This is Chapter 2 of my massive COI rewrite. I apologize if the writing's a bit dry, but this chapter provides critical set up for a lot of action in the later chapters.
This is an unbetaed rough draft, so if things get too confusing or don't make sense, please let me know. Constructive comments and suggestions are always welcome.
And if any of my readers are wondering... yes, I do know exactly where this epic is going and how it's going to end. I have a 7000+ word outline to prove it. ^_^; It's pretty much unreadable to anyone except myself, but if someone's truly desperate....
Title: Conflicts of Interest Redux 2/?
Author: MadamHydra
Beta: none, very rough draft
Fandom: FF7 post-Advent Children AU
Type: work-in-progress
Pairing/Characters: gen (at the moment)
Rating: R
Wordcount: ~17,000
Warnings: violence, mature themes (references to abuse, torture, rape, etc.)
Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII and all related prequels, sequels, and works belong to Square-Enix.
Summary: When the WEAPONs reappear two years after Meteorfall, Cloud and his friends discover that his connections to his best friend Zack, his arch-nemesis Sephiroth, and Rufus Shinra are much more complicated than he could ever imagine. And who is the *REAL* Cloud Strife?
NOTES:
-- "Conflicts of Interest Redux" is a MASSIVE rewrite of my old FF7 epic "Conflicts of Interest", which I started years before the "Compilation of Final Fantasy VII" existed.
-- The original game and Advent Children/Complete are canonic for this fic.
-- Before Crisis and Crisis Core are semi-canonic.
-- Various individual plot points from other components of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII (e.g., games, OVAs, FFVII novellas and short stories, etc.) may show up.
CREDITS:
-- Many thanks to the terrific story "Homesick" by Chris Reaves which provided me with lots of inspiration for the events in Nibelheim. ^_^
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST Redux
A Final Fantasy VII fanfic by Madamhydra
Chapter 2
Text Conventions
( ) and / / and // // and { } all indicate thoughts or other types of mental dialogue from various characters
[ ] are miscellaneous date notes, images, or sound effects
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Where do I take this pain of mine?
I run but it stays right by my side
So tear me open, pour me out
There's things inside that scream and shout
And the pain still hates me
So hold me, until it sleeps
Just like the curse, just like the stray
You feed it once and now it stays
Now it stays
So tear me open but beware
There's things inside without a care
And the dirt still stains me
So wash me until I'm clean
"Until It Sleeps" by Metallica
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Planet's mood had shifted.
At first Aerith worried that by curing the Geostigma plague on her own, she had overstepped some unknown boundary or broken some Ancient protocol. As the Cetra race had withered away, so had their knowledge about the Planet and their relationship to it. She was the last of the Cetra, a half-breed at that, and the only information she had to work with was the few scraps of knowledge that her mother Ifalna managed to pass down to her only child before her death.
During her time in the Lifestream, Aerith had learned much, but she was painfully aware that compared to the true Ancients, she was the most inexperienced of novices.
But the Planet was... pleased... by her successful efforts to cleanse Geostigma from humanity. She felt the warmth of its approval. But at the same time, Aerith had the oddest sensation that she was being 'nudged' aside, almost protectively, like a small child being firmly shooed away to safety so an adult could deal with a serious problem or threat.
She hadn't liked the sensation of being sidelined -- even for her own good -- when she had been alive. She didn't like it now. Unfortunately, unlike Cloud or her other friends, the Planet wasn't someone she could easily argue with.
A fierce determination now pulsed through the Lifestream, along with something that was close to, but much more complex than mere anger or hatred.
The sense of implacable resolve unnerved her. The Planet now had a firm agenda of its own and would not allow anything to stand in its way.
The reborn WEAPONs, even more powerful than before, were released onto the Planet's surface to hunt and destroy.
And still the Planet was not satisfied.
It wanted... no, needed... something more effective than the gigantic creatures of destruction that were the WEAPONs. Something more precise.
Not mere weapons.
Tools.
She felt the Planet contemplating... remembering... before ponderously coming to its decision.
... as it had been before, now shall it be again...
Aerith had no idea what that meant, but the Lifestream immediately responded to the Planet's unknown will.
... searching... gathering... cleansing... reconstructing....
Elsewhere, she felt something -- or perhaps someone -- being considered, judged, and... fixed?
... restoring... strengthening... augmenting....
But when Aerith tried to probe the Lifestream for more information, all she got was a kindly, but firm nudge back to her safe little corner.
Apparently, the Planet felt that whatever it was doing was either none of her business or beyond her comprehension.
Well, to hell with being coddled like a child.
If she couldn't find out what was going on directly, there were other, sneakier ways she could use.
.
The stench of rotting flesh in the dark cavern was truly horrible.
Vincent Valentine couldn't suppress a grimace at the overwhelming smell. Beside him, he heard Nanaki huffing audibly as the beast tried to breathe through his mouth instead of his sensitive nose.
"Too late," Nanaki panted.
"Yes."
"Think the Remnants originated here?" Nanaki's speech was unusually terse, again due to the incredible smell.
"Possibly," Vincent replied. He was concise by nature, but the reek was giving him considerable trouble as well.
There was a brief lull in the conversation, broken only by the sound of blackish water lapping at rocks, as they explored the cavern.
"More than three pods," the beast muttered.
The cave had two distinct sections, separated by a tall line of rubble, which led Vincent to believe that the two areas had once been almost completely separated, linked only by the pool of blackish green water.
The front cave section was small and contained three ruptured ovoid shapes that looked like they could have held human-sized occupants. These heavily decayed pods sat in a tight cluster, almost touching each other. The back section of the cave contained a multitude of empty pods in a variety of sizes which showed considerably less decomposition than the three pods in the front.
Nanaki made a low hacking noise, muttered a stifled, "Goin' to puke," then bolted from the cavern.
Vincent could sympathize. It took a lot to trouble him, but the contents of the dimly lit chamber definitely posed a challenge. After one last look around, he followed Nanaki outside.
Far from the cave entrance, they both stopped and spent some time breathing in the icy, but stench-free air of the Northern Crater.
"It looks like the Remnants spawned first and left the area. The things in the back area hatched some time later," Nanaki commented, sitting back onto his haunches.
"Yes, but they're no longer here," Vincent replied. "There's almost certainly some traces of Jenova cells left in that cave. We'll need to sterilize the place."
Nanaki nodded, sniffed the air, then said, "When we're done with the cleanup here, why don't we stop by Icicle Inn and see if Reeve's people have found anything interesting?" He leisurely rose to his feet as his ears swiveled, tracking the monsters trying to sneak up on them.
Vincent raised an eyebrow even as he slid his gun Cerberus from its holster.
"You just want to go snowboarding again."
.
Dr. Lawrence Steven scurried around his office, gathering various important items -- credentials, research notes, credit cards, and all the cash he had on hand. He threw them into a duffle bag, along with the spare clothes he kept at work.
It was that Lockhart bitch's fault. She had led him to believe that Specimen C was totally unconscious and non-responsive. Instead, he had woken up as soon as Steven's back was turned. Even worse, the specimen had recognized Steven and immediately tried to kill him.
"Great. Now I've got a physically enhanced, mentally unstable experimental prototype wandering around WRO Headquarters wanting to kill me!"
He needed help. Specimen C had to be recaptured and subdued, not only so Steven could restart his research, but much more importantly, to keep himself alive. However, as his recent brush with death showed, recapturing Specimen C was not going to be an easy matter.
As he rummaged through his desk with one hand, he reached for his cellphone, then remembered that it was lying in pieces back in the exam room.
"Shit!"
Grabbing for the desk phone, he started punching in numbers, then stopped. Who was the best person to call? Roissy was the obvious choice since the woman had been in charge of Project S2. However, Steven had absolutely no desire to help Roissy in any way, not after the way she had blamed him for the two Specimens' escape back in Nibelheim all those years ago and totally fucked up his career.
Who else? There was Montessi, Roissy's long time rival, but she was an even pissier bitch than Roissy. There were also other people on the project, but would they be willing or able to help him? Should he try talking to someone outside the project?
Finally, after several minutes considering his options, Steven made his choice and his phone call.
"Yes?" replied a smooth, contralto voice.
"Hey, it's Steven. You remember me?"
"Certainly. What can I do for you?"
Steven sighed in relief. Yes, this particular scientist, even-tempered and sensible, was a much better choice than Roissy or Roissy's neurotic rival.
"I've uncovered some very important information related to Project S2. But now I'm in trouble and I need help."
There was a brief pause, then the female voice replied, "Project S2. The project was terminated before Meteorfall due to the escape and the subsequent loss of the two experimental subjects."
"Yes! But you see, they got it wrong! I don't know whether someone made a legit mistake or flat out lied, but the reports were wrong!"
"Wrong? In what way?"
"Specimen C survived!"
After yet another pause, the woman replied, "Well, that's certainly an interesting development."
"I'm sure you understand what this means. If we can get Specimen C back into custody, we can restart Project S2!"
"Under the present circumstances, would there be any point in doing so?" the woman replied, sounding mildly skeptical. "The Shinra Corporation, while it still exists, is hardly in a position to sponsor this sort of human research anymore. And I very much doubt that the WRO would be interested, either."
Steven laughed, then broke into hoarse coughing. After catching his breath, he said, "Oh, I think whoever's running Shinra nowadays could be made to see the potential benefits. And it would be easy to keep the project low profile. All I'd need is a lab with good access to Mako, some decent equipment, and a few competent scientists and technicians who can keep their mouths shut. Oh, and some Jenova cells."
When there was no immediate response, Steven added more impatiently, "Look, you know the initial results were extremely promising. It would be a horrible waste to let four years of hard work just slide through our fingers!"
"You mentioned trouble."
Steven sighed, rubbing at his badly bruised throat. "Specimen C has apparently managed to regain a surprisingly high level of cognitive function. He's walking, talking, and even managed to recognize me. Unfortunately. Damn well nearly killed me, but I got away."
"Is he still after you?"
"Not at the moment, but there's no telling when he might get the urge to kill me again. Look, Specimen C might be physically functional, but he's hostile, dangerously aggressive, and mentally unstable. Hell, capturing and locking him away would be doing everyone a public service! But with that enhanced physique of his, he's going to be extremely difficult to subdue. That's why I need your expertise."
"All right. I'll see what I can do. Do you have somewhere safe to hide while I make arrangements?"
"Yeah, yeah. I'll manage something. Just don't take too long, okay?"
"I'll try to expedite things," the female voice said reassuringly.
"My phone's broken, so I'll give you a call when I've settled in somewhere. Later."
After hanging up the phone, Steven smiled. The run-in with Specimen C had left him badly shaken, but he now felt much better. Soon, the situation would be back under control. However, this time it would be HIS control.
He glanced back at the phone on his desk. Should he call Roissy, warn her about Specimen C?
No, let the bitch take her chances.
He grabbed his duffle bag, cautiously checked out the hallway. The area looked clear, so he exited his office and quickly made his way to the elevator lobby.
When the elevator stopped on one of the lower floors, one of his work colleagues entered. Noticing Steven's duffle bag, the man asked, "Hey, you part of the team that's supposed to head out to Rocket Town?"
Thinking quickly, Steven hastily pulled his jacket collar up to hide his bruised throat, and said, "Actually, yes."
"Then you better get out to the upper helipad ASAP if you want to catch your ride. They're going to be leaving in a few minutes."
"Thanks for the reminder. I can't wait to get out of here," Steven said with complete sincerity.
.
As they waited in Reeve's office for an update on Cloud's condition, Cid and the others examined photos of the revived Sapphire and Emerald WEAPONs. They also received the unwelcome report of a strange red tentacle-like object sticking out of the sand on a tiny desert island in the southeast ocean.
Cid muttered sourly, "How much gil you wanna bet it's fucking Ruby?"
"No takers," Yuffie said.
Reeve sighed and said, "Well, I guess that settles it. I think it's safe to assume that the other WEAPONs have also returned. Now the question is what to do about them. Aside from that incident with the cargo ship, which could have simply been an accident, they're not doing anything overtly hostile at the moment. I don't want to provoke them if we don't have to."
Cid jabbed a finger in Reeve's direction. "You've got a pretty good point. Since those damned WEAPONs are supposed to be the Planet's immune system or something, we need to know what made them show up again in the first place. You come up with any news or info about Jenova?"
"Nothing definitive." Reeve got up and started pacing. "I've located a stash of old research records in a warehouse in Midgar. Unfortunately, there are literally hundreds of file boxes. Who knows? The answer we're looking for could be sitting right under our noses... IF we can find it. We're going to need someone to sift through all those documents."
"That's going to take friggin' forever!" Cid objected.
"I know," Reeve replied in grim tones.
"You really know how to cheer a guy up, don't you?" griped the pilot, hunkering down in his chair. "And who's the lucky son of a bitch who has to go through all that shit? 'Cause I'll tell you right now that it isn't going to be me. Hell, I wouldn't have a fucking clue what to look for!
"Yeah, we aren't trained scientists. It'll be way too easy for us to overlook something important," Yuffie added.
The Shinra executive sighed. "Unfortunately, practically everyone who knows anything about Jenova and Jenova-related research got their expertise working with or for Hojo. Probably a good quarter of the surviving Shinra scientific staff were involved, if not active participants, in Hojo's research at some point."
"You're thinking that some of these scientists might still be loyal to Hojo or have their own persona agendas going?" asked Yuffie, throwing herself into an cushy armchair.
Cid flung up his hands and yelled, "Mad scientists! Is that all we've got? A bunch of mad, loony scientists? Isn't there a SINGLE science guy out there who's got his head screwed on straight?"
Reeve held up his hands. "Now calm down, Cid. Over the last two years, I've gotten to know some scientists who have some knowledge about Jenova, but who aren't interested in following in Hojo's footsteps. It's a short list, but they're good people. As for the others, well...." Reeve shrugged. "We'll just have to keep an eye on them. Anyway, I've sent a scientific team to Nibelheim to retrieve any information and equipment still left in the Shinra Mansion. I should've done it a lot sooner but...."
"Wait a sec!" Yuffie protested. "You said yourself that we might not be able to trust a lot of those scientists. So isn't sending them to Nibelheim rather like waving drugs under the nose of an addict?"
"True, but I sent along Reno and the other Turks to keep an eye on them," Reeve said with a crooked grin.
Cid and Yuffie exchanged startled looks, then grinned evilly at each other.
Reeve added, "I asked Rufus if I could borrow them. Rufus agrees that the information and equipment left in Nibelheim should be secured immediately. The Turks are experts at intimidation and they have the willingness to back up their reputation, as we all well know."
"So you're hoping that the Turks and their nasty rep will keep those scientists in line," Cid said. "It'll probably work, although I don't envy them that job."
"Well, at least the Turks have their uses," Tifa said drily as she and Cloud entered the room.
Reeve shrugged, "Reno may be a bit of a sociopath, but he's a professional and very good in his particular line of work." He then turned to Cloud. "I'm so glad to see you back on your feet. You really had us worried. Are you feeling all right now?"
"Yeah. Sorry about the trouble," Cloud said with a slight, apologetic smile.
Cid grinned, then said, "I was wondering if you were going to snooze through this entire mess and leave us with all the dirty work." On a more serious note, he added, "So why the hell did you end up so far off the road to Edge and what the fuck happened to you out there?"
Cloud frowned, then slowly said, "I'm not sure how I ended up there, but that outcrop is where... that's where Zack died. I don't know why, but being there triggered some sort of intense flashback about that day when...." His voice trailed away as he stared out the windows of Reeve's office.
"Must've been one hell of a flashback if it caused you to pass out cold like that."
"Yeah. It was."
Yuffie shifted nervously, then said brightly, "But you're feeling okay now, right?"
"I'm fine." Cloud glanced at Reeve. "You were saying something about sending the Turks and a team of scientists to Nibelheim to retrieve Hojo's research?"
"That's right."
"What about the reactor at Mt. Nibel?" Tifa asked. "Are they going to strip that, too? Because there's tons of weird equipment still in the reactor. It probably wouldn't be too hard to get that machinery up and running again."
Reeve nodded and replied, "I know. However, at the moment we're concentrating on the Mansion because that's where most of the research data is located. Also, the lab equipment in the Mansion is much more portable than the machinery in the Mt. Nibel reactor and therefore much easier to remove or steal. The WRO team will check the reactor for data, but as for the equipment there, we can arrange for its demolition at a later date...."
Reeve's intercom interrupted him with a strident buzz.
"Yes, what is it?"
"Sir, a Dr. Aston wants to report an attack on his facility."
Everyone in the room suddenly came alert and began listening very intently.
"An attack? What kind of attack?" Reeve demanded.
"He refuses to say, sir. He insists upon talking directly with you."
"All right. Put him through. Dr. Aston, this is Reeve. You wanted to speak with me?"
Over the speaker phone, a gruff male voice barked, "Yes. The Archival Specimen Storage Research Unit Building has just been raided by a large group of unidentified monsters."
"Hold it, hold it! The what?"
Aston made an annoyed sound, then said with exaggerated care, "The. Archival. Specimen. Storage. Research. Unit. Building. Has. Been. Attacked. By. Monsters."
"What the hell's this Archival Storage and... never mind. Just tell me what attacked you."
"I told you already. Lots of monsters."
"It would be helpful if you could be a little more specific as to the type and number of monsters."
Dr. Aston said snappishly, "If I could tell you what kind of monsters they were, they won't be 'unidentified', would they? As for the number, I was running for my life, not doing a population census."
Cid rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath, "What did I tell you guys about these Shinra scientists? Flaming assholes, all of them."
Reeve gritted his teeth and said, "All right. You were attacked by entities or creatures unknown. Would you happen to have any idea WHY you were attacked?"
"Look, they just appeared out of nowhere and started tearing up the place."
Reeve took a deep breath. "I see. Are the monsters still there?"
"No. They took what they wanted, then left."
"And what did they take, doctor?"
"I don't know. I'd have to check the inventory."
"Then how do you know that they stole something?"
Dr. Aston sounded as if he was lecturing a group of particularly stupid school children. "When intruders break in, head directly for a specific area, ransack said area, then fly away carrying something, the obvious conclusion is theft."
"And what do you have that's worth stealing?" Reeve was getting noticeably annoyed with the director, and none of his friends could blame him.
Dr. Aston's voice bristled with offended dignity. "I'll have you know that we have some extremely valuable and irreplaceable specimens here!"
Cloud walked over to Reeve's desk and said, "Does your facility contain any samples of Jenova, Dr. Aston?"
"Wha... who the hell are you!"
"Just answer the question, doctor," Reeve interrupted.
"No, of course not! We're only a long-term storage facility," the director said irritably. "Hojo would never allow valuable research specimens like that out of his custody."
"But you do know what Jenova is," Cloud said sharply.
"Of course I do. I'm a senior scientist and facility director, not some junior researcher."
Reeve frowned thoughtfully, then he flicked a quick glance at Cloud. It seemed that their thoughts were running on similar lines because Cloud nodded grimly.
"Where are you located, Dr. Aston?" asked Reeve.
"In the mountains east of the old reactor at Fort Condor, the one that used to have a giant bird perching on it."
"I'm familiar with the area. I'm sending some people out to your facility to investigate. They should arrive within two hours and I expect you to extend them every courtesy."
"Fine."
"Take care of your casualties, but don't mess with the scene any more than you absolutely have to. Reeve out."
"Sheesh! What an asshole!" said Yuffie as she idly juggled a few shuriken.
Cid said sarcastically, "Monsters breaking into a research facility and stealing shit? Now is that friggin' suspicious or what?" Looking over toward Cloud, he noticed the blond frowning.
"What's bugging you?"
"I'm not sure. It's just that...." Cloud hesitated before continuing. "To get a group of monsters to perform an organized raid like the one Aston is describing, a human or human-level intelligence would need to be in control."
Yuffie nodded. "There's materia that lets you control monsters, but only for really short periods of time and only a few at a time. This raid sounds way more complicated."
"So all we know at this point is that someone went through a lot of effort to organize a large scale monster raid just so they could steal something from Dr. Aston's facility," Tifa said.
Cid impatiently rose to his feet. "Look, we can jaw about this for hours, but we're not going to get anywhere by just sitting here. So let's get our asses down to that Archival Storage place and take a look around for some clues."
"Are you really feeling up to this?" Tifa gave Cloud a worried look.
"Don't worry. I'm fine now."
Yuffie suddenly started to giggle, but the giggles soon turned into outright shrieks of laughter.
Cid eyed the ninja sourly and said, "What's so fucking funny?"
She tried to answer, but it took several attempts before she got enough breath back to say anything.
"The name of his facility... hee hee hee... no wonder that jerk never abbreviated it!"
"Abbreviate it? What do you mean, Yuffie?" Tifa said, looking increasingly confused.
"Archival Specimen Storage Research Unit Building... ha ha ha!"
Tifa said in dangerous tones, "Yuffie, I'm about to strangle you!"
Cloud blinked, then choked back a soft laugh of his own, followed by a growing grin on Reeve's face.
"If you abbreviate it... hee hee hee... it comes out... ASSRUB!"
Although the attack on the facility was a deadly serious matter, they couldn't help laughing, snickering, chuckling -- or in Cloud's case, grinning slightly -- all the way back to the Shera.
.
A pale, painfully thin woman with very short brown hair burst out of the elevator and stomped into the office, her labcoat flapping like stubby wings.
"I don't know why you called me over, but it better be worth my time," she snapped at the elegant black-haired woman sitting behind the desk.
Dr. Nyx brushed a strand of long curly hair behind one ear and replied mildly, "I received a phone call from Dr. Steven. He had some very interesting information to share, Montessi."
"Steven? That moron! You dragged me away from my work to talk about HIM?" Dr. Montessi jeered, stalking impatiently around the neatly organized office.
A unruffled Nyx continued, "He told me that Specimen C is still alive."
Montessi froze in mid-step, then turned slowly toward the other woman.
"You're joking. Steven has to be talking out of his ass, as usual."
"No, in this case, he's not. I've verified it for myself. Specimen C, the prototype for Project S2, is very much alive."
The thin scientist took three rapid steps forward, then slammed her hands down on Nyx's desk.
"Where is he! In a clinic, a hospital? Who has custody at the moment? Can we negotiate with them, or do we need to use other means to secure him?"
Nyx raised a slender hand to stem the barrage of questions.
"He's in no one's custody except his own. If the preliminary reports I've received are accurate, the prototype apparently achieved a normal level of cognitive function within a year of his escape from Nibelheim."
"That's impossible! At the time of the escape, Specimen C was incapable of even the most rudimentary mental activity. In fact, if it wasn't for the link with...."
"I have some security footage from WRO Headquarters that might change your mind," Nyx interrupted, gesturing at a wall screen. She pressed a button on her desk. "This video was recorded just over an hour ago. See for yourself."
On the monitor, an attractive young woman with long dark hair walked down a corridor, accompanied by a young man with disheveled, almost spiky blond hair. He moved easily, clearly alert and aware of his surroundings.
Montessi watched the screen avidly, but made an obvious effort to maintain some measure of objectivity. She said, "The hair and the build certainly match Specimen C, but that's no guarantee. That man on the video could merely have a close physical resemblance."
The image on the screen froze and zoomed in on the blond man's face -- more specifically, on his intense blue eyes that glowed with a faint, but distinctive inner light.
Montessi released a long, slow hiss of satisfaction.
"There are no SOLDIERs or experimental subjects on file with a similar physical description," Nyx said, although her comment was probably unnecessary.
"Yes, by god! It IS Specimen C!"
"Cloud Strife."
"What?" Montessi said distractedly.
"The S2 prototype's name is Cloud Strife."
"Whatever," the thin scientist muttered with a dismissive wave of her hand. "The name's irrelevant. What's important is that I have a chance to recover the product of four long years of research. MY research, not Roissy's!"
Montessi's voice started to rise in both shrillness and volume. "She STOLE my ideas and presented them to President Shinra as her own! She got all the credit, not because of her brains, but because of her pretty looks and her willingness to literally whore herself out to whoever's charge! And me? I got stuck doing the scut work, as usual!"
Nyx waited patiently as Montessi started to pace around the room, gesturing furiously as she repeated familiar complaints and grudges.
"And once in charge, what did Roissy do! She tried to play it safe! SHE didn't have the guts to push the limits! But I did! I'm the one who theorized that Phases 1 and 2 could be carried out simultaneously! And just as I was about to proceed to Phase 3, that moron Steven allows Zack Fair and the prototype to escape! All my hard work, gone, thanks to other people's blithering incompetence!"
Nyx said nothing as Montessi whirled to face her, pale and gasping from her outburst. Seeing that Montessi's rant had apparently run its course, she asked, "What are you planning to do now? Because if you're planning to 'recover' Cloud Strife, I strongly recommend that you don't try."
"What do you mean?"
"You are aware of the enormous monster that attacked Edge two weeks ago."
"Of course. No one in the lab could stop talking about it," Montessi said irritably.
"This is some video footage from a news camera that was on the scene."
On the wall monitor, the closeup of Cloud's eyes changed to a scene of chaos as terrified people screamed and ran through the streets of Edge. The camera jerked around wildly as the cameraman dodged both the fleeing mob and falling debris, but settled just long enough to focus on a sleek, powerful black motorcycle and its blond-haired rider as it roared into view.
Montessi and Nyx watched silently as Cloud pulled out and threw an enormous sword, then smoothly caught the returning blade before riding head-on into a massive wave of collapsing wreckage.
Camera motion and dust obscured the video, but when the picture cleared, the it showed the same black motorcycle, now with two riders, emerging unscathed from all the wreckage, then skidded to a stop in the main plaza.
Montessi opened her mouth to say something, but Nyx murmured, "There's more. Keep watching."
The video blurred with static, then cleared once again to follow Cloud as the man leapt effortlessly among towering steel girders, giant sword in hand, as he relentlessly pursued and slashed at the hideous dragon-like monster that flew overhead. From the creature's enraged shrieks and flailing gestures, the sword attacks were clearly having considerable effect on the huge monster. There were other fighters on scene, but Cloud held both scientists' attention as a single fierce strike knocked the monster from the sky and sent it hurtling into the ground.
The image of Cloud lightly dropping onto a girder, massive broadsword in hand, froze on the monitor.
"As you can see, recapturing Cloud will be no easy task." Nyx leaned forward in her chair to emphasize her next words. "And do you know why? Because even from this brief glimpse at Cloud's combat performance, I can say with a fair degree of certainty that Cloud is a fully successful S2 prototype."
"I know! That's why I want to...."
Nyx made a soft sound of exasperation. "Montessi, do you remember the primary goal of Project S2?"
"Of course I do -- to create second generation super-SOLDIERs with combat abilities superior to the first generation of SOLDIER, and if possible, Sephiroth. But what does that have to do with recapturing Cloud?"
Nyx rubbed her forehead, then said patiently, "As a Project S2 prototype, Cloud was engineered to surpass the very best of the first generation SOLDIERs -- SOLDIERs like Angeal, Genesis, and Zack Fair. Zack defeated both Angeal and Genesis, even before the additional experiments at Nibelheim, so that's why we chose to use him as a baseline for the project."
Seeing that Montessi finally seemed to be listening to her, Nyx continued.
"Do you know how many men the Shinra Army had to use to bring down Zack? Battalions, Montessi, in the plural. With air support. And do you know how many of those men were left standing when Zack finally fell?"
"No."
"Three. Just three of them."
Nyx pointed at Cloud's image on the wall monitor. "That man managed to mortally wound and kill Sephiroth even before he was modified with Mako and Jenova cells. He did it on pure adrenaline." She raised her hand to stop Montessi's protest. "Yes, I am well aware that the earlier fight with Zack wore down Sephiroth considerably. But even so, it's an incredibly impressive feat for an unmodified human. The present day Cloud, as the news video plainly shows, is orders of magnitude stronger. You should know that, because you helped make him that way."
"But there are ways of subduing SOLDIERs. With the right planning, equipment, drugs...."
"And what of the consequences if the slightest thing goes wrong? Why do you think that Shinra sent out SOLDIERs instead of capture teams to hunt down other SOLDIERs? Calm down and think the situation through. There's really no need to rush out and capture Cloud at this point in time. Any questions as to Cloud's capabilities can be answered with less effort and considerably less danger simply through discreet investigation and observation."
Nyx sat back in her chair. "Leave Cloud Strife alone, Montessi. Your work there is done, at least for now."
The other scientist hesitated, then shook her head sharply.
"There are still more experiments to be carried out, other aspects of Project S2 that didn't get tested because the escape!" Montessi protested. "And without a successful Phase 1 prototype like Specimen C as a test subject, we'll never have a chance to achieve the full potential of Project S2!"
Nyx silently pulled a folder out of a drawer, then slid it across the desk.
Montessi read the name at the folder and immediately said, "He's dead."
"As with Cloud, the reports of Rufus Shinra's demise have been greatly exaggerated."
Montessi turned her eyes back to the folder, then picked it up and began to read. When she finished, she slowly lowered it and stared at Nyx with a dreadful sort of hope.
"Brothers?" she breathed.
"The same father, with full siblings as mothers. So, half-brothers and full cousins." Nyx slid two more pieces of paper across the desk. "Note the multiple points of similarity in their genetic profiles."
Montessi studied the test results. "Did President Shinra know that Cloud Strife was his son?"
"Of course he did. Why do you think that he insisted on using Cloud as the initial test subject for Project S2?"
"It says that Rufus had Geostigma. If he has such a negative reaction to Jenova cells...."
"Geostigma is not an accurate indicator of a person's tolerance for Jenova cells. SOLDIERs can contract Geostigma, so there are obviously other factors involved with the disease."
"And where is Rufus now?"
"Healen Lodge, with some of the Turks serving as his bodyguards."
Montessi chuckled, a low rusty sound, deep in her throat. "Turks are formidable, but they're a much more manageable obstacle for a group of competent, well-equipped mercenaries than a second generation super-SOLDIER, hmmm?"
"Especially when most of those Turks are away on various missions." Nyx paused. "As they are, at the moment."
"How... convenient," Montessi purred, then she frowned suddenly. "But that still leaves the matter of finding some Jenova cells."
"I believe that a few samples still exist in various obscure locations. Tracking down the viable ones will take some time, however."
Montessi resumed her pacing, obviously deep in thought. "We can still start work on Rufus immediately. We have to do several rounds of Mako infusion before we can use the Jenova cells, anyway. The lab and the Mako won't be a problem. I already have a place in mind."
"I hope you're not talking about Nibelheim, because that location is being secured by the Turks at this very moment."
"No, no," Montessi said, waving her hand. "Nibelheim's way too obvious. Too many people know about it, and I don't want any interference or interruptions." She looked at Nyx. "I could use you on this project."
"Thank you for the invitation, but I have my own research to pursue."
"Suit yourself. But you're missing out on a marvelous opportunity," Montessi said with a careless shrug, then walked out of Nyx's office without so much as a goodbye or thank you.
Alone in her office, Nyx pulled her long curly black hair into a ponytail, then returned to her computer. Genetic data scrolled rapidly across multiple wall screens -- not only for Cloud and Rufus, but profiles of Sephiroth, Zack Fair, Vincent Valentine, Cid Highwind, Tifa Lockhart, Reeve Tuesti, various Turks, and a multitude of others.
Among all the shifting screens of data, one display remained fixed and unchanged.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
JENOVA PROJECT
PROJECT G - Genesis Rhapsodos, Angeal Hewley
~ project terminated ~
PROJECT S0 - Sephiroth
PROJECT S1 - SOLDIER (1st gen)
PROJECT S2 - SOLDIER (2nd gen)
~ PHASE 1 ~ augmentation
~ PHASE 2 ~ replication
~ PHASE 3 ~ assimilation
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
.
The trip to Dr. Aston's facility -- they all agreed NOT to use the acronym -- took just over an hour. The well hidden facility was nestled in a little valley located surprisingly close to Fort Condor. A tall chainlink fence topped with razor wire enclosed a large number of barn-like structures and a small three-story office building. According to the information from Reeve, the main part of the surprisingly large facility lay underground.
As the Shera descended, the only visible sign of damage Cloud and the others saw was a large jagged hole in the roof of the small office building.
The clearly impatient director -- a large, hulking man who looked more like a scruffy dockworker than a senior research scientist -- stalked up to them as soon as they disembarked from the airship. Dr. Aston glared at them, clearly not impressed by what he saw.
In a harsh, gravelly voice, the man snapped, "So you're the WRO's investigation team? I'm Dr. Aston, the director of this facility."
Cloud moved straight to the point and said, "What happened here?"
"See for yourself." Dr. Aston waved a ham-sized hand in the general direction of the buildings.
Despite the director's statement, there wasn't anything unusual to be seen from ground level. The most noticeable thing was the pungent aroma of livestock and their by-products coming from the barns.
"So, what do you guys do here at ASS...." Yuffie coughed when Cait Sith, who was riding on her shoulder, poked her. She then continued brightly, "... at this, um... Archival Specimen Storage Research Unit Building?"
Dr. Aston shot the ninja a suspicious look. When she merely gave him an innocent grin, he huffed, then said, "We do research into bioenergy."
Cid looked startled. "Didn't think that anyone was still fiddling around with Mako."
The director coughed, then said stiffly, "Bioenergy as in biofuels, not Mako." With a sour grimace, he added, "As you said, no one, not even Shinra, is willing to fund active research into Mako anymore."
"So what's the difference?" Tifa asked.
"Biofuels are fuels derived from biomass. In our case, gaseous fuels derived from degradable biowaste."
"Biowaste?"
Cid glanced over at Yuffie, then rolled his eyes. "He's referring to manure, crap, shit, and that sort of stuff." He jerked his head toward the barns. "Which explains the livestock and the smell."
"Oh.... ooooh." The ninja suddenly made a choking sound that sounded suspiciously like a stifled giggle. "Then I guess that makes the... er, name of this place particularly appropriate."
"Yuffie! Behave yourself!" Tifa hissed, elbowing the ninja sharply.
"And what is THAT supposed to mean?" Dr. Aston demanded, his eyes narrowing dangerously.
Cloud simply shook his head and said, "Never mind. Just ignore her, doctor. Going back to the attack, the only visible damage we've seen so far is the hole in the building roof."
"The real damage is inside. Well, if you're here to investigate, then hurry up and investigate so we can clean the damn mess up and get back to work." He eyed them sourly. "Unlike some people, I don't have time to go jaunting around on airships as I please."
Once inside the building, the damage was massive, but highly focused. The path of destruction led straight from the roof through three floors and into the main elevator lobby on the ground floor. Every pair of elevator doors had been ripped away, leaving gaping entrances to the elevator shafts.
"Sheesh, just follow the copious blood splatter and claw marks," Yuffie said, eyeing the damage.
"Hell, straight in and no messing about, huh?" Cid snorted scornfully. "Monster attack, my ass! This was a fucking surgical strike."
"How many people were hurt in this attack?" Cait Sith asked.
Aston blinked at being questioned by a comical black-and-white toy cat with a gilded crown, but answered, "Five technicians and three support staff died. About the same number were wounded to varying degrees." He shrugged "Fortunately, no one important got killed or seriously injured."
"Only expendable people got hurt, so no big loss to you. I suppose that's one way of looking at it."
Oblivious to Cid's sarcasm, Aston led them through two large metal security doors, now shredded like tissue paper, then into a stairwell.
"As you can see, the monsters used the elevator shafts to enter the underground levels. Three of the technicians died when those monsters severed the main support cables and their elevator car dropped ten floors."
As they descended the stairs, Yuffie whispered to Tifa, "If any of those scientists Reeve sent to Nibelheim are like this moron, those poor Turks are really going to earn their pay."
The group finally emerged into a small lobby area. On one side, from the direction the torn metal curled, the monsters had plainly torn their way out of the elevator shafts. On the other side of the lobby was a massive security door that was mostly eaten away by some powerful acid. Through the gaping hole in the door, they could see a large, sterile-looking chamber filled with floor-to-ceiling transparent cylinders. Surprisingly, the destruction on this floor was strictly limited to the lobby area, with nothing beyond the security door being damaged or even scratched.
Aston gestured at the cylinder-filled room. "This is the high security specimen storage area. As you can see, the monsters came down the elevator shafts, destroyed the security door, opened one of the cylinders, removed the sample inside, and left the same way."
"How does the damn system work?" asked Cid as he entered the inner storage chamber.
"Each sample is locked in an individual security container, each with its own keypad." Aston pointed to a cylinder. "To open any container, you have to enter the proper authorization code."
"How hard is it to break one of these suckers open?" Cid rapped the empty container with his spear and got a dull thunk from the thick plastic.
"You'd run a serious risk of destroying the container's contents if you tried that," Aston replied.
Tifa looked around. "Okay, so who has the codes?"
"It depends on the sample, of course, and who has authority to access it."
"There's only one cylinder open and undamaged, which means that one of those monsters actually typed in a working access code for this specific container."
"Obviously," Aston replied, sounding annoyed.
"Do you know what sort of code was used and what kind of specimen was taken?" Tifa was clearly trying to be patient and accommodating, but it wasn't easy with a man like Aston.
"Do you have any idea how many specimens are stored in this facility?"
"Then why the hell don't you look it up and tell us, instead of standing there like a frickin' statue?" Cid demanded.
Aston glared at the pilot, then snarled, "Fine." With a sigh of disgust, the director turned and stomped over to a computer terminal in the back corner of the room. He typed in a command, then stood back, his arms folded and his face set in a belligerent scowl.
The data on the nearby wall screen read:
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
CONTAINER ID: D3-E1-5K9
AUTHORIZATION: Weapons Development Department
*** ACCESS LIMITED TO LEVEL GREEN AND ABOVE
SAMPLE DATE: Day J, Month K, Year 0005
SPECIES: Human
CLASSIFICATION: Probationary Employee, Weapons Development
SUBJECT NAME: Reilly, Nathan
LAST ACCESS: A-B-0009, LEVEL GREEN (shared)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
As Cloud and the others continued to stare at the screen, Aston snapped, "Now are you satisfied?"
The only response he received was a darkly suspicious look from every single individual in the room, the silly-looking toy cat included.
"Okay, I'm calling 'behemoth shit' on this," was Yuffie's response.
Tifa folded her arms. "Count me in."
Cid looked at Cait Sith, then back at Aston. "I fucking well know that in Shinra, 'high security' applies to Level Red on up. Level Green? No damn way."
"What are you talking about?" the director blustered.
"No one goes through all this trouble to steal a cell sample from some Joe-slob probie out of Weapons Development!" retorted the pilot.
"You must take us for complete idiots!" Yuffie stalked forward and smacked the wall screen with the back of her hand. "That's not even the right container ID number!"
Tense silence settled over the room as Cloud's friends glared at Aston and the director stared defiantly back.
Without taking his eyes off Aston, Cloud said, "Cait, try the correct ID number for the open container."
The small robot cat bounced over to the computer and did exactly that. In return, he received a loud beep and a flashing red ACCESS DENIED message from the computer.
"No go. The information related to that particular specimen can't be accessed without...." Cait Sith fiddled with the computer. "....without a Level Black passcode from the Science Department or the facility director's permission."
Everyone turned their attention back to Dr. Aston and waited for his response.
The director remained defiant, but he was also showing signs of stress, probably because Cloud and his companions hadn't reacted as he'd expected.
Aston finally said, "The specimens in this facility are Shinra Corporation property. I can't hand out detailed information about valuable company assets to just anyone. And since you're WRO, you don't have proper authorization. You'll have to go through the proper company channels...."
"Enough with this bureaucratic red tape crap!" Cid exploded, losing his last scrap of patience. However, Cloud interrupted his outburst.
"If you're so worried about keeping Shinra company secrets, why did you contact the WRO in the first place? Why didn't you report the attack directly to Shinra?" Cloud's tone was cold and sharp.
"Because he doesn't want Shinra to investigate," Cait Sith said with a surprisingly toothy grin. "I'm guessing that Aston's been embezzling company funds. Or better yet, maybe he's been stealing company property and selling it off in order to line his own pockets. It's always been Shinra company SOP -- standard operating procedure -- for the investigators to do an independent inventory and audit whenever a security breach occurs. I don't think that's changed in the last two years."
"But since we're not from Shinra, Aston would be the one handling the inventory." Tifa smiled tightly.
"Exactly. It would give him a perfect chance to cover his tracks."
"That's... that's a ridiculous and insulting allegation! And coming from a talking toy, no less!" Aston bellowed.
They all ignored the director's blustering.
"I bet he took one look at us and thought that it'd be easy to send us off on some wild chocobo chase!" Yuffie uttered a contemptuous sniff.
Cid snapped, "Well, he's damn well wrong about that!"
The pilot took an angry step toward the director, obviously determined to pound the information they needed out of the man, if necessary. However, Cloud stopped him with an outstretched arm, then turned to Yuffie and said, "Grab his phone."
Yuffie gave the director a quick evil smirk. Before Aston could blink or even twitch a finger, she had neatly pilfered his cellphone -- and probably a few other items -- from his clothing. The ninja waved the phone tauntingly in front of the man's nose, then tossed it over her shoulder to Cloud.
Cloud caught the phone, flicked open it open, and dialed a number.
"What the hell do you think you're doing!" Aston sputtered furiously.
Cloud merely gave the man a level stare, then said into the phone, "Yeah, it's me. There's a Shinra research facility called ASSRUB -- the Archival Specimen Storage Research Unit Building -- located near Fort Condor. Its director is a Dr. Aston. The facility was attacked today by a large group of unidentified monsters who broke in, stole a single biological specimen from high security storage, and then left. Information related to the stolen specimen can only be accessed by someone with Level Black clearance from the Science Department or by the facility director. Dr. Aston refuses to cooperate. He claims that as a loyal Shinra employee, he can't give us that information because we don't have the appropriate security clearance." Cloud listened intently for a moment. "That's right, high security biological specimens."
After another pause, Cloud thrust the phone back at the infuriated director.
"He wants to talk to you."
Aston grabbed his phone and snarled, "And what makes you think that I want to talk to him, whoever he is!" He then turn his attention to his cellphone and shouted into it, "I don't know who the hell you think you are but... Mr. President, sir! I thought you were... of course, but... well, yes... I, er.... but... uh.... I wasn't...."
The director began to sweat visibly as he continued to sputter feebly into the phone.
"No, no! There's no need for that... just a misunderstanding... certainly... absolutely clear... um... yes... I understand, complete cooperation! At once, sir!"
Aston closed his phone, then wilted in obvious and total defeat. He then looked around, as if seeking sympathy, but all he got was cold hard looks from Cloud and the others.
"Ah... yes," Aston muttered, tugging on his sweat-stained shirt collar. "The information about the missing specimen." He walked heavily over to the computer.
A few seconds later, the requested information appeared on the wall monitor. As Cloud and the others gathered around to read it, everyone, Aston included, went very quiet.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
CONTAINER ID: B3-R5-3F3
AUTHORIZATION: Science Department, Director
*** ACCESS LIMITED TO LEVEL BLACK AND FACILITY DIRECTOR
*** LETHAL SECURITY MEASURES AUTHORIZED
*** ACCESS BY OTHER PERSONS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN
*** UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS WILL RESULT IN SEVERE PENALTIES INCLUDING TERMINATION
SAMPLE DATE: Day S, Month T, Year 0002
SPECIES: human, modified (JENOVA PROJECT S0)
CLASSIFICATION: SOLDIER (Special Class)
SUBJECT NAME: Sephiroth
LAST ACCESS: A-B-0009, LEVEL BLACK (Dr. Hojo)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
.
"Stay where you belong, in my memories."
"I will... never be a memory."
Cloud knew that his friends were all looking at him, tensely waiting for his reaction. In the end, there was only one thing he could think of to say.
"Not exactly subtle, is he?"
Various jaws dropped.
With a shrug, Cloud turned to look at his friends. "Well, it's true. Hojo certainly isn't trying to hide his intentions. Otherwise, he would've ordered the monsters to steal multiple samples to hide his true target."
"You seem to be taking this awfully calmly," Yuffie commented in a mildly suspicious tone.
"I've been half-expecting something like this to happen. Only not quite so soon."
"You keep saying shit like that!" Cid said, sounding half-relieved that Cloud was handling their discovery so well, and half-annoyed for the very same reason.
"I will... never be a memory."
"Sorry, Cid. It has to do with something Sephiroth said to me just before he disappeared."
Tifa's eyes widened. "He threatened to return yet again?"
"I will... never be a memory."
"You could...." Cloud suddenly stopped, then cocked his head slightly. "Did you hear that?"
Startled, the others listened intently, then shook their own heads.
"What was it?" Yuffie looked curiously at Cloud.
"A series of muffled thumps and scraping noises." He paused. "There it goes again."
"I still don't...," Cid began, but Tifa, much more familiar with the sensitivity of Cloud's hearing, waved for silence.
"Can you tell where's it coming from?"
Cloud frowned. "I think the sound's coming from the elevator shafts. There's an odd metallic echo to it." He stiffened slightly. "Something's definitely moving around in there."
"You think some of the damn monsters are still lurking around?" Cid scowled, staring out into the small lobby area.
"Maybe. I'm going to check it out. Tifa, Yuffie, come with me," Cloud said, reaching for one of his shorter swords. He glanced at Cid and the pilot's spear, then added, "Space might be bit tight for you."
"You figure?" Cid said sardonically. "I'll stick around here with Cait. Someone needs to keep a close eye on this Aston character. Watch yourself in those shafts. As you said, space is gonna be really tight."
Cloud gave the pilot a nod and a quick flicker of a smile, then departed with the two women.
Several minutes later, Cid and Cait Sith heard the distinctive click of high heels headed in their direction. They looked around just in time to see a petite woman in a labcoat step cautiously through the severely damaged doorway. Both Cid's and Cait Sith's eyes widened in surprise. Aside from the labcoat, she looked more like a high-end fashion model than a scientist, starting from her perfectly styled mid-length brown hair, right down to the five inch stiletto heels that matched the color of her exquisitely tailored green dress suit.
"What are you doing here, Roissy?" Aston snapped, scowling ferociously at the woman.
"If you're the investigative team from the WRO, I need to talk to you."
"I can handle matters without your interference, doctor." He spoke the last word with a definite sneer. "Get back to your work station!"
Roissy continued to ignore the angry director. "I need to discuss the sample that was stolen today." She glanced at Cid. "Are you in charge?"
"Dr. Roissy...!" Aston thundered.
"Shut the fuck up," Cid snapped at the director. He then turned to the woman and said, "What the hell do you know about that sample? And how did you even know it was missing?"
She smiled grimly and said, "I don't have the security clearance to directly access the specimen's data, but a while ago, I managed to put a flag on it. That flag lets me know when someone opens that particular storage container."
"Do you mean to say that you had the unmitigated nerve to hack into Shinra company files!" Aston shouted, his face turning bright red.
Roissy planted her perfectly manicured hands on her hips. "I don't think you're in any position to be self-righteous, director!"
Aston took a furious step toward Roissy, but was brought up short as Cid planted his hand on the older man's chest.
"Let her talk. I want to hear what she's got to say about that sample." When Aston sputtered, the pilot glared at the other man and added dangerously, "Shut up, or I'll shut you up. Got that? Now butt out of the conversation!"
The director took a deep breath, struggled visibly with himself, then subsided into a sullen silence.
Roissy smirked at Aston before turning her attention back to Cid and Cait Sith.
"I don't have a clue what the original specimen contained, but I can tell you that the specimen the monsters took is a complete fake."
"WHAT?" Cid and Cait gave her an incredulous stare.
"It's a fake," Roissy repeated, then added, "Aston stole the original sample over three years ago and replaced it with a fake sample. So whoever stole the specimen today has junk."
"Junk?"
"Probably porcine mammary tissue. That's what Aston used to make the other fake samples."
"Porcine... what?" Cait Sith looked adorably confused.
Cid puzzled over it for a moment, then started to howl with laughter. "You mean.... you mean that Hojo's got nothing but freaking PIG TITS?"
"Basically, yes." Roissy stopped, then it was her turn to look confused. "Hojo? The former director of the Science Department? But I thought he was dead!"
"Long story," the pilot and the robot cat said simultaneously.
"So where the fuck is the real specimen?" Cid demanded.
"Why don't you ask HIM?" Roissy then jerked her chin at the silent director.
"I see." Cait Sith walked over to Aston and stared up at the heavy-set man. "You'd certainly have both opportunity and motive."
Aston clenched his jaw, but continued to say nothing.
"How did you find out about the substitution, Dr. Roissy?" Cait Sith turned to look at the female scientist.
She shrugged. "Several years ago, while I was working in another lab, I ran into some problems with specimen handling...."
There was a sudden series of muffled thumps and crashes off in the distance.
When Roissy stopped in mid-story, Cid casually said, "Don't worry. Our buddies are doing a little pest control. Keep going."
"Ah... all right. At first I thought it was just careless lab mistakes or random computer glitches, but eventually I started to suspect there was more going on. When I got reassigned here...."
"Demoted for incompetence, you mean," Aston said nastily, then subsided back into silence when Cid glared at him.
"When I got reassigned to this facility two years ago, I started to do some investigating on my own. I won't go into the details right now, but I soon discovered that someone was systematically removing the genuine specimens and replacing them with fakes, probably so the real samples could be sold to the highest bidder. By process of elimination, Aston had to be the culprit."
"You lying bitch!"
Roissy reached into the pocket of her labcoat and pulled out a disk. "I've got all the proof right here."
Cait Sith took the disk, then looked up at Roissy. "Why didn't you report your suspicions to Shinra?"
"I uncovered Aston's activities two years ago, just before Meteorfall. After that... well, I just let the matter go."
"Except today, the monsters stole -- or tried to steal -- one of the specimens Aston substituted," Cait Sith said.
"Exactly. I thought that the WRO should know that the thief -- Hojo, you said? -- didn't get what he wanted."
"We appreciate the heads-up, Roissy." Cid turned back to the director. "So where is it, Aston?"
"Where's what?" he muttered.
"Do not fucking play games with us. What the hell did you do with the real sample of Sephiroth's cells?"
"Sephiroth? You mean that original sample was supposed to be from Sephiroth?" Roissy interrupted, her eyes wide.
Cid didn't take his eyes off Aston, but merely jerked his head over to the wall monitor. As she rushed off, the pilot repeated his question.
"Where's the fucking sample? The real one."
"I told you, I don't know what you're talking about! That little bitch is trying to frame me!"
"I certainly did not! Just ask some of the lab people here. They'll tell you what's been going on!" Roissy protested from the back of the room.
"Look, I don't know which one of you are telling the damn truth right now!" Cid shouted, drowning out the two scientists as they hurtled accusations and counter-accusations at each other. "The important thing is that Hojo raided this place and killed a bunch of people to get a frickin' sample of Sephiroth's cells!"
He glared at the two now-quiet scientists. "If Hojo now has the real thing, everyone on this Planet has a big fucking problem."
The pilot jabbed a finger at Aston. "On the other hand, if the specimen Hojo stole is a fake, YOU'RE the one with the big fucking problem, Mr. Facility Director."
Aston sputtered an incoherent protest, but fear was clearly starting to replace his earlier bravado.
"Try to pull your damn head out of your damn butt, okay? If Hojo finds out that he's been stuck with a fake -- and believe me, he WILL find out -- he's going to be coming after you. Because as far as he knows, YOU're the only other person who had access to the goddamn sample!"
"Someone else must've stolen my codes, or hacked the security system!" the director practically wailed. "It wasn't me! I don't know anything about it!"
"Aston, 'some other dude did it' isn't going to cut it with Hojo, and you know it!" Cait Sith planted his paws on his hips. "He's going to ask you where the real sample of Sephiroth's cells are and he will happily torture you until he gets an answer that satisfies him!"
"All... all right. All right!" the ashen-faced man mumbled, rubbing his face in his hands. "I did switch the Sephiroth sample for a fake one three years ago. Someone was willing to pay me a great deal for it. As long as there's the right number of specimens in the right number of slots for the occasional inventory, who would know the difference?"
"Who did you give the sample to?" Cait Sith demanded impatiently.
Aston licked his lips. "Steven. A Dr. Lawrence Steven." He hunched his shoulders wearily. "Look, that's all I know. If you want more information, go ask him."
Cait Sith glanced over at Roissy, and saw a surprising amount of anger in her dark brown eyes.
"Something wrong, doctor?"
She started, then said quickly, "I'm just completely disgusted by Dr. Aston's and Dr. Steven's behavior. That's all."
"Look, the WRO will protect me from Hojo, right? Like you said, he's going to come looking for me. I need protection!" the director demanded anxiously.
"Yeah, yeah. Guess we're going to have to stick you in protective custody or whatever," the pilot said.
"We should evacuate everyone else from this facility, just in case Hojo or his monsters come back. I'll make the arrangements to have them flown to Junon. I don't think Hojo will go after them." Cait Sith gave Cid a meaningful look. "So the regular staff should be pretty safe. In the meantime, we need to track down this Dr. Steven."
Cid's phone suddenly rang.
"Yeah?"
Cloud's answer echoed oddly over the phone. "There's a small critter headed your way, Cid, through the vents. Be careful. It's got acid blood and it sprays."
"Got it."
Quickly stashing his phone, Cid scanned the area and located the four air vents into the specimen storage room, then snapped, "Back it up, guys, away from those vents! Look, don't ask goddamn questions. Just move and shut up!"
Aston and Roissy scrambled to the back corner of the room, along with Cait Sith, while Cid listened carefully. Soon, a faint scraping sound caught his attention. He took a few silent steps over to one of the vents, and waited.
Despite his preparation, Cid almost missed the creature as it lunged through the vent grating and scurried into the room.
The beast was scaly, the size of a small dog, and looked like a four-legged mouth packed with jagged black teeth and which dribbled nasty yellowish slime. It moved fast, chomping viciously at Cid's ankles. He dodged, then smacked the creature hard against the wall with the blunt end of his spear. The impact didn't seem to faze the monster. It flattened, rebounded like a rubber ball, then quickly scrambled back on its feet and charged Cid again. After a few more rounds, he finally managed to pin it to the floor with the back end of his spear.
"Now what?" the pilot muttered as the vicious little beast squealed and squirmed. He could spear the damn thing with the spear's blade end, but he had a nasty feeling that the thing would pop in his face like an acid-filled balloon.
"Cid, knock it out here!" Tifa called out from the lobby area near the elevators. "Yuffie?"
"Whenever Cid's ready! Give me a three count!"
"Gotcha, on three! One. Two. Three!"
Cid lifted his spear and before the monster could attack or scurry away, he whacked it through the damaged security doorway like a ball. The creature squealed as a bright whoosh of flame engulfed and incinerated it.
"Any more of those things?" the pilot said, walking out to join Tifa and Yuffie in the elevator lobby.
"No. There were only four of them, and that's the last one," Cloud said as he dropped out of an open elevator shaft.
"Great. I've got some good news. We might've caught a big break with this whole Sephiroth sample thing."
"What do you mean?" Tifa asked as she pulled off her gloves.
"The one Hojo managed to steal is a fake. Aston apparently swapped out the original sample several years ago and sold it off," Cid said with a grin. "So that sample that Hojo has? Pig tits."
Yuffie blurted, "Are you serious!"
The pilot grinned. "Yeah. Anyway, after explaining what's liable to happen once Hojo finds out about the switch, Aston spilled his guts and gave up his buyer. Reeve's tracking the guy down."
"What about Aston?" Cloud asked as he slid his short sword into the harness on his back.
"Protective custody," Cait Sith explained as he joined them in the lobby. "We're also going to evacuate this place. There's a good chance Hojo will come looking for Aston."
"So you're thinking about using this facility and possibly Aston as bait." Cloud looked thoughtful. "If we can stop Hojo quickly enough.... So who did Aston give the sample to?"
"A Dr. Lawrence Steven. He works at the WRO infirmary, but he's now disappeared."
Cloud's head snapped around to stare at the cat.
Tifa exclaimed, "But we saw him less than two hours ago! He's the doctor who examined Cloud when we brought him in!" She rolled her eyes. "Well, he was supposed to examine Cloud, but he ran off in mid-exam!"
Cait Sith blinked, then went silent for a moment. "Hell's fire. It's not in his WRO personnel files, but it turns out that Steven started working as a regular medical doctor just over two years ago. Before that...." Cait Sith slowly looked up at Cloud.
"Yeah?" Cid prompted.
"Before that, he was a researcher assigned to Nibelheim."
Tifa smacked her fist into her palm. "Well, that explains why he ran away!" She turned to Cloud. "He must've recognized you and panicked, for whatever reasons."
"But when we walked by his office, I didn't recognize him. At all," Cloud said, giving Tifa a puzzled look.
"Maybe you didn't recognize him, but he apparently recognized you!"
"And that caused him to dump everything and run?"
"Well, there's an old saying that the guilty often flee, even when no one pursues," Cait Sith said with a shrug. "Regardless of his reasons, we need to find him because he's the only one who knows what happened to that sample of Sephiroth's cells."
From the concealment of the specimen storage room, Roissy stared at the young man with the blond spiky hair.
He was alive. Specimen C, her prized Project S2 prototype, was ALIVE.
The elation she felt completely eclipsed her pleasure at Aston's ruin and her fury at Steven's backstabbing schemes.
The official reports had stated that both specimens were destroyed during a recapture attempt by the Shinra Army. The loss of Specimen Z, the SOLDIER, First Class, was a major blow to the project, but Specimen C, the actual prototype, had been irreplaceable. The simultaneous loss of both men had spelled the end of Project S2.
Roissy continued to watch as the prototype interacted smoothly with the other members of the WRO team. He was calm, coherent, and decisive. Excellent.
When she heard Specimen C -- Cloud Strife -- mention that he had no memory of Steven, she wasn't at all surprised, given the nature of the project's experiments and his response to those experiments.
Would Cloud recognize her? How would he react if he did? If Cloud didn't remember anything about Steven, someone he had regular contact with, then chances were very good that he wouldn't remember her. But there was no reason to be overconfident, either. It was far better to avoid the possibility of an awkward incident if she could.
Unfortunately, the choice could be taken out of her hands at any moment. Trapped in the storage area with Aston, she had nowhere to go. If Cloud entered the room or she was called out to meet him, there was no way to avoid a confrontation.
But as the conversation in the lobby continued, it seemed that Roissy's recent streak of good luck was holding out.
Cloud said, "Do you need us down here, Cid?"
"Nah. Why don't you guys head on up and start the evacuation?"
"All right." Cloud turned for the stairs, then abruptly stopped.
"Cloud?" Tifa said, looking concerned.
"I thought I smelled something...," he murmured, then shook his head. "Never mind."
The vaguely familiar odor continued to linger in Cloud's nose and nagged at his mind as the evacuation of the ASSRUB facility continued far into the night.
The very faint scent was floral, but not natural, with a hint of animal musk that made the smell subtle, sexy, and complex.
It was expensive perfume, but not as it came straight from the bottle.
This was the scent of a perfume on a living woman.
And although he could not express why, Cloud found it oddly repellent.
.
It was approaching midnight in Edge when someone knocked on the door to Reeve's office. With a sigh, he put down his mug of coffee.
"Come in."
The man who entered was of average height, with pleasant features and short brown hair, athletically built without being heavily muscled. But as he approached Reeve's desk, Reeve saw something that instantly pushed the man out of the realm of the ordinary and into the very unusual.
"You're a SOLDIER."
The man gave Reeve a wry smile. "Yeah. You can change the clothes, but the eyes are a pretty good giveaway." As he and Reeve shook hands, he added, "The name's Kunsel. I'm the guy who got assigned to run up to Icicle Inn and gather up some records."
"Ah, yes. That was quick work. Do you have them?"
Kunsel unslung his backpack and placed it on Reeve's desk.
"There wasn't much. The place has been deserted for decades. All I found were some old videotapes, audio tapes, along with a few papers."
Reeve sighed. "Well, the tapes were probably the most important things. Good work." He glanced up at Kunsel. "Did you have any trouble?"
"Nothing I couldn't handle," the SOLDIER said with a casual shrug.
Reeve chuckled as he sat down, then waved the other man to a chair.
"I was in the middle of a coffee break. Would you like some?"
"Sure. No, I'll help myself," Kunsel said as Reeve moved to rise. "You look like you've had a long hard day, Mr. Tuesti."
"Call me Reeve, please." He eyed Kunsel over the edge of his mug. "How long have you been working with the WRO, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Pretty much from the beginning, right after Meteorfall."
"So you weren't interested in working for the Shinra Corporation anymore and you didn't become a mercenary like other SOLDIERs."
"I thought about the mercenary bit, but it felt kind of pointless. I wasn't interested in mere survival, you know? As for working for Shinra...." Kunsel's normally pleasant expression tightened. "Well, let's just say that I got really disenchanted with Shinra and the way they did business."
"Oh, I understand completely."
"Yeah, as the former director of Urban Development, I guess you would."
Few minutes of comfortable silence passed as they drank their coffee, then Kunsel quietly said, "There's not many of us SOLDIERs around these days and everyone who's left has basically gone their own way." He shook his head, then added in a wistful tone, "After both Angeal and Zack disappeared, SOLDIER was never the same."
"That's odd. I'd always pictured Sephiroth's loss as having the biggest impact on SOLDIER."
Kunsel snorted. "Sephiroth might've been the famous hero that everyone talked about, but Angeal and Zack... well, they were the heart of SOLDIER. After they were gone, SOLDIER was pretty much the same as any other group of professional mercenaries."
The second name piqued Reeve's interest. "A SOLDIER named Zack, you said?"
"Zack Fair. He was one of my best friends. Angeal Hewley was his mentor." Kunsel cocked his head slightly. "Did you know Zack?"
"I might have seen him in passing once or twice around the Shinra Building, but no, I don't think I ever met this Zack personally."
"Oh, you'd remember Zack if you'd bumped into him. I swear, the guy had the uncanniest knack for making friends in the strangest places."
Reeve took another sip of coffee. "The reason I asked was because a good friend of mine was very close to a SOLDIER, First Class, called Zack."
"There's only ever been one Zack in SOLDIER."
"I see." Reeve looked down at his coffee, then put the mug down on his desk. "You mentioned that Zack disappeared. As one of his best friends, I think you should know that Zack died two years ago."
"No question about it?" Kunsel asked sharply.
"None."
Kunsel remained silent for a long moment, then said quietly, "I figured as much. After I learned that Shinra was...." He rubbed his hand over his mouth and sighed heavily.
Reeve watched the other man, wondering how much more he could or should say. Finally, he said, "How much do you know about the Nibelheim Incident?"
"I've heard the official reports. Sephiroth was listed as KIA, killed in action, while Zack and several infantrymen were declared missing in action," Kunsel replied cautiously.
"We both know how accurate Shinra official reports can be," Reeve said with a cynical smile. "The truth is complicated, to say the least, but it can be summarized like this -- Sephiroth went insane in Nibelheim and destroyed the town; Zack and one of the infantrymen tried to stop Sephiroth from stealing an alien specimen called Jenova; between the two of them, they succeeded in killing Sephiroth; for their efforts, Shinra handed them over to Hojo."
For the first time since making Kunsel's acquaintance, the man displayed the abilities that marked him as a SOLDIER. In a blur, Kunsel was out of his chair and leaning over Reeve's desk, his hands planted firmly on the tabletop.
"I knew it. I fucking KNEW it! Zack and that infantryman were the two research samples that escaped Nibelheim three years ago, weren't they!" Kunsel turned and paced in front of the desk. "On the run for nearly a year and he doesn't try to get in touch with me even once?"
Reeve started to speak, but Kunsel waved him into silence.
"No, I already know why. The stubborn idiot didn't want to get me or anyone else he cared about into trouble," the SOLDIER said in a voice that held equal amounts of affection and exasperation. "And knowing Zack, he probably died doing something unspeakably heroic!"
Despite Kunsel's seemingly cavalier attitude, Reeve could sense the deep underlying grief. No matter how much a person tried to prepare himself, it still hurt when one's worst fears became harsh reality.
"From the little that Cloud told me... yes, he did. The more I hear about Zack, the more I wish I could've met the man," Reeve said.
"Yeah. Zack was... really something."
.
Still at work in her office despite the late hour, Nyx answered her phone.
"Hello, Roissy."
"Guess who I just saw!"
As Nyx calmly scrolled through the detailed computer report on Cloud Strife, she said into the phone, "I don't have a clue. So please, enlighten me."
"Specimen C, the Project S2 prototype!"
"Wasn't he reported as being killed, along with Zack, two years ago?"
"Yes, but it looks that someone lied about that."
"Shocking. I wonder who and why."
"Probably Hojo," Roissy said bitterly. "From the moment he found out about Project S2, he was looking for an excuse to get it shut down, probably because he was afraid that it would compete with his precious Jenova Reunion research."
"That sounds typical Hojo," Nyx murmured.
"Never mind that. I had a brief opportunity to observe Specimen C and he appeared to be both combat-capable and mentally coherent. Do you understand what that means? I'll need to do additional observations, of course, but it looks like the imprinting and the data transfer process worked!"
"Is that what you intend to do? Merely observe him?"
"At least for the moment." Roissy's tone abruptly shifted from enthusiasm to anger. "Do you have any idea what Steven is up to?"
"Dr. Steven? Why do you ask?"
"Because I've been trying to call that bastard for the last few hours and I'm not even getting his voicemail!"
"Sorry, but I have no idea where he might be or what he might be doing at this moment."
"Well, if he calls you, tell me."
"Of course. Where are you?"
"I'm in Junon. The WRO evacuated our facility after an attack. They think Hojo's responsible and that he might come back."
"So Hojo's not dead?"
"Well, the WRO thinks he's still alive. But I'm not worried about him. Specimen C and his role as a successful Project S2 prototype is my only concern at the moment. There's one last thing you can do for me. Try to find out where Specimen C has been and what he's been doing ever since his escape from Nibelheim. I need the data to determine the effectiveness of the Phase 2 procedures."
"I'll see what I can do, Roissy."
Nyx closed her phone, then paged through the report on Cloud Strife already on her computer screen, pausing at an email from the previous President of Shinra, dated shortly after the Nibelheim Incident.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
From: President Shinra
To: Dr. Nyx
Sent: R-OCT-0002
All phases of Project S2 authorized. Roissy is project head, but I rely on you to keep an eye on things.
Regarding Cloud Strife, no, I don't have any problems with that. I'm interested in results, not a bastard child from a neurotic ex-mistress. He's the best candidate for prototype, so use him. Nibelheim Incident survivors are currently in Hojo's custody, but he'll probably lose interest in them soon enough. I'll have Hojo transfer most of his research to Midgar. He should be out of your hair shortly and Project S2 can proceed unimpeded.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The next series of emails were dated several weeks before Meteorfall.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
From: President Shinra
To: Dr. Nyx
Sent: X-NOV-0007
The final reports I received about the recapture fuckup stated that BOTH specimens from Project S2 were killed. Then why the hell did I just see Specimen C today, running loose with some members of AVALANCHE in the Sector 5 Reactor? I tested him with the Airbuster, and he displayed enhanced combat abilities, so it's no mistake on my part. Get in touch with Roissy and make arrangements to restart Project S2 ASAP. I'll deal with Hojo.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
From: President Shinra
To: Dr. Nyx
Sent: Y-NOV-0007
Enough time has been wasted. Rufus will be brought in from Junon as soon as Project S2 is up and running again.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
From: President Shinra
To: Dr. Nyx
Sent: Z-NOV-0007
Specimen C currently in custody in Shinra Building. For whatever reasons, he hasn't made an attempt to break free, even though the Project S2 specs say that he could manage it easily. You did mention possible lag time before the prototype displays peak performance. Regardless, send team to retrieve, restrain, and subdue him ASAP. I don't want a working S2 prototype running around loose in my building.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Cloud's file contained no further communications from President Shinra, but the report was thorough, meticulously tracking Cloud's activities from his arrival in Midgar, the events related to Meteorfall, up to and including the battle with Sephiroth's Remnants two weeks ago.
.
After a brief stopover in Rocket Town for supplies and additional equipment, the Turks and the WRO team arrived in Nibelheim several hours after midnight. The scientists were given a few hours of sleep before being rousted out of bed at the crack of dawn.
The Mansion was dirty, dusty, and deserted except for the rare wandering monster. Reeve had informed the Turks that Cloud and his friends cleared out the vast majority of the monsters infesting the building two years ago. Luckily, few creatures had returned, so the Turks and the two squads of WRO troops that accompanied them had no problems handling the remaining monsters lurking within the old building.
At noon, all the scientists were herded into the Mansion's entrance hall for a lunch break under the watchful eye of the WRO troopers, which gave the Turks a brief opportunity to relax. Elena peered over the balcony, did a head count, then said, "So what do you think, Reno? We haven't had any trouble with them."
"Yet," the redhead said sourly. "There's plenty of time for them to start acting up, so don't let your guard down. Where's Rude?"
"He's down in the basement keeping on eye on the people working in the library. He isn't too happy, either. I don't blame him. That basement is seriously creepy. He tells me there are roomfuls of coffins down there."
"Man, I hate being back in this shithole of a town!"
Looking startled, Elena said, "You've been here before?"
"Oh yeah. Left a seriously bad taste in my mouth," Reno said, his lips twisting into a bitter smile.
Having worked with Reno for two years, Elena understood that his last words were Reno-speak for something that bothered him on a deep personal level. But Reno being Reno, the man would never admit to such a thing.
Without prompting, Reno continued, "The Turks were here for that epic clusterfuck with Sephiroth seven years ago. You wouldn't know her, but Chaise was on-scene for all of it. Rude and I arrived for the cleanup." He gave her a cynical little grin. "Can't let the public know that your famous war hero went batshit psycho and obliterated an entire town. Bad for the company image, you know." He stared up at the dusty chandelier hanging over the main hall.
"I still don't know why, but it was the first and only time I'd ever walked away from an assignment. I could've handled getting rid of the survivors. At least, they would've died quick and clean." Reno mimed a quick pistol shot to the back of the head.
"So what happened to them?" Elena said, barely hiding her shock and surprise.
"Hojo got 'em."
"....oh. I see."
"Yeah. One of the survivors was a SOLDIER Tseng had worked with before. That's probably why Tseng tried so hard to...." Reno shook his head suddenly. "Aw, fuck that. Never mind. Let's just say that I HATE this damn place."
Elena perched herself on the balcony railing and worked on her sandwich as she groped for a less awkward topic for discussion. Finally, she said, "So, who are your picks for potential troublemakers?"
Reno snorted, just to let her know that he could see right through her, before answering her question.
"There are three or four that smell a bit hinky. They're the ones spending too much time fondling Hojo's files. But as for real trouble, just one. What about you?"
She toss him a piece of fruit and gave him a sharp grin. "Pretty much the same. So who's your candidate?"
Reno sprawled back lazily on the stairs and said, "That Steven guy. He keeps trying to sneak off by himself."
"Yeah, I noticed. So what's he up to?"
"Don't know. If he's worked here before, he might be trying to retrieve something he left behind. He sure as hell didn't get on that helicopter and come out all this way just to go sightseeing."
Lawrence Steven had a very good reason for getting on that helicopter at WRO Headquarters -- he wanted to get as far away from Specimen C as he possibly could. At the time, the chance for immediate travel to the Western Continent had seemed like a miraculous stroke of good luck. Once at Rocket Town, he could slip away from the group and find a good hiding place, maybe even visit the Gold Saucer on the way.
What he hadn't expected was the mission being run by Turks -- and what the HELL were Turks doing working for the WRO, anyway? -- and being constantly watched by both Turks and WRO goons.
Even worse, none of the scientists had been allowed off the helicopters at Rocket Town. Now he was back in this armpit of a mountain town called Nibelheim and stuck there good and proper, at least for the immediate future. From his earlier experience in Nibelheim, he knew that getting out of the town wouldn't be easy. The roads were absolutely wretched, infested with monsters, and it was way too easy to get lost without a guide. That made Nibelheim perfect for a secret research lab, but damn inconvenient for him.
And he still didn't have a phone. The local general store did carry a few for sale, but the Turks had warned everyone that no unauthorized communications would be permitted and had gone so far as to confiscate everyone's cellphones. He wouldn't put it past the Turks to do periodic strip and cavity searches to enforce their rules, either.
It hadn't taken long to clear the upper levels of the Mansion. By mid afternoon, everyone had moved down into the basement where all the 'good' stuff was.
Under the Turks' watchful eyes, the scientists were packing boxes of files and disassembling various pieces of lab equipment. Briefly leaving their group of scientists under the watchful eye of a WRO trooper, Elena and Rude decided to take another look around the basement area.
They walked into a chamber with a large motorized winch mounted on the high ceiling. One of the scientists followed them into the room and poked around a bit. Finally he said, "Nothing much in here. Only ordinary mechanical equipment. Nothing worth saving."
"Hey Rude! What do you think that was for?" Elena pointed upward at the winch.
He shrugged. "Hoisting something?"
"Very funny. But what's it doing in here?"
In an apparent effort to impress Elena, the scientist jabbed at a grimy control panel and said, "I think this is the switch that operates it...."
Elena whirled around and snapped, "Don't touch that!"
Unfortunately, her warning came too late. The scientist hit the button and the well concealed trapdoor under Elena's and Rude's feet suddenly sprang open, dumping them into a dark and seemingly bottomless pit.
"OH SHIIIIITTTTT!"
Hearing the yells, Reno dashed into the room with his nightstick charged and ready for action. At first, all he saw was a terrified scientist and a gaping hole in the floor.
"What the....? Rude! Elena!"
There was a faint splash from the depths of the hole, followed by an infuriated female shriek.
"Get us out of here!" she demanded.
"What the hell are you doing down there!" Reno said, moving to the edge of the pit and peering cautiously downward.
"Don't ask stupid questions, Reno! When I get my hands on that moron up there, I'm going to rip his balls off with my bare hands!" she yelled furiously.
In the dim light from the opening above, Elena and Rude found themselves thrashing around in a debris-choked pit filled chest-high with a nauseating mixture of stagnant water, slime-covered bones, and other unspeakably disgusting types of junk. The stench was overpowering.
"I think we've located Hojo's garbage disposal," muttered Rude.
"God, I think I'm going to be sick. Reno!"
Overhead, the two Turks heard a loud series of clanks, followed by some ominous grinding sounds.
"Shit! The winch isn't working. I've got to find a rope and some guys to help get you out of there. Be back in a couple of minutes," Reno yelled down to them.
He hadn't taken but a few steps toward the door when a loud screech from the pit brought Reno running back.
"What's wrong now!"
As she frantically scrambled onto Rude's shoulders, Elena screamed, "Something slimy brushed my leg!"
"How can you tell in all this muck?" muttered Rude.
"Elena, you're a Turk, so show some goddamn backbone! Sheesh!"
"Renoooo!" she wailed piteously up at him.
"I'm hurrying! I'm hurrying!"
Before he left the room, Reno gave the quivering scientist his most psychotically pleasant smile.
"You dropped my teammates into a pit. That makes me unhappy. Sit. Stay."
The scientist nodded frantically and planted himself firmly on a stool.
Back in the pit, Rude said, "Elena, do you MIND?"
She reluctantly slid off his shoulders back into the filthy water. After several minutes, she muttered, "What's taking him so long?"
Suddenly, there was a loud scream from above. Elena started to shout up a question but Rude quickly clamped his hand over her mouth. They both froze as more screams erupted, followed by low, bestial howls and a flurry of distant gunfire.
After her initial jerk of surprise, Elena froze, realizing as long as they were trapped in the pit, she and Rude were easy prey for whatever was rampaging around above. Flattening themselves against the sides to make themselves as inconspicuous as possible, Rude and Elena frantically searched for a way out as the sounds of the fighting got steadily closer.
The pit suddenly darkened as something briefly blocked the opening, then the body -- or more precisely, half of the body -- of the unlucky scientist Reno had threatened fell on top of them, followed by a shower of warm blood and entrails.
Elena gritted her teeth and remained silent. The desperate screams and gunfire soon faded in frequency, allowing her to pick out the distinctive crackle of Reno's electrified nightstick. The two Turks exchanged grim looks and redoubled their efforts to find a way out of the pit.
The algae and mold made climbing the walls nearly impossible, but the two of them were not about to let a minor detail like that stop them. Reno was up there, outnumbered, probably alone by now, and fighting things that sounded very, very nasty.
As they continued their agonizingly slow climb, the sound of Reno's nightstick abruptly stopped. Unfortunately, the sounds of the attacking monsters did not. Elena and Rude looked at each other, then continued climbing.
Their upward progress came to an abrupt halt about ten feet below the pit's rim. At that point, the rough blocks lining the pit changed to slick, finished stonework that slanted inward at a steep angle as the pit narrowed at the top, making the last few feet impossible to climb. However, after working their way around the edge of the pit, they managed to locate a small side tunnel -- actually, more of a sewer pipe than tunnel.
Elena had no trouble climbing into the pipe, but it was a painfully tight squeeze for Rude and his broad shoulders. Leading the way, Elena grimly ignored the disgusting goo oozing between her fingers and started to crawl forward as quickly as possible.
Dr. Lawrence Steven was having the worst time of his life. He had barely escaped getting killed by a rogue prototype, he was stuck in middle of the Nibel mountains with no way out, and now a bunch of damn monsters had popped out of nowhere and attacked, slaughtering everyone in their path.
As he sat on an overturned coffin somewhere in the Mansion's basement, he desperately wondered what the hell to do next. Without a phone, he had no way to call for help. Should he stay put and wait for the monsters to leave, or should he make a run for it?
He was still debating his options when the door to the room slammed open. Screaming in terror, he tried to scramble into one of the coffins, but the monsters grabbed him by the legs. Certain he was a dead man, Steven closed his eyes and waited for the monsters to tear him limb from limb.
"Wait. Bring him here."
The distant voice was heavily distorted, but there was something definitely familiar with the high-pitched yet nasal voice.
After being dragged some distance, he was dumped on the ground and released. Steven cautiously opened one eye, then the other.
"So, Dr. Steven. We meet again."
He couldn't see the speaker, who stood in the shadows of the lab room, but he finally identified the voice.
"Hojo! I heard you were dead!"
The former head of Shinra's Science Research Department cackled softly in amusement. "And so I was. So I was."
"W-what are you doing here in Nibelheim?" Steven blurted, nervously eying the slowly swaying shadowy figure.
"Oh, I came back to retrieve some... information. And... equipment."
Hojo's swaying movements were almost hypnotic. Steven blinked, then said, "What for?"
In a perfectly matter-of-fact manner, Hojo said, "Resurrecting Sephiroth, of course."
With those words, Hojo fully emerged into the light. Steven uttered a startled gasp and stared in horror at the bizarre figure standing before him. Hojo still had a bipedal form but his skin was entirely green and scaly. His eyes were huge, bulging, and faceted like an insect's while his body and legs seemed oddly boneless. Tentacles sprouted from his torso with the two largest serving as Hojo's arms.
"Quite an evolution of shape, eh?"
"How...?"
Hojo giggled, sending his tentacles rippling. "A sudden massive ingestion of Mako-infused Jenova cells. My own private cocktail." He waved a tentacle at a pile of disassembled equipment. "Unfortunately, it appears that my enemies have become too well acquainted with this location. Never mind. I already know of a suitable replacement, complete with its own little Mako reactor."
"You... you're trying to bring Sephiroth back to life!"
Hojo uttered a hiss of annoyance. "Not back to life, for his essence was never truly dead. It merely slumbers in the Lifestream, awaiting a new physical body. A body that I will provide, yessss...."
"But I thought that all your attempts at cloning Sephiroth failed... gawk!" Steven's words ended in a gurgle as Hojo lunged forward, wrapped a tentacle around his throat, and squeezed.
"Because Sephiroth cannot be duplicated! He is unique! That was the essential flaw in my earlier attempts. But reconstructing his body is a different matter. Using the original body as a template...." Hojo's voice trailed off into distracted mutterings as he dumped Steven back on the ground.
"But... but you'd need a sample of Sephiroth's original tissue as a starting point," the terrified man wheezed.
Hojo jerked his attention back to Steven.
"But I already have that. Most of the samples were lost when Meteor destroyed my labs in the Shinra Building. But one single sample survived at the Archival Specimen Storage depository. I retrieved it just today." Hojo held up a slender fluorescent green and yellow cylinder approximately four inches long and an inch in diameter. He fondled the container with his tentacles, his inhuman features contorted in an obscene mockery of parental pride.
Hojo suddenly glared at Steven, who was trying very hard to keep his expression blank. Unfortunately, he failed miserably.
"You seem... skeptical, Steven. You don't think I can accomplish Sephiroth's resurrection?"
"No no! Of course not! I'm not doubting you!" Steven babbled.
"You always were a pathetic liar." Hojo swayed his head back and forth a few times, then added, "So... should I let you live so you can witness my success with your own eyes? Or should I kill you here and now for having the insolence to question my genius?"
Steven scrambled back a few feet, then said, "Wait! WAIT! I know things! Important things that can help you! We... we can make a deal!"
"Oh ho. So you want to... negotiate, do you?"
"Yes! Let me live and I'll tell you everything I know!"
Hojo's tentacles writhed slowly as he pondered Steven's proposal. Finally, he said, "Very well."
Steven started to relax, then froze as Hojo suddenly bared his needle-like teeth at his prisoner.
"Yes, let us negotiate," Hojo cackled, as multiple blade-tipped tentacles rose in front of Steven's panic-stricken face. "Negotiate, as to the manner of your death."
A tentacle slashed downward and blood spurted.
Reno was dimly aware of someone screaming and wondered why the fuck they wouldn't shut up....
.
The fake specimen container lay smashed and broken, its contents splattered against the grimy wall and floor of the lab.
Hojo ignored the quivering lump of raw flesh that used to be a human being and turned his attention to Reno. After fastidiously flicking the remains of Steven's blood and entrails from his tentacles, Hojo reached into the still unconscious Turk's pocket and pulled out Reno's phone.
Scrolling through the contact list, Hojo cackled softly as several names caught his attention.
"Interesting, very interesting." Looking down at Reno, he chuckled malevolently. "You might be of use to me yet."
The mad scientist's gaze turned in the general direction of the sleepy little town situated below the Mansion, knowing that its stupid residents were still oblivious to the bloody events which had just taken place inside. Hojo smiled slowly, exposing row upon row of small, razor sharp, triangular teeth.
Their blissful ignorance would not last long.
So much involving Sephiroth had started here. The destruction of the town seven years ago had heralded his son's first awakening. It was fitting, then, that this town should again serve as a harbinger of Sephiroth's renewed presence.
After completing the evacuation of the ASSRUB facility, Cloud and the others had separated to get some rest and deal with their own errands, while the WRO continued its attempts to locate the elusive Dr. Steven. It was late in the afternoon on the following day when they regrouped at Reeve's office.
Reeve, a phone tucked in the crook of his neck, distractedly waved Cloud and Tifa into his office where Cid and Yuffie were already waiting.
"So, did you take care of Marlene and Denzel?" Yuffie whispered.
Cloud nodded as Tifa whispered back, "Dropped them off in Kalm so they can stay with Elmyra. We don't want to leave them alone in the bar if things get hectic."
"By the way, this morning, I flew over to the Chocobo Farm and picked up some of our Golds. We might need them," Cid muttered as they all watched an increasingly frustrated Reeve make repeated calls to no avail.
Eventually he gave up, putting down his phone with unnecessary force.
"Reeve, did you finally find out where Steven went?" Tifa asked.
"Yes, we know where he went." Reeve sighed. "It took us a while, but we finally managed to track down the last person to speak with him before he disappeared. It seems that Steven managed to talk his way onboard one of the helicopters headed to Nibelheim."
"But that's a good thing, right?" Yuffie dropped into an armchair. "All we have to do is contact the Turks and tell them to grab Steven so he doesn't run off again."
"Unfortunately, it's not going to be that easy. I've been trying to get in touch with the Turks for the last hour and I haven't gotten any response, either by phone or radio."
"The signal reception near Nibelheim can be notoriously unreliable at times." Tifa walked over to Reeve. "It's something about the mountains. And then there's the weather."
"I know that, Tifa. But I still don't like this sudden silence, especially its timing. Up until this afternoon, the Turks and the WRO squads with them were making their regular check-ins just fine. But now that we need to contact them, we can't? Call me paranoid, but I've got a bad feeling about this."
"Contact someone in Rocket Town and ask them to check things out," Cloud suggested.
"Already done. I'm waiting for their report." Reeve got up and started to pace.
"In the meantime, we might as well head on over there." Cid stood up, looked around. "Even if nothing's wrong, we've got to go over there to pick up Steven."
When Reeve's desk phone rang, he grabbed at it and listened intently.
"Yes? Have you managed to make contact?" Reeve's expression suddenly froze. "I see. Are you sure? No, I understand. Thank you."
As Reeve slowly hung up the phone, he looked at Cloud. "You overheard, didn't you? What he said about Nibelheim."
Cloud made a single sharp nod, his expression impassive.
Cid growled, "Well, my hearing isn't nearly as good as Cloud's, so will someone PLEASE tell me what the hell's going on!"
"Nibelheim's burning."
Tifa simply stared at Cloud as he made the stark announcement, no emotion in his voice.
"What!" Yuffie blurted.
"Nibelheim is burning. Again."
(end of Part 2)
Credits: If the Mansion trash pit scene seems familiar, it should be. It was unabashedly inspired by the famous trash compactor scene in Star Wars: The New Hope. ::snicker::
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