The Conditions of Madness and The Hope That Never Solves Them

by Quinhwyvar

How many years has it been? How much of my life has been obliterated by Shinra? How many people hurt me? Sephiroth stares at his broken memories and wonders who cared about the boy dying in the hands of Shinra. No one wants to listen to his quiet screams except you.

29. Project S Documentation ID 851026

Chapter 29 -Project S Documentation ID #851026

CLASSIFIED. CLEARANCE: ALL STAFF. SHINRA ELECTRIC POWER COMPANY. HARD COPY ONLY. STORAGE #31 - NIBELHEIM MANSION.

Project S Documentation ID #851026.1138

Condolences
Saturday, October 26, 1985 at 11:38 AM
From: "President Shinra"
To: "allstaff"

—

Gentlemen -

It is with a heavy heart that I write to report the passing of a fellow staff member. Professor Gast, previous Head and Director of Research and Development, has been killed last night on the Northern Continent. While his exact motives are unclear, he was doing research on Ancients in his private lab for some time.

When Shinra associates came to his lab to gather reports, they discovered that he had defected from the company and resisted arrest. In the ensuing struggle, he took friendly fire and died on site. The operatives did not have a kill order and I cannot impress upon you how much this accident saddens me. I mourn the loss of a man that has given so much of his life to Shinra and has developed so many of the basic procedures that we still use today.

I know that many of you knew Professor Gast personally. He was a good man. His passing will be mourned. An obituary page has been created for you to share your thoughts. The funeral details are private. I do believe that there must have been some miscommunication between him and our staff to cause such a cataclysmic event. I only regret that this was not prevented.

The flag will be flown half mast today in his honor.

-P. Shinra

---

The plan was to double upload today.

Angeal (or A), my beta, had other plans. They directly told me to delay next chapter until Sunday morning. Their words exactly? "Do it. Frustrate the hell out of them...Torture them."

So today? I'm just following orders. You could have had "The Conditions of Love" chapter today but no. That's not in the cards.

Oh boy, yeah, a "Conditions" chapter. One per part and always a "good time".

Usually something landmark happens in them.

It could have been today.

Oh well.

See you all tomorrow. :)

Thank you for reading as always -Quin

Thanks to A for betaing this chapter. They are amazing. You can find their FFVII work on Twitter (AngealLovesYou).