FF8: The Saviours - Part Two
by Astarte
Alexandros Typhon scanned the reports his agents had intercepted. He grew increasingly angry as he read name after name on the police reports. Homicide, report after report, it was the same word repeated with aggravating consistency. Nineteen murders in one night. These people had been under surveillance for decades, standard ops for high level government scientists, their every move carefully watched. Despite all those watchful eyes, a team of assassins had somehow managed infiltrate the scientists' homes, kill them and leave without a single agent noticing. The only one still alive was Ceta Echid and that only because she was away on vacation. What kind of morons was this department recruiting anyway, He wondered in disbelief. His people were going to hear about this. Heads were going to fly.
Interestingly enough, decapitation had been the assassins' preferred technique and his people were still trying to identify the weapon that had been used. It had apparently not been a blade, they seemed to think that something like a metal claw had been used. Typhon shook his head disparagingly. Messy, very messy. Typhon wasn't fond of messy, it just didn't seem professional. He'd always prided himself on his professionalism.
Looking at the pictures, he wondered who on earth might have contracted the assassinations. These people weren't currently working on anything contentious, in fact, most of them were retired or teaching now. Aman Adrick was about the only person who seemed worthy of a contracted hit, considering that his hobby involved unethical bioexperiments and outright torture. The only thing that they had in common was the twenty year old Chimera Project.
Could it have been Esthar? No. He'd seen reports on this Laguna Loire, he wasn't the kind of man who'd have the guts to have people killed. He was one of those touchy-feely compassionate types that had no business running a store much less a country. Odine? Maybe, perhaps he still held a grudge after all this time. Scientists were generally a peculiar bunch and he was cold enough to be capable of murder. Caraway? That was a distinct possibility, after all, he'd contracted with SeeD to have Edea assassinated. Typhon smiled. The only reason he'd never warned Vinzer about the contract was because he'd wanted her dead too. How about SeeD itself? Very unlikely. A SeeD wouldn't save his own mother unless he had a rock solid contract to do it. On the other hand, SeeD had changed over the past two years. They had developed a tendency to behave more like peace keepers than sensible mercenary soldiers. Still, peace keepers didn't assassinate middle aged scientists as a rule.
"Why would someone want these people dead after all this time?" he murmured to himself. If only he could find a motive, he could find the contractor. It was a mystery and he didn't like mysteries.
"Perhaps I may be of assistance," Someone said behind him.
Startled, Typhon spun his chair around, wondering how someone had gotten behind him. As soon as he saw the owner of the voice, everything fell into place. He couldn't believe that he'd forgotten about her. The possibility that she could escape had never occurred to him. He'd been worried about Galbadia before, now he was terrified.
She stood there, a creature of utter beauty, completely unchanged by the passage of time. He'd never seen her in person, only in photographs sent to him with project updates. He tried to remember back to the progress reports. Not only did she have incredible speed and strength, she also had amazing recuperative abilities. Echid had proudly stated that decapitation was the only sure way of killing her. Looking at the unearthly being in front of him, he sincerely doubted that anyone could get close enough to do it. The only saving grace of the entire situation was that most of her abilities were blocked. His decision to keep her preserved for future research seemed like a horrendously bad decision now.
Decapitation? He wondered if that was why she seemed to gravitate to that method when killing her enemies. It was either a symptom of a perverse sense of humour or an instinctive preference for something she knew was one hundred percent effective. She didn't seem like the type to have a particularly well developed sense of humour, much too serious and single minded.
"No, you don't need to explain," he responded smoothly. She had killed them because they knew too much, they might have knowledge that could be used against her. They had presented a threat to her mission. Given similar circumstances, any of his agents would have done the same thing.
"You realize that eventually we'll kill you," he said with false calm. "Without those special powers of yours its only a matter of time before we hunt you down. Not even you can withstand an entire army and a hail of bullets." Even if it didn't kill her outright, it would incapacitate her enough so that they could get in close enough to finish the job.
She didn't seem perturbed, however, she actually smiled. It was the confidence of the smile that made shivers of dread ripple up and down his spine. She wasn't worried, he realized. She knew something. Then he remembered. The Black Hole Archives. Oh Damn, he thought. The only surviving copy of the project had been kept there.
Each file was labeled with a massively encrypted code, not a project name. There were literally millions of encrypted index codes and they weren't stored on computer. Computers could be broken into and programs could be uploaded into them, they were handwritten into log books. No, without the master codes to tell her which volumes to look at and what cipher to use, she would have had to read thousands of books, decoding the encryption which varied for each code. It had only been three days since the murders.
Sensing that he understood, she smiled at him with an oddly compassionate expression on her face. "I have the data I require. I can complete my mission now."
Sheer frustration made Typhon yell at her in anger. Still with this triple cursed mission of hers! Twenty years later and she was still obsessed with it. "Mission? Can't you get it through your damn skull that you don't have a mission!" His fists were clenched as he hollered. Outside, security officers heard the commotion. They could both hear soldiers come running towards Typhon's office.
She regarded him sternly. "I can only do what I was made to do," she said in an accusing voice. "You have no-one but yourself to blame." She raised one elegant slightly elongated hand and unsheathed long ebony claws. They looked remarkably like a hawk's talons: long, curved and very sharp.
Typhon only had a few seconds to hear the door burst open as his people rushed in. Those few seconds seemed like an eternity however as he reflected on the enormity of his mistake. He had thought that he knew what he was doing. He'd always believed in Galbadia's inherent superiority, that nothing done in its name could be wrong. Science as god, he'd assumed that mankind's knowledge had made him equal to Hyne, that the old beliefs were ignorant and self-limiting. Now he knew he was wrong.
He was glad that he had given the agent trailing Ceta orders to break cover and warn her of the danger she was in. Despite the harsh words they'd exchanged since their marriage began to collapse, he was still fond of her. He hoped that she would be alright, he owed her that much.
The last thing that he saw was Chimera's arm move with lightning speed. And then there was nothing.
*** *** ***
Zell had been about sneak a kiss from Iris when he was startled by Marine's voice booming over the speakers, requesting that he and Iris come to his office. They both looked at each other then Iris got to her feet and tugged on Zell's sleeve.
"C'mon Zell," she said, trying to pull him up. "The boss wants to see us." She looked vaguely confused as she watched Zell scramble to his feet. "I wonder what he wants. We're not on duty yet."
Zell shrugged. "I have no idea." Now he gave her arm a playful tug. "Lets go before he sends a search party out to find us."
Still smiling, they both jogged to the nearest elevator to go up to Martine's office. All the while they speculated on what he could want. Iris jokingly worried that Martine might have realized what a terrible mistake he'd made and wanted to send them both back to Balamb. Zell personally thought that he just wanted to activate them earlier than anticipated. Probably some new assignment had come up.
When they reached Martine's office, they were rather surprised to see all the people there. Cid was there and so was Squall and the gang. Martine's assistant was tending to an older woman who looked to be in her fifties or so. Her hair was gray and neatly coiled at the back of her head in a professional manner. Her hands were shaking so badly that her teacup rattled on the saucer. Zell took a deep breath and glanced at Iris, who returned his worried look. This couldn't be good.
Martine noticed his entrance and beckoned him in with a grave expression on his face. Martine sighed and sat down. "Good, you're here." He glanced at the woman whom he identified as one Doctor Ceta Echid, a genetics professor at Galbadia University. "Doctor Echid came to me claiming that we face a serious threat."
Zell wondered if it had something to do with the rash of murders in Deling the past week. Twenty people had been killed, including General Typhon. The papers claimed that they had all been assassinated but Zell had to wonder how many assassins would decapitate their targets. There were plenty of far less disgusting ways to do that, it sounded more like the kind of thing a serial killer would do.
Ceta Echid carefully set the tea down and stood up. Taking a deep breath, she put her hands behind her back and started speaking. Zell almost smiled. Quistis had almost that exact same tone to her voice when she was lecturing someone. He wondered if all instructors had that same vaguely-bossy lecturing voice. She became so absorbed in the subject that she seemed to forget whatever it was that had upset her so much earlier
As he began to pay attention to what Ceta was saying, however, his smile faded. It had begun thirty years ago when Vinzer Deling had grown concerned over Esthar's increasing hostility. He had come up with the idea of creating super soldiers in an attempt to match Esthar's advanced military strength. Unfortunately, Galbadia's scientific knowledge wasn't up to the task and three years later, the project was on the verge of being shut down. It was precisely at that point that their luck changed for the better. A Galbadian Destroyer located an isolated Esthar research platform and captured it. They had been doing research on the newly discovered Guardian Forces and Galbadia now had access to technology and research that was far in advance of its own.
This surprised Zell. She had to mean the Deep Sea Research Facility but it had never occurred to him that it had been created by Esthar. Of course since Odine had discovered GFs perhaps it shouldn't be so surprising after all. He caught himself and started listening to Ceta once again.
Intensive study of the Esthar research and equipment suddenly made Vinzer Deling's dream a possibility and they had begun working on the project in earnest. They planned to create a brand new life form, a creature that would be more than human, they wanted to create a chimera.
"Ummm, why would you want to make one of those ugly things?" Rinoa asked in a confused voice. She wasn't really very fond of the big monsters, having spent ages fighting them on the Island Closest to Heaven. Zell had to agree, he didn't find them terribly attractive either.
Ceta laughed in amusement. "No, not that kind of chimera. It's a term we use in biotech when referring to an organism that contains a mixture of cells from different species, kind of the way a real chimera looks like several different monsters rolled into one."
"Oh," Rinoa said in a bewildered voice. "Biology. I hated biology class," she confessed ruefully. He face was scrunched up in an expression of distaste. Squall gave Rinoa a mock glare then impatiently waved for Ceta to continue.
The first twelve real attempts at creating a chimeric lifeform failed miserably, Ceta remarked clinically. Some failed because of flaws in the process, others failed because they didn't really understand the technology behind Odine's maturation chambers. The thirteenth attempt was a stunning success and the being, tagged as Chimera 13, seemed perfect in every way.
And yet, she had peculiarities that the research team never really understood. Matured from fertilized egg to adulthood in just under a year, they had expected to have to teach her to walk, speak and read. They were not expecting her to emerge from the maturation chamber with those abilities already developed to near-adult levels. They were impressed by her incredible ability to absorb information simply by scanning pages of information. Mathematically, she could work out solutions to complex problems as fast as their confiscated Esthar computers.
"Why would that be, do you think?" Martine prodded curiously.
Ceta considered it for a long time. "We always assumed it was the result of the blending of different species within her. She didn't seem to inherit human thought processes. Actually, it made her much more valuable than if she had. Mass production would be much more efficient this way."
Zell didn't like what he was hearing. This kind of research just didn't sit right with him, it felt wrong. Here they were creating custom designed people without any concern as to the ethics of it. Worse, Ceta Echid was talking about her creation as though she had built a designer car instead of a person. A person with value as a mass market commodity. That thought alone upset Zell, the idea of people as merchandise. There was a word for that.
"What species exactly?" Cid interrupted with an edge to his voice. Zell was relieve to realize he wasn't the only one disturbed by Ceta's casual admission. What really bothered him was that Ceta seemed perfectly comfortable with the idea of a race of slaves.
"She's a combination of human and Guardian Force; Bahamut, Eden and a few others," was Ceta's calm response. Human and GF?! Was she insane, wondered Zell incredulously. Ceta continued with her story, either ignoring or simply unaware of the dismay on her audience's faces. She went on to explain that they had chosen to use GF tissue in an attempt to artificially create a sorceress' ability. They had then adapted Odine's technology in order to temporarily inhibit the chimera's abilities.
The fatal flaw in Chimera 13 didn't appear until one Doctor Aman Adrick wrested control of the project from her, she said. Adrick was a sadist. He was an amoral man who had a fascination with pain and didn't see any problem with vivisecting animal, or human, test subjects. He had laughed at criticism, countering that the ends justified the means. Everyone there had hated him but he got results, which was all that the government cared about. Adrick had decided that the chimera's peculiarities warranted more intensive investigation. Ceta could not, or would not, elaborate any further but Zell wasn't really anxious to hear details anyway. Even Zell could see where this was headed.
"After about three days of his 'experimentation', I demanded that Typhon transfer her to my authority," Ceta muttered in a low voice. Her eyes were closed as though she was seeing the events in her mind's eye. "Her injuries had healed almost instantly and we gave her several days of recovery time." Ceta face had a mildly bewildered expression on it, as if it hadn't really occurred to her that her creation might have been suffering psychological trauma. "We didn't see any behavioral changes." No, Zell thought cynically, you didn't really care enough to look. He was beginning to suspect that the only reason that Ceta had protested was because she was worried that her 'valuable' product might be damaged. He was really beginning to dislike this woman.
Ten days later, during a routine test, the chimera turned on her creators. A researcher had instructed her to perform a task designed to test her strength. She decapitated him, coolly and calmly, then proceeded to slaughter everyone in the facility, saying over and over that they were the enemy. A huge battle ensued and in the end the fighting somehow ended up on the bottom of the Deep Sea Deposit. Of the two hundred soldiers and researchers that had manned the research facility, only fifty or so were still alive by that point. The confrontation attracted the attention of the being Ultima Weapon but it just sat there watching the slaughter impassively.
"We begged it to help," Ceta said strain beginning to show on her face once more. "We promised it anything it wanted." She shook her head, a tinge of desperation in her voice. "In the end, it agreed on the condition we give it Eden. I forced the man who'd had it junctioned to give it up."
She explained that the Weapon used a crystalline substance native to the depths to imprison her. The crystal interacted with something in the GF part of her make up and had rendered her inert. The Weapon warned them that it would be unwise to just leave her in that state perpetually and that they should kill her. In the end, though, they couldn't bring themselves to do it and opted to simply seal the facility instead of waste a potentially valuable resource.
"Part of me was always worried about it," Ceta said, "Then one of Alex's spies warned me that all the surviving members of the research team had been killed. When he told me how, I knew she was free." She began wringing her hands nervously. "I was afraid that I was next."
Zell suddenly felt nauseous. They were responsible, they had unsealed the entire facility. They must also have been responsible somehow for freeing her from the crystal. And Ultima Weapon. Instead of the mindless monster he'd always assumed it to be, could it have been trying to keep its promise? Had they, in fact, killed something that was trying to help people? Zell felt pangs of guilt. He'd never given a second thought about killing the Weapon but now he didn't feel so proud of himself.
"What does it, I mean she, want?" Martine asked in a voice even graver than before. Whatever it was, it could not be good.
Ceta sighed, a wavery kind of sound. "Chimera thinks in very binary terms. If something is not good then it must be bad. If one person is a proven threat then all people must present a potential threat." She paused momentarily, perhaps reflecting back on her role in all this. "She was created with the dedication to protect Galbadia. She's now convinced that because Adrick was dangerous, all humans are dangerous. She has no concept of gray."
Martine's eyes widened as he realized the implications of what he was being told. "Are you telling me that she thinks all humans are a threat to Galbadia? That doesn't make sense." Any nation was simply a collection of people who shared the same philosophy and ideals. Take away the people and there was no nation. Galbadia existed only because of its citizens.
Ceta shrugged in resignation. "It does to her."
Zell gulped then asked, "How do we stop her?" He knew that this time the chimera had to die but he didn't really want to do it. Chimera was a victim herself and if she was running around killing people it was because that's what the scientists had designed her to do. Zell sighed, this was going to be even less fun than fighting Griever.
"Simple," was Ceta's response. "You have to incapacitate her and then behead her. It's the only sure way of killing her. She'll heal from virtually anything else." Ceta Echid sat down and put her face in her hands. Zell hoped that she at least had enough conscience left to feel guilty. More likely than not though, she was only worried about her own neck.
Martine's face was as disapproving as everyone else's. It seemed that everyone in the room shared Zell's dislike of the woman. "We need a physical description."
She nodded, her face still buried in her hands. "Alright." She said. She lifted her head, turning to face Martine. "One more thing. You'd better hope that she doesn't activate her abilities somehow. Considering the GFs we used in the process, I would have to assume it wouldn't be a good thing."
No kidding, though Zell sourly as he gave Iris a quick hug. She gave him a quick hug back as she listened to Martine, Cid and Squall formulate a plan of action. Zell promised himself that if anything happened to Iris or any of his friends, he'd have a nice long chat with the irresponsible Doctor Ceta Echid.
*** *** ***
While every available SeeD scoured the globe, looking for Chimera 13, they missed several interesting stories that made the local newspapers over the next several weeks. Had they noticed, they might have figured out what their target was planning.
In the Balamb Times, "The authorities are investigating the apparent theft of the town's only working ferry, 'Blizzard Queen'. The ferry, considered to be historically important by local scholars, had been stolen during the night. A police spokeswoman said that they are investigating the theft but doubt that they will be able to recover the stolen ferry, citing a shortage of manpower. The mayor has come under heavy fire for having recently slashed the police budget. The mayor, when asked to comment, accused the police union of deliberately impeding the investigation in order to make a political statement. The police union expressed outraged."
In the Dollet Herald, "Pharmex-Dallar Inc. has reported the theft of several drugs and scientific compounds. Of the items stolen, several are considered toxic, prompting authorities to issue a warning. Police did not cite specifics but indicated that they are positive that this was an inside job. Police admit that the motive for the crime is unknown, saying that none of the drugs had any street value and that potentially valuable drugs had been left behind. Pharmex officials would not disclose the specific drugs that had been stolen at the request of the police."
In the Winhill Daily News, "Winnifred's Emporium was robbed last night. Winnifred Bergher reported the theft of nearly a quarter of her food stock and some hunting accessories. Sheriff Bernhardt is asking that anyone with information on this crime step forward. As of now, there are no leads."
In the Deling Examiner, "Police issued a statement today indicating that a Center for Disease Control van, equipped for use as a mobile laboratory, was robbed while en route to an undisclosed location. Ten people, including the driver, were all murdered. The secrecy surrounding the vehicle and its destination led to speculation that this action might have been in response to the CDC's rumored support of General Caraway. A CDC official immediately denied the rumor, emphasizing his department's neutrality within the government structure. He speculated instead that Timber terrorist cells were more likely as candidates. Personally, this reporter has to doubt that a haphazard group of freedom fighters would be very interested in a mobile laboratory."
Unknown to all the victims involved, only one person was responsible for all the crimes. Chimera was discreetly gathering everything that she required to create the formula. The CDC mobile lab had been the most difficult. Transporting a fifteen ton truck filled with complex equipment had almost been beyond her ability. Fortunately she had been able to drive it quite a distance, unfortunately she wanted to transport it to the remote regions of Trabia. That was where the old ferry had come in handy. The problem was that it wasn't meant to transport vehicles, only people. It hadn't taken her very long to make enough modifications so that the CDC van could be loaded on. Most of her modifications consisted of ripping out entire sections of the ship, stripping it down to the deck. By the time she was finished, Chimera was sweaty, filthy, and grimy. It wasn't something she enjoyed much. As it was the van only barely fit into the small ship when she was done. She was satisfied though. She was well on her way to freeing all her inherent powers.
Chimera had abandoned her plan to locate her last target in favour of proceeding with her mission. After waiting for nearly a week, she had noted the arrival of another Garden, its blue coloration identifying it as Balamb Garden. The sight of the beautiful mobile base had led her to suspect that Dr. Echid knew that she was a target and had gone to SeeD for help. This now meant that SeeD was a direct threat to her mission. The enemy knew she existed and Echid had undoubtedly told them everything that she knew. As Chimera Project Director, she had known a great deal. Chimera decided that she had to place the highest priority on activating her abilities. Echid and SeeD would no longer be an issue, humanity would no longer be an issue.
She had shepherded the old boat partway to her destination when she heard a faint sound. It had been a low, nearly subsonic sound. What really disturbed her was that it sounded as though it had some from beneath the boat. Stopping the boat, she went down below to determine the source of the sound. As soon as she went below decks, the sound repeated, this time louder. It had a distinctly metallic sound, a sharp sound as though something had snapped. Alarmed, she was about to search for the source of the sound when she heard a horrendous springing sound and the then the sound of water. The sea was flooding into one of the small holds. She didn't even bother attempting to stop the leak, deciding that it was a futile gesture. Instead, she sealed off every door, even going so far as to bend the bulkheads to jam the doors shut. Her goal now was to isolate the leak for as long as possible so that she could safely make shore.
The old boat was simply no longer capable of withstanding a long voyage and repairing it was not in her power. Obviously, the ferry was filled with stress fractures and ancient rivets were beginning to fail. Moving swiftly, she returned to the controls guiding the old ferry to the nearest shore. Her sensitive hearing detected the sound as more rivets failed. The pressure of the water inside the hold must have caused more seams to spring leaks. She was unconcerned however. She was very close to land now.
She made land on the northern side of Balamb, conveniently shielded from the only population center on the island by a mountain range. Chimera unloaded the ferry as the old boat made metallic groaning noises, protesting all the water that had filled its insides. Once everything was safe, she piloted the ferry back to deeper water. Diving beneath the boat, she ripped away sheets of metal near the back, allowing even more water to rush. As the back of the ferry filled with water, it tipped upwards then sank silently into the sea. No one would easily find the ferry.
She hid the vehicle in a secluded area and tried to camouflage it as best as she could. She was not happy about being stranded on Balamb but didn't see much choice about the matter. It was a small island nation and remaining hidden for long would be difficult. She also did not like her proximity to Balamb Garden's preferred location of operation. Still, she would make due, she was nothing if not flexible. She had prepared for just such an eventuality which is why she'd stolen a hunter's camouflage net. It now hid the white CDC van from view. Testing it from the air, she was satisfied that the vehicle was well hidden.
The mobile laboratory, despite being intended for use in isolating pathogens was perfect for creating the formula she needed. It was sterile and had all the equipment necessary to create chemical compounds. She spent days carefully working from memory, combining chemicals in a difficult and time consuming process. Despite her planning, she nearly lost the lab several days into the procedure.
A huge male T-Rexaur, bright red, had descended on the concealed lab, detecting with his excellent sense of smell what he could not see. It was at the height of the mating season and this male was feeling particularly aggressive. He had spent a good part of the morning chasing anything that moved, attacking anything that was out of place. The mobile lab was distinctly new. Roaring at what he perceived to be an intruder, he head-butted the mobile lab. Inside, Chimera nearly lost all her work as the lab was violently shaken.
Opening the door, she saw the angry reptile and jumped out. Noticing her, the T-Rexaur immediately charged her, bearing down on her with remarkable speed. She leapt over his head and skipped down his back. He swung about, roaring in fury at the tiny creature who taunted him. Carefully dancing out of reach of his sharp teeth, Chimera lead him away from the mobile laboratory. The frustrated animal made a piercing shriek as he tried to bite Chimera over and over again with little success. Sometimes she would hover in the air, other times she would jump into a tree, sometimes just running over the ground, always just fast enough to infuriate him. Stopping at a distance she judged safe, Chimera waited for the animal to attack. Bearing down on her with a triumphant bugle, he swung around with lightning speed, intending to strike her with his heavy tail.
As fast as he was, she was faster. She grabbed his tail and used his own momentum to throw him into a tree trunk. The T-Rexaur stumbled to his feet, his rigid face unable to express his surprise. Shaking his head, he got his bearings, leapt around and charged her, again trying to hit her with his tail. Again he went flying. Now he just ran at her, this time intending to bite his small adversary in two. Just as he bore down on her, Chimera leapt into the air and came down directly on his heavily armoured skull, driving his head into the ground.
Standing on the ground in front of him, Chimera gave him an amused little smile. "Do you wish to continue?" she asked, not expecting an answer. The T-Rexaur scrambled to his feet. He charged her one more time but stopped short and snapped at her. With a strange chirping noise, he turned around and ran away into the forest. She did not see him again.
Glad that she hadn't been forced to kill the animal, she returned to her work. After several days, the formula was completed. She filled a syringe and held it up to the light, carefully removing any air bubbles. The fluid inside was a milky blue colour, that caught the light rather attractively. She regarded the syringe for a long time, lost in thought.
It was as she stared at the syringe that she realized she was reluctant to actually use it. She scolded herself, annoyed. If she used it and successfully activated all her powers, she would be able to complete her mission. Finally, she would ensure Galbadia's, no the world's, safety. She loved them far too much to turn her back on her mission now.
Typhon's words bothered her, though. She had no mission, he'd yelled in fury not long before she'd killed him. How could he say that, she wondered. She was doing what his people had made her to do. Was it her fault that they changed their mind or that she wasn't what they'd intended to create? Was it her doing that they were the greatest threat to the nation they had created her to protect? Their inability to see the obvious conclusion was one of their greatest crimes, so self absorbed and arrogant that they had been blind to the truth. It was not just the people in Esthar that were a serious threat, it was all of them. It made her uncomfortable though, the idea that she might be wrong, somewhere, somehow.
She was doing what she was supposed to do: protect, guard, defend. She was only trying to guarantee her mission's success. Eliminating mankind was the only possible way of doing it. Mankind was as great a threat as any her creators had envisioned. Mankind hurt each other, they hurt the world they lived on, they were greedy, selfish, dangerous. They thought nothing of polluting their environment, destroying whole ecosystems, all in the name of insignificant pieces of paper and metal they called money.
And yet, not all humans were dangerous. The ones in the Garden had been nice. Zell Dincht had been helpful, even eager to help her. She had felt comfortable with him, a sensation she was unused to. She had never felt comfortable with her creators, nor they with her. With the SeeD, though, she had felt as though she belonged there. Still, SeeD were trained to kill, and to do it for money, that meant that they were dangerous as well. The truth was that all humans, even appealing ones like Zell Dincht, had the capacity to be greedy, to become dangerous, to be like her creators.
Chimera jammed the syringe into her thigh, injecting herself with the formula. She would rid the world of anyone who might become like her creators, her enemies, the enemy. She would save the world from them all.
*** *** ***
Zell sat in the huge briefing center. Everyone was there, including his old teammates from Balamb and Headmaster Cid. They were all listening to Martine tell them that things had gone from bad to worse. The leaders of both Galbadian factions had been brought to Galbadia Garden in hopes of convincing them of the seriousness of the entire situation. Richard Caraway was currently sitting at one end of the room while Typhon's replacement, one Talos Natok, was glaring at him from the other end. The murder of Alexandros Typhon had made tensions so high that Chimera's threat was dwindling in importance. Even worse, neither man really believed that she existed. Only SeeD seemed to be taking Dr. Ceta Echid seriously.
The problem was that each man was convinced that the other had had Typhon killed, they wouldn't even consider the idea that a super soldier had somehow bypassed every level of security without being detected and then killed the head of Special Forces. No, Natok was convinced that Caraway had ordered Typhon killed and Caraway was certain that Natok had killed his former superior in order to further his own career.
Ceta Echid had patiently explained the project to them but both men were convinced that after such a long time, Chimera 13 must be dead. Natok was convinced that all the murders, including those of the scientists, were all assassinations commissioned by Caraway. Caraway, in turn, sneered and accused Natok of the same thing. The only thing that the two men could agree on was that they hated each other and that they were unhappy with SeeD.
Galbadia Garden had become mobile. Deling City was being orbited by a gargantuan crimson behemoth. One Deling reporter described it as looking like an angel of death and it was, having been fully armed by Esthar's advanced technology. Galbadia's military problems had a tendency to spread if given the opportunity. No one, not SeeD, not any of the other nations of the world, wanted to see a civil war start in Galbadia. The Garden was there to see that it didn't. It was far better for Caraway and Natok to be angry with SeeD instead of trying to kill each other.
Glancing towards Rinoa, Zell was somewhat amused to see the young sorceress with a furious expression on her face. Her father's stubborn denial of the facts was getting on her nerves and her patience was getting thin. Squall was sitting beside her with his trademark "I'm surrounded by morons" expression. Zell had to agree, the two generals were so determined to hate each other that they couldn't admit that there were more important things to worry about. Incredibly powerful, part-Guardian super soldiers that were bent on destroying all human life would be high on his priority list but then Zell remembered Seifer Almasy. He'd been a man blinded by hate too and Zell knew full well how he'd felt about Seifer.
If Seifer and him had been in the same position as Caraway and Natok, would he be able to set aside his anger and cooperate with a hated enemy to defeat a common threat? He liked to think that he could endure that arrogant creep long enough to do the job, but on the other hand, maybe he couldn't after all.
The large screen above Martine's head displayed a beautifully sketched drawing of a young woman. Zell was torn between being impressed by the sheer talent of the artist and feelings of distress at the subject. The image was of a lovely woman with long technicolour hair and impossibly green eyes. It still bothered him that the lovely woman on the screen was Chimera 13. It was also Kim from the library.
The fact that Chimera had infiltrated Galbadia Garden was being suppressed but Zell wished that he could talk about it. He understood her coldness now and even sympathized with her, he didn't always think much of people either. What really bothered him about the whole thing was that he was quite likely one of only a handful of people who'd met Chimera and lived. It was a rather disturbing thought. Once he'd realized who Kim really was, he'd been haunted by visions of seeing his head wedged into a bookcase, eyes wide and staring helplessly at some calculus textbook. It had been days before he was able to shake the morbid thought.
Zell couldn't tear his eyes from the drawing. As excellent as it was, it couldn't do her justice. No drawing could capture that elusive presence that she had. If there was any angel of death roaming the world, it's name was Chimera. Poor kid, he thought to himself, she didn't even get a real name, just a sequence number on a petri dish.
"This is enough, I'm not going to listen to this… this… fantasy of yours!" Natok suddenly yelled, thrusting up from his seat. His face was ruddy with anger. "Caraway killed them, all of them, not some illusionary woman." His finger was pointed at Caraway accusingly. "He even killed the CDC people."
Ceta Echid looked baffled. "CDC people?" she asked curiously. Her self-imposed isolation in Galbadia Garden had prevented her from keeping track of current events.
Natok glared at her, refusing to speak. Caraway glanced at her with an annoyed expression on his face. "A CDC mobile laboratory was stolen and the crew was killed."
For some reason the news alarmed Ceta Echid. Leaning towards him, she grabbed his arm. "How were they killed, Richard?" Her voice had become thin with fear.
Now Caraway became confused. "Decapitation," he answered, vaguely confused. He'd not taken her seriously since the day she had accepted Alexandros' marriage proposal. Not even the divorce, years later, had improved his opinion of her much. Her frightened expression, however, worried him. It wasn't typical of her, she'd always been coolly professional.
Her face turned white and she seemed to shrivel even as people watched. Even Natok noticed her obvious distress. "What is it, Doctor?" he asked, suddenly less sure of himself.
Ceta Echid moaned, a small deathly sound. "She knows. She knows. Oh Goddess, how did she find out?" She buried her face in her hands. "Hyne, what have I done?" She put her head and, just like a small child, covered her head with her arms. She wouldn't respond to anyone's questions.
Decapitation certainly sounded like something Chimera would do, Zell thought. Everyone she had killed had quite literally lost their heads. But why would she be interested in a mobile lab, he wondered. Suddenly it clicked. Hadn't Ceta said that Chimera's abilities had been temporarily blocked? That meant that she was trying to undo what Ceta's people had done, she was trying to release all her powers. He remembered all the books that she had been studying in Galbadia's library. History to know what had happened in the last twenty years, science and medicine to learn how to become the lethal killing machine she had been meant to be. Zell also remembered the GFs that they had found in the Deep Sea Research Center: Bahamut and Eden.
"Oh shit!" he exclaimed before he realized that he'd said anything. Most people just looked at him in annoyance but his circle of friends seemed concerned by his outburst, wondering what it was that had upset him. Zell ignored the older men in the room and spoke directly to his friends.
"Kim's using that lab to activate her GF powers." As soon as he'd said it he realized that he had used the wrong name, the name that Chimera had given him in the library. Zell winced hoping that no-one would think anything of it. Saying Kim sounded like he knew her.
Caraway leaned forward, zeroing in on the young SeeD's slip of the tongue. "Kim? Why do you call her Kim and not Chimera?"
Zell tried to think of something to say to cover up his mistake but already knew that he had screwed up. He stammered an excuse but Martine gave Zell a sour look and interrupted.
"Chimera is real, gentlemen. She was able to infiltrate Garden and disguise herself as a student. She called herself Kim at that time." Martine pointed up towards the image of Chimera as he continued to speak. "Eyewitness reports positively identified this woman as Kim." Pausing momentarily, he looked both generals in the eye. "Now it seems that she is trying to gain the powers of a GF without the implied restraints."
Caraway had an annoyed expression on his face. "Why didn't you just tell us that you had actual confirmation of her existence instead of all this sidestepping?" He sighed and tapped his fingers on the conference table. "Typhon always was an idiot," Caraway grumbled, "who else would think up an idea as badly thought out as that." Turning to his rival, he folded his arms over his chest. "Talos, we're going to have to do something about this. This Chimera is apparently real." He smiled grimly. "We can kill each other later."
Natok nodded, apparently subdued by Martine's admission. He nodded at Caraway's comment absently. Looking up, he said that they would set aside their differences for now. He then demanded to be returned to Deling City. Martine nodded but insisted that Galbadia Garden would remain exactly where it was. Both Caraway and Natok reluctantly agreed.
When they had left, Martine turned his attention to the SeeDs present. "Do you think Odine would be helpful against her?" he asked Squall.
Squall just shrugged. "Probably."
Iris nodded her agreement. "He discovered GFs so he likely knows the most about them." Pointing towards the still distraught Ceta Echid, she said, "Echid used Esthar technology to create Chimera. Odine has got to know more about that kind of thing than she does. Esthar's ages ahead of us technologically."
Cid spoke up for the first time. "Iris is right. If anyone can help us its Esthar. President Loire seems rather fond of the lot of you," he remarked smiling, prompting Squall to roll his eyes. Squall didn't seem thrilled with the idea of returning to Esthar. Zell knew that Squall didn't have the highest opinion of Laguna but Zell rather liked him. "I think that Squall, Irvine, Selphie, Zell, Iris, and Quistis should go to Esthar on the Ragnorok."
Rinoa looked outraged. "Hey, what about me? I'm not leaving Squall and that's that!" She grabbed Squall's arm and hung onto it, provoking an amused grin from the object of her attentions.
Both Cid and Martine looked uncomfortable with the idea. Martine coughed and smiled apologetically. "Sorceress Rinoa, it is SeeD's duty to protect you. Its safest for you here or at Balamb Garden. We'd rather you didn't put yourself in jeopardy."
Rinoa shook her finger at them, annoyed. "No no no no no. We're getting married in seven months and I'm not taking any chances." She smiled at Squall fondly. "What if he gets captured or something? If I'm not there, I can't rescue him."
From behind them, Irvine laughed softly. "Let her come," he advised, his voice filled with amusement. "or you might end up being pushed down a flight of stairs." Cid and Martine looked somewhat confused but the others just laughed, remembering that Rinoa had done exactly that to Irvine during their escape from the D-District prison.
Cid raised his hands in defeat. "Alright, alright," he said by way of surrender. "Just make sure you all come back in one piece."
Selphie was hopping up and down in excitement. "Whoohoo! I can't wait to see Sir Laguna again." She grabbed Irvine's sleeve and began pulling on it. "C'mon, lets go."
"Just don't make any detours through hurricanes this time, Sefie," Irvine said with a sigh as he followed her out the door.
Selphie stuck her tongue out at him. "You just don't know how to have fun, that's all."
Zell was amused by the whole thing but in the back of his mind, something was nagging at him. If only he could figure out what it was. Maybe later he could talk to Squall. It probably was nothing. He was startled out of his reverie by Iris' voice, calling him. With a smile, he ran after them. Yeah, he thought, it was probably nothing.
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