Lab Rat
(The Next Morning)
I found myself once again on my couch, watching the news whilst eating my breakfast. A reporter was reporting live from a playground in the Sector Six Slums, right on the border of the Sector Seven Slums, which was now just a massive mess of metal and fire.
"…So it was made official today that the terrorist group AVALANCHE has been annihilated. The President sent the order last night to drop the Sector Seven Plate, the slums of which were the confirmed location of AVALANCHE's hideout. Thousands were killed, and several more were injured, but now Midgar is safe from the likes of AVALANCHE. This is John Crowbarr reporting from the Sector Six Slums, Midgar News Forty-Nine. Back to the newsroom." Then the news people went on to talk about the weather and other unimportant things.
It seemed odd to me that the President would just drop the plate just to squash a small terrorist group in the Sector Seven Slums. Why kill so many just to kill so few? Then I couldn't help but wonder about the innocent people that just happened to live in the wrong Sector at the wrong time.
"What if it was Sector Three?" I wondered in my thoughts.
I laid back on my couch and thought about my current job and the job Hojo was willing to give me. I really didn't want to guard the boring meeting room door anymore, so it seemed like Hojo's lab was my only shot at getting away from there.
Just when I was enjoying the comfort of my couch, a familiar little moogle popped up in front of my face.
"YOU CAN'T TAKE THE JOB, KUPO!!! YOU JUST CAN'T!!!"
Holly Bibble's high-pitched voice was annoying enough without making it incredibly loud as well. I had to rub my ears for a moment before I could reply.
"Why can't you just mind your own business, you stupid, nosy moogle? And what are you doing appearing in my apartment?!" She'd never appeared in my apartment before, so it seemed even more like an invasion of my privacy.
"I only came here because I know what you're thinking, kupo, so I had to warn you that Hojo's a bad man! You really shouldn't take this job, kupo! And I know you didn't mean that not-nice name you called me!"
"Oh, and just how bad is he?"
"I've read his mind, kupo, and it's REALLY messed up!"
"So what crazy scientist isn't messed up in the head?"
"No, kupo! You don't understand! He's evil, kupo! He's done experiments on himself and on his fellow scientists as well as his other, usually human, test subjects!"
"What does it matter to you?"
"KUPO!!! I'm worried about you!!! And you're actually still considering accepting this job and not listening to what Mr. Wyndom and Mr. Raven said, kupo!!!"
"Look, I don't know Mr. Wyndom at all," I shot back in a mocking tone, "And I think Mr. Raven is worrying too much. I say anything is better than guarding the Meeting Room door."
"But if you take this job, kupo, you'll really regret it!!! You don't know what he might have planned for you!!! If you take this job, you might--"
I interrupted her by slamming the coffee table in front of me and getting up off the couch, and I glared at her annoying little moogle face.
"Look! I am tired of you always butting in when you're not wanted, reading my mind, and trying to tell me what's right! So you know what? I'm going to accept this job and guard Hojo's lab! And you're not going to stop me! Do I make myself clear?!"
Bibble shrank back as I was saying that and looked like a punished little puppy. Then she said in a small voice, "Well, kupo, I hope you know what you're doing." And with that she vanished.
After a moment I realized what I'd just done and felt really guilty for it. I'd never yelled at her that way before. I'd usually get angry and play sarcasm, but I'd never outright exploded in her face like that. I sat back down on the couch and pondered the situation.
I'd already made up my mind about accepting Hojo's job offer, but why was everyone being so paranoid?
"I'll worry about it another time," I thought to myself, "I'm too comfortable on this couch to care about anything right now."
Just then, my phone started ringing. I picked it up and answered.
"Hello?"
"Lenore, the President has called another emergency meeting and--"
"Lemme guess, Commander, you want me to guard the door again, right?"
"Precisely. Be there within the hour, Lenore, because that's when the meeting's starting. Dammit, Lenore! Your last name sounds too much like a first name!"
"Not my fault, Sir. I was born with it," I replied with a smirk on my face.
"Well, you just get to that meeting. Ya got that?"
"Yes, sir." I said as I hung up the phone and started getting ready for work.
******** ******** ********
When I got to work, everyone was present and accounted for at the meeting. All were there, except for Hojo. I asked a man named Reeve as he was walking in if he knew where Hojo was.
"I don't know. He's probably still down in his lab. Why are you interested in Hojo?"
"He offered me a job," I answered.
"Ohhh," he answered in a rather strange deep tone. "Well, if you're actually thinking of accepting, I suggest you remember to keep on your toes." He then continued into the meeting room. "And don't take your eyes off him," he called back as he headed towards his place at the table.
"Uh, ok."
After a few moments, I looked in the meeting room to see if everyone was ready, All the usual attendees, minus Hojo, were in their usual places. The suits all in their seats, The President in his seat at the end of the table on the far end of the room, and Wyndom standing just a few feet behind and to the left of the President's chair. When all was ready, I shut the doors and the meeting began. I decided to actually pay attention to the meeting. I wanted to know what was going on.
I started listening in when three people ran passed in front of me through the hallway. One was a young woman with long brown hair, thick and leathery fighting gloves, and a bust size that could throw any male guard off his concentration. The second person was a huge dark-skinned man with a gatling gun for a right hand. He seemed to be the most determined of the three to get to wherever they were going. The third person looked like a SOLDIER because he was wearing the same purple jumpsuit most SOLDIERs wear. He had blonde spiky hair and carried a very large buster sword on his back.
They seemed like suspicious people, so I watched them as they ran around the corner of the hall. I watched them go further down that hall and into the bathroom.
"The bathroom?" I thought in confusion. "Maybe the big guy really had to go."
I went back to my post and was finally able to listen in on the conversation uninterrupted. They were already discussing the damage on Sector Seven.
"We have the damage estimates for Sector Seven," Reeve reported, "Considering those factories we already set up and all the investments, the damage is estimated at approximated 10 billion gil."
There was a few seconds of silence before he continued.
"The estimated cost to rebuild Sector Seven is--"
"We're not rebuilding," President Shinra interrupted.
"What?" Reeve replied.
"'What' is right," I thought.
"We're leaving Sector Seven as it is," the President continued, "And restarting the Neo-Midgar plan."
"Neo-Midgar plan?" I asked myself, "What the hell is Neo-Midgar?"
"...Then the Ancients?" Reeve asked.
"The Promised Land will soon be ours," said the President, "I want you to raise the Mako rates fifteen percent in every area."
"What?!" I thought in surprise, "They're raising our electric bills! Those bastards!"
"Rate hike! Rate hike! Tra, la, la!" Sang the head of the Space Division, Palmer, "And please include our space program in the budget!"
"Reeve and Scarlet will divide the extra income from the rate increases," replied the President.
"Oh, man!" Palmer whined.
"Sir, if you raise the rates," Reeve started, "the people will lose confidence..."
"You're damn right we will!" I thought to myself.
"It'll be alright," The President assured him, "The ignorant citizens won't lose confidence, they'll trust Shin-Ra, Inc. even more."
"Yea, right!" I thought, "What about the non-ignorant citizens?"
"Ha, Ha, Ha!" Laughed Heidegger, "After all, we're the ones who saved Sector Seven from AVALANCHE!"
"Ya, by crushing everybody in Sector Seven in the process!" I thought.
Just when I was about to burst into the door and protest, a familiar-looking white lab coat caught my eye. I looked over to Hojo, who was walking towards the Meeting Room. When he reached the door, he stopped in front of me.
"Ah, good afternoon," he greeted. "I trust the meeting is as boring as usual."
"Yea, I guess you could say that," I answered, "Why are you so late?"
"I had something to take care of in my lab. I'll be back with you after I speak with these idiots."
I let him through the door, and he walked in and stood in front of the meeting table. I shut the door and continued eavesdropping.
"Hojo," The President greeted, "How's the girl?"
"As a specimen, she is inferior to her mother," Hojo answered, "I'm still in the process of comparing her to her mother, Ifalna, but for now the difference is eighteen percent."
"Ok, if the President asked about her as if she were human," I wondered to myself in confusion, "Why is Hojo talking about her as if she was an animal?"
"How long will the research take?" Asked the President.
"Probably one-hundred twenty years," Hojo answered with a smirk in his tone, "It's probably impossible to finish in our lifetime. Or in the lifetime of the specimen too, for that matter."
"What are they talking about?" I thought, "What is this specimen? And what does she have to do with Midgar?"
"That's why we're thinking of breeding her," Hojo continued, "Then we could create one that could withstand our research for a long time."
"'Breed her?'" I mocked in thought, "With what? A talking dog?"
"What about the Promised Land?" President Shinra asked, "Won't it hinder our plans?"
"That's what I need to plan," Answered Hojo, "The mother is strong... and yet has her weaknesses."
"That concludes our meeting," The President announced.
There were sounds of chairs moving as they all got up to leave. After a moment, people started walking out of the room.
"Something stinks..." Said Scarlet as she paused for a moment and then left the room.
After everyone was gone, I looked in the room to see if anyone was still inside. I walked toward the back of the meeting room to see what Scarlet was talking about. I noticed there was in fact a distinct smell as I walked closer to the back of the room.
"Smells like..." I pondered as I walked, "...crap?"
As I got to the back of the room, I could definitely recognize the smell literally as crap. I looked up and saw an air duct.
"The smell's coming from there..." I said out loud. I thought I could hear banging sounds coming from inside.
"Indeed it is," said a familiar creepy voice behind me. I turned around and saw Hojo standing right behind me.
"That air duct leads to the restroom just across the hall through that wall," he said pointing to the wall on the side of the room. "So, my lovely young security guard, have you thought about my job offer?"
"Yes I have," I answered, "And I think I'll accept."
"Excellent," He replied, his eyes narrowed as he said it, "You'll start tonight."
"What?" I responded, "So soon?"
"I say it's never too early to start," he answered, "I'm sure someone of your skill can handle it."
"Uh, sure."
"Meet me on the sixty-eighth floor at around eight tonight," He had a crooked grin on his face as he was saying that, "I'll be waiting."
Then he turned around and left. While he was walking towards the stairs, I went to the elevator and went home to rest up.
******** ******** ********
I was having lunch on my couch when I heard a knock on the door. I got up and went over to the door. I opened it and there was Kate, holding a box that would be used to hold clothes.
"Moira! Hi!" She greeted with a smile.
"Uh, hi Kate," I wasn't expecting her, "Why dontcha come in?"
"Thanks, darlin', but I can't. I just came to drop this off." She said handing me the box, "Another favor Allen asked me for. "
"What is it?" I wondered.
"Well, open it and find out."
I opened it and found what looked like a fighting outfit. I took it out of the box to get a better look at it.
"Wow…" I couldn't help but be impressed by it.
"Just something I designed with Allen a week ago. I had the materials ready, just not the measurements. So when you came in, that was my op."
"You mean this was what the measurements were for?"
"Ya, that's it," She smiled, "Well, do ya like it?"
"Well, of course I like it. I love it! Thanks!"
"No problem, hon," she replied, "It's also made of mythiril, so of course it would make an excellent fighting outfit. It's durable enough not to tear, unless of course you cut it with something first. And it's designed to be comfortable and not to get in the way when you're fighting."
"That's awesome," I stared at the outfit some more.
"Well, you go ahead and try it on and I'll just head outta here and back to the store," Kate said as she started walking away, "I got lots I have to get done."
"Wait!" I called to her, realizing something.
"Ya?" She answered.
"Where'd you get my address from?"
"Let's just say a little Raven told me," she smiled as she turned around and walked away. "Later, hon."
"Later, Kate!" I called back before shutting the door.
I looked at the outfit again and decided to go try it on. I ran over to my room, took off what I was wearing, and put on the new outfit.
It was a two-piece outfit, mostly blue and with a loose fit. The shirt had long sleeves, ending at the wrists with tight-fit black cuffs with gold criss-crossed embroidering. There was an inch-wide belt that was worn over the shirt, leaving the rest of the shirt hanging underneath. The bottom of the shirt had a red strip along the edge. There was also a pair of pieces of the shirt that looked like shoulder covering, which also had a red strip along the edge. The collar, which went over where the shoulder pieces began, was the same gold-color as the embroidering on the cuffs. It was in a v-shape ending right in the middle of my chest, revealing a magenta "undercloth," which was actually sewn into the shirt, but looked like there was a separate garment underneath. The pants had the same loose fit and ended tight-fitting at the thigh, just like the wrist-cuffs, with the same black color and gold embroidering.
I pulled some plain, black, no-heeled shoes from my closet and put those on with the outfit. It was a great outfit. I'd never actually had a real fighting outfit before, and this was certainly something I'd not expected. I was about to reach for my scythe when I heard another knock on the door.
I went and opened the door and saw Raven slouched on the doorway with his head drooped over. When I opened the door, he looked up at me. That's when I saw the scared look and the sweat running down his face. His eyes seemed completely out of focus.
"Raven?!" I blurted out.
"Moira…" he answered faintly and stumbled through my door. I caught him before he could fall to the floor.
"What's the matter?" I asked as I propped him up and shut the door. I then took him to the couch and laid him down on his back. I knelt down next to the couch and kept a close eye on him. I took his hand and held it.
"Something's… wrong!" He said as if he was struggling with his words.
"What's wrong?" I asked a little more anxiously. "What's going on?!"
"Voices… In my head…"
"Voices?" I responded as I felt his forehead. He was in a cold sweat.
"They actually started about… two weeks ago, but… they were faint enough to ignore… wait…" I watched as he lay there silently for a moment, then he sat up, taking his hand away from mine, and his eyes were focused again. He looked at me and realized how worried I was.
"They're dimmed down now… For the moment." It didn't make me feel any better.
"Why didn't you ever tell me you were hearing voices?" I asked.
"First off, I don't think you would've ever agreed to go out with me if you knew."
"You're right, I wouldn't."
"Second off, even during the few days we've been together, I didn't want to worry you. Especially since I never thought the voices would ever actually get any louder than ignorable."
I looked down and saw that his hands were shaking. I grabbed them with mine and tried to comfort him. I looked back up at him.
"I'm here now," I assured him.
"Ya," He replied raising his right hand. He ran his fingers across my brow and around my cheek. "You're here. That's the only good thing right now."
He looked at me with that same tender look, except this time his gaze seemed a little more distant, and then I noticed that the mako glow in his eyes seemed dimmer than usual.
"Your eyes!" I pointed out, "They're dimming!"
"Jenova…" He answered.
"What?"
He blinked, realizing what he'd just said, and his face suddenly turned white. He then shut his eyes tightly and shook his head.
"No! No! No!" He yelled in frustration letting go of my hands to hold his head.
"What is it?"
"That's what the voices keep saying!" He answered, "Jenova! And something about a reunion!"
"What's Jenova?"
"I don't know who or what it is or what it has to do with me, but that's what the voices keep saying!"
I reached up and grabbed his hands, pulling them down from his head to join in between us. He then looked up at me again, eyes wide with terror.
"I'm scared," he muttered.
I let go of his hands and brought myself closer to him. I wrapped my arms around him, and he did the same with me.
"I can hardly hear my own thoughts anymore," he said, "They're getting louder again."
"Don't worry," I whispered, "I'll se if I can find a way to help you."
Then a thought occurred to me, and I helped him up off the couch, picked up my scythe, and went out the door.
******** ******** ********
I figured that the voices in Raven's head may have had something to do with the mako treatment that Hojo gave him, so I decided to take him with me to see Hojo to see if he could cure him. It was a long walk because I was holding my scythe with my left hand while helping Raven walk with my other arm, and both he and the scythe were quite heavy. All the while I'd hear Raven mutter "Jenova" or "reunion" as we went. There didn't seem to be much time left, so I went as fast as I could with my heavy load.
I was exhausted when we finally got to the lab on the sixty-eighth floor of the Shinra Building. The lab itself only took a little more than half of the sixty-eighth floor; the rest was a hall leading to the stairs. The hall was lined with laser security, so I was guessing he wanted me to guard the elevator entrance. I walked in, but didn't see Hojo anywhere. Then I saw him come up the elevator.
"Miss Lenore," He greeted, grinning. Then he saw Raven. "And who's this?"
"He's a SOLDIER. And I think you might be able to help him."
"Let me guess. He's hearing voices in his head, saying 'Jenova' and 'reunion' and now he's too weak from constantly hearing them."
It amazed me how correct he was, "Uh, yes."
"I know just what to do with him. Just leave him with me, and you can go down to the prison cells in the sixty-seventh floor to wait for your briefing."
"Thank you." I handed Raven to one of Hojo's assistants that Hojo called to help, and I went on my way to the sixty-seventh floor. I looked back at Raven as I walked into the elevator, and I saw his hand reaching to me. I ran back out and took his hand.
He attempted to lift his gaze to me, but he seemed far too dazed to focus on anything. The glow in his eyes was about gone, but I could see a blue color in his eyes, which I assumed was his natural eye-color. It was a deep blue.
I leaned over and kissed his forehead. I held his head up and looked in his deep blue eyes, hoping to find him looking back at me.
"I love you, Raven," I whispered. "I'll come back for you once everything's finished, I promise."
"Reunion," he whispered back.
"That's right, reunion. OUR reunion. You come back to me, you hear?"
"Reunion," he answered, nodding his head, "Moira."
I smiled hearing my own name. It gave me some hope that he'd be back.
"Alright, that's enough for now," Hojo interrupted, "We can't do anything if we don't get started."
"Right," I kissed him again and let him go. The assistant holding him started taking him away as I watched. When he was out of my sight, Hojo walked up to me with a wide grin on his face.
"He's in good hands," he said to me, "You brought him just in time."
"Thanks," it was all I could say. I really didn't want to leave him, but what choice did I have? I wasn't about to let him stay alone in my apartment dying in his insanity. If anyone could do anything about it, Hojo could.
"I only hope this was the right thing," I sighed.
"Don't you worry about a thing," Hojo assured me, "He has yet to fulfill the purpose of his being."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.
"He is young," he answered, "He still has the rest of his life to give."
I turned around and started walking to the elevator.
"I'll give you your briefing as soon as I am ready to begin," he said to me as I walked into the elevator.
I went down to the sixty-seventh floor. The place was littered with large wooden crates. I walked past them to find a large transparent tank. The only thing that was in it was a large animal. I looked in the tank to get a better look at the creature in the tank. It was red in color and looked a lot like a lion, but his tail ended in a blaze of fire and his mane wasn't very big. In fact it looked more like the mane of a zebra, but all dark brown and ending at spiky bangs in front of its face. The mane also had two long tufts hanging down beside its head, both ending with hair ties. The animal wore gold bangles around each of his legs, two sets of earrings on each ear, and a feather behind each ear. He had black tattoos all over him, but the one that stuck out the most was a tattoo on his front leg of the letters XIII.
After a moment, the animal noticed me and looked at me. He then scratched his ear with his hind foot and went back to just laying down.
I then moved on past and saw a larger machine on the other side of me. It looked kind of like a container of some sort, but there was only one small window on the door of the container. And as I looked at it, the window glowed with a bright purple light. I took a closer look at that and found a very disturbing sight.
It almost looked human, except it was rather deformed, it glowed purple, and it didn't have a head. I simply backed away from that and walked on.
I continued through a hall and around a corner until I reached an area with six prison cells.
"Ok, now that I'm here," I said to myself, "All I have to do is wait."
"Wait for what?" A soft voice asked from seemingly nowhere.
It startled me, so I looked through the small window on the door of a nearby cell to see where the voice came from. In one of the cells was a lady who looked like she was in her mid-twenties. She wore a pink button-up dress that went down to mid-calf level. Over her dress she wore a red, short-sleeved jacket. She had long, light-brown brown hair that was tied up in a ponytail that was braided into a twist look. The hair-tie was a large pink ribbon with a small white orb on it. It looked kinda like materia, but since when did materia come in white?
Since this small prison was meant to hold intruders until the proper authorities arrived, I guessed she was just another intruder. She was sitting on the cot that was set on the side of the room when I looked in.
"Did you say something?" I asked.
"Yes I did," she answered, "I asked what you were waiting for."
"Oh, I'm just waiting for orders. I was told to wait here for them."
"I see," She said, getting up off the cot, "I guess you're a Shinra security guard."
"Yes I am," I answered, "Why are you in here?"
"I was kidnapped by the Turks and brought here."
"The Turks? Shinra's super secret service of top officers?"
"The very same."
"Why would the Turks go into kidnapping?"
"Because President Shinra probably told them to."
Then something occurred to me.
"So then she's probably that girl they were talking about in the meeting," I thought to myself
She looked at me through the window of her cell. Her pale green eyes seemed really focused. With the way she was looking at me, it felt as if she was staring into the very depths of my soul. It was an uncomfortable feeling.
"W-What are you looking at?" I asked nervously.
"Someone very close to you will need your help very soon," she said to me with a concerned look on her face. "As well as a soul you've yet to meet."
"What?" I replied, confused.
"You will know who I mean when the time comes, but for now keep an eye out."
"Uh… Thanks… I guess," I responded.
I looked over and saw Hojo walking around the corner. I then started walking to meet with him.
"For the record, my name is Aeris," she whispered as I walked away.
Her name wasn't my concern at the moment. I walked up to Hojo.
"Is Raven going to be ok?"
"If you mean the young SOLDIER you brought with you, I have him in a safe place," he answered, "I'll take care of him shortly. First I need to give you your first assignment."
"Well, let's hear it."
"You are to guard the specimen in the tank over in the room down the hall from us until he is required for my experiment."
"You mean the tank with the hug red cat thing?"
"Yes, but I like to refer to him as Red XIII."
"Ok, guarding him shouldn't be that hard"
"Good. Now you may go to your post."
And so I left the prison, Hojo following close behind, and went back to the cage holding Red XIII.
When I got there, I found him on the side of the tank, standing on his hindquarters, leaning on the glass wall that kept him contained. With his front paws, he was scratching the glass, as if he was trying to dig through it or something. He seemed to be trying to figure out a way to escape, but couldn't quite get it. When he saw me, he stopped scratching the wall and sat down where he was. Then he walked over to the middle of the tank and laid down.
"Isn't he a marvelous specimen?" He asked me as we approached, "He was captured near Cosmo Canyon. He is a very rare creature. The last of his kind."
I then turned around and saw the tank with the glowing window again.
"And what's the thing over there in the other tank?" I asked. He turned around and grinned at the sight of it.
"That?" He asked, pointing at the machine I was referring to, "That should not concern you now. Now you must guard the specimen in this tank." He pointed at Red XIII's tank.
"Alright," I responded and took my spot. He walked over to the elevator and went up to the lab.
"Well," I thought to myself, "At least I'm not guarding the meeting room door anymore."
I looked in Red XIII's tank again and saw a familiar-looking moogle floating in front of Red XIII. It looked like she was… talking to him?
"Bibble?!" I yelled out in surprise, "What the hell are you doing here?"
She stopped whatever she was doing with Red XIII and floated over to me.
"I was just talking to my friend, kupo."
"Friend, huh?" I looked over at Red XIII.
He got up from the spot he was laying in and trotted over to the side of the tank where we were. Then he sat down in front of me. He seemed to move more like a dog than a cat.
"You two know each other, Holly?" Red asked in a growled voice.
"Dah! You can talk?!" I yelped.
"Of course I can," he answered.
"I've known Mr. Nanaki since he was a puppy, kupo," Bibble explained.
"Nanaki?" I wondered out loud.
"That's his name, kupo," Bibble answered.
"Although Hojo refers to me as Red XIII, a name that carried no meaning to me."
"So how long have you been in here?" I asked Nanaki.
"I don't even remember how long it has been," he answered.
Then I remembered what happened between Bibble and me earlier.
"Hey, Bibble?" I started to say, "I--"
"I know, Miss Moira. I forgive you. I can understand your frustration, kupo, but now you know that it's hurtful to speak your anger without thinking. It was because of that, kupo, that I never saw it coming."
"Ya, I was being an stupid jerk earlier," I said apologetically.
"And it didn't help that I had to go into your house to tell you, kupo," Bibble also apologizing, "I should not have invaded your privacy like that."
"Well, that's not much compared to my exploding in your face."
"Well, we both made mistakes and learned something, kupo. So now I think we should just forget it ever happen."
"I agree," I answered, almost not believing that I was actually agreeing with Bibble.
"It is good when friends forgive and forget," said Nanaki.
"But I still think it was a bad idea for you to take the job, kupo," Bibble pointed out.
"I'll be fine," I answered. "I'm standing here talking to a non-existent fairy-like creature and an endangered species in a laboratory tank. What could be any weirder than that?"
"That there's someone right behind you with a dart gun!" Bibble yelled as Nanaki stood poised to attack, growling like a raged hound.
"What?" I quickly turned around, but not before I felt a pinch in my right shoulder. I saw a shadowy figure step further into the shadows, so I couldn't see who it was.
The fact that my vision started blurring didn't help either.
"Miss Moira!" I heard something calling in the distance as well as a loud barking sound. I looked at my shoulder and saw a dart in it, but for some strange reason, I couldn't bring my hand to reach up to pull it out. I felt myself fall to the floor as my vision blurred more and then all went into darkness.
******** ******** ********
I woke up and found myself in some glowing green liquid with a breathing mask on my face. I looked around and found tubes sticking all over my body. I was securely restrained in a cross position where I hung in the tank. The tank itself seemed to be connected to some machine nearby, but I couldn't see very far beyond the glass. That and I was just waking up from the tranquilizer dart, so my eyesight was still woozy.
I looked out of the tank through the strange, green water and found Hojo looking back at me. He had a huge grin on his face that was wide enough to be mistaken for a crack in his face.
"So they were right," I thought to myself, "And I refused to believe it. What's going to happen now? What's to become of me? What horrible, twisted plan could he possibly have for me? And what happened to Raven? Raven!! What did he do with Raven?! I have to get out of here!"
I struggled to break loose, but the restraint were well-fastened. I looked down and saw Hojo again. He seemed to have enjoyed my futile attempt to get out. Then I noticed a small object in his hand.
"What is that?" I wondered to myself, "It doesn't look like materia."
It looked like a green stone with a red lightning bolt design in the middle of the stone. And it seemed to shine in the same way materia did, but there was something about it that seemed different. Hojo came closer to the tank, as if he wanted me to get a better look at the object he was holding.
"Some idiot found it in a mako reactor one day," I heard Hojo speaking in the tank. Apparently he had installed waterproof speakers in the tank so I could hear what he wanted to say. The speakers weren't all that great, so the speech was a little garbled, but I could still understand him, nonetheless.
"Nobody could figure out what it was," he continued, "so it was sent to me for examination. After studying it, I decided to experiment with it. All I needed was a specimen to try it on. A healthy young woman like yourself seemed perfect for the experiment."
"Healthy?" I scoffed in my thoughts, "I guess he never saw my record of drinking."
"Hiring you was just a lure to get you close enough to the lab for me to acquire you for my experiment."
"Bastard," I thought, "I wish I'd listened to all those warnings now."
Then he turned around and walked away from me to a machine on the far side of the room. I saw him place the green stone on a grappler on the machine. The stone then glowed bright green, and then the glow started to spread to the tubes leading to the tank, and in turn to the ones hooked to me. I felt a great amount of pain before blacking out again.