Final Fantasy 7

Emerald Princess of Vernea

Chapter Twenty

Cloud and the two surviving AVALANCHE members gazed down into the conference hall below, as the meeting was about to begin. President Shinra was sat in his own chair at the head of the table, a formal look on his face as they prepared to begin their discussion. All around him were some of his top executives, and Barret was right – there were a lot of suits.

Heidegger was one of the executives at the table, a very smug look on his hairy face. Clearly he was still pleased over their triumph in Sector 7, and most likely he still believed that they had wiped out AVALANCHE along with the rest of the people in Sector 7. Sat beside him was Palmer, a rather plump man with a jolly red face that seemed to stand out amongst the serious faces of the other executives around him. He was also a Shinra Executive, but unfortunately his department in the company was one that was ignored most times. Opposite Palmer was a woman known as Scarlet, dressed in a long silk red dress with one long slit spreading all the way up to her thigh to reveal most of her leg, and had blonde hair that was tied up behind her. Her face was caked in make up to mask her cold-hearted expression, although it didn't work for she just looked as cold as ever. And lastly there was Reeve sat opposite Heidegger. He still looked uncomfortable and concerned over the recent events that had occurred, but as usual no one took any notice of his fears.

Reeve began the meeting. "We have the damage estimates for Sector 7," he said to the President. "Considering those factories we already set up and all the investments, the damage is estimated at approximately 10 Billion gil… The estimated cost to rebuild Sector 7 is…"

"We're not rebuilding," President Shinra interrupted blankly.

Reeve blinked. "What?"

President Shinra picked up a glass of water from the table and sipped it. He closed his eyes as he spoke. "We're leaving Sector 7 as it is," he said. "And restarting the Neo-Midgar plan."

"…Then the Ancients?"

"The Promised Land will soon be ours," the President assured him, putting his glass back down on the table. He looked at Reeve. "I want you to raise the Mako rates 15% in every area."

"Rate hike! Rate hike! Tra, la, la!" Palmer sang loudly, jumping up and down in his chair excitedly like a little kid. He looked at the President with a childish, pleading expression. "And please include our Space Program in the budget!"

President Shinra closed his eyes again and smiled. "Reeve and Scarlet will divide the extra income from the rate increase."

All at once Palmer stopped jumping up and down and froze on his chair, his hopes suddenly dashed. He knew what that meant – his department would get no money from the income at all. If it was just Reeve in charge of dividing the income there was a chance, but the moment the President mentioned Scarlet's name that ended it all. Scarlet was a cold-hearted witch concerned only with lining her own pocket and pouring money into her own department, which meant that Palmer and his Space Program would get absolutely nothing.

"Oh man!" he wailed. He dropped his head pitifully down onto the desk and shook it as his dreams were crushed once again.

"Sir," Reeve said suddenly. "If you raise the rates, the people will lose confidence…"

"It'll be all right," President Shinra assured him knowingly. "The ignorant citizens won't lose confidence, they'll trust Shinra, Inc. even more!"

Heidegger laughed loudly, his coarse voice like a grater as he laughed. "Ha, ha, ha! After all, we're the ones who saved Sector 7 from AVALANCHE!" he taunted, and laughed again.

Up in the air duct above, Barret fumed angrily.

"That dirty #$$!" he cursed furiously. He looked just about ready to burst into the meeting and kill everyone in that conference room. Luckily he maintained just enough of his composure to restrain himself, and continued to look down into the meeting. Even so, his fist was shaking uncontrollably.

It was at that moment that the door to the conference hall opened as a man walked in, and Cloud and his two friends leaned down as far as they could to see who it was. He walked up to the end of the conference table and stopped.

He was obviously some kind of scientist, for he was wearing a long white lab coat that ran all the way down to his black shoes and almost dragged along the floor. His face was incredibly pale as though it had never seen any sunlight at all (he was probably cooped up in his laboratory all day!). His hair was black and long, brushed slickly back into a ponytail that ran down to his shoulders, and a set of large glasses covered his small eyes. He had a very emotionless and blank expression, but through the glasses there was a cold, callous expression in his eyes. As he entered, walking with his arms clasped behind his back, everyone on the conference hall looked at him expectantly.

"Hojo," said the President. "How's the girl?"

Hojo only glanced at the President. "As a specimen, she is inferior to her mother," he reported. He looked down again thoughtfully. "I'm still in the process of comparing her to her mother, Ifalna, but for now the difference is 18%."

"How long will the research take?"

Hojo stood upright and folded his arms in thought. "Probably 120 years," he answered finally after considering all the factors and procedures needed for his research. "It's probably impossible to finish in our lifetime. Or in the lifetime of the specimen too, for that matter." He turned back to the President and his executives. "That's why we're thinking of breeding her. Then we could create one that could withstand our research for a long time."

"What about the Promised Land?" President Shinra asked. "Won't it hinder our plans?"

"That's what I need to plan," said Hojo. He turned away. "The mother is strong… and yet has her weaknesses." He covered his mouth with one hand as he chuckled darkly to himself, many plans hatching in his little mind.

President Shinra nodded. "That concludes our meeting," he said.

With that the president got up out of his chair and headed calmly towards the door, leaving the meeting room and his executives behind. Once he was out of the room the other executives stood up and began to leave the room one by one in silence.

Scarlet stopped suddenly while the others walked past her. She looked around and sniffed the air, before turning to the grate in the ceiling above her. Her lip curled in disgust, and the cold expression was clear on her face as if an arrow had pierced a calm and tranquil pool of water.

"Something stinks…" she muttered, her voice just as cold and unfeeling. Then she left the room, walking firmly on her high-heeled shoes. When she left she shut the door of the room behind her, and only then could Cloud and his group relax and breathe freely once again.

"They were talking about Aeris… right?" Cloud asked.

Barret shrugged. "I dunno."

"Probably," said Tifa.

Cloud looked back down into the empty briefing room. "Let's follow 'em," he said.

He began to clamber back through the air vents towards the grate where they had first climbed up, and dropped quietly back down into the empty toilets. Barret and Tifa followed him, and they walked out casually out of the toilets, as though they belonged, and headed back round to the front of the meeting room.

Before they stepped out into the corridor leading towards the stairs, Cloud and his group quickly came to a stop as they saw a familiar figure standing in the corridor, also heading towards the stairs. It was Hojo, the scientist from the meeting. He was walking casually towards the stairs, his arms hanging loosely behind his back, lost in thought as he walked.

"Hojo… huh…?" Cloud whispered.

He leaned in close to the wall of the meeting room and looked more closely at Hojo now that he was a little closer. He was fairly certain that Hojo had been talking about Aeris when he talked of her as a 'specimen' and when the president referred to 'the girl'. He remembered Elmyra saying that Aeris once said she and her mother, her real mother, escaped from some kind of science laboratory. He was therefore quite sure that Hojo had been the scientist in charge at the time, and would certainly know where Aeris was. He nodded to Barret and Tifa behind him, and the three of them slid out quietly into the corridor, trying to avoid being seen by Hojo, as well as avoid looking suspicious by the people walking around them.

They entered the stairway in time to see Hojo walking up the stairs away from them towards the next level, since someone of his important would surely have access to the higher levels.

Sure enough, as Hojo entered the next floor, he pulled the next key card out of his pocket and swiped it through the slot. The red light turned blue and the door opened, allowing Hojo through. Yet Hojo neglected to swipe the card to lock the door again, and simply left it wide open as he carried on. Which was just perfect for Cloud and his team as they followed him up onto the next level, and stopped just at the top of the stairs. This was the last set of stairs leading up, for everything else was super-restricted.

"I remember him," Barret said suddenly. He crossed his arms and tapped his foot against the floor. "That Hojo guy. He's in charge of Shinra's Science Department. Cloud, don't you know him?"

Cloud also crossed his arms thoughtfully, and shook his head. "This is the first time I've ever actually seen him," he admitted. He looked up at the ceiling. "So… that's what he looks like…"

They left the stairway and walked onto level 67 of the Shinra building. It was clear from the off that this was Shinra's most technical level. There were many closed off offices, but from within them came the sounds of computers and people talking, hard at work even through the night. This was the home of Shinra's Science Department, where Hojo worked.

Hojo was actually just a little way ahead of them, walking around to a small clearing filled with crates and tubes where he kept his prized specimens. As Hojo entered the clearing he walked straight up to one large glass cylinder that rose all the way to the ceiling like a lift, and peered inside of it. Cloud's group were only a few feet behind, but instead of charging in and demanding information from Hojo, they decided to wait and see what was happening. There was a large pile of crates in the corner of the clearing next to a large dome-shaped holding cell, and the group hid behind that to observe. They were just in time too, for just as they hid one of Hojo's assistants walked in and up to Hojo.

"Is this today's specimen?" he asked.

Hojo didn't even turn around. "Yes," he replied. "We're starting right away. Raise it to the upper level."

His assistant nodded, before he turned and left to wherever the 'upper level' was. Once he was gone Hojo turned back to the glass shaft and peered again inside. His eyes seemed to light up for the first time as he looked inside at the creature that was held securely in there, seemingly very excited by his own genius. He reached out and gently tapped the side of the cell to get a reaction, but got nothing in return.

"My precious specimen…" he whispered, very fondly. He then stood firmly upright, and began to saunter out of the clearing.

Once he was gone, Cloud's team stepped out from behind their hiding place. Tifa walked right up to the glass shaft and peered at what was inside.

It was a very strange creature that seemed to resemble a red wolf or a very large dog. It had a strong, sturdy body with a firm coat of fiery red fur that was covered in scars, presumably from battle. Its face was rectangular, but it had a mouth full of ferociously sharp teeth that looked incredibly strong. It had a small mane of sorts around its head, but it wasn't very large. There was also a long scar covering one of its eyes, and it was blinded there, although it seemed to be quite aware all the same. It also had a long tail that was swaying gently behind it, with a furry tip that emitted a fiery glow. What was most peculiar about this creature was the tattoo it had on its left shoulder. A tattoo saying 'XIII' – thirteen. It looked at Tifa through its one good eye as she leaned in and tapped the glass gently.

"Precious specimen…?" the girl whispered softly as she looked at the creature sitting dolefully inside. She looked up. "Is it going to be used for a biological experiment?"

Neither Cloud nor Barret answered her, simply because the answer was obvious. Tifa's face cringed up painfully as she turned back to the creature, wishing with all her heart that there was some way she could save the poor creature from its fate.

While there was silence, Cloud slowly turned his head and glanced over at the peculiar dome beside them. It was made of an extremely thick metal, and the door was just as thick, with a single thick glass panel to enable others to see inside. There was a strange purple glow coming from within the dome. Cloud stared for a moment, and noticed a metal nameplate on the head of the door.

"Jenova…" he read. Curiously he walked over to the door and grabbed onto the rim of the window, pulling himself up to look inside.

The sight he was greeted with sent terrible cold and shocking chills down his spine, chilling his blood until it was like ice running through his veins. The creature contained inside was a misshapen mess, with a long body of flesh that seemed to thicken the lower down it got, and hideous lumps around its collarbones (if it had bones) that almost looked like eyes glaring back at him. There was nothing past its neck – its head had been cleanly removed. What was most terrifying of all was that it was pulsing slightly and moving a little – still alive, even without its head.

The shock of the sight made Cloud lose his grip on the window, where he dropped back down onto his feet. He stepped back, but already his knees were turning to jelly as he lost the feeling in the lower half of his body. A loud ring resonated loudly in his ears and he held his head tightly, unaware that his body was shaking uncontrollably. It was only as he fell to his knees and collapsed onto the floor that Tifa and Barret noticed, and Tifa ran to him quickly. Cloud tried to stand up as she approached, but his knees were still weak and he simply fell back into Tifa's arms.

"Jenova… Sephiroth's…" Cloud gasped, his voice faint and trembling. "So… they've brought it here."

"Cloud, be strong!" Tifa urged him. She wrapped her arms tightly around Cloud's shoulders, pressing his head against her chest. He was shaking badly, but was still strong enough to speak.

"Did you see it?" he asked.

"See what?" asked Barret.

"It's moving… still alive?"

Barret turned to the dome and looked at the door. He then walked over and peered silently into the dome. His eyes opened wide and he jumped back fiercely, just as shocked by the creature.

"Where's its $#&& head!?" he shouted angrily, waving his arms around. He stopped jumping and waved to Cloud and Tifa. "This whole thing's stupid. Let's keep goin'."

The group turned and left the dome containing the hideous headless creature, and deeper into the clearing. They were sure that they were close to Aeris – they could almost feel her light-hearted, happy presence beside them.

Hojo had talked about moving the wolf-like creature to the 'upper level', which the group presumed to be the next floor up, Level 68 of the Shinra building. The only way up to the higher floors now was through the lift and the key cards, and they had no doubt that Hojo was the only one on this floor with such access, so there was no use them trying to get a key card from anyone else on this level. However this part of the level was a storage space, so they figured that there must be some way of moving the crates and specimen cages up without using the lift.

Sure enough, there was a way just a little further into the clearing. There was an old-style lift in the far corner, which was just a metal platform within a grated cage, with a pulley to pull the lift up towards the higher levels. The group immediately piled onto it. Once they were all safely inside Tifa pulled the old rusty gates shut, and Barret and Cloud began to pull on the pulley. There was a loud grating sound as the lift began to move jerkily upwards, little by little, towards the floor above.

As they finally reached the top, Barret secured the pulley in the hinges to stop it from dropping down back to the floor below. Tifa then forced the old, rusty gates open, letting in a bright wave of light from the floor they were on. One by one they piled out, and stared at the sights that awaited them.

Cloud opened his eyes wide.

"Aeris!"