Chapter 7 - PROJECT S REPORTS #831230.1024-#840215.0613
CLASSIFIED. CLEARANCE: EXECUTIVE. SHINRA ELECTRIC POWER COMPANY. HARD COPY ONLY. STORAGE #31 - NIBELHEIM MANSION.
Project S Report #831230.1024
Friday, Dec 30, 1983 at 10:24 AM
From: Mariella Haynes
Cc: Landon Lemb
To: "Professor Hojo"
—
Hello Professor Hojo,
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Someone told me you are married. I hope that you are both well and able to spend time together this holiday season. Landon and I are both celebrating in our own way: a little champagne and rewarding results.
Attached is a brief report on the progress and development of Project S. Under the instruction of Professor Gast, we started your exposure program, 15 minutes rounds for five weeks. We have completed the second round this week. Sephiroth has continued to develop in his physical stature with no ill Cetra cells are successfully absorbing the mako. We are taking biological samples to track any molecular changes.
We are continuing the new education and stimulation program as well. It is working and keeps Sephiroth focused most of the day. He gets frustrated at times with the exercises but he receives remarkable grades for only being, biologically, three years old. Landon and I agree that Sephiroth continues to express himself physically and intellectually at an older age. Most indications show he is meeting the developmental milestones of a seven year old with further growth in intellectual areas.
All details are in the attached report.
The next treatment is on January 4th 1984.
Yours sincerely,
Mariella Haynes
—
Project S Report #840112.1749
Thursday, Jan 12, 1984 at 5:49 PM
From: Mariella Haynes
Cc: Landon Lemb
To: "Professor Hojo" , "Professor Gast"
—
Hello Professor Hojo,
How are things in Midgar? Landon and I are still both talking about how we miss the New Year party at HQ. We did have a celebratory drink after Sephiroth went to bed but it is nothing like the party that Shinra throws. I know you rarely ever attend those events. This is for the best since R&D is famous for blowing off steam and passing out on the department floor.
Three years on and we still think of it. Of course, we are both thankful for the opportunity to work on Project S but the snow is deep and we rarely see the town residents now. There are only so many topics that Landon and I can think to talk about.
The fourth treatment went as planned on January 11th. Sephiroth is cooperative and seems to even enjoy the process. The effect of treatment has slowed slightly. Psychologically, he responds to doing "hard work" and has been trying to go for hikes regardless of the snow. He likes self determined projects. He found a wiped broken computer in recycling and now has it spread across the dining room table. We printed out the manual and he asks us vocabulary words all day.
We are noting the beginning of a reoccurring nightmare. For the last few weeks, Sephiroth has woken up disturbed between the hours of 2-4 a.m.. He cites being afraid of a "woman with wings who chokes me in bed". Usually some water, listening and a thorough check of the room is enough to get him back asleep. When the weather is more hospitable, we will be purchasing a night light.
We are yet to find the stimulus for this fear. Landon is reexamining his pre approved books to see if there was any oversight.
Please see the attached report for the statistics and details. Please note the frequencies of nightmares and the increase in abnormal cell count. None of the abnormal cells are expressing any rapid or dangerous replication.
He also has taken a great interest in Professor Gast and wishes to write him a letter. Do you or Professor Gast have any opposition?
The next treatment is on January 18th.
Yours sincerely,
Mariella Haynes
—
Project S Letter ID #840116.0956
Hello
Monday, Jan 16, 1984 at 09:56 AM
From: Mariella Haynes
Bcc: Landon Lemb, "Professor Hojo"
To: "Professor Gast"
—
Dear Professor Gast,
"Professor" is a hard word to spell. It has too many ss. Ms. Haynes is letting me type on her computer but she says she is not reading it. This is from Sephiroth. This is not Ms. Haynes.
Mariella tells me to tell you how I am. I am good. Charlie is good but he had an accident yesterday. It was not on the rug. The green gas is not good but not bad. I feel brave like you told me.
I am practicing my letter writing. It is nice to write a real person and not a dead person from my history book like for homework. Landon says my writing "needs work". Would you help me get better?
What are you working on? When are you visiting?
Charlie tells me to say hello.
Sephiroth
PS. This is a secret letter. Keep it secret.
PS. I have a computer all over the dining room table. Mariella doesn't like it. I do.
—
Project S Letter ID #840116.1843
RE: Hello
Monday, Jan 16, 1984 at 06:43 PM
From: "Professor Gast"
To: Mariella Haynes
—
Dear S -
I am delighted and so surprised to get your letter today. We were busy at work and I had not had a chance to sit down and read my email until now. Little did I know that I would find a thoughtful letter from my silver haired friend. It made me very happy to hear from you.
I am sorry to hear about Charlie and his accident. Perhaps he needs to be let out more often or have a few more walks a day? Remember, he can't speak and tell you when he needs to go to the bathroom so you have to watch for him to tell you in other ways. This is true for people as well. Sometimes we are all trapped in places that we could use a little help getting out of. If that doesn't make sense, please tell me and I can talk about it further.
Look out your window. Do you see all that snow? That is part of my work. Midgar is under construction. We are building a city on top of a city. It is a silly thought but we have very smart people here. The snow is making us put those special people called SOLDIERs to work. They are having to move snow and ice. I am tracking how tired they get. Orlin is grumpy because of this weather. Do you like the snow?
Good job on the mako treatments. Keep at it. Tell Mariella or Landon if anything feels strange. This is not supposed to hurt. I am not sure when a visit is my future. I apologize.
How is Charlie doing? What did you learn about today in class?
- G
P.S. Do you know that "PS" stands for "post scriptum" in Latin? Can you find out what that means?
P.P.S. When you write an additional note, add another "P".
—
Project S Letter ID #840203.0803
RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: Hello
Friday, Feb 03, 1984 at 08:03 AM
From: Mariella Haynes
Bcc: Landon Lemb, "Professor Hojo"
To: "Professor Gast
—
Dear Professor Gast -
Thank you for the picture of you and the plate. It looks strange and so high up in the air. I hope that you don't fall off because it looks like it is a long way down. Did you see Orlin waving in the back of your photo? Is he afraid of heights too?
School is boring and sometimes it's like we are doing the same stuff day after day. We are learning about "geography" right now. The world is big. You travel so you know how big but I don't travel so I don't know how big it is. The town is big to me and when I walk to the edge of town, the hills look even bigger. The hills are so small that they aren't on our map. Nibelheim was written in pen on our globe. Ms. Haynes did it.
Ms. Haynes tells me they are extending mako gas experiments again. Eight times is not enough. She says twelve and for longer. She is wrong but when I tell her she tells me that "it is the way it is". She says that a lot now.
I am not speaking with the planet yet. How do I speak with the planet? If I speak with the planet, then everything will be right and everyone will be happy. I would like that.
I remember "being patient". Ms. Haynes prints out your letters so I can read them when I want. I read them a lot because I forget sometimes. I think about being patient but being patient is very hard. The adults ask dumb questions.
I have to stop writing. Ms. Haynes is calling. Thank you for all the letters.
- S
—
Project S Report #840215.0613
-FLAGGED MESSAGE-
Monday, Feb 15, 1984 at 06:13 AM
From: Mariella Haynes
Cc: Landon Lemb, "Professor Gast"
To: "Professor Hojo"
—
Dear Professor Hojo,
I am writing to report the immediate damages to Project S and the emergency shutdown of the mako exposure program.
As reported previously, Sephiroth has been showing behavioral changes throughout the last month. Landon and myself agree this correlates to the increased and lengthened mako exposures. He has been more aggressive and frustrated. He has been quicker to anger and while he is still manageable, has been growing less so. This is a distinct behavioral difference. Sephiroth has always been independent but respected the house rules.
We have been testing and recording data for memory loss for the last fifteen days. Sephiroth's intelligence and comprehension has increased radically but he has not maintained any information after 48 hours. On eight occasions, he has not been able to tell me what he has eaten for dinner the night prior. He consistently forgets events even after expressing excitement about them. He has asked on multiple occasions where he left his shoes or other material.
On February 8th, Sephiroth struggled with which the month it was despite looking at the snow.
On February 10th, we found Sephiroth lost in the basement. He claimed that he did not remember how to get out and was going to wait for us to find him. We estimate that he had been in the room for two hours and was three doors away from the stairs.
These signs point to the beginning of severe memory loss. This is the cause for the uptick in upset and aggressive behavior. He can only recall consistent things: Charlie, ourselves, or Professor Gast's correspondence.
At this point, all this information has already been reported and we were encouraged to continue with the regular mako treatment on February 15th.
On February 14th, we were in a meeting with the R&D department at 5 p.m.. During this time, Sephiroth unlocked his bedroom door and took the dog for a walk. We were alerted to this when the dog returned by himself and barked outside at approximately 5:45 p.m.. We searched the house and when we could not find Sephiroth, we started to search outside.
We did not find Sephiroth. Jean Collet found him in a snowdrift two miles away from the house. She recognized him and was en route to the Shinra Mansion when we found them. He was unconscious and suffering from advanced hypothermia. Using emergency treatment, he has regained consciousness but cannot remember anything about the last week.
I have come to the conclusion that we need to stop mako treatment until this situation can be analyzed. Further exposure may cause more brain damage. I am sorry to make such an executive decision but we cannot move forward with the 45 minute exposure treatment scheduled today. We are hoping for a swift recovery. Sephiroth is not speaking so it is hard to gauge.
We are happy to call and discuss any of this with you at any point.
Thank you.
Mariella Haynes