Tifa squinted under the glare of operating lights. She was lying on a gurney with nothing but a thin white sheet covering her up to her shoulders. Leather restraints brushed against her wrists and ankles when she tried to sit up.
Her vision cleared as she nervously looked around. She was lost in the depths of a mechanical jungle. Medical devices and scientific equipment surrounded her. Shinra technicians were shifting between machines on every side of the room. One of the nurses was hurriedly carting away her fighting gear.
A loud latex snap captured Tifa's full attention. Turning her head toward the noise, she saw Professor Hojo. He was fixing his glove and staring at her through gleaming spectacles.
"How unfortunate. I didn't think you'd regain consciousness yet." The corner of his mouth twisted into a grin.
Tifa tried to lift her arms again. "What's going on?" Her question came through grit teeth.
"We took you into custody following the incident at the North Crater. You were supposed to be publically executed with your partner, but I requested to have you moved here after I reviewed your file. Scarlet was disappointed she won't be able to put you down herself."
Tifa's expression changed to a look of concern.
"Where's Barret?"
"Your Avalanche friends helped him escape shortly after you were transferred. I suspect they'll come for you next."
Hojo continued speaking casually while he fumbled with the vital monitor at his left.
"We're in trouble, Miss Lockhart. That stubborn son of mine has set Meteor loose, the planet is unleashing its Weapons, and we humans are caught square in the middle. The only thing protecting us from total annihilation was the Cetra girl, but she's no more. I'll just have to create one of my own."
He briefly stopped and gazed down on Tifa intently.
"You're going to be the one who summons Holy, and I'm going to be worshipped as the hero of the human race."
He turned his attention toward the respirator on his right.
"I'm sorry we have to move so quickly without your consent." Tifa knew he was lying, but that didn't stop him from pretending to have a conscience. "You're just the one with the best traits."
"What 'traits'?" Tifa asked impatiently. She wasn't taking the human guinea pig treatment very well. "I don't know what the hell you're rambling about!"
"Regular contact with a living Cetra. Childhood exposure to the Nibelheim Reactor. An XX chromosomal match with the more viable Cetra donors. It may not add up to much, but you're the best I have to work with."
Hojo focused on a portable table holding a row of silver canisters. He seemed to brag as he examined each one.
"Tissue samples, if you're wondering. Some were taken from Ifalna and her daughter while they were my patients." Tifa's eyes grew wide with horror. "The rest are partial remains I've been able to excavate from Cetra burial sites and preserve over the years." She gasped in repulse.
Hojo reached for the cloth mask around his neck and pulled it over his face. His voice was muffled when he continued speaking.
"Cetra anatomy really isn't that much different from humans. All I have to do is snip a few things here, transplant some new bits and bobs there. Then, for all intents and purposes, you'll be the last living Cetra. Or you should be, in theory. There's always a slight chance of rejection."
He approached a covered tray situated just beside the gurney. When he pulled the cloth away, Tifa saw a neatly organized set of clean, sharpened dissection tools. She would have shriveled back if she were able to move.
"Oh, don't worry about these." The comforting tone in Hojo's voice was at odds with the demented sparkle in his eye. "I'll have to make a few incisions, but your body will be able to use the Cetra's natural restorative magic when I'm done with you. Your recovery should be virtually instantaneous."
Tifa shook her head to regain her senses. She'd rather be angry than let a Shinra freak get the better of her.
"Crazy bastard!"
The indentation of a broad smile sank into Hojo's mask.
"No, no. You don't call someone crazy when they have a plan, my dear. Geniuses like me are eccentric."
He closely inspected one of the scalpels as he spoke.
"There are still a few preliminary tests I would've liked to run on you before we get started, but time is of the essence."
He clicked a pair of forceps together to test their durability.
"You see, the Cetra brain has evolved into something like an antenna for filtering the planet's voices. Even a half-Cetra like Aerith was born with this ability. No offense, but your mental capacity isn't quite on that level."
He lifted a small Mako-powered surgical saw in one hand. The blade spun with a high-pitched whir.
"I'm not certain what will happen once you start receiving information from the Lifestream. Hopefully you'll be able to retain most of your sanity. That's just a risk you and I will have to take."
With his equipment check complete, Hojo loomed closer toward Tifa. He slowly rolled the sheet down her shoulders and stopped midway at her chest. His eyes continued to pry downward.
"Hmm. These seem to be quite the nuisance for you. Would you like me to perform some minor reduction while you're under? It wouldn't be very difficult to add cosmetic surgery to your schedule."
Tifa responded by exploding in a rage that almost flipped the gurney over. Despite her best efforts, her restraints wouldn't budge.
"That's what I suspected." Hojo nodded calmly. "You're just bouncing with anticipation. We'll keep things basic, then."
Under the sheet, Tifa's hands squeezed into fists. Hojo chuckled to himself as he covered her mouth with a clear breathing mask. With a few short, sweet-smelling breaths of vaporized Ether, she drifted back to sleep.
The sign said this was the operating room, but it looked more like a morgue. Barret led the party across a sea of bruised bodies and broken monitors in his search for Tifa. Each one of the Shinra personnel had been beaten to a pulp. At least one of them had been thrown into every light fixture in the room. From far away, one of the medical assistants looked like her head had been cut off. On closer inspection, it was more like it had been punched off.
Barret eventually found one body that was still moving. It was Professor Hojo, barely recognizable with his broken glasses and his swollen face. There was an empty hole where his abdomen should have been. His eyes stared blankly straight into the air.
"You betrayed me…" Blood seeped down his mouth. He was drowning to death. "My beautiful… creation…" His eyes will still wide open when he stopped breathing.
Then Barret saw her in the distant shadows. Tifa was standing with her back toward him as she adjusted the belt on her skirt. She stretched her arms and cracked her knuckles. At the sound of the group's footsteps, she glanced over her shoulder.
In a split second, she was standing almost toe-to-toe with Barret. She darted across the room and threw an uppercut straight toward his nose. He quickly blocked her with his mechanical arm and trying to push her back. The rest of the party took defensive positions behind him. Somehow, she was able to match all of his strength with her smaller body.
Barret got a close look at Tifa's eyes. They weren't the deep crimson hue they should have been. Instead, they glowed like emeralds. They looked more like Aerith's eyes.
"No," Tifa broke her silence in a cold, emotionless voice. "You're not a threat." She stepped back and lowered her fist.
"Sorry. I'm still getting the hang of this." Tifa's familiar charm returned. She scratched her head like she was trying to ease away a headache. "The planet is in some kind of panic mode. It wants me to get rid of anything that's hurting it."
"Tifa! What did they do to you?" Barret was still in shock.
Tifa sighed and lowered her head, hiding her shameful face behind her long black bangs. For a short minute, everyone in the group could see her for what she truly was: A butcher's dream woman. Her measly skirt and tanktop weren't enough to hide the scars that covered her body like burning red vines. Then the marks disappeared, and her skin was perfect again.
"I don't really want to talk about it," She murmured. "Let's just say Aerith isn't the last of the Ancients anymore."
When she looked up again, she gained a more positive composure.
"The good news is I know where we can find Cloud. His life signature isn't that hard to track."
Barret raised his eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"
Tifa gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder as she stepped past him.
"I'll explain as soon as we get out of this creepy place."