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"Don't move her too much"
"Yes doctor"
"Her blood pressure is normal, pulse accelerated"
"Is the injection ready?"
"Yes doctor"
"Her body is going into spasms! Doctor!"
"Its normal, it will pass as soon as the serum has fully entered her blood stream"
"Yes doctor"
"Doctor! Doctor Kowdaski" Zell shouted carrying a limp Quistis in his arms as he ran down the hall way of Balamb Garden. He had stopped by her room to check on her, to make sure she had gotten to sleep. The terror that had filled him when he found her in a puddle of blood was indescribable.
His feet pounded on the floor of the Garden with each stop. Her body was so cold, her arm torn and bloody. The wires that shone along her bone totally creeped him out.
Zell pounded into the infirmary his cries immediately alerting the doctor to the danger. Dr Kowdaski shoved the bedding and boxes piled onto the operating table.
"Put her here" She said rushed into the back room to gather supplies. Zell could hear the harsh snap of rubber gloves on skin. He placed on the metal table, wrapping his hands around her wound to stop the bleeding.
"Stay with us Quistis" Zell whispered waiting for the doctor to come out of the back.
"Quistis Trepe, formerly a teacher at Balamb Garden"
"She is a good specimen; the metal is bonding to her bone structure as expected"
"What about this man?"
"Specimen 0241, Seifer Almasy, we found her with him they were both knocked out in the hut"
"He's one of ours? How did the gas work on him?"
"He was the first specimen that ever survived the process, the old way"
"What do you mean the old way?"
"We would submerge them in a glass tube, and they would breathe in the serum. It would take days and most of the time the Specimen died from the process. The whole thing seemed very painful to them, imagine the days spent in agony"
"Why didn't he?"
"Who knows, strong will I guess"
"That's a real technical definition, Doctor"
"I do my best"
"I'll do my best Zell, now you have to let go of her arm" Dr. Kowdaski said softly, practically prying Zell away from Quistis. His heart was thundering in his rib cage, he couldn't believe this was his childhood friend here on the table. All they had been through, Quistis had always been the voice of reason in them all.
"She's one of those wired men" Zell said
"Woman" Dr. Kowdaski said, as she prepared a syringe full of a clear liquid.
"What's that?" Zell asked bouncing from foot to foot.
"It will make sure she stays knocked out while I sew up her arm, its going to be painful" Dr. Kowdaski said softly as she placed the needle to Quistis skin. She felt along the skin manipulating the metal out of the way to slide the needle into the vein.
Then the whole Garden shook around them, the whole building tipping. Both of them sliding across the floor, Quistis' limp body falling to the floor.
"What the hell is going on!?" Zell shouted outraged, hopping to his feet. Instantly he had Quistis back on the operating table.
"Attention all SeeDs, the Garden is under attack" Xu's voice clamored over the loud speaker. The Garden shook again, and a loud curse from Nida was heard over the PA system.
Dr. Kowdaski lifted herself up, rushing over to Quistis. Quickly the doctor began to stitch the blond woman's arm, trying to maintain her balance as the garden righted itself in the air.
"All trained SeeD's report to the quad immediately, it's the Lunatic Pandora" Xu's voice ended in a crackle as the PA system shut down. Zell looked up at Dr. Kowdaski with panicked eyes.
"Go, I can handle it" Dr. Kowdaski said expertly threading another stitch through Quistis' skin.
"Go on Riggs, I can handle this punk"
"Sir, he is going to kill us both. We have to place them back in the hut before the gas wears off on her"
"Dammit!"
"Doctor! The tranquilizer gun, quick!"
"Did you get him?"
"Yes he's down, tend to the woman, I'll take care of him"
"What was her trying to do?"
"Save her"
"Xu!" Zell said running into the quad area, staring around at the mass of SeeDs. All their attention was directed to one thing and one thing alone. The looming monolith of the Lunatic Pandora that was dangerously close to the Garden.
"Zell, where the hell is Quistis?" Xu asked loudly as he approached, weaving his way through the throng of people. He quickly filled her in, talking rushed and panicked. His arms gesturing wildly as he talked. She stood wide eyed, glancing at the Lunatic Pandora as it looked like it was coming in for another hit.
"I thought we destroyed that thing at the end of the war" Zell shouted as Selphie and Irvine came running up. Irvine's gun barrel was smoking, and they both looked panicked.
"Someone rebuilt it" Xu said in a dead voice.
"There are men offloading at the front gate, Xu" Irvine said in a rush cutting into the conversation. Xu rolled her eyes skyward, glancing at the enormous black structure beside the garden before turning in a dead run out of the quad.
"Half of you stay here, the other half with me to the front gate!" she shouted over the crowd, her brown flapping in front of her face. Zell nodded at Irvine and Selphie as they headed after Xu.
The massive structure rammed into the garden again, sending a giant shudder through the building. Zell heard the sound of metal on metal, the grating noise loud over all the people around him.
"Xu!" came Nida's panicked voice over the loud speaker. Zell flinched as he looked over the edge, watching the halo of the garden grind against the lunatic Pandora. Glowing metal tearing away, glistening pieces falling through the air.
"We are going down, immediate evacuation for all persons is ordered" Nida's voice was a deadly calm, silence suddenly falling over the Garden. Then all there was, was chaos.
"Why?" Zell asked staring up at the black building, before turning and rushing inside.
"Why would he do that?"
"He isn't grown in our lab like all the others, he was born"
"You mean he's a normal human?"
"Yes, he's been fighting our mind control for years"
"What about her?"
"We will have no control over her either, only the suggestions planted in her now"
"Then why are we doing this?"
"Its orders, Our Boss apparently likes to play peoples lives"
"I don't understand"
"Me either, I just do what I'm told"
"And we are just going to put her back in Shumi, like nothing happened"
"Yes"
"The president is trying to shut us down now you know"
"Of course, he got scared when we mastered the cloneing process"
"Do you think he will ever accomplish it?"
"No, our company practically owns Esthar and him"
"What about Seed? Garden?"
"It won't be long before they fall before us as well"
"We are falling!" it was a terrified scream of a young Cadet. Zell normally would have stopped to comfort her, to lend a helping hand. But only one thing was on his mind, Quistis and Dr. Kowdaski.
The smell of blood and antiseptic was thick in the Infirmary as he rushed in. The Doctor had her arm totally stitched up and was wrapping it quickly, using medical tape to cover the thick black stitching.
"We have to get out of here!" Zell said staring out the large glass windows at the Lunatic Pandora who was approaching at ramming speed again.
"I'm aware of that Mr. Dinct, I'm not finished" Dr. Kowdaski said with perfect calm as the Garden was practically falling down around them. The whole building was rattling, the floor shaking beneath his feet.
It was their home that was falling from the sky. The strongest of the Gardens, then infamous Balamb. The blue machine, plummeting to the earth. All the hopes and the dreams of the people in it came crashing down with it. Zell watched with horror through the glistening clean windows, as they closed in on dusky plains of Centra.
"There's no time!" Zell shouted rushing forward to throw himself over Quistis as the Garden hit the ground.
"There's no time, she's been half conscious through the whole procedure"
"You mean she'll remember all of this?!"
"Its possible that she will remember some of it when she discovers what has happened to her body"
"I knew this was too risky! I knew it"
"We have to finish the procedure, now get over here and help me!"
"Yes doctor"
"When we are finished she will be Specimen 2371, Quistis Trepe"
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Author's Notes:
Nothing to say other then I am happy you are all still with me. The next update will come sooner, I promise.
Thank you everyone for being so supportive.