Disclaimer: I do not own FF7. All I own is Aiden.

Hojo's experimentations…alterations. Things happened that no living beings should ever have to go through. The side effects? Well, I've seen everything from shape shifting to enhanced abilities to multiple body parts to things that were able to cast spells without materia. Most side effects were quite unpleasant, very few were helpful. Maybe I was one of the lucky few who's 'alterations' weren't grotesquely unpleasant…or maybe Hojo purposely left me whole. Maybe he followed orders.

The inside of the cell was cold, dry and sterile. There was nothing but a small, hard bench in it. There was a small window on the door that let the guards check in on her whenever they wanted to. Sephiroth had left the chains on and she slumped down on the bench. She looked down at the chains. It was a possibility to hang herself but that would take some work.

Aiden scooted onto the floor and lifted her feet up, bending her knees at the same time. She slipped her head under the side of the chain that connected the chains around her waist to the shackles that bound her ankles. Trying not to move around too much, she lifted her head so that the chain was under her chin. Tilting her head down she moved it under the chain again. There. Now all she needed to do was kick her legs out. She whispered a small prayer to Leviathan before kicking out. The general was dimly aware of the guards working frantically to get the chains off and stop the blood that was flowing from her torn flesh. She faded away, vaguely disappointed that she didn't break her neck as the guards and medics worked at a frantic pace to keep her alive.

Sephiroth was sitting on a cold metal chair in the nude. Scientists scurried about, taking blood, vital signs, measuring this, measuring that. Hojo was so worried about his precious experiment. Sephiroth sneered and the man looking at his eyes took a step back before shakily going back to his work. Sephiroth considered laughing but decided against it. Hojo walked up and injected a syringe full of dark purple liquid into his arm. Sephiroth arched one eyebrow slightly as he watched the small mousy man.

"What's that?" Sephiroth asked as he stood and donned his clothing. Hojo smiled.

"Nothing, nothing at all. Come back down here if you feel any strange side-effects." He instructed before he returned to his workstation. Sephiroth shook his head and grabbed hold of the Masamune before heading out the door. Just as he was exiting, a medical team rushed in through the double doors, pushing a patient strapped to a metal table. Sephiroth stepped to one side and cocked his head as he recognized the 'General' of Wutai. How had she managed to rip her neck up like that?

"Hojo, keep her alive and her mind intact. Make sure she can speak." Sephiroth ordered over his shoulder before leaving the room. Hojo was already hunched over Aiden, up to his elbows in blood. He barely acknowledged Sephiroth's words.

"So, will she live?"

"Yes sir. Hojo is…altering her at the moment." The SOLDIER replied sharply and bowed to the fat man sitting behind the desk.

"How long till we can question her?"

"Currently unknown sir. Depends on how Hojo's alterations take hold."

"Dismissed." The president said, going back to his work. The SOLDIER scurried off.

Aiden's eyes fluttered open and everything was fuzzy. She figured out that she was looking at someone leaning over her. All she could make out though was black hair and white clothing. All the fine details weren't there yet. That person put some eye drops in her eyes that burned. She groaned and blinked her eyes rapidly, squeezing them shut for a few seconds. Slowly she opened her eyes. The could see in detail but the room was so bright it hurt her eyes.

"Can you think for yourself? Come now, answer up." A slightly nasal voice demanded.

"…yes…what happened to me?" Aiden replied after thinking for a second. Last thing she remembered was the blinding pain as she used the chains to try and kill herself. Frantic scribbling of something being written at high speeds was heard.

"How does your body feel?" The voice continued with it's demands, ignoring her questions.

"Where am I?" She repeated.

"Answer now." The voice growled. Aiden almost groaned, she guessed it wouldn't hurt her to tell this guy what was wrong with her body right now. Maybe he was a doctor and would give her some potions.

"I feel lightheaded, my neck hurts, my stomach is upset and it feels like something is trying to crawl out of my back." She replied. She heard him writing on his note pad again.

"Take her back to her cell, tranquilize her if you have to." He ordered.

"Yes Professor Hojo." A couple of voices replied.

Professor Hojo? That sounded disturbingly familiar. Hojo, wasn't that the name of ShinRa's mad scientist? Oh just great. As soon as she felt the restraints open she flipped herself backwards off the bed. Aiden yelped as she stumbled backwards into a couple of hospital goons. You know, the typical buff guy type from the psycho ward dressed in all white. She flung her arms back to hit them, not expecting them to budge from such a weak blow but the goons cried out in pain as they fell back. She was startled, needless to say but darted for the door. People were yelling and Hojo's voice was one of the loudest.

Zack was strolling down the hall with a couple of his friends. They were heading for the science floor to get a check up and get some more immunization shots. He was laughing at some corny jock his friend had made when they heard the commotion coming from Hojo's lab.

"Hey, ya think one of Hojo's Projects got loose?" one of his friends asked.

"Maybe, wanna go check it out?" Zack replied, grinning. The three young males laughed and started running towards Hojo's labs. They turned a corner and slammed into someone running the opposite direction. All four of them fell into a pile on the ground.

Aiden pushed herself to her knees and looked at the people she crashed into. She blinked as she recognized the spiky black haired SOLDIER. Him and his two friends were laying there, staring at her. She looked down and realized that the paper shift she was in had torn. She glared at Zack and punched him squarely in the nose. She pushed herself to her feet and started running down the hall.

"That was Hojo's 'project?'" the ensign asked as she sat up and watched the white clad goons run after her with tranquilizer guns.

"That was the POW that Sephiroth brought back from Wutai. I heard she was a general." The 3rd class SOLDIER replied. They both looked at Zack who was trying to get his broken nose to stop bleeding and his eyes to stop watering and laughed at him.

"Come on, let's get you to the medic." The ensign said as they helped him up and razzed him the whole way about getting his nose broken from a half clothed chick.

Aiden continued running, she felt a little bit better. She had punched that asshole who had knocked her down while she was trying to escape the first time. She tried to keep the torn edges of the paper shift together. She really had to loose the goons and get some clothing off of some one. She looked around. Yep. Definitely lost. Aiden sighed as she rounded another corner. She skidded to a stop.

"Ahh shit…" She muttered before gunshots exploded in the hall. Aiden's body jerked this way and that as the bullets tore into her body. After a few seconds someone called a cease-fire. Aiden dropped to the floor, blood streaming out of the multiple gun shot wounds.

Sephiroth and Hojo strode into view. Suddenly the guards that has shot the general looked very nervous. Hojo knelt and took her pulse.

"…Take her to the IC unit." He ordered. Aiden was loaded onto a medical gurney and carted off. Hojo looked at the guards.
"If she dies the four of you will be held responsible." The guards were suddenly very pale and looked sick.

"Dismissed!" Sephiroth barked the order after memorizing which soldiers they were. The four guards made themselves vanish quickly.

"So she will live?" Sephiroth asked as they made their way back to Hojo's labs.

"Yes. I made her stronger, more durable. She'll last longer under questioning as well."

"When will she be available?"

"Tomorrow evening." Sephiroth nodded and went to report to the President.