Chapter 35: Interval

The first time Kairi see's Veld Verdot after the defeat of Zirconiade, its the Turks returning with whom they identify as Fuhito in cuffs. Verdot brings him before the President, pulls out his pistol, and splatters the AVALANCHE scientist's brains out across the carpet. The President takes one hard look at Verdot and says...

"Take a vacation Veld, the last week has been harsh on you, take as long as you need, I'm sure Tseng can hold the reigns while you grieve. I'll call someone to clean up the trash."

Verdot says nothing, he turns on his heel and leaves.

His eyes are cold and dead.

Kairi makes a decision and trails after him, waiting until they are alone in the elevator before saying quietly, "I am sorry I couldn't save her from herself."

She both is, and isn't. She's lost daughters, she knows the awfulness of that feeling. She's still repairing the Mental Web after Zirconiade's damage to it through her, so many of her girl's scattered throughout either Midgar, or Corel/Gongaga's ruins helping with evacuations, assessing damage, cleanup, and the beginnings of repairs don't have a clue how many of their number died. Thirteen might not seem like alot to some, but considering they had lost no one in their division since its inception except for Gale, it might as well be cataclysmic. Its going to be bad. Kairi had an exceptionally difficult time getting out of bed the last few days.

It of course does not excuse the death toll and damage Felicia caused and the reason she would have had to be put down anyway, capture was never a realistic outcome after the summon woke up and he had to know that.

He gives a brief sharp nod. "You have my condolences for your girls."

Kairi's jaw sets for a moment before she nods as well. "One day, Hojo is going to die for all that he has done or caused."

"One day," agreed Veld, "Pray it doesn't take too long Kairi for you or Sephiroth to find a reason to kill him, for I find myself with almost no reasons not to do so myself, damn the consequences."

"You have to look after and protect your Turks," she said quietly, "As I have to protect my girls."

She looks at him for a long minute. After Zirconiade... after the loss... after giving up part of herself to make Namine...

Holding onto the grudge just seems pointless. She's gained as much as she's lost if not more. While she will not forget who it was who delivered her to Hojo...

"I'm too tired to hold onto my anger with you, not after he's hurt us both so much, not after what we've both lost," she said quietly, "I may not like you Verdot, but I'm willing to let the past go."

He studies her in the cold calculated way he's been since he's returned. "Does that extend to all your girls?"

Kairi slow blinked. "All? I wasn't aware most of the non-Turk recruited ones had any issues."

"They picked up on it from you I believe."

"Well, then I can play civil and they'll pick up on that too."

He huffed lightly. "Very well, I've had my own misgivings about you and your division for a long time. I am... tired as well. I will let go, I will not forget and not stop watching, as I doubt you will either, but I will move on. I have higher priorities."

They leave the elevator and go their separate ways.

Kairi sits in her room, brooding, watching TV while she's obeying her 'do not leave HQ until public relations figured out what to do with you' order. She's not ignorant that she's more than earned a break/rest, it still frustrates her that she's not out there doing something more. Of course, as she's watching the news she gets the route they're going for shoved in her face without anyone bothering to ask her opinion of it or enlighten her prior.

"...and what of our resident hero?" asked the news anchor to the Turk Cissnei, "No one has seen or heard anything about 2nd Class Kairi of SOLDIER since the battle. The recordings of it circulating have raised... many questions. Primarily, is she alright?"

Well, that's nice people aren't decrying her as a freak or a monster.

Cissnei gives a charming and disarming smile, "She's doing well enough in recovery. It was a close call in surgery, AVALANCHE's summon both injured her badly in battle along with the explosion when she defeated it, but we are expecting a full recovery hopefully within the next week or two thanks to her SOLDIER enhancements."

"That's good to hear," replied the news anchor, "Though there has been a lot of... curiosity, confusion, and speculation. How and why does she have a wing? No one else in SOLDIER does."

"Surely you've heard that it was the success with the formula introduced to her that enabled the entirety of the female SOLDIER division, correct?"

"Yes."

"That is entirely because of a DNA mutation with her, something that crops up throughout the population here and there, usually not in obvious ways," explained Cissnei, "I'm not sure of all the science mumbo-jumbo..."

Kairi huffs a laugh. They picked well with the approachable easy-going Turk for this.

"...but from what I know it was a reaction with the SOLDIER process that created the wing. While that part of the SOLDIER process is based off her, the wing is not something that's going to crop up unless more people have the exact same mutation," said Cissnei, "So, we'll be surprised if it shows up again anytime soon."

Hopefully anyway.

"Why wasn't it revealed before now?"

"It was her decision, I believe she was a bit self-conscious about it, afraid how people would react," lies Cissnei smoothly, "Which is completely understandable all things considered. It also, while not the reason, gave her the element of surprise since AVALANCHE never knew of that capability of hers. It allowed her to match the summon and keep it from completely blowing away Midgar."

"And we are all so very grateful for that," said the news anchor, "Does Shinra Corporation have any clue what that summon was? I've been researching both online and through physical records, and there are absolutely no clues, even from so-called experts on the subject of summons."

"This isn't an official report or anything, but we suspect it was a special war-summon the Cetra created before their fall several thousand years ago," said Cissnei, "Where AVALANCHE found it, we are still investigating. Unfortunately, these fanatics followed a slash and burn philosophy, they've destroyed so much of their own records, blow up their own hideouts, and take their own lives rather than be captured alive. Its frustrating and disheartening, but... we have doubts if we will ever discover the truth."

Cissnei turned to look at the camera, her eyes so pleading it made Kairi want to half scoff/half laugh since she has seen that woman's ruthless side more than once. "That is one of the reasons Shinra Corporation wishes to reach out to the populace. AVALANCHE never should have been able to gain the foothold that it did, never should have been able to cause so much death and destruction. While we will always try out best, we still need your help. Your eyes and ears where we cannot always be. Any cults, any deranged fanaticism, any terrorist leanings you overhear or discover, we will have a special hotline set up soon for such things to be reported. We will never infringed on peaceful religious beliefs, groups, and gathering, but nothing like AVALANCHE can ever be allowed to rise again. If we work together, we can keep our world, our society, a safe place for us all to prosper in."

"While we have Shinra Corporation, and especially SOLDIER to protect us, everyone has a responsibility," agreed the news anchor, "SOLDIER can't be everywhere, and can't be where they don't know where to be."

"Quite right," agreed Cissnei, "And on the note of SOLDIER, before we're done for the evening, I thought it would be nice to spoil, to give the public something to look forward to, that we have a special reward for our SOLDIER's heroic efforts against the AVALANCHE summon."

"Oh?"

Cissnei leaned forward conspiratorially. "I heard there is going to be a special ceremony for our newest upcoming 1st Class SOLDIER."

The news anchor claps excitedly. "Oh! There hasn't been a new 1st Class since the Wutai War if I'm correct!"

"As SOLDIER likes to say, 1st Class must be earned, and she's more than earned it."

Kairi rolls her eyes, but understands the reasoning for it. Give people something to celebrate and focus on during this tragedy. She's not sure she's going to like the publicity anymore than she already had (her girls sometimes read fanclub shit aloud through the mental web, its obnoxious as it can be mortifying) but she will play her part. She turns off the TV and sighs, laying down on her bed and staring up at the ceiling...

Its odd to have a wing.

Its especially odd to have it out.

She's learnt to keep it compact to her back, folded in on itself, but the sensation of it is... weird. She's jolted more then once walking under vents and feeling air literally ruffle her feathers. She's also had to suffer jokes about 'molting' all over the place. Honestly, the maturity of SOLDIER knows no bounds. She hasn't lost a feather since she'd woke up actually, they stick to her wing quite tightly. Might have something to do with her regeneration and keeping even the smallest feather pristine. Its offbalanced her in her training in the VR room every single time. She has no idea how that... amalgamation she had been during the fight with the summon battled with it so easily.

Mother's influence perhaps.

And speaking of Mother, Jenova had been utterly silent since Kairi had woken up days ago. She had poked and prodded, but the most she had gotten was tired annoyance shoved back at her. She'd let Mother rest for now, giving energy seemed to have exhausted her, but Kairi had questions that needed answering. She doesn't have specifics anymore, but she distinctly recalled that... that K-A-I-R-I had memories of using both the wing and that strange light energy. Just not the specifics behind it. Where and when and how had that happened? Why didn't Kairi remember?

She brushes the thoughts off for now as she knocks on Sephiroth's door and is invited in. The trio is already seated on either a chair or a couch and sipping out of their beverages on this Sunday gathering, so she grabs one and plops down next to Genesis, thwacking his with her wing as she does.

"Rude."

"Just getting some delayed revenge on Sephiroth's behalf."

The SOLDIER in question huffs, a brief quirk of his lips upwards. He raises his beer. "To no more disasters for at least another few years."

"I'll drink to that," agreed Angeal.

"Gods only know if we'll get a break," grunted out Genesis, knocking back his can.

Kairi sips at hers. She's gotten used to the taste, still doesn't really like it, but she'll drink for the bonding of it. She speaks softly, "To those lost, to those who walk the path's they tread."

Sephiroth hums. "Are you ready for the event tomorrow?"

Kairi made a face. "If I must. I'm more glad that most of my girls will be back. I... we all need to talk. The Web is mostly repaired, word has passed, but... everyone is subdued, quiet. I can feel questions wanting to be asked, but no one is. Passing thoughts and words to one another is well and good, but sometimes in person matters more."

"Agreed," said Angeal, "Genesis had this phase once where he texted us in-place of talking to us for months, it was obnoxious."

Genesis grinned. "Did it even if you were literally sitting across from me."

His face slowly turns serious, turning to regard Kairi. "I know its Sunday and all... but the girls are... I'm not going to say afraid, but very confused and wary at minimum. I don't know how you feel it from your perspective, Apprentice, but the thirteen girls we lost... they don't feel gone. They feel like they are a part of you."

"In a sense they are," said Kairi quietly, not trying to hide her grief nor sugarcoat it, "They gave me their very lives to heal the damage. That energy, that lifeforce, who they were... its still there, but its... not people anymore. Its just energy that feels faintly like them."

"Its undoable then?" posed Sephiroth.

Kairi stars down at her drink, not answering.

They drink in silence for the rest of the night.

Enhanced or not, dozens if not hundreds of camera's going off as President Shinra hands her a medal and loudly proclaiming her 1st Class SOLDIER before a cheering crowd is giving her one hell of a tension headache. She feels like a specimen kept in a cage again as countless people gawk at the Winged SOLDIER. There isn't a place she'd rather not be than here. She turns to the crowd, regurgitates out the rehearsed speech PR gave her with a forced smile on her face. The cheering as she finishes makes her wonder if people can go deaf from it. But she's more than ready to be done with this...

Then two children slip through the crowd and run up towards the stage. Judging by the shifting of nearby Turks and guards, not part of the script. She catches sight of a mortified woman running after them.

"Miss Kairi Miss Kairi! Can you take us flying?"

The woman catches up and grabs them both by their ears. "I'm so sorry about this..."

Kairi gives a huff and a laugh. "Its fine ma'am."

She kneels down on the edge of the stage. "As for you two troublemakers, maybe a few minutes after this is all done, IF you behave for the rest and your mother is okay with it."

The children cheer, the mother gives her a long suffering look for enabling them, and Kairi cracks a grin. At least there was some amusement to this. She stands back up as the President moves to retake the podium, his own amused look forcefully plastered on his face. She moves to rejoin the trio, standing next to Genesis.

"Piggyback riding apprentice? When did you graduate to babysitter?" he mocks playfully.

"I'll carry," she corrects, "They'd probably fall off if I didn't."

He rolls his eyes and elbows her, she elbows him back before they both stand up straight when Sephiroth shoots them a reproving look. They stand at attention as the President uses the event to detail a bunch of changes that amount to 'Shinra will be stalking you all the time', 'you have no expectation of privacy', and 'spy and report on your neighbors', all for the greater good. Nothing like using a good tragedy to expand your control of the populace to 'ensure their safety'.

It makes her want to sneer at it all.

Especially as the public all cheer the President on while he strips them of more freedoms.

She supposes it doesn't matter. Unless Shinra truly spurns their SOLDIERs, there are no more threats left that she's aware of, and the President has been smartening up on that regard. Internal memo's have been going out for benefits changes and actual retirement for SOLDIERs, all positive. Hell, she's heard that the President has been doing that for all departments, and boasting about it too. Work for Shinra, set for life. Work for someone else, good fucking luck.

Shinra owns the world.

There is no denying it.

Kairi had confiscated a large meeting room that the President used for press conferences and sits against the wall as her girls pile in one by one and take a seat. None of them draw near to her, not even Elena. There is an uncomfortable space between them that only Genesis occupies. The girls confer among themselves in small groups for a little bit, and ultimately, Jessie is chosen as the spokesperson. Better than over a hundred girls trying to talk over eachother at least.

"Okay, mom," began Jessie, "What the fuck happened?"

"You're going to have to be a lot more specific than that."

Jessie gives her an unamused look, and its poured down the web by all her children, making Kairi twitch uncomfortably under that pressure. "Specific? Alright, lets make a list shall we? One, that... that merge thing where every single one of us pretty much ceased to be a person. Two, that absolutely sick and twisted presence that came from you and connected to the web. Three, the wing, was Shinra right and we wont be sprouting or were they full of shit? Four, same thing about the glowy shit you used. Five... the girls, what the fuck happened to them? Are they actually dead or not? Six, after your enhancements, your presence literally disappeared out of the web for a little bit before coming back, what happened?"

"Mom... just... what happened?"

Kairi looks down for a minute. Nothing she has been asked is anything they don't deserve to know. She knows she has a choice here, brush it off and lose much of her children's trust and respect. Perhaps she'd eventually get it back... but... she's tired.

"We're not exactly human anymore," began Kairi, drawing sharp breaths from a number of the girls who hadn't learned how to turn their faces to stone in serious situations, "Me more than you to be honest. The serum we were given... its based off me, yes, but there are other things in it distinctly not human, that changes us."

Genesis scoffs. "Making it more ominous than it needs to be. The Ancients aren't that far off from human."

Kairi slow blinks. "Ancients...?"

"It was part of the debrief myself, Angeal, and Sephiroth got after Mrs. Hewely almost killed herself," he explains, "That SOLDIER was originally an attempt to recreate the Ancients."

The fuck? That's a load of bullshit. They were changed by Mother's cells...

"And they don't need to know that," chimes in Mother, her first words in well over a week of course were for secrecy yet again.

Kairi frowns intently and goes for a half-lie half-observation, "That's news to me. I had been led to believe differently, especially when none of our abilities are anything like the Ancients. They aren't superhuman powerhouse. They didn't sprout wings. We still can't use magic without Materia unless its via Limit Break, and I have no honest clue if that light is anything Ancient."

"Well, how do we honestly know?" called out one girl, so much for the spokesperson, "They died out over a thousand years ago."

"Mostly," said Kairi, "I've met an ancient, but only the one, and she's not like us."

Genesis's eyes go wide. "What?!

"Zack's girlfriend."

"You're joking," chokes out someone.

Kairi flashes an image of Aerith down the mental web. "Nope."

"Holy shit, a real living Ancient? I mean... how do you know? She looks normal," called out someone excitedly.

"Trust me, if you're in her presence, you'll feel it, the otherness," explained Kairi, "But, if you see her, be nice and don't harass the poor girl."

"So... if we're not replica Ancients, what are we?" asked Jessie worriedly.

Kairi shrugged. "Fuck if I know."

She still doesn't understand what it means to be Calamity. No use worrying them over an ominous sounding name when she can't explain anything. "The only thing I know is that the Mental Web comes from our enhancements. I certainly couldn't do it before."

Their is a sense of uncomfortable wariness. They all thrive off the web, but truly, they don't actually know what it is aside from a connection between them.

"Okay, so, putting aside what we don't know," said Jessie, giving Kairi a wary look, "What was that awful presence?"

Kairi falters, because she has no idea how to explain this without actually telling them of Mother...

"Do you all know what an 'alternate-personality disorder' is?" posed Genesis.

Kairi blanked for a moment. What?

"Uh, like two different people in one person's head?" called out someone.

"Idiot," snapped another, "Its where a person has two or more different persona's in their head, usually brought on by childhood trauma, physical head injury, or extremely horrible events that trigger it."

"The hell do you know that?"

"One of my favorite dramas on TV has a main character with it."

That gets a snort and a figure snickers until someone asks, "But what does that have to do with... oh."

Kairi has the uncomfortable stare of over a hundred people at her.

"But what..."

"How many of you," interrupted Genesis, "Have any idea about how my apprentice initially 'joined' Shinra, hmm? Aside from Elena and some of the original batch ofcourse."

There is a very uncomfortable silence before Genesis sighed. "The good Doctor Hojo had her for a year under his 'kind, tender, unrestricted' care, with all that entails. That twisted presence is, as far as I can tell, a result of that. I've been on the nasty end of it before, along with Genesis and Sephiroth, so they are aware of it."

Kairi stares down at the floor, mortified, and slowly growing alarmed. "Mother, what the hell did you do when you were 'testing them'?"

"Exactly what I said I would do," answered Jenova vaguely.

Kairi has to wonder, is apparently being assumed to have this 'disorder' worse than being considered crazy?

"Does it matter? Its useful," commented Mother, before shifting focus, "I warned you that my existence has not made me kind. I care little for those outside of my family, dear child, I'd readily watch the world burn otherwise. That is easily reflected in one's presence."

Kairi purses her lips, but doesn't answer.

"...and the running theory is most of her negativity was blunted to the alternate persona which only comes out in specific circumstances, namely after Mako boosters or enhancements followed by violent situations," said Genesis, "Which, we was tested further after she received her 1st Class Enhancements by, simply put, ordering her to bed, and lo and behold, no nasty little persona."

"She is to nice for her own good sometimes," mused one of her girls.

Kairi rolls her eyes and sighs. "If you say so..."

There is an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes before clearing her throat. "I... don't think any of you will get a wing..."

"Right Mother?" asked Kairi.

"Not unless you manually change them," answered Mother.

So no.

"...as for the glowly energy... I don't fully know myself. I didn't realize it was anything at all outside of a Limit Break," Kairi admits, holding up a hand, reaching inside herself mentally, and calling forth a soft glow that makes her arm and hand tingle warmly, "I'll have to experiment with it, but, I don't think its something that will be passed on. It comes from within me, it... I think... it feels like its a part of me, that its always been a part of me, even from before I was enhanced. It..."

Her face flushes in embarrassment as the cheesy statement comes out of her mouth, "It feels like coming home."

She lets the sensation ripple down the web, and she's quick to note how relaxed most suddenly become.

"You sure you ain't an Ancient mom?" asked Jesse.

"Pretty damn sure," said Kairi.

Especially with what she's going to have to come clean on after the next question, because they deserve to know. Kairi... Kairi isn't of this world. They have the right to know.

"Alright," said Jesse before hesitating, "And our sisters?"

"They're gone," said Kairi heavily, "What you feel... its just what's left."

"I don't understand," said Jesse, "We still feel them..."

"When we all joined together to defeat the summon, we were still ourselves," said Kairi, "Each of us had come together under one dominate persona from what I can figure, but there were still boundaries that defined who we were as a person. For those that sacrificed themselves, there are no boundaries anymore, nothing to define who they are or were anymore. Their energy is spread out through... though me. There is no consciousness to any of it."

"Could... is there a way to bring them back together again?" asked Jesse quietly, "Their bodies are still in bags in the HQ freezer, could..."

"Mom?" asked Kairi.

"Child," answered Jenova, sounding oddly solemn, "They have become one with you in a way that is not possible to undo. I have taken many unto myself, many that I could drag to the surface if both I and they wished, but not after they have broken apart like your children did. They asked to give their lives for yours, and willingly made themselves a part of you to save you, without any force, just guidance asked, do not make slight of that willing sacrifice."

"Guidance asked?"

"If you had lost, all of them would have died sooner rather than later," said Mother, "They desired the knowledge, I gave them it."

Something ugly twists in Kairi's gut before she can beat it down. She takes a breath and lets it out. "...and was there truly no other way?"

"None that would have saved you in time," said Mother, "None that wouldn't have forced you to break your morals to do if you were even able to find someone before that body failed and died."

"What exactly are you implying?"

Mother pauses for a few seconds, as if weighing something, before she speaks with brutal honesty. "You would have had to force your cells into someone, likely multiple people, and forced them to become a part of you the way your children did."

Kairi had to hold back the urge to retch at the mere notion of what Jenova was implying. To murder others, who would likely have been innocent... to... to have had to feed on them like some kind of monster, some kind of parasite...

Kairi bowed her head and takes a ragged breath, cutting off that line of thought. "They made the ultimate sacrifice. If there is a way to bring them back, I haven't the slightest idea how."

The grief hits hard, a whiplash down the web, but not as destructive as it had been for Gale's brutal and sudden death. The parts of the web that had been her thirteen children hadn't been ripped away, they had faded into the web, into Kairi. In some ways, its worse. Where Gale had died, they had put in memories of who she had been to patch the hole in the web, and could revisit it at will to bring back crystal clear memories. With these? The web had never been damaged. Where they had been simply was gone.

Kairi sighs and raises her head. "For your final question. Its... complicated. Short answer? I'm not of this world, let alone this reality."

Jesse slow blinks. "Come again?"

Genesis huffs out a laugh. "Just push your memories down the web, they'll figure it out."

Kairi rolls her eyes, but does so. She shares flashes of her childhood on the island, enough to cement that it had been very real. Then she shares the night her island fell to monsters, falling through the door, crash landing hard in an alleyway, and being abducted by the Turks.

"Okay, well, guess there's the reason you hate Director Verdot," muttered Jesse, "But how does falling through a door equal 'mom is a cross-dimensional alien'? Could have had an exit-materia primed to it after all."

Kairi cracks a smile. "Like I said, its complicated."

She shares the three times she had mentally crossed back over, much to their growing confusion. Namine especially got a shocked response down the web.

"The fuck?" someone called out, "Did you just rip yourself in half, when your body wasn't even there? And it made a new person? Is this for real?"

She didn't want to leave Sora, so she left part of herself with him. Kairi doesn't have an explanation for how that happened. It just did. She just shrugs helplessly. "I barely have an answer for the question as it is, the how and why I got here is beyond me to answer."

"Like holy shit... this is mega sci-fi shit," someone exclaims excitedly, "Was that just because you were in two places at once? Could you do that here? What the hell were those key-thingies? Can you..."

Kairi holds up her hands defensively. "Easy easy, I have no clue to any and all of those questions."

She gets a sense of pouting down the web; her response is yet again rolling her eyes. "The point is, my island doesn't exist on this world, and neither do those monsters. I've done name checks for those people on Shinra's stalker-database with either no results or false positives. That desert place doesn't really match our world's either. As much as I hate him, Hojo himself has claimed my DNA is noticeably different even before enhancement, and does agree with the notion."

"Angeal still is in disbelief," says Genesis, cocking a grin, "Funny enough, Sephiroth was the first to believe it."

That apparently smooths over a chunk of doubt. Let it be known her children apparently believe in Sephiroth for truth over her. She smiles in amusement at the thought, shaking her head. Her brother IS one of the most serious and no-nonsense kind of person most will ever meet she supposes.

"Alright," said Kairi, standing up, "I think that's enough for one session. You've all got a lot to think over. I'm more than willing to answer individual questions as they come up, but I doubt we're going to have the chance to have a big meeting like this again anytime soon. We'll all be receiving our ship-out notices for helping with cleanup and repair in either Midgar, Junon, Gongaga, and Coral along with normal mission-load. Take the time until then to be with your family here, it'll be a long while till we get that kind of chance again..."

The newest, and smallest, batch of SOLDIER had finally passed their training and received their enhancements. Only five had joined her children, maybe double that for the other SOLDIERs, but to her delight, two of them were the Nibelheim kids, they had both succeeded. She watched over the five as they twitched, adjusting to their enhancements, new awarenesses blooming in the web.

Of course, barely five minutes after the injection as they're being unstrapped...

"Moooom! Why is there another guy in our web?" whines one of her girls down said web, "Genesis was bad enough!"

Like usual, the startled reaction of first time SOLDIERs hearing the web is adorable, even if they had been warned of it. What she hadn't warned any of her current children of was that they'd be getting a brother. She thought it would be an amusing surprise. She watches as the spiky blonde Cloud Strife flushes in embarrassment, and... something else.

Kairi frowns as she feels the teenager withdraw into himself, hurt. There is a flicker of -frustration|loneliness|isolation|Anger|I'm better than them I don't need them- that peels off him before he struggles to push it down. His friend, Tifa, sits up on the adjacent examination table, looking over at him. "I'm pretty sure she was just kiddin Cloud."

He gives her a sour look. "Yeah, they're always kidding."

There are images that come off the young man, inexperienced in holding himself in the web. Kairi gets flashes of what is very clearly bullying, not that she didn't see him starting his own fair share of fights or not trying to de-escalate. His thoughts cascade in a way that suggest they do so frequently in his own mind and it makes her grimace briefly. She is so glad she has since exited her teenage years instead of entering them. She had plenty of reason to be angsty or miserable in the labs, but she doesn't quite enjoy feeling it herself, nor from her younger children, especially when he starts panicking about not being able to keep himself to himself.

Kairi sighs, reaching down the web, not taking offense when he flinches away from her presence, and with a bit of firm guidance, helps him raise his initial walls around his presence in the web. He bows his head, murmurs a quick half-hearted thanks, and is the first to bolt out of the room when they're cleared. There are a few snickers from the others in the room, and down the web, the childishness of it all makes her roll her eyes. She sends a brief chastisement down the web and resolves to send some of her more 'mature' children to help the kid get his footing.

Tifa is staring down at her hands, clenching and unclenching them, frowning, her voice quiet, "I didn't realize he was having that much trouble back home..."

Kairi claps her on the shoulder. "We'll, you'll just have to help him with fitting in here. We're family now, and while we may sometimes be little shits to eachother, we look out for one another."

That gets a smile out of the girl, who nods, plants her feet on the floor, and stands up, far too chipper after getting her enhancements. "Yep!"

Kairi watches with amusement as Tifa takes a spare uniform, a paper with her new room assignment, and leaves after Cloud. Kairi raises a single eyebrow as the girl bounces with her step, wondering how long that enthusiasm will last. It gets shorter and shorter each batch, taking less time for them to discover just what kind of company Shinra is. As much as she loves her children, and is more than happy to keep gaining more, she sometimes has the thought that they might be better off outside of Shinra.

"Wow, look at those jugs that new girl has!" someone chimes down the web, "I think I'm jealous. They grow em big out in the sticks."

Kairi rolls her eyes as indignation flared down the web from the girl in question. "Real mature."

"No need to be jealous mom, we still love you, even if you're totally flat."

"I will beat you within an inch of your life, if she doesn't first, I've heard Lockheart has a wicked right hook, and that was before she got her enhancements."

"Love you, bye!"

Kairi sighed in exasperation and left the room.

"Cut VR."

Kairi stands in the VR room, staring down at the floor as the simulation fades away.

Staring down at her severed arm that barely hurts and is wiggling around on its own.

She's in a bit of a state of disbelief, that she fucked up so badly, and... her arm doing its thing. Getting used to 1st Class Enhancements is a bit more of a jump than 2nd, especially with the wing. Going from thrusting her hand out to cast a Bolt 3 then swinging her sword to kill a VR-Monster charging her had resulted in taking her own damn arm off a bit above the elbow before she could withdraw it. Maimed by her own stupidity, horrified that she'd just crippled herself over a stupid, idiot mistake...

Then she saw her arm wiggling towards her.

Kairi swallows thickly, licking her lips, Her arm had already closed off the edge-wound, and she could feel it tingling, cells multiplying. She recalls Mother saying she could recover from nearly a single cell if there was one left. But... this is...

Seeing it physically in action, not just the aftereffects is...

Her arm on the ground splits itself, little tendrils sprouting from it to drag itself faster. She watches, horrifically mesmerized, as it closes the distance, then leaps for her damaged limb. She winces as it latches on then burrows in, flesh balling and churning disgustingly for a moment before its smoothed out and good as new, the tendrils re-absorb, even her blood seeps back into her body. She stares at her arm for a long moment, wondering if this is what her body had done to repair itself after AVALANCHE had detonated that building on her and crushed her underneath it.

She shakily runs a hand along the arm. "What... is this?"

She hesitates for a long moment before she raises her sword and severs it intentionally. Just like before, her arm starts wiggling, but this time, Kairi focuses. Feels it, feels the pull, the desire for her cells to rejoin her, to be reunited. She focuses on the arm and thinks 'Stop'. Her stomach drops when it listens. She wonders...

'Regrow," she orders, imagining it becoming a full arm.

Her eyes go wide with horror when the arm starts to churn, energy bleeding from her into the limb that's starting to grow the rest of its arm, continuing into a shoulder, into a neck...

"STOP STOP STOP!" cries out Kairi in a panic.

It does.

Kairi's heart is beating a mile a minute. She stares down at the partially formed mass, horrified yet still drawn in. Could... could she... could she make another her? Another body? Would there be two Kairis? Would it be another creation like Namine? Would she just be controlling two bodies?

She swallows thickly and takes shaky steps, kneeling down and placing a hand on the flesh. It twists, reaching up and absorbing into her body. She gasps and twitches as the flesh moves underneath her skin to her damaged limb, re-integrating seamlessly. She stares down at her once again restored limb. She focuses on her cells again and orders.

'Stretch,' imagining her arm elongating.

It.

Does.

She stares at her arm as it grows twice as long, flesh stretching, marks briefly there before its smoothed over. She swallows thickly, a shake in her hands. She imagines it back to normal, and her flesh obeys. She drops her sword on the floor, takes a step back, and sinks to the floor, staring aimlessly at the wall.

"What... what am I?"

Kairi sits alone on a swingset on a ruined playground in the Sector 6 slums. She had finally had enough with her children and Genesis pestering her over her sudden sullenness. She just... wanted space to think, to be alone for a time. Closing herself in the web for a bit. One leg is drawn up to her chest, the other gently pushes against the ground to move herself on the swing. Her thoughts are aimless, and so very confused. She's been going through her memories (memories so unusually crystal clear, is this a side effect of being what she is?), of things her Mother had said or hinted at. Thoughts she had shoved down and away. She doesn't know what to make of all of this...

But...

She has misgivings that are starting to take a very unpleasent shape.

There is a brief clang of metal next to her, and she turns her head to see Aerith Gainsoborough lowering herself onto the adjacent swing. The girl mimics her, lightly pushing off the ground into a gentle swing.

"Aerith."

"Kairi," she greets back softly, head turning slightly to glance at her, "I've had the oddest time with your girls, when they're down here, going out of their way to escort me to and fro. Is there a reason for that?"

Kairi winces. "I... might have let it slip you're an Ancient?"

Aerith's face pinches. "I never told you that."

"I have my ways," answered Kairi, non-committal.

Aerith gives a tired sigh. "That's... dangerous for me, Kairi. If anyone lets it slip in the wrong spot, and Hojo figures out where I am... I don't want to go b..."

She cuts herself off, but its enough for Kairi to understand, temper flaring. "You were in the labs too."

Aerith says nothing, staring down at the ground as she swings.

Kairi comes to a stop, jaw set. Was there anyone who Hojo hadn't harmed directly or indirectly? She's so damn sick of him...

She pauses when she notes a jet of familiar red hair peaking out over a pile of scrap off in the distance. "Is that Reno?"

Aerith shrugs. "My watcher for the day."

The Turks know? They know and don't deliver her to Hojo?

Something ugly fills her for a moment, jealous fury that they protected Aerith but not her. She shutters it away and instead considers the implications of the Turk's protection of her, reaching for her PHS in her pocket, bringing it out, and dialing a number, hitting speaker after.

Verdot's voice comes in dryly. "Is there a reason you are bothering me?"

"Aerith Gainsborough."

"We are aware of her."

"She's an Ancient."

Verdot sighs. "We're aware."

Aerith grins. "I'm not that much of a hassle, am I Mr. Veld?"

There is a groan through the PHS. "Can I not have a break? Have you two burnt down Midgar in my absence?"

Aerith giggles. "No, nothing new has been burnt down."

There is a huff from him. "Kairi, what's this call about?"

"Its come to my attention, mainly because RENO IS SHIT AT HIDING," Kairi calls out loudly, "That Aerith is under Turk protection."

Reno comes out from behind the trash, shrugs, leans against it, and pulls out a smoke to light, giving her a brief two-finger salute.

"Your point being what?" asked Veld.

"I'm also placing her under mine," said Kairi, earning a baffled look from Aerith, "If Hojo ever gets his filthy hands back on her, its grounds to kill him, agreed?"

"Of course," said Veld without an ounce of hesitation, "If that's all?"

"Yeah, just checking, glad we are in agreement, enjoy your vacation," said Kairi, switching off her PHS.

Aerith's eyebrows are furrowed, a puzzled look on her face. "Kairi... I really don't understand you."

"I think what I just did was fairly obvious."

Aerith sighs, frustration evident in lines on her face that really don't belong on someone so young. "It would be so easy if you were one way or the other. But... you're not. No matter how many times you lose yourself, no matter how deep you delve into what you shouldn't, you are still somehow you, still come back to yourself and don't cross that final line. It would be so easy if the Planet's fear was fully justified, but... I have doubts that go both ways."

Kairi frowns. "Aerith? What..."

"I'm still learning how to understand the Planet, hear its whispers, but... if I understand correctly what its purpose was," said Aerith quietly, "Zirconiade should not have been summoned. Especially not given its full power. I'm not afraid to die if I have to, but, so many rules were broken that shouldn't have been. Except... the Planet was afraid. Of you."

She... knows about the summon? Its name was never publicly disclosed. "Why?"

"Because of what you have become," said Aerith softly, eyes searching her own, looking for something, "Because of what you are."

"That doesn't answer the question Aerith," said Kairi sharply, "Just creates more questions."

Felicia, and now Aerith, have implied that... what? The Planet is sentient? If for a moment she believed that, why would the Planet be afraid of her?

"Do you regret, what you've become?" asked Aerith quietly.

Kairi opens her mouth to give an angry reply at the evasion before a memory flashes, of her wiggling arm, clawing and stretching for her, and she falters. She looks away from Aerith and starts swinging again, staring off aimlessly into the distance.

"I wouldn't give my children up for anything in the world," said Kairi with hesitation, "But..."

You would have had to force your cells into someone, likely multiple people, and forced them to become a part of you the way your children did.

What Mother said and and all it implies about what Kairi can do are like a cancer in her thoughts. Her ability to pinch off pieces of herself that can apparently be directed to act on their own. That she can what? Put her cells into someone and leach off them like some kind of parasite? There is a picture that's being drawn of what she is, about what a Calamity is, that she doesn't like. Many pieces of the puzzle are still missing, but even with what she knows...

"I'm starting to have the notion it may have been better for everyone had I not come to this world," said Kairi, giving voice to her fears.

Aerith watches her impassively before she seems to steel herself. "Don't trust Jenova."

So she knows about Mother then? "Funny, she tells me the same thing about you."

Aerith doesn't seem surprised. "I suppose then, one way or the other, we'll find out eventually who and what you choose."

They swing in silence for a time before Aerith leaves, Reno falling in a ways behind her. Kairi keeps swinging for a bit before something odd registers. Not once in that conversation had Mother chimed in, nor had she reacted to Aerith's words. Considering that she usually went into a near feral rage at the Ancient's presence...

Its odd.

Hojo sits idly in his lab, staring blankly at the screen of his computer, his mind elsewhere as a voice pours in.

"I'm running out of time," comes the Heaven's Dark Harbinger's words, "I had thought, in losing her innocence to her home-realm, she would have become more palpable, more susceptible to my will, more willing to breaking away from her morality. But I forgot a valuable lesson, and with it, made a mistake: With innocence comes undeserved trust. With its loss, that trust decays. Trust not just in me, but in what she is. Already she questions more than she has before, already she pokes and prods and delves into her abilities. She will come to understand what she is far too soon, she will break from me without extremely careful handling, perhaps even with it. Regardless, I find myself tiring on this."

The pressure in Hojo's mind sends him crashing out of the chair to his knees. "Give me time to gather strength, then send my daughter to me with two of her children, preferably new or weak ones."

He nods in acknowledgement before asking. "Why two?"

"I need nourishment."

Hojo hums thoughtfully. "You are implying a confrontation? I was under the assumption that the Reuinion Theory..."

He hisses in pain as a burning crosses his mind. "Foolish little human. There was always going to be a confrontation, the question is when. After we have started to become One and she comes to understand me in everything that I am, or before and I have to force her to become One. My daughter will be my vessel, all I require of you is that you deliver her to me. After, when the world has become one, you will have your reward, eternity. Pray little human, that you can handle it."

Hojo adjusts his glasses and re-takes his chair. The thought of being aware within Jenova, learning all there is, experiencing everything, ever changing, ever growing... forever...

There is no greater desire...

He waits until the presence leaves him, eyes flickering to his laptop, a button pressed, watching as the camera shifts to Sephiroth in his room, the man sitting before his sword with his maintenance kit scattered around him. His thoughts shifting back to normal, though it grows more difficult to do so with the Calamity so active since Specimen K's enhancement...

There is no greater desire, no greater desire but to see his greatest achievement become more than Jenova ever could be. Once he is ready, Sephiroth should be able to dominate it. To prove him right. To see if his creation can enact Reunion Theory himself (which he should once he is in control and awakened that part of himself, but there is no way to actually test outside of the confrontation). But not now, not yet. He is still so young, still so foolishly attached to Hollander's failures. Still so untested. He had hoped to be able to send him to Jenova soon, but he needs more time before he is ready.

Let the Calamity have its daughter.

It distracts her from his son.