Chapter 4

The Phenomenal Child

Lucrecia…

That single word meant everything to him. He began to walk faster. He knew that Hojo had definitely placed her in a different room… but where?

"Lucrecia…" and this time, the word was a plea to the gods. "Please, let me find you. I need you…" he whispered, his red eyes stung.

All that romance sickens me.

He angrily brushed away that comment. I don't care what you think. He ran towards the cells that Hojo usually kept his SOLDIERs overnight. He had been in them once… when he had first gotten an injection. It had been so terrible that he never wanted to relive it ever again. He stopped just when he reached the cells. He couldn't suppress the memories and they flooded towards him, and bile rose in his throat. He swallowed, wincing at the stinging when it burned in his throat.

Looking at the cells, he found that all the doors were opened. All but one. Convenient, he thought. Saves me the trouble of searching through all of them. Now where the hell is that guard?

Looking around, he grinned when he heard footsteps approaching. "Who's there!" a voice called.

His claw opened and he leaped.

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The infant observed his surroundings calmly. He was hungry and had called for his mother many times, but she did not answer. He had called until his little throat had hurt. Finally, a large man entered the room and promptly screamed at him: "SHUT UP!" It had scared the baby and caused him to cry. After a while, it registered in his brain that his mother wasn't there and he decided to change tactics. Rather than calling for his food, he was going to have to find his own.

He squirmed toward the metal door of his cage (he hadn't learned to crawl yet) and studied the lock to it for a long time. Though it was a simple lift-and-open lock, it was quite complex to his infant mind.

He reached out his hand and wrapped his tiny fingers around one of the metal bars of the cage. Feeling the coolness of the bar, his hand shrank back and he stared at it for a long time, wondering why he had felt that sensation. Looking at the bar with curiosity, he poked it with his index finger, and felt the sensation again. It didn't take long for him to realize that the bars were cooler than his body. He pushed at it, the metal door clanged once, shifting forward slightly, and then bounced back to its normal position. This alarmed him, and caused him to fall backwards, nearly crying again. It was quite unusual for a two-day-old baby to have the strength to do this, but it seemed that the Jenova cells that Hojo injected into him were taking effect.

Sephiroth remembered that the crying did him no good and that he had to find appease his hunger. Putting himself upright, he cautiously approached the door, for fear that it would bounce back again. He gently pushed it again, and this time, it clanged quietly. He looked at the door, then at the lock holding it closed. He finally realized that it was the lock that was holding it closed.

He squirmed closer to the door. After thoroughly examining the lock and the door again, he snaked one arm around the door and touched the lock. His small fingers could barely reach the front of the lock. He tried to lift it up, but his fingers, though stronger than a normal baby's, lost what little grip he could get.

He moved closer to the door, so close that his face pressed against the metal. Reaching as far as his little arm could go, he got a grip on the top of the lock and pushed upwards with all strength. With a snap, the lock went up. Slowly dragging himself backwards, he pushed at the door and without much of a fight, the door came free. Looking out, he gave a small toothless smile. He was free.

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One of Hojo's scientists monitored Sephiroth's movements through a secret camera. He had been warned by the mad scientist that something like this would happen. He didn't believe it at first… but now that it was happening it was—there were too many adjectives to describe it— phenomenal, incredible…

With a pen in hand and a notebook lying on the table near the television that he was watching. He held his breath when the infant opened the lock. "Incredible!" he almost shouted, and exhaled. "Experiment No. 1. Specimen: Humanoid. Specimen: Sephiroth," he read off of the information that Hojo had already written. Looking at the top of the page, he read the small spidery writing. "JENOVA project."

Looking back at the TV, he watched as Sephiroth found a new antagonist, trying to get down from the high table that his cage was placed on, to the floor. "Day 1. Experiment shows reaction to JENOVA cell injections. Faster development both physically and mentally," he muttered excitedly as his pen flew across the page. "Experiment has already developed problem solving skills."

The scientist winced. His writing was messy but small, nothing like the neatness and sharpness of Hojo's handwriting. Oh well, he thought. I just hope Dr. Hojo doesn't get angry about this.

But his attention was turned from his handwriting when he saw little Sephiroth pick up the cage. He immediately began taking notes. "Oh Cetra…" he said, practically hyperventilating. "This is amazing," his pen started going again. "He's able to pick up his own cage… and it's made of enforced titanium steel…"

Sephiroth continued to amaze him when the baby set the box onto the floor, just so that he could drag himself on it. Even though Sephiroth was strong and intelligent for a baby, his body was still not coordinated enough for him to crawl. He almost whooped in joy when the baby's hands touched the floor. He knew that he should report to Hojo immediately, but he waited until Sephiroth had left the room. He turned off the television, and stood up, his heart racing.

Suddenly, with a jolt, he ran towards Hojo's lab, but it wasn't because he was excited about Sephiroth.

He had heard the alarm come from Hojo's lab.

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"IS THAT ALL YOU HAVE!"

The words rang hollowed against his ears. The voice was so distant so far. He wanted to let go… to let go of the pain that he was feeling all over his body. What had he done?

He didn't know that the Turk would be able to recover so fast. Damn it all… he should have added the extra dose of anesthesia and if not that extra dose… killed him quickly.

Damn you… Turk! Hojo thought.

Breathing steadily, smoke rose to his nose and he coughed. His hands went to his face, and it felt damp. He realized that it was blood. He opened his eyes, and squinted when the heat and smoke hit them. His eyes stung and tears welled up. Using the hand that did not touch his blood, he wiped away the tears and stood up. He nearly fell when a wave of vertigo hit him.

He choked on the smoke and went into a fit of coughing. His coughing stopped and his breathing was choked off when his windpipe tightened. Gasping for air, he reached into his lab pockets, searching wildly for his inhaler. Panic rose in his throat as his lungs screamed for air and his hands searching. Reaching into his pant pockets, he drew out the inhaler and brought it to his lips. He pumped once. He still could not draw in air. Another pump. Then another one. He took in a small breath of air and covered his nose and mouth with the sleeve of his lab coat.

The scientist took one careful step. His head gave a reel, and he nearly stumbled to the ground. He fell to one knee, trying to clear his head. He realized that sweat was dripping down his face. It was getting hot fast. He had to get out of this room fast. After he was out, nothing would go wrong. The fire could not burn through the rooms. Damn it all, he should have listened to the engineer when he asked whether or not to install emergency fire extinguishers. He had declined profusely. A fire in his lab? He laughed at the thought. What the hell would cause a fire in his laboratory? Anyways, if the extinguishers went off by accident, that damn foam and water would ruin his experiments. But damn if it weren't an experiment gone wrong that caused his lab to go up in flames.

Damn his asthma. It had always crippled him. He didn't want his son to be the same way, and the only way to ensure that was to inject him with Jenova cells. Going through a fit of coughing, he fell to one knee, his mind too hazy to let him move on. Where the hell are my guards! He thought, and then he remembered that Vincent killed him all.

Hadn't the alarm gone off? Even though he hadn't installed extinguishers, he had at least installed smoke detectors. Everyone in the floor of the building would hear the alarms and the security would be notified.

What would happen to all of his experiments when he died? All of his work? The Jenova Project? It would all just be for nothing. No one would be able to finish his work. No one would have anything to remember of him. And most of all, what would happen to his son? He would probably be returned to his mother… but he wouldn't survive very long. He had received Jenova cells ever since he had first been conceived. He would be dependent on them until he had gone through puberty. By then the Jenova cells would have already entirely spread through his body, acting like a virus by injecting its DNA into the body cells. The cells would also affect the endocrine, making Sephiroth grow taller and stronger than he should. By then, Sephiroth would be the strongest man alive. A real super-SOLDIER.

No, he would have to survive, even if it meant living a life of misery… with a grotesque body. With all the smoke, he didn't know where the hell he was going. He dragged himself with his hands away from the heat, hoping that, that was the correct way. Dizzy from the lack of air and with his asthma acting up again, it didn't look as if the scientist could survive. If only a little more…

A little further, and suddenly he felt the heat blast in his face. Damn it. The fire probably had already surrounded him, giving him little chance of crawling out without suffering some major burns. Looking blindly around in despair, he gave a choked yell and pounded the floor with his fists. He wasn't going to die now!

He took another breath and gagged. All he got was a breath full of smoke. Why the hell hadn't anyone come yet? Coughing, he rolled himself into a ball, hoping that the fire would die down. He covered his face with the lab coat's sleeve, though it didn't help him breath much, it managed to filter the air from the smoke. Taking a few breaths, he turned his gaze heavenwards. "This is a sick death that you're giving me," he croaked. "To prevent me from finishing my experiment… but damn you, I'll live! Try to stop me!"

As if the Cetra had really heard him, pieces of fiery rubble fell around him. A piece of rubber struck him across the forehead and he fell to the ground, moaning. Warm blood dripped down into his eyes and they stung. Dizzy with terror and pain, he crawled anywhere… anywhere so that he could get away from the death that taunted him.

Heat seared at his face and he moved backwards cursing. Up above, he heard cracking and looked up in fear, his bleary and bloodshot eyes searching for what was to come down at his head. Hearing something collapse, he scrambled on all fours into the opposite direction… but too late.

A large piece of hot metal came down and connected with his head. First there was pain, and his brain screamed at him that he was going to die. He crawled slowly, his forehead bleeding badly. A moan came to his lips, but never rose. Everything was becoming hazy… and the throbbing of his forehead was slowly ebbing away. He collapsed onto the ground, defeated. So this was it. He closed his eyes, and let unconsciousness take him. The last thing he saw was the red tongue of the fire, inches away from him.

Woot woot! It's only been a month since the last update! Anyways... new play to work on... called the Nifty Fifties. Opening night is next week! I can't wait!