Article compiling rare & obsolete assets from Resident Evil Operation Raccoon City ARG ‘Inserted Evil’, presenting theory tying this treasure trove of bonus assets to the series canon.
Foreword by article author USS Command: Welcome to the first of a series of articles with an in-depth look at non-canon content, to determine if, and how it could fit with canon content. This isn't going to be me arguing what should or not be considered canon, as part of the official time-line; rather I’ve focused on specific non-canon content with potential, that if looked at from a different point of view, fits consistently with canon content, potentialy adding extra flavour to what we already know of the series, if you choose to agree!
‘Inserted Evil’ was an Alternate Reality Game constructed for Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City. ARG is an interactive networked narrative that uses the real world as a platform and uses trans-media storytelling to deliver a story that may be altered by players' ideas or actions. This article focuses on official Capcom content, not classified as canon material, that in my opinion could fit without breaking the official time-line.
From the considerable amount of content created for the Inserted Evil campaign, across many social media platforms, including Facebook, twitter, and YouTube, my focus will be on those documents and websites that held story information for the Operation Raccoon City narrative, and the article will highlight how these non-canon materials, potentially both fit with events from the Raccoon City outbreak (as depicted in Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 3, Resident Evil Outbreak, Resident Evil Outbreak File 2), and enhance that narrative.
Inserted Evil USS content:
The Inserted Evil website contained detailed profiles for the 'Wolfpack' team, and reports relating to Hunk, a character who if we were to rely on strict canon sources, has been much starved of information.
I should point out that there have been people who claim that the USS, and Umbrella armed forces in general, do not allow women to enter their ranks. I've never seen a solid source for this, merely forum chatter consisting of "We only ever see men in Umbrella's armed forces". Plus, it's always been arguable whether Goblin 6 was a woman or a young male. Personally I don't see a problem with female USS agents, and Darkside Chronicles has female zombie trainees on Rockfort Island, which was known for training USS agents. Furthermore, Biohazard: To The Liberty contains a female U.B.C.S. agent, and whilst not universally considered to be a canon, Flagship saw enough merit in it, to make it an official novel.
We have back-story for Delta Team Wolfpack, and the information contained in these profiles does not conflict with the main series canon. It even tried to explain the gameplay abilities that each character had with vague descriptions such as, 'Guns A-Blazin Lupo has the uncanny ability to fire a seemingly infinite amount of ammo for a set period, laying waste to all before her.' Gameplay wise, it’s just temporary infinite ammo, but I like the effort of an in-universe explanation. So the profiles alone don't contradict anything from the series as these are all new characters.
'Hunk's Psychology Report' is the most detailed information we have had on him to date. Need I say more? And on that topic let’s take a look at Hunk's report, which describes a notable trainee, Vector, and how Hunk took him under his wing, into Alpha team, forming a 'Master-Apprentice' relationship; the Japanese version actually uses this description. From existing canon sources, what else of significance do we have covering Hunk? Jack shit, that’s what! However, I should note that there is a small passage from Japanese guide book, Research on Biohazard 2 - final edition:
'Moreover, although it's a digression, the codename of Hunk has the meaning a strong and cool guy, and also Eastern European immigrant worker. From one name, the scent of a mercenary who came through battlefields is given.'
Next we have the 'Eye Witness Report', which is a straight forward testimony of some guy witnessing Hunk and his team gun down soldiers for Umbrella, with only Hunk surviving. It's a small and simple stand-alone story. However, let's spice it up, if the name Hunk makes us think of someone from Europe who survived a war of some kind, (assuming the 'European' part from above means he’s native to Europe, and 'came through battlefields' refers to a war) then this could tie into that scenario witnessed. Let’s take a look at the start of the report.
"I saw the six grey men moving behind the stalls, like shadows, crouching, sliding, almost invisible - but I still saw them. Suddenly I see a larger group of other men, mercenaries from Eastern Europe walking down the street."
You'd easily think that USS Uniforms are grey so it's likely to be USS, and while that's totally reasonable, the last part puts this into question.
"Only the leader left, but he fights in blur, kicking up dust until I can't see, only hear. Then the dust clears, and he's standing there. And no-one else is. He looks at me... Did he know I was there the whole time watching him? He stares blankly at me as though I should fear for my life and is gone, again like a shadow. The image forever burned in my mind."
It's pretty hard to have someone stare 'blankly' at you through a gas mask, or any mask (both Operation Raccoon City and Resident Evil Zero have USS wearing ski masks.) So if Hunk and his man weren't wearing gas masks due to lack of BOWs, or ski masks as with the Zero guys, then this may be how Hunk entered Umbrella. He was recruited due to the impressive combat skills explained firsthand by a witness interviewed via tape. This fits with 'mercenary who came through battlefields is given.'
Now something that would be a crime not to mention. All of the Wolfpack Profiles, as well as the Hunk's Psychological Report, come from an Umbrella owned website. This is more than likely the Umbrella Archive or similar database. The website’s data all have the following inscription:
Umbrella Corporation. *Confidential Personal History - For Umbrella Personnel Division Use Only*
Umbrella Personnel Division, does that sound familiar? If not, then I suggest you go read the Resident Evil Dead Aim game file 'Dismissal Notice'.
That leaves the 'Umbrella Internal Memo'. Two things about it add to the canon. We have a name, Umbrella Internal Memo, that is used twice, once at the top of the memo and again at the bottom. Leaving me to believe that all the Memos will fall under this category. So to explain; you're a scientist, and you have to put out some memo about being low on a chemical - what do you do? Write the memo and place it with the 'Umbrella Internal Memo' group, and it gets sent out as such. It's no different from a normal company memo, besides the name. Furthermore, considering the massive size of the Umbrella Corporation, having a group called 'Umbrella Internal Memo', separate from other things, like reports & letters, would make it easier to organize document priority for staff. Also, for those Code Veronica fans out there, this ties nicely into the HUNK's Report from that game. A prequel file if you will.
Inserted Evil UBCS content:
Nicholai Ginovaef's biography becomes much the richer, if we are to include into the canon the assets provided by Inserted Evil.
The ID badge speaks for itself, an old card from when he was a Sargent. Next in the above gallery, we have page 3 of his 'Contract of Responsibilities'. Here's a quote from Project Umbrella's Yasuhisa Kawamura Interview:
"U.B.C.S. or Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service is a private special operations force owned and operated by Umbrella Corp. As such, all U.B.C.S. military personnel are under contract and work for Umbrellla... Umbrella specializes in selling biological and chemical weapons such as B.O.W.s to any nation in the world that can afford it. Due to the volatile nature of such weapons, accidents can and do occur from time to time. Since the use of biochemical weaponry is classified by nature, in such cases it may be difficult for a nation to utilize its own military to intervene. This is where U.B.C.S. comes into play. U.B.C.S. is responsible for neutralizing "products" that have gone out of control, decontaminating the affected areas and rescuing civilians in danger."
The contract basically states what has already been established in his canon biography, with a little more added on. The added on stuff is basically insight, with Umbrella stating “Protecting Umbrella assets” “…take[s] precedent over public service duties.”
Lastly for the UBCS we have 'Paulo's Warning Note'. We know from documents like the Umbrella Magnum Revolver Development Story, that the UBCS had been on quite a few missions, prior to the Raccoon City outbreak. This warning note could just be a by-product of one of those previous missions. It also takes place back when Nicholai was a Sergeant. Based on the comments that Paulo has made in his note, he was a recruit, signing up in complete ignorance to the dangers ahead, and consequently decided to go AWOL.
Inserted Evil Raccoon City Police content:
Casting this material aside as non-canon without due consideration, does not accord these Inserted Evil assetst the true inherent value they gift to the series narrative, imbuing iconic figures like Chief Irons, with a deeper biography, free of any meaningful contradiction with the canon.
Let's get rid of the biggest contradiction with information we know to be canon; the 'Official Complaint' and 'Official Response'. The Secretary is referred to as "He" in the Biohazard 2 guide book. BUT wait! Alex Wesker was called both "He" and "Man" in Biohazard Archives 2! So guess what? This gender anomaly has occurred before, it's a small retcon, or can be considered as such. Also, let's bring up the Secretary Diary A & B from Biohazrd 2. The 'Official Complaint' correlates very well with the Japanese translation. The Complaint states:
"However, Chief Irons took this extremely badly, screaming at me that I should never move ANY statue in the building..."
The Japanese version states:
"When the chief found it he shouted at me "Never touch this stone statue!” with a threatening attitude."
The Japanese file is slightly different, but when you write something quickly in a diary, and then later make an official complaint months later along with another outburst the previous day, most likely you will probably remember it more harshly, with more of an emotional build-up. This can be considered in context with Diary B file, "...second time I've seen such a terrible face. It's the same as when I moved the stone statue last time." These are the events that caused the complaint to be made.
A few more things to note about this complaint, it claims that Carole has worked for the chief for years. Well the English localisation of the file Secretary Diary B translates as:
"It's only been 2 months since I've started working here..." and the Japanese version says "It’s been two months since I came here..."
The English version is pretty specific on when the Secretary started working there, whilst the original Japanese version is sufficiently vague to not break with canon. She could have been discussing re-locating to another office, or something along those lines. But considering that is stretching things just a bit, it could be seen as another small retcon, a reasonable amendment considering far greater biography information has changed for in-game main cast before; so why not for a file only character?
At the end of the complaint, Carole says:
"I doubt very much I shall be returning to work any time soon, but I await your response with interest."
So if she doesn’t want to come back to work, then why does she do so by June 15th? Well both the 'Official Response' and 'Recovered Response' files explain that. When reading file 'Official Response', you will see that Chief Irons clearly expressed regret about the incident, and claimed it was due to working too hard. Considering by this point the bizarre murders were in full swing and S.T.A.R.S are preparing to start their investigation, this is a very believable excuse. Furthermore, when looking at 'Recovered Response' file, one could infer that Brian Irons and Tony are friends, or at least have a decent familiarity with each other, especially considering how Irons states:
"I’m a worker Tony, you know that..."
Plus, Irons felt comfortable enough to confide in Tony some very unprofessional information in his first draft. If this was someone he didn’t know particularly well, I doubt this first draft would even exist. So if Tony knew Brian Irons as a (seemingly) good person, he could have also convinced Carole to return to work. I that’s too much of a stretch, the 'Official Response' alone was enough to convince Carole everything was fine for her return to work.
“This is my city, with my rules… they can only push me so far!”
While the 'Recovered Response' is Irons’s first draft, clearly written in the heat of the moment, and with his infamous temper! The Biohazard 2 Japanese Guidebook states the tragic Secretary was ‘processed’ in the stuffed-animal processing room, and with what we know of Brian Irons’s shady past, assault of two women (rape in the English localisation), then we can only imagine a darker fate for Carole, once she discovers his insidious secret...
Next, we have the 'File on New Recruit', a report, or a copy of one, sent to the RPD on the subject of Leon S. Kennedy. We know that Leon wanted to join the RPD after hearing about the bizarre murders, so it would make perfect sense for department to keep a file on him. So no problem there for the series canon.
Then there is the 'Umbrella Warning file', which starts off with stating:
Distribution: Section managers based in and around Raccoon City.
It has been brought to our attention that RPD will shortly be receiving an unusually high influx of new police officers across all departments - the cause of this is not currently known, but unfortunately it is something we can't ignore.
My initial thoughts on this were that this could be due to the bizarre murders and/or replacement officers for S.T.A.R.S. But Umbrella would have known about that, wouldn’t they? After all Alpha team were sent to the mansion to collect combat data. I then thought of the Bright Raccoon 21 project. We know during that time-frame (1990s) S.T.A.R.S was being formed, it’s also likely that other officers could be transferring to Raccoon City as well. But the warning also states Umbrella has increased their activity in Arklay, and when S.T.A.R.S formed, there wouldn't be much else in that area, besides Spencer's mansion.
So let's time jump to 1998. The Umbrella Executive Training Centre was due to be re-opened around that time, and the bizarre murders were suddenly occur ing. This increased crime rate would cause the RPD to reach out for more recruitment.
But would Umbrella ask all of its employees to know what caused the murders? Look at what Wesker said in Resident Evil Zero, after Birkin's comments on the t-virus leaking. He covers the mic with his hand:
"That's irrelevant; we must make sure no knowledge of this gets out."
Judging from these words, and the mindful covering of the mic, Wesker clearly does not want the USS to over-hear. It would make sense to keep it hush-hush, as Umbrella would not want its employees to panic, at least not the low ranking, preferring to keep their work-force focused on the job in-hand for as long as possible. Even if word began to spread around about the Mansion (which Umbrella knew about generally), the Training Centre and/or the Ecliptic Express, Umbrella would still take the self-protectionsist line and publicly consider these mere rumours.
Umbrella's 'Report on Chief Irons' is the last RPD related file, and fits particularly well with the established canon. Umbrella is noticing worrying signs, and plans on taking contingency action. This could tie into to the Biohazard Umbrella Chronicles Novel.
"-The Raccoon City Police are all dead. Brian, however, escapes us.
-Kill him. If under any circumstances he manages to escape, his relationship to the company may be exposed to outside sources. That will be a big problem.
-Do not worry. The guy has already virtually committed suicide. He wanted to stay inside the police department and not venture around outside. Even if he changes his mind now, he has no chance of escaping."
So there we have it, Umbrella took action. Alternatively if you don't consider that novel canon, it is quite reasonable and arguably likely that the T-103 could have had a secondary objective to assassinate Chief Irons due to his political ties, and the damning information he held over Umbrella. He does appear in the RPD hallway, just past Brian Iron's office after all!
Inserted Evil Umbrella Corporation content:
The NE-Beta excerpts can easily fit but, I can already hear someone asking, "If it's canon why haven't we seen it before? Or why hasn't it been used since?" Well, that's easy to explain. First let's look at the file itself; the excerpts are five separate pages (see below). The first four days 7, 13, 22, and 28 all end with a sign-off by Dr. Turner. While the last page, day 36, is signed-off by Professor Dalwin, as Dr. Turner had been killed. That leads to a total of six known deaths during the 36 days of study. There could also very well have been a further development period, causing Umbrella to put the project on hold, this is collaborated by Four Eyes, when she first encounters them in Resident Evil Operation Raccoon City; she mentions that she thought Umbrella had ceased their production. There's more but I'll have to come back to that later, as it involves Dr. William Birkin.
Next to consider, is the 'Transcription of conversation with ex-Umbrella employee' (see above). This one will be even harder to acceptably fit, without stretching the integrity of the canon, so I'll break it down, page by page.
Page 1
Page one starts by comparing the Umbrella corporation to a government. Is that wrong? No not really, considering all the extensive resources, and high-level, heavyweight influence they had. In the next paragraph he states "I used to work in the labs below the mansion... but I saw things, things I’ll never forget." Now the mention of "the mansion" here is interesting, because he references it as if it should be known, meaning this file is after the Mansion Incident, or whoever they are talking to is already fully aware, and he is just writing this down as a formality, or possible testimony. Assuming it is post Mansion Incident, and S.T.A.R.S tried and failed to get anything done on their end, how far would the news have spread?
In the post Resident Evil (original) and pre Resident Evil 2 era we have the 'Emergency Report' file, in the Japanese Biohazard Kaitia Shinsho guide, which shows that a reporter got a hold of Wesker's Report 2. There is information from the Biohazard Investigation Committee, and the document is written up by Investigator Damian A. Ashkenazy. This shows a lot of people were looking into the matter, but don't actually get anywhere. Considering drops of dried blood and splatters of fresh blood can be found on the page, one can assume that whoever had this document, never got anywhere with it either! Page one goes on to show how the power limiter came to be, testing on a ‘feral dog’, reminiscent of a panel from the Resident Evil Comic ‘Who Are These Guys?’
Page 2
This page starts out with the Power limiter being finalized, with the employee then being transferred to Europe, to work on a top secret project, where he then witnessed a condemned man being given the NE-Alpha Parasite. This is of course inconsistent with what we know, that Nemesis was based on a T-103, However, this also seems to be a reference to the Chinese comic which has Nemesis' origin story, placing a man instead of a tyrant, as the catalyst for the B.O.W. The codename "T02" being used is from the Nemesis report as well. It seems as if the writer wanted to combine the different versions of the story, taking the best details from all sources, to form one narrative.
Page 3
We have the Nemesis being trained to use weapons, and having to be dumbed down to facilitate greater control over it. The ex-employee tried to fry its brain, but somehow solved the problem! The ex-employee then finishes page three describing how Umbrella didn't just let you to leave, and that the more he worked on the project, the more he learned about what Umbrella really did with their B.O.W.s. He also notes that Nemesis was based on the Tyrant project, which he helped, but then decided to disappear, giving this testimony to warn people about the "T02".
So can this fit? At face value it cannot, at least not all of it. But something to at least make note of is how this is being presented to us. This is a testimony given by an ex Umbrella employee, to a reporter or something/someone in similar interview environment. From what can be gathered, he was a low ranking researcher, constantly lied to about what the genuine nature of what he was working on. Everything he found out about Umbrella, he discovered for himself during his time in their European facilities. Then take a look at how he explains his situation, he doesn’t go into specific details, or mention things passively. For example, we do not know anything about this "condemned man" why "T02" was used, or why Umbrella altered its intelligence, other than to better control it.
So let's make reasonable assumptions, and assume this ex-employee was not told ANYTHING about the B.O.W.s and Tyrants, that he refers to at the end of the document, and let us assume, due to being of such lowly, inferior rank, he discovered the dangerous truth via word of mouth, (we've seen this play out before, inside the poorly run, mismanaged Umbrella facilities, such as Resident Evil: Code Vernonica's Rockfort Island, as detailed in the 'Prisoner's Diary' file). So it could be said that this document is based on how HE saw things and how HE remembers them. This type of testimony given under such circumstances is by no means 100 per cent accurate, and the "condemned man" could have quite likely been a tyrant all along. Remember Thanatos from Resident Evil Outbreak? Besides his hands and heart, he looked VERY much Human. Furthermore, the Hypnos-T Type, a tyrant project to make them look more human, was close to the same thing with its basic form (colour and left hand aside). So just maybe they had a human looking Tyrant. It's also possible that the ex-employee wasn't actually close enough to see that the Tyrant wasn't actually human. Or maybe they injected the stuff to produce a tyrant on the spot, as well as the NE-alpha, allowing both the Parasite and the Tyrant to grow and form together, thus allowing for a better working relationship?
As for dumbing it down, we have the Bio3 Complete Conquest of Nemesis book which states:
In addition, an interesting report was made about a "Nemesis-T Type" test subject in which this was transplanted into the latest Tyrant. In the case of the Nemesis culture process, it gained a sense of self and attempted to escape from the facility with others. That shows that the intelligence of the test subject drastically improved, and suggests a risk that a B.O.W. could become a new intelligent organism and rebel against humanity."
Could this be what he was referring to? As for the "T02" there's nothing to go on aside the Nemesis report. But the above quote does say "report was made about a "Nemesis-T Type" test subject. So it’s possible more than one was made, so another Nemesis T01 could’ve existed.
Now for the 'Umbrella Sciences' website. This site acts as an introduction to the Inserted Evil game but, it has nice little details all through it. The site talks about making a better future, advertises that Umbrella is recruiting, and something called the "Ashford Award" which Umbrella announces new winners. The Ashford Award is a nice touch. I can see it being something researchers would compete against each other for. We already know Umbrella USA and Umbrella Europe competed against each other, so the researcher themselves having an incentive to do so as well isn’t out of the realm of possibility. It’s also a good way to honour one of Umbrella’s founding members, Edward Ashford.
The site also has questions for people wanting to join to answer.
1. WHICH SECTORS WOULD YOU LIKE TO WORK IN?[] Research[√] Security[] Biotechnology[] Special Projects[] Pharmaceutical2. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOU MISSION IN LIFE?[] To work hard[] To be the best[√] To do what my superiors tell me.3. WHICH OF THESE DESCRIBES YOU BEST?[] Committed and focus[] Ruthlessly ambitious[√] Easy going and fun4. HOW DO YOU SEE YOUR COLLEAGUES?[] I am in competition with them[√] As friends and confidants[] Worse than rats5. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE UMBRELLA?[√] A global organization spreading goodness across the world[] A tenacious and powerful corporation that does what is necessary[] A front for genuinely interesting work behind the scenesA few of the responses are tongue-in-cheek but it's still something I could see working without any problems. The site even notes that after completing the questionnaire, you’re not to contact Umbrella, but wait for them to seek you out; not too out of the realm of possibility for this universe.
Now the 'Corrupted Fax' (see above), which serves as a warning from Umbrella about The Organization, and the possibility of compromising its researchers. This really fits well. Even though we see "codename Mi*#€€€¢¢$$......>da Won&.", we have no date as to when this was sent. It could've been during or just before the outbreak, similar to the FBI fax from Resident Evil 2. The power problems the city suffered could arguably be the reason the fax was corrupted, and the warning of Ada Wong could have easily have gone unnoticed. Would it be so hard for someone to realize that Ada Wong was at the Mansion yet working for other people as well? If Annette Birkin can do background checks in order to discover Ada was a spy, then surely with their superior resources, Umbrella HQ, or whoever sent this fax, could quite easily do so too.
The 'Corrupted Fax' serves as a warning from Umbrella about The Organization, and potential of compromising researchers. Even though we see a code-name, we have no send date. Arguably just before the outbreak, similar to the FBI fax from Resident Evil 2. Power outage suffered by the city could be the reason the fax was corrupted, and the warning of Ada Wong could have gone unnoticed. Would it be so hard for someone to realize that Ada was at the Mansion yet working for another side too? If Annette Birkin can do background checks to discover Ada was a spy, surely with their superior resources, Umbrella HQ could quite easily do so too.
Inserted Evil Birkin family content
The Letter from Annette Birkin is a valuable addition, benefiting the canon by its inclusion. It shows that Annette takes time off every once in a while to be with Sherry. William may do the same; after all they do have a family photo together. This also helps add more of a motherly feel to Annette. However, as for when it takes place, I assume it's during the move from the Mansion to the lab Birkin is at in RE2. Why? Because during that move would be perfect timing for Annette to see and spend time with Sherry. It also shows that Umbrella gives regular psych evaluations. This is actually quite logical, I'm mean playing god and long working hours away from family and social life would take its toll.
Next is Birkin's Journal. This fits EXTREMELY well with the information from the Yasuhisa Kawamura Interview with Project Umbrella. It leads into Birkin's plan to leave Umbrella. It even has ties to other content. He thinks back to what happened to Marcus and wonders if it will happen to him, he mentions the need for more subjects, which he receives causing a man at the water treatment plant to call him Frankenstein.
The Psychological report is only the closing comments. It mentions that Birkin has high hopes for the future, which he doesn't elaborate on, and that he is showing signs of fatigue. Again, as with his Journal, it fits very well. The Umbrella Psychological Evaluation Unit is the sign-off and is most likely intended to be the same people who performed Annette's psych evaluation. So we get another named subdivision of Umbrella.
Lastly we have CCTV Hack (audio above). This is just audio of two researchers speaking Spanish about Birkin and his work. I'll post the transcript here and break it down as it's smaller than everything else.
[1] "Birkin is acting strange lately. He looks distracted."
[2] "By his work?"
[1] "No. He's as focused as always when it is about the research. What I mean is... I don't know, he seems absent when I talk to him."
[2] "In fact, the other day I watched him talk on the phone. He looked nervous. He only answered 'yes or no'."
So here the two scientists mention him being absent-minded when spoken to and a weird phone call. At this point he would have slipped hints to the US government about wanting to leave Umbrella. Hence, the absence mindedness when he is not working. The phone call could be a government official calling for questions about B.O.W.s with little hints here and there about him leaving, hence the yes or no aspects. Alternatively they could've had a secure line and straight up asked yes or no questions.
[1] "It looks like he's close to finding a breakthrough in Project G. Maybe the pressure is affecting him. As you know, the company has great hopes in him."
[2] "Okay. Umm... I don't really like him but no one can deny he's a genius."
[1] "Yes, it's clear that after his work on the Project G and the NE-Beta Parasite he's called to do great things. You should check out the parasite data."
Here we have Birkin working on the NE-Beta Parasite. As I said before, FOUR EYES says she thought Umbrella stopped production of them, and considering the casualties, it would make sense. So why does Birkin have it up and running? Well according to the PU interview I keep referring to, Birkin spread the virus throughout Raccoon City via highly contaminated waste he sent to the Incineration Disposal Plant P-12A. Considering the PDF file on the NE-ß mentions that they spray some pheromones that make other B.O.W.s more aggressive, one could assume that they had a higher level of infection than normal to produce the pheromones.
So Birkin could have revived the NE-ß research to secretly spread the virus, while actually doing work on the project to keep up appearances. At the same time, considering that the G-Virus and the NE-Alpha was discovered in Lisa Trevor, Birkin may have believed the answers to finishing the G-Virus were hidden within the NE-ß.
[2] "I'm not even allowed to go near it. I think that's the cause of his rare behaviour. He's close to finding something and maybe he wants no one to find out and take his merit."
[1] "Yes, maybe. But he should be put under control. Something's happening there. I'm not gonna say anything, though."
The rest is fine, just them thinking something needs to be done.
Inserted Evil Raccoon City content:
Below we have an audio extract from 'Radio Raccoon 112.5 fm', including a radio commercial for Robert Kendo's Gun Shop! Speaking of which, below the audio player you will also find an extensive catalogue stock list from Raccoon City’s legendary gun shop.
The Robert Kendo site states the gun shop has been around since 1984, which does fit nicely with the Resident Evil timeline, as Robert was 26 when the store opened. The site also states 'Official supplier to Raccoon City law enforcement agencies' a nod to the Samurai Edge, and something to boast about! The official description for the shop according to the site reads:
Welcome to Kendo'… the home of guns, guns and more guns.
We've got everything you could ever need, whether you're shooting for sport, or are looking to protect yourself, we've got you covered!!
We're Raccoon City's number one gun shop with an unmatched range of guns, from pistols to machine guns.
Kendo's Gun Shop is a family run business that always aims to give the citizens of Raccoon City the highest levels of service. We aim to please!
All at Kendo's Gun Shop wish you the very best for the future.
In the end the shop does just that. Giving guns to the survivors as the city slowly went to hell. Admittedly I could have simply said all this content fits, aside from the guns listed, as they are all Operation Raccoon City weapons (some not making the final cut). The custom special weapons, look more like novelty items you would buy to hang above the fireplace more than something you would use to defend your life in a zombie apocalypse! Notwithstanding that, Resident Evil Outbreak shows us that Raccoon City has a number of Grenade Launcher replicas that a plumber can make work like the real thing. But still, the idea of a catalogue showing off guns available to buy and their prices gifts consistent additional backstory to the Kendo brothers, despite some guns not consistently fitting with the game narrative.
The Raccoon City Sewers Department site provides a downloadable map of the sewer network, logo for a new Raccoon City civil department, and a disclaimer that conveniently covers potential inconsistentcies from further incarnations - ‘The Raccoon City Sewers Department cannot take responsibility for the accuracy of this map. It is intended as a guide only. Visitors to the Raccoon City Sewers themselves are urged to collect a more detailed map, and only if accompanied by a member of the Sewers Department.’ On opening the PDF, another disclaimer is shown - ‘This map is intended to show only general positioning of intersections, major junctions and flows. More detailed maps are available’.
Miscellaneous
Ian Sider was the man directing Inserted Evil players. I have reservations with his role, being too far-fetched for one man to hack sites, post to social media, obtain all relevant documents, whilst successfully hiding from Umbrella in a basement! I will acknowledge the possibility of him not breaking canon. We know nothing of him besides a name, he suffered loss due to Umbrella, and Vector finnally kills him. It’s possible he could fit in a variety of ways, but all fan-fiction, due to a lack of canon biography. Notwithstanding this, he spoke out against Umbrella, and consequently Vector was engaged to silence him. He is not a member of S.T.A.R.S. so taking him out would cause no suspicion, in contrast to if Leon were assassinated.
Throughout the Inserted Evil ARG, numerous websites were made to throw people off the trail and/or help with solving puzzles. The sites that helped solve puzzles contained no story whatsoever, so no need referencing them here. The other sites are arguably relevant, and of minimal significance, so I’ll still list them, as some could potentially exist as Bioverse websites. Unfortunately, as with many of Capcom’s pre-remake era websites, including main title, as well as these supplementary viral marketing sites, the links remain dead.
www.raccooncityartgallery.com www.raccooncityschool.com www.mrseverest.com www.ashfordandspencer.com www.umbrellahistory.com www.caspardevere.comTheir role was to make the player feel they had out-smarted Umbrella, upon discovering those sites Ian Sider hacked to hide the leaked information, not targeted by Umbrella yet, like the others already taken down. And sites such as 'raccooncityschool', 'raccooncityartgallery', or 'umbrellahistory', would clearly exist in Raccoon City, visited by its citizens surfing the internet. Referenced in many sources, from from Rebecca Chambers informing Chris Redfield, to almost any guide book that mentions Umbrella Corporation, the insidious pharmaceutical giant enjoyed considerable influence throughout the city; politically, financially, it’s control over Raccoon City’s population and it’s institutions ran deep. And what if content on these sites was deemed contrary to Umbrella’s program of maintaining a saintly facade of ‘Our Business Is Life Itself’?
An investigative reporter, or protesting citizen’s internet activity would gain the attention of Umbrella’s marketing department, should it be deemed critical to the corporation’s reputation, with such insurgance shut down fast! Which brings us to this cute additon to the sites, enveloping them with more in-universe authority; for readers of this article the links now are dead, but if visited via ‘Wayback Machine’, just like Raccoon City citizens whose internet activity threatened Umbrella propaganda, a take-down notice will greet you!
There is no contradiction here. All the sites listed were taken down by Umbrella, (and eventually all by Capcom!), replaced by the above notice. And with the corporation beginning to feel the heightened pressure, finding increasingly more leaks to plug and disasters to avoid, as the outbreak grows, one of the last site links revealing itself to the player, shortly before Inserted Evil terminates and Ian Sider is assassinated by Vector, has a more urgent & aggressive warning:
The content on this page has been deemed damaging to Umbrella Corporation and legal action has been started.
Umbrella Corporation takes all attacks on the company seriously, whether they are carried out through defamation, physical intrusion or cyber crime and will take the most extreme measures necessary to stamp them and their instigators out.
Your pre-emptive strikes make you believe you are on the inside. You are very much on the outside.
Acknowledgments
Assuming you didn’t just shout "This is non canon bullshit, don’t waste my time", then I thank you profusely for taking the time to read this, and I hope you enjoyed it! This article was written for people who aren’t too strict with their personal canon, who may also need inspiration for fan-fiction, or simply enjoyed the Inserted Evil campaign, but didn’t think it could fit into the canon without contradicting any previously established information or timeline dates, and also for those Resident Evil fans who didn’t think anything related to Operation Raccoon City was worth a damn. If you don’t fall under any of those categories, and still cannot find any merit within Resident Evil Operation Raccoon City, then this isn’t the article series you’re looking for... well at least not the first two files! But future files will cover a wide variety of content that I’m sure will catch the interest of every Resident Evil fan.
Special Thanks: BSAArklay, Nicole Seagull, Yuan-The-11th, Garrick Shopping Cart, Neptune, Project Umbrella