Disclaimer: I own nothing even remotely associated with SquareSoft, excluding copies of several Final Fantasy games. The sad thing is, of course, that if I had not stated this, then there would have been a possibility of them owning my ass sooner or later. Feh, lawyers and copyrights. On a positive note, anything included in this story that does not have the following symbols already attached to them are the intellectual property of…well… me, myself, and I. Here they are: ®, ©, and TM . Are you happy now?! … Oh, yeah. By the by, this disclaimer is for the whole story. If I ever finish it, that is….

Forced Evolution:

Prologue

Digging up the dead is an exhausting form of labor, both physically and mentally. The burden the living place upon themselves for the recovery of the departed, the sorrow that permeates the atmosphere as a new body is discovered, and the respect unconditionally given to every cadaver, is perhaps one of the strangest life affirming experiences one can witness. For you see, every newly found corpse is synonymous with the turning of a page, bringing another disturbing chapter of mankind's history to a close, thus allowing a new one to be written.

Two months after the destruction of Meteor, as summer moves into fall, the cool pre dawn winds howl through the rubble of the plate that still hangs over Sector Four, cooling the overheated bodies of the men and women that compromise one half of the current work force on the third shift.

Nanaki, or Red XIII, as he was once known in darker times, does not notice this, thanks to his thick fur coat. Instead, he sniffs the air; once, twice, and a third time, following his nose inside a partially collapsed building. Following him is a team of workers, four men, one woman, and his assistant; a fifteen year old boy that came with his father to help in the effort, but soon found that he did not have the strong stomach required for dealing with decomposing bodies.

"Here," Nanaki states, coming to a halt before a large pile of ruble, his nose twitching slightly. "It seems there may be as many as ten here, I cannot tell." He scratches his nose quickly with the rough pads of his right paw before looking over to the group behind him. "I wish I could tell you more, but I believe I may very well have over worked myself entering this building. As always, if you cannot finish before we leave, do not worry, I will tell the next shift about this area."

" 'Kay boss," The leader of the small group nods. "I'll holler at ya 'for we leave, then."

Nanaki grins at the group, something they have become accustomed to; just as they have his ability to talk, and turns back, nudging his young assistant to signal that they are done for the moment.

"Is your nose really that messed up?" The young man, Jeremy, asked as they exited the building.

"There is nothing wrong with it, if that is what you mean," Nanaki replied. " The individual smells of each person fade with decomposition, however, and that makes it a bit harder to distinguish the number there may be; especially in such a closed in area."

"Oh, okay. just wondering." The boy sighed, looking over towards his father, who seemed to be taking a break with the rest of his group.

"Jeremy," Nanaki says, " if you wish to see your father while he is not busy, you may."

The boy flashed a smile in gratitude before running to his father, who quickly folded an arm over Jeremy's shoulders, lightly punched him on the jaw, and smiled down at his progeny.

Watching the scene from the corner of his good eye, Nanaki frowned slightly. Though not jealous of Jeremy and his father, the scene reminds him of all the things his mother's death, his father's petrifaction, and now his grandpa's death has deprive him of. He is after all, still a teenager, no matter how he acts in front of others. Oh, Holy, how he misses them….

"Hey, Boss! We found somethin' weird over here!"

He looked over in the direction of the voice to find the leader of the group he had just left fifteen minutes ago, running towards him, arms waving, with the others trailing behind him. "What, what is it?"

"There's some sort o' passage under alla 'at rubble in that place! An' by the looks a' it, there are way more than ten bodies in it…." The man exhaled loudly, stopping short to catch his breath.

Nanaki studied the man and his followers for a second. Ghostly pale, their eyes widened in shock, not to mention the scent on fear emanating from the small group forced him to take them seriously, despite the fact that they were one of the only plates still held by the support structure.

"Look, I used to live here an' I know there was no way there could be a basement in one a' the plates bu-"

"Stop. I believe you." Nanaki interrupted. " Jeremy, come here!"

The young boy returned to his side quickly, apparently having heard the man's initial calls. "Um, Sir?"

"Help me call the others."