Click.
Using the Facility Key, they unlocked the heavy double doors of the Southeast Conference Room.
Inside, rows of plush seats faced a large podium and a projector screen. It looked like a lecture hall or a cinema. This was where Dr. Marcus had once indoctrinated his students with the Umbrella philosophy.
At the back of the room stood an old-fashioned film projector.
"This is it," Havel said. "The projector."
Billy went to work on the machine. He pried open the casing and frowned.
"Wiring is shot. Insulation is rotted away."
"Can you fix it?" Rebecca asked.
"Give me a minute."
While Billy played electrician, Havel scanned the room for intel. Tucked away in a corner on a lectern was a crumpled document. It looked like a diary entry or a rough draft of a report.
"Another batch of useless trainees. Where does HQ find these idiots? However... there are a few standouts."
"William Birkin and Albert Wesker. These two have potential. Birkin is a scholar; Wesker is a pragmatist. They are cold, ruthless... perfect for Umbrella."
"Director Marcus has ordered me to encourage their rivalry. He wants them to hate each other. Strange... it's the first time the Director has shown interest in anything other than his leeches."
Havel read the note and snorted.
Encourage their rivalry? Hah. Little did Marcus know, those two would eventually become 'family' in a weird way.
He thought about the future—Jake Muller (Wesker's son) and Sherry Birkin (William's daughter) teaming up in Resident Evil 6. The irony was thick enough to cut with a knife.
"What's so funny?"
Rebecca popped up beside him, trying to peek at the paper.
"Cough. Nothing," Havel said, crumpling the note. "Just some boring office politics. How's the projector coming along?"
"Done," Billy announced.
He had stripped the wires, twisted the copper cores together, and bypassed the fuse.
Spark! Bzzzt...
The projector hummed to life. The bulb flickered on, casting a bright square of light onto the screen at the front of the room.
Billy inserted Microfilm A and Microfilm B.
The reels spun.
An image appeared on the screen. It was a grainy, black-and-white schematic of the Conference Room itself, viewed from above.
Superimposed over the seats were numbers and letters.
[ 0 1 2 3 ][ 4 5 6 7 ][ 8 9 A B ][ C D E F ]
"It's a code," Billy muttered. "Each seat corresponds to a digit."
Click!
As the film finished playing, a mechanical latch released inside the projector stand. A small drawer popped open.
Inside lay a blue square object.
"An MO Disk," Billy identified it. "But where do we use it?"
Havel pointed to the podium at the front of the room.
"There."
It wasn't just a wooden stand; it was a computer terminal. Havel brushed off the dust, revealing a slot for a floppy disk and a keyboard.
"Let's see what you're hiding, Spencer."
Havel inserted the disk.
The screen flared to life, displaying the Umbrella logo.
[EMERGENCY PASSAGE SYSTEM: LOCKED][AUTHORIZATION DISK DETECTED.][ENTER PASSCODE: _ _ ]
A prompt appeared: CODE: 0A
Havel typed "0A" on the keyboard.
Nothing happened.
"Wrong input method?" Havel frowned. "Wait."
He looked back at the screen. Then he looked at the projector image.
0 and A.
"I get it," Havel said, grinning. "It's not a password you type. It's a password you sit on."
"Rebecca, Billy! Look at the chart on the screen."
He pointed.
"The code is 0A. That corresponds to the first seat in the first row, and the third seat in the third row. There are pressure switches on those chairs."
"Sit on them. Now."
"Got it!"
Rebecca and Billy rushed to the designated seats.
"Ready?"
"Now!"
They pressed the hidden buttons on the armrests simultaneously.
CLUNK—!!!
A loud mechanical grinding noise echoed through the room.
At the side of the hall, three decorative suits of armor stood guard holding swords. Suddenly, the swords lifted in unison.
Behind them, a section of the wall slid open, revealing a hidden set of double doors.
[SYSTEM UNLOCKED: EMERGENCY PASSAGE OPEN]
"Bingo," Havel said. "Let's go."