"A child shouldn't live in a cell. A child should live in a warm home with a loving family."
Family...was that what the boy had mentioned? The word was as alien to Sephiroth as the boy who had visited him had been. He couldn't have been much older than Sephiroth, but he had worn clothes similar to that of the few SOLDIERS he had seen pass through the lab. What did he say his name was...? Angel? Angyl?
The only thing the silver-headed child knew about a "family" was from some of the animal documentaries Hojo had given him to keep him entertained, and from the whisperings of the nurses when they thought he couldn't hear him. A family seemed to be a group of creatures all together...what was so important about that? Why would he need a family, beside Hojo and the nurses? They were a wonderful family - they kept him busy with tests and documentaries, they kept his bedding clean, his cell clean, and always fed him at the appropriate times. He was content - never bored, never hungry.
The mention of the tests gave the other child widened eyes. He had kept a fairly normal voice while he responded, but a strange edge to the words had given Sephiroth an odd feeling.
"That's all they are now - tests. But..they'll get worse. So much worse..."
The silverette had questioned him, but the boy wouldn't tell him what he meant. He would only say that he would learn.
The tests were easy, and barely worth mention. They generally consisted of a few questions that tested his mind and senses. When he was about five, they started the injections. They were always different, sometimes two or three, sometimes only one, but never more than five. The vials always seemed to contain different substances if varying colors, amounts, and consistancies. They never hurt, either.
Now he was seven.
He respected his father, even if he had rarely seen him. But Sephiroth didn't mind the absence - Hojo was a busy man, as the nurses had told him.
The SOLDIER boy didn't believe this. He had told Sephiroth that his father was not a good man. But Sephiroth didn't care; why would the nurses, his family, lie to him?
What did the boy want? Why would he say such things? What did they mea-
Sephiroth's thoughts were disrupted as a nurse bustled into the cell, carrying a tray covered by a pastel-blue cloth. Her expression looked strange, and when she spoke, her voice wavered and seemed to be on the verge of breaking.
"Lunchtime, Sephy." She set the tray on the table and removed the cloth with a swift motion. On the tray was a sandwich, and two needles filled with a glowing green fluid.
The child moved from off the edge of the cot and towards the table. He peered at the vials, and lifted a hand to poke a vial. "What is that?"
"Another shot, nothing too important." She had pulled his hand away from the tray and held it in hers, but when his eyes questioned her, she quickly averted her gaze.
"Oh." He snaked his hand away and began to roll up the short sleeves of his shirt over his shoulder. The nurse stared at him with...sad?...eyes before turning to leave.
"I'll be right back."
The child took a hold of the sandwich and sauntered back towards his bed, taking a bite as he sat back on the edge. He could hear a hushed argument in the hallway, even through the closed door.
"But he's only a child!"
"I am aware. Are you defying me?"
Another bite. It was a tasty sandwich. Was that his father's voice?
"..But this is wrong. What if he..?"
"This child is special - you know this. Why do you entertain such silly notions of weakness? Now go."
"...Yes, Sir."
The sandwich was nearly gone as the nurse reentered the room, followed by another, male, nurse, and then...The slick, black-haired scientist. His father, Hojo.
"He has developed well," The man mused, a hint of pride in his voice.
Sephiroth swallowed the last few bites of his lunch before staring at his father, who had motioned for the male nurse to fetch the boy a glass of water. He clasped a clipboard and a pen in his hands, and was already making little marks on the chart.
"Is this another test?"
"In a way, yes. Now hush and drink your water." Hojo barely looked up from the paper.
Sephiroth obeyed. The nurses were now beginning to prepare the needles. The female held hers as she wiped one of his upper arms with an alcohol swab. The boy couldn't help but notice how thick these needles appeared to be.
Maybe it was the thickness of the needles, or the strangeness of the fluid injection, or maybe his inexperience with pain; from the moment the needles were thrust into his arm muscle, pain in its purest form surged into his arms, his head, his core. Hojo watched him with cold eyes as he winced for the first time.
"O-ow..." Never before had that sound escaped his lips.
The scientist frowned and wrote something on the page, before turning and exiting the cell, the male nurse on his heels. The female nurse smiled weakly at Sephiroth and bandaged the injection sites.
"You'll be okay.."
And then the boy was alone. He felt...dizzy. His arms ached. His head began to throb a dull throb. He weakly stumbled towards the sink.
Vomited.
And collapsed.