Chapter 3
The Next Day
Sephiroth stood silently in front of President Shinra's desk, waiting to be acknowledged. Thin gray trails of cigar smoke curled around Shinra's head, and the smell of it made Sephiroth cough. He wondered how the numerous plants in the office had been able to survive when the air was so contaminated.
"Ah, it's the great Sephiroth. I already heard about the fight with Wutai, good job with that. We've already sent in a survey team to begin construction of the Mako reactor on that mountain. However, I still need loss figures", coughed Shinra.
"Squadron A, 4000 Soldiers, 567 down, 662 wounded. Squadron B, 4000 Soldiers, 531 down, 698 wounded. Squadron C, 4000 Soldiers, Squadron D, 4000 Soldiers, 445 down, 603 wounded, Squadron E, 4000 Soldiers, 515 down, 678 wounded", Sephiroth replied in monotone.
"And the officers?" pressed Shinra, cigar smoke billowing from his mouth and nose.
"Admiral Martino Valdez was maimed. Both his legs had to be amputated. I had him honorably discharged from service. Grand Admiral Laeryn Chase was also wounded....rather severely...but she will be out of the hospital in four days", Sephiroth continued, lapsing out of monotone.
President Shinra nodded. "Very well. Find a replacement for Valdez. I need good officers to keep my army running. Good thing Chase lived, she's a valuable asset to my company."
Sephiroth rose and turned to leave, slightly disgusted at President Shinra. The President held the lives of others in even lower regard than he did. And Laeryn was not just a valuable asset to his company...
"Sephiroth? Don't leave so soon, I don't recall dismissing you", snapped the President.
Sephiroth stopped, but didn't turn around.
"Return to your quarters. Professor Hojo will be coming to fetch you in one hour. Don't start pestering me about what he wants with you, I have no idea", Shinra waited a moment longer, just to spite Sephiroth, "Alright, you are dismissed."
Sephiroth stormed out of the office. He hated President Shinra almost as much as he hated Hojo.
Back in his room, Sephiroth paced mindlessly. His room resembled a hospital room more than any type of living quarters. Everything in it was white. The walls, the bed linens, the floor, the bathroom fixtures, the lights in the ceiling. The sterile, unnatural whiteness of it nearly drove him mad. It hadn't bothered him as much when he was a child, but as he grew older it began to grate on his nerves more and more. Fortunately he hardly ever spent time there, since he was usually away on missions for Soldier.
Sephiroth closed his eyes to drown out the painful white. He took a deep breath and fought down a sense of impending dread. Throughout Sephiroth's life, he had learned to fear nothing, because there was nothing he could not destroy or subdue. Except for Hojo. Fear of Hojo had been with Sephiroth his entire life. A sigh escaped Sephiroth's lips as he continued pacing, waiting for his tormenter.
* * *
Shinra headquarters was surrounded by a series of high-rise apartment building in which the twenty thousand Shinra Soldiers resided during peace time. The apartments were nothing fancy, furnished with only the barest of necessities. Zack Page sat on the on a dirty brown couch in one such apartment, staring blankly at the flickering images on a thirty inch TV screen. Cody Salo and Galen Rance sat on either side of him. Zack angrily threw down the remote.
"How the hell can they have the same thing on every news station for four straight days?" yelled Zack. It was true; the news stations had talked about nothing but the victory over Wutai for the past few days. Cody and Galen shrugged, and continued watching. Zack settled down again after a moment, sinking into the overstuffed cushions of his couch. The fate of Martino had weighed heavily on all their minds. Martino had been honorably discharged, and had gone back to live with his family in Kalm.
Cody and Galen had not recovered either. Nightmares plagued both their dreams, images of flowing blood and burning trees and pieces of human flesh made airborne by explosions danced through their heads. And they recalled with agonizing clarity the site of Martino as they lifted his unconscious form into the ambulance, his legs completely shattered. Cody leaned forward and buried his face in his hands.
"I...I don't know if I can do this anymore", he announced to his companions, "After what happen to Martino...after what I've done..." His voice broke off. Galen was silent, but from the agonized look on his face it was clear that his thoughts were similar to Cody's.
Zack felt it, too. The images of Martino's shredded legs and Laeryn's gruesome back injury were fresh in his mind. He forced them away, though, and didn't react.
"Guys, you can't just give up like this. Look how far you've come", Zack pleaded, not wanting the other two Admirals to leave him. Cody, Galen and Martino were his best friends.
"Zack, I need to go. I don't feel well", Galen finally said as he headed for the door. Cody followed him without a word. Zack sighed heavily and leaned his head back.
He nearly jumped through the roof a few minutes later when a timid-sounding knock reached his ears. He answered the door, and saw a familiar short blonde boy standing there.
"God Zack, you look like hell", said the smaller boy, noticing the deep circles under Zack's eyes, his even-more-unkempt-than-usual hair, and the ratty white undershirt and boxers he was wearing.
"Nice to see you too, Cloud. What's up?" Zack answered with a faint smile. Cloud shrugged.
"I was bored, so I thought I'd come visit."
"Fair enough." Zack gestured for Cloud to come in.
Cloud sprawled over the couch, and instantly started watching TV. Suddenly he say bolt upright, his round blue eyes wide.
"Zack, look! It's Sephiroth!" he exclaimed. The news showed a clip of Sephiroth hurrying toward Shinra Headquarters on some errand. It appeared to be completely unrelated to the war with Wutai, but Cloud didn't seem to care.
"Yeah, so what? The news is basically "the Sephiroth show". He's all they ever talk about", called Zack from the kitchen. He appeared moments later, a can in his hand.
"But it's Sephiroth! He's the greatest warrior that ever lived. The whole reason I joined the army was so I could be like him", babbled Cloud.
Zack rolled his eyes, and took a swig of soda. Cloud was a good kid, and Zack didn't mind hanging out with him, but Cloud's bubbly, over-enthusiastic attitude could be very irritating at times. And what was up with his weird fixation with Sephiroth, anyways? Zack figured that it was probably better he didn't know.
The news paused for a commercial break, and Cloud slumped with slight disappointment.
"So Cloud, you're from Nibelheim, right? You gonna go back there? I hear we all get some leave following the victory celebration", asked Zack, to get Cloud to focus on something other than the TV.
Cloud looked uneasy all of a sudden. "Uh, well, yeah, prob'ly. I mean yeah, my family's there, and Tifa's there..." he trailed off.
"Tifa, huh? 'zat your girlfriend?" chuckled Zack, wiggling his eyebrows.
"Well no not really, but I'd like her to be", sighed Cloud.
"Ah, I know how that is. I've got a girlfriend now, y'know. And I feel kinda bad saying this, but having a girlfriend isn't all it's cracked up to be. Maybe I just haven't found the right girl," he snorted derisively, "Obviously she's not the right girl, our relationship's totally falling apart."
"Sorry to hear that," Cloud said softly. The commercial break ended and his attention began to wander toward the news program again. He looked up suddenly and asked, "Zack, you're not gonna quit Soldier, are you?"
"No, I have intention of doing that. Why?"
"Well because I heard that Galen and Cody are gonna. And I was kinda hoping you wouldn't, because you're cool and all," answered Cloud.
Zack smiled in spite of himself at being judged "cool and all" by a private. "Well, I'm glad to hear you're staying, too." He didn't say anything about Cody and Galen.
"Course I'm staying! I wanna get promoted, so maybe someday I'll be able to work alongside Sephiroth. Y'know, you really are lucky that way, Zack," said Cloud, the uneasiness leaving him as he returned to his usually bubbly self.
Zack couldn't contain the question any longer. "Dude, what is with your obsession with Sephiroth?"
Cloud shrugged. "I dunno. I guess...I guess I just thought that maybe if I was as strong and good-looking as him I'd be able to impress Tifa. I guess he's sorta like a role model to me, something to aspire to." He looked slightly crestfallen again.
"That makes sense. I think every Soldier looks up to Sephiroth to some extent", replied Zack.
Cloud watched the end of the news program, and credits began to roll across the screen. He stood and stretched, shaking chunks of wild blond hair out of his face.
"It was nice seein' ya again, Zack. But I'm gonna head back to my place and let my parents know I'm gonna stop by and see 'em in a few days," announced the younger boy.
"No problem Cloud, come by any time. Later."
Zack closed the door behind Cloud, and turned off the television. He was glad to have met Cloud, since it looked like he would be Zack's only real friend in the army now.
* * *
A little, stringy-looking man eyed the white door in front of him, and curled his thin lips into a smile. A small bony hand lifted to rap on the door.
"Sephiroth?" called his nasally, soft voice, "It's time. Come on now."
The door opened, and Sephiroth stepped into the hallway, his head lowered so that his long bangs hid his face from view.
"Yes, Hojo", he replied in scarcely more than a whisper.
"Don't look so glum, Sephiroth. You know that what I do is for your own good", answered Hojo.
Even as he was speaking, Sephiroth felt a slight prick on the side of his neck. Hojo had always managed to sedate him when he was least expecting it. This was something Hojo had learned early on; he knew Sephiroth disliked him, and tended to react violently to his presence. Sephiroth's state of drugged lethargy amused Hojo to no end. Sephiroth's glowing eyes would dim and half-close, and his head would loll to the side. He ceased to be the great Sephiroth, and became Hojo's experiment and plaything.
Sephiroth felt the sedative beginning to affect him almost immediately. His feet began to feel heavier and heavier as he made the short walk across the hallway to Hojo's laboratory. His vision began to blur, and he stumbled several times. Hojo half-dragged Sephiroth into the laboratory, and with some difficulty removed his trench coat and arranged his heavy form on a metal table. Even though the sedatives were working, Hojo was paranoid and strapped Sephiroth's limbs to the table.
Hojo's beady black eyes surveyed the room through thick glasses, making sure everything was ready. Four long needles stood on a nearby countertop, each attached to a long tube filled with glowing green liquid. Hojo's gaze wandered to Sephiroth himself, Hojo's most prized experiment. Ever since he became Shinra's top scientist, Hojo had dreamed of creating a perfect creature, with all the power and wisdom of the Ancients, or Cetra, as they were called scientifically. A being so strong that none would dare to oppose him- or Shinra.
Lucky for Hojo, a team of archaeologists had discovered a strange being frozen in a geological stratum, and found the being to be about two thousand years old. Since the Ancients had inhabited the Planet at about that time, the mysterious being had to be one of that heavenly race. The Cetra had suddenly become extinct about two thousand years ago, and no one knew why. Ever since reading about the Cetra, Hojo had wanted to revive them for Shinra's own purposes. An army of Cetra warriors would be unstoppable.
After extracting the creature from the geological stratum, Hojo began removing cells from it. He had dubbed the creature Jenovah, because it seemed almost godlike to him, offering him an opportunity he had waited for his entire life. The cells he removed would be mixed with pure Mako energy and injected into a human fetus, which would then be born with extraordinary strength and intelligence. He decided to call the unborn child the Sephiroth, which meant 'tree of life'. The tree of life represented the holy path to God, which Hojo figured he was walking by undertaking such a project.
Hojo was pleased indeed with how Sephiroth had turned out. Sephiroth was the greatest Soldier to ever have lived. His eyes wandered over Sephiroth's prone form. Sephiroth's chest was heaving from the drug in his system, and his flawless, fair skin was stretched taut over an impressive musculature. Sephiroth was already powerful, he had been born exceptionally so, but Hojo believed that he could become greater. So he had continued the injections of Mako and cells even after Sephiroth's birth, and throughout his entire life.
Hojo tucked a piece of stringy dark brown hair behind his ear and reached for one of the needles. He held the needle to the side of Sephiroth's neck and grinned down at him, reveling in the look of fear on Sephiroth's face as he eyed the four inch long needle. Beads of sweat began to gather on Sephiroth's forehead, and Hojo slid the needle into a vein in Sephiroth's neck. Sephiroth's face contorted in pain and he writhed in his bonds, almost crying out.
"Now Sephiroth, don't be so upset about this. We've had this talk many times before, haven't we? This is the whole reason you were created, you know. For me to experiment on you like this, so I can make you into a creature almost godlike in nature. But don't worry, Sephiroth. You won't be the only one. I've made several others, though none have turned out quite as splendid as you. In fact, they were failures, and I turned them loose. You're not a failure, Sephiroth. You're my prized possession." As he spoke, Hojo inserted another needle into Sephiroth's neck, and the other two into his wrists. Tears of pain and humiliation began to gather in Sephiroth's eyes, sticking in long silver lashes.
"You know, Sephiroth, you really should be grateful for all that I've done for you. If hadn't made you, you wouldn't even exist! And if you did, you'd be just another person crawling over this planet. But no. Your feeling that you are somehow different from everyone else is correct. You always have been and always will be. That's why you must not stoop to their level," Hojo went on.
The sedative was beginning to wear off, and Sephiroth could fully understand what Hojo was saying to him.
"Ah, you look a bit more awake now, so I'll guess I'll get to the heart of the matter. You'll notice how I said you must not interact with people, other than myself, of course. I can't let my experiment be ruined because of you bringing other people into this," Hojo sounded quite irritated.
Sephiroth could feel the unnatural liquid surging through his bloodstream, making it feel as if every vein in his body were being cut apart.
"I hear you're obligated to attend the victory celebration in four days. And at this celebration you must sit at a table with all the Admirals from your army- and the Grand Admiral," Hojo's lips immediately formed into a sneer. "The Grand Admiral. She was the one who saved from that shrapnel, right? It was good that she saved you- I can't have my experiments getting damaged. Too bad she lived, though. She appears to be somewhat distracting." Hojo's face started turning purple with anger, and he slapped Sephiroth across the face. "Have I taught you nothing, Sephiroth?! How long must I continue to drive this weakness from you?! I'll not allow my experiment to be interfered with in this way! If you can't control yourself, or if you're simply too stupid to understand what I've been telling you for the past twenty-five years, I'll simply remove the distraction if I notice it anymore. Maybe if Ms. Grand Admiral were a Cetra, I'd allow it. But guess what, she's not. She's nothing. And right now, she is ruining my experiment. Don't let this continue, Sephiroth. Speaking of which, I hear Grand Admiral's in the hospital now, isn't she? Probably not very capable of defending herself?" Hojo leaned his pasty features close to Sephiroth's face and glared at him, making sure that his unwilling test subject got the point.
Sephiroth had fully regained his awareness, and could not remember a time he had hated Hojo more than at that moment. He tried to move, but found that thick nylon bonds restrained his limbs. His green eyes snapped fully open, and he began to strain against the bonds. Hojo watched for a moment, almost certain that Sephiroth would be unable to escape. But when he heard the sound of the nylon ripping, he lunged for another syringe full of sedative and jammed it into Sephiroth's neck. It was a huge dose, and Sephiroth went limp immediately. Hojo felt slightly relieved that Sephiroth was unconscious.
Several hours later, Sephiroth awoke on the floor of his chamber, where he been unceremoniously deposited when Hojo had finished with him. Sephiroth's head pounded and there were stinging red spots on his wrists and the sides of his neck. The last thing he remembered was Hojo threatening Laeryn, which infuriated him to the point where he was nearly able to break free. Cautiously, Sephiroth stood up, leaning heavily on the wall, his head spinning. As much as he hated to admit it, Hojo was right. Laeryn was mostly helpless now, having to move slowly and carefully, lest her back tear open again. Sephiroth gritted his teeth. If Hojo stooped so low as to kill Laeryn while she was in the hospital, Sephiroth would see that he died a death more painful than any of his torturous "experiments".
***Sister Ray's Notes***
More Sephy-torturing. Don't worry, I'll make it up to him in the next few chapters ^_^ Hojo is such an evil little slime-ball! I know this sounds retarded but as I was writing him I was hating him more and more. I mean, he's bad enough in the game, but I made him REALLY nasty! I can hardly wait to kill him off. hehehe
The Next Day
Sephiroth stood silently in front of President Shinra's desk, waiting to be acknowledged. Thin gray trails of cigar smoke curled around Shinra's head, and the smell of it made Sephiroth cough. He wondered how the numerous plants in the office had been able to survive when the air was so contaminated.
"Ah, it's the great Sephiroth. I already heard about the fight with Wutai, good job with that. We've already sent in a survey team to begin construction of the Mako reactor on that mountain. However, I still need loss figures", coughed Shinra.
"Squadron A, 4000 Soldiers, 567 down, 662 wounded. Squadron B, 4000 Soldiers, 531 down, 698 wounded. Squadron C, 4000 Soldiers, Squadron D, 4000 Soldiers, 445 down, 603 wounded, Squadron E, 4000 Soldiers, 515 down, 678 wounded", Sephiroth replied in monotone.
"And the officers?" pressed Shinra, cigar smoke billowing from his mouth and nose.
"Admiral Martino Valdez was maimed. Both his legs had to be amputated. I had him honorably discharged from service. Grand Admiral Laeryn Chase was also wounded....rather severely...but she will be out of the hospital in four days", Sephiroth continued, lapsing out of monotone.
President Shinra nodded. "Very well. Find a replacement for Valdez. I need good officers to keep my army running. Good thing Chase lived, she's a valuable asset to my company."
Sephiroth rose and turned to leave, slightly disgusted at President Shinra. The President held the lives of others in even lower regard than he did. And Laeryn was not just a valuable asset to his company...
"Sephiroth? Don't leave so soon, I don't recall dismissing you", snapped the President.
Sephiroth stopped, but didn't turn around.
"Return to your quarters. Professor Hojo will be coming to fetch you in one hour. Don't start pestering me about what he wants with you, I have no idea", Shinra waited a moment longer, just to spite Sephiroth, "Alright, you are dismissed."
Sephiroth stormed out of the office. He hated President Shinra almost as much as he hated Hojo.
Back in his room, Sephiroth paced mindlessly. His room resembled a hospital room more than any type of living quarters. Everything in it was white. The walls, the bed linens, the floor, the bathroom fixtures, the lights in the ceiling. The sterile, unnatural whiteness of it nearly drove him mad. It hadn't bothered him as much when he was a child, but as he grew older it began to grate on his nerves more and more. Fortunately he hardly ever spent time there, since he was usually away on missions for Soldier.
Sephiroth closed his eyes to drown out the painful white. He took a deep breath and fought down a sense of impending dread. Throughout Sephiroth's life, he had learned to fear nothing, because there was nothing he could not destroy or subdue. Except for Hojo. Fear of Hojo had been with Sephiroth his entire life. A sigh escaped Sephiroth's lips as he continued pacing, waiting for his tormenter.
* * *
Shinra headquarters was surrounded by a series of high-rise apartment building in which the twenty thousand Shinra Soldiers resided during peace time. The apartments were nothing fancy, furnished with only the barest of necessities. Zack Page sat on the on a dirty brown couch in one such apartment, staring blankly at the flickering images on a thirty inch TV screen. Cody Salo and Galen Rance sat on either side of him. Zack angrily threw down the remote.
"How the hell can they have the same thing on every news station for four straight days?" yelled Zack. It was true; the news stations had talked about nothing but the victory over Wutai for the past few days. Cody and Galen shrugged, and continued watching. Zack settled down again after a moment, sinking into the overstuffed cushions of his couch. The fate of Martino had weighed heavily on all their minds. Martino had been honorably discharged, and had gone back to live with his family in Kalm.
Cody and Galen had not recovered either. Nightmares plagued both their dreams, images of flowing blood and burning trees and pieces of human flesh made airborne by explosions danced through their heads. And they recalled with agonizing clarity the site of Martino as they lifted his unconscious form into the ambulance, his legs completely shattered. Cody leaned forward and buried his face in his hands.
"I...I don't know if I can do this anymore", he announced to his companions, "After what happen to Martino...after what I've done..." His voice broke off. Galen was silent, but from the agonized look on his face it was clear that his thoughts were similar to Cody's.
Zack felt it, too. The images of Martino's shredded legs and Laeryn's gruesome back injury were fresh in his mind. He forced them away, though, and didn't react.
"Guys, you can't just give up like this. Look how far you've come", Zack pleaded, not wanting the other two Admirals to leave him. Cody, Galen and Martino were his best friends.
"Zack, I need to go. I don't feel well", Galen finally said as he headed for the door. Cody followed him without a word. Zack sighed heavily and leaned his head back.
He nearly jumped through the roof a few minutes later when a timid-sounding knock reached his ears. He answered the door, and saw a familiar short blonde boy standing there.
"God Zack, you look like hell", said the smaller boy, noticing the deep circles under Zack's eyes, his even-more-unkempt-than-usual hair, and the ratty white undershirt and boxers he was wearing.
"Nice to see you too, Cloud. What's up?" Zack answered with a faint smile. Cloud shrugged.
"I was bored, so I thought I'd come visit."
"Fair enough." Zack gestured for Cloud to come in.
Cloud sprawled over the couch, and instantly started watching TV. Suddenly he say bolt upright, his round blue eyes wide.
"Zack, look! It's Sephiroth!" he exclaimed. The news showed a clip of Sephiroth hurrying toward Shinra Headquarters on some errand. It appeared to be completely unrelated to the war with Wutai, but Cloud didn't seem to care.
"Yeah, so what? The news is basically "the Sephiroth show". He's all they ever talk about", called Zack from the kitchen. He appeared moments later, a can in his hand.
"But it's Sephiroth! He's the greatest warrior that ever lived. The whole reason I joined the army was so I could be like him", babbled Cloud.
Zack rolled his eyes, and took a swig of soda. Cloud was a good kid, and Zack didn't mind hanging out with him, but Cloud's bubbly, over-enthusiastic attitude could be very irritating at times. And what was up with his weird fixation with Sephiroth, anyways? Zack figured that it was probably better he didn't know.
The news paused for a commercial break, and Cloud slumped with slight disappointment.
"So Cloud, you're from Nibelheim, right? You gonna go back there? I hear we all get some leave following the victory celebration", asked Zack, to get Cloud to focus on something other than the TV.
Cloud looked uneasy all of a sudden. "Uh, well, yeah, prob'ly. I mean yeah, my family's there, and Tifa's there..." he trailed off.
"Tifa, huh? 'zat your girlfriend?" chuckled Zack, wiggling his eyebrows.
"Well no not really, but I'd like her to be", sighed Cloud.
"Ah, I know how that is. I've got a girlfriend now, y'know. And I feel kinda bad saying this, but having a girlfriend isn't all it's cracked up to be. Maybe I just haven't found the right girl," he snorted derisively, "Obviously she's not the right girl, our relationship's totally falling apart."
"Sorry to hear that," Cloud said softly. The commercial break ended and his attention began to wander toward the news program again. He looked up suddenly and asked, "Zack, you're not gonna quit Soldier, are you?"
"No, I have intention of doing that. Why?"
"Well because I heard that Galen and Cody are gonna. And I was kinda hoping you wouldn't, because you're cool and all," answered Cloud.
Zack smiled in spite of himself at being judged "cool and all" by a private. "Well, I'm glad to hear you're staying, too." He didn't say anything about Cody and Galen.
"Course I'm staying! I wanna get promoted, so maybe someday I'll be able to work alongside Sephiroth. Y'know, you really are lucky that way, Zack," said Cloud, the uneasiness leaving him as he returned to his usually bubbly self.
Zack couldn't contain the question any longer. "Dude, what is with your obsession with Sephiroth?"
Cloud shrugged. "I dunno. I guess...I guess I just thought that maybe if I was as strong and good-looking as him I'd be able to impress Tifa. I guess he's sorta like a role model to me, something to aspire to." He looked slightly crestfallen again.
"That makes sense. I think every Soldier looks up to Sephiroth to some extent", replied Zack.
Cloud watched the end of the news program, and credits began to roll across the screen. He stood and stretched, shaking chunks of wild blond hair out of his face.
"It was nice seein' ya again, Zack. But I'm gonna head back to my place and let my parents know I'm gonna stop by and see 'em in a few days," announced the younger boy.
"No problem Cloud, come by any time. Later."
Zack closed the door behind Cloud, and turned off the television. He was glad to have met Cloud, since it looked like he would be Zack's only real friend in the army now.
* * *
A little, stringy-looking man eyed the white door in front of him, and curled his thin lips into a smile. A small bony hand lifted to rap on the door.
"Sephiroth?" called his nasally, soft voice, "It's time. Come on now."
The door opened, and Sephiroth stepped into the hallway, his head lowered so that his long bangs hid his face from view.
"Yes, Hojo", he replied in scarcely more than a whisper.
"Don't look so glum, Sephiroth. You know that what I do is for your own good", answered Hojo.
Even as he was speaking, Sephiroth felt a slight prick on the side of his neck. Hojo had always managed to sedate him when he was least expecting it. This was something Hojo had learned early on; he knew Sephiroth disliked him, and tended to react violently to his presence. Sephiroth's state of drugged lethargy amused Hojo to no end. Sephiroth's glowing eyes would dim and half-close, and his head would loll to the side. He ceased to be the great Sephiroth, and became Hojo's experiment and plaything.
Sephiroth felt the sedative beginning to affect him almost immediately. His feet began to feel heavier and heavier as he made the short walk across the hallway to Hojo's laboratory. His vision began to blur, and he stumbled several times. Hojo half-dragged Sephiroth into the laboratory, and with some difficulty removed his trench coat and arranged his heavy form on a metal table. Even though the sedatives were working, Hojo was paranoid and strapped Sephiroth's limbs to the table.
Hojo's beady black eyes surveyed the room through thick glasses, making sure everything was ready. Four long needles stood on a nearby countertop, each attached to a long tube filled with glowing green liquid. Hojo's gaze wandered to Sephiroth himself, Hojo's most prized experiment. Ever since he became Shinra's top scientist, Hojo had dreamed of creating a perfect creature, with all the power and wisdom of the Ancients, or Cetra, as they were called scientifically. A being so strong that none would dare to oppose him- or Shinra.
Lucky for Hojo, a team of archaeologists had discovered a strange being frozen in a geological stratum, and found the being to be about two thousand years old. Since the Ancients had inhabited the Planet at about that time, the mysterious being had to be one of that heavenly race. The Cetra had suddenly become extinct about two thousand years ago, and no one knew why. Ever since reading about the Cetra, Hojo had wanted to revive them for Shinra's own purposes. An army of Cetra warriors would be unstoppable.
After extracting the creature from the geological stratum, Hojo began removing cells from it. He had dubbed the creature Jenovah, because it seemed almost godlike to him, offering him an opportunity he had waited for his entire life. The cells he removed would be mixed with pure Mako energy and injected into a human fetus, which would then be born with extraordinary strength and intelligence. He decided to call the unborn child the Sephiroth, which meant 'tree of life'. The tree of life represented the holy path to God, which Hojo figured he was walking by undertaking such a project.
Hojo was pleased indeed with how Sephiroth had turned out. Sephiroth was the greatest Soldier to ever have lived. His eyes wandered over Sephiroth's prone form. Sephiroth's chest was heaving from the drug in his system, and his flawless, fair skin was stretched taut over an impressive musculature. Sephiroth was already powerful, he had been born exceptionally so, but Hojo believed that he could become greater. So he had continued the injections of Mako and cells even after Sephiroth's birth, and throughout his entire life.
Hojo tucked a piece of stringy dark brown hair behind his ear and reached for one of the needles. He held the needle to the side of Sephiroth's neck and grinned down at him, reveling in the look of fear on Sephiroth's face as he eyed the four inch long needle. Beads of sweat began to gather on Sephiroth's forehead, and Hojo slid the needle into a vein in Sephiroth's neck. Sephiroth's face contorted in pain and he writhed in his bonds, almost crying out.
"Now Sephiroth, don't be so upset about this. We've had this talk many times before, haven't we? This is the whole reason you were created, you know. For me to experiment on you like this, so I can make you into a creature almost godlike in nature. But don't worry, Sephiroth. You won't be the only one. I've made several others, though none have turned out quite as splendid as you. In fact, they were failures, and I turned them loose. You're not a failure, Sephiroth. You're my prized possession." As he spoke, Hojo inserted another needle into Sephiroth's neck, and the other two into his wrists. Tears of pain and humiliation began to gather in Sephiroth's eyes, sticking in long silver lashes.
"You know, Sephiroth, you really should be grateful for all that I've done for you. If hadn't made you, you wouldn't even exist! And if you did, you'd be just another person crawling over this planet. But no. Your feeling that you are somehow different from everyone else is correct. You always have been and always will be. That's why you must not stoop to their level," Hojo went on.
The sedative was beginning to wear off, and Sephiroth could fully understand what Hojo was saying to him.
"Ah, you look a bit more awake now, so I'll guess I'll get to the heart of the matter. You'll notice how I said you must not interact with people, other than myself, of course. I can't let my experiment be ruined because of you bringing other people into this," Hojo sounded quite irritated.
Sephiroth could feel the unnatural liquid surging through his bloodstream, making it feel as if every vein in his body were being cut apart.
"I hear you're obligated to attend the victory celebration in four days. And at this celebration you must sit at a table with all the Admirals from your army- and the Grand Admiral," Hojo's lips immediately formed into a sneer. "The Grand Admiral. She was the one who saved from that shrapnel, right? It was good that she saved you- I can't have my experiments getting damaged. Too bad she lived, though. She appears to be somewhat distracting." Hojo's face started turning purple with anger, and he slapped Sephiroth across the face. "Have I taught you nothing, Sephiroth?! How long must I continue to drive this weakness from you?! I'll not allow my experiment to be interfered with in this way! If you can't control yourself, or if you're simply too stupid to understand what I've been telling you for the past twenty-five years, I'll simply remove the distraction if I notice it anymore. Maybe if Ms. Grand Admiral were a Cetra, I'd allow it. But guess what, she's not. She's nothing. And right now, she is ruining my experiment. Don't let this continue, Sephiroth. Speaking of which, I hear Grand Admiral's in the hospital now, isn't she? Probably not very capable of defending herself?" Hojo leaned his pasty features close to Sephiroth's face and glared at him, making sure that his unwilling test subject got the point.
Sephiroth had fully regained his awareness, and could not remember a time he had hated Hojo more than at that moment. He tried to move, but found that thick nylon bonds restrained his limbs. His green eyes snapped fully open, and he began to strain against the bonds. Hojo watched for a moment, almost certain that Sephiroth would be unable to escape. But when he heard the sound of the nylon ripping, he lunged for another syringe full of sedative and jammed it into Sephiroth's neck. It was a huge dose, and Sephiroth went limp immediately. Hojo felt slightly relieved that Sephiroth was unconscious.
Several hours later, Sephiroth awoke on the floor of his chamber, where he been unceremoniously deposited when Hojo had finished with him. Sephiroth's head pounded and there were stinging red spots on his wrists and the sides of his neck. The last thing he remembered was Hojo threatening Laeryn, which infuriated him to the point where he was nearly able to break free. Cautiously, Sephiroth stood up, leaning heavily on the wall, his head spinning. As much as he hated to admit it, Hojo was right. Laeryn was mostly helpless now, having to move slowly and carefully, lest her back tear open again. Sephiroth gritted his teeth. If Hojo stooped so low as to kill Laeryn while she was in the hospital, Sephiroth would see that he died a death more painful than any of his torturous "experiments".
***Sister Ray's Notes***
More Sephy-torturing. Don't worry, I'll make it up to him in the next few chapters ^_^ Hojo is such an evil little slime-ball! I know this sounds retarded but as I was writing him I was hating him more and more. I mean, he's bad enough in the game, but I made him REALLY nasty! I can hardly wait to kill him off. hehehe
