Chapter 6: The Flow of Time

Chapter 6: The Flow of Time

"I'm happy, I'm feelin' glad,

I got sunshine in a bag.

I'm useless, but not for long,

The future is coming on."-Clint Eastwood, by the Gorrilaz.

Xander. A boy who seemed lost in self-pity. He wasn't always that way. He used to rattle off jokes like there was no tomorrow. Then it was as if tomorrow didn't come. Oblivion had hit his world, and he spun off, deep into space. Aerith tried to recall the happier times of old. The times that were so easy to look upon, the times that weren't like a deathtrap.

She sighed. It was almost five years to the day. In a few more days, it would be the anniversary of his parents' death. Things had changed so much since then. Xander, having no other family to look after him, had been taken into the Gainsborough household. Of course, both Aerith and Elmyra believed that the family's new addition would need some time to recuperate. But things went differently than they had hoped for. After the first few weeks, he had shown no signs of any emotion. The years passed and things looked brighter than before. Yet after warming up to the family, he withdrew himself into his protective shell. Now sixteen, Xander left to join the army, which Aerith had disapproved of by far. She never agreed to the methods by which they got the energy to power this earth. In fact, she couldn't believe that Xander had even thought of joining the Shinra, the corporation that was in charge of the whole planet.

Desperately, Aerith tried to persuade Xander not to leave, but he said that he was going to finish his education there, nothing more. She didn't take any of the carp he was trying to feed her that night. She could tell from just looking in his eyes. He wanted to be like his father, a soldier fighting for a good cause, whatever it might be.

Since he left, he never sent one letter, or dropped by even once to let them know he was okay. For all his "family" knew, hew was just a shadow of his former self that disappeared into the night. She let out an exasperated breath once more. In another month, it would be his birthday. In one more month…

Xander looked up into the falling droplets of water. Everything just seemed to lose perspective. Nothing was making sense. He thought that being like his dad would lighten up his spirits finally, but it only served to make him cry harder each time he was in his personal cot at the barracks. All the time he spent at the Junon base just added up to wasted amounts of his time. He considered going to the local bar many times before, but drinking would only add to his problems.

Inhaling the air, Xander recalled the how he went through basic training. After basic, every new soldier must take the SOLDIER exam. This test determined who was let into the elite fighting squad of the corporation, and who didn't get bragging rights. It was made up of how well any one man could perform in any of three areas. The first was the ability to cast magic, quite the common practice these days, really. Then came the aptitude test, which showed who was smart, and who was below the IQ of grass. Then came the fighting test. Almost everyone had a chance in this one.

Needless to say, Xander failed the first and second tests, partially because he never handled magic, nor knew how it worked, and partially because he never got out of grade school. The old schoolhouse on the streets of Wall Market was bulldozed down, and made into a mansion for some rich pig. The latter really didn't matter to Xander. School was something that… well… was a taboo in his mind. In fact, not one person complained about the "loss" at all. Select few had hugged the construction workers, and ran off to wherever. Now the third test, Xander just seemed to stand out in. Each person they tested him against dropped down. Sometimes, he felt as if they had thrown the fight, but his hormonal side pushed those thoughts away.

After the test, whoever was lucky enough to pass went in for "special" treatments. Each person left for a "mako" infusion. A process where the SOLDIER was placed inside of a chamber and the doctors put in a glowing green fluid, or otherwise known as mako. Mako was sometimes talked about as the lifeblood of earth, but Xander never fell for old wives' tales. Anyway, he remembered how much pain he felt after the infusion. And they said it stung only a "little". For the first few hours, Xander couldn't feel his body, and walking became a problem. But the enhancements that the mako induced on a human's body made up for the temporary side effects. Everything came in the "package", enhanced speed and endurance, stronger muscles, and a higher IQ to boot. The only lasting side effect was the glowing eyes. Each member of the group had glowing eyes pertaining to their eye color. Open eyes at night became a problem in the barracks when people couldn't sleep due to biological nightlights in the pitch black.

Most people started at the lowest rank of SOLDIER, unless they were pretty darn special. The ranks were broken up into a couple of different categories. The lowest being a class Three SOLDIER, going up the First class, the elites of the SOLDIER army. After that, some few become leaders, like squad captains. Starting out in third class came with more training in magic and sword work. Most of the SOLDIER's didn't use things like guns, but swords were the more accustomed thing to use. Unless the low ranker's own a suitable sword of their own, they get a standard issue Hardedge, which was a pretty sweet piece of work. Xander, of course, stayed with his Crystalline Dream since it was placed into his hands as the original barer. The long samurai sword was hard to handle, but it got the job done. He had no idea of what material it was made of. Even the scientists and metal workers of Shinra couldn't find out what his sword was made of. All Xander knew was that it was his most prized possession. Each morning, the third classers lined up for role call. Sometimes, the General of SOLDIER stopped in to inspect for himself.

On the first day of role call in his new career in the army, the General came in to make give all the recruits a speech, designed to boost their confidence. Worked pretty well, too. That day was going well; at least it was until the General finished speaking.

"Oi Xander!" It was Xander's friend, Zack, whispering in his fake British accent. "What's up with this guy, huh? Gives the cornie-"

Xander quickly jabbed Zack in the ribs, signaling him it was high time he shut up. "The General's coming this way! You better pay your respects!"

Slowly, the General was coming closer to the two, and their bantering more apparent. Raising a silver eyebrow at the antics of his men, he quickened his pace.

"You shut up!"

"No, you shut up!"

"You!"

"You!"

"You!"

"You!"

"Yo-"

"You both lack discipline!"

Quickly the two 3rd classer's bodies went rigid with fear, and the eyes of the other men drifted to the scene. "How dare you call your self's SOLDIER's? I should put you dogs in the brig for your behavior!" On and on the string of insults continued, each word chipping away the boys' nerve like butter.

After almost ten minutes of this, Xander found it was hard to stand up, and even harder to form a complete thought. Zack, on the other hand, was getting fed up with being chastised. Not being one of great patience, he tried to cool himself before he said something he'd most probably regret later on. Slowly wiping away the sweat on his forehead and pulling back his shock of ebony hair, he let out a lungful of air onto the General's pale face, which was unnervingly close to Zack's own.

Suddenly, the commanding officer stopped jabbering, and looked Zack right in the eye; only the resounding echo of Xander slapping himself was heard in the Junon Base atmosphere. Silence thereafter reigned over the troopers, and the General's glare only increased the tension. And then he blew.

"HOW DARE YOU BREATHE ON ME?" That was it. Zack couldn't take it anymore, and by t

"You pompous son of a" Zack's words were cut off by a swift kick in the nads. he way his face just crinkled up in anger, Xander could tell the same.

The General fumed.

"Insubordination? You two!" He pointed to the two recruits in line behind Xander. "Take these scum to the brig!" With that, the commander turned his muscular frame and left, black "cloak" billowing in the wind.

Zack tried looking up at the commander from his crumpled position on the ground to express more words of disdain, but he could only muster a groan. He felt a pair of hands try to lift him up in vein, but settled for dragging him instead, seeing how he wasn't going to get up and run anywhere for quite awhile.

Xander, of course, was refusing to be cuffed. It wasn't he who had tried to give a commanding officer any gruff; all he did was get into a fight with his friend, right? "GET yer hands off me, you darn dirty APES!" Thrashing wildly, the first SOLDIER couldn't keep his hands on the boy, and only a few seconds later more men came to drag Xander down. The last thing he saw before a dog pile on top of him was the form of Zack in his fetal position, dragged away by a SOLDIER.

Xander let out a grunt as he hit the floor of a brig cell. Looking around, he found Zack lying on the cot, still in the fetal position, next to the grimy walls. Hoisting himself on top of the less than comfortable mattress, Xander put a hand on his buddy's shoulder. "You alright man? That was a pretty hard kick if I ever saw one."

Moaning once more, Zack tried to turn his body slightly inclined to Xander's. In a low mumble, he spoke, "I think he popped one."

5 Days. Xander had spent 5 long days of being in the brig, moving only to eat, and force-feed Zack (who still couldn't stop cradling his no-no spot). Complete and utter boredom plagued his mind, with nothing to look at but the walls, and nothing to listen too but the banter of the guards and the moaning of his friend. No changes were made in the schedule. All it was, was sleep, eat, force-feed, and so on.

On the sixth day, Xander lay in weight, for someone, or anyone to let them out. It wasn't until noonday that anyone came down though, and after all the wait, it just had to be…him.

The man in the black cape (as most referred to the coat he wore around him as). He seemed pretty famous actually, though Xander never saw the man in his life. And here he came in, strutin' his stuff like a big shot. Probably some pencil pusher anyway…

When the General reached the guards, he signaled one and he came over, unlocking the cage. Xander almost rushed out, but was reminded of Zack by an unpleasantly loud moan. Grabbing the guard by the collar, Xander shook the man. "Would ya' get that guy a Doctor already? He's been sayin' that this whole time for crying out loud!" After being let go. The little man skittered back in the direction of the General, but was stopped again.

Cooley, the higher-ranking man stood in position. "Disregard that order." He said.

Xander's eyes widened in disbelief, "Are you kidding? He can't even feel his left nut!" He was starting to lose all his patience with this man. "What kind of leader are you, anyway? Women won't be able to call him a real man any more! Heck, he's a shell of a man. Prosthetics are wasted on him! Why would anyone ever appoint someone who let a man go through pain like this as general? If I had it my-"

Xander stopped when he heard the man laughing at him in his face. Zack was right; he was a pompous son of a-

The General stopped laughing and looked Xander in the eye. "The reports were right. You two are so very lively. The President was correct in thinking that you two were cut out for the squad. Welcome aboard to special unit #0." Once again, the man started to leave abruptly, but this time let the guard at his side go for a medic.

Bewildered, Xander found it hard to contemplate the sudden turn of events. Was it a dumb stroke of luck, or was Xander actually worth the time of some special squad? Gathering some of his lost composure, Xander piped up to the man. "W-wait! Who are you?"

Almost at the entrance of the brig, the General craned his neck back to the lad. "Smirking slightly, he only said a single word. "Sephiroth."

It had been almost six months since then, and now it was close to his Birthday. After getting over the surgery to replace his left gonad with a prosthetic, Zack started training with Xander on techniques taught to them by their instructor, Sephiroth. Yes, THE Sephiroth. The hero of the Wutai War at age fourteen, he became the most decorated soldier in all the Shinra army. Now, being in his presence everyday made Xander feel like a celebrity, although no one actually knew of the special unit #0; it being a "top secret" project.

Xander started to form more thoughts, but was stopped cold by the voice of Zack in the Junon streets. "Would you get in here already? Some people are trying to have a dinner party without having to worry over your sorry self!" He was right. Sephiroth and the others were having a dinner party, and when Zack used the word dinner party, he means a kegger.

(A/N: Next projected update is 6/30/01)