Chaos, by nature, was where Valentine was. Valentine, seemingly by nature, was where Veld was. And this time of day, with such a pressing case, Veld was in-office. So it was not particularly hard to track them down, but Tseng still texted ahead. One should never underestimate the odds of something else coming up once they were already busy, after all.

By the time they arrived, Maur was also present, tucked into a corner with a pile of folders of presumably research and a laptop.

"…should we move to a conference room?" Reno asked, eyeing the space.

"I think we'll fit, but it's mostly standing room," Zack said, shrugging. "I'm used to standing for reports."

"We could move," Veld said. "Maur?"

"…I'd appreciate a hand, but I don't mind," he said.

With a little shuffling, they got him set back up in a nearby conference room, and spread out much more comfortably. Veld made a gesture for Tseng to start.

Tseng nodded slightly to Aerith. "While Aerith and I were able to discuss what she'd felt, she seems uncertain if Zack's additional input was enough to truly understand what was going on. Her request, as I'd stated in a previous text, was hopefully to speak to Chaos as he was present and likely has a better understanding of Jenova. Would that be possible?"

Vincent inclined his head slightly, a gold flicker in his irises. "He's paying attention. I think he'd rather her present her theories before weighing in on the matter."

"Maur has also gathered some relevant information, but I agree that it would be best to have Aerith go first," Veld said.

Aerith nodded. "You've heard from Zack already?"

"Maur hasn't, so a light recap where relevant wouldn't be amiss," Veld said.

"Okay." She took a moment to gather her thoughts, lip caught between her teeth until she took a fortifying breath and began. "Zack said the moment he got down there and met the Restrictor he was hit by a sensation very similar to being in Jenova's actual presence, as he was in Nibelheim. And that Chaos also reacted?"

Vincent nodded at the hint of question in her voice. "He was notably hostile."

She hummed softly, sorting that into her understanding. "I think his words were 'crawling under my skin' and something about making his brain buzz?"

"Yeaaaah, that's about right." Zack forced a smile. "Good times."

She politely ignored Kunsel poking him. "And that the Tsviets probably also had Jenova but that they weren't in the same category as the Restrictor. Undeniably powerful, to be sure, but not the same sort."

"I would agree with that," Vincent murmured when she paused.

"So, as far as my present theories go, it seems like the Restrictor has to have a massive concentration of Jenova cells," Aerith said. "And that the enhancement process was different, somehow, from Sephiroth or the other two. I don't really know what was done with them, but Zack's lack of reacting the same way would indicate that."

She was silent a moment, before Cloud nudged her gently and she started speaking again, carefully. "I also think that it may shed light on what happened in Nibelheim, though I know no one specifically asked about that. If Zack, who had less exposure to and enhancement by Jenova cells than Sephiroth, certainly over a far shorter period of time, was nearly driven to violence in the presence of a single being that happens to have a stronger concentration of Jenova cells… exposure to Jenova herself, from someone as deeply exposed as Sephiroth, could easily have driven him to his destructive course."

Veld arched a brow. "Something worth consideration, if more in application of what a second 'exposure' to the Restrictor might mean for Zack."

"I'd love to tell you I'd be able to brace for it this time but I can't promise you that," Zack admitted.

"A matter for later discussion, but an important one," Veld said. "Was that all, Aerith?"

"I think it's worth noting that there was a limit of telepathic influence based off of distance," Aerith said. "Speaking as a telepath myself, though… that can be expanded, with practice. Cloud and I used to have to be touching, and we don't even have to be in the same room now."

"…I'm going to vote immediately for no repeated exposure," Kunsel said, voice tight.

"Seconded," Reno said quickly.

"I think that's unanimous," Veld said. "And no starting it with any of the other SOLDIERs."

"No other First Class SOLDIERs," Kunsel said. "I was fine."

"…I don't want you down there with that… thing," Zack said.

"Neither do I," Kunsel said. "But someone has to. And if you guys had to trust someone to head SOLDIERs down there…"

Zack winced, looking away.

"Zack," Kunsel said gently.

"…yeah, okay." Zack looked like he'd tasted something awful. "I don't have to like it."

"Hey, I don't either," Kunsel said. "But we can't just leave everybody else to deal with this when we have some chance of helping as a department. You guys can strategize over comms."

"Hmph."

"We're not there yet," Veld said. "We still don't know what we're dealing with."

"Yes we do."

All eyes snapped to Vincent, but from the gold filtering into his eyes it was clear he'd conceded control when Chaos finally felt like giving input.

"Care to enlighten us?" Veld asked, when Chaos didn't seem inclined to elaborate.

Chaos looked back to Cloud. "You killed Sephiroth, did you not?"

Cloud blanched, but nodded. "I… yeah, I guess. I sort've just overbalanced him, though. I think I caught him off guard."

"Likely so," Chaos conceded. "Tell me what you recall of that."

Cloud swallowed hard. He'd have loved to say the image was too blurry to recall, but it was painfully clear even now. "I can't explain what I did. He should have killed me but somehow I got him unbalanced and he went over the rails into the reactor. Gravity took care of things from there."

"Mm. Alone?" Chaos prompted.

"Yeah, Zack was -"

"No, was Sephiroth alone?" Chaos asked.

"Yes?" Cloud said hesitantly. "I mean, I didn't see anyone unless you count the uh… the head?"

"I do. Not having been there, I only know what I've felt." Chaos sighed. "What is a head made of?"

"Uhm, bones and muscle and -"

"More detailed," he interrupted. "Break it down."

Cloud was silent a moment. "Genes? No wait, cells."

"And what is the reactor? How does it function, essentially? In the most basic terms," Chaos said.

"It sucks up mako and circulates it to make energy?" Cloud said.

"True, but not basic enough." Chaos looked to Veld. "Your daughter's emphasis, if you will."

Veld gave him a flat look, but obliged. "Mako comes from the Lifestream. You're talking about it extracting part of the Lifestream, and turning it to mako. Where are you going with this Chaos? We don't need a runaround, we need answers."

"Sephiroth and Jenova's head fell into the core of a reactor," Chaos said. He waited a moment, smiling thinly when he saw dawning understanding mingled with horror on Aerith's face, followed closely by Kunsel. Not enough to guarantee they fully understood, but they were on the way.

For the rest, he finally elaborated. "A high concentration of Jenova cells were dumped into a pit of mako that is directly connected to a Lifestream flow."

"Jenova's in the Lifestream," Aerith said, eyes wide.

"And what and where is the Lifestream?" Chaos asked. He could see suspicion forming with the rest of them, despite ShinRa's efforts to hide the information.

"It's… it's everywhere, it's the Planet's lifeblood." She had realized where he was going with this, he could tell.

"Most potent, however, in fertile areas. Areas that tend to have reactors." He saw it click for Veld, but continued to walk them through it. "Somewhere for Jenova's presence to gather. But of course, we have a very simple way of predicting where Jenova would revisit, don't we Maur?"

"…Hojo's Reunion Theory," he said slowly. "It would normally imply that all cells try to return to the host, but barring access to the host… I guess they'd just try to gather wherever the greatest concentration is."

"And where is that?" Chaos' gaze swept the room. It had hit home for all of them, he could see it on their faces.

"…Midgar," Aerith finally said. "We have nine reactors, most of the SOLDIERs, and Deepground. I wasn't just sensing the cells in Zack, or the Restrictor, was I? Jenova is here."