Chapter 28

The sun was beginning to drop from the sky by the time the scientists had prepared all the necessary equipment for the procedure. Lucrecia, asleep under a general anesthetic, lay delicately upon a surgical trolley in the lab, complex pieces of equipment plugged into and over her body.

Gast and Hojo stood nearby, the Professor observing a computer screen and giving orders, whilst Hojo carried them out.

"A few degrees to the left."

Hojo adjusted one of the machines, which emitted a series of blips and clicks. "Better?"

"Yes… Yes, that's it. Set the thing off, and we should have a clear picture in a few moments."

A few more button presses, and the equipment hummed into life. A scanning device passed over the prone Lucrecia, shining a probing light onto her and sending the information back to the terminal.

The images were just appearing on the screen when Gast raised his eyebrows sharply in surprise. "Well…" he said at length. "It appears that our job has just been made ten times easier."

Hojo bustled forward, peering round the Professor's shoulder. "Eh? Why?"

"She's already pregnant."

"She's what?!?"

Now that was a surprise to both scientists. Gast pointed at the reading on his monitor. "Lucrecia is already pregnant. See here?" His finger drifted over a portion of the screen. "Not very far along by the looks of it. Impossible to tell, but I'd say four, maybe five weeks gone."

Hojo frowned, his brow creased deep in thought, as Jenova bombarded his mind. "Do you think she knows?" he asked, voicing the Ancient's question aloud. Gast shook his head slowly.

"I do not believe so" he replied carefully. "This early on, I doubt she'd be aware yet. And the embryo is still undeveloped enough for us to begin our infusions." The Professor stroked his chin as something else occurred to him. "Of course, if she doesn't know herself, then it's most unlikely that the father does either."

The pair exchanged glances. Now that was a stumbling block if ever there was one. Unless Lucrecia had been up to more than anyone had known, there was little question as to who the child owed the other half of it's parentage to. And that man would not idly stand by and give his child to the Project.

"Should we tell her? Or him?" Jenova prompted Hojo to ask the one thing on everyone's mind. The Doctor of course was perfectly happy to proceed and keep both parties in the dark. But the Cetra had suspicions about Gast's devotion to the cause. Was he sufficiently under the influence to surpress the true lineage of the child? It took an almost unbearable amount of time for the Professor to answer.

"…No." If Jenova could heave a sigh of relief, then that was certainly what the creature was doing now. Hojo definitely felt her relax at the statement. "We will continue as if the artificial insemination had taken place and she will not know any different. An emotional attachment to the child could be problematic." Gast rubbed at his forehead, and his face momentarily twisted with pain. "She will never know the difference." He hissed as another lance of pain shot through his temple. "Would… Would you excuse me for a moment, Hojo?" he asked. "Just need a glass of water…"

Hojo waved him on, newly enlightened as to the source of the Professors choice. Jenova found Gast more difficult to control, and consequently whenever she exerted her influence over him, it tended to leave the man with a splitting headache. The feeling Hojo was getting from the Ancient though was one of immense satisfaction though, and it wasn't long before he felt her presense in his mind.

"The choices have been well made" she pronounced. "Events have turned in favour yet again."

"You're not displeased?" Hojo was surprised and if he was honest, a little taken aback. He'd expected to provide half of the genetic material for the Project specimin himself.

"The Turk is stronger and faster" Jenova told him. "I am creating a soldier, not a scientist." Hojo seemed oblivious to the phrasing of 'she was creating', not 'you' or even 'we'. "His DNA will be a good framework for me to build upon."

Hojo accepted her reasoning without question. He always did. He was, however, still annoyed by the mere idea that the Turk had got there first, even if he was blissfully unaware of the fact. That pain was eased a little though by the knowledge that as far as Vincent was concerned, Hojo would be the father of Lucrecia's child. If that didn't make the damned man crack then nothing would.

- - -

"Well boss?"

Four Turks sat in their lounge inside Shinra HQ. Three old, one rookie. Kain had been a Turk for just under a week, but already he was fitting in nicely. It was strange, thought Vincent. Each of them missed Preston in his own particular way, yet they had all accepted Kain quickly and without incident. He supposed that it was a neccessity of Turk life. Your colleagues could be taken from you at any moment, you needed to be able to adapt. That was also why Turks were required to have as few personal ties as possible, though he knew he was violating that particular unwritten law by seeing Lucrecia.

Lucrecia… How that name churned him up inside. He prided himself on being a man who kept his emotions closely pinned down and subdued – again, it was part and parcel of being a Turk. But it had been so long since he had seen her face, her smile… Even since he had spoken to her. She'd been busier than normal recently, and he'd only managed a couple of brief words. Not that this had had any bearing on what he was about to say. Of course not.

"Boss?"

He dragged himself back to the meeting, since he was the one who had called it. "I'm returning to Nibelheim in two days" he announced. "We've been able to uncover nothing more about our mystery assassin, and we're wasting time going round in circles." Deacon looked quizzical. "Our man came from Nibelheim. The President also wants me to go resume my mission there. I can kill two birds with one stone and undertake some intelligence gathering whilst I'm at the Mansion."

Kain gingerly raised his hand, still a little unsure of procedures. "Er…"

"What is it?" Vincent trained his eyes on the rookie, making the new Turk shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He still wasn't used to the groups' leader. Frankly the man fair put the wind up him, even though he didn't have a gun to his head.

"What Nibelheim mission?"

Naturally, Vincent realised, Kain was too new to know about that yet. Unfortunately Linden filled in the information before anyone else could get a word in edgeways. "He's babysitting a batch of eggheads in some Mansion out in the middle of no-where" he said brashly. "One of whom" he sang, winking at Kain, "just happens to be his little girlfriend."

"The President" Vincent was forced to stress, "is running an important Project in Nibelheim, for which he demands the highest level of security. I am that security."

"But it's true about the girlfriend."

Vincent glared daggers at Linden, who got the message and promptly closed his mouth. "Now. I don't have enough time to complete your formal training. We've made a start, but I'm going to leave it up to these two to fill in the gaps and get you up to speed on everything." Linden gave a chirpy thumbs up in Kain's direction.

Deacon provided a voice of reason amongst the group. "When will you be back?"

"I don't know" replied Vincent honestly. "The Project takes as long as it takes. But Odin help me, I'm putting Linden in charge till then." The Turk in question jumped up from his chair with a whoop, punching the air.

"Oooo yeah baby!"

The leader of the Turks rapidly started questioning the wisdom of that particular choice. "Don't make me regret it" he said firmly, though he doubted he would have cause. He had worked with Linden long enough to know how the man operated. Sure, he had a more in-your-face attitude than most people, and his sense of humour was mired in the gutter, but he was a good man, who would do the job well in Vincent's absence.

Now he had a few hours to spare before heading off home to pack up his belongings again. And in that time, there was somewhere he wanted to go first.

- - -

Lucrecia woke up in the lab bed, still a little woozy from the anesthetic she'd been given. Groggily she rubbed her eyes, and sternly ordered her senses to co-operate with what her brain was telling them to do. Getting her bearings, she pushed away the sheets and swung her legs over the side to sit up.

"Urgh…" It felt like her brain was following a few seconds behind the rest of her body. Luckily Gast walked into the room in time to notice her nearly swoon off the trolley and steady her.

"Careful now Lucrecia" he warned in a friendly fashion. "We can't let anything happen to you now, you're the Project's most prized possession. Here, take this."

She smiled at the praise, and accepted the drink that the Professor offered her. Sipping the cold liquid, she found that her balance was beginning to return to her. "It went alright then?" she enquired, even having just undergone an operation, she was still eager for news about the procedure. Gast's nod was reassuring.

"It was a complete success" he said proudly. "We should be ready to start the Jenova infusions in a few days."

Lucrecia was surprised. "A few days? That soon?" She drained her glass before handing it back. "I thought we would require slightly more foetal development?"

The Professor's hesitation lasted only a fraction of a second which, in her current state, Lucrecia was unable to notice. "Not at all. The sooner we begin, the better." He placed the glass down on a sideboard and offered her his assistance in standing. "Now, you may want to lay down for a while, until the anesthetic has worn off" he advised. "We can't have you pushing yourself now, can we?"

"Yes" she said. "I think I will, if you don't mind."

The Professor watched Lucrecia make her way out of the lab and up the stairs before returning to his own desk. Hojo was sitting nearby, and looked up upon Gasts return. "Well?"

"She's gone to get some sleep."

"You didn't tell her?"

Gast shook his head, an action which seemed to trigger his headache again. "No. She simply knows that she now carries an embryo for the Project." He massaged his forehead once more. "In fact, that seems like a good idea. I could use some rest myself…"

Soon, Hojo was alone again. Except that with Jenova floating in her tank, he was never alone.