finalflight | OPEN POST; [ LEON S. KENNEDY / RESIDENT EVIL ]

[ Now that she's kind of stuck under MBCC surveillance, Bianca doesn't have the same kind of freedom she used to have. But at the same time, she's no longer stuck at her job as a news reporter and she can still bring about justice, so long as she talks to the chief about it first and reports in for supervision reports.

So it's fine. It's on one vaguely normal jaunt, though, that she spots someone resting behind one of the shipping containers, tilting her head this way and that before crouching down beside him. ]

Hellooooo? Mister Mysterious?

[It certainly isn’t the first time he’s lost consciousness only to find himself somewhere strange, but Leon would very be happy if this never happened again.

He’s propped up uncomfortably against one such shipping container, a slouch to his shoulders until awareness bleeds back into him. He hears a voice — not someone he recognizes, and his mind immediately tacks that as being somewhere strange, somewhere foreign, something that’s generally not a good thing in his experience.

Adrenaline rushes through him, makes him jolt straight up and every muscle in him tense. So quickly, in fact, that he bangs the back of his head on the metal container with a thudding bang.]

Shit—

[Well, he’s had worse. Eyes immediately track to the woman looking at him, intensely seeking. Befuddled, wary, and not very appreciative of whatever the hell is going on here???]

What the hell?

Whoa, now!

[ Bianca backs up immediately, hands held up in the quintessential "I come in peace" posture. Okay, so looks like he wasn't just taking an afternoon nap. Not if he'd jerked awake that abruptly and looks at her as though he expects her to try to murder him in the next five seconds. ]

Calm down! I literally just ran across you three seconds ago.

[She looks nearly as caught off-guard and confused as he is, which admittedly quells his initial shock, but maybe only by ten percent. Leon's fingers still flex at his side, but he doesn't go for his (holstered) knife or his very obvious (holstered) pistol, which is a feat unto itself.]

...Who are you? [A quick glance around.] Where the hell am I?

[He doesn't attempt to stand just yet, as much as he'd like. It feels like making sudden moves is not in either's interest right now.]

I'm Bianca. You're in Eastside.

[ ... Is he drunk? Is he a victim of human trafficking?? How does he not know where he is? Eastside doesn't get as many crimes, not as much as Syndicate, but that doesn't mean corruption doesn't run deep. Just who-- ]

And who are you?

[He is not drunk, which he'll think is a shame in a minute, because at least that would lend credence to this being some kind of fever dream. That, or this woman is doing a real good job of pretending he wasn't kidnapped and whisked away for some dubious reason.

Eastside. Eastside of what, is Leon's initial question flitting through his brain. But first and foremost, he finally stands, steady on his feet despite everything. Is she a tiny girl? Is he looming? Either way-]

My name's Leon. [A beat, and he's more inclined to give his last name because of Government Work:] Kennedy. Ring any bells?

Not a one. [ Chirped out. She's a respectable 5'4", thank you very much. ]

Sorry to say, the bells are silent. Are you some kinda celebrity? That's going to be a little embarrassing for me, since I've usually got my finger on the pulse of things.

[ And yet, she's positive she's never heard his name. ]

[SHORT.. TINY....

Her demeanor, juxtaposed to him, isn't all that jarring — he's come across all types before. But the alarm bells inside of him just want to ring out even louder, as though in rebellion, that she treats his sudden arrival so... cheerily.]

I'm— [How much should he say? Well. He's definitely not celeb status.] I'm a government agent. And I really doubt this is supposed to be some kind of new assignment.

You're with the government?

[ Now she's just staring at him. ]

... What's a government agent doing taking a nap behind a shipping container? I could see it if you were trying to bust up a crime ring, but...

[ He seems a little too out-of-sorts for that. ]

[Yeah he works for The Man (sadly, tiredly, resigned to his fate), though perhaps not precisely The Man that she has in mind, if this is another world(??) altogether.]

I didn't... [Leon looks briefly confused by the question, and maybe there's even a tinge of embarrassment there, too. A government agent taking a nap behind a shipping container?? He wouldn't. (Even if it sure looks like that was the case.)]

I wasn't taking a nap. I just blacked out, and now I'm here. I had just gotten back to the States again, too...

[why can't he ever catch a break,]

[ States.

As in multiple...? ]

Where did you say you were from?

[ She's pretty sure he didn't. Just that he was a government agent. But which government is probably going to be important to figuring out where he came from in the first place. ]

[The hope that this is a strange case of crossed wires and not some interdimensional mix-up is dissolving by the second. Leon offers, tentatively-]

I work for the US government.

[Ah, wait. Specifics are important here.]

The United States of America.

...

So, please don't freak out, but that's...

[ Hm. ]

Nooot a place I've ever heard of. And before you start thinking I'm uneducated, Yours Truly did graduate from a reputable university, okay?

You've never heard of it? The United States?

[MURICA???? He looks confused by this; like this is the final nail in the coffin that cements it.

He's far, far from home.]

How the hell is that even possible?

I couldn't tell you, except that's what it is. DisCity is a city-state, but I've never heard of a bunch of states being united. Or America.

[ Poor Leon. Poor, poor Leon. ]

DisCity?

[Poor Leon, indeed. What is even his life!!

He stares at her, equal parts baffled and exasperated. At risk of sounding like a Karen, but he doesn't know what else to do here-]

...Can I talk to whoever's in charge around here?

... No one who's going to be able to help in this exact location, but I could take you to the Chief of the MBCC.

If... [ she winks. ]

You promise to be very, very good.

[That wink? Help. It seems to run against the grain, at least where Leon's alarm is concerned. Still, "shouldn't she be taking this more seriously" is a thought that someone else might have—someone unused to such personalities—and that person is not Leon.

He sighs, though. Wry-]

As long as you don't pull any funny business, then I'll be on my best behavior.

For a guy who apparently doesn't even know the area at all, you sure are suspicious of a local.

[ Bianca snorts a little. ]

Anyway, come on. I'll show you the way.

[ With a sprightly stride, even. ]

Yeah, well, let's just say locals don't always treat me kindly.

[TO SAY THE LEAST,

But here's hoping that this is an exception to the rule. This girl already seems as though she's willing to help, even if her demeanor is more bubbly than what he'd expect, and Leon falls into stride just a few paces behind her.]

So... what do you do around here, exactly?

I'm a journalist! I find the really dirty, corrupt crimes of society and expose them to those who have suffered their injustices!

[ She says this so proudly. ]

[To be fair, it does sound like something to be proud of?]

Really? [Genuine interest, despite the overall situation at hand being worrisome.] Like what?

Like a guy who kept driving his employees to suicide! I went digging into his information and found recordings of all the threats and blackmail he was diving into, all while promoting family-friendly cereal brands!

...Okay. That's pretty impressive.

[Sounds like the usual kind of corporate bullshittery, though. Trying to look good on the outside while internally hurting everyone else outside of their more monetary, selfish ambitions.

Then again, maybe he's biased.]

Sounds like some things are universal. You don't happen to have any notorious pharmaceutical companies in this place while we're on the topic?

Mmmmmmm.

I can think of two off the top of my head, actually. You've had a run-in with a notorious pharmaceutical company before?

Yeah, they're the whole reason why my life went to hell in a single day.

[And yes, that was years ago, but it was a very, very bad day.]

They created a virus that turned people in zombies; needless to say, there was an outbreak in a big city, and you can imagine how well that went.

Huh? Wait--zombies? Like, shambling and brain-devouring and--

[ How had she missed that?? ]

[Weird, huh!]

Yeah, shambling, flesh and brain-devouring. Some even worse than that.

[That day, he dealt with more than the slow, brainless kind of zombies. And by now, he's had to deal with the Las Plagas, too, which was a whole 'nother level of bad.]

How did it work? Airborne?

[ YIKES... ]

That time? The virus contaminated a few rats, which then tainted the city's water system. It didn't take long after that for people to get infected; and those that weren't only needed to be bitten by those that were.

So ingestion and through the bloodstream? That's pretty nasty.

[ Her tone's sobered quite a bit. ]

And no one probably saw it coming, either... seriously, what kind of pay would ever make that sort of thing worth it?

[It's a topic worth sobering for. He can't help but wonder the actual extent of her own experience with such matters — though maybe this'll be cleared up sooner or later.]

From what I can gather? It isn't a money thing. It's all a matter of playing god, or wanting control over others. Or even... turning people into monsters to be used as weapons against your enemies.

Mm. I'm a little more familiar with the last bit, though I've heard a different term outside of "zombies." And it's more taking advantage of something more than outright creating it...

[ Mysterious. ]

OPEN POST; [ LEON S. KENNEDY / RESIDENT EVIL ]

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