Editors Note: This is my first ever fanfiction, so please be kind. Note that at this point I have not completed FF8, so forgive me for any innacuracies.
Drip. Drip. Drip. The sound of water, slowly falling from the ceiling of the darkened room, echoed through the silence. The room was dark, except for the centre, where a cylindrical tube hung from the ceiling like an oversized stalactite, glowing softly in the gloom. Wires ran all over the place, littering the floor, crawling up the walls and snaking across the ceiling like vines, all converging on the pillar in the centre of the room.
The room itself was filled with complex equipment and machinery, computer terminals, humming spheres filled with delicate instruments, all busily at work doing whatever job they did. And all the while, the translucent pillar in the centre of the room glowed softly.
"Is it ready?" Said a voice from out of the gloom.
One of the shadows shifted, and became a man.
"Is it ready?" He asked again, his eyes resting on the tube in the middle of the room, in which a shape could be seen, floating.
"Not yet. It needs another few days." Replied another voice.
One of the many pieces of equipment on the floor started emitting a low buzzing sound. The man who had spoken first glanced over in its direction.
"You are too pessimistic, my friend. The diagnostic has run already." He said casually, walking over to the instrument and tearing off the piece of paper it had just ejected.
"Well? What does it say?" Asked another voice, female this time.
The man looked up from the document he was reading. He smiled faintly, a look of triumph creeping onto his face.
"Ladies and gentlemen, Project Crystal has succeeded. We've done it at last!" The other man in the room let out a slow breath he had been holding, whilst the girl fidgeted a little where she stood.
As if waiting for him to finish, the pillar in the centre hissed suddenly and violently, large amounts of vapour cascading down its sides. Without warning, the cylinder lost its transparency. Now the object floating inside the glass tube could be seen clearly. It was the figure of a naked human boy of about eighteen or so. Wires ran into his body on all sides, pumping strange fluids into his body. But the strangest things of all were the constructs on his back. They appeared to be wings.
"Are you sure about this? There are all kinds of moral implications here. If word leaks out about this too early-" The second man started, but the first silenced him with a glare.
"Don't you understand, John? We have just made history here! Do you have any idea how long it took me to acquire the necessary equipment and funds? Us three are the only people who know anything about this experiment. And that's how it'll stay…for now." The other two figures nodded at this.
Inside the tube, the boy surrounded by wires began to move. Just a little. Just one finger twitched slightly. Little did anyone know what this little finger twitch would lead to.
"How will we test its capabilities?" The girl asked. The first man smiled. He knew exactly how best to find out what this weapon was capable of.
"SeeD. SeeD will do nicely."
Then, everything happened at once. One after the other, all the tubes inside the pillar detatched themselves from the young boy. The fluid in the tube immediately began to bubble and froth. An alarm sounded, and a flashing red light whirled above the stasis tube as all the fluid began to drain out of it. No longer supported by his wires, the boy in the tube fell against the side of the pillar. The first thing he saw as he opened his eyes for the first time was a blinding white light.
It would all begin soon...very soon.