Chapter 2: Delving
Kairi hates the way Angeal looks at her now, even though she knew it was a likely possibility. That wariness, perhaps fear, the suspicion...
"So you're saying what exactly?" he demands as she and he sit in his office, Genesis as ever the familiar presence leaning against the nearest wall, her body double sitting near the door, "That Jenova..."
"Perhaps you weren't listening during the debrief, Angeal," snapped Kairi, "I say with one-hundred percent certainty, Jenova would have easily dominated almost the entirety of SOLDIER. You might think your SOLDIERs are strong, but against Jenova's will? I suspect less than... what, thirty? If that? Less than thirty SOLDIERs would have had the will to resist her."
"And your own girls?" he asks.
"No clue," admits Kairi with a shrug, "In the scenario of Jenova killing/consuming me, she could use the mental web to terrifying ends. If they realized what she had done to me, maybe they could have fought, perhaps with smaller numbers resisting, if not, then I doubt any would have retained free will. They would have been deceived, then Jenova would be in them, then it would be too late. The Crisis was a deceiver, Angeal, the hidden taint, spreading and waiting for the right moment to strike. Insidious does not describe her properly."
He looks like he wants to say something, but doesn't.
It doesn't mean she can't figure out what he wants to say: 'How can we be sure you will be any different?
She's not sure how much more simple she can make it: If she were anything like Jenova in desire, she would have fucking done something by now and not bothered telling them. Informing them of what she was literally had no benefit to her in that scenario because she would not have needed to earn the trust that she already had. As much as the thought revolts her, she knows she could have had Midgar already completely infected and converted if that was her wish. It's so damn frustrating...
"How long does that thing stay out?" asked Angeal, looking at the body double.
Kairi focuses her attention and makes it give him the middle finger in offense. He gives Kairi an unamused look.
She returns it. "That is me. A part of me, not my original body, but still a part of me. Insulting that is the same as insulting me. I am NOT a thing!"
"That's not what I...," he trailed off, a pinched look crossing his face, "The question still stands."
"Until I pull that part of me back in," said Kairi sourly.
"Why haven't you done so? It's... unsettling, to see two of you," he said.
"Because you pretty much dragged me here right away," she rebutted, "Reabsorbing and redistributing the cells within me would be rather... gruesome to watch, I'll do it later in private."
He grimaces but nods before his computer pings at him. He glances over, scrolls down with his mouse, then frowns. "Science wants to see you Kairi, Rayleigh said ASAP."
Kairi sighs. "Figured they would."
"Is it going to be a problem?" he poses.
"So long as the new head scientists understand what the term 'ethics' means," said Kairi dryly, "No."
He nods. "Keep me up-to-date on any... developments. I need to know how this new Science Department works as well."
Kairi agrees and leaves, eyes briefly lingering on Genesis, but the man stays to speak with Angeal. She walks down the hallway quietly, not unaware of wary and uncertain eyes lingering on her as she goes. What she feels is... complicated. Part of her doesn't like the weight of it all. It's not like she doesn't understand how dangerous she is, doesn't understand how horrifying all of this is. Far from it, she understands so much more than any of them ever will. She's barely parsed through... what? If she has to estimate, less than 10%? Less than 5% of Jenova's memories, if that? The universe is a truly horrifying place, the people of this world should be happy they exist in this tiny unimportant little corner...
Should be happy that she will stand up for them. For that is what the other part of her feels. She wishes to sneer at them for their wariness, she's already told them she will champion this world. They should be applauding her, cheering her on, thanking her for willing to be their shield against the horrors that exist out there. Against other worlds or galaxy-spanning civilizations and empires that would dominate or destroy them. Kairi, once she has finished parsing through and taking anything useful from Jenova's memories, will be incredibly powerful. Only the most dangerous of things Jenova has encountered could threaten her. The people of this world should revel to have such a powerful entity on their side.
Kairi closes her eyes for a moment and shakes her head, trying to clear her mind. Honestly... her head is starting to get big, she knows she killed Jenova and all but... reveling? That'd be embarrassing if people actually did that...
She reaches the elevator and thumbs the panel for the science floor, lips pursing. She thinks back on everything that's ever happened in the damnable science department and can't really understand why she is going along with this. She is literally the most, or second-most, powerful being on the planet, and probably in this specific galaxy if she's honest, and yet and she's allowing herself to be called down here to play mad scientist...
Conditioning?
Or morbid curiosity?
Probably the second.
Rayleigh sits in the midst of a lab with six other scientists at the ready. She doesn't have the normal white labcoat, instead in a short blue dress going down to her knees, perhaps intentionally showing off long smooth legs. Her face is passive, expressionless, thin black glasses resting on her nose, hair waving down to her shoulders. She has a hybrid clipboard/notepad thing sitting in her lap, a pen resting on it.
"Good afternoon 1st Class Kairi," greets Rayleigh, motioning to a seat in front of her, "Please be seated."
Kairi sits down and waits.
"We will be collecting blood, tissue, and saliva samples today," informed the professor, "The President recognizes the reasoning you gave him, but believes failsafes being put in place would soothe others in Shinra."
Kairi gives a bemused smile. "...does he really think there would be a failsafe capable of stopping me should I choose to do something?"
Rayleigh cocks her head, studying her. "It's not about reality, but the illusion of control. We can put detectors keyed towards your cells into each public water supply, create test kits that are routinely checked in public and private hospitals and clinics to see if the public ever shows signs of infection. Thus, it gives the spectre of safety."
Kairi nods. "Fair enough."
Rayleigh straightens herself in her chair, motioning the others forward who begin to take samples. "Now, while they get started, you and I need to have a chat."
The professor smiled thinly. "Tell me everything you can about Jenova."
Several hours later, Kairi walks back to her room, irritable. Rayleigh isn't Hojo, but how the woman didn't bat an eyelash at Jenova having destroyed potentially trillions of lives, the grotesque body morphing she, and thus Kairi was capable of doing (had even asked to see her merge with her second body), and the notion of what it truly meant to consume souls, sits ill at ease in Kairi's stomach. The woman either has a will of steel, impeccable control, or is a monster just like Hojo but with better self-regulation. So long as she doesn't cross a line Kairi won't tolerate, she supposes it doesn't matter.
The desire to go to bed early and sleep away this shitty day is strong, but instead, she finds Director Tuesti standing outside her door. He regards her, the air of suppressed unease about him, but offers a polite, "Good evening ma'am."
"Director Tuesti."
"May we speak in private in my office?"
"You could have just texted and asked me there."
"I could," he agreed, "But I have the understanding that you really aren't at Shinra's beck and call unless you choose to be. It's more polite to do so in person."
She wonders if this cautiously polite tip-toeing is going to be the norm now. She motions him down the hall, and he leads her through the building to his office where...
She blinks slowly at the mechanical cat that waves at her, sitting on the desk with a notepad ready. "Ay' there lass!"
She raises a single eyebrow.
Director Tuesti smiles a sheepish smile. "Pet project of mine."
"Artificial intelligence is a dangerous road to tread," she offers softly, "It's about 80/20 on whether it blows up in a civilization's face from what I can pick up so far from Jenova's memories."
He nods thoughtfully. "I'll keep that in mind. Truthfully, that leads into what I wish to discuss."
"AI?"
"Technological advancement," said Director Tuesti, "You said there were other horrors out in the universe. As much as it is distasteful to use, Jenova had consumed who knows how many civilizations, correct? So she would know of who knows how many different technologies we could use to protect ourselves and..."
"No," she cut in.
"Even ideas...," he tried again.
"Director, no," she said sharply, "You see the dangling prize offered, but fail to see that it is hanging over a thousand-foot drop that will kill you."
He frowned. "What do you mean?"
She takes a moment to parse through memories, thinking of what she wants and having it resonate within the countless memories of the Crisis.
"Jenova's arrival here was only because she slowly trailed the survivors of Spira," explained Kairi, "Can you imagine the impossibility of her finding this world if she hadn't? It's a single world, not a galaxy spanning federation or government. A single blue ball in an infinite expanse. There is safety in anonymity. Once you start advancing in technology, once leave your homeworld, once you start expanding, venturing into the universe, you start to become a lot more noticeable. Especially if it is at the rapid pace which you desire. Trust me, Director, staying solely on this one world for as long as possible is the preferred action."
He tilted his head thoughtfully. "I see... what would you suggest then?"
"This world has me, my children, SOLDIER, as its line of defense," she said, "Offensive and defensive technology is not truly needed at this time. Most threats need to come onto the planet to be an active problem. Few would go straight to orbital bombardment, as that would damage the usefulness of the planet. So, technology of convenience and sustainability should be your focus. Especially replacing mako power."
He nods slowly. "That makes sense."
He hesitates for a moment. "What... what kind of threats are there that could beat you and destroy us all?"
Kairi smiles mirthlessly. "Ones that are very, very far away. Jenova tended to not stick around if she had any notion of being horribly outclassed."
"You really don't want to give a straight answer, do you?"
Kairi's smile fades into utter coldness. "The first that comes to mind went by many names, but the time Jenova encountered them, they were called Reapers, a race of synthetic-organic machine ships that harvested their galaxy of all sentient life on a clockwork cycle to create more of their own kind. Jenova overtook a starship and fled that galaxy as quickly as she could once she realized she couldn't properly infect them."
He looks at her, horrified.
"Do you want to know of more threats?" she posed innocently.
With Jenova's memories, she could easily come up with another half-a-dozen intergalactic horrors off the top of her head. Jenova tended to avoid threats similar to herself that weren't other Calamities. As terrifying as Jenova was, she was a singular entity within herself until she spread. Other parasitical lifeforms could be far worse and far more numerous, and that doesn't even start touching upon other types of entities that could manifest in different regions of space. She has a policy of very carefully acknowledging their existence then burying the memories of the horrors deep, deep in her mind where she hopefully never has to acknowledge them again.
He swallows and takes the wise path, ignorance is bliss after all. "No."
"Good choice," she agreed, rising to her feet, but pausing, "As a thing of note that you might find interesting, is that Spira wasn't the first time Jenova encountered humans. It is curious to note that our species has cropped up across the universe multiple times in multiple areas with odd similarities beyond merely their looks. Earth, Gaia, Terra, our homeworlds frequently go by those names."
He frowns. "Are you implying Divine Design?"
"I couldn't possibly begin to answer that question," she gives honestly.
Because that would imply some kind of divine being created these horrors, or perhaps that sentient life corrupted its designs. Who knows. That also doesn't touch upon other realities such as her home one. Existence is... a complicated thing to try to wrap her mind around that is better left alone.
"So... just to rest my worries," said the Director when she was at the door, "What are the chances of another Calamity or other horrors finding us?"
"Slim for the time being," soothed Kairi, "Jenova never got a chance to release the death call, there is nothing to draw any further attention at this point."
"Death call...?" he posed cautiously.
"It's called being a sore loser and drawing the attention of other Calamities to finish off whatever killed one as the ultimate fuck you."
He nods, looking tired. "A... alright..."
She leaves the man to stew on what she said, and hopefully, he listens. Humanity needs to stay on this world as long as realistically possible until they are ready to move on. The best chances she's seen are from full-fledged intergalactic alliances that each composes of powerful species that can hold their own. Humanity needs to grow powerful and stealthily spread until they are both numerous and strong. Then it needs allies. But that is later, much, much later...
She feels tired even thinking about the fact that she will likely still be around when they reach that stage.
She stows away the notion of immortality aside, goes to her room, flops on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. She sighs, slightly depressed and not bothering to get up and change into PJs. She still wants the comfort without the effort though, and without really thinking about it, tentacles crawl out of her skin, strip her down, toss the clothes into a basket, reach across the room into her cabinets, and pull her some nice comfy pajamas. She lazily lifts her limbs to get the clothing on before tucking herself in, pulling the writhing mass mostly back into her body, pausing to run her hand down one tendril in idle thought.
She thinks maybe that she would have been horrified at herself not too long ago. The notion of using her powers for such a trivial thing makes her twitch and gives her a headache, a roiling that strikes soul-deep that unsettles her for a long moment before she shakes it off, withdraws the tendril back into herself, and forces her body to enter sleep.
Sephiroth stares at the screen, feeling oddly numb.
"Holy fuck," whispers Azul, standing beside him, "That body-splitting shit was one thing, but what the hell IS she? Just some kind of mass under her skin?"
He had been watching Kairi since he had come back from giving his lessons, and he finds himself intensely disquieted by everything he had seen and heard over the last few hours. He has a notion of what kind of threat the young woman actually is now, if she can still even be considered human in any way, and is at a loss of what to do. He considers himself a person of thought and reason, he is not going to just blindly jump into action. Especially if it is not necessarily needed. Kairi is not an active threat, but a potential one. He is not unaware that if she decides to become a danger, she will be... apocalyptic. It's not an exaggeration in the slightest.
On the other hand, taking preventative action might be the thing that triggers her to take action. He has heard the phrase 'self-fulfilling prophecy' before and has little desire to bring about his own doom.
Sephiroth rubs his face tiredly. "I don't honestly know. At this moment? I define her simply as a tentative ally and/or a tentative enemy. There is no true way to know yet. Acting hastily may doom us just as readily as sitting back and doing nothing."
Azul frowns. "So what do we do then? I've seen a lot of shit down here, but that," he says, jabbing at Kairi's sleeping form on the screen, "Gives me the heebie-jeebies."
He hates indecision as much as he hates not having an answer. "I don't know."
"Do you think you could take her if it came down to it?"
"Her alone? I believeso," said Sephiroth, "Her and her children? Unlikely. Even just her and Genesis is questionable with him having inherited some of her more enduring traits."
"You'd have Deepground on your side," pointed out Azul.
Sephiroth nods in acknowledgment. "That is true, but... I truly wish for her to be an ally, rather than an enemy. So for now..."
He rubs his chin. "For now, we watch and wait."
He wants to not have to deal with this, another potential crisis after so many. Some days it truly feels like he's never had a chance to just rest since Wutai (since his earliest memories in the labs). He wishes to focus on Deepground, to work on healing for once in his life rather than warfare or slaughter. To not have to draw his blade save for a spar or to teach. He stares at the screen, brooding for a minute, before he sighs and flicks the cameras to another, watching and eavesdropping to see how this 'new' Shinra Corporation handles itself...
"...Banora?" asked Aerith quietly, "Why do you want me to go there?"
She stands in her Mother's kitchen, Vincent Valentine, the eyes of Chaos glowing from him, staring at her steadily. "There are things you need to hear, things you must know, and lessons that must be taught that you must learn in the caverns below them."
Aerith clenches and unclenches her fists. "And how would I get any of that in a cave? What is down there?"
She doesn't think Chaos will ever hurt her, but blindly trusting it to lead her down alone into a cave...?
He grins with almost malicious-like delight. "The Goddess Materia. It is time for you to hold audience with fair Minerva."
Aerith's breath hitches, eyes going wide. The... the Avatar of the Planet? She swallows thickly. "O...oh... I... I'm not..."
He places a hand on her shoulder. "You are young, yes, untested, yes, but there is time yet to learn and grow, even if it be a rapid pace."
He frowns intently. "It is likely this conflict with the new Crisis will come to a head in your lifetime, or in your children's, and you must be ready by that time."
Aerith looks away. "I wish... I wish there was another way."
He withdraws his hand and turns for the door. "Then find one."
She looks back, startled. "W-what?"
"I am nigh certain that this will end in conflict," he admits, "But I have been proven wrong on my thoughts before. Perhaps you can yet find another solution, I hold doubts of that, but perhaps you can. You will now, however, do so if you remain here as an unassuming young child."
Aerith is more than aware he's baiting her. But... even just the chance that this can end peacefully instead... she doesn't want to have to help kill whatever is left of Kairi in that amalgamation...
"Alright," she whispers, "I'll go."
She leaves a note for her mother on the table, and follows Chaos out of the house...
Review Response:
Garbage Man: *squints* can't tell if just an asshole, or trying to prod me into writing... maybe both? Also, no tentacle sex. I forsee this story being... roughly 20~ or so chapters, not as long as the previous, while book 3 will probably be at minimum as long as book one. Book three should at least be within the decade. Hue hue hue.
Goujian's Lightsaber: Oh there will be a conflict alright, but the proportions of it might not be as huge as you think. No, no Death Call in this fic, just Kairi/Jenova.
Patrick the Observer: Kairi and Namine will not remerge. At least, I don't plan on it for Book 3. It should be stated, that while Kairi would replace Minerva's role if it did ever happen, she would not be an actual Avatar. I might not have said it it right, or perhaps they don't understand it yet either, but Kairi would become something truly abominable. The term 'Divine Abomination' rings funny in my head. Something Akin to Safer Sephiroth, but worse, more like what Safer Sephiroth could have become had he actually won and absorbed the Lifestream.
TimeDiver: Gale is dead and gone. Kairi as of the moment has no active knowledge of what to do with the souls inside of her except let them rest. For now...
Spellflame: A possible solution... but would Kairi honestly let them ditch her that way?
The Unplanner: Nice impression.
Kairi isn't likely to reach the 'We' stage of hive-mind abomination, if only because she refuses to acknowledge that Jenova is a part of her as anything more than a memory.