The boy jumped back, fearing the girl who just awakened and the wrath of her creator. He staggered toward the chair he had been in, never taking his eyes off the girl, but the needle in his arm prevented him from gaining much distance between him and the girl.
The girl blinked slowly inside her liquid prison, and continued staring at the boy before her. Without moving her lips, she asked him: "Who. Are. You."
The boy began to panic now, afraid that the Doctor would hear the girl or the noise he was making in distress.
"Answer. Me. Who. Are. You."
"I...I am....."
"Teacher?"
"Yes?"
"If you could give me a name, what would you call me?"
"You know I was ordered to not create a personal relationship with you. I cannot therefore name you."
"But...I always wanted a name. Everyone else has one, even the Doctor! Please, what would you call me?"
The teacher closed his eyes. "Well...you are my student. So I guess I must call you something, other than 'Hey, you' or 'Student'. I've thought about this before, actually. And I think a fitting name would be..."
"Sephiroth." the boy answered with shakey words. "My...name is...Sephiroth."
The girl blinked slowly again, and absorbed the information into her memory. "Se. Phi. Roth."
Sephiroth looked at the girl in wonder. "Do...you have a name?"
"I. Have. No. Name. Where is. Ho. Jo."
"He's...working on another experiment.."
"Are. You? An. Experiment?"
"You could...say that." He glared at the girl for a moment. "How are you speaking, anyways? Your mouth doesn't move."
"There. Are. Sensors. In my. Brain. They. Transfer. The signals. To. A machine. And become. Words."
"But...why? You're human, like me! Why can't you speak?"
The floating youth closed her eyes. "This. Fluid would. Drown. Me. If I. Opened. My mouth. That's. Why I have. To have my. Blood. Directly. Oxygenated. Through those. Tubes."
He assumed the tubes she was talking about were the ones in her abdomen.
"I. Also. Am fed. That. Way." Her eyes reopened. "Hojo says. That I. Will. Be pure. This way. And. Unharmed. By. Disease."
Sephiroth walked back over to the shelf where he set the IV unit. "You're strange."
The girl's gaze followed him to the shelf nearby. "I. learned. That those. Without a. Name. Have. No soul. If. That is. True. Then. You're. Just like. Me."
He shook his head. "I told you my name. It's Sephiroth."
The girl shook her head slowly in the same fashion as the boy. "No. You have. No. Name. You lied. To. Me. Hojo said. You. Have no. Name. You. Are like. Me. He said. Hojo. Wouldn't. Lie. To me. You. Lie."
"Not only are you strange," he picked up the IV unit, "but you're annoying as hell. I think I'll put this sheet back up."
"NO." the girl spoke sternly. "The. Dark. It's..."
Sephiroth pulled the canvas sheet back over the tube. "Goodnight, annoying thing."
"PLEASE." she pleaded in vain. "I. Don't like it." Her eyes closed once more, and she fell silent, knowing she was defeated.
Sephiroth adjusted the painted sheet to make it look exactly as it had been before he moved it, and wandered back over to his chair. He set the unit down, and laid down himself in the cold black leather chair. That's the last time I ever look through here again... he thought to himself. Hojo sure has strange pets.
Hojo slapped the boy to wake him up.
"What the hell did you do, you imbecile??!! Do you think you can just go snooping around here like that?!"
Sephiroth sat up fast in the chair, the dull throb of where the needle had entered his skin telling him his treatment was over. "What...what do you mean?! I don't know what you're talking about!!"
Hojo slapped him again. "She told me about you, idiot!! Do you think you could just cover her up and make her forget??!!??!!"
"I..." Sephiroth shifted around nervously in his chair, the doctor mere inches away from his face. "I'm...sorry!! I'm sorry! Please, forgive me!"
Hojo glared at the boy. "Stupid. Incredibly stupid. I thought you knew that you're not allowed to do anything without my permission but breathe, boy. Because of you, she's extremely upset, so stop appologizing to me. Go beg for her forgiveness."
Sephiroth lay still for a moment, then squeezed past the Doctor. He slowly walked over to the tube, which was now completely uncovered. He shivered at the sight of the girl in full light, her hair a drastic contrast to her white skin. Her eyes seemed to glow strangely, and appeared almost colorless in this bright lighting. She seemed even thinner than he could see before with only partial light to see her in, and reminded him of a floating ghost.
He stepped up to the glass container with his head down, almost feeling disgusted for having been forced to apologize to someone in a tube.
"I'm...sorry."
The girl stared at him unblinkingly, her cold, empty eyes shadowing her thoughts. She said nothing. She remained motionless. She simply stared at him, stared for several minutes. Her only word came after that uncomfortable silence, and made the boy jump: "Good."
Hojo silently crept up behind the boy, and whispered in his ear, "You're excused. Tomorrow will mark the beginning of a new experiment. You should get some rest."
Disclaimer: I don't own anyone from Final Fantasy Seven. If I did, I would be filthy rich and not have to worry about being sued. So don't sue me, okies?
