurement Department's office area, lightly patted Bark and the others on the shoulders, and smiled and nodded to Janice. Only then did he look at William, whose hands were bound behind him and who looked like a defeated rooster.

"Though the information you tried to steal wasn't particularly important, what you did was still illegal. You'll have to go to prison and reflect on your actions... But thank you for the five years you gave the Umbrella Corporation!"

Hearing this, William lowered his head even further. Thinking about the Umbrella Corporation as it was now, and about Janice standing nearby, he couldn't help regretting his choice.

He regretted carrying on with the mission.

If only he'd stayed at the Umbrella Corporation, he could have worked there without a care until retirement.

If only he hadn't done this, he could have been with Janice in peace, living a quiet life together.

There had been so many reasons to stop, but it was only now, when he was full of regret, that he realized money didn't matter as much anymore!

Janice's eyes reddened. She gave up on the idea of pleading for William and said softly, "William, spend your time in prison reflecting on what you did."

William raised his head and met Janice's eyes.

Watching the two of them love each other but fail to be together, Duncan clapped his hands, interrupting their exchange of glances, and smiled. "It's only one night in prison. You can wait until tomorrow. Come on, let's go watch the opening ceremony together."

William turned to look at Duncan in shock. He'd thought he wouldn't get to see the opening ceremony, but now it seemed he still had a chance. Regret welled up in him even more. Lowering his head, he said to them both, "I'm sorry..."