Processing Center

The past few weeks had been hectic, and Genesis did not like 'hectic'. He had never liked it unless it was on his terms, but this most certainly wasn't. Chances to do real training with Kunzel, let alone taking him into the city to practice, were rare, and he was glad to have found a mission he figured the younger man could do on his own. By extension, other than the red haired man being there to observe and step in if things got out of hand, he could largely just relax...Even if he had to stand in the process, as the no man's land between Slum Sectors didn't really have places to sit. Not ones which lacked the presence of unknown and questionable substances, at least.

As Kunzel was doing just fine, he was more focused on his surroundings than on his mentee, so was well aware of it when Kariya stepped silently up beside him. For a long time, the two stood in silence, watching the younger SOLDIER clear some minor monsters from the area, neither wanting to break the silence.

Finally, Kariya said, "Back twenty years ago, Shalyn worked for Shinra's Science Department. I had been worried about how healthy our firstborn would be if it was being used in an experiment, but she assured me the process was safe, so I decided to see how things went. As it turned out, our son was born hale and healthy, so she had the right of that. Six months later, while they were at the lab for routine testing, there was a monster break-out, and in the chaos, she lost sight of him...Of you." The man paused for a long moment before going on, "As the chaos died down, what was returned to her...was a mutilated corpse. A few days later, we buried what we believed to be our son."

Genesis swallowed hard as his vision blurred with moisture, but he held back the tears and just closed his eyes. "So you didn't look because you didn't know you needed to, basically?" he asked, trying to sound like he didn't care, but knowing he failed by the thickness in his voice.

With a faint sigh, the Turk told him, "We didn't. And Shalyn never recovered. She's been willing herself slowly to death since then, and even our two daughters haven't been enough to do anything more than prolong the inevitable. I've seen far too much loss already...It hurts, but it doesn't have the same kind of devastating effect on me as it did on her. She'd never lost anyone she cared about before, other than through old age, and as far as she told me, her parents had been estranged from her grandparents, so she'd never known her grandparents. To lose her firstborn...I honestly think it shattered something in her mind or her soul, or both."

"...Would meeting me fix that?" Genesis asked slowly, letting his gaze drift over to the man beside him. While he'd been sure neither set of his parents had wanted him, his father's behavior and explanation both indicated otherwise, and he wasn't sure how to take it. His world was being turned up-side down...and the worst part was that he wasn't even sure he could forge any kind of bond with his birth parents.

The question caused sorrow to pass over the other man's gaze as he explained, "Maybe five years ago, there had been enough life left in her still to be able to fix it, but...Honestly, I think introducing you now would only delay the inevitable and not really fix what's wrong. Would that be a kindness to her, or just more pain? And for you—would it actually be a kindness to introduce you now, just for her to die in two or three years? It sounds like a long time, but...with your experience and the way a SOLDIER's job works...I think you know that would barely be a drop in a bucket."

As Genesis turned his gaze to Kunzel, he saw the younger man kill the last couple monsters, then cock his head to the side like he was listening to something. After a pause, the Third moved away from Genesis and into a narrow path between two of the trash heaps in no man's land. Knowing he had to follow his mentee, Genesis took a few steps after him—then paused.

"Kariya, maybe you haven't thought of this yet, but I'm physically twenty years old and mentally thirty-four years old. I'm an adult who doesn't need parents anymore, and I've lived an entire lifetime already thinking I was never wanted, anyway. To overcome that...I'm not even sure it's worth the effort of trying." For a moment, Genesis paused, glancing back to see raw pain in the older man's eyes. "I need time to think about this, and to decide if it's even something I want to try to do, but I can't promise anything."

A single, pained chuckle emerged from the Turk's mouth before he said bitterly, "So just like Tseng, you've already learned to run away from things you don't know how to fix." He then sighed and said resignedly, "Unlike Tseng, I don't have anything to hold over you to make you start facing it, either. You'd better head after your kid, then."

The response somehow alarmed the red haired man, and he spun back to face Kariya—only to find him not there. Blinking, he rubbed his eyes, then looked around again—and sighed, "Invisible. Asshole."

Since he also knew he couldn't leave Kunzel alone for long, he turned back to the path the younger SOLDIER had taken and quickly headed down it. By the time he caught up to him, it was to see him staring in shock at a small, bloody, cat-like monster in his hands while a full-grown cat monster fought several of the Slums' stronger monsters. On the ground also lay three other kittens, but it was obvious they had been torn apart and were dead. The 'stronger monsters', upon closer inspection, were Kalm Fangs, which didn't usually enter the city perimeter, but the cats were Coerls (1)—a mother with what had been a litter of four.

As Genesis arrived, the mother killed two more of the pack of Kalm Fangs, leaving four of them, but then the largest of those—the Alpha—killed the mother Coerl. The pack then turned towards him, Kunzel, and the last kitten, and because Kunzel was still standing there in a state of shock, Genesis stepped past him as he drew his blade, lit it on fire, and slashed at the last four. Two had jumped back as soon as he called up the fire, but the other two were near-instantly cremated, and he quickly returned to a ready position as he looked for the last two of the pack. They were dragging the mother away, tearing her body as they did—what was even wrong with them?

Then a good look at their eyes showed Mako influence, and he sighed. They were starving, insane from the Mako, and high as fucking kites from the drugged effect Mako exposure often caused. No wonder Kalm Fangs had attacked a creature normally much more powerful than they were to start with, and had likely risked it because she was a single adult with kittens that would weigh her down. It also told him there was no sparing them, starving or otherwise, so he sprang forward in a smooth motion, quickly and cleanly beheading both.

He then turned back to Kunzel, marched up to him, and asked harshly, "Why did you freeze up? You could have been killed—those were Mako-tainted monsters!"

After a short silence, the younger man asked in a trembling voice, "Why me?"

"...What?" the red haired man asked in confusion.

"First Neirine, and now that Coerl just—shoved her kitten into my hands! Why me?" Kunzel asked, sounding like he was actually either about to hyperventilate from panic or burst into tears.

Cocking his head to the side, Genesis gazed at the half-Wutain for a moment, then sighed and began casting healing on the kitten as he said, "Because they can sense you won't hurt them without reason. They can sense you're not an enemy, not someone to fear."

"What?" Kunzel asked in surprise, looking up from the slowly-healing kitten in his hands.

"Children and animals can tell if they can trust someone or not," Genesis told him, using Regen to finish as much healing as he could do right then for the Coerl kitten. He had to hand it to the mother for being able to keep her litter so healthy in a place like the Slums, otherwise it would probably have died from lack of immediate care. His gaze then lifted to Kunzel's as he went on, "Neirine is still one, and Wutains normally encourage their children to keep those senses, something Tseng has been doing for her since they met. And even if a Coerl is a 'monster', they still have some animal habits, and she knew her whole family risked death. She knew you were her last kitten's best chance for survival."

"But how? I was just killing monsters!" Kunzel gaped at him.

With a wryly amused gaze, the older man answered, "You're a Cetra, Kunzel. All monsters know that, and will trust a Cetra with a baby long before they'd even trust another of their own kind. On the up-side, you've just gotten yourself a very deadly pet and protector, once it grows up."

"...Wait, are you saying I'm keeping it?" (2) the younger SOLDIER gaped at him. Then, before Genesis could answer, his eyes widened again and he added, "Wait, is that even allowed in SOLDIER?"

Genesis couldn't help but chuckle as he replied in amusement, "Kunzel, whether Shinra Company likes it or not, they can't actually make laws against a SOLDIER being randomly gifted a baby monster by the baby's own parents. Because she put her kitten in your hands, the bond she once had with it has moved to you—you're now the one this kitten will look to as its parent. That kind of bond can't be broken without harming both the kitten and you. Shinra knows that, so once it goes in the report, they have no choice but to let you keep it. Nor can you actually get rid of it. Congratulations, Kunzel! You're an honorary father to a Coerl kitten!"

A highly amused Genesis led a near-fainting Kunzel back to the Shinra building, finding it amusing how the younger man had gathered the kitten gently to his chest for the trip. But, despite his amusement over that, he couldn't just forget how pained Kariya had been over his effective rejection of any sort of bond between them. And he was sure the man wasn't going to approach him again regarding it.

What did that leave him if he decided he wanted to get to know the man?

MB

Cloud spent a lot of time in Weapons, it was true. Even with tools in his own lab to use—which he did on occasion—he had somehow made a habit of going to Weapons to work. When he had no reason to like Scarlet, he wasn't sure how or why that habit had become so certain in his mind and behaviors so quickly, but it was one. The only reason he wasn't there just then was because he needed to decide on what kind of weapon he wanted for himself.

He could literally use any weapon, because weight wasn't an issue at all and size was only a marginal deterrent to certain kinds. Thanks to his variety of friends, he'd also had some practice using and fighting nearly all weapons, too. He knew he wasn't fond of ranged weapons, but that didn't exclude all kinds of weapons which could be used ranged. It mostly meant he wouldn't use guns or bows. Because the list of potential weapons was so high, he really wasn't sure what to do about it, and he pretty much ignored Vincent when the man sat on the desk next to his chair.

"What's wrong?" he asked, breaking into Cloud's thoughts.

"I don't know what kind of weapon to make for me," the blond replied in annoyance.

Vincent was quiet for a moment before telling him, "Then, logically, you should begin by working out what you did or didn't like about any weapons you've previously used. That will invariably cut your options in half after looking critically at your own weapon handling in the past. Or whatever it would be in the current circumstances."

As the man got up and left—apparently to leave the Turks' office with Tifa, who was grinning widely and bouncing on the tips of her toes—Cloud blinked and actively watched him leave before turning back to his own thoughts. His past weapons were a rifle, a broadsword, a buster sword, and First Tsurugi, as anything else had literally just been temporary. The rifle was the reason he knew he didn't like guns, and broadswords had always been not quite right in his hands. It wasn't that swords had ever been an issue—they hadn't—but broadswords weren't it. The buster sword type also had been not quite right, though had been better than broadswords for feel.

In the end, only First Tsurugi had felt natural to him. Was that because he'd personally made it to fit his hands? No, he didn't think that quite fit, not when his earlier attempt to redesign it had felt wrong somehow. What had he made First Tsurugi for?

Before his thoughts had gone further, Kariya had entered the office and pretty much sagged against the edge of his desk, gaze not there at all. Cloud didn't think he even knew where he'd decided to stop moving. So, he asked, "What's the matter, Kariya?"

Pained, obviously distant green eyes met his blue as the man muttered absently, "I'd thought I might have a chance to at least get to know the son I'd thought was dead, but...he's made it pretty clear he's not interested..."

"Who?" Cloud asked in mild surprise.

"Genesis," the man answered quietly.

First, Cloud blinked in surprise, then began recalling to his mind everything he knew about the man. It wasn't a lot, but it was enough, so he commented, "You do realize he spent seven years or so insane, and some of that under Jenova's control, right, Kariya?"

The man's gaze started to clear as he frowned slightly and asked, "Why would that matter to me?"

"I don't have all the details, but I know Jenova calls herself 'mother' to anyone with her cells," Cloud informed him, and he blinked. "And I know his home life wasn't great. I think you need to talk with Angeal before you decide to give up on Genesis, and I think you have to realize that approaching him with the idea of just friendship would probably go over a lot better than trying to push 'family' on him."

For a long minute, the orange haired man just stared at the blond boy, but finally, he asked in bemusement, "So if you don't know much about him, how is it you can give such relevant insight into his thoughts?"

Cloud gave him an annoyed look. "I know his home life wasn't pleasant because someone I knew talked about it, which that person had heard from Angeal. Neither he nor I had anything more than that, which leaves Angeal as the one who knows. And unlike me, he wasn't sent back to a child's body with the child's instinctive desire for 'family'. His family was—people like Angeal, or Weiss, those he trusted because they'd proven themselves, not because they shared his blood. That should have been pretty obvious. And you gave up way too fast. Especially for a Turk."

Kariya had to snort at that, but gave his head a bit of a shake. "I'll try talking to Angeal, then. Thanks for the advice, kiddo." The older man then walked away, and Cloud just rolled his eyes before going back to his own thoughts.

First Tsurugi. What had meant so much to him about that blade was that he could keep separating out different sizes, styles, and weights of swords as he needed them, and dual wielding had been its primary function. One sword had been more like a dagger, and the rest had ranged in size between that and the full size of a buster-style sword. He could choose what he needed for the situation, rather than just having to make do with a specific kind of weapon. It had also proven highly effective, even without a ranged facet to it, so his best bet was actually to work out something similar.

'Something similar', however, was a problem, because he was also only twelve years old and somehow really, really didn't want another buster sword, even if it could come apart into other blades, nor did he openly want to walk around bristling with blades of various sizes. Granted, as a Turk, he could get away with it, but he didn't want to do that—it would make movement hard, and he just didn't want to deal with that. Multiple blades was a good start, but he would need to re-think what he was trying to do with it and how something could work out.

Then, he was interrupted yet again by the last voice he wanted to hear asking him, "What made you so certain it would be best to show me that Shrine? Why did you even think of it if none of the other Turks did?"

Cloud sighed in frustration as he scrubbed at his head with his hands for a moment, making his hair look like a mess (more of one than normal). The action produced an amused snort from the young man standing across the desk from him, so he looked up at Rufus with an annoyed glare. "I'm never going to work out my weapon if I keep getting interrupted, and this is now the third time in—" He paused to look at the clock, then went on, "—about forty-five minutes. Thank you. Could this not have waited until the end of my shift or when I was in the hall heading somewhere?"

First Rufus blinked at him in surprise, then chuckled and asked, "You really have no fear of me or my position at all, do you, Cloudy Turk?"

The nickname made him scowl and bite out, "Do. Not. Call. Me. That. Ever. Again." At Rufus' taken-aback look, he went on, "And no, I'm not 'afraid' of you. You have power, but only if you choose to use it, and generally, you're all bark and no bite. That's not a bad thing, but it's also reason for me to treat you like a human being and not worry too much about getting you upset. Personally, treating you with kid gloves the way the others do is no good for your psyche, so they shouldn't be doing it."

"Are you sure a twelve-year-old has the life experience to decide something like that?" Rufus asked in an annoyed tone.

"Yes, when it should be common sense," Cloud answered flatly.

For a long moment, the older blond was quiet, but then he asked, "What's the problem with working out your own personal weapon?"

With a huff, the younger blond answered, "I've worked out that I somehow have a preference for multiple blades and dual wielding or not as I choose, but I really don't want some sort of huge buster sword as a base for that. I need to figure out a more functional base which isn't as big or bulky but still has the space for multiple blades."

Rufus' brow rose, but he offered, "My first thought would be a combat star like Neirine uses. It already has six or eight smaller blades attached to its rim, depending on the style. Modifying that kind of design would be easier than trying to remake a solid weapon into multiple ones, and tiny Neirine's never had an issue carting it around." When Cloud's eyes widened in surprise and some degree of interest, the older of the two asked, "So, do you have time to talk with me for a bit before you get started?"

Cloud had to huff a small chuckle at that. "Okay, fine. Thank you for the thought. It just might work. To answer your first question, those Shrines are actually new for us, too, when Vincent and I accidentally found items in storage which had belonged to dead Turks. The others hadn't thought of it because it wasn't an option before, and I thought of it because I had just seen your mother's actual weapons, and you were arguing over something which was actually irrelevant with a woman whose expertise is in weapons."

To the younger's surprise, the young Shinra actually looked thoughtful before asking slowly, "So...you mean I was the first other than Turks who has seen those Shrines?"

"Yes," the Turk agreed.

For a moment, Rufus seemed to hesitate, then frowned and asked, "Is it just me, or do we look too much alike to not be related?"

Mentally, Cloud froze for a moment before wondering if he should even be saying anything, but then decided to answer a question with a question. "What would your response be if I was, or if I wasn't?"

"If you aren't, then I'd just apologize for wishful thinking. If you are, then I'd want to know your purpose here. Until I know that, I wouldn't bother with anything further," Rufus replied candidly.

Eying him for a long moment as he assessed the fact that Rufus had called it 'wishful thinking', the younger blond decided to fish a little more before deciding and asked lightly, "If you really had no ideas or desires, even without knowing if there's a blood bond, why call it 'wishful thinking'?"

Rufus' look became knowing and he actually looked happy. "You are. Tell me, why are you here? With the Turks, with Shinra—why?"

"I didn't answer you yet," Cloud replied in annoyance.

"No, but avoiding the question so strongly, and fishing for that kind of information, it makes it rather obvious, don't you think?" the older blond smirked. "I'd have been far more suspicious of someone in a Turk's uniform who readily said they were my—what? Cousin?"

Sighing, Cloud answered, "Half-brother. Your father sleeps around. A lot. Apparently even while your mother was still alive."

That made Rufus scowl. "That two-faced—!" He then cut himself off and returned his gaze to the younger blond. "There are others."

"Two I know for sure, one I'm not sure about. Maybe others," Cloud agreed. "No, I'm not telling you who. Figure it out yourself. After all, you figured out me."

Blinking, Rufus peered at him for a long moment, then asked again, "So, why are you here? Both Shinra and the Turks in particular."

"It got me out of a backwater town that just wanted me as a scapegoat," Cloud shrugged. "That's the Turks. I don't completely mind it because Veld is the reason my mother's still alive after your father tried to have her killed. Honestly, I don't like Shinra the way it is now. But, there's a lot I can do here that I couldn't do elsewhere, so it was the best option. And just maybe there are ways to fix things that are wrong here, too."

"That's 'wishful thinking'," Rufus answered, and Cloud first frowned, then his eyes widened in surprise as he realized the older blond was talking about his own reference to those words. "Things need to change. I had been entirely on the wrong path before you took me to my mother's Shrine, and now I know a lot more than what I had ever dreamed of before. Things that need to be fixed because my father's greed is literally destructive, and not just to himself—if that had been the case, I'd have let him do it. If you're willing, I'd like you to help, Cloud."

Cloud was spared having to answer by a rather cheerful voice from behind Rufus saying, "Then it's not Cloud whose help you need, it's all ours, because we already know something has gone very, very wrong and are trying hard to fix it already." Both blonds looked at the speaker to see dark haired Viney there. And most of the other Turks had gathered around the two without them noticing. "If you're actually willing to help, Rufus Shinra, then you need to talk with Veld about the best way to do so."

"Who needs to talk with me about a best way of something?" Veld's puzzled voice asked from the hall door to the office, so the others turned to him.

"Apparently Rufus has had a change of heart and wants to be helpful," Viney replied with a grin. Rufus gave him an annoyed look.

"As long as he's out of the 'brat' phase, that might be viable, too," Cloud 'helpfully' added.

Rufus whirled on him with a glare as he said, "That's hardly the way you should be talking to your older brother."

"Fuck off," Cloud clearly enunciated, which made everyone choke on air. "Siblings don't defer to one another, they by turns get along or fight. And they definitely readily tease and annoy one another. If you're planning to play on that here in the Turks' office, I'm going to treat you like a brother. But, that doesn't leave this room—the last thing I need is a hit out on me because your idiot father gets scared."

"Cloud, why did you even tell him that?" Veld asked tiredly.

"I didn't," the younger Turk answered with a shrug. "He figured it out himself."

"Weren't you the mild one?" Lenno asked in bemusement.

"Mild, mostly," Cloud agreed. "But that doesn't mean I can't be a brat or get annoyed, either. I'm already annoyed. And I'm twelve just now, so I don't really feel like 'playing the adult', despite my job. Now, are we done so I can get back to work?"

That left most of the Turks chuckling, shaking their heads, or pinching the bridges of their noses; Rufus fit in the last group. The older blond then faced Veld and asked, "So...department-wide rebellion?"

"In a manner of speaking, of the whole department," Veld answered, sounding tired. Rufus' eyes widened. "But not to collapse Shinra, to fix things which will eventually lead to the end of the world. If you are truly willing to help, then we'll discuss that in my office before your weapons lessons today."

"Very well," Rufus agreed, and followed the older man to his office.

Cloud went back to work as Lenno commented, "It's a good thing we know you're actually fourteen years older than you look."

"And I'm shocked Tseng apparently can't keep a secret," Cloud answered flatly, which produced amused chuckles from the others as they also went back to work.

Notes:

(1) In this case, because FFVII originally called this monster a Cuahl, but in nearly every other later version of Final Fantasy, it was called a Coerl, I decided to go with the latter. I also like it better, and I think even other parts of the FFVII Compilation called it a Coerl, anyway.

(2) Yes, Kunzel just got his Coerl kitten to raise. Part of why this even happened is that my muse insisted it had to, and part of why I chose a Coerl in particular is because the Coerl's "Blaster" attack has similarities to lightning spells, especially if Kunzel can work out how to add paralysis to his Bolt spells (he's a Mage, so this is possible, and Genesis will be teaching him how).

This is the first of the characters who will get one, and some of those pets are going to be doing some very interesting things which will be equal parts highly useful and highly annoying. Yes, some will show that 'usefulness' very soon after being introduced, though others, like this kitten, will take longer to show, other than peripherally.