Chapter 22

Lucrecia busied herself with her collection of samples. Batches of Jenova cells, all needing to be catalogued and sorted. Some of the more tedious work admitedly, but it had to be done. Seating herself at her desk, she picked up the first petri dish and turned it over to read the code on the base.

"Batch J#219…"

She scribbled down the number in her notebook and began a close scrutiny of the contents, jotting down her immediate impressions. Prising open the lid, she used a fresh spatula to extract a portion of the contents. Placing this onto a glass slide, Lucrecia slid the sample under the microscope and leaned over to have a detailed look.

Fascinating.

She still marvelled at the complexity of the Jenova cells. All her years in Microbiology hadn't prepared her for the uniqueness of the Ancient. For a species that was thought to be so close to humans, the frozen Cetra certainly seemed to have some extraordinary differences.

"Cellular regeneration already underway…"

The scientist finished her note taking. Satisfied that the specimin had been examined to the best of her ability, she placed the slide with the petri dish, and bagged them both, writing out a fresh label and put the final article to one side.

Jenova must have been incredibly powerful, she speculated. So much stronger, quicker and more intelligent. How much more could we ourselves be with this knowledge? The current ranks of SOLDIER were filled with humans who had been subjected to Mako infusions. What if they had had Jenova infusions instead?

Reaching over for another dish, she started the process again for the next sample. If the small team in Nibelheim could make that breakthrough, find some way to fuse human and Jenova, how good a fighting force would that produce? And more from her point of view, how well would such a great achievement reflect on her career? Professor Lucrecia Daley, perhaps? She allowed herself a small private smile. Professor Gast wasn't getting any younger. She held the man in awe, but one day a new Head of the Science Department would be required, and she could be that replacement.

Naturally, she contemplated, Vincent would hate that.

She paused. Where had that thought come from? Shaking her head to clear it, she went back to her work.

Well it's true. He doesn't care, he doesn't want me to succeed.

Again she stopped midway through her examination and sat upright in bewilderment. That was all wrong, wasn't it? Of course Vincent cared, how many times had he told her? He was always pleased to see her doing well.

At least that's what he says…

Lucrecia pinched her eyes with a hand. She must be tired. After all, she had been working long hours these past few weeks. Vincent would be happy to see her excel. Wouldn't he?

Turning her attention back to the work infront of her, the scientist pushed all such thoughts from her mind, focussing all her attention on the samples.

Floating in the tank, Jenova's consciousness allowed itself a feeling of satisfaction. The woman wouldn't be as easy as Hojo had been, but the seeds were planted and careful cultivation would see them bear fruit.

Pitiful humans…

She was capable of forcing herself directly into the minds of the weak willed, but all too often that damaged the human's fragile minds beyond repair, rendering them nearly useless. She needed capable puppets, not brainless automatons, so she had to be more subtle in her attack methods.

They all had a weakness, it was just a matter of finding it. The womans' was the Turk. The Turk and her own inner insecurities. By pushing in the right places and playing on her innate fear, Jenova knew that she would be won over without too much diffculty.

It was the Turk himself that was the problem. In theory he should have been easier than all the rest - obviously an assassin, a bringer of death, of chaos… The perfect candiate. But something was amiss. The centuries old being turned all her attention towards the stoic, blue suited hitman.

- - -

Blissfully unaware of the creature's designs on him, Vincent stood in his room, discussing the latest project developments with the President.

As part of his mission in Nibelheim, he had been ordered to report in to Shinra every week with any relevant information. Gast was most accomodating with the arrangement, providing the Turk with all the details he could possibly want (and much more, on many an occasion). He had no objections though. Combined with his discussions with Lucrecia, he had managed to acquire a reasonably in depth knowledge of the project. To begin with, he had had to call upon Gast to answer some of the Presidents questions. Now, he could field the majority of them himself.

"So all's going well, Vincent my boy?"

Since Shinra couldn't see him, the man in question allowed himself the luxury of a scowl. Did the President really have to keep calling him that?

"Yes sir" he replied, carefully keeping any sign of annoyance out of his voice. "I've faxed over Professor Gast's latest report for you as usual." Shinra scoffed loudly.

"You know damn well those things make no sense to me." Vincent couldn't help but agree. Science wasn't exactly an area of the President's expertise. Reaching up his free hand, he idly scratched at the back of his head while Shinra carried on. "As long as Gast knows what he's doing, that's good enough for me. How is the Professor anyway?"

Vincent smiled. "Same as usual sir. He asked me to pass on his best wishes to you and your wife, and his apologies that work prevents him from speaking to you today."

His hand strayed up to the back of his head again, where the itch was proving to be most persistant.

"Return the greeting" ordered Shinra genially. "He and I can have a talk next week. What about the other one? Doctor Hojo?"

"Walking round with a face like a slapped arse, sir."

The words were out of his mouth before he had a chance to hold them back. The Doctor had been even more peevish and strange than usual recently, a fact that Vincent hadn't thought possible (he wasn't best pleased at being proven wrong on that count). In fact, the Turk would swear blind that whilst patroling the mansion, he'd seen and heard Hojo talking and arguing to himself, almost as if he were conducting a conversation with thin air.

The first time he'd seen it, he'd been totally prepared to put it down to over-work. After the third, he'd come to the immediate conclusion that the Doctor was a few sandwiches short of a picnic and henceforth decided to refer to him as "The Crackpot".

Luckily for Vincent, the President was in a good mood and didn't object to the description. As it happened, he seemed to find it rather amusing. "Heh heh… From what I've seen of him, that just about sums him up." Vincent let out an audible sigh of relief, which Shinra obligingly ignored. "Keep me posted" he continued. "I want to know everything that's going on over there, and in language I can understand, not this gobbledy-gook on the fax…"

The Turk exchanged a few more words before flicking the PHS off and flinging it on his bed. The itch at the base of his skull hadn't receeded, in fact it seemed to be spreading and his temple was beginning to throb painfully. Striding over to the dresser, he pulled open one of the top drawers and rooted around until he found a small packet of pills. Prone to the occasional migraine, he always made sure to carry a few painkillers around with him. Popping a couple into his mouth, he decided to get out of the mansion for some fresh air. That would help. And perhaps a drink at the bar. That would help too.

- - -

Jenova pulled back her mind as the Turk moved further away from her sphere of influence. She was not troubled - to admit that she was would be to admit she wasn't as perfect as she wanted everyone to believe - but the Turk was most certainly an irritant. She was positive that his own flaw was the unexplainable feeling he had for the woman, but she justcould not worm her way inside his mind to exploit it. That fact… annoyed her.

Still, if she played the game well, then the woman would do all the hard work for her. The pawn would break the obstacle and effectively kill two birds with one stone. Pleased with the progress she had made today, Jenova sat back and watched. She had waited centuries for this opportunity, she could wait a little longer for the triumph that would unquestionably be hers.