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Prime universe
(Capcom's primary storyline)

The Air Dome Laboratory was a virus research institute located on the outskirts of Harvardville. This state-of-the-art facility was constructed on behalf of the WP Corporation, and was built for the purpose of research and development of vaccines for viruses such as t-Virus, which poses considerable threat due to its use by bioterrorists. The complex was destroyed in late 2005 in what was later revealed to be a plot by one of its senior researchers to escape with its research to sell to terrorists.[1]

History[]

Planning of the Air Dome Laboratory emerged in 2002 following a bioterrorist attack in India. At this time the WP Corporation already had a t-Vaccine prototype, and it was given emergency authorisation by the Indian government for use in the areas immediately around the outbreak to prevent further spread while order was regained. Satisfied with WP's capabilities, the US government was receptive to continued work with them as a Department of Defence contractor, and later that year a stimulus bill was pushed through that would finance a state-of-the-art research complex in Harvardville.[2]

The Air Dome Laboratory was not without its critics. While locally move was popular owing to its increasing local job prospects, it was opposed by TerraSave, who were distrusting in the company's meteoric rise in the waning years of Umbrella, and who were at first not allowed to know the purpose of the facility. As knowledge of the t-Vaccine was made public, WP's PR team made sure to convince locals of the safety standards that would prevent any incident like in Raccoon City from happening.

In November 2005, the facility suffered a catastrophic outbreak instigated to deliberately prevent any further production of the t-Vaccine. This attack was masterminded by Dr. Frederic Downing, who was secretly behind a t-Virus outbreak in India as a means of advertising the virus on the black market. Assisting in the radicalisation and armament of Dr. Curtis Miller, who already held a grudge against the company, Dr. Downing was able to fake his death in Dr. Miller's bombing of the lab, which led to the other researchers mutating into Zombies. Taking advantage of the confusion he abandoned the facility with a briefcase containing t-Virus; t-Vaccine and G-Virus samples. Dr. Miller meanwhile infected himself with a Golgotha sample and mutated into a powerful mutant, killing several Rangers sent after him. The facility responded to the outbreaks by initiating sterilisation procedures, but his survival led to escalating measures. Eventually all Sectors were dumped into a chasm below, where Dr. Miller fell into an explosion.

In the weeks after the incident, Tricell purchased the WP Corporation, and sent a hazmat team to search for any remaining trace of Dr. Miller for G-Virus research.

Architecture[]

Garden

The Garden.

The facility was designed to work as five movable sectors within the dome, ranging from Sector "0" which was used for administration and meetings, through to Sector "4" where t-Virus samples were stored for vaccine research. These sectors were held in place above a chasm by railings comparable to an elevator, and in the event of quarantine could be lowered into the chasm to prevent further spread whether to the other sectors or the surface. The facility and sectors were also pressurised, and the atmosphere could therefore be changed if necessary. Security for the facility was handled at the top level of the complex, which did not descend. In the middle of the complex was a garden for the personal enjoyment of staff and visitors, but to prevent mutagenic viral spread through the garden, the area could be sterilised with sprinklers spraying Anhydrous Ethanol and set alight.

In the event of a catastrophe, the facility's computers will order increasingly more aggressive responses to an outbreak, from destroying the garden to ejecting the Sectors to the chasm and exploding them. Due to the nature of the outbreak at the laboratory, all methods of disposal took place, leaving the facility deserted.

Gallery[]

Sources[]

  1. Resident Evil: Degeneration (2008).
  2. Leigh (ed.), Resident Evil Archives II, p.203.
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