Next day, aboard the Highwind…
Cloud walked briskly from the meeting room to the bridge, the effects of yesterday's fatigue having left him. When he reached the bridge he told the pilot to take them back to North Cave. The pilot confirmed and Cloud went to sit with Tifa. "Feeling better?" she asked cheerfully.
"Yes, thank you." He replied, then adding, "I seem to be thinking straighter today."
"It must have been awful having that 'thing' inside your head!" Tifa said sadly.
"Yes but now what is important is finding out how it got there!" he replied with a steely hint of determination. The two sat in perpetual silence for the rest of the journey.
"Here we are sir!" Called the pilot.
"Thanks, at ease!" Cloud called back.
Cloud and Tifa gathered their things and climbed the rope ladder down into the crater. As they followed the same path as before they both began to feel increasingly nervous. There was a strange magical humming coming from the dusty, crumbling walls and Cloud surveyed their surroundings uneasily. When they finally reached the core they were face to face with what seemed to be a huge mirror wall. They could see their reflections staring back, but in the background was, the two couldn't believe what they saw, but yes there in the mirror was an image of the Shin-ra mansion in Nibelheim!
Cloud cautiously reached forward to touch the mirror and on doing so it rippled like water. He turned to Tifa and said "Here goes nothing!" with that he jumped into the mirror. All cloud could see was white light and then he landed in the doorway to the mansion. This however was not the real Nibelheim, there was only the mansion surrounded by a Black Forest. All of a sudden Tifa landed on all fours beside him and, dusting herself down, followed him through the front door.
The inside of the mansion was the same as before and the two made their way to the darkest part of its inside-the basement.
Upon entering their nostrils were filled with the stench of chemicals and as they entered the main chamber (which used to be the library) a laboratory confronted them. "Wow! Sephiroth created all this?" exclaimed Tifa in awe.
"Look for something about that mind-probe thing." Said Cloud in return.
They practically turned over the laboratory and found some files on the probe itslef but nothing of the carrier. Cloud turned on the main computer and began to search the archives. He came across a file called the Android Experimentally Rendered Intelligence System. A.E.R.I.S. for short!
Cloud instantly opened the file and as he did so his face fell.
"No…no…it can't be!" he sobbed and left the terminal, running upstairs.
Tifa ran to the machine and scrolled through the file she read aloud.
"The Aeris project is running as scheduled. The android mind-probe carrier will be operational within a day. I know that my old enemy Cloud is back in Midgar and working for AVALANCHE. He is at this time dismounting a train to destroy the first Mako reactor. If he finds out about my return he will surely try and stop me. The Aeris is my defence against him. By sending it into the field I will use it to input a probe into Cloud's mind, forcing his mind to think he is in love with this 'girl'. Then she will lure him back here and I shall kill him…"
("hmm the next one is dated a month later?")
"The Aeris is suffering from an unexpected flaw. Although the probe was implanted in a small church in the sector 5 slums about 29 days ago the Aeris unit itself is starting to malfunction. Obviously using parts of a human brain for the CPU was a bad idea for it appears the unit believes itself to be in love with Cloud…"
("next ones dated the next day")
"The Aeris project has been terminated. The unit was to 'infatuated' with its target and would not have lead Cloud here. I had to put a stop to it before the Aeris revealed my plans so yesterday afternoon I surprised all those fools by ambushing them at the city of the ancients and destroying the Aeris unit myself. This does have a positive outcome however. It seems Cloud will be wrought with guilt and jealously and so when the time comes will be no match for me in combat. The time draws near…
…Where are you Cloud.
~~ Sephiroth ~~
Tifa came away from the monitor with tears streaming down her face. She could not believe they had all been deceived by and android flower girl. She felt especially bad for Cloud. In truth he had never loved Aeris, his mind just forced him to think so. She wiped the tears from her eyes and ran upstairs to join her comrade. She tried to speak but he shushed her. He began to sprint back up through the mirror and he cave and she just followed his lead. When they boarded the Highwind she heard Cloud say something to the pilot about the city of the ancients then she heard him mutter
'I have to be sure'
