2-5. Covenant
One more try… Lucrecia opened her notebook once again. Feb. 28 (st. 9:01am) Tomorrow would mark seven months since the start of the Project. Seven months of "one more try"…
She drew a thin stack of papers from her notebook, the report she'd worked on almost every night for the past two weeks, and slid it into a black plastic binding. Shinra's logo was tastefully embossed on the front, along with a label: Current Findings of the JENOVA Project, Shinra Inc., Biological Research Dept. #593820-J. Contributors: Dr. Theophilus Gast, Dr. Horace Jones, Lucrecia Gainsborough, Shelan Strife.
Lucrecia paused, rereading the last name. Shelan… Lucky break, getting fired. He's probably back in Midgar in a company-subsidized apartment, working in a real lab…I remember I felt sorry for him when it happened.
The door swung open, interrupting her train of thought; Dr. Gast hurried in with a leather satchel, dressed to travel. "Ms. Gainsborough! Good morning. How's the report coming along?"
Lucrecia turned, holding the folder out to Dr. Gast as he passed. "Morning, sir."
Gast took the report and flipped through it briefly. "Excellent, excellent work." Wait until you read it, Lucrecia thought darkly. "Don't look so grim, this is only a formality. More than anything, the Corporation wants to know how we're spending their money." He closed the folder and slipped it into his satchel. "So how is the Project coming along?"
Lucrecia heard a quiet scoff from the other end of the room. "It's…" …It's reached a plateau. It's stagnant. It's …comatose. She looked up at Dr. Gast, who'd been such an inspiration during her education in Midgar—it seemed so long ago. She remembered her dream of equalling this man's accomplishments; the way things were going now, there was little chance of that happening any time soon. Dr. Gast seemed just as self-assured and optimistic as when they'd first come to Nibelheim—as self-assured and optimistic as she herself had been. Does he really not know? It was as if he'd arrived out of another world, like a tourist—or as if he wasn't really there, like a projected image, a hologram. If she told him what was happening, would he even hear her? Would he understand? "It's…" she repeated helplessly, not knowing what to say. Dr. Gast…the Project is dead… "…proceeding," she finished, her eyes darting away.
Dr. Gast nodded with satisfaction, clapped her on the shoulder. "Just as I thought. Keep up the good work."
"Yes, sir." She rallied the courage to smile. "Have a nice trip."
Gast sighed in mock exasperation. "Surrounded by bureaucrats, who could? Let's hope my escort is a better conversationalist than those Midgar serpents."
Escort? "One of the Turks? Which one?"
Dr. Gast nodded. "One moment, I have the orders here…" He reached into his satchel and produced a sheet of paper. "Vincent Valentine." He looked up at her, replacing the paper. "That's the one from the party, isn't it?"
Lucrecia closed her eyes for a moment, swallowing hard. "Yes, sir." How could he leave me here—how could both of them—leave me here alone with… but orders are orders, I suppose…
"We'll be sure to hurry back, then." Dr. Gast smiled. "See you next week."
A week…that's not that long, what could happen in a week?
Dr. Gast turned and left the lab, closing the door behind him. Lucrecia slowly sat down at the her workstation again. What could happen in a week? she repeated. How could anything happen? Nothing's happened in seven months. Nothing's going to happen, at this rate. The horrible thought rose again: The Project is dead. And I have no one to blame but myself. I had such high hopes for this assignment…it was to have launched my career, accomplished that first big step toward my dreams. I came into Nibelheim like I could conquer the world. How will I leave it?…
She thought again of Nibelheim, how alien it seemed compared to the mechanical gray towers of Midgar. Being here wasn't all bad, in itself; I've had the greenhouse, and fresh air, and of course I met Vincent… so I can't regret taking the assignment. But I've lost the one thing I came here to do. I came here to succeed, to start my life of success. Instead I've…
"This has to be the most notable discovery of our generation! And we're in on it, Luce…"
…one of Shinra's most promising young scientists…
"I love the field I chose, and I'm doing very well in it. It's a great honor to have been chosen for this project. No, I'm happy."
I was happy…
I came here to succeed. And I've failed…
Lucrecia pressed her hand against the empty page, willing back the tears. On the edge of her line of sight swam a shadow, a suggestion of a figure. Slowly it shifted from the periphery, drew closer. Lucrecia looked up. Hojo was leaning against her table, arms crossed.
"Since your Turk seems to be occupied," he said smoothly, "I presume you have no plans on your day off tomorrow."
Vincent and I were supposed to go hiking… why didn't he tell me he'd been assigned? "I guess not."
A slow smirk crept over the scientist's face. "Why don't you come into the lab, then? I have some…discoveries I'd like you to see."
"Discoveries? But I wrote up everyone's progress in Dr. Gast's report…" Hojo's findings for the collective report were less notable than her own; his work in physiology was stalled until Lucrecia's cellular experiments had advanced.
Hojo laughed quietly, but the sound was swallowed by the heavy silence of the room. "Not everything is on the record, my dear. Not if you intend to get anything done. It's about time you learned that."
Not on the record…? Unsure of what to say, Lucrecia did not reply. Hojo looked down at the blank page under her hands, then turned and disappeared from her peripheral vision.
If you intend to get anything done…
Part of her couldn't help but be curious.
Lucrecia had never really wondered what lay behind the locked side door in the basement of the Shinra Mansion. She'd always assumed it was a boiler room, or some storeroom, locked and unused since the original owners' departure. As Hojo paused outside the door, sorting through a spiky keyring, she finally started to wonder…
"Aha." Hojo held up one of the keys and looked at her with a cold gleam of triumph in his eyes. "Remember. Nothing you see or hear today exists. Even to Shinra. Especially to Shinra," he corrected. "And if word happens to get out about any of this, well…" He smiled, the look of a cat with a mouse firmly trapped under its claws. "The Project will just have to have another ex-student on its record." The way he stressed "ex-student" made Lucrecia shiver. Not a student once assigned to the Project. A former student, entirely… "Do you understand?"
Lucrecia nodded, her mouth suddenly dry. "Yes, sir."
"Good." Hojo unlocked the door, but did not open it. "On the other hand, you do understand that this could mean the beginning of a long and prosperous career…" He let the thought dangle, just out of her reach. "It all depends on what you think of my plan."
My plan…don't tell me he has another plan for the JENOVA Project! Why hasn't he told us?
If you intend to get anything done, it has to be off the record…
What am I getting into?
After a long pause, Hojo finally pushed open the door in the basement hall. He stepped inside into darkness, and Lucrecia followed, expecting the lights to come on as she did. Instead she heard Hojo cross behind her to close and lock the door. A faint quiver of fear fluttered in the pit of her stomach. The room was pitch dark, but in the darkness, close by, she could hear scratching and the creak of metal against metal. She turned toward the sound, still blinded by the dark, as the fear grew stronger. It sounded like something living, like the scratching of claws, though she could not hear any breathing but her own. She thought of the dragon on Mount Nibel, the unknown threat it promised—what if the Mako reactor had created mutants after all, what if…
The room snapped to life with a cold white light. Lucrecia startled, spinning around. Hojo's hand dropped away from the light switch; he stood behind her, with his back to the door. She looked back around and, at first, almost sighed in relief. The leftmost wall was lined with cages of white mice, a sight familiar from her semester in a physiology lab. At the far end of the room were a few larger cages, though, containing creatures she couldn't quite identify. In one she could see a curled-up mound of white fur, about the size of a house cat.
"My specimens," Hojo said behind her. "Mice and rats for the most part, standard procedure. I have begun work on greater specimens…but for now these will do well enough to illustrate." He appeared beside her, looking with a kind of smug satisfaction at the rows of cages. "Go ahead, look."
Slowly, Lucrecia approached the cages at the nearer end of the room. They were lined up neatly on three long shelves. She bent to look into one of the cages. In the cage were four white mice, as she'd guessed. They looked like regular white mice; two were sleeping, one was eating, and the last was running on an exercise wheel. She was about to ask what she was supposed to look for…when one of the sleeping mice woke and looked up at her.
Lucrecia gasped. The mouse's eyes were pink, standard color for its species. But it wasn't the dull, salmon pink of a healthy mouse. This mouse's eyes were unnaturally bright.
Almost glowing.
She'd seen that somewhere before…of course. Physiology again. It was an unmistakable sign. "Mako…" she breathed faintly, then spoke again: "Mako poisoning?"
"Not quite poisoning." Hojo moved soundlessly up behind her, watching one of the other cages. "Exposed to Mako energy, yes. It's quite a delicate process; a ten percent error can mean the difference between poisoning and merely making the cells receptive."
"Receptive…? To what?"
Hojo smiled coolly and motioned her closer, further down the line of cages. Lucrecia followed, still feeling confused, dreading, and a bit stunned. She looked into the cage Hojo indicated. This, too, held four white mice, but these lay limp in the cedar shavings at the bottom of the cage, twitching faintly. As they watched, one struggled to its feet and stumbled drunkenly toward the food bowl. It collapsed when it arrived as if it had crossed an endless space.
Hojo's voice was soft, and deeply chilling. "Jenova."
Lucrecia watched the pitiful creatures as the realization slowly sunk in. Hojo had gone ahead of the plan and exposed living organisms to Project cells, even before they fully understood what made them work…or if they worked at all. In a sense he'd accomplished already what she was still fighting to discover.
All it took was to ignore all of the rules of conduct, decency, and due process.
"These…" Her voice failed her again, and she tried to moisten her lips. "These have been exposed to Project cells?"
"Yes. Full immersion in a thirty percent solution of cells and liquid Mako for three weeks. This batch just got out yesterday."
"Full immersion?"
Hojo motioned toward the wall to their left, parallel to the door. Lucrecia turned to look. The wall was lined with small glass tanks, hooked up to wires and sensors. Only a few were uncovered and empty; the others were shielded with steel covers. Under the shelves rested a row of fuel tanks, marked with danger warnings and the spiked symbol of Mako radiation.
Lucrecia looked back at the reeling mice. She felt slightly nauseated. "Do they all end up like this, disoriented?"
"Only at first." Hojo shifted down the line again, to another cage. Drawn by a curiosity she couldn't explain, Lucrecia looked into it. This cage of mice also had unsettling, glowing pink eyes, but they were not comatose; quite the opposite. One galloped on the exercise wheel at twice the speed of the mouse in the first cage, and two were tangled in the center of the cage in a furiously squeaking fury, biting and scratching at each other. Lucrecia looked for a fourth mouse, but saw none. Hojo continued, "Thirty percent immersion for three weeks, followed by a four-day acclimation period. Those two in the center…disposed of the fourth within hours of their recovery." A tiny smirk quirked his thin lips. "The survival instinct is especially active after this treatment."
The fighting mice finally tumbled apart and slunk on bleeding paws to opposite ends of the cage. One threw itself to the floor of the cage and fell asleep; the other watched the running mouse with an uncanny expression on its tiny face. It looked almost…intelligent…
The Project. Jenova, neo-Cetra. Is this it? Has he found them… "Have you compared these to the data from Cetra cells?"
"Of course. But unfortunately, the influence of the Jenova cells is not quite strong enough. The technique may prove useful to the Corporation someday, after proper laundering, but it will never produce an Ancient." Hojo looked down the row of cages, toward the larger specimens. "Which brings me to the next phase of experimentation." He turned away from the cages, clasping his hands behind his back, and walked toward the other side of the room. A desk stood piled with papers and bits of equipment, and in front of it was a high-backed leather chair. Hojo sat in it and spun around to face Lucrecia. "Have a seat, my dear." He motioned toward a wooden chair not far from the desk, an oddly expensive-looking chair, probably taken from the Mansion's furniture. Lucrecia slowly sank into the chair, her back to the cages. Hojo pressed his fingertips together, watching her thoughtfully.
"It's taken me months to get to this point," he began. "But I suppose months are nothing, compared to the years it would take Gast to find what I've found." He paused for a moment. The faint sounds of the mice behind them seemed to vanish into a dead silence. "I believe I have found the secret to creating neo-Cetra."
Creating? Lucrecia's heartbeat speeded up, even as the sick feeling in her stomach grew stronger. "What is it?"
A smile slowly crept across Hojo's face. "All in good time." He chuckled softly, a rough and unwelcoming sound. "I found that the factor in whether the specimens absorbed Jenova fully was not only exposure to Mako, but their stage of development. As you know, adult cells are relatively resistant to change; most of them divide slowly if at all, and their form does not change readily. They are locked into their functions, in other words, which are genetically programmed during development. You know this."
"Yes." The word was barely a whisper. She was starting to guess what the rest of the experiment entailed…
"On the other hand, embryonic cells, since they're still developing, are wonderfully receptive to change. It is this stage, I found, which is most responsive to the treatment. Not only this, but the treatment is easier, at least in terms of materials and storage. It requires no tanks and no large-scale storage of Mako. Just some needles and tubes, and a willing womb."
Lucrecia closed her eyes as a shiver passed through her. Premature trials on living specimens are one thing, but… She thought of the line of cages behind her. The Corporation would never stand for this…would it?
The Corporation…it ordered the Turks to kill those protesters in Corel, didn't it? That's the regard that Shinra has for human life. And that was nowhere near as crucial as the JENOVA Project…
It all comes down to profit.
"The gestation period of a mouse is quite short, so it took several trials to perfect the technique. There was little room for error." Hojo rose from his chair, momentarily towering over her, and disappeared behind her, toward the cages. Frozen to her spot, Lucrecia did not look. Hojo went on, "Finally, though, after all my trials, I found the answer. A forty percent solution of Jenova cells with fifty percent Mako and saline, injected directly into the womb. I'd started by using full-strength Mako as a vehicle, but the first few trials of females died of Mako poisoning before gestation was complete." Lucrecia heard a click and a faint metallic creak. "I feared for the future of the Project, but, luckily…" Footsteps… and Hojo stood before her again. Cradled in his arms was something she again took to be a large white cat. Her eyes fell on its tail—its pink, hairless tail—and a gasp died in her throat; she was utterly immobilized.
The creature lifted its head and looked at her with glowing pink Mako eyes.
Hojo's voice was quiet and filled with a terrifying pride. "…luckily, I found the answer."
She gaped, breathing heavily, unable to form any coherent words. She realized she was shaking, but was powerless to stop it. The monstrous mouse stretched, its pink feet with dainty white claws spreading against the air. It shook its head sleepily, blinked at her, and lowered its head again. Hojo watched her over its back, his dark eyes glowing with triumph.
"Imagine," he murmured. "Imagine what we could do in a human."
This is so wrong…so brilliant, so simple, and so terribly, terribly wrong…
"How?" Lucrecia asked, thinly, when she regained the power of speech. "You can't exactly lock a person up in a cage like these mice. That's unlawful imprisonment."
Hojo clicked his tongue disapprovingly. "Not imprisonment." He stroked the the mutant mouse's white fur as if it were a cat. "A willing volunteer."
Lucrecia frowned for a moment, uncomprehending. "A volunteer? Who would…"
"Willing," Hojo said quietly, "or under contract…perhaps in some sort of transaction."
"For money? Even then, who would agree to that?"
"Not money." His hands stilled on the mouse's head, just behind its ear. "Success."
"Success?…" She paused, remembering what he'd said.
The realization hit her with the force of a speeding train; she could not see for a moment, and her hands flew to her mouth. She was sure she would scream, or vomit, or faint…no, not here, not with this monster here…
"No," she croaked. "No, no, you can't mean…"
Hojo continued, "One treatment, nine months of injections, in return for a lifetime of success, fame, money, power in the Corporation, whatever you desire. The success of the JENOVA Project will be unequalled in our lifetimes as a scientific discovery. It will bring Shinra Incorporated wealth and power never before seen on this planet. With these neo-Cetra, and with the Jenova treatment applied to adults as you've also seen…Shinra could rule the world."
Rule the world…
The greenhouse. Reflected sunlight, the nervousness in the pit of the stomach—healthy nervousness, then, just from talking to a handsome man, talking about the future… Shinra Research will rule the field of science.
And you would like more than anything to be a part of that?
Yes.
Whatever you desire…
At what cost?
"You said the…" Mothers. "…females died from the treatment."
"Not if it's carefully kept at fifty percent Mako and saline. Those are still alive. Some bore two litters of live super-mice."
Two litters? "Where are they now? I only saw…" that hellish housecat you have right now…
"This…" Hojo lifted the head of the mouse with one hand, stroking its throat. "This was the strongest of them, and the only surviving. Unfortunately, the survival instinct is strong in these as well." The mouse yawned, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth. Lucrecia stared, realizing what this monster had done. What these monsters have done… "As far as we know, the Ancients were not a warlike race. We may have stumbled across…an improvement in the natural system." He tickled the mouse's throat one more time, and it lowered its head again. "However, as I've stated, the breeding females treated at fifty percent Mako did survive." He chuckled. "And they didn't even get the privilege of a vice-chairmanship for their trouble."
A vice-ch… "How can you guarantee that?" she demanded breathlessly.
"I have influence. They may mock me in the lower ranks, but the Corporation knows how profitable I am. Besides, as I've said, the prime movers of the JENOVA Project will be able to name their own prices and specifications for the rest of their very lucrative careers."
Freedom…that's what it is…freedom, and power, and control, and independence, not to mention the money and influence…
…and power…
Success. Total success…
I'm never going to do that on my own. Not slaving away in that cave of a laboratory, not ghost-writing bureaucratic reports. I'll be fifty before I even get to vice-chair. What is that, twenty good years before I run out of energy? Would I even make it to chairman?
I want more than twenty years. I want it now.
I could never make it on my own. I can't even carry out one phase of one project, with all the backing of Shinra behind me. Not going by the rules, I can't do it. If you intend to get anything done…
Nine months of injection.
Sacrificing…sacrificing a life to the Project, offering it up like worshippers on the altar of a bloody god. Would that be what it amounted to? Or will it be a celebrity in Shinra, a living resource, more important than any of us can begin to imagine?
It? A child… my child…
Mine? Mine and whose? I'm not even married, what do they expect? Am I supposed to bear a child for this, only for this? Or will they wait until it happens on its own?
Hojo won't wait.
And neither will you…
Everything I've ever wanted. Everything.
Everything except my integrity.
It won't last forever. It's just a price, nine months and your integrity, the price you pay for success. Life is hard, it's a series of tradeoffs and deals, your time in Shinra should have taught you that.
It won't last forever. I'll do this one thing, this one awful thing, win what's mine, and get on with my life. I'll settle down in Midgar, or even here in Nibelheim…like Vincent said…
Vincent. Dear God, Vincent, please forgive me…
The room was still, except for the distant scratching of the Mako-drenched mice. Lucrecia closed her eyes. Her hands were limp in her lap, her head lowered slightly. Her voice was quiet and resigned to her fate. "All right."
There was a long pause, and then a soft weight settled on her hands. She opened her eyes. Hojo had knelt at her feet, his head bowed.
And in her arms lay a white mouse the size of a house cat.
