Unbetaed. Yaoi. Pseudo-Science.
This is probably going to get noted as OOC a lot, because this chapter is almost entirely from Sephiroth's point of view. I just feel like sometimes the most illogical occurrence can be the right one. Elephants and mice.
No Blood Bound chapter this week for those who are reading it. Reno needs to reappear in A.H.B. before another chapter gets written. That's what I meant by sporadic updates.
The Kalm scene was short last chapter mostly because of the lack of canon description for the event. I'm working with translated transcripts of BC to help me write those scenes and they are incredibly vague. That said, B.B. got a lot more of the background details of what happened in Kalm because it's a Turk-centric situation. In fact, it's actually several months late by the canon timeline, but I wanted to write it and I couldn't just tack it onto one of the chapters I'd already uploaded. It didn't hurt things much because 1998 is a very boring year for FFVII canon.
Angeal was pacing around his apartment when Sephiroth entered. It was not common to see the older man so wound up, but Sephiroth was getting used to it with these boys in his life lately. Angeal had called him over not long ago after returning from taking the new SOLDIERs out on a simple mission.
"Would you like to tell me what's wrong?" he asked calmly as he took a seat on Angeal's couch.
"There was a fire; no... an explosion in Kalm today," Angeal said distractedly as Sephiroth went rigid.
"An explosion?"
"Yes. Me and the pups were out clearing fangs from the road and we stopped for a lunch break. All of a sudden, a huge explosion came from the town and it went up in flames. We spent the whole day rescuing everyone we could get out."
"I take it you were only partially successful?" Sephiroth asked carefully. The needless loss of life often upset Angeal, especially if he had been trying to prevent it.
"Yeah; there were too many to save. But that's not what's bothering me," he said, frustration his in voice.
"What happened?"
"I pulled the Director of the Turks out of one of the houses." Sephiroth's eyebrow rose at that. It was relatively unknown to those not in the 'inner circle' of Shinra that Kalm was Veld's home. In fact, Sephiroth doubted that Angeal even knew. "There were two women with him. Both badly burned. He told me to get them out first. When I came back for him, he was unconscious, but alive. He suffered very bad burns on his arm. Looked like a backdraft burn to me."
"Did he survive?"
"That's the problem! I don't know! The survivors were loaded up and driven east of Midgar. I've got a feeling, with a Turk there and the SOLDIERs stationed there doing very little to help, that this wasn't an accident."
Sephiroth frowned deeply. Angeal did not take things like this lightly. The last thing Sephiroth wanted was him to get in a moral dispute with Shinra or the Turks due to his inquiries. "It is... suspicious," he agreed finally.
"It's more than suspicious. I want to know where they took those people, Sephiroth."
So it was as Sephiroth feared. "Angeal, you know how the Turks work—"
"I know. But that doesn't excuse them from destroying a whole town and kidnapping the survivors!" Angeal said loudly. Sephiroth did not like where this was going. He knew he needed to calm Angeal, if only for the man's safety.
"I will investigate. Please, don't do anything rash."
"You're being sent back to Wutai—"
"I'll make certain to get answers before I leave. Promise me you will not do anything foolish Angeal," he requested very firmly.
Angeal sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm not a child, Sephiroth."
"No, but your honor demands you take stands where logic would dictate that you stand down."
"It's called doing what's right."
"Funny, I'm more partial to the term suicide," Sephiroth emphasized as he stood and approached his friend. When he reached him, he placed his hand on his shoulder and squeezed very gently. He was no expert in consolation, but he'd often seen people do similar. Angeal's shoulders sagged slightly as he nodded.
Sephiroth wished Genesis was here. He and Angeal had always shared a much tighter bond than Sephiroth had with either of them. Unfortunately, the redhead was carving across Wutai in search of glory.
He chose to leave after that to fulfill his own half of the promise. Instead of going to speak with the President, Sephiroth went to someone more likely to give a straight answer: his son. Rufus was young and ambitious. That ambition often made him willing to sell his own father out for the right price or if the likelihood of a large fallout was high. Sephiroth found him in his office, like expected, and the young heir was focusing on a video screen that he couldn't see from his place across the room. Rufus' bright blue eyes met his with disturbing amusement evident in them.
"Sephiroth. How good to see you. Did you need something?" the young blond asked pleasantly.
Sephiroth was often slightly unnerved by the sixteen year old boy. His age was simply a number as Sephiroth had never seen him act even slightly like a teenager. He acted as though Sephiroth presented no threat to him and never bothered addressing him by rank. Rufus' father did the same rather often, but it was more from incompetence than anything else. This boy was far too intelligent to share his father's lack of common sense.
"I'm here for information on the incident in Kalm today," he said unsmiling.
Rufus' good cheer was unaffected by Sephiroth's unfriendly attitude. "Ah yes. I do believe the official story will be something akin to 'military error'," he said with a casual shrug that served only to annoy Sephiroth further.
"Where were the survivors taken?" Sephiroth asked while changing tracks. It was obvious he'd get no closer to the heart of the cause from this boy.
"Nibelheim. Professor Hojo generously offered to treat them there. Personally." Rufus explained with a souring of his expression as he spat Hojo's name.
Sephiroth's mind began to connect dots instantly and he reared back in blatant shock. Strife was from Nibelheim. Rufus just narrowed his eyes and smiled again.
"I see... Is Strife a friend of yours?" he asked calmly.
"How did you know about Strife?" Sephiroth demanded insistently. He was not one to believe in chance when it came to Hojo and his work. What could the madman be planning now?
"We've not met exactly, but my Turks do have such an interesting view of him. He's apparently left quite the impression on two of them thus far. I had been told that he was saved from Hojo only yesterday by Reno. I assume you recognize the strange coincidence in Hojo's eagerness to get to Nibelheim and his newest victim's birthplace," Rufus purred with a malicious light in his eyes that struck Sephiroth as familiar. Immediately, Sephiroth knew where he'd seen it before. Strife had many times fixed him with a similar look, only with more outright hatred.
"His blood type is exceedingly rare. Your mother had the same type. As does another one of my more successful specimens."
"What... is your blood type?" he asked slowly.
"What an odd question. Why do you ask?" Rufus said with mock surprise.
"Tell me," Sephiroth snarled out of impatience and slammed his hands down flat on the desk between them. Rufus didn't flinch as Sephiroth had hoped, but smiled again.
"I'm O-. As is my father. It seems to be a fairly common trait in my family despite its rarity."
"You're the one Hojo was speaking of; his other successful project," Sephiroth stated.
Rufus' smile turned dangerous as he smoothly moved one hand to the other and pulled off his glove. A small R was inked on the flesh where Sephiroth had a 1 on his own hand.
"Of course."
"What is your relation to Strife?"
"I'm not sure it's wise to tell you that, Sephiroth. You two don't seem to be on very good terms, or so my surveillance cameras have indicated."
Sephiroth resisted the urge to choke the boy. Killing him would solve nothing.
"I'm trying to help Strife. Hojo has interest in him. And he'll likely be interested in you—"
"What makes you so certain that helping Strife is something I'd concern myself with, relation or not? Hojo's interest in me has never waned. If anything, perhaps Strife will draw his attention and let me get some work done in peace," Rufus said coldly before smiling again. Sephiroth felt like he was on a rollercoaster from this boy's wild responses. "Relax, Sephiroth. With Hojo in Nibelheim, he cannot touch Strife, who is here. The survivors from Kalm... well I'm sure they'll be fine. My Turks are overseeing the transfer now, and one will be remaining there."
"Forgive me for not trusting 'your' Turks as you do," Sephiroth said with a sneer.
"Rest assured. I have business with Strife. Nothing will happen to him until I am ready for it to happen. Hojo won't find what he's looking for in Nibelheim, and he's too inept at being human to read between the lines and find what's so obvious to everyone else with half a brain," Rufus told him as he stood and placed his own palms on the desk. He was barely three quarters of Sephiroth's height, but that didn't seem to dissuade him. "Now is there anything else I can do for you while you have my full attention, Sephiroth?"
He thought for a moment, as he didn't enjoy making visits like this often, so anything he could request while here would save him time.
"I want a full medical exam for Strife. From a neutral party. I want to know exactly what Hojo did to him."
"I'll have our sanest doctor handle it," Rufus agreed easily. "I'm also interested to see how he took to the mako given my own... experiences with it. My own absorption rate was said to be 'incredible' by Hojo. However, I do wonder how Strife will react to this."
"I will make certain he agrees," Sephiroth said in a tone that brooked no argument. Rufus seemed to find this amusing as he smiled widely again.
"Always a pleasure, Sephiroth," the boy purred as the older man stalked out of the room.
Sephiroth left feeling no better off than when he started.
Frustrated and restless, he went to the SOLDIER floor instead of heading home. It was late so the floor looked entirely abandoned. Sephiroth planned on blowing off steam in the SOLDIER dedicated VR room when he was surprised to find it in use. The light poured through the transparent door, prompting Sephiroth to enter the observation room.
Strife was in the center of the room; bloody and breathing hard. It was virtual blood, so Sephiroth was able to relax for a moment. At least Strife wasn't so foolish as to undertake a mission alone with pain simulation turned on. Sephiroth could see no enemy though, as Strife hunched over.
A flash of silver and suddenly Strife was several feet away from where he had been, leaving Sephiroth in his place. The virtual copy raised its own Masamune and attacked again. Strife dodged, but barely. He parried the follow through strike and leapt back as the copy prepared to strike again. This time, it was more of a stab than a slash and Strife didn't even bother trying to avoid it as Masamune speared right through his chest before withdrawing and repeating the motion again with his shoulder. Sephiroth's eyebrow went up as Strife staggered away before parrying another slash.
A clear pattern formed. Strife only defended against the slashes.
Sephiroth found this both interesting and confusing. Being stabbed by his blade was just as deadly as being cut in half, though it may take more time for one to die to the wound. He was quite effective in piercing major organs when fighting, despite the randomness of the simulation's aim. The simulation had been programmed as realistic as possible, but found it impossible to copy his fighting style perfectly. What struck him as even stranger was that Strife was much more effective in defending against moves that were realistic of his fighting style.
Still, it was a one-sided battle that ended quickly as Strife tired. Sephiroth was more than a little impressed despite the unorthodox pattern. It was possible that Strife simply did not know how to repel a stab from Masamune. He'd certainly lasted much longer than any other SOLDIER 3rd who Sephiroth had seen take this simulation on.
He was almost curious about what level Strife was combating. He could tell easily from the speed at which the copy moved that it couldn't be one of the lower options.
Abruptly, Strife looked at the mirrored glass that was between the observation room and the VR room. Sephiroth's eyebrow rose at the direct stare pinning him. Certainly, Strife couldn't see through the glass? The glare being thrown his way said otherwise.
Strife decided to approach the glass at that moment and stop right in front of it before speaking, "What do you want?"
Sephiroth blinked slowly before responding with, "You can see me?" It wasn't until after he spoke that he realized his stupidity for assuming Strife would be able to hear him too. As he exited the room and moved to join Strife, who seemed to be almost docile compared to the last times they'd met, he pondered on if the war was taking more out of him than he'd initially assumed.
When he entered the room, Strife was waiting. He fixed Sephiroth with the same glare as before and raised an eyebrow of his own.
"That was certainly impressive. Perhaps you've expended some of your inexplicable anger with me?" he asked more hopefully than he intended.
"I couldn't kill this simulation enough times in a hundred years to expend the anger I feel for you."
Sephiroth frowned at the statement and the cold tone it was delivered in. Not only did this boy not fear him, he held no respect for him either. Not even as a superior officer. The strange draw he felt to the boy was the only thing that kept his own temper in check. Letting this brat know he was getting to him didn't appeal to Sephiroth either.
"How unfortunate. I do believe, however, if we just spoke about it, that maybe we could resolve some of this."
Strife shrugged and said, "Then speak."
"Why do you dislike me?"
"That's too kind of a word."
"Just answer the question," Sephiroth insisted.
"You're a killer. Nothing will ever change that," Strife said distastefully.
"Who have I killed that upset you? You do recognize that it is my job, correct?" Strife didn't answer. Sephiroth sighed in frustration. "I want to help you. No one deserves to be experimented on by Hojo. I would not wish it on my worst enemy."
"You... can't help me," Strife grumbled but Sephiroth felt as though it was some progress.
"Why not?" he pressed on. Again, Strife didn't answer. However, after a moment he did speak.
"Look," Strife said sighing in turn. "I don't know why you seem so hell bent on getting to know why I don't like you. Sometimes you will meet people who don't worship the ground you walk on. Why I feel like I do doesn't matter... It won't matter," he trailed off softly before forging on, "But you're... the General. And I want to be a SOLDIER," he said like he was choking on the words.
"So I'll get over it. I'm never going to like you. You can get over that idea right now. But we can start over. For... sanity's sake," Strife growled slightly.
"You do realize that even in the same breath that you call me the General, you indicate that you'll never respect my authority."
"I'll follow your orders, and that's all that matters," Strife said seriously.
Sephiroth was not satisfied with this compromise, but he did have to admit that it was much preferable to the open hostility he'd experienced thus far. So he nodded and approached the boy. Strife stiffened but did not move for his sword. Sephiroth extended a hand.
"An agreement from one SOLDIER to another, then."
Strife shook his hand, very firmly, and said, "Yeah."
When they broke apart, Sephiroth noted that it was much quieter around the boy than usual. Then he realized why; Fair wasn't here. The other boy tended to make noise even when not speaking and Sephiroth had never seen Strife without the other.
"Where is—"
"Asleep. He was tired from our mission today," Strife said as he turned away from Sephiroth. Noticeably, he did not show his back as he moved away. Sephiroth almost found it amusing. So he did unnerve Strife at least in some regard.
"I see. Angeal told me about your heroics in Kalm today."
Strangely, Strife frowned and his eyes went distant. "Angeal's... a good man," he said quietly before shaking his head and swinging his sword a bit.
"He's my oldest friend. Alongside Genesis, of course. You've yet to meet him, though it's inevitable. I must warn you: you'll want to develop a taste for LOVELESS."
Cloud smirked slightly before responding, "I've heard. Angeal says he knows the play by heart because of how much the Lt. General quotes it." Sephiroth noted that Strife could address his superior officers correctly. He just chose not to with Sephiroth.
"Your marks on your exam were the highest of your class; I'm assume you're aware."
"Yeah."
"Do you aim to become a First?" Sephiroth asked curious as to how Strife would respond. The boy nodded with more enthusiasm than he'd ever seen from him before. His face was half-hopeful as he looked at Sephiroth, but his eyes were calculating.
"Yes. Becoming a First class is my goal. It's what I've wanted since I was a kid."
Sephiroth could hear the unspoken point in the unassuming sentence. This little meeting hadn't been by chance. Strife intended to use him to rise through the ranks. Sephiroth was not overly surprised as it was a common reason people showed interest in getting to know him, but he was surprised to see it coming from Strife. Angeal could provide the same boost, but without compromising whatever vendetta Strife held against him.
"I'm sure you'll reach that goal quickly," he said casually. "Angeal has mentioned, and by that I mean bragged incessantly, that you and Fair are quite versed in war tactics. We're in constant need of good SOLDIERs in Wutai."
Strife grimaced for a second so short that Sephiroth almost wasn't sure he'd seen it. "I'm not surprised."
"You've got friends in Wutai? Family?" Sephiroth asked against better judgment. Strife frowned but not as angrily as Sephiroth feared.
"No family. A friend, but she'll be fine. She's resourceful like that."
Sephiroth resisted the urge to raise an eyebrow at the statement and eventually settled on saying, "Yes, I'm sure she will be." He paused before blurting out foolishly, "Why did you not avoid the pierces by Masamune?" Curiosity truly was his biggest flaw.
"Because there's no point to it," Strife said impassive. Sephiroth's astonishment was overwhelming but he managed not to let it show.
"...How do you figure?"
"With enough mako, I'd be able to recover from a stab. There's no coming back from getting cut in half. My speed doesn't allow for much more than parrying at the moment. When I'm faster, I can avoid more damage. This was just checking my progress."
"And how did you feel like you did?" he asked, inquisitive.
Strife leveled him with a stare and calmly said, "Not good enough."
Sephiroth finally realized what was so off-putting about Strife. He acted much like Sephiroth did himself with others. His words were either cold or angry and his face was similarly controlled. Strife just didn't have the practice that Sephiroth did, so those odd moments of emotion were allowed to slip out. The boy was often able to flip situations around so that Sephiroth was the one feeling out of place or lesser. It was very similar to what Rufus Shinra inspired in him, except that Rufus never acted like he'd be pleased to see Sephiroth's head on a pike.
It left Sephiroth longing for the ultimate submissiveness of his troops in Wutai, who watched him with such awe and reverence.
He half-wondered if he was the strange one for finding Strife's behavior so abnormal. Most people would not expect to be loved by everyone they met, so why should Sephiroth? This might be the closest he'd ever come to being treated like any other person. His whole life he'd been either feared and avoided or put on a pedestal and now a sixteen year old SOLDIER 3rd was making him feel off kilter at every meeting.
He didn't bother responding to what Strife said but instead moved to a new topic; one he feared would be even more volatile.
"I've requested a full medical exam in the wake of Hojo's unauthorized procedures on you."
Strife's mouth screwed up in annoyance at the news but he didn't look surprised. "Who did you request it from?"
"Rufus Shinra."
Strife snorted and said, "Of course." At Sephiroth's raised eyebrow, he elaborated, "I've got business with Rufus."
"Interesting. He used the exact words concerning you. Might I ask what type of business?"
"Are you going to order me to tell you?"
"I was hoping you'd tell me of your own volition. If I intended to pull rank to influence you, I would have done so already," Sephiroth said honestly. He did omit that he rarely if ever had to use his rank to get results in the past and that Strife sorely tempted him at times.
Strife seemed to consider this before answering, "He's interested in why Hojo finds us so similar."
"You share the same blood type," Sephiroth stated matter-of-factly. Strife just frowned and didn't continue. "Could you tell me what symptoms have been occurring since Hojo experimented on you?"
"I could hear you enter this floor from the elevator and over the sound of the simulation"
"Is that how you knew I was in the observation room?"
"No." Sephiroth growled at Strife's evasion before he could stop himself and saw the boy smirk. "I could feel you," Strife finally said.
Sephiroth was interested again. That was awfully reminicent of what Hojo had asked about. "Feel me? Hojo mentioned something like that. You can sense me?"
"Yeah."
"I can barely feel it. What does it feel like for you?"
"A lot stronger than what you'll feel. You're not the one being pulled. You're the one doing the pulling," Strife said just before a look of regret crossed his face.
"What does that mean?" Once again, Strife fell silent. "You're very hard to get a straight answer from," he concluded in annoyance. Strife went back to smirking at the sound of his frustration. The boy must be a sadist of some variety.
He was beginning to wonder why he cared so much about what happened to Strife. He didn't like Sephiroth. He wasn't even a particularly good conversationalist. But he had this mildly hypnotic quality about him that just drew Sephiroth in. Like a moth to a flame he felt compelled to seek him out. Which left Sephiroth wondering how Strife could claim he wasn't being 'pulled'. He'd only ever intended to understand the mysterious boy and now he felt as though he needed to be near Strife.
A thought suddenly occurred to him.
"I'm affected by these cells too, aren't I?"
Strife looked at him in alarm before settling into a familiar furious mask. "What do you mean? What cells? Where did you hear that?"
"Hojo mentioned them. He referred to them as being 'my' cells. It's why I'm drawn to you, isn't it?" Sephiroth mused out loud.
"You can trust anything that monster says," Strife snarled as he backed away. Sephiroth felt distress flood him at the thought of moving backwards on their progress.
"I know. He raised me." A flicker of pity cut through the anger on Strife's face.
"Just ignore what he said. It doesn't matter."
"Perhaps...," Sephiroth trailed off. He looked back at the boy who was still staying further away from him than before and decided it was time he leave before he undid everything he'd worked towards in this conversation. "I'll see you some other time, Strife. I'll be returning to Wutai tomorrow, so do take care of Angeal while I'm away," he said with what he hoped was a casual smirk.
Strife nodded and did the unexpected: he saluted. "Goodnight... sir."
Sephiroth smiled and left the boy in the VR room. He could only hope that tonight would make their interactions a bit more seamless.
Cloud was a bundle of nerves as he watched Sephiroth depart. That little conversation had taken a lot out of him to remain in control for so long, but it wasn't in vain. He'd succeeded in convincing Sephiroth that he could 'put aside' his hatred for his job and wound up answering a question that had been plaguing him since realizing his S-cells were calling to the other man. Unfortunately, he didn't like the answer.
The S-cells he'd been injected with were increasing in number as quickly as they had the last time he'd been sixteen, which mean they were growing stronger. Like a virus flooding his veins, they infiltrated every part of his body and weren't likely to leave. Sephiroth was being affected by them too; the same way he had in the past—future.
The puppet-master knows his instruments when he sees them, and that's exactly what Cloud was at that time. He'd been a tool for Jenova and Sephiroth to control. The S-cells in his body had acted as the strings. With effort, he'd finally managed to cut those strings, but not before he'd been forced to do terrible things. It's why Sephiroth had been drawn to him despite knowing that Cloud wasn't who he thought he was.
"Are you going to participate in the Reunion?"
"Where are you!? Sephiroth!"
"So cold. I am always by your side."
Laughing. "Black Materia... Call Meteor."
Cloud's hand fisted in his hair as tightly as his new strength would allow at the onslaught of memories. Apparently, the pieces of Jenova inside him still knew how to fuck with his head. Cloud had always been weak to his own memories.
He snarled at no one and walked to turn the simulation on again. He needed to burn energy. Now.
It was hours later when he stumbled back into his apartment and into bed beside Zack. His lover opened his eyes and stared at him.
"Where've you been?" Zack mumbled sleepily.
"Fighting demons I'm never going to beat," Cloud said with anger at himself still in his voice.
Zack's fingers threaded through his own and his hand was warmed instantly. Breaking slightly, Cloud pulled Zack closer and drew comfort from him.
"Can I help?" Zack asked softly.
"You already are," he breathed and pressed his face into Zack's hair.
They fell silent for a long time before Zack finally asked, "What do you dream about, Cloud?"
"Losing."
"You won't. I believe in you, y'know. We'll beat whatever it is that's troubling you, Cloud. Together. And when we have, then we'll be happy. Trust me, okay?"
Cloud smiled down at Zack and felt his heart warming at the sleepy, but loving blue eyes staring back up at him.
"I do, Zack. And I know we will. It's just... frightening. I can't lose you, Zack." Again.
" 'M not going anywhere," Zack said with a nuzzle to Cloud's chest. He was back asleep in moments.
The next day, Cloud was sent official orders by Sephiroth through his PHS to visit the SOLDIER infirmary on the fiftieth floor. There was a doctor waiting when he arrived. The man looked kindly and Cloud couldn't sense any ulterior motives in his demeanor, so he relaxed slightly. It really helped that the man was notably not wearing a lab coat.
"You must be Mr. Strife. Nice to meet you. I'm Dr. Tannen."
"A pleasure," Cloud said neutrally.
"I've been asked to review your mako levels given your sensitivities, so I'm going to need a quick blood draw. Sit right here please," he said patting the examination table and moving off to get what he needed.
Cloud mentally removed himself from the situation by focusing on other pressing matters as the doctor went about his exam. Everything went well until they reached the blood draw. Cloud had been staring at a wall as it went on, but was forced to look at the sound of the doctor's concerned hum.
"That is... a lot of mako," Dr. Tannen said in a concerned tone while tapping the freshly drawn sample. Cloud could clearly see that there was at more mako there than blood, which was unheard of for a SOLDIER 3rd with only one injection.
Mako tended to spread throughout the body and feed on its own growth. As red blood cells died, their replacements were fused with the mako and each new cell would contain more as time went on. The first few days of being a SOLDIER tended to be rough as the cells needed to begin dying to start the process of assimilation. The typical life of a health red blood cell was about 100 to 120 days so it took significant time for everything to be cycled through. A small sample, over a few months, could permeate the blood to boost the recipient to about 10% mako to blood ratio, but after about six months anther injection would be needed as all the mako would be fused with cells.
The body becomes accustomed to these stronger blood cells and, when mako isn't kept up in the system, when those augmented cells die or are lost from a wound the body begins to crash. It was why mako was known to be addictive as the body becomes dependent on its presence in the bloodstream.
As an adult, Cloud had never needed to worry about having mako boosters because he was entirely mako already. He was an extreme and rare case of total mako-blood replacement. As his body produced blood cells, the mako levels inside him, in theory, ate everything inside the cell and took its place. Because mako doesn't naturally bleed out, Cloud never lost any of his mako levels from wounds like a normal SOLDIER would.
It made him, and Sephiroth, incredibly hard to kill as every function of their bodies were augmented by the regenerative properties of the mako. Wounds sealed instantly, sometimes around the weapon that caused them. Bones mended as strong as steel. They didn't need to eat or sleep because the mako never burnt out and it fueled everything in their bodies. And the normal viruses that plagued a normal human weren't able to cope with the harsh environment of their unnatural systems.
A First class SOLDIER could expect to reach levels of about 85% mako before the body reached homeostasis. It's why SOLDIERs still bled red. A person with sensitivities was a little different. Their bodies absorbed the mako at an increased pace that more or less made the mako levels increase, double, or sometimes triple. The body reacts violently to the introduction of mako and begins creating white blood cells at a high pace, which then fuse with that mako and fill the body. Red blood cells die quicker in the acidic content of the mako and their replacements are more mako saturated than normal. It's dangerous as the body is not given time to adjust to the new 'standard' before it's overwhelmed.
The doctor hummed again as he plugged the sample into his handheld device and read the small display.
"I don't wish to offend you by asking, but you've not been taking street mako, have you?"
"No, sir," Cloud said firmly.
"Your levels are at 73%, which is unthinkably high for a SOLDIER 3rd. It's even too high for a SOLDIER 2nd. I see you've got O- blood. There's been some speculation on the reaction of blood type on mako absorption, but it's never been proven because most people...," the doctor trailed off before coughing and continuing in a grave voice, "Well most people die before they reach these levels. It's why we conduct mako tests on new cadets and inform them about their chances of making it past a certain level of SOLDIER. As you can imagine, not everyone can be a First biologically. Everyone who's ever been promoted to that rank has had a common blood type with no known sensitivities. To be honest, I'm both surprised you're sitting in front of me right now, alive, and that you were allowed to enroll."
"I was pushy."
"You realize you put yourself at risk of untimely death?" Dr. Tannen asked with disapproval.
"I didn't have anything to lose," Cloud said with a shrug. The doctor frowned in concern.
"Well, I do have to say that this is unprecedented. I've never seen a case like yours. How do you feel?"
"Fine right now. The injection was painful, but I got through it."
"Were you given pure mako?"
"Diluted. He said something about half concentration."
"Who was the one preceding over your injection?"
"Professor Hojo."
The doctor looked alarmed as he glanced back to the screen. "I see." He scrolled down on the device and an expression of confusion passed over his face.
"There are foreign cells in this sample. Were you sick prior to getting your injection?"
Cloud schooled his features as he responded, "I had a cold."
"That probably explains why they aren't recognizable. Mako tends to destroy just about everything that the body doesn't accept. Now, we're going to need to monitor your levels closely to make sure you don't end up crashing suddenly given how much mako is in your system. I'm going to prescribe you a case of low concentration shots in case you end up crashing on a mission. I ask that you call me before you assume you're having a crash and use these. It's a worst-case-scenario measure rather than a tool to artificially increase your mako content. You won't find any benefits worth the risk. The mako you have now is more than you'll ever need as a 3rd class."
Cloud nodded and waited as the doctor came back with a small carry case of five syringes. Each one was filled with faintly glowing saline and mako.
"I certainly hope you won't need these, Mr. Strife. I fear what sort of complications will arise later for you due to these mako levels, but you know what you signed up for. Take care, son," the man said softly as he squeezed Cloud's shoulder. It was clear that he didn't seem optimistic at Cloud's prognosis.
Cloud slipped the case into his pocket and left the infirmary. He knew he'd be fine, because he'd been immersed in mako for months before. His levels would continue to climb, but he'd force himself to be fine. He couldn't afford mako poisoning this time around.