The Hive (Resident Evil)

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The Hive is a fictional top secret underground laboratory located beneath Raccoon City and is the primary setting in the 2002 film Resident Evil^[1]. It was also mentioned in the game briefly. The complex is controlled by a super computer known as The Red Queen and is connected to the Spencer Mansion via an underground rail network.^[1] The facility was filmed at the incomplete Reichstag U-bahn station during March 2001.^[1][2]

Resident Evil location
The Hive
Establishment Date	1968
Location	Arklay Mountains, northwest of Raccoon City.
Population	500 people
Transportation	Access via underground rail & elevator only (shown in RE UC chapter 4)
Operated By	Management, research and security personnel.
Used As	Clandestine research facility, illegal biological weaponry.
Famous Locations	Not applicable
Notable Events
Notable People	Dr. Charles Ashford

Various locations from the facility have made appearances in the video games including the laser corridor in Resident Evil 4, the facility itself in Resident Evil Outbreak, and The Red Queen and laser corridor in Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles.^[2] A similar facility has also appeared in Resident Evil: Extinction which is controlled by a similar AI known as The White Queen.^[3]

[edit] History

[edit] Film

Further information: Umbrella Corporation and Alice (Resident Evil)

The initial facility was the birthplace of the T-Virus, where it was produced and manufactured.

The T-Virus was engineered by Dr. Charles Ashford in order to make his daughter Angela Ashford walk again.^[4] After Umbrella learned of his discovery, Umbrella scientists took the virus and applied it to creating biological and viral weaponry.^[5]

The facility was a research laboratory which provided citizens of Raccoon City with pharmaceutical and medical drugs, along with extensive health care.^[6] Unaware to the citizens and Umbrella's employees however, the facility's major profits were generated from experimentation, genetic engineering and weaponry.^[6]The facility also housed more than 500 scientists, technicians and support staff.^[7][6]

[edit] Game series

The Hive made its first appearance in Resident Evil 2^[8] as a secret Laboratory used by the Umbrella Corporation to develop their Bio-Organic Weapons and has since made recurring appearances.^[9]The Hive is situated under Raccoon City, and on it's first appearance is accessed via The Raccoon City police department building.^[10] However it is later shown that it is also accessible via an elevator system as was seen when the same elevator system was used by the main characters Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield in Resident Evil 2.^[11] The story in the games show that the Hive was the birth place of the G-virus. ^[12]

[edit] Plot

[edit] Film

Further information: Resident Evil (film) and Resident Evil (video game)

The Umbrella Corporation logo, seen many times during the film Resident Evil, the main series, and the inside of corporation buildings.

During the attempted theft of the T-Virus, a vial was deliberately broken, releasing the virus into the ventilation systems. An uncontrollable pattern of infection spread and resulted in The Red Queen sealing off all entrances gassing everyone to death inside in order to contain the infection. Three hours after the incident, Umbrella dispatched a team of the U.B.C.S. to investigate and deactivate The Red Queen.^[7] Upon doing so the team encounters Alice, Matt Addison, an environmentalist, and Spencer.

After the main power loss, the Red Queen was reactivated and had given out detailed outlines of a way out, indicating there are secret passages built-in inside the facility.^[6]

After two survivors emerge from the Hive and arrive at the mansion by an underground rail system, Matt and Alice were both seized by Umbrella scientists and taken away into the hospital to conduct further studies on Program Nemesis and Program Alice.^[6][13]

[edit] Re-opening

After the events of Resident Evil, the Umbrella Corporation had assembled and sent in a specialist team (Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service) to re-open the underground facility in order to find out what happened to the people inside. In Resident Evil: Apocalypse, the specialist team was situated at the Hive's (Raccoon City) entrance. As the medical team proceeds into the darkened entrance, the undead from the hive begin towards the entrance, with hundreds being picked up on the contagion screen. ^[13]

The incident sparked an immediate investigation by S.T.A.R.S. (Special Tactics And Rescue Squad) which resulted in accusations being laid against Umbrella for secretly developing bioweapons in the facility as numerous creatures were encountered during the reopening of The Hive and in the Arklay Mountains region.^[14]

[edit] Game

In the games, it was one of the original developers of the T-virus, James Marcus, who scattered the T-virus Throughout the Spencer mansion, Arkley mountains and Arkley Lab.^[15] However it is not known how as the method was never specified. The possibility of air-borne spreading is ruled out under the games continuity as the Ebola virus is used as the 'Founder Virus' for both the 'T-Virus' and 'G-Virus' and cannot survive outside the body^[16]. The Arkley lab was blown up to cover any traces of the T-virus and its resulting creations and to stop it spreading by Albert Wesker.^[17]

[edit] T-Virus Outbreak

The G-Virus is the advancement on the T-Virus designed and made by William Birkin, it shows abilities of the T-virus and more without the necrotizing symptoms.^{[citation needed]} After William Birkin injected himself with the G-Virus to stop HUNK's team from stealing it, both the T- and G-Virus is broken, Birkin consuming the vials of G-Virus and smashing the T-Virus vials. The rats consume the T-Virus eventually taking it above ground causing the Raccoon City outbreak.^{[citation needed]} At the end of Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, the American government issues the destruction of Raccoon City by means of a nuclear missile to cover up Umbrella's activities, and to stop the virus from spreading outside the city limits.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Construction

[edit] Film

Buried beneath Raccoon City, the Hive can be seen to have two exits, one at Spencer Mansion and the other in the centre of the metropolis.

Further information: Dr. Charles Ashford and Ozwell E. Spencer

Dr. Ashford was held responsible for the facility's design and construction stages, where he also designed the super computer The Red Queen. This Artificial Intelligence was represented as a holographic representation of his daughter Angela. The Red Queen itself was programmed using a 3-Dimentional representation of an 8 year old girl. The Red Queen's chamber was constructed at the end of a laser corridor as part of a self defense mechanism to prevent its destruction.^[1][6] The construction of the facility was a top secret project as none of Raccoon City's citizens knew about the facility until underground explosions occurred during the viral outbreak in Raccoon City.^[14]

The facility's main power supply was operated by The Red Queen, as deactivation results in the facility to lose its main power, unlocking every door and room, allowing the dead to roam the corridors of the deserted complex.^[6] The Red Queen also had control over the security and emergency systems within the Hive.^{[citation needed]}

The Hive has an emergency entrance accessible by train from the Spencer Mansion.^{[citation needed]} The main entrance is accessible from Raccoon City, consisting of elevator shafts which lead down to the main complex. The water, gas and power lines run parallel to the shafts down to the Hive).^{[citation needed]}

The main elevator shafts lead down to the main complex.^{[citation needed]} This consists of eight octagonal shaped floors that decrease in size as it goes further down.^{[citation needed]} These contain the majority of the Hive's office space and are connected by additional elevators and stairs.^{[citation needed]} The train station is also located on the top floor. Above the top floor is a dome containing the elevator maintenance rooms.^{[citation needed]} These floors are connected by stairs, which lead down to a corridor to a control room for the laser corridor leading to the Red Queen's chamber.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Location & significance

Further information: S.T.A.R.S. Members (Resident Evil) and Raccoon City

The re-opening of the Hive was responsible for the deaths of thousands in Raccoon City.^[4][13]As the virus began spreading amongst citizens, Umbrella resulted in setting up a quarantine perimeter around the city, screening citizens of any T-Virus detection, allowing those cleared to pass while the infected were ordered to return to their homes^[13].

When the virus had reached critical stages, Umbrella activated its Nemesis program to kill the remaining S.T.A.R.S. members (Special Tactics And Rescue Squad) who had known the truth about Umbrella's involvement in the Arklay Mountains region, including Jill Valentine^[14][13]. S.T.A.R.S. members were killed after the Raccoon City Incident by the Nemesis, a mutation designed to hunt and kill all S.T.A.R.S operatives. Only Jill Valentine is known to have survived, and is the last of the elite.There is also speculation that Leon S. Kennedy was a raccoon city cop on his first day during the raccoon city incident. During the Raccoon City incident, news reporter Terri Morales videotaped Umbrella's response to the outbreak. Umbrella was then held responsible for the death of thousands until the video was discredited as a hoax by the corporation (stating the region encountered a nuclear disaster similar to Chernobyl). Umbrella was eventually found guilty on all charges on it's involvement five years after the city's destruction.^[13]

[edit] North American facility

Further information: Resident Evil: Extinction

In Resident Evil: Extinction, the Umbrella Corporation had established a second hive buried beneath a weather monitoring station in Death Valley (completely fenced off so as not to let anything in) near Las Vegas.^[3] Under the command of Sam Isaacs, the new Hive facility was used in Umbrella's experiments to develop a sustainable and efficient cure for the T-Virus - which had continued to spread following the Raccoon City incident. In addition to the T-Virus research, The Tyrant Program was also being researched.^[3]

The new Hive was modified from the original and featured several advancements. The Artificial Intelligence system was upgraded and was known as The White Queen. A holographic communications chamber was included in the design which allowed for communication with Umbrella Executives hidden in similar outposts throughout the world. A cloning chamber was established for use of Project: Alice in the hope of replicating the original perfectly, since Alice may be the only available potential cure. The Hive featured provisions to safely support the Umbrella staff living in The Hive. Additionally, a testing range was built into the lowest levels which incorporated replicas of the Main Hall of Spencer Mansion, the Red Queen's Chamber corridor, and the ground floor of Raccoon City Hospital.^[3]

After the transformation of Sam Issacs into The Tyrant, Alice, curious of the Hive, infiltrated the complex after aiding Claire Redfield in stealing a helicopter assigned to the base. Claire headed to Alaska for a peaceful and viral free life along with the many children she had rescued while Alice stayed behind. The White Queen informed Alice of Doctor Issacs' transformation into The Tyrant and requested Alice to destroy the creature. After a fight that led to the laser corridor where The Tyrant was killed, a clone of Alice disabled the laser grid thus saving the original Alice from death. The facility, now empty of the technicians, scientists and support staff was left under the supervision of Alice as she prepared a series of clones to wage war against the remaining Umbrella complexes.

[edit] References