I think I'm the only one reading this, so, hi Amarissia! Reading your own fanfics like a weirdo again, I see!

Shut up, you. It's for the sake of continuity.

Riiiiiiight…

For anyone unfamiliar with the Choir!verse (should have done this in the first chapter but oh well), Cloud is 16 and genki and with a slightly-canon Sephiroth, Zack is engaged to Angeal and hates me because of how I write him, and Genesis is alone, when he's not out banging every hot guy who crosses his field of vision. He also strolls past my portals to you guys naked and muttering about fucking your husbands, so maybe keep an eye out, I don't know.

A VERY CHOIR REMAKE
Chapter 5

Sephiroth counted to 20, first in Continental, then Wutainese, then Old Wutainese. Gaia not being a planet rich in living languages, this exhausted his counting-to-20 abilities, and his attention returned, unwillingly, to the short, slightly hunched figure bending over facing away from him. Hojo was leaning so far forward that his head and thus identity was almost out of sight. Almost.

Pity, Sephiroth had time to think before the man spoke.

"Your mako saturation is point-zero-zero-one higher than normal."

Sephiroth imagined Zack rolling his eyes, saying "So what?", and sticking his tongue out. But Sephiroth was not Zack, and as much as he hated Hojo, the general knew from experience that getting along with him meant less lab time, fewer unpleasant experiments.

"Is that significant, Doctor?"

"All data is significant, my boy…"

I am NOT yours.

"…however, not so much. This particular variable can vary from sample to sample. Still…"

Hojo had turned around more quickly than one would expect him capable of, and Sephiroth barely had time to register the detested sight of that lately-unshaven face before the biologist was grabbing his arm, yanking his sleeve up, and pulling a scalpel out of his pocket. Sephiroth felt a faint annoyance that he wasn't asked to move his arm, was still treated like a child by his former guardian, and showed no sign of discomfort as Hojo used the blade to trace a red line down his inner forearm.

Hojo anticipated the question; he knew Sephiroth fairly well, though not as much as he thought he did. "Your usual time to complete heal from a six-inch laceration is 72 seconds. Let's see if the higher mako saturation alters it."

Sephiroth stared blankly ahead, grudgingly accepting this as he did most of what Hojo got up to. The scientist looked back and forth between his pocket watch…

"Who the hell still wears a pocket watch?" Sephiroth could almost hear Genesis scoff.

…and the injury, clicking the top of the timepiece decisively after about a minute had passed.

"Seventy-three seconds. Another variation, probably not statistically significant."

"Will that be all, Doctor?"

"Take this first."

The general had half-anticipated this, though he always hoped Hojo would forget. The hated man always insisted Sephiroth take an antibiotic after this kind of test, and completely tuned out and ignored any argument the Silver SOLDIER made that his immune system was superior, not weak, that it wasn't necessary. Sephiroth accepted the paper cup containing the capsule, and swallowed it with a frown of irritation. This particular medication always made him drowsy.

At least it seemed he would be dismissed soon; in the past, Hojo had waited till the fatigue took effect, sedated him further, and kept him for hours running what Sephiroth felt certain were useless tests.

Sephiroth pulled his sleeve back down, noting absently that there was still a faint sting where the long cut had been. This brought up a surprising memory, of the uncomfortable experience that had been Dirge of Cerberus, which the general had mostly hidden from, but he remembered Amarissia staring with venom at Hojo on the TV screen, then looking at him, and sadly. What were the words she had said then? It was not her native language, she had pronounced the words with a slight halt, totally unlike her usual fangirl squeeing.

"Primum non nocere." Sephiroth's nearly-perfect memory delivered the answer without much effort. He hadn't had to wonder long, because Zack had asked what it meant.

First do no harm. The primary rule for doctors, the woman had explained, in her world. The sadness had left her face for now, but whenever Sephiroth saw it, he felt himself prompted, as though to reassure her, to remember that there was a world outside this lab, outside of his own narrow life. Hojo was a doctor, but Gast had been as well. The Choir and Amarissia's friend Ardwynna, too, who Cloud practically worshipped and wanted to see on every rare occasion he was ill.

"I see you're not in any mood to be cooperative," Hojo sniffed, jostling a test tube in one hand. "I suppose you can go."

Sephiroth always meant to depart slowly, as if he couldn't possibly care about this outcome. He didn't think he had ever succeeded.

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"So, it's decided," the president said importantly. "The Promised-Land thing will be moved to number two on my list."

The executives around the table made a low humming roar of approval, for most of them a pretended one. Scarlet, once she was sure her sometimes-lover wasn't looking at her, rolled her eyes. Meetings were annoying enough without them being this unimportant. There were weapons to design, usually phallic ones, because the head of Weapons Development did NOT compare walking around ShinRa to strolling through a buffet when not allowed to eat. Not at all.

Happily, Sephiroth had made it to this meeting, and was too socially-awkward to call the woman out on her hungry staring. The most he ever did was look at her with confusion. Wait, wasn't the other one supposed to be here…?

As though on cue, and only ten minutes late, the door opened and Angeal walked in, holding with no visible effort a teenage boy closely clasped in his right arm. Zack seemed dejected, if his posture was any indication. He was folded right in half, his head dangling above the ground and face pressed into his own sweater.

"Ah, Commander Hewley." There was no reprimand for being late, as the president didn't dare discipline such an asset for something so incidental. "Glad you could make it."

"Please excuse my lateness, sir." Hewley was always so polite. "I had some things to attend to." A "hmph" was emitted by the precious parcel the 1st was carrying.

"And Zack is with us tonight," President Shinra continued pleasantly. "How are you, Zack?"

The boy's voice was muffled by the material of his shirt. "I've been better."

"Excellent. Please, be seated."

Angeal seemed to hesitate about whether or not to let Zack go. He settled for pulling the nearest chair right up next to his own, and Zack sank down into it, once released, with a long-suffering expression. It was softened by love when he glanced at his fiancé; perhaps that's why he quickly looked away, so he could keep scowling.

Angeal settled his gaze on the determined potential threats, the heads of the technology department and security, both of whom were staring at Zack, not that the boy ever seemed to notice these things. Angeal glanced between them intimidatingly until both were looking at him, then without blinking and warningly drew a finger across his own neck. Both men turned a bit pink and began to stare at the table below them. Zack sighed almost soundlessly, but when Angeal slipped an arm around him, he leaned in to rest against him.

"Perhaps," Palmer said in his creepy voice, "Fair should be notified of your number-two, sir, since he is friends with the girl."

Zack stiffened slightly, and his obvious discomfort of course prompted Angeal to give them all a you-just-TRY-and-upset-him glare. Palmer swallowed a few times and went silent. As usual, the president was oblivious.

"Good idea. Fair, do you think your friend, the Ancient girl – "

"Aerith."

The president stared at him, astonished. He could not remember the last time he was interrupted, and Fair didn't look cowed by what he'd done. The teenager was looking at him with an almost-pout, and ignoring whatever Angeal was urgently whispering to him. Valuable asset, Shinra reminded himself, and fixed the boy with a paternal smile Zack actually hated.

"What's that, son?"

"Her name is Aerith. If you're planning to wheedle the Promised Land out of her, you could at least use her name."

"Puppy," Angeal whispered sharply.

"No, no," the president said jovially, "I appreciate when a subordinate is willing to argue with me. Sorry, son, of course, Aerith. Do you think she'd be willing to cooperate with us?"

"Maybe when Ifrit freezes over."

"Puppy."

"Sorry. I mean, I really don't think she knows where the Promised Land is."

"Surely you could ask her," Palmer interrupted, reminding Scarlet again of a more-ugly frog.

Zack was getting ready to unleash a mega-pout, then decided to hold it back, and simply frowned at the rotund man. "Yeah, I can, fine. But will you guys leave her alone while I do?"

The president seemed satisfied. "I'll have the Turks pull back and be less noticeable. We have to watch her, of course, to make sure she stays safe, but they can do so less…obtrusively."

"Thank you, sir."

Zack faked a smile, and privately, mentally cursed in Gongagan at that damn paternal affection directed toward him. It was better only than being flirted with, though sometimes men did both, and that was the creepiest. Angeal shifted his encircling limb so he could run his hand up and down Zack's arm. As with most of Angeal's touches, it made Zack feel instantly better.

"On to our next item. Edwards from Public Relations could not attend, but he's been monitoring the Shinternet, and says what people really want from us is more Sephiroth."

The general's cat-like pupils twitched, a movement not noticeable except to Angeal and Zack, who knew him well. It generally meant discomfort with whatever was going on.

The president was continuing to speak. "Life story, I believe, is the most common request. What do you think, General?"

Sephiroth's expression was neutral, as it often was, but right now with effort. "Sir, I don't believe the subject is interesting enough to warrant its own intellectual property."

"Oh, you're too modest, General! The success of the Jenova Project…"

Another twitch of the silver eyes.

"…hero of the Wutai War, our own dear poster boy, the unbeatable warrior. Why, I wonder that that libelous game chose Cloud to be the hero, and not you."

"Cloud is a hero," Sephiroth said softly, immediately. He made a sound like he was clearing his throat, but it was only an imitation of what he'd heard other people do. "If, as you believe, sir, the game originated in Wutai, they would hardly cast me as any kind of hero."

"True, true, General, how very astute." Shinra's faux-paternal way of speaking wasn't appreciated by Sephiroth any more than it was by Zack, but of course, the man didn't notice this. "Edwards suggested a title, what was it? Ah, yes. 'The First SOLDIER.'"

Scarlet looked at her boss quizzically. "Wait, is 'first' spelled numeral one, then a little s-t?"

"F-i-r-s-t," Zack informed her with a sigh, because he was still peeking at my narration, the little sneak.

President Shinra nodded. "First as in THE first. General, since the SOLDIER program was created around you, surely you must agree that you'd be an ideal subject for our game."

Sephiroth didn't answer, sitting ramrod straight and staring at the wall, not answering as he did when he knew the reply he'd give would cause trouble. Zack glanced at his friend/superior and correctly guessed he was counting in multiple languages. The boy spoke up to grab everyone's attention, flashing his cute-boy smile.

"But hey, Cloud is freaking adorable. If he were the hero of the new game too, who wouldn't want to play it? I bet we could do loads of minigames with his animal friends and stuff."

The mention of minigames reminded Angeal of a sight he had greatly enjoyed, that of a likeable young pixelated woman slapping the shit out of Scarlet. He was unable to repress a grin so unexpected that Scarlet physically drew back at the sight of it.

Reeve Tuesti spoke next, the first sign he'd given of his presence since the meeting started. "I'm sure Cloud would be happy to cooperate, if it means his fans would be happy."

Heidegger added, in his usual grumpy voice, "The chocobos love him, too."

"General?" President Shinra asked, "you know Cloud best. Would he be willing, do you think, to help us a bit with our game?"

Sephiroth never breathed any way but invisibly and silently, but he took a second to exhale slowly before answering. "Cloud very much enjoys being of help. As long as he is not hurt or upset in any way, I will not dissuade him from taking part."

"Excellent, excellent. By the way, why is your assistant not with you today?"

Looking mollified if not entirely placated, Sephiroth responded evenly, unperturbed now as though he'd never been anything else. "Cloud is assisting Phi in the stables. His presence makes the chocobos happy and easier to manage."

Reeve laughed weakly, as though he had little spare mirth to give. "They probably think he's one of their own."

The president began to speak again, but before forcing himself to pay attention, Sephiroth thought intently of his precious lover, letting the memory of Cloud's beaming smile and loving gaze remind him of what he lived and fought for.

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The woman known in ShinRa circles simply as Phi was a good-looking woman, not old but ahead of most SOLDIERs by at least a few years, which she clearly felt gave her the right to be a much-appreciated mother figure to those who got to know her well. Her petite stature was not immediately noticeable, so full of life was she that she seemed to tower mentally if not physically, and she had a conventionally attractive face and long brown hair that today was with little fuss held back in a braid.

As head of the ShinRa chocobo stables, the head honcho of everything concerning the company's valuable birds, Phi ran the stables like her own efficient kingdom, firm but kind to the boys who helped her and never shying away from getting her own hands dirty, and she was both no-nonsense and immensely kind. Most everyone in the company liked her, but she was especially close to Cloud and his little family, though Sephiroth sometimes wished the woman would call him by his name and not the nickname, "Gorgeous," she had given him.

But tellingly, Sephiroth made no effort to avoid Phi, had even sought her advice on occasion. Basically, in a company full of innocents and villains alike, Phi was a ray of light, a practical woman who always did as much as she could with whatever she had.

Today, she had Cloud visiting, which always made her happy. She told the boy each time he came that he didn't need to work so hard every time, that he could just show up whenever he liked to pet the birds who adored him. But Cloud always had the same answer, that he liked helping, and after all, the boy could shovel chocobo poo out of all the stalls in the time it normally took two stablehands to clean one, and the only thank-you for it he would accept was some of the earthy-smelling manure, which he then passed along to Angeal for use in his garden.

When this most labor-intensive chore was complete, Cloud, still full of energy, hauled enough water for all the birds in from the nearby well, careful not to slosh the buckets too much lest they spill. Then, after washing up at one of the sinks, Cloud giggled and accepted a grateful hug from his friend, squirming with happiness as she kissed his soft cheek.

"What next?" the boy asked, apparently still full of energy.

Ah, youth, Phi thought with an amused smile. "A new shipment of greens came in that needs to be put away."

"I can help!"

"If you really want to, baby, sure." Phi led the way to a mess of boxes, glaringly obvious in her otherwise uncluttered domain, and began opening them. "Billy better have labeled them right this time, or I'll have his head and his hat."

Cloud plopped down opposite her and giggled. "How do you know if they're not labeled right? They all look the same."

Phi playfully wagged a finger at the teenager. "To the untrained eye, sure. But to someone familiar with chocobos and their food, they can be very different."

She pulled out and held up a green that was tinged faintly pink at one end. "This is a Sylkis green, best for speed and stamina. We try to use them sparingly, as they're rather expensive." She selected two others and explained, "This is a Reagan," indicating one covered with faint yellow spots, "and a Kurie," waving a green that was much more crescent-shaped than the others. "Both also good for speed and stamina, but a bit cheaper, so we use them more often and order more."

Cloud nodded with wide eyes, taking in the information with the natural curiosity he always displayed. Phi smiled adoringly at the boy and continued, picking up one that was of a much brighter green than any of the rest.

"This is a Memit green. Only good for speed, but it works a lot faster than any of the others. We don't order much of these, since our chocobos don't tend to race, but occasionally for missions we need them to be fast, and quickly." And in case Instructor Zane gets near any of my birds, the woman thought privately, suppressing a chuckle.

"There are so many good for speed!" Cloud exclaimed.

"Well, chocobos aren't naturally in a hurry. We have to nudge them to go faster than a leisurely trot," Phi chuckled.

"Are any more for speed?"

"Well, this one," the woman said, holding up a green that was brown on both ends. "Tantal greens are good for speed, stamina, and intelligence. And they're surprisingly inexpensive, so all the birds get a pretty regular diet of these. Helps keep them in good shape and with their wits about them. The smarter the bird, the more aware they are of potential threats and the less likely they are to throw a rider. Speed's not everything."

Cloud nodded solemnly. "Seph says that too."

"He's right. In fact, the last two varieties here are both mainly for intelligence." She held out one in each hand, one that was easily twice the size of all the others and one that strongly gave off a lovely, grassy smell. "Pasana and Karaka."

"Do the chocobos eat other stuff, too?"

"We supplement their diets with a bit of hay and grass, for filler and for digestion. They actually don't eat very much, even when they get large."

"Did you ever meet any golden chocobos?" Cloud asked in a wide-eyed, reverent whisper.

"Just once, when I was a girl. Would you like to hear the story?"

Cloud nodded, squirming with excitement.

somethinggoeshereidunno

Sephiroth was in the habit of waking suddenly and fully, whether just because he'd slept long enough or there was a disturbance. Field experience and training to avoid being sleep-groped by friend or foe had given him the ability to quickly be completely alert and ready to deal with whatever was happening, be it an enemy attack or just Cloud with pancakes. He was not, however, used to dealing with the sight of a flailing lab coat in his own bedroom, and at the half-awake realization of its presence, the general instinctively shoved the offensive thing away, figuring if it was Hojo he could claim he'd had a nightmare.

Genesis scowled from the thickly-carpeted floor and made several "hmph" noises as he pulled the white garment off himself. "No need to be so grumpy, Seph."

"What were you doing?"

"The doll asked me to check on you. Something about cookies."

Now Sephiroth remembered. He had come from the lab, beginning to feel groggy from the antibiotic, and found a note from Cloud that cookies from his mother had arrived and that he should taste-test them. Cloud's mother adored Sephiroth and was forever trying to put weight on him, and once discovering he liked her baking, she often sent her creations to he and Cloud. Unfortunately, more than the slightest bit of sugar in any food made Sephiroth crash like the upper plate of a city onto a lower portion of the city.

Too soon?

Sephiroth brushed a stray portion of his bangs back into its usual place. "Why were you wearing a lab coat?"

"Um…"

"Did you take that from Ardwynna?"

"I always wanted to try one on, and none of the med or science guys would let me."

"You did not have to…"

Genesis stood up gracefully and grinned. "I scared you, didn't I?"

"You startled me, that is all. Feel free to brag about that."

"I would never," the redhead said with dramatic indignation, "the very idea! Brag about sneaking up on a comrade in a sucrose-coma! Nah, I just wanted to see what you would do."

"I did not miss a meeting, did I?" Sephiroth's usually-perfect inner clock tended to get faulty after so much sugar.

"Nope, and you won't want to. Wait'll you hear PR's latest idea. Edwards is gonna get killed, I'm just not certain by who yet."

"…what?"

Genesis smirked. "You'll see."

To be continued.