The Nightmare's Beginning
"We've finished searching civilians' houses, sir! There's no sign of him!"
Cloud nodded glumly and dismissed the soldier to return to his post. He couldn't show it, of course, but he was deeply troubled. It had been two days since Sephiroth had fled from the reactor, and they had combed the entire area searching for him. But all to no avail. Where could he be? It wasn't like him just to desert an assignment like this, even if the mission had technically been accomplished. But Sephiroth wasn't like him either, from what Cloud had seen. Seeing his mother's name atop the door in the reactor had affected Sephiroth in a way that Cloud could not begin to fathom. But that name hardly meant that Sephiroth's mother Jenova and this Ancient Jenova were the same. After all, how could Sephiroth be the child of an Ancient? He was human, wasn't he? Cloud stopped his mind from continuing its fruitless questioning. The only way he would find answers was to find Sephiroth, but unfortunately, that was exactly what he could not do. He raised his head to the sky, as if it might offer a clue to his captain's whereabouts. But as his eyes rose, they fell upon the one place in all of the Nibel area that he had not yet searched: the old ShinRa mansion. It loomed there just as it always did, dark spires clawing for the sky and overlooking the comparatively insignificant hamlet. Cloud felt a shiver run down the back of his spine as he stared up at the impassive structure. He suddenly wanted nothing more than to stay away from the dark building. He wanted nothing more, except to find Sephiroth. Putting on his best brave look, Cloud walked into through the gate into the mansion's courtyard. It was desolate and lifeless, not a creature or blade of grass anywhere to be seen. Gulping nervously, Cloud crossed as quickly as he could to the mansion's large, heavy door. Indeed, it was hanging open. Evidently someone had been here recently. Cloud pulled open the wooden door, which creaked loudly on its rusty hinges, and entered into the long-deserted mansion.
The interior was not, as Cloud expected, dark and shadowy as was the exterior. On the contrary, a multitude of windows all along the eastern side of the house let in a flood of sunlight, dispelling every hint of darkness. The house had evidently been designed well, as would befit ShinRa. The sunlight illuminated a marble staircase leading up to a second floor hallway, the eastern side of which was made of entirely of glass to form a huge window. Cloud made for this, more because of the unexpected pleasantness of the light than any logical reason. But as the surprise of the light faded from his mind, another sensation began to force itself upon him, or rather the lack of a sensation. The manor was totally silent. His footsteps echoed loudly throughout the vast space with no sound competing to drown them out. Cloud stopped and strained his ears for some sound, a creak, a breeze, anything, but could hear nothing. He would have been grateful for the flutter of a bat's wings, or even a scream. At least that would prove that this was a place accommodating of life. But the mansion remained silent as the crypt. Trying vainly to ignore the lack of any sounds of life, Cloud ascended the staircase to the large window overlooking the fenced-in backyard and the rocky terrain beyond leading up to Mt. Nibel. He surveyed the interior surroundings. A hallway ran to the left and right. He went to the left, finding that the hallway terminated by leading into three small rooms. While the rooms well also well-lit due to their multitude of windows and rather prettily decorated, there was no trace of Sephiroth. Cloud retraced his steps down the hallway and continued past the stairway to the right side of the hallway. This side was much darker than the left, lacking the windows to illuminate the hall, indeed lacking lighting of any sort. The hall halted to extend to both sides. There were several doors along the new hallway, but only the rightmost one was open. Cloud thought he detected an odd, musty odor emitting from the door. He cautiously entered the room, which turned out to be wholly unremarkable save for another door, set into a stone wall. This door, also, was cracked open, letting through a weak beam of light. There was a large, heavy iron lock on the floor near the door, which appeared to have been sliced cleanly off. "The work of the Masamune," Cloud thought with certainty. He continued through this door, only to gape down at, and below his feet. For he was at the top of a round stone chamber extending far downwards, below the foundation of the building and deep into the earth. Lit torches and a weak-looking wooden staircase lined the wall of the round room, leading down to the distant bottom. He did not like the idea of trusting his life this ancient wooden stairway, especially considering his recent experience with a bridge of similar structural integrity. But there was no monster to destroy it this time around, plus Sephiroth must have already been here. Crossing his gloved fingers, Cloud stepped through the doorway onto the first plank of the stairway. It creaked slightly, but felt solid. Feeling slightly better, he continued to the next step, and the next, and the next, all the way down the spiral path to the bottom.
Before, Cloud had been in a pleasant-looking area that was as silent as the crypt. Now the metaphorical crypt was a reality. He found himself in a dark and dank chamber carved out of the very earth. While the mansion itself had been silent and lifeless, this new environment seemed to live and breathe just as Cloud did. But its life seemed more of an undeath, its breath the foul stench of decay. Every single sound he made reverberated off the organic walls, traveling the length of the corridor only to return distorted and horrifying, the sound of a creeping phantasm. Cloud was involuntarily reminded of the tales of a vampire that resided within a crypt far beneath the mansion, and they didn't seem quite so unreasonable anymore. While it may have been easy to declare his disbelief for ghost stories from a distance, it was considerably harder to disbelieve such tales when he was wandering through one. He could imagine every boogieman and phantom that ever invaded the dreams of children also inhabiting this place. The rest of the mansion had been so aesthetically pleasing, so in contrast with this haven of darkness; what had happened down here?
Struggling to control the terror gripping his heart, Cloud ran headlong into the darkness, in a blind search for his hero. He still had yet to see any creature, but he still felt some dark presence nearby, a presence that wanted nothing more than to destroy any intruder. He sprinted full speed to escape its clutches. He didn't know how long he hurtled through the blackness, but after a while he saw a light at the end of the passage, and pushed his legs even harder to escape this place of horror. He forced himself to refrain from looking over his shoulder to search for his assailant, focusing his eyes solely on that faint light, that warm glow that had suddenly become his only hope in this place of death. With a desperate cry he made a final leap for the light, and tumbled through the open doorway into safety.
Breathing heavily, Cloud regained his feet and took stock of his surroundings. He was in what was unmistakably a library, an odd ending to the fearful passage through which he had just passed. Lamps cast a warm glow onto shelves upon shelves of books of all shapes and sizes. This chamber was not stone nor plain earth, as had been the preceding rooms, but wood. Cloud had passed through a pleasant upstairs area to descend into a hellish dungeon, only to re-emerge into a warm, cozy room. There seemed to be no order to this mansion after all, unless the terrifying environment of the dark area had been to dissuade casual visitors from finding the inexhaustible supply of information in this room. But what could be so important?
Sephiroth was not here, but Cloud's ears caught the sound of turning pages through a passageway on the left side of the room. He entered the passageway to emerge into another circular room of books, with a heavy wooden desk in the center. But Cloud saw only the figure pacing in front of the desk. There was Sephiroth, pacing rapidly back and forth, furiously turning pages in a volume as if it contained within it the mysteries of life itself. He gave no acknowledgement of Cloud's presence.
"September 18: Unidentified organism of unknown origin found frozen in a 2000 year-old geological stratum. September 23: Tests reveal organism to be an Ancient. Ancient is codenamed Jenova. October 2: Jenova Project approved by ShinRa board of executives. Mako reactor 1 approved for use of the Jenova Project. But what is the Jenova Project? You tell me all the statistics, but you don't tell me what the damn thing is!" Sephiroth shook his head tiredly. "Professor Gast…why did you have to die? Why didn't you tell me anything?"
Despite Sephiroth's odd rambling, Cloud felt a warm flood of relief overtake him. "Sephiroth!" he said happily. Sephiroth's head snapped up, and Cloud's relief disappeared as rapidly as it had come. Sephiroth was never seen looking in disarray. Even after a major battle, his demeanor was always calm, his appearance nearly impeccable. But now Sephiroth's normally well-groomed silver hair was sticking up crazily at all angles, framing his sweat-stained face and his emerald eyes, glowing with a fierce look of anxiety bordering on hysteria. But as soon as he recognized the visitor, his eyes returned to his book. "Leave me alone," he said.
"Sephiroth…" said Cloud worriedly.
"LEAVE ME!" shouted Sephiroth furiously, eyes blazing. Cloud immediately backed off, unnerved by this show of rage from the most powerful man on the planet, and Sephiroth returned to his book as if the encounter had never happened. Cloud stared just stared at the broken figure, normally standing tall and proud, now pacing restlessly, bent over a book and muttering to himself. This was not the Sephiroth he knew and so admired, yet he was powerless to help him. All he could do was hope that Sephiroth found the answers he was looking for in these books, and that these answers would confirm his hopes, rather than his darkest fears.
Cloud was suddenly awakened by the sound of laughter. He slowly climbed to his feet from his spot leaning up against one of the bookcases and listened. The laughter was high-pitched and incessant, almost hysterical. It hardly sounded like the laughter of relief and happiness. Heart filled with the utmost dread, Cloud slowly walked through the passage into the other room of the library. There was Sephiroth, no longer bent over a book, but now standing tall once more, with his head thrown back, laughing insanely.
"Seph…Sephiroth?" he said fearfully. Sephiroth stopped laughing to look at the newcomer. "Hello, traitor," he said acidly.
"Traitor?" Cloud said.
"You ignorant betrayer," spat Sephiroth. "This Planet originally belonged to the master race, the Cetra. They were a proud people, an itinerant race. They moved around the Planet, using their immense powers to settle and beautifying it for all living creatures. Then, when they had finished their monumental task of taming the wild lands and making the Planet a land of purity and beauty, they would find their reward: the Promised Land of supreme happiness.
'Of course, those who disliked such labor eventually appeared. They opted to stop the migration and work and simply settle down in one area, build a settlement. Sound familiar?"
"Huh?" said Cloud helplessly.
"Fool!" blazed Sephiroth. "Those were your ancestors! The disgraceful wretches who renounced the righteous mission of the Cetra for a life of simplicity and sloth! They exploited all that the true Cetra had done for this Planet without giving a thing in return!"
"I…I don't understand…"
Sephiroth stepped in close, looming over him menacingly. "The first humans," he growled. "The predecessors of the human race as we know it were those traitors to the master race. In time, through their abandonment of their mission, they began to lose their powers, until they became the pathetic creatures they are today. Humans," he hissed, "mere shadows of the proud Cetra. The only powers they retain from their days of glory manifest in Limit Breaks, and even those can only be used in situations of extreme emotional duress, not used at will as with true Cetra."
Cloud's fear continuously increased as he listened. Why was Sephiroth referring to humans in the third person and with such contempt, as if he was not one himself?
"Then came the Great War of the Cetra," continued Sephiroth, lost in his own tale. "One of the most powerful Cetra the Planet had ever seen, Karamazov, lost patience with the arduous, seemingly endless task of civilizing the entire Planet. He wanted to find a way to skip the whole process and immediately discover the Promised Land. Many agreed with this and joined his faction. The rest of the Cetra resisted, and a great war broke out. Karamazov's forces were mighty, and his powers unheard of, but he was eventually overcome by sheer weight of numbers. Then, as a final measure, Karamazov created an unbelievable force of sheer destruction to destroy the world as it existed, and hopefully uncover the Promised Land from its ruins. The fool. He would have destroyed himself along with the rest of the Planet. But thanks to his enemy, the world was largely shielded from the wrath of his spell. Nevertheless, massive damage was done, and most of the Cetra were killed. Those that were not slowly dwindled out, giving over the Planet to those who survived: the humans! The filthy, cowardly humans, who only survived by hiding out in the northern caves.
'The Planet was saved by the sacrifice of the Cetra! Saved for you! You pathetic, primitive beasts!" hissed Sephiroth, glaring at Cloud furiously. "Thanks to you, all that's left of the Cetra are in these reports. These, and in the reactor…" His eyes acquired a faraway look.
"But…what does all that have to do with you?" Cloud finally managed.
"Don't you get it?" demanded Sephiroth. "Jenova, placed in a Mako reactor where humans are imbued with Mako? The Jenova Project?" Cloud remained silent, fearful to even speak. "Imbecile," said Sephiroth. "The Jenova Project's goal was to create humans with the powers of the Cetra."
"But isn't that what they do in SOLDIER by injecting us with Mako and all?" asked Cloud.
"Ah, but that is such a primitive, imperfect technique," said Sephiroth. "The Jenova Project sought to take the process further by not just injecting existing humans with Mako, but by using a complete Cetra to build a being from the ground up." He stood up proudly, and Cloud saw the stature of the SOLDIER he knew, but different. His eyes were no longer soft, but harsh and unforgiving, condemning all that was unfortunate enough to attract their attention. "I am the being that was produced."
"Pr…produced?" Cloud stammered, horrified.
"Using the Cetra, Jenova, the ingenious Professor Gast produced me, the only living creature possessing the full powers of the Cetra. I am the sole living successor of that noble race!" Sephiroth said, eyes shining. "Unless…"
"S…Sephiroth?" said Cloud.
Suddenly, Sephiroth charged forward, shoving Cloud out of the way. "Out of my way, human," he growled. "I'm going to see my mother."
"Sephiroth, please!" pleaded Cloud. "Stay here! I don't understand!" But Sephiroth just continued out through the passageway and out of the library. Cloud just stood there for a while, his mind racing to try and digest what had just transpired. So Sephiroth wasn't human after all, nor had he ever been. Even those monsters in the reactor had been human once. But Sephiroth wasn't human at all. Instead he had been…created from the Ancient, Jenova? But how? Cloud just didn't understand. This was all so much to digest so suddenly. Especially for Sephiroth, who seemed hardly to be himself. Sephiroth…suddenly Cloud had a terrible, irrational fear. He could not explain it, but his mind was suddenly filled with Sephiroth's ranting against humanity, and had a premonition of a horrible fate befalling humans at his hand. And the nearest humans were right outside this manor…his home. Cloud sprinted out of the library and through the dungeon, suddenly in a race against time.
Cloud burst out of the mansion's front door, and his heart stopped. Fire. The entire village of Nibelheim was nothing more than a huge inferno. Towering flames hungrily licked the night sky, shedding a hellish light onto the horrific scene. Not a single home had escaped the all-consuming flames. Just like that, his home was destroyed before his very eyes. Anguish filled Cloud's stationary heart as he stood dumbly gazing at the demise of his homeland before his rational mind kicked in. "You idiot, Cloud! There could still be people alive in there!" He took off in a mad dash into the very center of the conflagration, in the town square. The flames wouldn't catch on the mere streets, so he had a fairly clear path. But everything surrounding the square was as good as gone. Including his own home, he observed with dread. "No…Mom…"
"Hey, SOLDIER!" Cloud heard over the roar of the flames. He dumbly turned to face the voice, and saw the martial artist from the inn, Zangan, bending over a badly burned man. "You're still sane, right?" Cloud nodded, unable to muster words. "Check in that house over there!" said Zangan, pointing to a burning structure to Cloud's left. Cloud immediately complied, leaping through the burning doorframe into the house. Flames and smoke obscured his view, and he immediately started coughing as the fumes penetrated his lungs. But his sharp ears caught the sound of someone whimpering in fear nearby. Gritting his teeth, Cloud charged quickly through the flames into the back corner of the room. There was the photographer of a few days ago cowering in the corner, caught between flames and a hard place. Cloud roughly grabbed him and, using his Mako and training-enhanced muscles, hoisted him up onto his shoulder and charged once more through the flames and out of the house. He carried the man a few paces more, into the town square and away from anything inflammable, before placing him on the ground. The man was blackened by soot and coughing fiercely due to the prolonged exposure to the smoke, but seemed otherwise alright. He squinted up at Cloud through his wheezing, weakly smiling a thank-you. Cloud nodded and rose to his feet, surveying the town for anyone else in need of rescue. Instead, he observed the sight which would haunt his dreams for years to come.
On the northern outskirts of town stood Sephiroth in front of a towering wall of flame. He calmly observed the carnage with a straight face, coat and long silver hair waving slightly as he stood. Cloud was about to call out to him when the awful truth hit him. Sephiroth…it had been he who had done this. His newfound hatred for humanity had led him to set fire to an entire innocent village. Sephiroth saw Cloud's stare then, and smiled slightly, but in a way that Cloud had never seen. There was no trace of kindness in this smile, but mocking and spite, an evil smirk at Cloud's helplessness to stop him or save his home. He then turned and, with the enormous Masamune at his side, calmly strode into the roaring inferno.
Cloud ran. His lungs were about to explode, his legs collapse, and his heart burst, but it didn't matter. All that mattered was finding Sephiroth. He didn't know what he would do when he found him. Would he ask why he had done this? Would he challenge him? He crossed the newly repaired bridge over the chasm into which the soldier had plummeted, the first of the legacy of death that would be his hometown's only mark in the history books. He disembarked from the bridge and sprinted through the tunnels through which Tifa had led them before. It was even darker than before, but Cloud did not slow his pace. He raced through the brightly lit chamber, neglecting to stop and enjoy the beauty of the Mako fountain, but instead continuing out the exit on the other side and back into the caves. His mind was completely numb from the horror, and his body automatically carried him through and out of the caves, and up to and into the Mako reactor.
The reactor itself was the same as before, but despite the constant roar of the machines, it seemed to Cloud that the air hung with a silence as heavy and foreboding as that of the ShinRa mansion. He made his way over to the ladder down which he had descended those three long days ago and again started to climb down to the heart of the reactor, where he knew he would find him. The climb was just as long as before, but before Cloud knew it he was down on the catwalk at the bottom. He was about to continue into the small chamber when his eyes fell upon someone he had never expected to find. Immediately in front of the door into the inner chamber was Tifa, on her knees and sobbing. Next to her lay the huge katana which had slain countless foes, and was now irrevocably stained with the blood of hundreds of innocents. "Papa…" she said in a voice fraught with grief. "Sephiroth, SOLDIER, Mako Reactors, ShinRa. . .I HATE THEM ALL!!!" she wailed. Before Cloud could approach her or try to comfort her, she wiped her face and rose to her feet, picking up the Masamune that Sephiroth had dropped. While it was light enough for Sephiroth to wield effortlessly, the blade was almost too much for Tifa. But her desperation and anguish fueled her strength beyond that of her small frame, and she was able to hold it unsteadily in front of her as she ran into the inner chamber.
"Tifa!" Cloud called fearfully, but his voice was lost amongst the din of the machinery. What was she planning to do with the Masamune? Surely she wasn't… He sprinted full-speed into the chamber, only to find that he was too late, powerless to stop what was about to happen. Sephiroth was standing at the top of the stairs, in front of the still-sealed metal door which contained Jenova. But charging up behind him, with the Masamune pointing ahead like a jouster's lance, was his best friend, about to challenge the strongest man alive. But the challenge would be short-lived. Sephiroth heard the girl's loud footfalls on the metallic floor, and just as the point of the blade was about to dig into his back, he deftly stepped to the left, and the blade clanged harmlessly against the metal door. In a flash, Sephiroth grasped the blade and whirled it around, hurling Tifa into the metal door. She cried out and was about to collapse, but Sephiroth was quicker even than gravity, as he spun his katana around to grasp its handle and lashed out with the blade. Cloud cried in dismay as Tifa came tumbling down the stairs, leaving behind a trail of blood. Sephiroth turned back to facing the door, the girl being of no further concern to him. Cloud ran up to her as she came to rest on the platform of one of the tiers of capsules. He bent down and tenderly lifted her in his arms. She was completely motionless, a bloody mess. Fighting back tears, he slowly carried her down the steps to the bottom of the chamber and gently set her down, leaning her against one of the capsules. He knelt down beside her, in utter anguish. Sephiroth had taken everything. First, Cloud's faith in his employer's had gone when Sephiroth had described ShinRa's motives in the war, not to mention when he had discovered that they bred monsters. Then Sephiroth had destroyed the entire village of Nibelheim, the only true home he had ever known. And at last, the final despair, Sephiroth had slain his best friend. This could not be forgiven. Sephiroth had once been his hero, but that Sephiroth no longer existed. All that remained was the bloodthirsty, crazed man up at the top of the staircase, seeking the remains of the creature who he called his mother. Sephiroth could not remain, not after this. Cloud knew what he had to do. It would be the death of him, that was certain. But he had no choice. Yet first he had to say goodbye. He bent down over Tifa, close to her face. For what purpose, he did not know. But as he drew close to her, he felt a faint breeze upon his face. He jerked his head back in surprise and examined her. She was breathing! Cloud hastily tore strips off his uniform to use as bandages, and then saw that the cut Sephiroth inflicted actually had not been too deep. He must have been more intent on gaining entrance into Jenova's room than slaying the girl. Cloud bandaged her wound nonetheless, thanking whatever powers that be that at least someone had been left to him. Not that he would be left on this Planet for much longer. He rose to his feet and drew his sword. The door at the top of the room was now open, and Sephiroth was nowhere to be seen. Without a second thought, Cloud ascended the stairs and entered the inner sanctum of Jenova.
The room was fairly sparse, consisting mainly of a walkway winding upwards and across a seeming void. Sephiroth stood at the far end of the walkway, facing a huge metal statue. The statue was that of a woman, standing upon the edge of the walkway, looking down right at Sephiroth. It also appeared to actually be a machine of some sort, with wires extending from it into the apparent nothingness of the rest of the room. Sephiroth, as Cloud was becoming used to, gave no acknowledgement of his entrance, but just stared rapturously up into the statue's lifeless eyes.
"Mother, I've thought of a great idea," said Sephiroth adoringly. "Let's take back this Planet together for all the Cetra. Let's go to the Promised Land! Yes, of course!"
Cloud was in no mood to listen to Sephiroth's insane ramblings to a piece of metal. "Sephiroth!" he called out. Sephiroth didn't turn, didn't even remove his eyes from the statue's. "There's another one. They are such a nuisance, aren't they, Mother?"
"Damn it, Sephiroth!" yelled Cloud. "I'm talking to you! Me, Cloud Strife! Your former protégé!"
"Only a human," muttered Sephiroth.
"YOU SON OF A BITCH! LISTEN TO ME!" screamed Cloud.
Sephiroth suddenly whirled around, and Cloud immediately doubted that attracting his attention was such a good idea. His face was contorted into a mask of rage as alien as that of the statue, his eyes blazing with vicious green flames as deadly as those consuming the village. "Don't you DARE insult Mother!!!" he screamed shrilly.
"And why not? Why should you have your precious mother after all you've done?" shouted Cloud. "You just killed my mother, along with the rest of this entire town! What makes you so much more privileged? Why shouldn't you be burning too, you sick fuck?"
"Because," said Sephiroth, glowering down at him from the uplifted end of the walkway, "You are merely humans. I, on the other hand, am the Chosen One."
"What are you talking about?" demanded Cloud.
"Isn't it obvious?" asked Sephiroth. "Perhaps not to a traitor like you. I have been chosen by Mother to retake this Planet for the Cetra. I will be the one to cleanse the Planet of the scourge of humanity and make it safe for the Cetra once more."
"The Cetra are dead, Sephiroth!" said Cloud. "The only one left is your beloved Mother, and she doesn't look too lively to me!"
"Oh, really?" said Sephiroth. "Why don't you say hello to your visitor yourself, Mother?" He then moved over to the statue and reached up to its face. He depressed two buttons on the sides of the face, and suddenly steam starting hissing forth from two previously unseen ridges in the head. He started to pull the front part of the statue's face off, to reveal…
"Bolt!" Cloud shouted, and lightning streaked forth from his hands to strike Sephiroth in the back. It was far too weak a spell to do any actual damage to such an enemy, but Sephiroth did stop trying to remove the statue's mask to face Cloud once more, fury contorting his features. "This is between you and me, Sephiroth!" shouted Cloud. "You killed my town, you killed my mother, and you tried to kill my best friend! Now it's your turn!"
Sephiroth threw his head back in hysterical laughter for a moment, then looked back down, never having laughed in his life. "Foolish human," he said. Cloud didn't reply, only raised his Buster Sword to a standard guard. Sephiroth drew the bloodstained Masamune from his side and held it above his head, pointing at Cloud's face as he prepared to spring down upon his foe. There was no question. Cloud Strife was about to die.
This flashback has just dragged on, but it's pivotal to the plot, so I guess it's okay. So my descriptions of the mansion's interior and the Jenova chamber were kinda lacking. This is a result not only of my normal deficiency in setting the scene, but also of my not having played in a while, and forgotten many details of what the place looked like. Also, for those of you who have played FFVII, as most of you certainly have, you may have caught the reference to a vampire in a crypt beneath the mansion. Would this be accurate, i.e. was Mr. Valentine down there when Cloud first ventured under the mansion in the flashback? As I have said, I haven't played for a while, and so some details are hazy in my mind. Oh, and inflammable means the same as flammable, so don't even try. But people thought "Oh, inflammable. Must mean it can't burn," so they started labeling all the trucks as "Flammable" to avoid confusion, and…okay, that's enough. Little reference to Dostoyevsky with the Cetra of whom Sephiroth spoke: I was too lazy to think of a cool evil-sounding name. Maybe I'll change it later when I'm feeling more creative. Alright, time for me to shut it. But not you all. You're supposed to tell me stuff now.
Dark ki: Yeah, I figured it out. No problem.
Spikestrife: Obviously, I agree with your opinion on the mutant emerging scene. It was pretty cool, but rather incomplete. Okay, so there's a monster on the loose. Shouldn't there be a battle or at least a scene of it running off or something? But that's what I'm all about. Telling the story, but fixing little details (or big details, as the case may be), to make the story more plausible and better flowing.
Stratadrake: As always, thanks for the corrections. You nailed my thoughts on the chapter title precisely. The "fall" didn't really occur until this chapter, but I wanted to keep this chapter's title as it is now.