Chapter 9
"It was as though some teenage boy was in charge..." Lucrecia stated as she and Vincent walked down the stairs toward the basement lab. She carried an aluminum pan with a hand. " I doubt anyone in their right mind would honestly think canned white fish and horseradish sauce is a suitable food to keep for storage."
"I happen to like horseradish." Vincent stated as they entered the lab. Lucrecia paused trying to judge whether he said that in truth or jest. It was hard sometimes to tell whether he even made a joke.
"Well, Mr. Valentine, it's all yours. I am not a fair fan of it." She set the popcorn pan down the emptied workbench and made her way to a set of wall shelves. Vincent picked up the popcorn pan and looked it over and then peeled the red paper lab that was glued to the top.
Lucrecia returned with a small metal tripod and a Bunsen burner. Attaching the burner to the small gas spigot, she turned the knob. Taking a striker, she then lit the burner, grinning with a certain amount of satisfaction.
'I have a feeling this is about as gourmet as she gets...' Vincent thought as Lucrecia placed the pan on the tripod and adjusted the burner flame to the proper height. 'Just as long as she doesn't blow anything up.' After a short while, the kernels inside began to burst in a slow, but growing repetition of popping.
"Tell me, Mr.Valentine, have you ever been out here in the Nibel area before?" She gave the pan a quick shake. The Turk pulled up a stool and sat down.
"No."
Lucrecia stared at the flames realizing that was yet another dead-end conversation. She didn't mind that he didn't talk much, especially when she had something to say. However, there were days where she felt like it was a chore trying to say anything. 'Then don't say anything, Lucrecia. He may not necessarily be a big fan of small talk.' She sat down on the other stool and listened to the popcorn. 'Maybe I should do something while this is cooking...' She thought then frowned. 'No, it's late and I am done for the night. I have been working since six this morning. I deserve some, Lucrecia no work time.'
"Is there something wrong, Doctor?" Vincent finally asked watching her fidget and give the occasional frown. Lucrecia blinked and shook her head. She gave a reassuring smile.
"I'm fine, Mr. Valentine." 'I'm just have an attention span of a gnat and in need of some Ritalin, sir.' The aluminum cover slowly began to expand as the popping corn grew underneath. 'Probably should do that analysis, just one more...'
Vincent watched in curiosity as Lucrecia's anxiousness grew. He was curious of what was causing her to fidget and squirreled around on her stool. It almost reminded him a colleague and his inability to handle coffee. 'Though I am sure the four cups she had was not necessarily within her norm. I get twitching after two and then of course I'm peeing for the rest of the day...'
Lucrecia removed her tie and unbuttoned the top two buttons of her shirt, almost more out of habit then anything. "Did you see where Dr. Hojo went? I haven't seen him all evening." 'Not that I care much where that little weasel of man went. For all I care, he can take a long walk off a short cliff...'
"He is up having a telephone conference in Gast's office." Vincent finally stated. Seeing the popcorn was almost finished, he quickly took it off and set it down on the tabletop to cool briefly. Lucrecia reached into her pant pocket and produced small pocketknife and cut the silver dome open revealing light yellow, puffy kernels. Vincent glanced up only to catch a brief view of the opening of her dress shirt. His eyes lingered for a moment before he realized he was staring and forced his eyes up to Lucrecia's face. 'I didn't see that...' His eyes drifted again. 'Okay, maybe I did.' The Turk forced his attention toward the popcorn pan.
Lucrecia sat back down placing her knife back in her pocket. Vincent reached over and grabbed a few kernels.
"Not too bad for a scientist." Vincent commented and ate few of them.
Lucrecia grabbed a few kernels and smiled. "I try, Mr. Valentine."
Vincent opened the small door that led into a room where he bed was set up among the crates, barrels and boxes. Removing his jacket, he folded it and laid it nicely on the back of a thin railed chair before he made his way to the small folding cot that served as his bed. He removed his holster and tie before flopping down. Smiling, he did not even bother to change out of his clothes as he let his eyes close.
'Maybe now I can sleep.' He mused. Just as he began to drift, scratching jolted him from the drifting darkness of sleep back into the small servant's quarters. His brown eyes drifted over and looked at the pair of barrels and a stack of crates. He waited quietly finally he heard the scratching. Snarling, Vincent reached for his gun and then for the bag he kept underneath the cot with his gun case.
'You little bastard...' He opened the bag and removed a small case that carried the silencer for the small .45 caliber gun. 'I'll blow you into little mousy bits...and you won't know what hit you.' He thought smugly. Once the silencer was fastened, he turned and waited for the rodent. He could hear it skittered around on the floor and the occasional squeak. 'C'mere, Mr. Valentine has a nice present for you little mouse...'
After what seemed to be eternity, Vincent caught the brief glimpse of the mouse and pulled the trigger once and then a second time. Assured that he hit his target, Vincent turned and lay back down, setting his gun on the crate next to his bed. Despite the silence and his exhaustion, one thing kept his mind attentive. Vincent could still hear the song that Lucrecia had played the other night, rolling around, repeating and fading only to return in full crescendo. After a while, the music seemed to fade into the back of his mind as he fell asleep.
Gast sat at his massive desk at the back of the laboratory with several documents with hieroglyphic-like characters sprawled across the paper. Within a hand's reach sat several books that kept in reference as he poured over the pictorial nature of the language. Gast still had his misgivings about Jenova's nature. Despite her body being surrounded by Cetran artifacts and dating to their time of existence, he was not wholly convinced. However, time was not a luxury Gast could afford. Because the body had been frozen in the glacial soils, bringing up seemed to cause it to continue a decay rate that otherwise had been stopped. Jenova now laid in cold storage in the darkest corner of the lab, but it seemed to offer a temporary solution.
"Professor."
Gast sighed and looked up over his glasses to find Hojo standing infront of the desk holding a piece of paper. "Though I would inform you that you have been granted access to the Nibel reactor."
The mustache man scratched at the back of his neck. "I don't recall putting in a request. Did Doctor Honestas make the initial inquiry by chance?"
Hojo folded the paper up and slipped it into his lab coat pocket. "Mako radiation could be the key in preserving Jenova, Professor."
Gast frowned. "Have you consulted with Honestas? There is a reason I have her working with me on this..."
Hojo snorted. 'What would that girl know about anything?' "The good doctor had no objection to further exploration."
Sitting back, Gast rubbed at his mustache. "That's odd, considering we have not really performed any tests in how Mako would preserve Jenova. From what I understand of Dr. Honestas's work, too much will mutate and destroy cells..."
Hojo crossed his arms in frustration. "You keep on talk as though the Cetra were human, Professor. You should know as much as anyone that Cetra were certainly not human..."
Gast pursed his lips. "And we are not certain they were either. Don't get me wrong, Hojo, but isn't this the whole point of my project is the explore the biological nature of the Cetra and whether Jenova is one of them?"
Hojo shoved his hands into his pant pockets. "Mmmyes, Professor." He turned around and casually left the desk and back to the lab floor. Hojo stopped briefly as he crossed paths with Vincent. Leering at the Turk, he left the lab and went up the stairs. Vincent watched him briefly before entering Gast's study. He found the professor trying fervently to find where he had left off in the text. Vincent cleared his throat trying to gain Gast's attention. "If I may have a moment, Professor."
Gast glanced up and sighed. "Of course, Mr. Valentine. What is it that brings you here?"
Vincent walked closed, briefly glancing over the books and papers sprawled over the desktop. "I could not help but to overhear Hojo's conversation."
Gast chuckled. "There are no secrets here, especially since you are here Mr. Valentine." The professor played idling with a edge of a book. " Hojo is intending to use the reactor to store and preserve Jenova's body. But knowing him, he may have some other plans in mind."
Vincent remained quiet. There was little reason to respond verbally to Gast's statement. In his last telephone report to Marcus, Vincent was told to keep a short leash on Hojo's involvement, but the leash was restricted to the mansion proper and the lab within. Anything Hojo did outside was his own business. Gast continued to rub at his mustache in thought.
"Mr. Valentine, if you would not mind, could you send Dr. Honestas here. I wish to brief her on the some approaching deadlines and tests."
Vincent nodded and left the desk area leaving Gast to continue his task to interpreting the translations of Cetran inscriptions.
Walking up the narrow dirt path, Hojo arrived at the small camp in which the two soldiers well outside of the town. There were a few more animals they had captured, but Hojo offered little interest. Instead, he lumbered over to the initial cage he had first visited.
The heavy wire cage had ropes tied to each side and then was staked to the ground. An army grade wool blanket had also been tossed over it, concealing the small rabbit underneath.
"How is my precious specimen?" Hojo mumbled as he closed in on the cage. The two soldiers looked at each and slowly moved in and took their positions encase the rabbit became trouble. Hojo stopped and looked at the cage.
"Sir, you might want to be careful." One of the soldiers came to one side and lifted the blanket with the tip of rifle barrel. He revealed an area where the rabbit chewed a small hole in the heavy gauge wire.
"Curious." Hojo muttered. He reached down and lifted the blanket off the cage to find the small white rabbit huddled in the corner, watching him. Nothing seemed physically different about the animal other then it's red eyes were more so then the pinkish color when it was first captured. "Come on, show daddy what you can do..." Hojo leaned over the cage trying to gain a closer look at the rabbit. The nearest soldier fidgeted and glanced back at his companion who in return could only offered a shrug. Slowly, they took a step back, their guns ready.
Hojo frowned when the rabbit did nothing more then shiver and wiggle its pink nose. 'You dumb thing! Did I just waste my precious cells on a nitwit of a creature?' He tabbed at the wire, hoping to provoke a response. Without warning, the rabbit roared and threw itself at Hojo's hand; it's sharp teeth gnashing.
Hojo threw himself back as the cage thrust itself toward him. The rabbit pressed itself against the wire, tearing and thrashing. Landing hard on the ground, he watched the creature in abject belief. Catching his breath from the scare, Hojo began to laugh. Looking over his shoulder, he found the soldiers standing staring at him while he laughed. Looking at each other, they joined in his laughter until Hojo suddenly stopped. Standing up, the scientist dusted himself off.
"What is so funny?" Hojo snarled. The soldiers cut off and saluted the doctor. Sneering at them, he turned his attention back at the cage where the rabbit once more took its place at the back corner of the cage. "Well, it seems it was not a waste after all." Hojo slowly rubbed his hands together in anticipation. "…Excellent."