It was a day like any other at Shinra's facilities or at least that's what Sephiroth thought, he was a 12 year old boy at that time and had spent his whole life inside Shinra's laboratories although he was unaware that several things in his life were about to change.
Like he used to, Sephiroth got up early in the morning, went into the shower, took a quick bath then brushed his teeth. He notice that his hair had grown a lot in the last few years, but he didn't feel like cutting it, even though it was almost to his waist
–I wonder how long my mother did wear it... –he said to himself in front of the mirror after rinsing his mouth, splashed more water on his face to remove any remnants of his dental care and started brushing his hair, dedicating at least a few minutes every morning to keep it manageable.
When Sephiroth was younger he had asked about who his parents were or what his parents were like to Professor Hojo, who was one of the scientists who constantly worked with him, although the latter never told him anything about his father, more so when it came to his mother he had obtained some information.
He knew Jenova was his mother's name and although Hojo did not used to talk much with the young boy especially if the conversation did not contribute something to his projects however, on one occasion when he seemed distracted with his experiments, the boy asked about his mother, so without thinking the professor answered that Jenova had very long hair and a beautiful face.
Those words echoed in the mind of the boy who was almost 8 years old at that time, which made the little boy think that if he let his hair grow longer he might have something in common with his mother and form a bond.
Sephiroth never understood why they had no pictures of his parents or how he ended up in Shinra's care, when he asked Hojo about it, Hojo only told him that they had a lot of work and could not waste time with those things, the little boy accepted without replying because if he insisted the teacher simply ignored him or sent him to the public security units for training.
However, thanks to that he had acquired great skills with weapons but he had a preference for swords and materia, a fact that caught Hojo's attention, so he began to take him to his laboratory to test experimental materia before distributing them to the Shinra public security division or the Turks.
Sephiroth was happy at first, he could spend time somewhere other than the training camp where they only used weapons and very basic materia for their liking, while working with the experiments at least he could learn to use different more powerful magical abilities plus if they successfully completed the experiments he would be granted free time, but Hojo was willing to scold him or punish him when he did not do things as he was told or expected.
The boy finished cleaning himself up and once his hair was brushed, he tied it up in a ponytail and then got dressed. He was about to leave his room to get something to eat when Hojo came in without knocking.
–Sephiroth... good, you are ready... hurry up, we are late...
–Late for what?
–Late for what? –repeated the man with a grimace of annoyance on his face. –Today is the day of your official entrance... stop asking illogical matters and hurry up!
–It's okay… –he answered resignedly, Hojo had never said anything about admitting him to the security division, he wasn't even the minimum age for it, the young man thought that Hojo had made some agreements with Heidegger. –I didn't think they would admit someone my age to Peace Preservation...
–You will not join them... but a special force that has just been established... SOLDIER... they have been working on this division for a while and finally everything is ready... you are going to be recognized as the first recruit... you better not embarrass me...
–The first? Why me? –he asked, not understanding the reason for his mandatory entry into the military ranks.
–Because that's why we've been investing so much in you... your classes... your training... you're going to be the best... do you understand?
The warning tone in Hojo's voice made clear to Sephiroth that his only choice was excellence, otherwise he would be in trouble. –He was sure that things would be more complicated from now on but he didn't show the concern or the anxiety he was feeling, he remained calm in appearance and went out the door following that man through the complex to the new facilities.
As they walked Hojo smiled mischievously, keeping his hands clasped behind his back and slouching a little, finally he could test Sephiroth's skills in a realistic environment, he had been waiting for this moment since the birth of the child, the process of raising Sephiroth had been an unfortunate inconvenience for him but he had the support of President Shinra to have staff at his disposal to assist him at every stage of the child's development so he did not have to waste his valuable time in taking care of the infant.
–It is very important that you demonstrate all your potential... I will not accept that you jeopardize my work...
The boy did not understand why his entrance to the militia could affect Hojo in any way but he only nodded, as they reached the facilities of what was now SOLDIER the young boy felt strange, the place was very lonely other than the professor and him there were only a couple of scientists he had seen before and a young blond man.
–Good morning... Professor Hojo we are glad you could see us so early in the morning... and this must be Sephiroth... I have heard a lot about you boy... my name is Lazard Deusericus.
–Pleased to meet you… –replied the boy to Lazard's greeting but Hojo interrupted them.
–Enough with formalities... it's better to begin with the evaluation once and for all... Sephiroth, go to the training room... –he ordered pointing to the door at the right of the group.
The young boy frowned but didn't answer and did as the man commanded, as he approached to the indicated door it opened and after entering it closed behind him, Sephiroth was accustomed to the training rooms used by the Peace Preservation but this place looked different.
It was a large room covered in metal from top to bottom, next to the entrance was a shelf with weapons and materials, on the other side of the door was an observatory area which was in the hallway where Sephiroth had previously met the group, taking a quick look around the walls the young noticed that there were many security cameras and at the top was another observatory area.
Sephiroth assumed that was in that other room where would be the controls of the place that would give life to the challenge he had to face at that moment. The young man looked at the weapons and materials identifying what might be useful to him no matter what he had to deal with.
–Training session number 1, the training session will start at the end of the count. –announced a female and simultaneously electronic voice.
The young boy took a fire materia and a sword, although he did not know what he would have to confront he was confident that this could be useful, while listening to the countdown from 10 to 0 given by that voice, the young advanced through the room towards the center of it, observing how the room changed its appearance to a forest environment.
The ground trembled and you could hear how some trees had fallen a few meters away, at that moment the boy knew that his training was going to be very different from what he was used to.
–Damned Hojo... –he said to himself because that man loved to challenge him and never would tell him the risks, while looking through the trees he managed to distinguish the skin of an animal that was approaching him, although this was bigger than any animal he had seen before, the skin was dark something between gray and purple although he could not see much because of the dense foliage of the trees, a paw that was bigger than the young man pushed a tree in his path knocking it down effortlessly, it was then when he could see what it was.
–A behemoth... –he said as he saw the creature emerging from the trees, the young fellow had never faced one, in fact his training had consisted so far in facing battle machines created by Shinra to be handed over to the public security division, but he had read about those creatures.
–Professor Hojo, don't you think it's too much to start the test with such an opponent?, after all Sephiroth is just a child... –said the young Lazard when he saw from the control room the monster they had prepared to measure the performance of the youngest.
The young Sephiroth thought that if Gast had been there he would not have let Hojo continue with his dangerous practices, although he did not really mind him, he had confidence in his power but he knew that he was not the only test subject that the scientist without morals used.
However, it had been years since they last heard of the man who had been the scientist in charge of the research department almost eight years ago. Gast was the only man who had been kind to Sephiroth in his first years of life, he had also helped him in his first studies and didn't hesitate to explain to him how important his collaboration was for their research, for the boy Gast was the opposite to Hojo, a kind and polite man who pursued knowledge, not power nor recognition.
But Hojo was in charge now and he had no choice but to obey his orders, the group of spectators were checking Sephiroth's mental and physical condition to evaluate his performance.
Sephiroth looked at the monster with a calm expression as he wielded his sword, a couple of seconds later he was already attacking, his movements were incredibly fast, the spectators were surprised by his speed as they could barely follow him with their eyes but that was not a problem for the sophisticated instruments they had installed especially for the youngest one.
The behemoth counterattacked Sephiroth using its claws and horns, the boy blocked with his sword but the beast was stronger than he expected making him retreat a little but knowing Hojo, he knew he had to finish fast with that monster or he would be in trouble.
The young frowned and using all his power he imposed himself on the monster, cutting its horn, the beast roared with anger and positioned itself at a certain distance to lunge against the young boy in a powerful onslaught.
–I don't have time to waste with you... I'm sorry... –said the young man and jumped while concentrating his power on the sword, besides having equipped the materia to give elemental power to the blow, Sephiroth's sword began to glow in an intense red tone before launching his attack.
A large cloud of dust filled the training room as Sephiroth's and the behemoth's attacks collided generating a shockwave that made the place tremble causing the people in the control room to fear for the integrity of the building.
–Session completed. –Said the female voice and the hologram of the room disappeared leaving in its place the boy who had stains of blood on his skin, clothes and the sword, behind his back was the corpse of the monster split in two that had left a large blood stain on the floor along with blood splatters all over the place.
–It was... real... Professor Hojo! How dare you compromise the security of our facilities like this? Do you have any idea what would have happened if that monster had broken free in the building? There are civilians here! –Lazard shouted but Hojo only started to laugh.
–Sephiroth took care of it, so I don't understand the reason why you make such a fuss, I have a lot of work to do so I'm leaving, take care of the boy and clean the room. –Hojo was satisfied with the test and walked away from the group to walk away while thinking out loud. –I guess one behemoth is not enough to measure his ability... we will have to give him a bigger challenge... –without paying attention to Lazard's replies he left the room to design a new test for Sephiroth.
–This man is terrible..." said Lazard to himself and then turned on the communicator to transmit his voice to the training room. -Sephiroth, you did a great job... for now we'll call the cleaning department and inspect the conditions of the training room...
–In that case, if you don't need me, could I take the afternoon off? –asked the young boy, taking out a handkerchief to wipe his face.
–Yes, you can take the rest of the day off, although at the moment your belongings are being moved to your new room, sorry for the inconvenience... we thought this would take longer...
–A new room...?
–As you will now be part of our department we considered it would be better if you were closer to our facilities... Hojo didn't mention it?
Sephiroth sighed heavily and shook his head. -Is there a place where I can clean myself up...? -A few minutes later Sephiroth was in one of the gym's showers, he had sent his clothes to be washed and had been given a cadet's uniform to wear.
The young boy was annoyed because of Hojo but Lazard seemed like a good man so he was willing to work with him, especially if it meant not working directly under Hojo's orders.
After leaving the gym showers the young man headed to the library, on the way he saw a couple of soldiers of Peace Preservation who were discussing something about a woman and her daughter who had disappeared from the Shinra facilities, Sephiroth didn't know it but that had been the main reason for him to join SOLDIER.
Ifalna had managed to escape from Shinra's lab a few days earlier, those in charge were worried about losing the woman and her daughter but it was then that Hojo took this opportunity to bring the attention back to Sephiroth, his work with the boy was showing great results and now the young was the only one they could take profit from, demonstrating that infusing the soldiers with Mako energy could give them abilities similar to Project S.