There was probably no greater authority on Mako in the world than Professor Gast Faremis. Entering the scientific community just as Mako was beginning to arouse interest, he had eagerly seized the opportunity to learn more about this new source of energy. During this time, he had watched Shinra Electric grow from a small, insignificant company reliant on fossil fuels, to one that encompassed the globe (or at least most of it), tapping into a seemingly inexhaustible supply of raw power. Under his guidance, the Science department had blossomed, in many ways steering the direction of the whole company. Now, with Shinra branching out and becoming a major player in a variety of industries, their studies had also broadened. But still, Mako remained his lifelong fascination.

Gasts' current project was investigating the effects of Mako exposure to Shinra workers. Reports of erratic and bizarre behaviour had filtered in from some of the reactor crews, so a team had been assembles to study the anomaly.

"Fascinating…"

Gast ran his finger down a column of figures on his notes, double checking his calculations. Finding everything to be in order, he looked back at his specimens. At first glance, they appeared to be no different to the various other lab mice dotted around the floor. A little perkier perhaps, more active, but otherwise the same. Closer inspection however, revealed a very slight glow to their pink eyes, almost imperceptible to the untrained eye.

Opening the cage door, he reached inside and gently picked up one of the mice, holding it up on the palm of his hand. Yes, there could be no doubt about it. There was a definite change to the animal.

"Most curious." He set the creature down in a purpose built maze next to the cage, watching as the mouse made short work of the puzzle. Scribbling furiously, Gast repeated the small test, continuing to add to his already lengthy notes.

He was still like this when Vincent walked in, fifteen minutes later. Seeing the man bent over the table, switching his gaze between the paper and the mice, his attention was completely on his work and never noticed the Turk enter the room. Realising that Gast was engrossed in the experiment, Vincent gave a polite cough to draw his attention. "Ahem… Professor? Professor Gast?"

The scientist looked up with a start, clearly surprised at the sudden interruption. Upon seeing who his visitor was though, his face creased into a warm smile. "Ah, Mr Valentine" he said cheerfully. "Good of you to drop by. Come over here, look at these little fellas."

Vincent returned the smile and walked over to join him, genuinely pleased to see the Professor. The two were friends of a sort, although theirs was as unlikely a friendship as could be imagined. Gast had occasionally lectured at the same University that Vincent had attended as a student and although Vincent studied Engineering, he had heard a lot about the scientist at his years there, even sneaking into a few of Gasts' presentations. Once graduated, he came to work for Shinra, and had immediately approached the affable older man. For his part, Gast had found the young Turk to be in possession of a keen mind and sharp wit, who seemed to enjoy discussion, even if some of it was a little out of his league. Since his rank gave him access to the entire building, Vincent had been quick to discover the vast library housed inside the Headquarters, and spent a lot of his spare time there. He was also free to wander the Science floors and catch up with the Professor.

Reaching the table, he saw that the Professor has a selection of mice running through mazes. Raising an eyebrow he enquired as to their purpose. "What have you got going on here, Professor?"

Gast smiled once more. "Ah, Mako of course!" Vincent nodded – of course it would be something along those lines. "I've been testing how it affects them. Mild Mako exposure. Look at this chap…" He picked up the nearest mouse and held it out for inspection. "This is Bob."

Vincent looked warily down at the rodent. "Er… Hello Bob?" he replied, unsure of what was expected of him at this point.

"No, no, no… Look at the eyes" Gast said by way of explanation.

Leaning forward, Vincent peered closely at the mouse, and quickly noticed the strange pink glow. His own eyes widened in surprise as he straightened up. "Please tell me that isn't X-Ray vision" he said dryly. "Because if that little guy's eyes start shooting lasers then I'm out of here."

Gast sighed in mock exasperation. "Not X-Ray vision" he clarified, "it's Mako poisoning. No… Not quite that either really. It's what you might call very mild Mako poisoning. Not so much as to be hazardous, but enough to send the DNA into flux." He deposited the mouse back into its' cage. "Somehow the Mako enhances the senses. If it's not given in too high a dosage of course."

"To what end?"

"Ah, now there's the question." The Professor scratched his chin as he pondered. "Eventually? I suspect that, given the proper tests and trials, the same could be applied to humans. We've got a long way to go before that though. One of my compatriots in Junon has written a paper on it. Quite remarkable theories he has on the subject."

Vincent nodded again, reminding himself that this particular visit was supposed to be for business purposes, rather than pleasure. "Actually Professor" he began, "there was another reason for my coming to see you."

"What's that then?"

Pulling a small leather drawstring pouch from his jacket pocket, Vincent placed it on the desk in front of Gast. "Open it."

Carefully, the Professor opened the strings and peered inside. Immediately his eyes lit up with a glow almost to rival Bobs'. "Materia!" Eagerly he emptied the contents onto his hand. "Where did you get these? They look remarkable… Such quality! Pure crystallised Mako!"

"I found them in Wutai" explained Vincent simply, somewhat skirting round the finer details of the excursion. He was always a little uncomfortable discussing his job, preferring to gloss over some of the more… unpleasant elements. Obviously Gast was fully aware of what Vincent did for a living - there were few who were not - but he paid it little mind. He never probed for more information, just accepted what the Turk said at face value. Besides, an interest in science cancelled out a lot in his estimation. "The President has asked that you examine them. Ideally he'd like to know whether the Wutai Reactor plan is worth pursuing."

"Naturally" Gast replied. "I'll set up the appropriate teams immediately."

"Teams? What teams?"

A new voice intruded upon the conversation, one that managed to fill those three words with an incredible amount of venom. Turning his head to locate the source of the sound, Vincents' gaze fell upon a man standing in a doorway, evidently another scientist if the white lab coat was anything to go by. He noticed a slightly pained expression pass across Gasts' face, and it didn't take a Turks' training to figure out that there were unspoken issues lurking in the background here.

The Professor gestured towards the new arrival. "Mr Valentine, meet Doctor Hojo, another member of my department. Hojo, this is Vincent Valentine, of the Turks."

The newly identified Hojo walked forward, and Vincent was able to get a full measure of the man. He was a little on the short side, at least compared with the six foot Turk. Lank black hair was slicked back into a ponytail, giving his face a rather stretched look. He wore glasses perched precariously on the end of his aquiline nose, whether they were there by accident or design Vincent was not sure. Overall his expression was drawn into a slight sneer and despite being several inches the shorter, he seemed to be trying to look down at everyone else in the room. Still manners cost nothing, so Vincent extended his hand to shake. "Doctor Hojo."

Hojo gave the outstretched hand a glare, then turned this onto the other man. After an appropriately uncomfortable pause, he eventually returned the gesture to shake hands briefly, muttering a derogatory "Turk" in Vincents' rough direction. Immediately dismissing him as unimportant, Hojo turned his attention to Professor Gast. "So what teams were you discussing?" he enquired sharply. "As Senior Laboratory Manager, it is my job to…"

Gast made placating motions with his hands. "Yes, yes, I know" he answered in a tone that showed he had clearly heard all this before. "I was pointing out the need to establish some groups to look into this new cache of Materia Mr Valentine has located. They're quite remarkable specimens really."

"I see." Obviously he could find nothing overly wrong with the argument. Still completely ignoring Vincent, he reached over to pluck up one of the Materia orbs and inspect it. His face crinkled up even more as he searched every inch of the crystal for potential flaws. "Hmmm, not the best example I've seen… Scratched in places, not completely pure… Still, I suppose better we take them than the Turks, at least we know what we're doing." With that he gave the barest of nods to his superior before sweeping towards the exit as if Vincent didn't even exist.

Just before he could reach the door, Gast pulled him up short. "Hojo!" he called. "Remember this is my lab, not yours. You may be in charge of the roster, but I pay your wages."

Hojos' eyes bulged, his face a contrast - stormy with anger yet mortified he had been singled out in front of someone else. For a second he opened his mouth, on the verge of spitting back a vicious retort, but he managed to exert some self-control and snapped it shut before leaving and slamming the door behind him.

Vincent watched the Doctor leave with a slightly bemused expression on his face. Gast noticed and gave a wry smile. "That concludes your first introduction to the phenomenon that is Hojo" he deadpanned. "A competent scientist with some good insight, but that doesn't mean I have to like him."

The Turk couldn't help but smile back. "We can't choose our colleagues" he said.

"Indeed we cannot" Gast agreed. "Anyway, I'll get right on those samples. Whatever Hojo says, I'll have a team organised within a few days and hard at work."

"That would be most helpful" replied Vincent. "Now if you'll excuse me?"

"Of course, don't let me keep you. Nice talking to you again Mr Valentine." Gast waved as Vincent walked towards the elevator. "You should get some answers by the end of next week."

oOo

"The man is an ass."

Vincent had returned to the Turks Lounge after his visit to the Science Department. Because of their unique talents and services, the Turks were afforded their own floor in the building, complete with all the facilities they could possibly desire. Armoury, weapons range, fitness suite and relaxation area, all decked out with the latest in creature comforts. It generally paid to keep them pleased – a happy Turk carried out his job well, and the better equipped he was to do that job then the better it all worked out for the company. The Lounge was a spacious area full of couches, complete with its own mini bar. Vincent had walked in to find Linden sitting down in one of the chairs, smoking yet another cigarette and reading a daily paper. Out of curiosity, he had enquired about Hojo, and received a damning response.

"A complete and total pompous ass" repeated Linden. "I swear I just met the man for ten minutes, but it didn't even take that long for me to hate his guts."

Falling into a nearby couch, Vincent sighed as he slumped back and relaxed. "I can claim the record then. It only took me three minutes." He sat forward enough to pull off his jacket and throw it onto the neighbouring chair before slouching again. Removing the jacket revealed twin holsters strapped round his chest, each holding an exquisitely crafted handgun. He took one out and began pulling it to pieces, checking each part individually while Linden continued his commentary.

"All I had to do was escort him and some other egg heads to this convention thing somewhere in Junon. Don't even know why I was there, since it was hardly like anyone was gonna top anyone this boring, but it was orders, so I do it. Said about ten words to me the whole time, and they were all 'do this, do that' commands. Rest of the time, zip. Nothing. You know, it's amazing he isn't lopsided, he's got such a chip on his shoulder. He had the biggest attitude problem I have ever seen in my life, he's got like, this look that he puts on you, as if you're something he scraped off the bottom of his shoe and he was rude to just about everyone on the whole trip."

Vincent looked up idly from his dismantling. "You done?"

"No. He was also greasy." Linden snorted loudly. "Like I said, an ass. If he's not careful then he's gonna come down with a major case of death, you know what I'm saying?"

"Hooligan."

The junior Turk shrugged indifferently. "So sue me. Heh, if you're not careful you'll turn into one of them. All that time you spend in there talking to the boffins."

"Professor Gast is a very interesting man, you should try it sometime."

"Nah, not for me. I'll leave all that to you, Mr University Education. Me, I'm plannin' to hit the bar. You coming?"

Vincent looked down at the multitude of gun parts now lying in front of him. "You know" he said, "after that little encounter, I do. Just let me get dressed." He swiftly pulled the other revolver out of its' holster and put it next to the scattered pieces. Getting up, he walked over to a wall cabinet, which he opened. Surveying the contents, he took out two more polished firearms, examined them and dropped them into the holsters. "Alright" he said heading for the door and collecting his jacket en route. "I'm ready."

A/N: I wrote this way before Advent Children was released, but somehow I wasn't surprised when it turned out the ex-Turk was the one explaining Geostigma and Jenova. I think Vincent must have at the very least a passing interest in more bookish studies. Is there anything he can't do?