Reno's half-lidded eyes registered--barely-- the time on his watch. A quarter past four. Fuck, he'd only been here for four hours, and he was already falling asleep. He tilted his head back in his chair, looking up at the ceiling, strangely tempted to start counting the dots on the tiles.
A slight shift from beside him however brought his focus back, and he blinked his eyes open to look at the man on the bed. He'd taken off the restraints as soon as Elena had left, hoping to make the transition from unconsciousness to awareness easier when Yazoo finally woke up.
Reno was sure he had imagined the sound of movement, until he realized that Yazoo's eyes were open and he was staring at the redhead.
"You came back." The silver-haired man's voice was slightly thick and slower than before, on account of the serum. Reno nodded, a slight smile pulling at the corners of his lips, which faltered when the clone squeezed his eyes shut in a grimace. "They--they did tests."
"I know. I'm sorry I wasn't here. You know it was just to look into your injuries, to make sure you were okay... blood pressure, temperature... just things like that." Reno offered up. None of the procedures the doctors had done had involved anything complicated or unusual. He had looked into it.
Yazoo shook his head.
"That would be fine if I were... normal." he said quietly. "But I've never been--" He swallowed heavily, trying to push himself to sitting. Reno got up to help prop the clone up against the wall with his pillow. "Reno... they won't keep me here forever. What does Shinra plan on doing with me." His voice was hollow--grudgingly accepting. Reno wished he knew, but Tseng hadn't shared any information. That is, even if his superior knew. The Turk shook his head and smoothed a hand along the seam of the white sheet.
Not knowing was perhaps worse than knowing, and that was probably why the silver-haired man kept asking. Although he was somewhat resigned that the redhead did not know either, the nagging feeling in his gut still could not disappear completely because of it.
Yazoo closed his eyes, resting his head against the pillows behind him.
"I'm hungry." He said after a moment of silence in which Reno had thought the clone had fallen back asleep. "They haven't brought me anything."
Reno took the moment to curse silently again at the way the hospital was run. What the fuck did they think that Yazoo would heal on? Materia and oxygen?
"Right. I'll ring for a nurse and see what they can bring you..." He was sorry he couldn't look himself, but even he didn't trust Yazoo that much to leave him alone.
Yazoo nodded, eyes still half-lidded and he peered out at the Turk from beneath dark lashes. Reno got up and opened up a panel with the button for the nurse's station
As a simple meal was ordered, Yazoo couldn't help but feel better--although he knew what was sure to come now that the tests had been performed--simply by the presence of someone who at least by all outward appearances, really cared.
"Sir, I think you should see this." Garvey Lewis, the newest intern looked up from his microscope. He couldn't understand it. Nothing like this had ever been mentioned in med school.
His superior rolled his eyes and strode across the small lab, being pulled from his own highly important work. Damn, he'd put the student on that blood sample because NOTHING had appeared different. Standard procedure of cataloging the type, any genetic impurities. Hell, he'd even looked over the specimen's sample before giving it. He'd already seen it.
"What is it Lewis?" He asked, tiredly. His own report was almost done, he wished to simply get out of here. It was three hours till his end of shift, and he didn't need to go overtime. He positioned himself at the microscope.
"Well Sir," Garvey started, "The sample was exactly as you told me it would be, type AB positive, white count high, and red abnormally low... well, up until about ten seconds ago sir."
Dr. Viting stared at the sample through the eyepiece, hardly even hearing the intern's explanation. What the hell!
It was moving... the blood was moving, running through tiny, organized rivulets.
This could not be.
"Lewis, call Dr Jonas."
"But Sir, his shift ended four hou--"
"I don't care Lewis! Call him now. He'll want to see this. I have a feeling that this is going to do nothing but become even more astonishing."
The intern nodded briefly, swallowing thickly. Dr. Jonas wouldn't be happy about being woken. He scuttled off anyway.
Dr. Viting continued watching the pulse of the impossible veins and arteries formed in the petri dish below. He reached blindly for a notepad and began to scratch down observations, watching the red cell count increase, and actually begin transfer of oxygen--tiny little blue sprawling veins picked themselves out delivering carbon-dioxide to... where? The red, oxygenated cells fueling an equally puzzling mystery.
What the hell was that thing in the hospital?
"Come in." Tseng's curt reply to the quiet knock on his office door.
Elena admitted herself into the room moments later, a file in her left hand.
"Sir, I thought you'd be interested in my report from last night." She extended it out towards her superior. Tseng looked up from his screen, taking the file from her.
"What happened at the hospital Elena?" The Wutanese man began to scan the documents quickly.
"Well sir, you had asked me to positively identify the subject. He is indeed one of the men who interrogated us during our mission to recover the genetic samples of the Jenova project." Tseng motioned for her to sit down on the opposite side of the desk and Elena continued. "Sir, he seemed very much different than he did. In fact, were it not for the fact that the tests had to be conducted, I believe he wouldn't have tried to harm any of us at all."
"And why is that?" Tseng arched a brow up over a scrutinizing eye. Elena cast her eyes off to the side.
"Perhaps my understanding of the matter came upon me from something Reno said as he relieved us sir." Tseng's full attention came away from her report and urged her to proceed. "I would agree with him that the clone shows extraordinary behaviour when under duress. It would appear that he has had traumatic experiences with medical procedures in the past." She reached down to the briefcase beside her, fishing out a stack of fresh paper. "I was curious to see if Reno was right. I pulled up a few project reports from nearly fifteen years ago in the Shinra Labs sir."
Tseng placed his hands on the desk, looking quite serious.
"What were your findings Elena?"
She steeled her jaw as she opened the first page of her notes.
"Not exactly pretty sir. 'The project proceeds as per scheduled'." She read aloud, "'The first test of intellectual stress has been overcome with very interesting results. The eldest showed signs of duress very early on, though managed to effectively terminate the seven basilisks released into his cell. The youngest dealt with the same number with little signs of intimidation in nearly a tenth of the time.
'Strange, however. The second specimen, ADV200452 instead let the basilisks thrive amoungst his quarters. He was stung a recorded seventeen times in the neck, torso and arms before falling unconscious. He has incredible resistance to the poison'.'" Elena paused.
"Sir, these reports carry on. For years, I would believe." Tseng remained quiet, chin resting on his now steepled fingers.
"Sir, the eldest was recorded as being seven at this trial." She closed the notes and set them on Tseng's desk. "May I speak freely sir?" Her superior nodded.
"The tests on the clone should stop for now sir. I'm afraid our conclusions from them may be skewed due to past circumstances." She drew in a shuddered sigh. "Tseng. You haven't read these things. God. Your worst nightmares are nothing compared to what Hojo and his team dreamt up for those three.
"Reno... I think he might be the one to get the clone to at least cooperate with us. He's--deceptively deadly. Take the basilisks for example. The recordings of the next day report that all seven modified serpents were then found skinned and strung together above the door when the scientists came in, still dripping the excess venom. He was there, conscious, sitting on the cot, making paper cranes out of tissue paper. He was five."
Elena still looked slightly distressed at what she had found. It seemed that it had finally hit her what mercy they had been spared. Tseng let his hands drop back to the folder of her reports, and pulled the research papers across the desk to him.
"I will put it in as a recommendation Elena." He wished at this moment, that he was in fact in charge of the entire situation. He however, had superiors to answer to; and they all had questions. "We will see what the results of the first tests substantiate." The female Turk nodded.
"Thank you sir." She pushed herself up from the chair opposite him. "Do you need me for anything else sir?" Tseng shook his head.
"No, thank you Elena. You have been quite thorough, as always."
"Thank you. Oh, and Sir?"
"Hm?"
"Tell Reno he owes me one."