Author's Notes:
Welcome to Book Two of the Calamity of Light trilogy. As promised, chapter one of book two right along with the end of book one. For those returning, glad to have you still along for the ride. For those just starting, there was a scattered rundown of what happened in book one throughout the chapter. You'd be better off reading it here to understand everything that happened: s/12411973/1/Jenova-Project-K
Chapter 1: The New Crisis
Midgar is, as ever, a towering blight of metal and mako. A city where the rich prosper up above, and the poor are crushed underneath the plate, out of sight out of mind. Split into eight sectors above and below plate, fueled by as many reactors bleeding the Planet dry of its lifeblood. The lands surrounding Midgar are barren, lifeless rocky crags, a desolate wasteland. Much like what the rest of the world would turn into if the use, the waste, of Lifestream, wasn't halted. Especially since, with the death of the WEAPONs, the Planet had very few ways to deal with the situation on its own.
Something to add to Kairi's list.
K-A-I-R-I... Kairi... yes... her...
Its difficult sometimes, after consuming Jenova, consuming the Crisis, the Calamity, to properly recall who she is, losing herself in billions years worth of horrific memories. She hopes the confusion will fade in time, its hardly been a day since it happened after all. Perhaps... perhaps she just needed time, and to finish shutting it away. But that comes later; She and Genesis Rhapsodos, her Chosen One, had been recalled by Angeal Hewely, newly dubbed SOLDIER Director, because apparently Sephiroth had pitched a fit and killed the President along with half the board of directors before vanishing without a trace. Her only remorse over that was that she hadn't been involved. They had both gotten text updates from Genesis's PHS, and information passed down second hand through the Mental Web connecting Kairi and everyone who bore her cells, her children...
Her infected.
She brushes the vile thought off. She regrets she wasn't involved with the 'Board Wipe', because frankly none of them had been innocent. Especially Hojo. Him, the President, Scarlet, Heideggar, all dead. Good riddance. Former SOLDIER Director Lazard Deusericus had been bumped up to President, no clue yet on who would be replacing the others. It would be hard to do worse.
She flies in, Genesis at her back, towards the top of HQ and the helicopter pads there. They touch down on an empty one and head inside. "Where does he want us?"
There is a shuffling of clothes, a click of a PHS turning on, before Genesis cultured smooth voice airs out, "SOLDIER Director's Office. Apparently still cleaning out the stains from the executive suite or not, Lazard has moved."
Kairi huffs and moves to the nearest elevator, nodding briefly to a few troopers on security duty as she goes. The pair files in, and with a ding, they're off. Kairi sighs and leans against the wall of the elevator, glancing over at Genesis. Redheaded, more lightly than her own. His face was unblemished, pale, smooth, she'd heard him called pretty-boy often enough. His eyes were sharp, and ever the SOLDIER mako blue. His usual red coat was... a bit rough around the edges after the battle against Jenova, his black leather uniform underneath only a little better, his red gloves were, oddly enough, unmarred. His sword, the Rapier, red-bladed with a winged hilt, he kept at his hilt attached to his belt rather than SOLDIER standard keeping it magnetized to the back of their armor. He was slender compared to most, of course as a SOLDIER, their enhanced strength didn't need them to be muscular. He had a large black feathery wing, hidden but for the moment, pulled back underneath a slot in his clothing that it could push out or pull back in through.
She looks up at the reflective dip at the top of the elevator, generally Shinra hid a camera and microphone in them to spy on anyone and everyone, but she's not having conversations in here. No, she looks at it to look at herself. Reminding herself of who she is. Her hair was a deep red, darker than Genesis's, she kept the cut short and wavy. Her eyes, ever since her first child had received her cells, had rested as a pink-reddish and catlike, similar to Sephiroth's green. She frowned...
Had they always had that redness to them? She thought they had been a normal pink, it was difficult to tell in the lighting.
She dismisses it and continues looking over herself. She hadn't really considered looks for herself, but she supposed she could be called a pretty-girl to match Genesis's pretty-boy. Her face was soft set, though at nineteen years old, the childishness of her looks had started to fade away to that of a young woman. Her uniform, borrowed from one of her SOLDIERs, her girls, since her previous had been destroyed, was the standard SOLDIER 3rd class blue. She'd switch into a standard 1st Class purples later. Behind her was her single wing, white and feathery, not as large as Genesis's, but still big. Her weapon, a rapier not as elegant as Genesis's, had been destroyed in the battle against Jenova, so she'd need a new one, or, she'd need to figure out how to actually call out for the Keyblade she had only ever used twice.
Jenova had implied she would be able to do it, but, Kairi hadn't filtered through any memories of how yet.
She gives herself one final pass in the mirror, eyes flickering, but finding nothing that didn't say young woman aside from her inhuman eyes. The only hint that she wasn't what she seemed. That she was Calamity... a parasite... a living breathing sentient infection... capable of altering her appearance at will or twisting it in monstrous ways if she wanted to. But she didn't, she had never wanted this, but never really had a choice, because of what Shinra, what Hojo, what Jenova had done to her.
Well, there was the wing too, but that had been surprisingly well accepted by the populace so she never really considered it in the same inhuman manner unless she brooded about it. Of course, that acceptance could have been because she saved Midgar from the summon Zirconiade not honestly that long ago...
The elevator dings, and Genesis strolls out, passing SOLDIERs without a second glance. Kairi nods briefly at some of her girls, but keeps moving. They go to the director's office, and when they walk in, its so odd to see Angeal sitting behind the desk instead of Lazard, the Buster sword leaning against the wall behind the man. The man is carefully poking at his keyboard as to not break it with SOLDIER grade strength, his eyes narrowed at his screen, jaw set. She can't tell if he's angry over something he's reading, what happened with Sephiroth, what happened with Nibelheim, or angry about being in the chair. She's not used to Angeal actually looking pissed, he's usually so calm and collected.
He turns away from the screen and looks over Genesis. "The hell happened to you?"
"I have no idea where to even begin with that question," said Genesis, plopping down in a chair, "Though in hindsight, perhaps I have an idea of what set Sephiroth off."
Kairi sits down next to him. "What?"
"Kairi, Jenova blocked you off in the web, I had no idea something was amiss until Sephiroth called and demanded that I contact you," he explained.
Angeal blinked. "Jenova as in Sephiroth's dead mother?"
"That thing," snapped Kairi, "Was no one's mother, not his, not... not mine. It was a monster."
Angeal looked back and forth between them. "Why do I have a feeling I'm really not going to like this?"
"You're not," admits Genesis.
"We can give you a rundown, but...," began Kairi.
Then the door bursts open and one hyperactive teenage SOLDIER Zack Fair bursts in, dressed in a 2nd Class reddish uniform, and salutes briefly, shinning mako blue eyes, ridiculously spiky black hair, much like C... Cloud's had been. "Director Commander Hewely Sir!"
Kairi feels a pang of loss at the reminder of the death of her only son. Cloud and Tifa having been consumed by Jenova to re-ignite its damaged body and break free of its prison.
Angeal gives him an exasperated look. "Zack, please don't."
Zack grins and drops his hand. "So yeah, we've turned the building upside down. No sign of Sephiroth, and no sign of any 'extras' he might have taken out on the way out."
Angeal sighed. "Well, at least he didn't make anymore of a mess than he did."
"Ah c'mon 'Geal," said Zack, "Everyone's been saying he deserves a damn medal for taking out the trash. I'm loyal to SOLDIER and all that, but the head honchos really had it coming. Been hearing a lot of stories while searchin that no one woulda said before."
Angeal looked to the ceiling, to the stars, as if for patience. "I'm not saying I don't agree, but haphazard murder, especially sudden and unplanned like this leaving us to clean up while he strolls out is...
"HA!" interrupted Zack, "Unplanned. Kunsel owes me ten gil! I knew you guys had it out for the board. So what happened huh, Seph jump the gun? You guys get left out?"
Angeal closes his eyes, bang his head down on his desk hard enough to dent it, and groans.
"Possibly," said Genesis, "But, above your clearance grade and..."
"No," interrupted Kairi, "I think..."
She paused. "I think the more that know, in a controlled setting, the better."
Genesis gives her a wary look. "Are you certain?"
Kairi nods. "Yeah, I think it needs to be an open debrief. Have the Turks there, any of the remaining board that's decent... okay so just Reeve, Palmer doesn't need to be involved, he's hardly at the board meetings anyway. Angeal you need to be there, probably Lazard, I'd like the SOLDIERs to know, I'm going to have the Mental Web open to all my girls. Are there any scientists that aren't insane lunatics that will be taking over?"
"Well, Hojo and Hollander are gone, so...," said Angeal, glancing back to his screen, clicking through a few emails, "Lazard had chosen a Professor Rayleigh from Junon to be the new head of Science. She should be arriving tomorrow."
Genesis and Kairi both frown and exchange looks, the former says, "Never heard of her."
"I think that's the point," admits Angeal, "Pick someone not involved with Hojo's particular brand of science to take over and clean it up."
"Fair," agreed Kairi before looking to Zack. "You should bring Aerith."
Zack slow blinks. "...why would I bring Aerith to a Shinra debrief?"
"Because she's an Ancient and this does involve her," said Kairi.
Especially if what Chaos had said back in the battle against Jenova had been referring to Aerith being the one who called forth Holy.
"She's a what?!" exclaimed Zack, looking a little hurt, "Why didn't she tell me?"
"Safer for you probably," said Kairi, "You are aware the Turks keep an eye on her, right?"
"Yeah, but... I thought she was just a VIP's daughter or something hiding out in the slums, ya know?" said Zack, "Something nasty happens, family is forced to go into 'retirement', all that jazz."
He sighs, running a hand through his hair. "When am I grabbing her?"
"Tomorrow," said Angeal, "We still need Verdot to get back here too. Said I was supposed to call him if his idiot partner didn't show up with you two."
Kairi winced. "Ah... we might have forgotten to wait for Vincent before taking off."
"Wait, wait," said Angeal, eyes going wide, "As in Vincent Valantine?! Legendary assumed dead Turk? I thought he was talking about Tseng!"
"Nope, Vincent," said Kairi.
Angeal sighed, shuffling through his desk and picking up his PHS.
"Tell him to check in Corel," said Kairi.
Angeal nods, types a quick text, waits, raises an eyebrow when he gets a response, then flops the phone back on his desk. "Taking a helicopter from Costa Del Sol to go retrieve him apparently. So yeah, tomorrow."
Costa huh, wonder if Veld got a front up look at the WEAPONs when they were marching on Jenova.
Angeal pointed at Genesis. "Alright, so spill, you mentioned something about Sephiroth calling you?"
Genesis nodded. "After I told him Hojo was his father, he decided to sleep on it, and in the morning went for a confrontation. He called around... five? Six? Full general mode, tone more serious than ever. Warned me to get to Kairi, said she was in danger. When I asked how, he said Hojo, told me to beware Jenova, and then yelled at me to go. So I went."
Kairi frowned thoughtfully. "Curious. I wonder, did Hojo spill the truth to him? Did Sephiroth force it out of him?"
"Don't know," said Genesis, "But considering what I learned from Chaos, Sephiroth, ALL of us, have every right to be enraged."
"Why?" asked Angeal, "I mean, aside from the obvious."
"They stuck more than just Mako in us to enhance us Angeal," said Genesis quietly, "They stuck Jenova in us, and if Kairi hadn't defeated her, we'd be fucked."
"I don't... understand, fucked how?" asked Angeal.
"As in, Jenova could have mentally enslaved anyone with her cells in her who didn't have the strength to resist her," said Kairi, voice hard.
Angeal blinked. "That... as in the entirety of SOLDIER? How?!"
"Its complicated Angeal," said Kairi quietly, "And the explanation is going to have to wait for the debrief, because I don't want to have to repeat myself on this. Its..."
Her voice cracks a bit. "Its bad Angeal, its worse than you can possibly imagine."
"I can imagine a lot of terrible things," he said mildly.
"Shinra came so very close to getting every single person on the planet killed messing around with something that should have been left buried," snapped Kairi.
A harsh breath escapes his lips. "Alright, alright, tomorrow. You two flew, right? Get some food, get some rest, a change of clothes, and be ready for tomorrow. There are going to be a lot of questions."
Kairi nods and gets up, turning to leave before pausing. "Zack... you and Cloud Strife were friends, right?"
Zack gives a signature grin. "Yeah, Spikey and I are friends. His friend is pretty hot, though she introduced me to her fist when I tried to flirt with her. Oh right, they went with you on the your last mission."
His eyes flicker through the office. "Shouldn't they be here for a debrief? Or well, you sounded like the mission went south, they in medical? Tell me my Spikey wasn't to roughed up! Us country boys hafta stick together after all.
Her face falls. "He... he and Tifa didn't make it..."
He freezes for a split second before his face turned sour, mouth opening and closing a few times before yelling, "FUCK! I liked Spikey! Tifa too! What the hell happened?"
"Jenova ate them."
"ATE THEM?!" exclaimed Zack, horrified, "Not my Spikey! That's a horrible way to go!"
Considering Cloud and Tifa's souls had been consumed into Jenova, never to find release, yeah, he had no idea. The best she could offer her dead children was to let their souls slumber with the rest Jenova had consumed. "Sorry... I just thought you'd want to know."
Zack sighs, rubbing at his face. "Dammit. How you holding up? Last time you lost one of yours you marshaled the damn army pretty much and hunted down a King Behemoth."
Kairi's voice is cold. "I destroyed Jenova."
He gives a sharp nod. "Good riddance. Though... whats a Jenova?"
"Tomorrow Zack," said Angeal.
"Right, yeah, scoot you two, I gotta do my civic duty and pester Angeal s'more."
Angeal gives them a long-suffered look, but Kairi takes the moment to flee the hyperactive 2nd Class SOLDIER, Genesis behind her, chuckling softly. "Poor Angeal. Lazard prefered to do most of his work himself, but I think he's going to need a secretary."
"And someone to ward off Zack," said Kairi teasingly.
"Mhm," hummed Genesis, "I don't know about you, but I have a long shower ahead of me."
"Agreed," said Kairi, "We both need a change of clothes, a shower... could... could we meet in your apartment... after?"
He hesitates. "For what reason? Angeal did say we should rest..."
She shrugs, eyes averting, mumbling quietly, "We... we don't have to do anything again, but... its comfortable, not sleeping alone."
She didn't care about the rules or regulations around sleeping with her technical commanding officer (she was owed what she desired after all she had done), but she didn't like the sudden awkwardness. She had sought comfort with him last night after the grueling battle with Jenova, after consuming the Calamity and attaining so many terrible memories. Before she had almost lost everything to Jenova, she hadn't really recognized how much the man had done for her, had stood by her. She had no desire in him serving the function of a 'normal' Chosen One, in delivering her the world. She refused to be the monster Jenova had been. Rather... she decided he'd be much more suited for the role of Consort. Though...
She had no idea how to go about getting him to agree with that, especially since she could feel the way his thoughts were going.
"I'd prefer to have time to think," he said carefully, "I'm not saying no in the long run, apprentice, but, far to much has happened recently, and needs to be taken care of, before relationships are even considered."
She gives a tight nod. "Of course."
Of course...
They go their separate ways soon after, and Kairi spends a long, long time in the shower before she gets out to sleep...
"You will be protected, child."
Aerith Gainsborough swallows thickly, looking into the red eyes of Vincent Valantine, a brief gold flash of the being Chaos inside of him. The man loomed ominously, long black hair falling behind him and over his red jacket that covered his leather's underneath. His entire presence felt scary to her, the metal claw for a hand added to that. Though... she knew the presence behind the man would not hurt her. "I... o-okay."
She sits at the table in her home in the Sector 6 Slums. Her head bowed, her hair dangles behind her in a long plait, a ribbon at the rob keeping it together, her mother's White Materia hidden inside of it. Her long segmented bangs shield her eyes when she angles them right, a chance to think. She currently wears her usual white and blue casual dress, she hadn't been planning on going anywhere besides the church today. Her emerald green eyes flicker up briefly...
Until Vincent Valentine and Veld Verdot had shown up requesting her presence for a 'debrief' in Shinra HQ.
"Both Hojo and the President are dead," said Verdot mildly, "No one is going to force you to stay, and no one will force you back to the labs."
Veld Verdot was a middle aged man in the standard tight Turk Suite, though his is the black version instead of blue. His brown hair goes down to his shoulders nowadays, has facial hair she's not used to seeing on him covering his chin and the sides of his face. The lines of stress on his face are... not something that should be so extreme. But she does know his loss, that his daughter died recently. Then there's his job, along with whatever was going on now. She doesn't think he's been taking very good care of himself.
"Do... you know what this 'debrief' is about?" she asks.
"Kairi will be heading it, and its about whatever the fuck happened in Nibelheim," he said tiredly, "Though you should have some understanding already as I understand it."
Aerith purses her lips. "Terrible things happened there. The Planet... the Planet was terrified. It woke up its WEAPONs."
"Yeah," said Veld dryly, "I saw a few."
His eyes searched hers. "When Reno called... you said Jenova had called for Kairi..."
"The Crisis is dealt with," said Aerith quietly, uneasily, "But the Planet is still afraid."
She shakes her head. "Let me leave a note for mom and change, then I'll be ready to go."
Mom had gotten her a new dress for when she grew out of her current one, she thought she'd try it out. She goes upstairs, changes into a pink dress that buttons up the front. It goes a bit down onto her feet, but once she's done growing she thinks it'll go down to her shins instead. Since she's going above plate, she decides on her clompers, a pair of boots she had gotten out of a trash pile and had been cleaning up. She shifts through her closet, coming away with her mother's old red bolero jacket and slides it on overtop. She goes for safety in numbers for her bracers, two on her wrist, two she attaches to the ends of her jacket sleeves, putting one of her materia in each just in-case someone nabs one of them, that way she's not completely defenseless.
Zack had nicely gotten her some materia and bracer three and four. She had scavenged the first two herself.
She looks herself over in the bedroom's cracked mirror and nods. She likes the look, even if she hasn't quite grown into it yet. Another year or two, for now, she just buttons everything up tightly and rolls up the end of the dress on itself so she doesn't trip on it. She plucks the staff Zack bought her a few weeks ago from its place leaning against the wall next to the door, and makes her way back downstairs. They walk out, and she's surprised to see Zack doing squats next to a helicopter parked outside.
"Hey 'Rith!" he says cheerfully, "Was gonna come get you myself, but looks like the Turks beat me to it."
His nose wrinkles. "Why so good at your jobs?"
Veld rolls his eyes and thumbs at the helicopter. "Get in Fair."
"Sir yes sir!" Zack mock salutes.
Aerith giggles a little before they all pile in. She can't tell whose on pilot duty, but she sees a blue turk suit through the partially opened cabin-door. Red hair... maybe Cisseni? She's not given a chance to ask before the doors close and the helicopters take flight, heading for above-plate. She grips her seat tightly, she'd never been in a helicopter before...
"So... Ancient huh?" said Zack, giving her a pout.
She smiled a little, shrugging, "I don't like talking about it. I... I just like being Aerith, okay?"
He gives her a grin. "Sure thing 'Rith."
She likes that he doesn't press. He acknowledges, then moves on. She's not sure what she would have said if he had. She doesn't like thinking about her time in the labs, what happened to her and her birth-mother because of what they were...
"So... a coffin," said Veld mildly.
Vincent sighs. "Must we Veld?"
"A coffin, for decades."
"For the first one, at least, I wasn't safe to be around," said Vincent, "My... house-guests... and I didn't have anything close to an understanding. The only reason I figure Chaos is being civil is because of this whole mess. He was a lot less... calm... prior."
"From what I can feel... what I can hear... I don't think he's supposed to be bound to a human," said Aerith quietly, "I don't think he's any happier to be in you than you are to have him there."
Vincent frowns, but nods. "That... makes sense I suppose."
"May I... may I speak to him?" asked Aerith quietly.
Vincent hesitates, but closes his eyes, and when they open, they are golden. "What is your question?"
"Woah... freaky," said Zack, leaning forward to get a better look at the eyes, shrinking back when Chaos glares at him.
"Are... are you sure its safe? What the Planet has been saying about Kairi..." began Aerith.
"Wait, what about Kairi?" interrupted Zack, confused, "Are you... are you afraid of Kairi? She's our friend!"
"Foolish little human," murmurs Chaos, looking Zack dead in the eye and making him squirm, "Watch the one you call 'Kairi'. Watch how she speaks, how she acts, and take note of things that do not make sense. Afterwards, when we return this child to her home, you will discuss what you see, and then you will understand."
He turns back to Aerith. "You are safe, for the time being. I will protect you. My host's allies, these 'Turks', will protect you, and if it comes down to it, I imagine this little fool here will as well. This New Crisis is new to itself, is still finding itself. Enough of the Calamity of Light may yet remain to keep it in check, but that remains to be seen."
"That's what I'm worried about," said Aerith quietly, "The Planet keeps talking about Kairi as if... as if its not her anymore... just keeps calling her the New Crisis."
"You will see, Child, you will see," said Chaos softly, the gold bleeding out of his eyes and returning control to Chaos.
Veld slowly looks back and forth between them. "Is there something I need to be made aware of prior to going into that building? Your passenger was talking about Kairi as a potential active threat."
"That has yet to be determined," said Vincent softly, "I have a good idea what Chaos means, but I hope he's wrong, for all our sakes. We're in no threat today, Veld, but there is no guarantee it will stay that way, especially if Chaos is right."
"I know its been awhile Valentine," said Veld mildly, "But you should remember I always hate this runaround shit."
Vincent quirks a smile, but merely tucks his chin into his cloak's collar.
They land a few minutes later, and Aerith has to push down the urge to bolt back to the helicopter. She forces herself, step by step, to walk into the place holding so many of her nightmares. The four of them squeeze into an elevator, and Vincent looks to Veld, eyebrow raises, finger near the buttons.
"Floor 49, SOLDIER floor," says Veld, "Kairi's booked the grad room."
"Grad?"
"Where they give the speech for cadets that make it in," offered Zack.
Vincent nods and thumbs the button, and with a ding, the elevator closes. The further down they get, the more a pressure builds in the back of her mind. Aerith has always been able to feel when SOLDIERs are near, feeling the taint of the Crisis within them. She's also been able to feel Kairi's girls in a different manner, less threatening, more welcoming in presence, but still just as alien and -not right-. This though? Its a bit of everything. She feels a large gathering of SOLDIERs, of female SOLDIERs, and... and something else.
Something that is not Kairi.
Something that is not Jenova.
Aerith doesn't know what it is, but its powerful and volatile. It almost feels...
The elevator dings open, and she's lead out into a hallway teeming with SOLDIERs, all of them heading the same way.
"So, any idea what this is about?"
"The General axing the President maybe?"
"Nah, we've already got our 'keep a lid on it' orders. S'ides, I hear Kairi is heading this meeting."
"Swarming with Turks though, hear they split the network up, if ya can't get in you can watch through yer PHS. Can't save the video though."
"Well no shit, since when does anything Shinra get out without at least ten layers of bullshit covering it?"
Veld doesn't particularly react to any of the chatter, just nudging SOLDIERs's shoulders and that gets them to move out of the way when they see who it is. She has nowhere to hide her trembling hands, hide her terror at being surrounded by so many people infected with the Crisis. She keeps her hands clasped tightly together over her stomach, trying to keep herself right behind Veld. The thing that really strikes her, and makes her uneasy, is that the Crisis was defeated, the Planet said that...
So why don't the SOLDIERs feel any different to her?
Why does their taint feel the same?
Shouldn't it be less with the Crisis dead?
Then she's led into a large room, packed to the brim with seated SOLDIERs, and there at the front is Kairi standing next to Genesis Rhapsodos. Aerith freezes, Zack pausing next to her. "What's wrong Aerith?"
She can't keep the terror off her face as she looks at Kairi.
Oh Planet... oh Planet...
In her presence, in the same room, Aerith understood what the Planet meant.
That wasn't Kairi.
That thing wearing her face wasn't Kairi.
Not anymore.
But...
But it wasn't the original Crisis either.
It felt like... both?
"I don't understand," she whispered shakily.
Vincent grabs her shoulder and pulls her forward gently. "Control yourself, push down your fear, be strong. You have nothing to be afraid of right now."
Aerith struggles to stop her shaking, to try to control her fear, Vincent mutters something to Veld, and their pace slows, giving Aerith a little longer. She tries to look past what she feels, but its so hard to. She's in the same room as a live, active being, that feels somewhat like the actual Crisis, not just someone bearing its cells.
"One two three," murmurs Veld, "Breath."
Aerith swallows and obeys. One, two, three... one, two, three... one, two, three...
By the time she reaches the front (why the front, why?!) her face is only slightly flushed. Her breathing a little ragged but not hyperventilating. Then Kairi turns her head, sights Aerith...
And smiles warmly at her.
Aerith slowly blinks, feeling awkward all the sudden. She gives a weak, hesitant smile back, then looks to the seat Veld directs her to. Vincent sits on one side, Zack the other. She sights Angeal Hewely on the other side of Zack. Veld moves to join Kairi on the stage, whispering quietly to her in the backdrop of many such whispers going around the room. Aerith looks at the center stage: There is a podium there that someone can speak from, a laptop on it connected through a long cord to a large screen on the wall behind them. A table with tons of folders open, papers spread about, between the podium and the screen. There is a smaller table with... maybe a scanner on it? She figures its to put the papers on the big screen.
Aerith moves back to studying Kairi. So much looks the same, and... some of her presence DOES feel like Kairi. Some of it feels like the Crisis... and another part feels like someone took them and mixed them together to create something else. Aerith already had a bad feeling, was already afraid, but when she thought that thought, something sank in her. She had known what the Crisis had wanted to do to Kairi...
But now...
It feels like Kairi did it to the Crisis instead, and yet... if she had... shouldn't she only feel like Kairi?
Something is wrong.
Something is terribly wrong.
But for now... until she determines what exactly is going on, she'll refer to it as Kairi. Its... easier to control herself if she thinks of it as her.
Kairi moves to the podium, and lightly taps it for attention. "Alright, its time to get started."
The room quiets.
Kairi's face goes serious. "To start, I will preface by saying what we have to discuss will be hard to swallow, hard to accept. Its a lot of hard to believe shit combined with a lot of harsh truths. Understand that this is the truth, I have the backing of the Turks on this, on what we've managed to pilfer from the Science Department, and from my own knowledge and understanding. As such, keep the comments to a minimum."
She waits for the message to settle, a number of SOLDIERs all around the room shifting in their seats, but no one says anything.
"I suppose the best place to start is at the beginning, Aerith, would you like to come up and explain what happened 2000 years ago?" asked Kairi.
Oh.
"I... I'm not good with crowds," Aerith squeaks out, earning a few snickers from those around her.
She's not good with crowds of infected.
Kairi nods. "Alright, well, I'll explain to the best of my abilities then."
She clears her throat. "Two thousand years ago, when the Cetra walked the earth in more than just legend and a lone survivors, a meteor hit the planet. You would know where it hit as the Northern Crater, the place that has some of the toughest monsters on the planet. A number of Cetra headed to the impact zone to try and heal the damage it dealt to the land. But... what they didn't know is what had been on the meteor."
Her face goes grim. "Those of you who have read up on the Cetra, or as much is publicly known, might recognize references to a Crisis or a Calamity, what so called experts thought was what destroyed them. They were right, but it wasn't an event. It was an entity. A Sentient Alien Parasite had came down with the meteor."
Murmurs ripple through the room, and Kairi waits for it to fade before continuing, "They would call it the Crisis. The Calamity. The Heaven's Dark Harbinger. It would proceed to infect and mutate almost the entire Cetran race into monsters that spread its infection. The final few Cetran clans managed to deceive the Crisis, tricking it into taking a tampered body as its active host. Once the trap was spring, the tampering cut the Crisis's active connection between it and its infected and paralyzed it. They moved its prison to the depths of the Northern Crater and left to try to clean up and cleanse the rest of the infected. That pretty much doomed the Cetra, there wasn't enough left of them as a race until they dwindled down to a single survivor active today, one who I name one of the most important VIPs of Shinra's to the date."
Aerith's heart sinks when an image of her shows up on the screen. There was no hiding anymore. "Some of you might have already met Zack's girlfriend. Her name is Aerith Gainsborough, and like I said, she is to be protected. She's a bit shy, so don't try to be to overbearing, just keep an eye out when you see her about in Midgar."
She wasn't shy!
...just rightfully afraid of those who bore the Crisis in them.
"Now, going back a few decades or so," said Kairi, "A Shinra expedition to the Northern Crater uncovered a body that they foolishly assumed to be a Cetra..."
"Oh fuck, know where this is going," someone said.
Kairi glares in the voice's direction. "Shut. It."
The voice goes quiet, and Aerith frowns at the harshness of it, noting Zack give Kairi a peculiar look.
Kairi continues, "The company, in their foolish desire to find a mythical Promised Land, supposedly of infinite mako, decides they wanted to recreate the Ancients. They called this supposed corpse Jenova, and started what they called the Jenova Project, with the aim to use Jenova's cells to make new Ancients to lead them to the Promised Land."
She smiles thinly. "That never worked out for them, so instead, they made SOLDIER using Jenova's cells and a mixture of mako, because they had discovered that the Jenova Cells allowed mako to bind to a person without horrific mutations if done in a specific dosage, allowing them to become enhanced. So for those of you who need it spelled out, Jenova was the Crisis, they used an alien parasite to create SOLDIER. Every single one of us is infected with it."
The tension in the room, the gathered agitation, makes Aerith's skin crawl.
"That alone wouldn't have been a problem, as Jenova was still trapped in her prison," said Kairi, "She couldn't influence any of us, so unless someone went and woke her up, there was no active threat, just a ticking timebomb. That was... until a different alien arrived here, though not quite as alien as Jenova had been. Veld?"
She steps back, and Veld stops forward, typing in the computer, and then a grainy camera recording shows an alleyway in Midgar. Aerith watches curiously until a bright flash of light appearances, then out of it falls... a younger Kairi.
Oh.
Oh.
The Planet had called her a Lost Child back then... but she hadn't realized Kairi wasn't from this world!
"The fuck?" someone calls out, similar exclamations going out, but none from the female SOLDIERs Aerith notes. So they already knew.
Veld raises a hand for silence, and the video plays, showing Verdot and another Turk come and study Kairi briefly before taking her away. "Kairi appeared out of thin air, and we noted no materia on her, so it wasn't an Exit Materia. We didn't know that she was an alien at the time, we thought she might be another ancient, so we, to our regret, brought her to Hojo to be studied."
His eyes flicker to Aerith's in apology, and her heart sinks, horror taking her as she understands. If Hojo had another Cetra to toy around with, he wouldn't care that much about locating Aerith herself. Of all the horrible things the Turks do...
He types on the laptop, and DNA strands appear, parts being focused on, then a second appears, the same focusing in, but its... a little different? "Records from before she was enhanced. She was still human, but not quite the same. we're not quite sure how exactly there are alien humans, but..."
Kairi moves and nudges him lightly, and he moves. "That would be because humans aren't from this world either. Our ancestors were the Cetra, and their ancestors were the Spirans. They, like the Cetra, had suffered the Crisis's hunger, and lost to it. So they fled their homeworld, scattering in many different directions. The Crisis chose to follow the ones that would arrive here."
Aerith slow blinks. They... were aliens to the Planet? Yet the Planet now considered them its children... well... perhaps it hadn't at first, but after thousands of years, after the Spirans, the Cetra, and then humans were cycled through the Lifestream, it claimed them.
"To return to the topic at hand," said Kairi, "I still to this day don't understand exactly how I got here. One minute I was being chased by monsters on my homeworld, the next I fall through a door and end up here. It doesn't make an ounce of sense to me. But still, I was taken to the labs, I woke up in a cage, and then was injected with Jenova Cells. My cells interacted with Jenova's in a way that awakened them within me. From that point on, I heard a voice in my head that called itself Jenova, that called itself my Mother."
She grimaced, grief, fury, and regret laced across her face. "It would guide me through surviving Hojo's labs. It was all I had in that madness, so I latched on, and trusted her. Despite misgivings, I gave my trust to a monster and she abused it."
"Wait, wait, was THAT the awful presence?" a female voice called out, "Mom, you lied to us?!"
Kairi looks away briefly, jaw set, but unlike the previous speaker, she doesn't rebuke them for silence. "I let Genesis speak what they thought was the truth, but yes, a lie of admission. I... she had been with me for years at that point, she didn't want to be revealed, and I... I trusted her over you all. It was one of my greatest mistakes."
"What was this 'lie'?" someone called out.
Kairi frowns, but answers, "Jenova took over my body briefly at one point and brutally slaughtered a bunch of monsters in the slums. Turks saw and thought I had a mental break, so they put me on watch for awhile. Those who knew eventually dubbed it an alternate personality disorder brought on by my time in Hojo's labs. I didn't correct them on it. I wish I had."
Kairi closes her eyes for a long moment, jaw set. "What I didn't truly understand until recently was just how much Jenova had altered me, changed me. She... she warped my DNA into something similar to her own, because she had every intention of eating away everything that was me and wearing my body as her own. For those of you who understand how strong I am, my capabilities, how hard I am to kill, you can guess why that would have been terrible had the Crisis been able to do so."
She sighed. "I'm... part of me doesn't want to speak of this, to hide it away, but there has been enough lies, enough deception surrounding SOLDIER, surrounding the Jenova Project, hell, in our everyday life in Shinra, so I won't. I am putting trust in all of you by saying this: I'm not really human, even an 'alien human', anymore..."
She holds up her hand, and...
Aerith goes rigged, trying to push back in her seat reflexively in fear when Kairi's arm splits down the middle in a stringy collection of bloody fleshy threads. There is a lot of swearing, exclamations, and few shrieks. "THE FUCK!"
Kairi lets her hand fall downward, and part of it pinches off in a wet splotch. She holds up her partial arm, and it regrows quickly. But so too does the arm, twisting into a churning mass of flesh until after a few minutes arms and legs have grown then flesh starts to change shape and surge then... then...
Aerith lets out a choking noise, and she's not the only one, when two identical Kairi's stand on the stage.
"H-holy fuck," stutters Zack, "What the hell?!"
Both Kairi's smile thinly, speaking at once. "Like I said, I'm not human anymore. Shinra, Hojo, Jenova... they stole my humanity from me. I still look like this because this is what I'm comfortable with, this... being me, being Kairi, is who I choose to be. I don't want to be anything like Jenova. I speak to you honestly here, because it could have been so easy to pretend, to hide this away, but I didn't."
Aerith stares at the second Kairi as it sits at the edge of the stage, the horror beating in her chest is impossible to contain, she doesn't try to hide it on her face. She swallows thickly, trying to focus on what she said, because she does feel it from the... the thing.
It wants to be Kairi.
Its honest in this.
Its almost as if...
Her eyes go wide. She looks to Vincent briefly, and his eyes for a moment flicker gold, he nods.
It doesn't know.
The thing on the stage doesn't know its not truly Kairi.
Kairi sighs. "Last mission, everything went to shit. I went to Nibelheim with 3rd Class Strife and Lockheart, both who didn't survive the encounter with Jenova. Jenova called me to the reactor, where she was being kept, and I went. My presence allowed her to pull strength from me, and she revealed her true nature. She killed Cloud and Tifa and ate them, consuming them to give herself the power to fully break her prison and fix her host body. She came for me next, I fought and... everything just..."
She swallows. "It was bad. The WEAPONs..."
She paused. "Veld, you have the videos of the WEAPONs, right?"
He nods and takes over, staring briefly at the 2nd Kairi still sitting down, but took the podium. He types on the laptop, and videos appear in windows of giant monsters walking from the coast on the other continent, or flying over it. He steps away after and Kairi took over.
"The WEAPONs were monsters created to fight the Crisis back when it originally arrived, but weren't finished in time to actually do so, so they were put to sleep and hidden away. When it woke up, they were woken up and sent to fight it, by the end of the fight, every single one of them were dead, either killed by Jenova, or infected by her then killed by us," she said, "Us being myself, Genesis... and Vincent Valentine, the one Turk onsite. Some of you might recognize the name from the old Turk legends, he was... retired in Nibelheim, and came out to help."
"Fuck, if that thing killed those things, how the hell did you kill it?" someone asked.
Kairi closed her eyes. "Near the end of the fight, we destroyed almost all of its body except for a piece we missed. It suprised me, attacking and burrowing into me, tried to take over me. The fight was... its hard to describe a mental struggle. But... Jenova had made me like her, so I had her capabilities. She tried to eat me, but I discovered I could eat her instead. I consumed Jenova and destroyed it. In doing so, I attained far to many memories from it I'd rather never have had, its... you have no idea, none of you have no idea how many worlds, how many people, that the Calamity ate. It was the only way I could destroy her after she had infested me so deeply."
Aerith understands at last.
She's horrified.
Kairi consumed the Crisis.
It hadn't been destroyed...
Kairi had absorbed it into herself.
What stood before them was a Kari-dominate merging between Kairi and the Crisis.
"I have to ask Kairi," said Angeal, voice hard, "I know you can 'infect' people already, you did so to heal Genesis of the... illness... that was killing him.."
There is a brief murmur of surprise through the room at that. Whether the infection part of the illness she doesn't know.
"...but could you mutate them? Turn them into monsters? Vectors of contagion? If you could 'consume' this Jenova..."
"Yes," said Kairi quietly, "I could, to all of those questions and more."
Angeal stares at her for a very long minute, face betraying nothing. "How are we supposed to trust in you, Kairi?"
"Other than the fact that I've told all of you this?" she said dryly, "That I haven't already killed or converted every single person in this room?"
"You couldn't..."
"I could," she said firmly, "I am the origin point for the Mental Web connecting me to those who bear my cells. I hate having Jenova's knowledge, but I do, and with it, I could so very easily dominate the Mental Web, only Genesis and a few of my girls have the strength to actually resist the control if I exerted it. IF I was the monster Jenova was, I could enslave my children and order them to attack and pass on my cells to others. This room would be converted in under a minute, and even disregarding that, all it would take would be slipping my cells into each sector's water supply or HQs water supply, and I could have easily already done it. Overnight I could have turned Midgar into an epidemic center that could easily spiral out and convert the entire human population on the planet in under a week using the helicopters to get around.."
The room is deathly silent, Aerith can hardly breath, because its a horrific, terrible truth. No, its even worse, because if Kairi is also in part Jenova, then she could dominate the regular SOLDIERs too. Aerith doesn't think there is anything on the Planet strong enough to kill this thing bearing Kairi's name anymore. Not when its combined the power of Kairi and the Crisis together, not when she can take control of SOLDIER if need be. Sephiroth might have more raw power, from what she's heard and sensed at a distance, but that doesn't necessarily mean he could actually kill her. If this New Crisis decides to go the way of the old...
The Planet is lost.
There would be so little they could do about it.
"But I haven't, and I wont," Kairi said firmly, "Because I am NOT Jenova. I am Kairi, K-A-I-R-I. SOLDIER is my family, and this world is my home now. I may not really be human anymore, but acting human is another story. For all he might have been human, Hojo certainly acted worse than any monster save Jenova after all."
Angeal purses his lips, but gives a curt nod. "A fair enough statement, but..."
She gives him a tired smile. "You'll be watching. I know. I expected that, and honestly, I kind of expect worse, but its fine. I'll prove myself, yet again after I already have. I will be a champion of this world, and help to keep it safe from threats here, and threats beyond, because I assure you..."
Her face darkens. "Jenova is hardly the only horrific thing out there in outer space. There are more of Jenova's kind, and things far, far worse that she encountered."
More...
More Calamities...? Other horrors?
Aerith wants to hide in her room and bury her face into her pillow at the mere thought of it.
She clutches her hands together tightly instead, nails biting into her palm.
Kairi shakes her head slowly, lets out a breath, then adjusts the microphone.
"So in summary: Jenova was an alien parasite that could consume and mutate those it infects. Shinra used Jenova to create SOLDIER, not knowing the ticking timebomb they were making. I was infected, I was then changed to better suit Jenova as her active host, Jenova tried to eat me, but failed and was eaten herself," said Kairi, "I will say one final time that this could have been kept quiet, could have been hushed up, but wasn't. I've briefly talked with President Lazard and told him my intentions in disclosing this. He agreed, and said it would be the start of a company wide initiative to clean up the Shinra Corporation."
She steps back, and who Aerith assumes is Lazard steps from the shadows of the stage. He has neatly trimmed blond hair down to his neck. Blue eyes covered by thin glasses. He's dressed in an impeccable business suit. A buttoned dark blue top, a white undershirt, a purple tie, white pants, classy shoes, finished off with high quality white gloves. Standard for Shinra really. Not quite as ridiculous as normal for the execs she'd seen on TV.
"As Kairi has said, my desire as President is to move the company away from Shinra's foul past. This includes such controlled disclosures, and fixing past mistakes, especially in regards to SOLDIER," said Lazard, "My first executive order as President is a simple one: Far to many of you were, I believe the phrase was, 'Turk Recruited', as such, we are, if you so wish, allowing you to leave Shinra and return to your previous life, with financial aid if you so need it."
That got a startle through the room, surprised murmurs rippling across. Aerith had heard about that, in hushed rumors. That Shinra was trying to fix it... maybe Lazard would be much better than the previous president... not that it was a high bar to meet.
"Company policy as a whole is going to be revised," continued Lazard, "And while SOLDIER's goal as a whole will remain the same, you will be shifting away from more militant purposes, or shows of force. Your purpose as SOLDIERs is to keep the populace safe and secure first and foremost. Its been known for awhile now, but not publicly revealed, that the mako seeping out of reactors mutates the wildlife, creating monsters. The recent destruction of so many reactors by AVALANCHE will have an incredibly negative affects on the ecosystem in those areas. We will be upping patrols over on the western continent, and plan to make Shinra outposts in every town, along with one major facility that will be built on the continent from scratch, probably somewhere near the center of it. A new base of operations out there will allow quicker turnaround for missions, and provide employment opportunities desperately needed out there after the reactor destruction so thoroughly destroyed life, opportunity, and inflicted such hardships."
He waited a moment as applause started up, and even Aerith gave a soft clap. At least, if it was he said it was, the people out there would need protection and opportunity. She wasn't ignorant that having a outpost in every town also gave Shinra oversight and control over them as well.
After the applause died down, Lazard continued, "SOLDIERs will rotate through this towns, back to this continent for Midgar, Junon, and Kalm, and on a volunteer basis only, up to Bone Village and Icicle Inn as part of a new initiative to protect our world. It is also likely that you will be called on escort services, especially when we announce our public relocation plans."
He cleared his throat. "Its a poorly kept and often ignored secret, how awful life can be down in the slums, how its boasted that Midgar is a city of progress and opportunity, but only for those with connections. It was brought to my attention many times during my time as SOLDIER director, how SOLDIER was needed to help the populace down there. With the advent of the female division, we were able to devote resources needed to keep the monster population down there culled, but that doesn't ignore the hardship and lack of opportunity many find. Often forced into poverty, crime, gangs, prostitution, I wont lie about it. As such, Shinra will soon be offering any who live under the plates the opportunity to move to the western continent to help re-populate the devastated towns. Nibelheim will require being completely rebuilt, and will be a project that will offer opportunities for the duration, such as contracting for building/landscaping, and of course, protection."
Aerith stared at the man, wide eyed, and then looked at Veld, eyes pleading. He gave a soft nod, and she could have, would have, cried if she were alone or in a small group.
She could leave.
She would be allowed to leave Midgar.
"Finally, we do plan to move away from Mako Energy," said Lazard firmly, "As of this morning I was made aware of how... delicate... the situation was surrounding Mako," he said in a cautious tone, "Mako is not infinite, and it will have absolutely dire effects on the planet's ecosystem. It is not something that will happen right away, as alternatives need to be found and current systems need to be re-designed to use said alternatives. But hopefully, within the next thirty to fifty years as an estimate, we will be shutting down the last Mako Reactor. We have no plans to be re-building the ones destroyed on the western continent, we will largely be testing alternatives over there first and seeing if they are sustainable."
Aerith closes her eyes and whispers a soft prayer of thanks to whoever would listen. She knows, she's heard the cries of the Planet, she knows how much pain its been in from the reactors. Just a short more time, in the Planet's terms, and it would be over, then it could heal.
"We will go into more details at a later date, as this is all preliminary decisions, it has only been a short time since... leadership rotated after all," said Lazard.
"Speaking of that, what about Sephiroth?" someone called out.
"Sephiroth," said Lazard, smiling a little, "Will be allowed to continue his retirement wherever he has taken it, undisturbed. We will not be pursuing him, nor will we be publicly revealing his role in the deaths of the previous President and most of the Board. It is not publicly known, but, Kairi was not the only one to suffer Hojo's labs, Sephiroth is more than owed his freedom, his own life, as compensation. While coverup is standard operations for Shinra, and something we desire to move away from, in this case we will let it lay."
The meeting wraps up fairly quickly after that, Lazard's closing statement being for them to pay attention to broadcasts on the PHS system. Many SOLDIERs leaving the room, but many of the females approaching Kairi, surrounding the New Crisis and talking quietly with her. Aerith takes the initiative to vacate the room, she doesn't want to stay and maybe get drawn into a conversation with it, she's not sure she could keep herself together for it. She has so much to think about, with what this New Crisis is, with what Shinra will be changing its goals, and her potential new life.
Veld manages to link up with her, Vincent and Zack as they leave the room, walking silently through the halls of either excitable or solemn SOLDIERs. Veld shakes his head when they enter the elevator and Zack opens his mouth to speak. He punches a button, they ride the elevator in silence... then they come out not at the elevator pad floor. Judging by the Turk sitting at the desk outside the elevator, its their own floor. Veld leads them into a conference room and motions them to sit.
Veld turns to Vincent. "Well?"
Vincent's eyes turn gold and he turns to Zack, eyes boring into him.
Zack fidgets. "I mean... I remember what you said, but... Kairi didn't seem that different? Maybe a little more serious and snappy? You know aside from all the freaky shit she said and did."
Chaos sighs. "You see only skin deep little fool."
He turns to Aerith. "And what did you observe?"
"That thing isn't Kairi," said Aerith, "Not anymore."
Chaos nods, Veld looks baffled and Zack looks at her like she's crazy. "Care to explain to the class?"
"The Calamity of Light, Kairi as you called it, consumed the original Crisis," said Chaos, "And in doing so, absorbed it into herself, creating a New Crisis out of that amalgamation. That abomination is a merging between the Calamity of Light and the Crisis."
"Kairi's part of it seems dominate," said Aerith with hesitation, "And... I... I don't think it realizes. What it is. I think it still thinks it IS Kairi."
"I had the same assumption," agreed Chaos, "And that will be what buys us time."
"I... I don't," began Zack, hesitating, "I don't get it. I mean... how much does that matter?"
"The Planet was on a timer from the moment the Calamity of Light's first child was whelped," said Chaos, and Aerith looks at him in confusion, "Now, that timer has grown shorter."
"What do you mean?" asked Veld.
"Kairi as you called the Calamity of Light, was unique among her home-realm," said Chaos "Only seven others fufilled the same purpose, and even then among them she was unique."
"Home-realm?" questioned Veld.
"She was not simply an alien," said Chaos, "She was from another realm of existence, connected to ours. In a moment of need, what was once the Lost Child cried out for help, and in her ignorance of what she was, what the consequences would be, Minerva reached out and pulled her into our Realm for safety."
Veld frowned. "Alright, so what does this 'uniqueness' have to do with anything?"
"Her Home Realm was devastated long ago by an unknown event, leaving it on the verge of collapse," said Chaos, "It turned parasitical, leeching off copies of worlds and people from other existances to try to fill the gaping hole in its existence. 'Kairi' and those like her were created to stabilize the Realm, to try and heal it, their mere existence encouraged life, fueled it. That on its own was no danger, but after she became infected by the Crisis, after she changed, so to did that aura of life. It became a chorus of all who bore her cells, a stream of life."
Aerith's breath caught. "W-what are you saying?"
"The Calamity of Light and all that bore her cells were a Lifestream within themselves," explained Chaos, "The more who became infected with her cells, the more that new Lifestream would grow. It was a small, trifle thing, merely a few hundred individuals compared to the chorus of the Planet's Lifestream, but it would not always remain that way. As her infection grew, it would have taken on characteristics of a normal Lifestream. Once an active cycle of life and death began, once enough souls had become tainted, it would be able to create new life. They would be able to cycle souls through her Lifestream, those that died being reborn as children of those infected. But that was before, it wouldn't have become a threat for millennia. We would have had time to find a solution one way or another."
"What's changed?" asked Veld.
"The Calamity of Light devoured the Crisis into herself," said Chaos, "And in doing so, has taken in countless suffering souls that the Crisis consumed, easily in the billions, if not trillions. The New Crisis she became has put those souls to sleep, they dream now in a gentle stream, slowly healing, but the basis is there. Once the New Crisis stabilizes itself, once enough souls heal, and once her children begin procreating, she will become an active Lifestream, and an immediate threat. There is also the danger of her converting those of the Crisis's cells over to her cells, and if she ever realizes the possibility and acts on it, the timer will grow short indeed."
His face grew dark. "We do not have thousands of years anymore, but perhaps a single millennia, down to centuries depending on how fast they spread. There can only be one dominate Lifestream upon the Planet. Once the New Crisis's Lifestream leeches away enough from the Planet's, it will absorb it, consume the Avatar, Minerva, and the New Crisis will ascend in her place, becoming the new Avatar, the new 'Goddess' of this world, but unlike Minerva, the New Crisis would not be bound by the rules she follows."
Zack looked well over his head and bewildered, and for once, keeps quiet.
Veld merely frowned. "And aside from the Planet not wanting to allow this, what is the threat of it?"
Chaos stared him down. "If you define threat in the way the original Crisis was, then there is none. I have no doubt the New Crisis would safeguard this world, forevermore. Perhaps humanity would survive, would thrive under her hand, even if the Avatar was consumed. But understand this: The New Crisis will never naturally die, those who bear her cells enhanced with the Planet's lifeblood are not likely to ever succumb to age. Those without it will still age at a trivial pace. Life will flourish as never before, but what many forget is something so very simple..."
"There is no Life without Death," rumbled Chaos, teeth bared, "There are consequences for unbalancing and breaking that sacred cycle of life and death."
"There is also the influence of the original Crisis to be concerned about," continued Chaos, "So long as the New Crisis still thinks of itself as 'Kairi', that threat is smaller, but if she ever decides to use her powers to spread herself as an active infection, we wont be able to stop it. But that is besides the point..."
He shakes his head, "If ever the Goddess believes the situation approaches the tipping point, she will abandon the Planet. I will be unleashed into my proper role to reap all uninfected life, and my brother Omega will take the Planet's Lifestream and flee the world to another."
"You'll...," began Veld, blinking, then growing wary, "You'd kill all life on the Planet? Do you think you have the ability to do that, against SOLDIER?"
Chaos smiles thinly. "Only the New Crisis itself could stand against me, and even with what she has become, she has yet to face me truly unleashed. The protomateria only prevents me from taking my true form, limited me from even beginning to act in accordance to my purpose. There is a depth of my power that only awakens when the end has begun and cannot be stopped. Much like my sister Zirconiade, though Minerva breached our rules to awaken it fully. The only reason she was defeated was because of the inconceivable merging between the Calamity of Light, the Crisis, and all of the former's children into one greatly empowered being."
"Could Minerva do that with you?" asked Veld warily, "Awaken your full power?"
Chaos bares his teeth. "If she did so with me I would kill her and initiate the cycle myself for our Avatar would have grown arrogant indeed to try to wield death as a weapon. As it was I should not have been active in the fight against the Crisis, that alone was a breach of my creation that I was barely tolerated because of the severity of the situation."
"So what you're saying," said Zack quietly, "Is that the Planet will kill us all to preserve itself if Kairi becomes to much of a threat to it?"
"In short, yes," said Chaos.
"And that its guaranteed at this point?" clarified Zack, "No way to get Kairi to work with us to prevent it?"
"If it were merely the Calamity of Light, then yes, perhaps a solution could have been reached," said Chaos, "But she is also the Crisis, has become the New Crisis. You may look upon her and see your old friend, but do not be deceived, far more has changed within her than you can possibly imagine. In due time, her new, true nature, will begin to show itself."
He rises from the table. "Lady Minerva seeks a solution, and once one has been found, she will act on it, make no mistakes. I do not approve of how the situation was handled, from arrival of the Lost Child to the birth of the New Crisis, but whats done is done, and I will support the planet in doing what is needed to protect itself."
Suddenly, the prospects of moving away from Midgar seem dim, and unimportant. As the impromptu meeting ends, Aerith has the aweful feeling that whatever the Goddess decides, Aerith is going to be a part of it...
Sephiroth considers himself to be intelligent, but much of that conversation he had eavesdropped on he could admit went over his head.
The top of SOLDIER sits in the Master Console Room of the Deepground Facility, a depraived city hidden underneath Midgar as a part of Mako Reactor Zero. He flicks a strand of his long silver hair out of his eyes, shifting his leathers, pauldrons clanking briefly against the chair as he stares at the screen still focused on where Veld Verdot, an unknown Turk, Zackery Fair, and an unknown young woman had just conversed. He had been watching the meeting in the SOLDIER grad room, before noting that Verdot had splintered away and decided to follow him on the cameras. It never ceased to amaze him about Shinra's paranoia and need for control. Deepground had been built with the full capability to spy on and take over Shinra proper if it had become compromised.
"What in the hell were they mumbling about?" comes a gruff voice to his side.
Since Sephiroth had arrived in Deepground, Azul the Cerulean, the newest of the Tsviets, had stuck to his side as an impromptu second in command. Where Weiss was the head Tsviet and much stronger, the boy was as he was, a boy, fifteen. Inexperienced, and clueless of how life should properly be outside the hellhole Deepground was. Azul at least had grown up topside, instead of being bred down here. The man was a giant, near 9'5 in height, hair that was his namesake in color, and long. Oddly, unlike most SOLDIERs, he had yellow eyes. A few of the Tsviets had different eyes like that, mostly he figured because of the inhuman, horrific experiments done on them. Azul had streaks of blue lines through his face, illuminated from the intense amount of Mako in his body. He was incredibly muscular, and yet for some reason carried around a giant chain-gun rather than a normal SOLDIER weapon.
Of course, most SOLDIERs couldn't also transform into a behemoth to compensate, so Sephiroth supposed there was that.
"I'm not sure I fully follow either," admits Sephiroth, "It is likely we are missing a lot of relevant information."
Azul grunts. "Yeah, it does, problem is, from what I do get, this doesn't seem like something that can be put off willy nilly. I know you promised to help Deepground, but if there isn't a surface to go to, then the hell is the point?"
"I can't just leave after only just arriving," protested Sephiroth, "I doubt the other Tsviets, and Deepground as a whole, will take that well in the face of what I have sworn to them."
Azul huffs. "No, probably not, would turn into a disaster real quick, still..."
Azul reaches over, enough into Sephiroth's personal space to make him uncomfortable, and taps the console keyboard, switching through cameras until they find Veld leading the group onto a helicopter, though Veld himself doesn't go with them. Azul hunt and pokes on the keyboard, and the cameras switch to follow the helicopter down into the slums, until it arrives at a rather homely house with a garden outside. The woman gets off, hugs Zack goodby, and enters the house.
"Sector 6 huh," murmured Azul, "Yeah, that'll work. Start on your promise, and when you get yourself situated, perhaps it'll be time to pay the little flower a visit and get answers, yeah?"
Sephiroth hums. "Indeed. Though before then... perhaps Nero would appreciate some fresh air?"
Azul nods. "I getcha, he can observe the girl and report back on whatever he figures out."
He rather finds he enjoys Azul's presence, the man is sharp and can keep up with him. A bit too confrontational and harsh at times to those weaker than him, but who in Deepground hadn't been made that way? Azul had only been in here for less than a year, so it shouldn't be too difficult for the man to adjust. Sephiroth finds he will most likely try to get the man under his command once Deepground integrates with the surface...
If it can.
Because Deepground is a mess.
Its not going to be easy to fix, to heal, to make ammends, for what Shinra had done to the countless victims down here.
Speaking of which...
He has another lecture to give to a group of Tsviets and Deepground SOLDIERs on how to act normally.
Its desperately needed when their go-to behavior is to kill or beat those to weak to defend themselves.
With a sigh, he rises from his chair and leaves, Azul on his heels...