A/N: Someone said I hadn't covered Red XIII in a review. Red XIII fans do not worry, because I did. I gave you a hint in the last chapter. Something about cells I believe. If you can get that, you know he will be here soon. Perhaps even mentioned in this chapter... Cough! hint hint! Cough! Oh, this chapter is a bit shorter than the last one, because it"s still twelve years after and nothing much has quite happened after the last one. I promise to make the next chapter really long, however! Anyway! On with the fic!
Rotations Of Life
Chapter 3:
Who Is The Puppet?
Still Twelve Years Later
"Bring me Specimen A.395."
"Sir! He"s training another SOLDIER, sir!"
"Very well. Bring the trainee as well. I need him now."
"Yes sir!"
Hojo readied his equipment, muttering under his breath to himself. "Open file... No! Blasted keyboard..." He opened the file on specimen D.49.R, and read his notes.
'Progress is sound... Specimen searches for ways to get out. Very intelligent; points towards signs of equal with humans. Words are beginning to form...'
"What is it, Hojo? You know I do not like being interrupted. Especially while I am training..." Hojo turned to see Sephiroth finger Masamune, accompanied by a boy with blonde, spiky hair.
"My name's Cloud," the boy said. "Will this take long?" Cloud said somewhat irritably.
"No," Hojo said, mentally adding, 'At least, not in the cosmic sort of sense...'
"What do you want?" Sephiroth asked, his face smooth and expressionless.
"Just a shot. Nothing more..."
"How do you feel?" Sephiroth asked Cloud, not out of
sympathy, but wanting to know if he was able to begin his training again.
".........." Cloud unconsciously touched the place where Hojo had placed the shot. He swayed slightly in place, and tried to keep his balance.
Sephiroth glanced at him. "Mako has a strange feel, does it not? Especially for the first shot..." His voice trailed off, and Cloud, fighting to stay awake, wondered what he was thinking about.
"Do you even remember your first shot? I mean, your eyes are already lightened by it, so you must have had many before."
"No. I have-- always had them. You had better rest," he said, changing the subject."I will not be able to train you until tomorrow. Mako takes your strength at first." Sephiroth swept away, leaving Cloud to find his way to his room, stumbling with dizziness.
Sephiroth stood upon the balcony near the lab, thinking. It was a long fall, were anyone to go over the side, and many would be terrified by the sight.Not him. He was afraid of nothing. He did not understand this--fear. He did know people were frightened of him, and that most would do anything not to anger him.But he did not know what it was.
Anger, rage, he knew well.Calm and satisfaction he knew also, those being his main emotions. He did not understand much of what humans talked about as feelings. Love, compassion, fear, anxiety; all of these were as alien to him as the people that swirled around in the city below him. Strange that they should set so much by these.
He shook his head; none of those thoughts were worth his time. Finding what occupied Hojo's time was. He did know how to experience curiosity, and he was full of that emotion right now. He had been reading something about a specimen D.49.R, and Sephiroth suspected that used the cells he knew had been collected along with Jenova"s. Hojo had never known that Sephiroth had found out his password, a name, and never felt the need to change it.
Sephiroth glanced around the lab.No one was there.He settled himself at the computer and
entered the password: Lucrecia. He
had found the name on one of Hojo's files, and while awaiting a Mako shot had
seen him type it in. He opened the
file D.49.R and began to read.
Cloud woke up the next morning with a small
headache. His stomach growled,
mortified at the idea that he could have possibly bothered to skip dinner. He hastily changed his clothing,
realizing that he hadn't changed before collapsing on his bed, and left for the
mess hall. He noticed in a mirror
that was on the wall that his hair was even more spiky than usual, and in going
to smooth it down somewhat, he saw something that startled him. His dark blue eyes were lighter than
they had been the night before.
'How much Mako was in that shot, anyway? I thought it took at least three shots of normal doses to produce an effect...' he thought, and then the sight of food drove it out of his mind. He did not see Sephiroth anywhere, and assumed he must have already eaten. After all, he was slightly late for breakfast, and Sephiroth was down here as soon as it opened. Cloud envied his energy in the morning.
There wasn't a place to sit except on the end of a table, which had some Turks at it. They trained early as well. He sat down next to a boy of about his age with brown hair and tucked in. The boy rolled his eyes.
"He eats almost as much as Barret did..." the boy muttered to himself.
Cloud swallowed. "Who's Barret?"
The boy realized he had spoken aloud and flushed slightly. "Oh, just a boy I used to know. He was very liable to pick up bad habits and steal any food from the kitchens that he could."
"Oh. So I eat as much as him?"
"Well... not as much. I don't think anyone could eat as much as him."
Cloud chuckled. "What's your name? I'm Cloud." He stuck out his hand.
The boy took it, warily. "Vincent. So you"re a SOLDIER?"
"Yeah. I only got in a few months ago. Why'd you choose to be a Turk?"
"I dunno. Something besides living in an orphanage." Cloud fell silent and finished eating.He said goodbye to Vincent and dumped his tray in the wash bin. He left quickly to find Sephiroth, eager to begin his training again.
But when he went to the practice ground where Sephiroth normally was, he was not there. Cloud looked about confused. Sephiroth almost never deviated from his schedule, because to do so would be, as he put it, 'Irregular, and I see no need for it.' He took another look just to be sure, but there was no flash of silver hair to be seen.
He decided to look around the lab where he had gotten the shot the day before. Perhaps Sephiroth was there. He rounded the corner to hear the man named Hojo shouting. He ducked behind the doorway to listen.
"What compelled you to look into my files? I created you! You are nothing! Most of what you are wouldn't exist without me!"
"And that is to mean I cannot find things out about myself?" Cloud recognized Sephiroth"s cool voice. When he spoke like that, he had learned to shut up. But Hojo did not.
"Unless I make them known to you, you have no right! How did you guess my password?"
"Simple. You do type slowly. And after all, her picture is in your desk, and in your files."
"My desk--? You got into my desk? It's locked!" Cloud risked the chance of being seen to snatch a glimpse of Hojo's face. It was red with fury, and his mouth gaped open like a fish trying to breathe out of water.
"Not very well, I might add." Sephiroth looked perfect, as usual, with not a strand of his silver hair out of place. Cloud privately believed that he frightened his hair into staying like that, but he would never say it to his face.
"Out! Get out of my lab! Don't ever come in here without my permission! Out !" Hojo pointed a shaking finger towards the door, which Sephiroth looked at calmly, a sort of smile upon his face at seeing Cloud, who hurriedly hid his face.
"Do you really think you could force me anywhere?" He asked coolly, fingering his sword.
Cloud could not see Hojo's face just then, but he could hear how his voice had become a deathly quiet whisper."I can make your life a living hell, Sephiroth. I may not match you in strength; no human can, but I can make it so you will wish to die before I'm done with you."
"I think not."
"Do you really?" Hojo's voice became colder than Sephiroth"s in that moment, something Cloud couldn't believe was possible. "Do not try my patience, Ancient. I can do things you never dreamed of. Get out. I will not do them unless you force me."
Sephiroth chuckled. "I will go, but not for you. Your display has amused me, but I am done with you for now. I do not want to pull your strings so tightly that you snap."
He left the room with a swish of his black
cloak, beckoning to Cloud, who followed him, wondering what had been in those
files.
Hojo looked after him in distaste. "What does my experiment think he is,
the puppet master? I think not,"
he muttered to himself. "I think
soon it will be time for him to find out who really does pull the strings in
this show of life. Certainly not
him."
He logged onto his computer, and, cursing, changed his password. He brought up the file of the runaway, and picked up his phone.
"Have you found any trace of them?" he asked when the man on the other side picked up.
"Yes, but they fled again."
"Find them!" he snarled, and hung up. This day was, so far, one of his worst. He jumped slightly as the phone rang, almost as soon as he hung it up.
"Yes?" he asked.
"The experiment has been a success. It is beginning to talk."
"Good. I will be there shortly." Perhaps the day wasn't too bad, after all.
Well? I hope you understood who the experiment was... I might have made some reference in the
beginning.... So that's all for now! Oh, and Sephiroth fans, he might turn out to be a bit different then you think. Don't worry, I am not about to make him the good guy. It would make him lose his charm... :)
Lysaandi