Chapter 11: The Checkup


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Kairi rolled over on her bed and put a pillow over her head. "Ngh... five more minutes..."

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She lazily opened her eyes and glanced at her nightstand, sighting her phone vibrating. "Ugh... what time is it?"

She fumbled for the phone and glanced at it sleepily...

Until the text message she received flashed across the screen: You are due for your checkup with the Science Department. Be there at 0600 hours.

Kairi bolted upright and gripped her phone tightly. "T-the Science Department?!"

"What have I told you about fear my daughter? You knew this was coming at some point," chided Mother.

She frowned. "I suppose..."

Still... she knew it was going to be Hojo doing the checkup, he wouldn't let anyone else do it, and going down alone into the Science Department to see Hojo...

She hesitated before flipping open her phone and glancing down at her contacts. This wasn't something she wanted to risk Zack in, he wasn't a high ranking nor powerful SOLDIER yet. She didn't know Angeal or Sephiroth's numbers, nor did she want to bother someone she didn't really know... that only left one person, and hopefully he wasn't angry at her for the scolding he got over her first mission...

She punched in Genesis's number and waited.

CLICK

"It's not even six in the morning yet, this better be important," came Genesis's sleepy voice.

"I have an check-up with the Science Department in about twenty minutes," said Kairi nervously.

There was silence for a moment before Genesis swore under his breath. "I'll meet you at the elevators in ten minutes."

Kairi brightened at that. "Thank you."

CLICK

Genesis hung up without further word.

Kairi let out a relieved breath and strode into the bathroom, preparing herself for the day. After she finished a quick shower and got dressed, she double checked her equipment. She hesitated briefly before unsocketing her Bolt materia and slipping it into her pocket. Because, just incase she had to leave her sword somewhere, like hell was she going to risk being anywhere near Hojo completely unarmed. Maybe she was overacting a little and being a bit skittish, as since she was known it would be harder to just disappear into the labs, but she'd rather be safe than sorry. Even with Genesis there.

She met Genesis at the elevators a few minutes later and offered him a meek, "T-thank you for..."

Genesis held up a hand for silence. "Being a companion to 'venture' down to see 'the good doctor' is not something you need to give thanks for. It is an unspoken requirement to have one, or warn someone you're going down there. Thankfully you had the intelligence to call me rather than going down alone."

He flicked open his own phone and began punching a text in. "Give me a moment to let Angeal and Sephiroth know where we going incase we 'mysteriously' disappear, and we'll be on our way."

She gave him a disturbed look. "Y-you're serious?"

He glanced up at her and frowned. "Did you not just hear what I said? Of course I am."

"B-but, even you?" she asked.

Genesis scowled. "Hojo hates me. If I don't die in battle one day, I fully expect to die in his labs on an operating table, that man's mad grin and laughter the last sight I see and hear."

He flapped his hands dramatically. "My friend, the fates are cruel."

Kairi wasn't set at ease, at all, by what he said.

They walked into the elevator and hit the button for the Science Department before Kairi asked, her voice low, "Why doesn't anyone, ya know, do something about him?"

Genesis raised an eyebrow. "My my, are you asking why someone hasn't murdered him? I didn't think you had it in you."

Kairi's gaze hit the floor, feeling a bit ashamed. "I..."

"There is nothing wrong with meting out death to those you so chose to end," chided Mother.

Genesis chuckled. "For that man, there is no fantasy nor desire cruel enough, Kairi."

She looked up, a little relieved. "I... I know, but, it's still not right to wish someone dead. I shouldn't think like that..."

Genesis scoffed. "If you say so."

"Agreed, you are still to soft for your own good my daughter," scolded Mother, "We'll have to work on that."

Kairi pursed her lips, but didn't respond to her.

Genesis pondered briefly before clearing his throat. "To answer your question, he is unfortunately to valuable to the company to be disposed of. Not to mention cunning and careful enough to not be caught off-guard by those who don't care about that fact."

DING

Kairi couldn't help but pale a little when the elevator opened and a dreadfully familiar hallway greeted her. It took Genesis giving her a nudge to get her moving. Each step was like agony to her, she did NOT want to be down here again, or rather, up here again considering the floor. If not for the presence Genesis gave off, she could have easily slipped into an old memory and habit, walking with her head hopelessly bowed as a Turk escorted her to the experimentation room...

She shook off the thought, took a deep breath, and tried her best to squash her growing dread. She knew it was going to hit her in a god awful way the second she saw Hojo. She focused her efforts on steeling herself as Genesis took point and led her to the reception desk.

"3rd Class Kairi is here for an appointment with 'the good doctor'," said Genesis.

The receptionist glanced briefly at Kairi, and then at Genesis, Kairi was a bit certain that the woman wanted to question why he was here. "Right this way, I'll take you to the examination room."

For a split second, Kairi froze up. Examination room sounded to close to Experimentation room...

She shook it off, took a breath and followed behind Genesis and the receptionist. She wasn't blind to the watchful glanced Genesis gave her every now and then. She was glad he at least didn't shoot her any pity. She didn't need that on top of this. The receptionist led them to a room and left afterwords. Genesis opened the door, glanced inside, made a distasteful face, and motioned her in.

She did so, pausing and growing very still to see Hojo at a counter, fiddling with vials and syringes. Her hands tightened into fists, digging into her palms, before she silently moved to stand next to the door.

"Professor Hojo," said Genesis.

Hojo's eyes briefly flickered to him. "If it isn't Hollandar's failure."

Genesis silently glared at Hojo, but didn't offer a response.

Hojo turned his gaze to Kairi, taking a moment to size her up. "Well Specimen K, I suppose I'm satisfied to see you haven't slacked in your training. You appear to have put on a bit of muscle. Not fleeing from monsters anymore are we? If the report I read about the dragon is any consideration, I suppose not."

Kairi glared full force at him.

Hojo didn't react and motioned to a table in the center of the room. "Strip down to your undergarments and lay down."

Kairi flushed a bit with embarrassment, it hadn't been the first time he had ordered her to do so for an examination, but... with Genesis present...

She forced herself to move to the table and did as instructed, not daring to look back Genesis's way.

"I suppose we'll get the check-up process done quickly so we can turn to more important matters," said Hojo, walking over with a clipboard.

Kairi's heart skipped a beat. "More important matters?"

"Of course," said Hojo, adjusting his glasses, "The President wishes me to figure out a viable solution, with you as the basis, to develop a correct formula to begin inducting the female gender into SOLDIER in bulk."

Kairi grew a little confused, she had heard something like this before, but..., "I don't understand. All you did was inject me and that was it, why can't you just do the same with other females?"

Hojo stared at her, not looking impressed. "You, Specimen K, are a 'very' special case. SOLDIERs require a certain... bonding agent to be used to allow Mako to be injected into them. Most females do not react well to the bonding agent, developing spots over the bodies, fevers, and dying within days to weeks of exposure. I can name the woman who did survive off the top of my head. However, none save you have survived both the bonding agent and Mako injections under normal circumstances."

Kairi paled a bit. "And you injected me just like that?!"

Hojo didn't seem off-put, "I was sixty-percent positive you would survive the process."

"Sixty?!" she said, outraged.

"Considering it's zero-percent for others, you can save the dramatics, the odds were slightly in your favor," said Hojo, "Now be quiet."

She glared at him silently, before retreating to her thoughts. She figured the 'bonding agent' he was talking about was Mother's cells... but why would her cells kill women? She waited, hoping Mother would shed some light on it, but nothing was offered. There was something... else odd... with what he had said. Survived both under normal circumstance? Were there other female SOLDIERs then? No, she was the first according to practically everyone else. If there had been others before her, well, they weren't here now for whatever reason. Maybe the process had left them unstable or something? She didn't honestly know.

"Underground," murmured Mother, "Deep underground are the only other two who could have been called my daughters, I suppose."

Underground? Oh... as in buried underground, dead.

Mother made a disgruntled sigh and muttered something that sounded an awful lot like 'idiot', but did not comment further.

Kairi sighed quietly and focused on keeping her eyes on Hojo, not allowing him to step out of her sight...


Genesis watched, calm on the outside, seething on the inside, as Hojo went about his business, asking Kairi basic questions about her health, none that the Professor would truly care about. Sixty percent odds, pah. How many woman he wondered had the Professor disposed of to validate his zero-percent claim? He wondered sometimes if staying within Shinra was the right thing to do. Not that there were other realistic options to be frank. Shinra was soon to own the world after they dominated Wutai, there would be no one else left strong enough to stand against them. He could always go off on his own, but to be perfectly honest he doubted they'd willingly let him go. Either they'd send someone to kill him, or to capture him and force him to return. Not to mention, what the hell would he do on his own? Live a hermit's life? Laughable.

No, as much as he despised Hojo and Shinra, at the center of attention was where he was always destined to be, and Shinra, was definitely that.

He refocused as Hojo moved to the counter and began placing many empty syringes on a cart before wheeling it over to Kairi. "Well Specimen K, were going to need to extract quite a bit of blood to have a stable supply for testing purposes."

Genesis eyed the collection of syringes. "You do plan on leaving her 'some' blood in her body, correct?"

Hojo scoffed. "Specimen K is practically immortal, I could drain eighty percent of the blood in her and I doubt it would kill her."

He noted, with amusement, as Kairi glared furiously up at the Professor.

"You ought to understand the concept, after all, I read the mission report of the fledgling dragon you pitted her against," said Hojo, "The damage I saw she sustained in the photograph was quite extreme, most SOLDIERs would not have survived that. More proof of my genius in making her a SOLDIER."

Genesis went silent at that, offering no counter. He had the annoying feeling that everyone was going to be using that 'small little test' against him from here on in.

"Arm out Specimen K," ordered Hojo.

Kairi pursed her lips tightly and offered an arm. Without a word of comfort or warning, Hojo took a syringe and put it into her arm, into her vein, and started drawing blood. Genesis watched passively as the Professor filled syringe after syringe. Kairi showed no signs of physical pain, but...

He frowned, contemplative, as she showed other signs. The slight shiver that ran down her spine when Hojo touched her arm. The tightening of her fists as he brought the next syringe to fill. The flinching of her eyes when the Professor glanced at each vial filled with blood almost lovingly, his treasured work. Her pure discomfort by merely being in the Science Department and in the same room as Hojo. The presence that emanated from the girl was agitated and alight, giving off distress and suppressed fear. He could recall the sheer lack of confidence in her when they had met by the elevators...

Even if her body could not be permanently marred, the same could not be said for the mind and soul. If what he noted was any indication, a year under the Professor's 'mercy'' already had left her a few scars. He could admit quietly to himself that he was loath to allow anymore to his young apprentice.

"Are you done yet?" asked Genesis, "We're SOLDIERs, you're aware we do have a schedule to keep."

Hojo glanced briefly at him, not impressed. "At six in the morning? At best most of you are just waking up, and you specifically enjoy sleeping in, do you not?"

Genesis did his best to not show his displeasure that Hojo knew about his sleeping patterns.

"You are free to leave if you so wish, you're presence is not required here," said Hojo dismissively.

He could not help but notice the way Kairi went rigid, her eyes fearfully glancing towards him. He frowned at that, was she truly scared that he would leave her here on her own?

"I'll wait, you have a reputation that precedes you after all," he said simply, giving the Professor a pointed look.

Hojo made a disgruntled sound in the back of his throat before returning to drawing more of Kairi's blood. Kairi however had an immensely relieved look on her face, gratitude in her eyes. Genesis did nothing to acknowledge it. In truth, he did not like this side of her, the few times he had seen it, he preferred her strong and confident, willing to accept any challenge. Seeing this reminded him of a.. well...

"What that scientist did was also unacceptable, she was a schoolgirl of all things put into his labs with even less skill than what meager abilities she has now, do not use his actions as an excuse."

He shifted uncomfortably as Sephiroth's words echoed in his mind. Perhaps he disliked her like this because it was a reminder that while she had joined SOLDIER and had started to become one of them, she was still a young teenage girl at heart. It had been a little over a year since, as Sephiroth had put it, she was a simple young schoolgirl. Far sooner since she stopped being an experiment.

Perhaps he had jumped the gun with his test for her.

His lips curled into a smug grin. Even so, she still rose to the challenge, she always did, and would always have his respect for it. The only problem was, how to get her over her dread of Hojo and the Science Department? A difficult conundrum, especially with him not being allowed to train her. Though, even if he could, what could he do? He could readily admit, psychological matters weren't exactly his forte. Outside of screwing with people of-course.

No.

Perhaps... this was a matter she would have to overcome on her own.

He nodded at that and refocused in time to see Hojo wheeling away the cart of full syringes. His eyes flickered to Kairi; Hojo had been right, she didn't seem phased to have lost such blood. Save for the squeamish look she gave that cart. My oh my, if that 'little bit of blood' made her look like that, the first time she stepped onto a real battlefield was most likely going to make her puke. He hoped he'd be there to see that, if only to tease her about it later. Cruel perhaps, but oh so satisfying to hold over someone.

Hojo returned with a glowing green syringe. "Now for your Mako booster, and you will be on your way Specimen K."

"Booster?" she questioned.

"All SOLDIERs get a shot every so often, to help keep their Mako levels and... bonding agent levels at appropriate levels," said Hojo.

Kairi frowned briefly before extending her arm; Hojo injected the syringe and withdrew, walking back to the counter and beginning to examine the vials of Kairi's blood. "Off with you then."

Kairi was off the table, had her clothes on, and was out the door at a speed that Genesis could admit was impressive. He had to actually pick up the pace to keep up with her. He watched her carefully, he had a hunch it was taking every ounce of control she had not to simply bolt and full on run out of there. The moment they were on the elevator and the door closed, she leaned heavily against the wall, taking deep raged breaths, her hand clutching her chest over her heart.

He raised an eyebrow at that. "Surely it wasn't that bad?"

Kairi opened her eyes and glared at him full force. Genesis froze, sighting her pupils contract and shift briefly to green. He did NOT enjoy being under the intensity of a glare that looked so much like Sephiroth's. She closed her eyes, shook her head, and reopened them, showing their normal mako color and shape.

"I... HATE... that man," she spat out with a viciousness he rarely if ever saw from her.

"If you didn't I'd have to think something was wrong with you," he answered dryly.

He was a bit surprised when she fished a hidden materia out of her pocket and briefly drew her sword to socket it, he gave her a wry smile. "Good intuition."

She smiled grimly at that. "I hoped I wouldn't need it, but I wanted to be on the safe side."

He nodded, but made no further comment as they returned to the SOLDIER floor.

"Genesis...," she said quietly, "Thanks."

He nodded again. "Of course, but again, you need not give thanks for this."

She shrugged. "You probably ought to let them know we're okay."

It took him a moment to figure she was referring to texting Sephiroth and Angeal, he hummed before smirking, "I'll keep them sweating for a little."

She snorted. "That's totally not nice."

They shared a brief chuckle before the elevator door opened. "Genesis."

He turned his head. "Yes?"

She had a frown on her face, flexing her hands into fists and open palms. "Where do I pick up missions?"

He tilted his head back. "Right, I never taught you that. There are two ways, you can check on your phone for available missions, or check with Lazard. It's highly preferred you do the first, as Lazard is a fairly busy man. The system will automatically assign the mission to you and take it off the network when claimed."

"Can you show me?" she asked.

They stepped out of the elevator and stood at the side of the hall. He held out his hand as she offered her phone. He showed her the icon to press, how to look through a list of missions, how to sort and search it, and how to claim one.

She took the phone back and scrolled down for a moment before an almost savage grin appeared on her face, her voice containing barely held-back fury, "Someone put in a request to clear out a nest of monsters in the slums, perfect."

He studied her for a moment, a bit confused at the sudden change, before he figured it out. The fear and anxiety had finally faded, now the anger was surfacing. She wanted to vent after that venture.

His lips curled into a smug grin. Woe be it to any monster that crossed her path until she was satisfied.

He clapped a hand on her shoulder before leaving. "Have fun."


Kairi hit accept on the mission of her choice, a tremor of rage coursing through her hand. She couldn't remember ever feeling such wrath coursing through her veins. It scared her a little, but oh, how she wanted to HURT something. That in itself felt bizarre to her... she knew it for the Professor, but for anything and anyone else...?

"You have so little experience with hatred my daughter," said Mother, "In all your memories, not once have you felt it before coming to this world."

Kairi blinked a few times. "You've seen my memories?"

"We are connected, you and I, my daughter," explained Mother.

Kairi contemplated it before shrugging it off, she didn't honestly care if Mother went snooping, it was a Mother's right to be curious about their child. Sora's and Riku's moms had always pestered her about their children whenever they had a chance, as if they couldn't get enough of them. Her face fell at the thought of her friends, only to feel her anger grow in return, frustrated at not being able to help them.

Mother chuckled darkly. "There is so much more left to teach you. My naive innocent daughter, how little you know of the other sides of life. You've never known the satisfaction of cruel revenge, never sated bloodlust, never enjoyed inflicting pain on others and watching those you want to suffer do so."

Kairi grew uneasy and a little scared. "M-mother... those thing's are..."

"A natural part of who we are," interrupted Mother, "Do you deny it? That you took that mission with the desire to kill?"

Kairi bowed her head to the floor. "..."

"Do you deny it?" asked Mother again.

"I don't... understand," said Kairi, frustrated and lost, "I've never felt... pure hot rage... like this before."

"I will make you understand, with a simple phrase, one word and a letter," said Mother.

Kairi's eyes furrowed. "What?"

"Specimen K," said Mother.

Kairi flinched at that, hearing her Mother call her that horrible name that Hojo called her. Her fists clenched, her teeth ground, and she felt her rage rise again.

"Your experience with anger is stunted. What is having boys tease you, or little temper tantrums of not getting your way when you were younger, compared to the defiling touch and words of that man?" asked Mother.

Kairi frowned, contemplating it. "They're... nothing."

"As I said, until you came here, you've had little to no experience with the 'darker' side of life," said Mother, "And in the experimentation room, you had little time to acknowledge it in the heat of the moment with a monster hungering to rend you apart, focusing on survival as you were."

Kairi brooded silently, not responding.

"Go. Go do your 'mission', and I will teach you something... glorious...," ordered Mother.

Kairi did as ordered, turning back to the elevator and punching in the bottom floor. She felt... conflicted. She loved her life back on the islands... but... was Mother right? Was she... had she been 'sheltered'? Naive? Foolish? Was this how life really was? When not trapped on those small islands?

There was no one, period, end of story, like Hojo on the islands. No one like the Turks either, though Riku could do the silent watchful act at times. People like SOLDIER didn't exist either. Combat, fighting, wars, they were all stories, books, or games, on the islands.

Their islands... their small isolated peaceful and quiet Destiny Islands...

What she wouldn't give to go back, to have that life back...

She shook her head as the elevator door dinged, coming out to the Shinra Building Lobby. She walked briskly out of the building and into the train station, climbing aboard the one bound for the slums. She fidgeted a little anxiously as it started moving. At this point she didn't know what was worse, boat rides to the island, train rides to the slums, or helicopter rides to wherever... yuck no matter what.

She ran a hand through her hair and sighed. She just... wanted to hit something really hard right now...

She got off the train and moved past the train station, following the same path she and Zack had taken to find Aerith. She walked into the junkyards between sectors, where the monsters roamed. If she recalled, mission said she needed to purged twenty of any type...

"Oh? Only twenty?" mocked Mother, "Will that truly satisfy you? Specimen K?"

Kairi flinched. "Mother... please stop calling me that."

"Then give in to your rage, feed it, show these misbegotten creations no mercy," bargained Mother.

"Mother...," began Kairi.

"Kill them my daughter," ordered Mother.

She frowned and drew her sword, struggling to control her anger at mother's prodding. "Twenty, no more, no less."

"No my child, kill them ALL," ordered Mother.

Kairi's eyes went wide. "What?"

"Did it not anger you? When the Cetra's life was endangered by these creatures?" purred Mother, "Did you not want to do this anyway?"

Kairi hesitated. "I..."

"Kill them," whispered Mother, her presence starting to become overbearing in Kairi's head.

Kairi winced and massaged her forehead. "M-mother?"

"Kill them all, show me your rage, show me the capacity for slaughter," cackled Mother.

Kairi staggered to a knee, clutching her head as a buzzing noise began to fill her mind. "Gnaa... s-stop..."

"Kill them my daughter," ordered Mother.

Black spots began to fill Kairi's vision, her hearing going in and out...

Kill them.

Kairi grew dizzy, the buzzing noise consuming her entire focus... her mind...

Kill them.

She hazily looked through her eyes, sighting a few Whole Eaters approaching her, eyeing the partially collapsed girl as easy prey...

KILL THEM.

Kairi stood up, in a daze, and slowly reached for her sword...

KILL THEM.

The Whole Eater's rushed at her...

KILL!


Tseng watched impassively from a safe distance, hidden behind a few piles of debris. Being the primary Turk assigned to watch both the Ancient and Kairi was starting to become an annoyance. When the girl had walked out of Shinra alone, without a required escort for a mission as a third, he had followed. After he had determined she wasn't attempting to run away, he figured she had simply forgot about the prerequisite. Considering she had behaved rather well after first leaving the labs, and that she was probably agitated after her appointment with Hojo, he was content to leave her with a simple warning, rather than reporting her for the breach of protocol and...

He froze, the hair on the back of his neck standing straight up. Every instinct in his body, at once, screamed danger. He sharply focused in on Kairi, watching as she tore into the monsters. His eyes furrowed in confusion and wariness. What in the world had set him off?

Tseng considered himself a controlled man, but when he caught sight of Kairi's face, a savage grin spreading from her lips, her eyes glowing heavy with mako and changed into green cat-like slits, a nervous bead of sweat rolled down his forehead. Those eyes... those were Sephiroth's eyes. Immediately his mind starting whirling. Many initial notions about the girl were immediately discarded, new implications, and dangers, rising to take their place. The first thought that crossed his mind, was that Hojo had done far more than just turn her into a SOLDIER if she had eyes like that.

Tseng flicked out his phone, zoomed in, aimed it carefully, and snapped a picture of her, making sure to capture her face in it. He sent the picture to Veld, switched off all sounds and vibrations as to not alert Kairi's enhanced hearing, and waited patiently for further instructions. He watched as Kairi slaughtered each and every monster that crossed her path, blood coating her blade and splashing onto her uniform and face.

Laughter.

Laughter so unlike anything he had ever heard from Kairi while watching her ripped out of her mouth. If he hadn't seen her laughing before him, he would have thought someone, or something else was doing it. The laughter sounded like it came from something older and sinister. It set him on edge.

He had seen SOLDIERs fight before, in the war, and out on missions. He knew the difference between a SOLDIER in control, and a SOLDIER losing it. Kairi had lost it. Unstable SOLDIERs were dangerous, bad business, and bad publicity. Kairi especially, as the first female SOLDIER, would be a disaster if she was seen like this. Especially since images of her snapped yesterday while she was with Zack had already started circulating on the internet. She had already been noticed within Midgar, the President had not been against that, but this disaster before him? Covering her up would be much harder now if she was seen. He checked his phone, frowning slightly, to see he had no reply yet. He thought briefly, trying to recall what Veld's schedule for the day was, perhaps there was a meeting or...

BOOM!

Tseng flinched as Kairi unleashed a burst of white fire out of her hand that hit a monster, a Hell House if he recalled, and blew it apart. The wave of heat that rolled over the area was intense, and far more potent than normal coming from her limit break. He noticed it then, that Kairi was moving and hitting faster and harder than he had noted her being able to do before. It was almost as if she were empowered in this state. She was at least at the level of a 2nd class SOLDIER when like this. Though, she seemed far more savage and less skilled with a blade at the moment, swinging it around without care, only to sever monsters in half.

The monsters were starting to get wise to this being the wrong place to be. They were starting to scurry and scramble away, but Kairi showed no mercy. She pursued them and butchered every one she caught up to. Tseng considered it a fortunate at this point that no one had come across this spectacle yet. Then again, if anyone else felt the chill going down his spine, they probably had the hunch to steer clear of this area.

He watched and waited, checking his phone every now and then, until there wasn't a living monster in sight. Kairi strode to the middle of the carnage, sheathed her sword, and surveyed her work with apparent glee on her face, her tongue going out of her mouth the lick a bit of blood off her lips. The sight of that was so alien and unlike the personality profile they had been building for the girl that it made him wonder if he was staring at someone else completely.

Slowly, the glee faded, and her eyes returned to normal. She stood there in a daze before she fell to her knees and pitched forward, her face landing in a pile of severed monster. She groaned and clutched her head, whimpering in pain as she slowly rose to her knees. She opened her eyes and froze, staring at the carnage in front of her. She raised her bloody gloved hands and held them out before her. She stared at them for a moment, horror on her face, before she screamed.

Hmm... well, if he had to guess, Kairi had come to her senses.

"Mother!" she cried out, "Mother! Why?!"

Tseng sighed quietly and pinched the bridge of his nose. It was not his business or duty to pity someone, but someone crying out for their parents did strike at him. He was under the thought that children, even teenagers, should not be conscripted into SOLDIER. Nor should anyone be taken into Hojo's labs and driven to madness, but, he wasn't paid for such thoughts.

Kairi clutched her head and rose to her feet, shaking uncontrollably, tears streaming down her face, before she turned and bolted away from the carnage. Tseng flicked open his phone and took a few pictures of the spectacle for review later. He paused afterwords, noting Veld had finally responded. His order: Call me.

He flicked open his phone and punched in Veld's number as he started after Kairi. "Sir."

"Tseng. Do I even want to know what the hell is going on?" demanded Veld.

"Well sir...," began Tseng...


Kairi ran as if chased, tears streaming down her bloodstained horrified faced. No no no no no this wasn't happening!

"I don't see the problem my daughter, I said I would show you something glorious, and I did," said Mother, "You can't tell me you didn't enjoy the slaughter."

"SHUT UP!" she screamed at her, "That wasn't me... I didn't do that... no no no no NO!"

There was a tsking noise. "I'm disappointed my daughter. You don't believe you did that? Then let me show you..."

Kairi clutched her head in pain and staggered, going face-first into a junk pile as horrific memories bombarded her. She saw herself swinging her sword, slaughtering each monster with glee, laughing all the while. Chasing down monsters that were trying to flee, without mercy...

She couldn't take it.

She heaved, and heaved, and heaved.

Mother was sounding like she was losing her patience. "You do realize, as a 'SOLDIER', you will have to readily kill, correct?"

"Not like that!" she yelled at Mother, "That... that wasn't... wasn't right..."

"My daughter...," began Mother, raising her Voice.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" she screamed mentally, shoving hard at Mother's presence.

Mother gave a surprised and pained cry before she was forced to the back of Kairi's mind and grew seethingly silent. Kairi took off running, in a daze, before she came up to the flower church. She sniffled, walked inside, and made for the flower bed. She laid down before them, as if trying to draw comfort from something so pure, before curling up into a ball and crying herself to sleep...


Aerith watched quietly from her hiding place, peeking out from the back end of the church. The flowers had been throwing another fit a little bit ago, screaming about the Calamity and the Lost Child, again. She was starting to get a little vexed by how often they were doing this, at least until they grew fearfully silent and then directly screamed at her to hide.

Now, she watched as the Lost Child slept fitfully, sobs escaping her lips. She felt an awful lot of pity and sadness for the girl. Enough that she went to the back of the church, found a blanket, and brought it to the girl to lay over her. Gosh though... that was a sickening amount of blood over her... and little pieces of monster. Yuck...

She sat down next to her and began running a gentle hand through the girl's hair, trying to comfort her in her sleep. It appeared to have some effect, her sobs growing quiet. She continued as she was for a time before she glanced at the entrance.

"Are you going to come in or stand outside in the cold all day?" she called out.

She watched as one of the men who always watched her walked in and slowly came up to them, Tseng she believed his name was. "Miss Gainsborough, I am unsure being near her is a wise idea at the moment."

Aerith wagged a finger at him. "None of that!"

Tseng slightly raised his eyebrows, an almost amused look briefly crossing his stoic face.

"Do you have... um... Zack's phone number?" she asked.

"I can get it," he answered.

"Could you call him and ask him to come down?" she asked.

Tseng considered it for a moment before nodding. "Very well."

Aerith waited patiently, glancing at the Lost Child. Such an innocent face shouldn't be so bloodied. She shifted the blanket slightly and brought it up to try to rub a bit of the blood off gently, before it could dry to much. Her efforts had some effect, and thankfully didn't wake the girl up. About twenty minutes later, the other SOLDIER came into the church.

"Yo, Tseng what's up?" called Zack, "Oh, hey Aerith!"

Tseng glanced at him. "Quieter Zackery."

Zack paused, a confused look on his face, before he walked up to them, pausing when he spotted Kairi. "Uh... what's going on?"

Tseng offered him his phone. "Look at the pictures."

Zack's face went devoid of emotion, studying whatever picture Tseng was showing him with an intensity she didn't think the goofy SOLDIER had in him.

"Damn," he murmured, "She did a number on those monsters, and had the freaky eye thing again, but uh... why call me down here for that?"

"Because," Tseng murmured, "I believe it was a mental breakdown of sorts. As a friend of hers, perhaps you'd be able to help."

Zack closed his eyes and rubbed them tiredly. "Ah jeez... she's not had a good last few days."

Tseng nodded before clarifying. "She had her eyes change before?"

Zack sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "Picked me up and chucked me down the hall pretty hard before she collapsed, seemed kind of out of it."

Tseng blinked a few times, appearing to mull over those words.

"What? Didn't know? I thought the Turks knew everything," teased Zack.

Aerith couldn't help but giggle a little at that, feeling indignation from the Turk despite his attempts to hide it.

"We will make it our point to know from here on in," said Tseng, "If there is anything further you wish to add about the last occurrence?"

Zack shrugged. "You'll have to ask Sephiroth, my involvement was over after I brought her to the infirmary."

Tseng blinked a few times again. "Sephiroth is already aware of this?"

"Yep, him, Angeal, and Genesis," said Zack.

If the thin line that was Tseng's mouth was any indication, he was not pleased. "I see."

"You know," said Aerith, "You two ought to focus on getting her to bed instead of chatting here."

Zack gave her a teasing smile. "Bed? At this time? It's not even ten in the morning yet! Man, so jealous of Kairi, being able to sleep in like this."

Aerith snorted, not sure if she should be amused or off-put by his cheeriness at the moment.

Zack walked over, knelt down, and picked Kairi up. "Up and at em Kairi."

The girl murmured in her sleep, but didn't wake.

Tseng cleared his throat. "It would be preferable that she not be seen like this on her way back to HQ."

"Yeah yeah yeah," said Zack, "You got a silent helicopter or know a secret way up? Train-ride probably isn't the best bet at the moment."

Tseng began dialing a phone number and walked out without a word.

The moment Tseng was gone, Zack's cheery outlook faded and he glanced down at Kairi with concern, mumbling, "What the heck is going on with you Kairi?"

Aerith stood up and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I think... she's struggling to try to stay true to who she is."

Zack glanced back at her, a confused look on his face. "Huh?"

She didn't think she could tell him about the Calamity tainting the girl, not yet, and especially not with both the girl and the Calamity right there. She instead shook her head and nudged him towards the door. He took the hint, gave her a brief, strained smile, and walked out.

Aerith sighed to herself and turned to the flowers, crossing her arms in thought. "Struggling, but starting to lose if this was any indication..."


Author's Notes:

Hojo has a slight slip up on his explanation to Kairi about female SOLDIERs. The only two every shown in cannon were Shelke and Rosso, both were not normal SOLDIERs, as they were spliced with Genesis's genes according to the wiki, thus the 'unusual circumstances'. (Or at least, it says Rosso was, I can only assume the same for Shelke and everyone else). It does bring up a curious point to me, if they all had Genesis's genes put into them, why didn't any of them they degrade? Lore confuses me sometimes.

This chapter marks the first time Kairi was possessed, even briefly, by Jenova (in-case you couldn't figure it out).

Otherwise... enjoy.