Ok so.. it's been a year.. Over a year actually! I must apologize. There's no excuse. READ ON MY LOVELIES!

Chapter 13 – Experiment

I didn't sleep that night. Even with Cloud next to me, my nerves wouldn't settle. Every minute that passed by just made me more anxious for the hell to come. Questions raced through my mind. What are they going to do to me? Will it hurt? Will I be mutated afterwards? How long am I going to be there? Am I going to survive this? If those weren't enough to rattle my nerves, the images accompanying them sure did. Terrible, violent, pictures of a monster I could become. I just don't understand… why would Lazard allow them to do this to me? It couldn't be in my job description.

Zack would never let them do this to me… I quietly sighed, and crawled off the bed.

Cloud stirred, but didn't wake up. I took one last long look at his sleeping face before walking out the door. My stomach rolled as my phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out and shut off the alarm. All the saliva receded from my mouth, leaving it dry and sticky. My heart pounded against my chest as I walked out of Cloud's apartment. I wanted nothing more than to go back inside and stay with Cloud, but they would come for me, and drag me to Professor Hojo. There was no escaping my doom. I took my time walking to the Electric Company. Enjoying what little freedom I had left. The cool morning air, the smell of the dew on the brick road, and the sounds of my boots tapping the ground. All things I took for granted before today. I wanted to take it every feeling I could.

Even with my slow pace, reaching Shinra took only a few minutes. I stopped in front of the building and looked at it. I never really did take in how large of a building it was. I don't even think I've been on every floor in the years I've been here. If I make it through this.. experiment.. I'd have to take a tour of the entire building and see what all it has to offer. With a heavy sigh, I pushed myself forward into the building.

The Lobby was empty, aside from the girl at the greeting desk and the janitor. They paid no attention to me as I walked towards the elevator. I pushed the button, and waited for the doors to open. Before they had a chance to, I glanced beside me, to the stairs. The science department is on the 67th floor, and thanks Hojo, who knows when my next work out will be. Before the elevator doors could open, I made my way to the stairs and began my long, peaceful, trek to the 67th floor.

Once I reached the Science Department, I stopped at the door, and just stared at it. My anxiety was rising as the images of what horrible thing I could become flashed through my mind like a flip book. I shook my head and gulped down the lump in my throat before knocking on the thick metal door. When it opened, Alexander stood in front of me, arms crossed, and foot tapping the floor. Almost like he was a disappointed father.

"You're late." He scolded.

"Elevator was broken, had to take the stairs."

As if on cue, the familiar ding of the elevator rang and the doors opened. Alexander looked to the open doors, then back at me.

"Oh, well would you look at that." I said, "They must have fixed it while I was taking the stairs."

He shook his head and grabbed my arm, dragging me inside. The door closed behind me and locked automatically. Hojo must have a lot of secrets in here that he doesn't want anybody to see. I pulled my arm free of his grasp and he led the way through a maze of empty containers. I tried to keep my eyes forward, but my curiosity got the better of me. If this is where I would be for the next..however long, I might as well know who, or what, I'm going to be suffering with.

Many of them were empty, but others held different species of fiends, and some creatures I have never seen before. They were all sorts of shapes, sizes, and colors. What kind of creature would I turn out to be? Would I be grotesque and weak, or would I be strong and fierce? I shook my head, the images that flipped through my mind were too overwhelming, which didn't help my stomach from churning. Alexander stopped in an open area with fewer containers. Hojo stood in front of a table, papers scattered across it. He was mumbling to himself about "failed experiments" and "needing better test subjects". I guess it's my lucky day then.

Movement from my peripheral vision caught my attention. I looked to my right, where a humanoid creature floated in a container of mako. It's skin blue and shiny. It had no hair anywhere on its body, just a small fin on its skull that flopped over. The tips of its fingers had sharp, white, claws and webbing between the fingers. This creature was clearly built for water combat, but I didn't see any gills. It opened its eyes, the irises yellow and green with snake-like pupils. I couldn't help but notice the pleading in its eyes, like it was begging me to help it. Maybe this poor creature was a human like me once. I sighed, and looked away from it. There was nothing I could do to help it.

"Ah, our new test subject!" Hojo exclaimed, "Senna, dear, how nice to see you again."

"That makes one of us." I mumbled.

Alexander snickered next to me and pushed me forward. I slapped his arm away and stood up straight.

"Before we start this," I said, "what exactly is going to happen to me, and how long am I going to be here?"

Hojo turned away from me and picked up a clipboard from the table.

"I can't answer either question, but-"

"But wha-OW!"

"But you shouldn't be here too long."

Alexander stepped away from me, a syringe between his fingers. I held onto my arm where he stabbed the needle into me and cringed.

"What the hell was that about?" I swore.

"Just a small blood sample." He snickered.

"You son of a-"

"Shall we begin now?" Hojo interrupted.

Hojo led me to one of the empty containers and proceeded to punch in a combination to open it. He handed me a small round patch.

"What's this for?" I asked.

"It's to measure your heart rate. Put it on. Quickly now!"

I stuck the patch over my heart and stepped into the container. There was a whoosh as the air lock shut me in. I tried to steady my breathing as a green mist poured into the container. It smelled horrible, but didn't have a taste.

"This should help you fall asleep so we can perform proper tests on you." Hojo said.

Great.. Well, better to be unconscious through this whole thing instead of awake.

The mist faded away, and already I felt a slight bit drowsy. There was an alarm, and the sound of sliding metal from the bottom of the container. I looked down as mako started to pour in from two sides. I put my hands against the glass as the container filled with the green liquid, my heart pounding against my chest. As it filled up to my chest, my vision blurred around the edges and my eyes got heavy. I looked to the blue creature in the container across from me, its eyes watching me with sadness, before it looked away from me. The mako filled to my chin as sleep finally took over me and my vision faded to black.

Cloud…