This short chapter is more of a "quickee" filler, although it does have some important developments to progress the story. The biggest twist is coming in the next chapter. At any rate, at this point, this is the shortest chapter by far.


I'm back.

Bahamut? Listen…there's…

I'm fine. It drained me a bit, but I returned safe and sound. Something major is happening on Gaia. The humans have discovered a well of some sort, and it has the ability to bring espers back…to...

Well…aren't you going to say hello?

…Someone here to see you.

I didn't know he was still here, Bahamut. To tell the truth…I didn't really care to look for him.

And it seems as if I was wise to hold out here for so long, if what my brother just said was true. Tell me, Bahamut…what was that about a well that can bring espers back that I heard?

…I have nothing to say to you, Wyvern. We're both dead. Our fight is over. I don't intend to carry it into the next life as well.

Then by all means, go on to your promised reward. I have a good idea of what's awaiting me, so I have no desire to leave the Lifestream just yet. Especially since it seems I might soon get yet another shot at life. It seems to be destiny for us, brother. We weren't meant to be mortal. We were meant to live forever. Don't you see how fate always conspires to bring us back?

I have no desire to return.

Yes, well…a pity your pupil may not see things the same way. Oh…and speaking of your human followers…so nice to see you again, Terra.

Go to Hell already, Wyvern. You can't scare what you can't hurt.

Touche.

I don't have time to banter with you. This well might bring more than just espers back, and it doesn't seem to have a preference as to which esper it restores. They just have to fit in with a certain element. But since you're here…I'll probably be forced to return to the Planet soon enough, to make sure that no one is doing anything foolish that could lead to you being one of the ones revived.

Bahamut…

Feh…you're worried about me? You should be more concerned about other ones who are still kicking around in here. It seems the scum of this world would rather be nameless, formless wraiths in the mortal coil than go on to eternal damnation. Won't really matter when the world ends, because what is a few millions years to eternity and all that… But you should keep a closer eye out on some of the others. I only ever wanted to kill you and rule the world, Bahamut. Some of the people in here just want death. I've seen some nutty clown that would make your skin peel. And I'm pretty sure I've felt Griever kicking around in here too. Then, of course, there's that guy…


To be totally honest…Tifa couldn't care less about losing the case. That was the farthest thing from her mind. And she really didn't care about Ragnar's discovery, the well, espers, or anything else. All she cared about was that most of her family could have been killed today. Not just Cloud, who she had constantly feared for already for years despite how capable he was.

Today…it had been her sons as well.

What would she have done if they had died?

It made her mad enough that she had to wait for three hours past when Cloud and the others were supposed to return home before she got the news. No one had been answering the cellular. Even then, it was secondhand. She had turned on the radio and got the report that the airfield in Edge had been assaulted by terrorists. Almost thirty people were dead, and many more injured. When she heard that, she was two minutes from going there herself, before she finally got a call. Yet it wasn't from Cloud. It was from Vincent. He told her what had happened…and how the teens had been hurt too.

He had helped get them to the hospital. Luckily, Denzel and Azure weren't too bad. They had some bumps and bruises, Denzel had one of his teeth knocked out, and Tifa was especially unsettled when Vincent told her that the doctors wanted to keep him overnight to make sure he didn't have a concussion. But the real thing that disturbed her was when she heard Cloud had been stabbed. It was serious, but non-life threatening. He'd have to be in for a few days.

After going to the hospital and checking in on all of them, and having Azure released to come back home, she got the rest of the story from him and Vincent. She didn't know how he had happened to be in that neighborhood at the time…but she was thankful for it. True to her worst fears, the injuries were tied into this terrorist attack. What more, it seemed that the whole reason that it had been done was simply to get the case. It had also been due mostly to four people, each one seeming to have supernatural powers. They had torn up most of the terminal trying to keep them from escaping. Tifa was grateful to hear that her boys had at least tried to get out of there when they had the chance, rather than stick around and almost get themselves killed. Even so…she could still remember how angry she had suddenly become when Azure had tried to get the case back.

"Azure, what were you thinking? This isn't a game! They were murdering the people in that terminal! They almost killed you! You've never been in a real fight or a battle before! I don't care what they were trying to steal! Don't ever do that again!"

Azure had quietly taken this, but Tifa was still upset that he didn't show either true obstinance or remorse. That was his way, but she couldn't tell if he was really disappointed with himself that he had made the stupid move of trying to attack an obviously skilled and talented fighter with his own amateur technique, or if he was simply sad that he had made her unhappy.

At any rate, he went right to bed. Tifa ordered him there, and he obliged. He might not have had as many fears tied into him as Denzel, but he looked just as worse for wear, and he was cringing and limping on his way back into the Seventh Heaven. After that, tired and sighing, Tifa was forced to call up Barret and ask to see if Marlene could come over and help her put the students to bed. Now, it was just her and Crain that were up.

Crain…

That was another thing that upset her. Her biological son had been worried about his brothers, but also more excited to hear about their fights. He kept on pressing them for more information on what they did, until Tifa nearly lost it when she snapped at him, telling him that what they had done was very stupid and that they would never do it again. She immediately calmed down and regretted snapping out after that…but she couldn't help it. She didn't want her third son to be eager to put his life in danger…

She was a bit calmer now. Once again, the students were in bed, and things were quieting down. She was in the living room now. She had been reading a book to Crain, and he had fallen asleep with his head on her lap. Marlene was seated across from her and the sofa chair, reclining on their couch. At the moment, they were silent. A clock was ticking away, but most of the school was dark and quiet. Tifa ran her fingers through Crain's hair.

She did finally look up after a while and over to Marlene.

"…Thanks again for coming over, Marlene. After what happened today…I'm overwhelmed and there's no one here to help me."

"No problem, Tifa." Marlene answered back, immediately giving a nod. "How soon will the others be home?"

The woman exhaled a bit and leaned her head back. "Denzel should be out tomorrow." She frowned afterward. "…I'm going to have to try and scare up some more money to have that tooth fixed. Cloud's going to be in for a few days yet."

Marlene nodded in response. "…Any idea who those people were?"

The woman's face turned a bit more downcast on hearing about that. "…No." She spoke quietly. Does it really matter? Probably some group of psychos like we run into every few years making their appointed rounds…

The girl seemed to pick up on this, although Tifa said nothing aloud. "…Are you alright?"

Tifa let out a sigh and turned her head where she lay.

"To be honest, no, I'm not." She answered a moment later. "I don't like this. It's not just what happened today. It's that it always happens. Ever since I've been fifteen years old, life has been one endless chain of fights and life-shaking events. I thought that having Crain, adopting Denzel and Azure, and marrying Cloud would mean that it was over. That we could finally settle down and be a normal family. But it's not. If it's not running this school or fending off vandals, it's a group of crazy people trying to hurt my family. And I don't honestly know what I'd prefer. Being here when it happens and unable to do anything, or being out there and having to go through it again. I'm just getting really tired. And the thought that something else is starting to get into our lives is enough to make me just want to call it quits. I really don't care right now about that well or the case or espers. I only care that my husband and my son are spending the night in a hospital."

Marlene was quiet after this. There wasn't much that she could say in response, after all. She could only anxiously look at Tifa and hold her tongue. The woman herself stared off into space and breathed slowly. The clock continued to tick. Crain shifted a little on her lap, but other than that did nothing.

After a moment more, however, Tifa turned back to Marlene and forced herself to smile. "I'm sorry you're having to get the tail end of this, Marlene. I just needed to get it off my chest."

The girl paused herself, but then shrugged and smiled a bit herself. "It's alright, Tifa. I didn't mind. I just wished there was something I could do to make you feel better."

"Trust me, your being here is enough." Tifa answered. "A little peace of mind is something I'm valuing a lot lately."

Marlene kept a frown and turned her own head to the side. "I can't believe it. They attacked that terminal…killed all of those people…for that case?" She turned back to the woman afterward. "Why? What was in it? I thought it was just water from those bowls in the well…"

Tifa could only shake her head. "I don't know. I'm not sure I understand it all myself from what I've heard from Ragnar. But somehow, the water in those bowls can bring espers to life. I don't even have a good idea of what an esper is…but apparently it did it once already."

The girl paused a bit longer, seeming to think this over and look uneasily around.

"I know this probably isn't what you want to hear, Tifa…but I'm worried about what this all means. I'm afraid something bad is going to happen pretty soon…"


Nero was once again perched over Shelke's shoulder. The fellow Tsviet seemed oblivious to him, but that in itself was nothing new. At the moment, she didn't seem conscious of anything. She was in the midst of another synaptic mode dive, quite flaccid as she lay in her chair with her hood securely placed over her head. Using her ability, she was monitoring several different sensors and scanners at once concerning their latest "project". Nero himself eagerly awaited results. They had returned to base some hours ago, and it was now late. The test was already an hour underway.

He was seeing some of the data in front of him. On two screens before Shelke were cameras into the cells of their latest prisoners. One held the woman named Horus. DeepGround was being unusually gentle with her, but that was only for the moment. Although she had signs of a rather savage beating and one of her arms had been put into a makeshift sling, she was still putting up quite a fight, beating around her cell and angrily screaming at her unseen captors. She was of little use herself. Her sole purpose had been a few hours ago, when they were able to use her (specifically threats directed to her) to get her mutated comrades to drink from a set of special cups. Unknown to either of them, the cups, which seemed to have water in them, now had the contents from one of the special containers recovered from the case within them. Rather than waste two, Nero had told them to simply split one between the two subjects.

He was watching them intently now. No obvious changes…at least, none he could confirm visually. It almost looked as if both of them had become a bit more…muscular. Their aggression had definitely increased. At least…the older one's had. He was now stomping about his cell, angrily smashing into the walls. The younger one looked far calmer…even more mature. He crossed his arms and addressed the bigger one from time to time. The big one would then turn and argue, but in the end would back down, until he became irritable enough to start smashing again.

"Is your report ready?" Nero finally asked.

"Subjects 'Malcolm' and 'Roon' injested the contents of the container marked 'Earth(?)' 64 minutes ago." Shelke immediately answered. "After an initial moment of staggering and progressively more sluggish movements, they fell unconscious. New energy readings began to come from both bodies, which before were located in the single container. Electrical shocks were administered to arouse them. Although they awoke, neither the shocks nor the ions pumped into the room have any indication of being absorbed or transformed into power. Dr. Rui's theory that only a like element would produce a charging seems to hold true."

"Are they 'espers' now?"

"Yes. Apparently, splitting the water sample did little to affect the transfer. At least one splitting seems to work fine, resulting in two espers instead of one. More than one split might cause difficulties, however. Ironically, the younger subject of the two seems to have taken on an older and more experienced, if not physically more powerful, entity than the older subject. Based on their dialogue, they appear to actually be relation. Brothers of some sort. They are completely confused as to their current status. However…they are recovering power quickly. Far more quickly than the recharge documented on Quetzacoatl prior to introduction of electrical energy. My theory is that since we are currently underground, and they themselves are of the 'Earth force', they are regenerating simply from being in the area."

"Can the effect be accelerated?"

Shelke answered by bringing her hand to life long enough to reach out and run across invisible controls. Only in her own cyberspace world did she actually adjust icons. "I am attempting to right now. A load of earthen waste from an attempt to build an access tunnel was redirected to this cell. Watch carefully."

Nero obliged by looking back up to the cell. He waited patiently as Shelke continued to work. A moment later, and she finished and relaxed again.

The two in the cell suddenly snapped their heads to the sides. They heard something that Nero himself couldn't hear. A moment later, and the bigger one stiffened up and appeared to get ready to fight as a row of metal panels in the side of the cell opened. A deluge of dirt and soil soon poured into the room. Both the bigger one and the smaller one reacted in surprise. They struggled to turn and get away from it, but it was moving too fast. Soon, it rushed over them, and the power of it knocked their knees out from underneath them and sent them falling face first into it as it rushed through the cell. It quickly began to fill it up, and kept rushing in until it was over the knees of an average person. Only then did it halt.

The two were knocked flat, half buried in the dirt that had ran over them. They seemed to have been knocked unconscious, perhaps even hurt, by the attack of the earth deluge. For a moment, they lay there still. Nero narrowed his gaze, and began to wonder if this had been for nothing.

That was…until Shelke spoke again.

"…Energy level slope increasing two fold…three fold…"

Nero heard this, but kept his eyes on the cell. As he did…he watched as the two slowly began to pick themselves up. This time, there was no denying it. As he watched, their muscles did begin to grow. Not only that, but it almost seemed as if the shaggy, rough fur they had was starting to smooth out. Their claws became less like claws and more fist like. He almost thought he could see nubs of some sort beginning to poke out from their foreheads. As they pushed themselves up and out of the dirt, he began to see the soil they were standing in bleach. It seemed to turn paler…and, on further examination, finer. As they pulled themselves out of it and began to stand in other earth, that began to pale as well. Nero didn't need Shelke to realize what was happening. They were draining the earth element from the soil…using it to feed themselves. They were leaving behind barren, useless sand.

"There's a definite reaction." Shelke concluded. "And the earth accelerated it. They are, without any doubt, of the Earth element. At this current rate, so long as they continue to have access to this sort of fresh soil, they should reach a zenith of power equivalent to what Dr. Rui recorded in the full esper Quetzacoatl within two hours."

"You have full clearance to use as much personnel as required to give them fresh soil, should they exhaust their current supply." Nero continued. "Contact me again once their transformation is complete. If all goes well…then we will proceed with the true treatment immediately."


"Yes, I think all of us will be taking the next airship back, even if we have to reroute to somewhere else. I'll see you as soon as possible."

Ragnar hung up the phone soon after, and after replacing it in his pocket was forced to just stand aghast for a few moments, trying to wrap his brain about what had just happened back home. It was well known that news only reached Gateway slowly from the rest of the world. Hence, when there had been an attack on the airfield at Edge, he only was hearing it now this late at night from Tifa. Coupled to that the shocking fact that Cloud, Denzel, and Azure had all been hurt in the assault, and the fact that the whole operation appeared to have been designated to get the case that Ragnar had sent back home, and the man was soon overwhelmed.

After a few moments, he was able to turn and start walking out of his office and to the door. Soon he exited into the main hall of his research facility. Most of the other students and researchers were gone for the night. Right now, it was just him and Shalua. She was temporarily making use of the lab facilities that they had in their own research complex, despite the fact that it didn't have nearly the specifications and personalized equipment of her own lab. She had brought a few things from there and was trying to make do. He was headed for the lab as he continued to think about this.

Although he was definitely upset about what had happened to Cloud and his sons…he couldn't help but be anxious about the fact that the case had been stolen. Part of it was due to the fact that, deep down inside, he was upset that someone had stolen a chance for more espers to one day come back to life. The other part, however, was that someone had specifically targeted the case to be stolen in the first place. How was that possible? There were only a handful of people who even knew the true nature of that case and the specimens within it. And even if they did…then what? Why would they want to use it?

Needless to say, the man was considerably tensed up when he reached the lab. He had to unlock the door himself. Outside of her own lab, Shalua seemed to keep herself sealed inside. But on thinking of that…a strange idea occurred to Ragnar. She knew probably as much about the bowls and the essences as any of the rest of them. Could she have leaked the information?

Yet he dismissed that notion soon after. She had worked for the PPA, Reeve, and them for years without any trouble or incident. And although he only knew of a few people who had firsthand knowledge, there was just as much chance of the fact that any of the countless workers could have spotted something and relayed the information. But to who? And what for?

As the door slid open, he thought of another possibility. Horus. They hadn't heard from her in almost 24 hours by now. It was clear that they didn't truly trust each other completely yet. And she had tried to take the samples the night before…

He waved that off too. The woman had been so grateful to be human again that he doubted she really had true alterior motives in mind. The only thing anyone could really offer her now was the chance to restore her friends. And Ragnar and his group had done the same. Then again…they made her wait. They thought it was too risky to try it right away. She hadn't been eager to wait. And she had demonstrated in the past that she didn't care who got hurt so long as she got what she wanted…

He didn't know. He decided not to focus on the culprit just yet. He was more interested in what had happened. He also wanted Shalua to know about this. He knew that she was keeping a record of their findings. There was a chance that if it wasn't one of the people around him, someone had gotten ahold of the information from her computer.

Ragnar soon began to walk into the room. Just in front of him on one of the lab tables was Shalua. She was hunched over it with her laptop open nearby, seeming to operate from that system now. She also had a few "subjects" in front of her. Namely, there were a set of Petri dishes set up around her workspace, and a microscope along with them. She seemed to have a look of concern on her expression as she looked to the dishes, in particular the one she had under the microscope. She stared at it a few moments, and then turned and typed some more on her computer. After that, she turned back and worked further. The man noticed that the

However, as Ragnar approached, she noticed him and looked up.

"Ragnar…I'm glad you're here." She immediately started. "I found something-"

The man cut her off, not really listening to this.

"The case we sent to Isuzu was stolen."

Immediately, Shalua cut herself off and turned to surprise. "What?"

"Some sort of group attacked the airport and killed dozens of people trying to get to it." Ragnar answered. "They stole the case and ran off with it. That's all they were going after too. Somehow, they knew what was in it."

"That's impossible." Shalua answered. "No one knew what was there. Only a handful of people even knew it was being sent."

"Well, somehow they did. And they didn't seem to care about killing people in order to get it either." Ragnar responded. "I don't honestly believe that any of us would have told them about it…not even Horus. So that leads me to believe it was anyone who might have gotten ahold of our data."

Shalua shook her head. "I keep all of the data under password lock and key, and I've got Isuzu Industries' latest firewalls protecting against a hacker."

"That doesn't necessarily mean someone couldn't get into it." Ragnar answered. "Is there any way to check to see if your security was breached?"

The woman sighed in response. "Only if they put some sort of program on it. That shouldn't have worked anyway, because I've got anti-spyware programming as well. No one has been around my main systems except me either. There might be something in the records of program access, assuming that it was a hacker who wasn't smart enough to cover his or her tracks by erasing that record. They'd have to be rather meticulous for that though."

Ragnar sighed and crossed his arms. "It doesn't make any sense to me. Why would they do it at all? Even if they knew what it was? Why would anyone else care about bringing more espers to life?"

Shalua leveled her good eye at him at this. "…They probably didn't care about bringing espers to life. Don't forget what this essence was able to do. Horus was incurably mutated, and yet somehow the process of possession and evocation cured her. I did state in my fourth report that these essences represent a potential in a new way to cure genetic diseases without having to worry about replicating the body's numerous pathways and hope for success. Assuming I was hacked, though I don't see how, and that they looked at it, it could have given them quite a few ideas." Shalua paused after saying this, and leaned back a bit as she cocked her neck.

"Although…for their own sakes, I hope they don't act on them."

Ragnar looked up and to Shalua at this. "…What do you mean?"

The woman turned to him, and raised her remaining arm and tapped it against the Petri dishes.

"I've been scrambling my brains trying to think of a way to model what happened with Horus and Quetzacoatl. I'm afraid to try anything, thinking it'll do the same thing again. There's no reason to believe that these bowls just work on humans. They might work on lab rats or dogs for all I know too. But I finally came up with one system. I've been using small cultures of bacteria, yeasts, and fungus. Apparently, it's not that good for one of these bowls to try and channel a spirit into some single celled organism or colony. Even so, I've only been giving them single droplets from the one we confirmed as Ice. It seems to have been working out so far. It causes a reaction for about twenty seconds before some mechanism realizes the cultures aren't enough and ceases. It gives me some time to study and take readings."

The woman leaned back a bit and gestured to the dish in front of her. She grew a bit more serious.

"…About two hours ago, while testing one of the bacterial samples, I noticed something strange. Only half of the bacteria in this dish showed a reaction. The other half remained unaltered. I struggled to figure out why. I racked my brains over the simple explanations, hoping that I wouldn't have to send it out for analysis to try and determine if it was a genetic problem. I might have anyway if I didn't try to repeat the effect by placing another droplet on the colony. Again, only half of them reacted…but not the same half.

"I realized that I had made a mistake on this tray. I accidentally gave it two different strains of bacteria. They're just far enough away to be considered a separate species, and they have enough fundamental differences in them to tell apart under a microscope if you look closely enough. What I found out was that the droplets were only causing a reaction in one of them at a time. I tried using more distinct plates and attempted the same thing, and I eventually realized that it depended entirely on which strain absorbed more of the water than the other. That, in turn, was an effect of where I placed the droplet."

Ragnar wasn't following this. "What are you saying?"

"Right now I can't say anything for certain unless I can get a completely chimeric organism, much like Horus was." Shalua answered. "But I think I'm starting to get why Horus' body was restored to humanity and Quetzacoatl was able to get a new body at the same time. It's because there were two separate sets of DNA inside Horus. The blending wasn't perfect when that Hoeng person did it to them. Some regions were more distinctly owl and some were more distinctly human. I'm starting to believe that the water never really got into Horus' human portion, but instead got into contact with her owl half. That's what was growing and absorbing power. And when she got enough, that DNA altered itself to become identical to an esper. In the course of doing so, a malfunction occurred in which it didn't just slough off Horus' DNA, but rebuilt it into its original body as well."

The Cetra was still confused. "I still don't get what you mean."

"I mean that the only reason Horus is here is because she was a chimera when she drank the water, and the water somehow attached to her bird half instead of her human half. If Horus herself was to drink a bowl now, she wouldn't evoke a separate esper at all. She would become the esper. The only reason she's even here was because she had been blended once and Quetzacoatl only took one half."

Now Ragnar began to understand. And when he did, his look immediately changed to concern.

"…You mean to say that if any 'normal' person drank from one of the bowls…they'd simple become the esper for good? Their own spirits would be 'displaced' and the body would change to suit the esper's spirit?"

Shalua sighed and gave a shrug.

"I can't make that conclusion a certainty just from bacterial cultures, but that's what it's starting to look like. And that explains more of the questions I've been having. If this is the case, then the only people we could expect that this would be a safe procedure for would indeed be Malcolm and Roon. Anyone else might as well commit suicide."

The loss of the case was almost forgotten as Ragnar heard this latest revelation. Apparently, bringing an esper back wasn't so simple as it seemed. It came at a tall price. In the case of Horus, the price she paid was something she had wanted to lose to begin with. Yet it seemed as if they had all been misled into thinking that this was both a way to restore and esper and a panacea for genetic ailments. And if this was indeed the case…then Ragnar realized another misfortune had ruined his hopes.

Even if the Sun's bowl was intact…someone would have to give up their life for Bahamut's…

Ragnar swallowed, and in the end gave a nod to her.

"Well…it's getting late now, but I'd appreciate it if you kept checking until you knew for certain. Until then, I may have to have that place sealed up." He began to turn to leave at this, and got a few steps away from Shalua afterward. However, he suddenly stopped an instant later, and turned back to her.

"…And make sure you don't touch that water." He warned.

Shalua gave a half-smile.

"I'm already using my extra-long pipettes."


Nero finished closing the distance to his old position, and then halted and crossed his arms.

"Report." He stated.

Shelke was still in the chair with the hood draped over her head. However, ahead of her, there had been a considerable change. Horus was still much the same, but the cell that held the other two subjects now held four.

Two human bodies were passed out on the ground, motionless. One was a man and the other was a boy. Next to them, however, two new monstrosities had arisen. Both of them were terrible, frightening hulks. They had horns, ugly faces, hooves, and lots of muscle. The smaller of the two was still calm, but the bigger one was pounding away at the walls again. Each blow shook the camera.

"Experiment successful." Shelke responded. "Once they reached a zenith, they evoked into separate beings after seeming to send out some sort of eruption of earth. The two humans are alive but still unconscious. They seemed to have been flung around severely during the evocation. As for the larger beasts, the one designate 'espers', they almost seemed to become conscious and active instantly."

Nero looked on at the screen, watching the large one continue to pound away at his prison.

"…Currently, the cell walls have been modified to produce the same sort of resistant force as is projected against Arch Azul." Shelke explained, seeming to notice him looking without turning around. "They're holding for the time being, but these new entities are rather powerful."

"Then my brother will have to be restrained until he evokes his own entity." Nero answered. "Assemble the other Tsviets. Tell them to place the 100 weakest soldiers-in-training within my brother's chamber. Have my brother strapped down into his throne. Prepare the sample marked 'Death'."

Shelke did turn her hooded head slightly over to Nero at this. "May I ask why that particular sample?"

"We excel at bringing death. That will be the easiest to feed." Nero answered.

"Shall we test them further?" Shelke asked. "Make sure they are healthy with no abnormalities before we attempt to use this on Weiss the Immaculate?"

"I will wait no longer." Nero answered. "I've seen enough. My brother will live again by tomorrow morning."

"Then what shall I do with the current beasts and the two subjects?"

"The subjects are nothing. They may be devoured by the beasts. The beasts themselves will be a gift to my brother once he lives again. I wish to give him a challenge for him to hone his skills upon."


To be continued...

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Alright...some of you may be wondering why two espers came out when, based on Shalua's research, only one of them should have become an esper. Well, not exactly. For one thing, Shalua was working with a simulated chimera, not two different organisms per say. Another issue has to do with the kind of esper that was brought out. These two happen to be closely knit twins and actually have almost an interconnected spirit, and so they tried to deposit themselves into two different bodies. Yet as you might have guessed...it ended up being a bit random.