9

The Test

Jasper's mother had died two weeks ago and he didn't know where to turn, he had never known his father and his half-brother had run away a year ago. His childhood could have been better; at least he didn't live in the slums. His mother had been a secretary at the Shinra Inc until the meteor struck. After that the company had to make cuts, his mother got a good redundancy package though and found work in Kalm while Midgar was being re-built. It had been better for him since his elder brother had run away; Jez always blamed him for his father divorcing their mother. It had been a one night stand that resulted in his mother being divorced from her husband and the conception of Jasper. Jez had every right to not take to his younger half-brother, or that's what Jasper thought anyway. His mother had moved back to Midgar a couple of months ago when she fell ill. It was cancer and too late to do much about either. If he had been a normal kid he'd be worried about Jez not knowing she had died. But Jez knew. Jez was an Indigo Child. Jasper was too, the voices never did go away, but Jasper prided himself on being better than his brother at ignoring them. He refused to give into them. The other thing Jasper refused to do was go to the orphanage, he'd heard the stories that came out of that place and would much rather take his luck with his friends parents for a while, until he decided about going to join the Children who had been calling him to them for so long.

Tonight he slept at his friend Toko's house, he was nice enough, and his mother had taken sympathy at his situation, but he knew the welcome would run cold eventually. Sleep always took time to come, in the evening the voices were the loudest as many of the Indigo Children in Mideel would settle down to bed and make a telepathic link before going to sleep, and Jasper had less to do, less to distract him from them.

"Jasper. It's today, the Big Test! We're not supposed to tell the non-committed Children about it, but it's so exciting, I'm sure it will make you wanna come and join us! Right, so Dale said that the Indigo Children are the future, right." Jasper sighed, but replied anyway, this 'test' sounded interesting, he decided he'd listen for once.

"Yes."

"Yeah, so Dale says that The Great One had a plan. That plan is to rid the planet of all the Inferior who don't carry the Indigo gene, a culling of all those who don't carry the gene. Isn't it exciting?"

"No! You can't do that? Why?" He had sat up straight now, was this just a prank or something?

"Coz the Inferior are stupid, they destroy the planet, if we destroy them then we can live in harmony with the planet. The way us children live here is peaceful and kind to Gaia. It's not like that in Midgar, that's coz the Inferior are too stupid to realise what they are doing to the planet. The Inferior want to kill the Children coz they are scared of us, that's why we have to hide away."

"So what's this test?" He decided he'd try and at least figure out what they were doing before warning someone.

"Well, tonight we're gunna test out the Indigo Materia to a level high enough to wipe out all who live in a ten mile radius of it."

"What? What does this materia do?" He tried to keep the desperation out of his voice, but he had to find out before one of the elders realised a Child was divulging confidential information to a non-committed Child.

"It kills any human being who does not carry the Indigo Gene. It comatoses people who very weakly carry it, and only hurts those who carry the dormant version of the gene. That way the Inferiors who carry the dormant gene could still have Indigo kids. It doesn't even hurt Indigo Children. Ain't that good?"

"Er, yeah, great. So is the test a preparation for doing it strong enough to wipe out everyone on the planet who isn't some form of Indigo gene carrier?"

"Yep. If it works good enough tonight we'll use it at its fullest power." Jasper could tell this kid was very young, and had been brainwashed into thinking this was a good thing from an even younger age.

"Who is this Great One?"

"Well…oh. I've gotta go. Come Jasper, please come. Dale says we may have to leave Mideel soon coz the Shinra scum are sniffing about. Come!" With that the connection was lost. Jasper was shaking all over. He had 'Inferior' friends, he didn't want Dale to be the leader of the world, he sounded mad. He pushed the covers of his sleeping bag off him and quickly changed into his clothes. There was no time to tell Toko about where he was going, he didn't even know where he was going. The Shinra maybe… or that group who had stopped Sephiroth. AVALANCHE. He was an Indigo Child, he knew things without needing to be told. One thing he knew was that Tifa Lockheart had bought a bar in New Midgar and called it 7th Heaven after the last one she owned. She could help.

He ran the whole way there, legs pumping hard. He was only eight years old so those pumping legs were only little.

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Reno hadn't got a clue what was going on, except that Dale, Jennin and the other guy who he learned was called Jak had left to carry out the 'Big Test' whatever that might be. Three kids had been sent in to guard the redhead and his associate. To Reno's annoyance, one of them was the boy who had led the group who robbed Yuffie and himself, Reno vaguely remembered his name being Jez. The kids seemed narked off that they had to watch the captives rather than watch the 'test', Jez sat on the chair nearest to him staring at him with hatred filling those young eyes of his.

"The Test will begin soon and you will be dead, I'd just like to take this opportunity to say, I hope you rot in hell, home-wrecker.." It looked as if he was about to say more, but Reno wasn't listening, a pain erupted through him, tearing apart his insides, making him retch. It felt like red-hot needles being pressed against every fibre of his body, he was glad that the sensation only remained for a few seconds. After this his body only ached like he had been fully beaten up and left for dead in some alley way. Yuffie was still screaming, it was like she wouldn't ever stop. Jennin and Jak had ran in, both looking confused.

"He's not dead!" She exclaimed, running over to Reno, ignoring Yuffie who was still screaming and doing her best to writhe about. "He's not even in pain!"

"He looked like he was just now." Jez replied quickly, he had stood up and had his hands on his hips, and teeth gnashed together as he alternated his glances from Reno to Jennin.

By now Reno was thoroughly confused and more than just a little pissed off, especially with all these Children talking about him as if he wasn't there. Any tact that Reno possessed was overcome by his annoyance as he shouted;

"WHAT IN HELL IS GOING ON!" The strength of his angry plea to be spoken to was only slightly marred by Yuffie's even louder screams that had not yet subsided.

"The test failed, that's what, you're sat here painless, she's not dead either." She gestured to Yuffie, whose scream was not constant anymore. Stress had marked her beneath her eyes and in her lack of energy in her response, but by now Reno was too bitter to notice these little things about her.

Jez took Jennin's arm as Jak ordered the other two who were guarding Reno and Yuffie previously to go and meet the Children coming back from Mideel.

"I think I know why that scum bag's fine…" Was all he heard of whatever Jez was saying to Jennin before he led her out of the room.

Reno sat in that chair listening to Yuffie's screams slowly turn into pained groans until finally she was silent. He hated not knowing what was going on. Jak had remained in the room with them as every other Child rushed about, and by the look on Jak's face he was in constant communication telepathically. Reno drifted into sleep eventually after over ten minutes of nothing happening and having nothing better to do than rest his heavy eyelids. Man had he had a rough day. He vowed to himself to never, ever get close to a woman like that again, one night stands worked out better.

He woke to sounds of commotion in the room, Jak was frantically emptying the contents of the cabinets into backpacks, being selective about what he took, it seemed there was a large collection of materia stashed in the cabinets that Jak was keen to take. A woman maybe a year or two younger than Reno was also in there, organising a group of very young Children into an orderly line.

"Nyra, Nyra! Why are we moving away?" A little girl asked, she couldn't have been much older than three. The elder woman, Nyra, answered in a flustered, preoccupied way as she tried to get an even younger kid to put on a jacket and take a small rucksack packed full of materia.

"Shhh Ebby, shhh. It will be ok. We have to go away from the bad people. They are coming here." She used a soothing voice that branded her as being someone who, unlike anyone Reno knew, was good with children.

"I heard that one of us committed Children let it slip about the Big Test to one of the un-committed. They say it was Jasper, that kid Dale wanted here over all the others, the strong one."

"Martha said it was Jez's little brother who's real powerful, and Dale wants him, but he wouldn't come!" Another kid said almost gleefully. That was it, all the children started to gossip about what they had heard, it took both Nyra and Jak to fire a blank from Jak's gun to get them quiet again.

"Hush! You are giving too much away to the two Inferior in this room! Now children. Come along with me to the Chocobo stables." Nyra looked exhausted as she led the children out. Dale came in soon after; his smooth exterior that had pissed Reno off earlier looked dishevelled.

"Jak, everything is ready. The Children are all ready down at the stables. Come on." His voice lacked the arrogant silkiness now; Jak nodded and looked over to Reno, then Yuffie.

"What are we going to do with them?" Dale collapsed into the chair he had sat on before, when taunting the Turk.

"Er, I dunno. Half of me wants to kill them, especially this one. But he hardly reacted to the test at all. He's a very strong Indigo gene carrier. Any kid he has with even a fairly weak carrier will almost certainly be an Indigo Child, and probably a powerful one too. We can't kill off such a strong carrier of the gene."

Jak grimaced slightly, his eyes drifting over to Reno with a hint of disgust in his expressions.

"Would we want any kids of his? He's a jerk, I felt what he did to Jennin's family on that day." Dale sighed and looked off in thought.

"If we raised any kid he fathers maybe it won't end up being like it's father." Reno had no intention of informing them he was very, very unlikely to ever have kids, he hated children with a vengeance, to father one would be his idea of a personal hell. But it seemed his apparent ability to have freak children was saving his life right now, so he kept quiet.

"What about her?" Jak asked, gesturing towards Yuffie, who seemed either asleep or unconscious.

"Ah, I dunno Jak. The Test was a little too weak, only the old, sick and weak died in Mideel according to the Children posted there. Most are in comas. A few are merely unconscious, around five are awake and report severe pain at the time of the test. This girl, she sleeps now, but remained conscious throughout the test. I cannot be sure if this was just because we did not put enough power into the materia or because she is a dormant carrier of the gene. Either way, she is not as strong as the Turk. I doubt even my own mother carried the gene as strongly as he does though." He stood, staring down at Reno in abhorrence.

"We must hurry, the Shinra are coming here thanks to that fool Jasper. It is a shame; Jasper was as powerful as Jennin, maybe more so, I could sense it in him. He is a lost cause now though… I think a powerful dose of Indigo-Petrify will keep these two from talking for a long while. A very long while." That smirk re appeared at the tall man's lips again as he picked up his rucksack and rummaged around until he picked out a much smaller orb of Indigo materia than the one Reno had seen on the plinth.

Reno couldn't explain the feeling; it was like having Petrify cast on you, only ten times, no a hundred times, worse. That feeling of being cut off from the world, not being able to move was heavily exaggerated. It felt like he'd never be happy again, half stuck between awake and asleep. Dimly he was aware of Jennin next to him saying goodbye.

"Reno…I… you are different from what I expected…I am sorry for what I did to you I think. Well the part of me that started to fall for you is anyway. The other part of me still hates you, the part of me that belongs to Dale. I belong to Dale. Goodbye Turk." He felt soft lips brush his cheek and footsteps fading away to nothing. After that all was silent.

Somewhere along the line he fell into full sleep, an un-waking, un-dreaming sleep that held no rest or renewed any energy. He was just nothing.

­

"Do you think he'll ever wake up?"

"Don't be thick, of course he will. You're awake aren't you and the same happened to you."

"Those 'Softs' cured me, but they don't seem to have done anything for Reno. He looks kinda cute when he's in a Petrified induced sleep."

"Hmm… enjoy it while it lasts, once he's awake you'll wonder why you ever paid him a compliment."

"Hey, I know that Elena. I regret saying anything already. He's a big fat…skinny JERK!"

What was going on? Who was he again? Who's Elena?

"Well, maybe he won't ever wake up. I know I'm awake, but I'm oh-so much stronger than him aren't I? Poor Reno's a weakling compared to my greatness, you've gotta admit to that!"

"Oh-kay Yuffie, whatever you say."

Yuffie? He knew that name. Who's Yuffie? A girl. An annoying girl. Yes, things were coming back to him now. Yuffie was an annoying ninja brat of a girl.

"Reno! I saw him move, he just moved. Reno?"

Reno? That name sounded familiar. It hurt to move, but he tried anyway.

"Cloud! Reno's awake! Cloud!" That voice was definitely Yuffie's voice. Oh yes, now he remembered, He was Reno.

"Well knock him out again then!" That tone of voice sounded light and jokey, and didn't come from Yuffie or Elena. What was Cloud doing near him? He remembered that he didn't exactly get along with that person.

"I wish." More laughter. Where was he? Mideel. The Indigo Children. But Cloud wasn't supposed to be there. His head was spinning, but at least he had got his full memory back, he groaned and blinked his heavy eyes open.

Staring down at him was Yuffie and Elena, with Cloud just beyond them, not looking particularly happy that Reno had regained consciousness. He tried to speak, but all that came out was a groan.

"Welcome back Reno. Despite the strength of all those 'softs' we gave you it took a while for you to bother to wake up. Typical of you though eh? Where there is opportunity to be doing nothing you grip it by the neck." He looked up to Elena and managed a smile.

"Myeah… sleep is good. I feel like I haven't slept for weeks…"

"You've been asleep for a day. Not long considering the strength of that spell, but long enough. We were considering leaving you here. The Indigo Children have gone; we need to locate them soon before they do to the planet what they tried to do to Mideel." Elena informed him with a warm manner to her voice and movements.

"Kill off people who don't carry the gene? Shit, Elena! I thought you'd be dead, what about Cid?"

Talking was getting easier now. He tried to sit up, but his mind was too groggy, he slumped back down, breathing heavily to regain the breath he lost to exerting that energy.

"I was knocked out, but recovered fast enough. The pain was more than I have ever felt before. Cid is in a coma. He's gone back to Midgar with Cait Sith on a Shinra plane that could be spared. When AVALANCHE and Rude came and told me what was going on, I was scared for you Reno. I thought you were dead, I really did." Concern filled her chocolate coloured eyes, she almost took his hand in hers as an emphasis for her worry, but she thought better of it. Reno did not notice her hand hover above his for a moment before being quickly replaced into her own lap, or the pink that flushed onto her cheeks for a moment as she did so, which was just as well really for Elena's sake.

"Nope. You can't be rid of me that easily. I'm a strong carrier of the gene…Rude's here?" Elena nodded, smiling down to him sympathetically, her recently blushing cheeks returning to their normal colour.

"He was worried about us and came along with AVALANCHE. He' s helping with preparations for leaving and uncovering where the Children have gone to." Cloud stepped forward, his face set and hard.

"Rest now. There is something important we need to discuss with you." He asked everyone to leave Reno be and went over to his bed, extending his arm forward, he held a potion in his hand.

"Drink this." Reno managed to sit up enough to be able to drink without choking. He snatched the bottle from Cloud's hand, being less than pleased at being told what to do by that spiky headed fool. But he wanted to be out of bed as soon as possible so he drank it. He felt better immediately, but sleep still called, he waited until Cloud had gone before closing his eyes and drifting into sleep.

TBC…

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