Chapter 24: Regenisis
The last few weeks of school drifted by quickly much to Sephiroth's dismay. With Cassandra gone, Sephiroth once again found himself the focus of Hojo's attention. He knew that the previous summer that he had happily spent in Jess and Reno's company was not to be repeated. He was thankful though that he was at least able to see Rydia's spirits return to more normal levels before the end of the school year. Although she never did speak of that night ever again.
With only a few weeks left of school, Sephiroth's brain went into overdrive. Not only did he have to deal with the normal end of the year exams with most of his nights spent in the labs, but he was also trying to rack his brain in an effort to come up with a plausible excuse for Reno and Jess, as to not spending the summer with them. Seemingly fate was on his side, when one day Jess announced that instead of remaining within the city for the summer, she and her brother were being sent to Junon to spend the summer with their grandparents.
The day Sephiroth had to watch all of his friends board the train that would take them all back to their families; he did so with a mixture of relief and sadness. Relief at not having to explain his frequent absences that he already had a hard time explaining during school, sadness at being left behind to endure two months of pain and loneliness.
"Sorry to leave you all by yourself." Jess said. Her lips twisted into a sort of guilty smile as she ran a hand through her short red hair.
"Don't worry about it." Sephiroth responded, shaking his head lightly.
"It's only two months, Jess!" Zack exclaimed trying to ease Jess's unnecessary guilt. He stood beside her, his hair having long returned to its former colour and most of his hair having re-grown in the shaved areas.
Rydia stood off to the side holding her arms around herself to ward off the chill that only existed in her body. Coughing uncontrollably for a few moments, she was finally able to return her breathing to more normal levels. "I'm going to go already." Her voice gurgled slightly, evidence of the congestion in her sinuses and chest.
The three friends nodded and silently watched her go.
"Boy, I hope I don't catch that!" Jess murmured when Rydia had disappeared into the crowd.
"Me too!" Zack agreed with a nod of his head. "That's one nasty cold."
Sephiroth opened his mouth to add his opinion, but was interrupted by the shrill whistle of the train and the call of the conductor for all passengers to board.
"Well, that's us." Jess murmured, apparently hesitant to go. "Now where did my brother go?"
Zack, not bothering to look about for the flaming red-haired boy, grabbed Jess's arm and with an insistent tug said, "Come on, he's probably already on the train, and if we don't hurry it'll leave without us!" To Sephiroth he said, "See you!"
A few moments later, the train station was all but deserted and Sephiroth was left standing by himself. Turning to leave the train station, Sephiroth found a white-coated assistant and a man in a blue suit, both waiting for him near the exit.
Sighing, Sephiroth made his way over to them. Hojo never sent the assistants by themselves anymore to retrieve him. After a few incidents where the lab assistants had returned empty handed and badly beaten or simply not returned at all, Hojo had enlisted the help of the Turks. The Turks on the other hand never could understand why they were being given such a menial task as to escort a ten, soon to be eleven, year old boy to the labs. They all saw Sephiroth, as nothing more than an ordinary child and Sephiroth was careful to never give them reason to believe otherwise.
The trip to the labs as always was uneventful, as neither assistant nor Turk said anything. Taking the opportunity, Sephiroth tried to soak in as much of the warm sun as he could, since he knew deep down that it would probably be the last chance he would see the sun for the next two months. Passing stores of all sorts, Sephiroth listened mildly to the bustling city noise. Upon entering Shinra headquarters, the three of them were greeted by the blonde female secretary. At the entrance to the labs, the Turk left them, seeing as he was restricted from going any further.
Only a minute later Sephiroth was ushered into Hojo's main lab, where the good Professor already sat waiting.
"You're late." Hojo stated his face filled with contempt as his beady dark eyes stared past the large spectacles, seemingly trying to bore into Sephiroth.
Sephiroth paid it little mind, keeping his fearful emotions in tight check and only giving the scientist a look of complete indifference.
"Sorry, sir." The assistant apologized.
Hojo waved the man's apology off with a sneer of contempt. "Did he co-operate?" He asked the assistant, but never took his eyes from Sephiroth.
"Yes, sir. He never seems to act out around the Turks." The assistant answered, his feet shuffling nervously.
"Smart." Hojo chuckled evilly, addressing Sephiroth now. "Smart. But you will slip up eventually. Now we have so little time and so much to do." Hojo murmured the last almost to himself.
Sephiroth remained silent keeping his senses tuned to not only Hojo and the assistant behind him, but also to any other movement within the now silent lab. All the while he provided any onlookers with a complete air of indifference.
"Let me see your hands." Hojo ordered, his thin hands snaking out to grasp Sephiroth's hands before he even had a chance to comply.
Sephiroth kept his hands limp, knowing that any defensive response on his part would have Hojo's currently gentle grip shifting instantly to a vicious vice-like gasp.
"Still hiding your tattoo, hmm?" Hojo tisked, slowly pulling Sephiroth's black gloves off.
Sephiroth didn't respond and when both of his gloves were removed Hojo turned his hands over, examining his palms. "Hmm. You haven't started weapons training yet, have you?" Hojo asked, this time turning his gaze back up to Sephiroth's face in expectance of an answer.
"No, sir." Sephiroth answered coldly, offering no further information.
Seemingly satisfied, Hojo dropped Sephiroth's hands and with a push of his chair, rolled across the lab to one of the many counters.
Ordinarily, the assistant would have forced Sephiroth to follow the scientist, but in only a few months Sephiroth had taught the assistants the folly of laying their hands on him. Even though martial arts training would only commence in the next year, the library at the Academy was littered with books on the different techniques of combat and Sephiroth being the avid reader that he was, was always eager to try out what he had learned. He would have liked to try many of those moves on the head scientist himself, but unfortunately, Hojo always seemed to be one step ahead of him.
Listening to the nervous shuffle of the assistant's feet, Sephiroth smirked inwardly.
Hojo returned a moment later, without his rolling chair, carrying an odd ring shaped tool. Bells of warning went off in Sephiroth's head at the sight of the shining stainless steel tool. The bells only grew in tempo as Sephiroth heard the lab doors open and the steps of two more assistants enter the room.
"Take your readings. I want blood pressure and heart rate. And for the sake of the Cetra, take a blood sample!" Hojo ordered his assistants, as they scrambled to do his bidding.
Seeming more like a leering statue, Hojo stood before Sephiroth whilst the assistants went about their business.
Sephiroth only coldly returned Hojo's gaze, barely even flinching as an assistant knelt before him and withdrew some blood from his arm, while another placed wires on his forehead and on his chest beneath his shirt.
When the clamour of the assistants' activities died down, Hojo once again took hold of Sephiroth's left hand, placing the ringed tool around Sephiroth's little finger. Hojo squeezed the handles of the tool together, and Sephiroth feeling a quick sharp pain in his finger watched in near stupefaction as his finger fell to the ground, only to be scooped up by a waiting assistant. Sephiroth's gaze returned to his hand which was still being held by Hojo, and after a moment of watching his blood spray from the area that had once contained his pinkie finger, he did what anyone placed in his situation would do; he screamed.
Sephiroth didn't even realize the screams were coming from his mouth, until Hojo soundly slapped him.
"Stop screaming! Soldiers don't scream." Hojo hissed.
The hard slap that had sent his vision into a blur also jolted Sephiroth from his shocked stupor. Instead of fainting from blood lose as one might have expected, Sephiroth's adrenalin surged and he fought back. Yanking his mutilated hand back from Hojo, he shoved the older man as hard as he could. Spinning as Hojo stumbled backwards, Sephiroth kicked out at a courageous assistant that had intended to stick a tranquilizer into his neck. The assistant was hurtled off to the side as Sephiroth's leg caught him in the side. The next assistant was a bit luckier and managed to slam the needle into Sephiroth's shoulder, although he didn't have time to inject the solution as Sephiroth's right fist snapped his head up and had him seeing stars.
While Sephiroth had fought with the two assistants though, Hojo had regained his balance and as Sephiroth attacked the second assistant, Hojo quickly moved in and depressed the syringe already logged within Sephiroth's shoulder.
Enraged, Sephiroth whirled on the scientist, but the drug worked quickly and before Sephiroth could advance on the manically grinning man, he dropped to the ground with a moan his vision going black. The last thing Sephiroth heard was Hojo's angry order, "Get him into the mako chamber and get this mess cleaned up!"
Sephiroth gained awareness long before he 'woke' up. He had long ago learned the value of feigning sleep. Often it provided him with information, as well as some much needed rest from the scientists, for so long as they thought he was asleep they would only monitor his condition.
Even now his old tactic gave him the time he required to assess his current situation and whereabouts. The respirator covering his mouth and nose, as well as the slight burning sensation tingling across his wet skin, was enough to tell Sephiroth that he was still immersed in mako.
Thankful that the voices that always seemed to accompany a touch with the mako, kept their constant chatter to minimum levels, Sephiroth listened carefully for any sound beyond the mako chamber. Hearing nothing, he slowly opened his eyes knowing that their similarity in colour with the mako would keep most from noticing them. Carefully remaining relaxed and ignoring the burning pain of the mako as it touched his eyes, Sephiroth peered through the green liquid and glass before him, out into the lab. As he had assumed, it was currently empty.
Coasts clear. Sephiroth thought loudly in an effort to hear his own thoughts over the chattering voices.
Lifting up his damaged hand, Sephiroth was shocked to see that his finger was actually re-growing. At the moment, it was much shorter than it had been before and looked a bit thin and bony. Sephiroth wiggled it experimentally and found it was fully functional.
Sighing Sephiroth dropped his hand and went back to viewing the lab. He wondered how long Hojo had kept him within in the mako chamber this time. Besides the voices, it was what Sephiroth hated most about being immersed within the mako. Never fail, each time he would lose complete sense of time.
Did school start already? Am I missing classes? What would Jess, Zack and Rydia think if I'm not there? All these thoughts and more swirled through Sephiroth's head, agitating him The increasing clamour of the mindless voices doing little to suppress his fears.
Finally, Sephiroth breathed in deeply, forcing himself to block out the voices and calm down.
He did so just in time, as the lab door swung open. Quickly closing his eyes and forcing his body to go limp, Sephiroth once again feigned sleep.
"The project is going well?" A deep male voice asked, followed by the sound of the door swinging shut and the tread of two pairs of feet.
The first pair of feet shuffled along, and these Sephiroth knew well.
"Better than could be expected." Professor Hojo's voice responded, confirming Sephiroth's analysis.
The second set of feet, tread heavily on the tiled floor of the lab. Sephiroth was completely unfamiliar with the sound of these footsteps, since most of the lab assistant's followed Hojo's example and shuffled along where ever they went. The few Turks and security guards that were allowed within the lab, often walked softly, with light steps so as not to disturb the scientists at work.
It took all of Sephiroth's will power to keep from opening his eyes in his curiosity to determine the identity of the stranger.
"And you're sure that there are no adverse reactions, as we've seen in the adult subjects?" The stranger asked, their footsteps growing closer.
"None as of yet." Hojo answered, his voice lathered in the most politeness Sephiroth had every heard come from the scientist's mouth. "As you can see for yourself, President Shinra, no mutation has occurred."
So, Sephiroth mused bitterly, President Shinra's come to check up on Hojo's projects.
"And there's no evidence of insanity or illness?" President Shinra pressed.
"None. His body has adapted, with amazing results, to the treatments."
"Hmm. He seems so frail. Seeing him now, I hardly believe the reports coming back from the Academy. But Dean Bach has never been a man to lie or falsify reports. Still he's just an eleven-year old boy, he'll grow." President Shinra seemed to muse out loud.
"Of course," Hojo muttered, obviously his uncharacteristically pleasant mood was fading quickly.
"Although, I don't see why your people are having such difficulty with him. According to the Turks he's been nothing but compliant and I see no reason to continue having the Turks escort him here." President Shinra said.
Sephiroth would have smiled at that had it not have given him away.
"Perhaps you should not be so quick to judge." Hojo nearly hissed, but seemed to remember his manners at the last minute.
"Come on, Professor Hojo. He is nothing more than a child. If your people can not deal with a child, then perhaps they are being paid too much." The President scoffed and began to retrace his steps back to the door, obviously believing his word to be final. The heavy steps stopped once again, near the door. "Oh, and Professor, I will also not grant your request for more dangerous experimentation on the boy. He is far too valuable to the SOLDIER program. Unless you are one hundred percent certain that you can cure or heal him, the experiment is not to be attempted. I also don't want him damaged in any way that might hamper his effectiveness to wield a weapon. Is that clear, Professor?"
"Transparently," Hojo answered bitterly.
"Good." President Shinra answered and then left the lab, the sound of the door swinging closed behind him.
Sephiroth waited then to hear Hojo's retreating footsteps, but they never came. After many long minutes, a shiver of fear traced its way up his spine as he wondered if Hojo was on to him. As the minutes continued to tick by, it was all Sephiroth could do to keep his trained body from fidgeting. He also found he was constantly reminding himself to breathe.
"SOLDIER, bagh!" Hojo finally spoke with a contemptuous sneer, an odd lit to his voice as if it were no longer his. "What is SOLDIER, when he will give us the world? No... no... why have the world when the universe is within grasp?" Hojo's odd voice became thoughtful as he spoke, but the malice in it never left.
Sephiroth heard the shuffle of Hojo's feet as he must have turned once again toward Sephiroth, for know he could feel the deranged scientist's penetrating gaze on his half-naked body. With some difficulty, Sephiroth squelched his sudden urge to fight and flee. That didn't stop the shivers of fear from coursing up his spine in waves. Even the voices quieted under that horrid gaze.
"A pity we could not already use him... But that damned Draco bitch!" Hojo hissed furiously.
A short pause later, Hojo's mood shifted again and he chuckled. "No matter. Eventually, her barriers will break and then all will be ready."
Hojo continued laughing gleefully, as his footsteps finally retreated from the room and after the sound of the slamming door reached his ears, Sephiroth breathed a sigh of relief.
They did something to me. I barely feel human anymore. Alice from Resident Evil: Apocalypse
Author's Note: Sorry for the long delay, but things like this tend to happen when you get a cold, then another and then are affected by S.A.D. – Seasonal Accounting Disorder. Anyway, thanks so much to those that reviewed! I so enjoy listening to what you readers think! As always I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if there are any questions or comments… please, Please Review!