/A small but important chapter today. I just want to clarify a few things mentioned in the reviews. First, no one captured Hope in the prologue. He was taken to a hospital after being caught in the terrorist attack. This may not be clear, but that terrorist attack was orchestrated by the rogue faction headed by Raines. The purple headed nurse who injected Hope with the serum is Irl. I didn't want to spoonfeed you guys, but I would rather do that then have you misled. A problem seems to be that section breakers present in the original manuscript aren't showing when I upload them. Hope that clears everything up. In regards to the commenter who expressed dissatisfaction with Hope's OOC behaviour (if you are still reading) I understand completely. I will make Hope cool, but he is certainly not there now. Getting busted ordering alcohol and trying to (unsuccessfully) flirt is not what I would call cool behaviour. It is in fact rather alarming, as becoming half fal'cie, combined with his fathers death, is clearly having negative effects on his mind. You note that the other former l'cie (especially Lightning) express extreme concern, rather than awe. Also Hope's personality needs to change somewhat, as he is getting older, and maintaining his 14 year old personality would not make much sense. The personality changes are not quite as big as it may first appear however, and I hope you continue reading. Thanks for your input. /

()-(-_()-

Rick and Rishi waited nervously in the small room that they had been directed to. They were in the centre of the New Sanctum, the same building that had been hit in the recent bombing. The room was fairly brightly lit, but it was completely bare. Outside were two armed security guards from the Guardian Corps. Rishi was pacing in the room, but he didn't say anything. The room was likely bugged.

They had notified High Command that they had found something that was Code:5 in importance. Such a designation was restricted to only those things that could have an effect on the whole of Pulse (even though only a small part of the land had actually been as of yet colonised). The doctors had been told to come immediately, and had been let through with no delays. They had been waiting for perhaps 5 minutes when a young man in a suit beckoned them in to a large conference room. Inside was a giant wooden, rectangular table with curved edges. Over 10 people were sitting at it, including the High Council, the leaders of the Guardian Corps and Psicom and various senior members of government. Rick gulped and exchanged glances with Rishi. None of the seated people looked pleased to be there, but a Code:5 demanded their presence. No one had ever expected anyone to actually use one, and they sat watching the two nervous doctors who had dared to.

"This had better be worth out time." General Amatsu Mado, head of Psicom growled. He was an unreasonably large man, nearing seven feet. He had brown eyes, little hair and was wearing standard military attire. He was terrifying. Rishi walked forwards and tried to sound confident.

"We believe that it is sir."

Mado nodded slowly as if he didn't believe them.

"If this doesn't meet the qualification for a Code:5, you're going to be worked in the mines. I hope you know that." At the head of the table, a middle sized man was watching them bored. He was the head of the High Council, arbitrator of all affairs on Pulse- Jagu Kan. He gestured for them to make a report. In his hand Rick laid down his briefcase on the table and opened it. Rishi meanwhile fiddled with a giant holographic monitor on the wall.

"I'll get straight to the point." Rick said. "We've found evidence that one of the l'cie has become a fal'cie. Or to be more accurate, half fal'cie."

There was silence. Whatever they had been expected it wasn't this. Before any objections could be made, the holographic display whizzed into life showing the footage taken in the lab. There was stunned gasping when the Antolum was blasted by lightning.

"This was taken from the l'cie Hope Estheim at approximately 11:00 on Saturday morning. We have a sample of the blood here." Rick pointed to his briefcase as he got the test tube out. "It's now Sunday, 12:23, so its been more than 24 hours. There is, however, no sign of congealing."

Silence again.

"What does this mean?" one of the members of the council asked. She looked to be in her 40's.

"Where is Hope now?"

"Is he a threat?"

"Should we take him in for testing?"

Rick was assaulted with a barrage of questions, and he took a step back, not knowing how to react. He was fortunately saved by Jagu Kan.

"SILENCE." He roared. He stood up and began pacing around the conference room.

"Do you not see?" Mado also stood up. "The frontiers are breaking! With the help of a half fal'cie we could secure our borders once more!"

"Or have it betray us! How can we trust a fal'cie?" General Riko Tuovar, the head of the Guardian Corps shouted. She also stood up.

"How did this happen?" Jagu asked.

"Uh..we're not sure. Mr. Estheim was brought in after being a victim to the terrorist bombings last week. He was hospitalised. We decided to take a blood sample after witnessing his outrageous healing. CCTV surveillance shows records of an unidentified purple haired nurse, something that is being investigated at this moment." Rishi said.

"Did you know that our frontiers are beginning to collapse?" Jagu said softly.

"President! We cannot divulge such information to civilians!" a councillor protested.

"Shut up. They deserve to know the truth." Jagu sighed and took a seat once more. "To be honest with you, this news could not have come at a better time. Pulse is far more…hostile than we could ever have imagined. Were it not for the Manufacturing Units that we found we would have been all been killed long since."

"What are you talking about sir?" Rick asked confused. There is peace. There is prosperity. I've heard nothing about collapsing borders on the news."

"That's because we can't let the media broadcast the truth. There would be panic. Truthfully we don't know how much longer we can hold these blighted monsters back. We're on their territory son." Jagu continued.

"What we really need are Pulsian weapons, but all the Packages are MU's only. There hasn't been a single weapons cache excavated yet. And that means we're stuck with Cocoon weapons. And they're damn ineffective. When you consider all the rogue factions that are operating…" Mado sighed.

"That damn Raines! Where is he? Whats he doing? We have suspicions that that psycho is behind the bombings, we haven't got proof." Riko said.

Mado sighed again and motioned at the holographic display. He must have had an implant in his hand because immediately the contents of the holographic display changed.

"This is a recording from the Northern Border, near Soma, 60 miles North of New Cocoon. It came in yesterday." He waved his hand and it began to play.

"This is Sergeant Grieves; Psicom Division 6. We can't hold the line. Repeat. We can't hold the line. -STATIC- Extensive casualties, We're losing around twenty men a night. Those damn wyverns -STATIC- adamantoise breached the second fortification an hour ago. Hundreds dead. We managed to bring it down with Grid missiles but we're out. If another com-STATIC- dead. Request reinforcements. Repeat. Request reinforcements. If the third fortification falls, they'll be nothing stopping these bastards coming straight to New Cocoon. Sergeant Grieves out."

Rishi stared at the screen wordlessly in horror. Grieves, a masked Psicom was standing in a scene of carnage. The wounded screamed all around him, in the distance the sounds of gunfire and the roar of beasts. He looked downwards shocked.

"This is happening to the all the Borders, except the South. Krantos is protected by that sea. We're running out of time." Mados said, his gruff exterior revealing a touch of despair.

"This fal'cie hybrid is now a matter of the highest concerns. When they were l'cie they could take on those beasts and win-but a half fal'cie? Who knows how useful it could be. Where is he right now?" Jagu asked.

"He went with the other l'cie- to Kankoon I believe," Rick nervously pushed his glasses back up.

"Riko, Amatsu. I want people watching him. See if he's a threat and what he's capable of. I don't want him turning against us so don't let your men do anything stupid. Doctors, you are hereby reassigned to Kankoon. I want you to be there in case anything happens to him. Gather a team and take them with you. You are now in charge of creating a specialist medical task force, with the express purpose of studying him. I want it done discretely. People, we've been handed a golden egg here. Let's see what this kid can do." Jagu stood up and slammed his hands on the table. "Dismissed."

()-(-_()-

"They know, Chairman." Irl said. She flicked her purple hair from her eyes. She was standing in his lush office, her hands behind her back. Her purple hair was tucked away in a pony tail and swayed slightly in response to the rooms vigorous air conditioning. Cid Raines, sat on his chair, his piercing eyes fixed on her.

"Yes. How goes young Estheim?"

"Remarkable. We'll need to get a closer look. An agent is already in Kankoon. From his erratic behaviour aboard the Kalhua, it seems that the introduction of the fal'cie is having a strong negative mental impact. I can report extensive modifications to his body, but without a closer look it is difficult to clarify. His face is at least becoming more…beautiful, and there is a definite increase in the intensity of colour in both eyes."

"Is he going insane?" Cid's voice was chilling.

"That cannot be determined yet. His personality is at the very least demonstrating degrees of fragmentation, though the extent to which this occurs is…random. From the hacked surveillance cameras aboard the Kalhua it seems he ordered…whisky from the bar."

"I fail to understand the significance."

"He was sitting next to his l'cie friends. At the very least this would demonstrate incongruent behaviour."

"We're running out of time Irl. How goes the development of the serum?"

Irl cringed. She had been dreading this bit. She swallowed hard.

"We're having problems. It would seem that the fragmented crystals that we injected into Hope was actually a de-constituted fal'cie."

"Which means?"

"We have several more of these fragmented crystals, but it is highly likely that even if we find how to safely inject them into non l'cie, the fal'cie personality would be retained. I fear that this is what is causing Hope's instability."

"Is it surmountable?" The room was starting to feel chilly. Depending on her next few words, she would never leave alive.

"An agent managed to steal a sample of Hope's blood. With it, I believe I can synthesise something that gives a fal'cie's power without the actual fal'cie. It's going to take time however."

"We don't have time. The seal. It is breaking. Sickness comes." Cid stood up. "We must hurry."

"Yes, of course Chairman."

"Then get back to work."