A Fine Mess

The group had met in Sugar Rush for a little down time. Blanky stood in the middle of the fudge road with Ionia and Turbo and grinned at them. "Wow, I feel like im in some wacky wonderland with you two."

Turbo just made faces at Blanky again as Ionia hiccupped nervously. She wasn't sure how Blanky would react to seeing Sugar Rush and if she was suspecting anything from her and Turbo. Thankfully, she was too busy looking at Turbo.

"What's up with you? Why the faces?"

"I'm angry at everyone!"

"But, why?"

Turbo frowned darkly. "Becauthe everyone ith mean to me when I'm the greatetht rather ever!"

"Oh? Who are these meanies?" Blanky, being a police officer, felt it was her duty to take care of any trouble regardless of the source. "You can tell me."

Turbo waved his arms. "EVERYONE!" His face dropped as he slumped his shoulders. Ionia decided, for no reason whatsoever, that it was the ideal situation to begin butt dancing right near Turbo's face, to which he responded by flapping his hands at her.

Blanky smiled. "But not us! Anyway, whoever is mean is just jealous of you, don't forget!"

"Well, who WOULDN'T be? I'm the greatetht rather ever!" He was interrupted by Ionia butt dancing right next to him again. "WILL YOU THTOP THAT!"

"Exactly. But sometimes jealous people are mean... like wasn't Felix mean?"

Turbo folded his arms and kicked at a nut that was by his feet. "Hmph, everyone thought I wath going to take over their gameth or thomething."

"Ahh, dont pay those paranoid idiots any heed!"

"All becauthe of thome PREVIOUTH me."

Blanky cocked an eyebrow. "Wait... Previous you?"

"Apparently," explained Turbo, "there wath a Turbo Time game in before mine. The me in that went nutth and took over this game, Sugar Ruth, or thomething. Tho when I came along everyone wath thuthpiciouth."

Blanky was silent as he spoke and watched as Ionia stopped dancing around and silently plopped herself down next to Turbo allowing him to lean against her leg armour.

"Strange. So they're upset with you for that?"

Turbo nodded sadly, to which Ionia responded by patting him on the helmet. He flailed his arms wildly at her. "You are THO ANNOYING!"

"Well," chuckled Blanky, "They are wrong, youve done nothing!"

"I know that. They don't th... AGH!" His sentence was cut short as Ionia picked him up and cradled him like a baby, all in an attempt to get him more riled up than what he was. He was always so tightly wound and Ionia found it irresistible. "PUT ME DOWN!"

Ionia just ignored him and began to pet him like a cat in a bad guy's lap. She looked up at Blanky as she did it, grinned and put on a deep voice. "Blanky I've been expecting you."

Turbo rolled his eyes. "Idiot!"

Blanky laughed and shook her head as she watched the pair. Turbo's unimpressed scowl, however, was short lived as Ionia petted him more softly and he began to get more comfortable. "Hmnph. A little lower."

Ionia glanced down at him, but didn't say anything and did as he asked. She petted him on his back lower and flushed pink as he virtually melted in her arms. She felt his body shudder as he let out a contented sigh. "Thaaaat'th the thpot!"

Blanky averted her eyes, worried that it was beginning to become a little more than just innocent petting. "Oh my." She glanced back to see Ionia smiling in triumph over the fact that she had got him to show some form of affection in public in front of someone. Blanky gave her the thumbs up and started to think back to Birkin. She knew she'd be seeing him later, but she suddenly felt lonely.

Ionia chirped happily as Turbo mumbled incoherently in her arms, dribbling down her hands. "I knew he'd crack one daaaay~"

"Well," laughed Blanky, "I dont think you need me as a chaperone any longer."

Ionia tilted her head, ignoring the fact that Turbo was now drooling all down her arms. "What's a chapanapaerama?"

"Uh. A chaperone? You know, kind of like an escort."

"Oh. I needed one?"

"No, but I felt a bit like one to you two, but I see its not necessary." She holstered her gun and gave Ionia a wave as Turbo's drool finally reached Ionia's legs and dripped onto the road below.

Birkin happened to be walking nearby and was approaching Ionia and Turbo. He waved at them and noticed Blanky further down the road. He yelled out to her, but as he put his foot down he slipped on the pool of dribble that had formed in front of Ionia and went skidding down the road towards Blanky. "ACK!"

Blanky let out a surprised squeal as Birkin came bombing towards her and collided shoulder first. Birkin, in a heap on the floor, groaned. "Oooouch."

The squeal snapped Turbo out of his euphoria almost instantly and he shot up from in Ionia's arms to see what was going on. "Hm? What!? I heard a thqueal and I didn't cauthe it, what'th going on!?"

Blanky yelled that it was nothing and apologized for disturbing them both. Turbo didn't like that and just gave her a dark look as Blanky returned her attention to Birkin who groaned loudly. "Are you OK?"

"Ugh. Yeah. Just a bit of road rash. What the heck was that I slipped in?"

"Er...you dont wanna know, trust me."

"Why? Is it harmful? Besides making me skid and hurt myself, that is."

Suddenly, they were interrupted by a loud, almost girly squeal from Ionia and Turbo's direction and watched as Turbo finally noticed that he was in her arms being petted. In public. He flailed around, leaped out and landed on his butt on the road. "UGH! YUCK!"

Blanky couldn't help but laugh. The racer's attempts at making it seem as if nothing was going on was incredibly entertaining to watch. She looked back at Birkin and pulled a sheepish face. "No, it's not harmful. But, we interrupted something." Her face flushed red as she nodded in the direction of Ionia and Turbo. Birkin raised a brow.

"You still haven't said what the stuff is." He was always wary of substances that weren't identifiable and he needed to know for his own peace of mind.

"Body fluids!" Blanky whispered as quietly as she could and watched as Birkin's face did flip flops trying to understand what she had just said. He looked down at his feet, back up to Blanky, over to Ionia and Turbo and back down to his feet again. "Wait..." His eyes widened in shock. "What the..."

Blanky just nodded and flushed even redder as Birkin cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled at the two across the way. "THAT IS DISGUSTING! YOU ARE IN PUBLIC!" Ionia just waved at him and mouthed a 'hello' as if nothing was even happening and Turbo gave him a look as if he was about to staple things to his head should he ever tell anyone about what had just happened.

"No no no!" Blanky patted him on his arm to make him stop yelling. "It's dribble, yeah, thats what it is!"

"Just dribble? I hope that's all it is."

"So, anyway." Blanky felt it would be wise of her to change the subject. "I'm back in town, this time its not for pleasure, but duty."

Turbo cracked a smirk and snorted loudly. "Hehehe doody." This caused Ionia to laugh raucously sending a flock of licorice ravens fleeing in terror. "OH MY GODS HAHAHA!"

Blanky just ignored the two and scrunched up her nose. "I was sent to protect someone, namely you, Birkin."

Blanky was interrupted again by Turbo and Ionia who insisted on continuing their joke. "The'th here for doody."

"I hope she remembers to wash her hands."

"Hey, Ionia. Hehehe. I thmell thomething."

"What?"

"DOODY!"

The pair fell about on the ground laughing like lunatics as Blanky and Birkin stared at them with unimpressed faces.

"So, why me?" Birkin finally spoke taking the attention off the two jokers.

"Well, you may not be aware Birkin, but you are being targeted. Your lab, to be exact. Seems some illegal organisation is after your herbs."

"...They are? How did they even find out!?" He scratched at his chin.

"No idea," Blanky shrugged and gave him a sympathetic look. "Spies I guess."

"I don't understand." Birkin zoned out as he lost himself in thought. He pondered and pondered over just who could be behind such an attack on his lab and research data. The only people he knew who might even have a single clue about what was going on was... "It couldn't be... could it?"

"What is it?" Blanky flinched a little over the severe look on Birkin's face.

"I think I may know who it is and if I'm right, it's gonna cause problems."

Blanky instantly knew who he meant and heaved a sigh. "Wesker. That backstabbing snake, I knew I could not trust him. My instincts were right."

Turbo shot upright and looked at them both with curiosity. "Wethker?"

He was ignored as the officer continued her musings. "Though what he wants with your herbs is still unknown. I was sent to investigate and protect you and the lab."

"Oh, I think I know." Birkin was suddenly cut off by Turbo who yelled and jumped up and down for their attention. "THCUTHE ME! Who ith thith Wethker?"He hated being ignored.

"Someone he used to work with. Seems like he is out to get him though, even so."

Turbo scratched at his chin and shook his head. "Thoundth like me and the twinth."

Ionia's eyes instantly shot open and she sat bolt upright. "T-T-Twins?"

Blanky looked over to the racer and tilted her head. "You have a twin?"

"No thilly, they were my track rivalth. My brotherth really. They were jutht called the Turbo Twinth. No nameth though."

Ionia let out a squeal of delight at the thought of Turbo having two twin bothers. She fanned herself in an attempt to calm down, but realized something. She shot Turbo a confused look. "How come I've never met them?"

"Becauthe!"

"Because, what?"

"Becauthe I don't want them to meet you." He gave her his best serious face and stomped a foot on the ground. "They will jutht try to embarrath me and thtuff! They are not nithe people!"

Blanky had turned her attention back to Birkin and was trying to figure out for herself what it was that Wesker would want with his herbs.

"I can only assume at this point he needs them for his own research." Sighed Birkin as he leaned against a candy cane tree.

"Oh boy... I knew he couldnt be trusted, but targeting you and your lab is just too much."

"No. Well, for me it's not really news. He's just that type of person."

Turbo grinned over at Birkin and wrung his hands together. "Thoundth like my kinda guy!"

Blanky couldn't believe what was happening. Why Wesker? Why couldn't it have been someone else? Someone who was not involved with her friends. "So I see. A backstabber!"

Birkin chuckled. "It's how we got the lab in the first place. I should have expected it sooner now that I think about it." He knew who Wesker was as much as Wesker knew who he was deep down. It was sport for them and he was now ready for the contest that was seemingly being laid at his feet.

"Oh well, the important thing is im here now. I will get to the bottom of this." Blanky adjusted her holster and smiled brightly.

Turbo was thoroughly entertained. He laughed loudly and exclaimed how he liked Wesker's style, only to be hushed by a very angry Blanky. "OoooOOoooooOOooo. Thomeone get the pink handbagth! Touchy!" He pouted at her and put his hands on his hips. "Mith touchy pantth!"

Refusing to take his bait, Blanky just turned back to Birkin and patted his shoulder. Turbo was not impressed about being ignored yet again and stuck out his tongue defiantly, only to be scooped up by Ionia.

"I wonder if Axel is aware," mused Birkin. It was true, he hadn't thought about Axel until then. He had no reason to think she would be involved, but with Wesker's manipulative side, anything was possible.

"I don't know. Hopefully she'll be safe. What a predicament huh?"

"Hmmm. My bet is that she doesn't."

Turbo peered out from a gap in Ionia's arms. "Whoth Axthel?"

"She's my friend. Which makes this all the more awkward" Blanky played with her brown hair awkwardly. Such a situation had never come up before and it felt like alien territory. Regardless, she felt that she had to go on with it, it was her mission after all and, being the good cop that she was, she was not about to flake out. "Oh, Birkin? One more thing," she leaned over and whispered in his ear. "I'll be mostly undercover, so. You know. Shh."

He nodded slowly and turned to look at Turbo who had taken to laying over Ionia's forearms with his head resting on his palms. "Quite the meth you have on your handth," he chirped.

Ionia peered down at him. "Meth? We aren't druggies!"

"Meth. METH!"

"OH! MESS! Gotcha."

"Meth..." Blanky giggled. She found his lisp to be entertaining even in a bad situation.

"Whatever ith going on it thoundth like you could uthe all the help you can get." Turbo flashed a big, toothy grin at them. "Which ith why," he got to his feet and stood on Ionia's armour, "I Turbo... The gretetht rather ever... Will..." He paused for dramatic effect. He loved theatrics. "Not be helping you." He cackled evily and slumped back down into Ionia's arms.

Blanky rolled her eyes and smiled sarcastically. "We wont be needing your help anyway. This is no business for kids, you know. This is serious!"

The racer's face dropped into a morbidly unimpressed expression as he shot to his feet again. "Do I look like a kid to you?"

"No, but you sure do act like one! Anyway, you'd only get in the way and maybe even drum up trouble for yourself and the others in your game."

Turbo's face flushed a bright red as he tried to restrain the anger that was seering through his veins. "Hgnnn! I'll have you know that I am a geniuth!"

"Look, it's for your own good. Seriously."

Birkin tapped Blanky on the arm and gave her a sly smile. "Why not let him help? He may get erased and be out of our hair."

"Say," laughed Blanky, "That's not a bad..." She was interupted by Turbo who raged loudly and stomped his feet. "I HEARD THAT!"

Ionia's eyes widened and she snatched Turbo up, holding him close to her defensively. "He goes, I go!"

Turbo looked up at her with a brow raised wondering what the hell she was doing. "What the..." Her face was dead pan and serious, which was not like her at all.

"Well," sighed Blanky, "You're welcome to! But, don't say I didn't warn you. Try to stay out of trouble and don't get in my way, OK?"

Ionia flinched and held Turbo tighter. "I don't want him to get erased!"

"THTOP IT ALREADY!" Turbo was getting snuggled so much that his body was beginning to produce static.

"Of course you don't Ionia, fair enough. We wouldn't want either of you to come to trouble. It can get quite dangerous."

"That's what I'm made for." Ionia raised a hand. "I do dangerouth... Er... Ahem. Dangerous stuff every day in my game. I'm heavily armoured. And I do stuff like protecting and fighting every day. That's what my game is about. I protect villages. But..." She looked down at Turbo and poked his nose with a finger. "He's so squishy and fragile and..."

"I am not! I'M TURBO!"

Blanky couldn't help but grin. "Which is why you'd do best to stay out of the the way, Turbo. I'll be monitoring the lab closely. And I won't stay in a hotel, but in my vehicle outside the lab." She looked at Ionia and wrinkled her nose in thought. "Well if youre sure you can do it and not come to harm, I'd appreciate the help. Thanks."

Ionia nodded, then had an idea and waved at Blanky enthusiastically. "I know! Turbo can get you guys coffee!"

He did not like that idea at all. "No. No, no, no. I am NOT a waitreth!"

Blanky grinned widely. "What about if I paid you, huh? And you too, Ionia."

Turbo instantly stopped his angry flailing as soon as payment was mentioned and smiled over at Blanky with his big, yellow teeth. "I'm lithening..."

Ionia just shook her head. "I don't need payment, thanks."

"I do, though. Tho make a dethent offer."

Blanky waved a hand and rolled her eyes. "Sure, we'll discuss it, dude. But right now we need to get to the lab."

Birkin handed Blanky a key card and glanced at his watch. "The lab is pretty much empty at the moment. Just my security systems up."

Blanky took the card and nodded. "It may be an idea to bug the place and install more cameras."

Turbo's eyes lit up. "I could do that! I'm good at mechanical thtuff."

"He really is." Ionia grinned and turned pink. Her sudden outburst caused Turbo to look up at her in shock, his own face flushing over her suggestive comment.

Blanky didn't notice, much to his relief, and continued to discuss the lab. "What, bugging? Great! There. You have your job! Thanks you two, I appreciate it. I really do."

"What are we talking? Thecret locationth like ventth and thtuff, or full thcale bugging?"

Ionia thought for a moment and looked at Blanky. "I'd coat the place in them."

"As long as they aren't obvious you can put them where you want, Turbo." Birkin threw him a key card and pointed at him as a warning. "If I find out you have touched a single console, experiment, specimen, or chemical I will use you as my next expermient, understand?"

"PLEATHE! I'm Turbo! Trutht me!"

"Well, this is all great, but now I'd say we all get a bite to eat and then get some rest. It's taken me all day to get here."

Turbo's eyes lit up again as he realized that Blanky had her cop car on the road. "Whothe driving?"

"Me." Blanky gave him a stern look and walked over to her car, opened the door and gestrured for him to get in. "Get in."

Turbo, with a face like thunder, stomped his way over, scuffed a foot against the road and plonked himself in the back seat as heavily as he could. He gave her a quick grimace before he shuffled over. "Thpoil thport."

Blanky smiled in triumph and looked to Ionia who was giving the door of the car odd looks. "Um. Ummm. I don't think my wings... " She attempted to get in, but caught her wings as she ducked down. "NNNGHH OUCH!"

Turbo leaned over, took hold of her arms and attempted to help her get in by pulling as hard as he could.

Blanky just rolled her eyes impatiently. "Is it possible to take the wings off?"

"Yeth it ith. I have d..." Turbo stopped himself mid-sentence. "N-N-Nevermind."

Birkin grinned through the window at the racer whose face had flushed red again. "What was that?"

"Nothing."

Ionia whistled innocently and removed the wings and boosters from her back. She squatted down into the car and held them in place in front of her, unfortunately blocking the view to the rear for Blanky in the process. But nothing could be done about that. She glanced over at Turbo and smiled as he looked back at her. He realized what her smile meant. They, with the wings blocking the view, finally had some privacy to act normal around each other, at least until they were out of the car again. He slowly reached his hand over and took hold of hers. Ionia rubbed her thumb against his fingers and leaned her head back, staring into his eyes as Blanky started the car.

"Everyone alright back there?"

Ionia chuckled. "Turbo-tastic."

So Obvious

Birkin scratched his head in confusion as to how he ended up in the situation he was in. He had agreed to meet Blanky again, but this time a small, grey skinned man in a racing suit and helmet had tagged along too. His eyes and teeth were bright yellow and Birkin could only assume he drank a lot of coffee and smoked ten packets of cigs a day. "So, who is your friend?"

"I don't know. I've never really met him before." Blanky was watching the small man cautiously. "I thought he came with you!"

"The name'th Turbo." He grinned at them both with his huge yellow teeth and brushed off his racing suit with one hand. Birkin's eyebrows raised, instantly noting his strange lisp.

Blanky couldn't resist a small jibe. "Been smoking too much, have you?"

Turbo's head instantly shot upwards to look her dead in the eye. "I beg your pardon?"

"Well, how do you explain the yellow teeth?"

Turbo's smile dropped into grimace as Birkin attempted to hold in a fit of amused laughter. "How do you exthplain your being annoying... neth?" His yellow eyes flashed at her as he jutted out his lower jaw.

"What! Aww come on, don't feel bad I was just fooling!"

"How dare you inthult my fayth!"

"I am curious to know how you got yellow teeth. As a matter of fact I find them cool!" Blanky waved her hands around in an attempt to dispell his anger.

"Do you know who I am!?" He stopped his raging and his face softened, allowing his grin to return. "... Oh. Well then."

"But how did you make your teeth yellow? I'd like coloured teeth too!"

Turbo was about to reply when a blue robotic-looking woman dashed straight at them jumped in and landed butt first onto Turbo. "HIYA PEEPS!"

Turbo was, of course, completely mashed by her rear end and could only force out a small whimper.

"Oh, hi Ionia! Long time no see!" Blanky had met Ionia a while back and the two had made friends pretty quickly. She waved and then noticed that the small man was under Ionia's posterior. "Aww poor thing, he's squashed!"

After a small pause Ionia wiggled herself around to see if there was something under her and, sure enough, she felt Turbo pancaked under her. She peered down and grinned sheepishly. "Hm? Oh! Heh, whoops."

Blanky reached a hand underneath Ionia and yanked Turbo out, dusted him off and fluffed him up a bit. He just let out groaning sounds as he wobbled on the spot. "Hgnnn bleh!"
Blanky sat him down on a nearby rock and tilted her head, concerned for his wellbeing. "You ok?"

Turbo was obviously suffering from the blow and seemed out for the count. "Brickth and lollipopth and poop and..."

Ionia watched him with wide eyes and burst into fits of laughter over what was coming out of his mouth.

"Aww, you're a cute little fella!" Blanky smiled and pinched his cheeks, something that Turbo wasn't very fond of people doing. He flailed his arms weakly as she continued to do it, rocking awkwardly on his rocky seat. "So cute, so cute, so cute!"

Ionia tilted her head and leaned sideways to get a better look at what was going on. "Hey-o. Whatcha... Whatcha doin' there?"

Blanky, thinking she meant something different, turned her head a little to answer the question. "Me? I'm back in town, to visit the Dastardlys. Y'know? That new game that got plugged in recently. Dastardly and Muttley. His whole family is around here now." She paused a little and flushed a shade of pink. "And Birkin. But, right now I'm gushing over Turbo here!"

"I was..." Ionia pointed to Turbo's now red cheeks. "Talking about what you were doing to him. It looked fun." Her face contorted into a sinister grin to which Turbo replied with a defensive whine. "HNNNNNN!"

"Ah I see! My bad." She stopped pinching his cheeks and turned to face Ionia properly. "What are you doing here Ionia?"

"I was following hi..." She stopped herself mid-sentence, a sudden sinking feeling overwhelming her over what she almost said. "No! I wasn't following him! I was doing something totally unrelated in the exact same direction as him purely out of coincidence!"

"Oh really?" Blanky gave her a knowing smile. "And what was the 'totally unrelated thing in the same direction purely out of coincidence thing' you were doing?"

Ionia eyes darted around nervously. "I was... Was..." Her eyes fixed on a rock on the ground. "Coming here to tell this rock off! Y-yeah! Bad rock!" She pointed at it pretending to tell it off.

Blanky folded her arms and raised a brow. "Coming to tell a rock off? What did it do?"

"I, er..." Ionia was startled for a second by the sound of Turbo dribbling. "It made a pee pee on my carpet!"

Birkin folded his arms and gave Blanky a knowing look and Blanky returned the look with a grin. "It did, did it?"

"I was clearly not following him. Nope." Ionia shook her head frantically.

Blanky grinned at the pair and began to envision them together. It was sweet in an odd way. Her face tinged pink again, but her thoughts came to a screeching halt as Turbo began to sing like a drunk man just leaving a bar.

"Birdth and beeth and BUTTERFLIETH!"

Ionia clonked him on the top of his helmet in an attempt to shake him out of his dazed state, but was just met with strange protest. "Oooooowww. No Moooom, I'm not going to thchool!"

"Well, that's interesting! Aww they like each other!" Blanky clasped her hands together and made a sweet face at them both.

Ionia's eyes widened. "WHAT!? Me? Like HIM!?" She pointed at Turbo who was now dribbling all down his chin and sucking his thumb.

"Well, yeah. The very fact you smacked him just now proves that."

Turbo interrupted them again and started his drunk man singing. "Ten chubby angelth with big fat wingth. To heavy to fly they crath into thingth."

Ionia, the confused expression on her face getting worse by the second, smacked him again, all the while keeping her eyes on Blanky. "It does!?"

"Mmm-hmm."

"I don't get it..." Ionia's eye began to twitch a little, a rection she was all but used to. She tended to fritz when nervous or confused. Thankfully for her, Blanky changed the subject.

"I don't believe we've met before Turbo." She slowly walked to the still dazed racer and held out her badge. "I'm police officer Blanky Wood."

Ionia instantly flinched knowing that if Turbo snapped out of hiz daze that he wouldn't care for seeing a badge like that. "Shit! Er, I mean..." She took Turbo's arm and puppeteered him to wave, mimicking his voice out the corner of her mouth. "Hi."

However, Turbo's eyes lit up at the sight of the badge. "Shiiiinyyyy!" He reached for badge and fell off his rock in the process. Ionia instantly reacted and caught him before he could land on the hard ground in a heap. "Mleh."

She sighed and looked him over. "You'd think he'd be better protected wearing a helmet."
Blanky nodded and returned her badge to her inner pocket. "Well, lucky him to be wearing one at all."

Birkin was watching Ionia's every move with a small smirk on his face. He was quite the judge of character and he thought he had the two sussed out. He leaned in towards Blanky and whispered in her ear. "They are SO into each other."

Blanky fought back giggles and whispered back. "I noticed too. Of course they will never admit it, they're as stubborn as each other!"

Ionia had taken to slapping Turbo about a bit to try and get him to wake up. "Ooo ooo. Big summer blow out!"

A short while after, Turbo stopped Ionia's hand and glared up at her from in her arms. "THTOP HITTING ME YOU THTUPID WOMAN!"

Ionia breathed a sigh of relief as a small puff of mist escaped from her vents. "There, all back to normal."

The small man just rubbed his head and grumbled profanities under his breath.

"Don't be mad Turbo, she cant help the way she feels. I'm sure she doesn't mean you any harm."

Turbo scoffed and continued glaring up at Ionia. "Doethn't mean me any harm... HMPH!"

Ionia smiled widely as she began to rock him like a baby to mock him. "Awww is the likkul baby pouting?"

Blanky let out a sigh and clasped her hands together again. "Aww, now kiss!"

Turbo's head instantly snapped round to look at Blanky. "What!?"

"Well its obvious you want to!"

"It tho ith not!"

Ionia just continued to rock him like a baby, enjoying her moment of sarcastic triumph.

"Aww what a sweet sight!"

Turbo glared at Blanky, his eyes flaring. "That ith dithguthting."

"Hey!" Blanky put her hands on her hips and gave him an unimpressed look. "Don't be like that, Ionia is lovely!"

He grumbled and rolled his eyes. "The ith my friend, yeth."

Birkin chuckled. "Don't try kidding us. We know you guys are doing the super muchacho mambo in secret."

Upon hearing what Birkin had said, Ionia instantly dropped Turbo in shock, her eyes as wide as saucers. "What the..." The racer let out a yelp as his butt hit the hard ground.
Blanky leaned towards Birkin and nodded. "Good one. Now, let's leave them to be together for a while!"

Turbo overheard them and shot to his feet. "NO! DON'T!" He proceeded to walk up to Birkin with a frown. Birkin couldn't help but laugh inwardly over just how small he was compared to him. The man was barely 4 feet off the ground, it was almost cute.

"That wath uncalled for!" Turbo stomped his feet.

"It's true though, right? I mean, it's so obvious you guys are making whale noises together."

Turbo's mouth shot open, feigning disgust he turned his back on him. "Ugh!"

Ionia had heard and was going through a range of emotions all at once. "Oh dear. Oh my." Her eye began to twitch again. "Gah!"

Turbo heard Ionia's gasps, looked towards her and noticed that she was fritzing again. "Keep that glitch under control, my dear." He paused as his heart skipped a beat, realizing what he had just said. "Er, I mean..." He did his best to keep up appearances by yelling and hoped they hadn't noticed his slip up. "THTOP GLITCHING!"

Ionia just hiccupped loudly as Birkin eyed Turbo with a sly grin. "You said dear. Hah."

"No. I thaid... Beer. Yeah. Beer."

Birkin and Blanky tilted their head at him and stifled their mirth. "Is she going to be OK?"

"It'th OK. Ionia does that when theth nervouth. Or confuthed. Or exthited. Or luthtful."

The pair almost fell about laughing and Birkin leaned down towards Turbo's face and grinned. "How would YOU know?"

The racer froze to the spot and twitched. He didn't know how to react to that at all.

"Poor thing; I sympathise. I too get nervous around a certain gentleman." Blanky laughed and batted her eyelashed in Birkin's direction to which he responded by scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

After a moment, Turbo finally snapped himself out of it and decided to react after all. He pulled back a leg and kicked Birkin in the shin.

"YEEOWCH!"

Satisfied, he stomped back to Ionia and slapped her butt to get her out of her glitching state.

"THANK YOU DARRRLIII... er... " She clasped her hands around her mouth. Turbo hissed. "Shhh!"

Birkin rubbed at his shin and frowned. "Little shit. No wonder they unplugged your game."

Turbo just stuck out his tongue and watched as Blanky went over to check to see if he was alright. "Where does it hurt?"

"No biggie, just my shin. I've had worse." Birkin chuckled hinting at the incident with the G-Virus.

Blanky nodded and pulled out her travel first aid kit from her inner jacket pocket and took out a band aid. She could see a small cut where the skin had split from the kick Turbo had given him. After placing it on his shin she stood up and put her kit back to its original place.

As the two were occupied, Turbo took the opportunity to check on Ionia. He patted her leg and looked up at her sympathetically. "Better?" Ionia just smiled softly and nodded.

"Better now, Birkin?" Blanky was satisfied with her patch up job.

"Yeah, thanks."

It was then the pair noticed Turbo and Ionia staring at each other and Birkin shook his head. "Jeeze, just get it over with already."

Turbo spun on his heels. "What?"

"What do you mean Birkin?" Blanky looked at him and then returned her gaze to the two in front of her.

"If they aren't making whale noises. Then it's about high time they did! The sexual tension is so damn obvious."

"That doeth it!"Turbo was having none of it. His face flushed red as he rolled up his sleeve and started to stomp his way over to Birkin. Ionia managed to dive in quickly and picked Turbo up by the collar leaving him flailing and punching the air.

Blanky held the cackling Birkin back so Turbo didn't punch him and yelped. "Well!" She said trying to change the subject. "I'd best be off, its getting late. You're welcome to join me, Birkin"

He stumbled forward and brushed his lab coat off a little deflated that he couldn't at least continue the little fight he had going. "Fine, fine." He hobbled slowly off and looked back to Turbo and Ionia and rolled his eyes as Turbo began to pull childish faces at him.

Ionia, forgetting herself, pulled the little racer in for a hug. "You're so cute when you're angry."

"HNNNN GHHHHHGGNNNHH IONIA... THEY.... NOT GONE!"

"Oops."

Birkin stopped and pointed at them. "Hah! Caught you!"

Blanky smirked. "Let's leave them. Why should they have all the fun?"

Birkin, understanding her meaning, hooked an arm around her waist. "Indeed." He turned back to wave at Ionia and Turbo. "Have fun doing the horizontal pogo guys!"

Ionia's eyes widened and she instantly dropped Turbo again.

"YARGH!"

Blanky and Birkin, now satisfied, started to wander off to the train carts to take them to Game Station as Turbo, glad they were finally leaving, started to crawl into a nearby bush for shelter from any more injury. "Ngggh."

Ionia looked at the bush with Turbo inside, back at Birkin, back to the bush and back to Birkin again who had stopped for one last look. She grinned widely at him and pointed at the bush. Birkin, knowing exactly what she meant, gave her a small salute and watched as she dived in after Turbo.

"GERONIMOOOOO!"

The True Nature Of Things

William Birkin had agreed to go on a date with a friend of Axel's, Wesker's current flame. Her name was Blanky and he had been somewhat nervous of the arrangement. He had been nervous of pretty much everything ever since the G-Virus incident, but the idea of a date after the death of his wife seemed very strange to him. His gut turned and twisted as he sat opposite her in the small cafe they had met in. It was only when the waitress brought over his order of fried eggs that he seemed to feel more relaxed. Something about fried eggs made him happier and more content. He began to chow down, oblivious to the fact that Blanky had her gaze fixed firmly on him.

She had only ordered something small. Pancakes. She didn't want to over-eat and feel bad for the rest of the date. She was the one who had asked him, after all. The idea of ruining it by over-indulging was a silly one indeed. The two ate their food eagerly, Birkin somewhat thankful for the distraction.

"Feeling better?" Blanky smiled at him, wiping her mouth with a napkin after finishing her cup of coffee. She wore a dreamy look. She couldn't help it, she found him strangely attractive.

Birkin nodded. "Fried eggs are just amazing."

"They sure are!" Blanky laughed, laced her fingers together and rested her chin on them. "So tell me about yourself, Birkin."

William was in the middle of an egg-related ramble. Something about them set him off. "Glad they aren't Wesker's surprise eggs. He likes to spike them at random with weird stuff." He realized that she had asked him a question, blinked and raised his head to meet her gaze. "Name's William, uhhhh. I'm a scientist. I make viruses and used to work for Umbrella. I'm not sure if I still do, or if I'm more of Wesker's employee now."

Blanky nodded slowly. "A scientist, eh? I have great admiration for scientists."

"My greatest accomplishment was the G-Virus. But, I don't think it suited my body terribly well."

Blanky picked at her remaining pancakes on her plate, only a few crumbs but enough to poke absent-mindedly as she immersed herself in his story. "You poor poor man but your body went back to normal, right?"

William grimaced at the memory and looked away out of the window. "I have Wesker to thank for that." He felt that churning return to his stomach again. The memories of that time period were something he really didn't enjoy recalling. "He managed to save what was left of me. He worked tirelessly to bring me back to who I was before I infected myself with the G-Virus."

"Why did you do that in the first place?" Blanky leaned forwards, hanging on his every word.

"I had to." He looked up at her again, just for a split second. "I was going to die. My samples and research were going to be taken from me, I was shot and it was the only way I could save myself. The virus restored tissues that were lost. It did it's job, but it turned me into..." He paused, his mouth hanging open for a second as he pondered whether or not he should really tell her.

"What?"

"A monster." He let out an exasperated sigh. "It twisted and deformed my body into something that didn't even resemble a human."

"You don't look any worse off for it. You look fine now." Blanky smiled in an attempt to reassure him.

"Well." He looked away again. "As I say, Wesker was the one who saved me. But now I am technically working for him in return."

"What?"

"He doesn't do anything for free. He's not that kind of guy." He flashed her a small smile and poked at his empty coffee cup.

"Why, hes an even bigger villain than Dick Dastardly!"

"Oh, DD is a pussycat compared to him." William laughed and ran a hand through his hair before flagging down a waitress to order more coffee. "I'm surprised that he has gone so far with Axel in all honesty."

Blanky nodded. "Me too. I dont know how she got attracted to him.."

"He's quite the charmer, you know. It's when you get to know him you notice how much of a devious person he is."

"Well, if you say so." Blanky shrugged. Wesker was certainly not her type. Especially not after learning what kind of a person he was from Axel.

"I was more surprised that he even entertained the idea of a partner. He is too concerned with his own affairs and research."

"Yeah, I understand what you mean." Blanky sighed. "From what I have heard anyway."

The waitress returned with a jug full of fresh coffee and filled up their cups again. William took hold of his cup with both hands, swirled the liquid around and dived in nose first. After he'd downed some of it, he placed it back on the table again and looked back at his companion. "Normally he'd never entertain the notion."

Blanky leaped inwardly a little over the look he was giving her. She flushed pink and averted her gaze to a menu on the table opposite. "L-Like they say, theres a first time for everything!"

Birkin was oblivious to her flustering and continued his musings, lifting his coffee cup to his lips once more. "Hmm. I must say I was concerned he had an ulterior motive."

"Y-You mean, that he was just trying to get to the family fortune?"

"Family fortune?" He raised a brow over his cup at Blanky. "First I've heard of it. No, I was more focused on whether or not she was merely an experiment of his to be tossed aside after her use was up."

"Oh, well, I wouldnt know." She twiddled her thumbs a little. "Ah. Yeah. I get you."

He placed the cup down again and leaned back in his seat, adjusted his lab coat and tilted his head. "It's usually the way with any..." He cleared his throat awkwardly, cursing himself inwardly for refering to Axel in such a way. "Project of his."

"Goodness! Still, you cant always tell. Love can... mess with the mind." Blanky's eyes darted around as she spoke, a little too aware of what she had just said. She hoped he didn't catch on too easily.

Birkin had drifted off somewhat as soon as the word love was mentioned. His thoughts had turned straight to his wife whom he had lost a few years previous and to his daughter Sherry who he had not seen since either. He missed them both very much. It was only when someone else in the cafe dropped their fork that he snapped out of his inner turmoil."Hm? Oh, well. I'm not sure he's capable of that. He's a very hardened man."

"Yes, he doesnt seem the kind of person to think about love does he?"

William shook his head. "But, who knows. The man's a mystery. Much like the fact that he hasn't done anything about her father. Normally he'd dispatch anyone in his way."

"Yes, that is strange. Although he might be keeping him for his own benefits. Like today, I stopped him from injecting him with that serum, snatched it out of his hands before he could do anything to him."

"Hm. I take it that was a sample of this D-Virus he has created?" He scratched his head curious over what Wesker was up to.

"Yes, from what I gathered."

"Mmm, I have studied the structure and reports on that. You might be interested to know tha..." Blanky suddenly interupted him, placed her hands down on the table and leaned forwards. "Hey im gonna order hot chocolate. Want one? Its on me, the whole meal is!"

William chuckled and nodded. "Sounds good to me. Thank you very much."

Blanky flagged down a waitress and oredered two rounds of hot chocolate. Just the ticket for such a cold, wintery afternoon. It was then she realized she had interupted him mid-sentence and flushed red with embarrassment. "Sorry, you were saying I might be interested to know what?

William couldn't help but grin over just how red she had turned. "Hm? Oh... Well, when I was going over the paperwork that Wesker had sent over to me regarding the creation of the D-Virus, I was interested to note, and I think you will find this of some interest also, that he created it from the DNA gathered from a sample of DD's mustache hair. It also seems that he has only managed to create enough for an initial test run."

Blanky let out a loud and hearty laugh. "DDs mustache hair, eh? The cheeky bastard! Well, hopefully he cant get anymore for any further experiments. Perhaps DD should get protection against him."

"I was thinking that could be the reason why he keeps him around. And since Axel is his daughter, maybe her too?"

Blanky nodded and greeted the waitress who had arrived with the two mugs of hot chocolate. She took them and gave one to William. The pair grasped the mugs with two hands and blew on them to cool them off.

"Mmm, it wouldnt surprise me." Blanky took a small sip. "Ouch, ouch! Hot hot!" She blew on her mug again. "We'd better keep an eye on both DD and Axel in that case, eh?"

William chuckled over her reaction to the hot liquid and nodded to her statement. "We may never know for sure. Now..." He gave her a keen smile. "Tell me about you."

"Me? Im a cop. I mostly do undercover stuff, or if im ever needed to help convince a victim who is too scared to press charges. They do eventually, but it can take a while." Blanky shook her head and took a sip of her drink. "Before that I lived together with my sister and our living dummy Slappy. She smiled wider, her inner voice announcing to herself just how nice a smile Birkin had.

Birkin had placed his drink down, added more sugar and was stirring it when she mentioned she was a cop and then shortly after something about a living dummy. He instantly dropped his spoon and looked her dead in the eyes.

"L-Living... Dummy?"

"Yeah. He is something of a guardian to us." She fumbled in her seat a little. "To cut a long story short... We were living at boarding school together with our dummy. One day, the authorities saw me trying to do some ventriloquism and well, they didn't like it. Had me shipped off to the hospital. Not a pretty place. I was given shocks on a daily basis and stuffed with pills. If Niky and Slappy hadnt come to rescue me when they did, I may have been put down, who knows. They did that a lot."

Birkin suddenly felt a little awkward.

"H-How did you... become a cop?"

"Well after graduating high school, I decided I wanted to join the police fofce. Ive been all for jystice and helping people all my life, so I figured this was something I should do. Had to toughen up a little, which was tough ." She chuckled a little and sipped from her cup again. "The best thing about it is knowing im helping to save lives and help bring justice to the world."

"You don't seem like a member of the Racoon City police department... Where are, or were you based?"

"No, im not a member of the Racoon City police department. : I work for Metropol police."

She paused for a moment and placed her cup back down. "You said your wife passed away?"

Birkin was caught offguard by her question and he jumped a little inwardly. "Oh. Yes, her name was Annette."

"I'm sorry. How did she die?"

"It's... Kind of a long story..." He glanced up at her for a second, twiddled his thumbs and returned his gaze to his lap.

She insisted that he go ahead with his story and so he took a deep breath. "I did it."

Blanky was somewhat shocked. "What?

"After I had infected myself with the G-Virus I began to mutate. I regenerated all the lost tissue and became immensely strong. I grew in height, girth and developed superior muscle structure. I also developed large claws. I was a hideous monster..." He heaved a sigh and slumped back in his seat.

"I see...That makes sense, because somehow I cant picture you as a murderer. In that case, it wasn't your fault, it was beyond your control."

Birkin rested his chin on a hand. He found it somewhat cute that Blanky saw him in such a sympathetic light. "Annette had been searching for our daughter. She encountered some other people, a mole trying to steal research, a member of the RPD and a relative of a STARS member. She knew that as the beast that I had become I was driven by instinct and that, since Sherry was my daughter, I would use her to implant embryos in my non-human state. She fought with them. She thought they were all against us. I eventually came upon them and..."

Blanky was listening intently and was leaning forwards on the table. "And?"

He felt suddenly reluctant to proceed. He felt his stomach tense, a horrendous sickly feeling invaded his body.

Blanky reached a hand forward and patted his shoulder. "It's OK. You can say if you want to."

He sighed, looked away out the window and just went for it. "I killed her. I used those claws and killed her. I didn't know what I was doing! It wasn't me!"

"I'm so sorry Birkin for your loss. But there was nothing you could do. Sad it turned out like that."

"No... I am far from a nice person." Looks away with a frown* "I understand if you want nothing more to do with me."

"Youre not a monster, Birkin."

"You wouldn't say that if you knew me..."

Blanky shook her head. "I like to give people the benefit of the doubt. Oh, I just remembered... you said, your daughter's missing, didn't you?"

Birkin rubbed a hand over his face. He felt rattled by the conversation. "She was. I haven't seen her since the incident. But I know she's safe. She will be older now. Almost a grown up, even."

She nodded. "A long time, huh? Well, I hope they find her somehow. Perhaps I can help?"

Birkin glanced over at Blanky and let out a small chuckle. "She wouldn't want to see me. She has been fighting against Umbrella. That's the last thing I heard anyway." He poked at his now empty mug nervously. He wasn't sure if he should really be telling her the information he was, but he felt it may be good to unload.

"I see...but people can always be convinced."She looked at his empty mug and shot him a big grin. "How about a refill?"

Birkin raised a hand and chuckled. "I'm good, thank you. I fear that if I consume any more liquids I'll have to be living in a toilet for the rest of the , I'm curious... What made you want to see me in private?"

"Well, you seemed like an interesting, nice guy. And you've made me chuckle a few times." Blanky heard her inner voice yell about how he was also very handsome on top of that and snickered a little under her breath.

Birkin had picked up a salt packet and was fiddling with it. He was fiddling so much it exploded in a shower of white all over the table. He let out a small shriek and started to sweep it up with his hands.

Blanky tilted her head with a look of concern on her face. "Are you ok? You seem a bit nervous. I hope its not me."

"N-No, er... Yes. Er. No, yes. I don't get out the lab much!"

"You seem to be quite stressed and over worked. I hope taking you out to lunch has been a bit of a distraction"

"Yes. Much appreciated." He decided a subject change was in order. "Say... How is it you know Axel and Wesker?"

"I actually knew her from her famous father I was a fan of his you see, and kept on bumping into him at conventions, and got to know Rachel at the same time. Well, I'd purposely go to conventions where I knew he'd be, I was a bit of a crazy fan. Managed to scare him a couple of times."

Birkin chuckled. He had been around Dick a few times to understand exactly what she meant. "Yes, DD is easy to scare. I dread to think what he'd make of my first ever creation."

Blanky laughed and nodded. "Yeah! I know, right?"

"I had wondered. I'm still in the dark about where Axel and Wesker actually met, but I have my ideas. I may be wrong, but I guess I will have to quiz him when he is in a better mood."

"Dick has a tough exterior, but deep down he is a softie, and despite what he calls his subordinates, is a bit of a scaredy cat himself. Im not surprised he never caught Yankee Doodle, but that pigeon sure didnt make it easy for them!

"A pigeon, you say?" William raised a brow, his interest suddenly piqued. "How... Interesting. This pigeon wouldn't happen to have amazing speed and somewhat above average intellect, would it?"

Blanky nodded and shrugged. "Either that, or he was very dedicated to his job. Outsmarted Dastardly and his men every time!"

"Was it white?" He looked at her with a serious expression and leaned forward impatiently.

She nodded and tilted her head. "Yes, he was."

"It couldn't be..." His attention suddenly trailed off and left him spaced out, fiddling with yet another packet of salt.

"Hm?"

Birkin was muttering to himself over and over. "ProjectSky Kid... No... Couldn't be."

"What is it? Is something wrong?"

"Back when I first started out I had a project. I named him Sky Kid. He was a standard pigeon. White. Very basic bird, nothing out of the ordinary."

"He was YOUR pigeon?" Blanky nearly fell out of her seat in shock.

"I was working on a serum that was to enhance brain power and dexterity. It was to be used for troops, you know... To improve battlefield performance. I had a few test subjects. Two mice, a Great Dane, a few cats of varying breeds, a canary and this pigeon. The mice were promising, but one was better than the other. I still have them in my lab, actually. The Great Dane ran out of use for me and only went so far, I had him adopted out to a family instead of destroying him, the same for the cats." He continued to fiddle absent-mindedly with the salt packet. "The canary was only going to live a short time anyway, so he went with one of the cats to an old lady."

"Wow, so many animals! How did you aquire them all?"

"How labs normally get them. Some labs have specialist breeders, others scour shelters." He waved a hand and dismissed that part of the conversation and went back to the pigeon. "This pigeon, though... It showed promise. I was working so hard on the serum and testing it on him every day. At first, the changes were only slight, but over the course of a month there was progress."

Blanky was sat there with her mouth flapping open, surprised, shocked and intent on hearing more.

"He started to be able to grasp objects, his eyes became larger, his vocalisations were more..." Birkin was suddenly interrupted by the packet exploding all over him again. "Agh!"

Blanky laughed and helped him sweep it up. "Sounds like he, uh, mutated... still, that doesn't really surprise ne all that much, after my strange upbringing, nothing really does."

"He somehow got out one morning. I went out to lunch and when I returned he had somehow escaped from his cage."

"That must have been when the army got hold of him..."

Birkin smiled. "I always did wonder what became of him..."

"Me too. But I'm sure hes doing fine, wherever he is. He always did know how to look out for himself! You taught him well, Birkin."

"I was a little concerned that he may have mutated to far. Do you know if he presented with any boils, or extra limbs?"

She shook her head. "From what I know, no. His appearance was perfectly normal. And might I say, what an appropriate name to give him!" She stretched and smiled at William. "So, what shall we do now? If its not too much trouble, id like to have a look at the lab."

Birkin instantly bristled at the suggestion and gave her a confused and suspicious look. "Why would you want to do that?"

"Oh, sorry." She didn't realise just how forward she had been and flushed a little red. "No reason at all its just that those places have always fascinated me. It's alright, please forget I asked"

Birkin wrinkled his nose a little. "Forgive my suspition. I have had so many people try to steal my data from me."

"I understand. I would never steal from anybody, first of all because of my morals and second because I would be contradicting myself as a cop."

"You do know that some of the people who have been fighting against mine and Wesker's research have been cops, right?" He lowered his gaze again. He was was inwardly kicking himself for saying it and thought she may end up not wanting to bother with him again.

Blanky raised a brow. "Really? That's something I wasnt aware of, like I said I dont really know much about your organisation... but that is a shame."

Birkin winced. It sounded as if she was deterred by it after all. "Uhh..." He scratched the back of his head nervously. "Yeah, I, uh... They pretty much shot me up pretty bad."

"They shot you?"

"I looked like swiss cheese, according to Wesker."

Much to his surprise, Blanky reacted with outrage. "That's terrible, Mister Birkin. Its times like this I'm ashamed of my fellow cops and fear for the human race. There's no justice in what they've done. What about Wesker, did he manage to escape unharmed?" Blanky looked sad that William had to suffer so much, especially at the hands of the police. An organization who she was a part of herself. She felt herself warming to him, but tried not to let it show.

"Wesker is... Wesker. I think he was born lucky."

"Yeah, too lucky, it seems..." She scrunched up her nose and pouted.

Birkin couldn't help but laugh. "And you still do not approve of Axel's choice?"

"Well not really, I guess, but its her choice after all. Although if she ever needs police protection, I will be there to provide it. The same goes for you too, Mr Birkin, should you ever need it.

A small grin spread across his face as he ran a hand through his hair. "Aha, well thank you."

"Anytime!"

"But, I do agree with our previous statement. I think we need to keep our attention on Wesker, Axel and Dick... I am somewhat curious about what Wesker has up his sleeve."

"Me too, now. And yes, they should be kept under observation. Wouldn't want anything happening to father and daughter because of him."

There was a slight pause, the sound of the TV in the corner of the cafe echoing through the empty room. The waitress clattered and clanked cups as she stacked them of shelves behind the counter. Birkin rubbed his hands together and blew on them to warm them up. "It's dropping colder now. I wonder what time it is..."

Blanky, who had suddenly spaced out herself, perked up as he spoke. "Oh, I didn't realise the time myself!"

Birkin grined over at the waitress who had finished stacking the cups and had taken to leaning on the counter. "I think they are waiting for us to leave."

"Oh! Right...yes." She instantly flagged down the waitress and took out a roll of money from her wallet. After handing it over she also pulled out a photo with her, Niky and Slappy on it. "Well, here we are, me, my sister and our dummy. A happy family. Well, mostly."

Birkin took it and examined it carefully. "You look a little... different in it."

"Do I? Well, I was younger then." Blanky chuckled.

Birkin grinned and handed it back. "I bet you'll never guess how old I was when I first started working for Umbrella."

"Uh, im guessing in your early twenties?" She took the photo and stuffed it back into her wallet. The waitress returned with her receipt and smiled at them both.

Birkin nodded a thank you to her and she left to go into the kitchen to help shut the cafe. "No, younger than that."

"In your teens?"

"I was 15, yes."

Blanky's eyes widened in shock. "No way! That is very young. How did Wesker find you?"

"We worked together some years later. I was working on a cure for the Ebola virus."

"Wow, thats such a wonderful thing to do, trying to find a cure for ebola. My admiration for you has gone up tremendously."

He tugged on his collar nervously and got up from his seat. If only she knew... "W-Well... It was then we worked on the, er... T-Virus."

"T-virus?"

"Yes. The T-Virus was discovered and we were trying to use it to develop the ultimate bio weapon. Very much like with my project with the pigeon. Enhanced speed, dexterity and the like." He began to walk to the exit.

Blanky, following in toe, started to press him for more information. "And what happened?"

"Well, the facility was compromised. The virus got out and infected lots of employees mutating them. They became what most would call zombies. All highly contagious, one bite, scratch or drop of blood could infect you and these creatures were ravenous. They hungered for flesh."

"Ugh, sounds like bloody nightmare!" She tried to imagine the situation, but couldn't seem to. "But I'd probably be used to seeing something like that, I've seen enough as a cop. So you've been trying to come up with a cure?"

Birkin chuckled. Her innocence on the subject amused him. He almost found it cute. "Wesker continued with the T-Virus and I was working on what I considered its superior, the G-Virus."

"Is that similar to the T-virus?"

Birkin paused, opened the door and gestured for her to exit. "After you..."

"Thank you!" Blanky couldn't help but gush slightly. Not only handsome and clever, but a real gentleman too.

He follwed behind her exiting the cafe into the even colder streets of Raccoon City. He looked up at the dull sky and noticed a street light flicker on. "Cold..." He watched his breath as it swirled in the air. "You asked if it was similar to the T-Virus?"

"Yes."

"The T-Virus was created as part of our bio weapon project. The G-Virus was actually from the same line of experiments. It mutated into something separate and the G-Virus..." He watched as other lights flickered on. "Well, it pretty much grants biological immortality."

"Very interesting."

"However, it had its side effects. Much like the T-Virus did."

"Biological immortality eh? Similar side effects to the t virus?"

"Yes." He nodded and started to walk, realized he didsn't even know where he was going and stopped. "The T-Virus tended to turn people into the stereotypical zombie. The G-Virus messed people up a little more. It was also a variety of parasite in the fact that those infected would seek out someone with similar DNA to implant embryos into and that would spawn more."

"Wow. It can't be easy being a scientist." Blanky noticed him stop in his tracks. "Hey there, are you ok? Sorry if I'm distracting you."

"I just remembered that I don't know where I am going." *Smiles sheepishly* "It was you, after all, who set this up. Where are we heading next?"

"Oh yes, of course." She flushed red again. "How about we go back to my hotel? Not much, but better than being stuck out here in this cold. We could have a movie marathon or something."

"You wouldn't happen to be staying at the Apple Inn are you?" William chuckled. That place brought back memories.

"Why yes I am! Is it that a famous place?"

"It has been rebuilt and refurbished. After the incident it was badly damaged by fire. What is it like now? I have not seen it since."

"Actually, its quite nice. Very spacious and luxurious, youd never know it had been damaged."

"I remember staying there once when I was first starting out. I remember room 12 had a smelly old kettle in it. It was like it hadn't been cleaned in years!"

She giggled. "It was that bad huh? Who knew?"

"It wasn't so bad generally. Just that damn kettle..."

"I hope you gave them a bad customer review!"

Birkin snorted a little bit in amusement. "I think the fire did that for me, hahaha!"

Blanky burst into a fit of giggles. "Well, I guess thats one benefit of the whole thing!"

After regaining his composure, Birkin pulled his lab coat on tighter and looked around the streets. "Well, if I recall correctly it's down this way near J's Bar. Wait... Is J's Bar even around still?"

Blanky grinned. "Mmm-hmm!"