Slowly Cloud opened his eyes. He looks around, taking in the blank surroundings. The only color in his room was Reno's red hair. The redhead was reading a file when he glanced up. His traditional smirk turned into a relieved smile.

"About time you woke up, sleeping beauty. How you feeling?" Reno puts away the file.

"I feel like I'm hungover." Cloud grumbled.

"Well, to be fair, you did have mako poisoning. But it's leveled out so at worst you would feel like vomiting."

"Mako poisoning?" It all rushed in at that moment on what happened. "What else did that bastard do to me?"

"We're still trying to figure that out." Reno frowns.

A knock on the door, and it opens to reveal a kid with white hair, pale blue eyes and one eyeglass. What made the sight even stranger was that he had a lab coat on. Cloud glanced at Reno, who shrugged.

"Kid's part of the science program. As of right now he's the only one who can crack Hojo's mind."

"Oh! Cloud! Pleased to finally make your acquaintance. I must say, the rate of your recovery is quite extraordinary." He caught onto the confusion. "Oh forgive my manners, the name is Chadley. I happened to be one of Professor Hojo's assistants. But rest assured, I do not agree with his methods of experimenting on people without their permission."

"How long have I been out of action?" Cloud wondered.

"You been gone for about five months, then we found you. And you been asleep for almost a month." Reno summarized.

"So... Half a year?" Cloud was in disbelief.

"You missed quite a bit, I'm afraid."

"So then what did Hojo do to me in that time frame?" Cloud turned to Chadley.

"As far as I can tell, he turned your body into a Soldier. You now have all of their capabilities. I also detected some unknown cells that I have never seen before. It would seem that the foreign cells attached to yours, then makes copies of itself integrated within your own DNA."

"So what you're saying is something invaded me, and has become a part of me?" Cloud tried to follow.

"Exactly. As to what their very nature is, I have no idea. Some of Hojo's files are sealed away out of my reach. But, I do have a suspect on whose cells they originated from."

"Who's?" He was a little skeptical.

"Jenova. Or Project J, as Hojo calls it. Unfortunately, I cannot access any files pertaining to Project J. So I cannot confirm my theory."

"You mean... The origin of his inhumane experiments?" As a Turk he had a bit more insider knowledge to Hojo's work.

"It's a habit of his to inject many with J Cells to configure the reactions and interaction between one being within close proximity with another with the same cells."

"But why? There's no one that I know..." From the corner or his eye he saw silver hair. Cloud turns, and in a blink of an eye the figure was gone. It was also in that moment it finally hit him that his senses were so heightened, he can even smell Reno's cologne from where he sat.

"Hallucinations and severe headaches are a common side effect." Chadley noticed the change of behavior.

"Now hold up - " Cloud turned to glare.

"I have seen many like you come through Hojo's lab. I have seen the signs first hand. So there's no point hiding that you saw something. Usually they're followed by headaches. What did you see and what is your pain in a scale one to ten?"

"One. I don't feel any pain."

"No pain? And yet you had a brief hallucination. What did you see?"

"Why is that important?"

"I can compare to what most of the coherent people who went through Hojo's labs have said. So what did you see?"

"... Sephiroth."

Now it was Chadley's turn to be confused. Cloud caught on and frowned. Reno sat quietly, taking all of this in.

"That's a first. Everyone sees a woman. Are you sure you saw Sephiroth?"

"I can't mistake his hair. Besides... No, that was a dream."

"Dreams are part of the subconscious. Even they hold meaning to what's going on inside the brain. Can you tell me about this dream?"

Cloud hesitated. Picking up that he was uncomfortable, Chadley came up with a compromise.

"If it makes you uncomfortable talking with me about it, how about Reno? I will even step out of the room for you if need be."

At the offer Cloud agreed. So Chadley left, leaving the two. He did warn them that he was recording the whole ordeal, cameras and microphones and all throughout the room. After a moment of awkward silence the blonde Turk turned to Reno.

"I was at a party the president was hosting. The dancing wouldn't end. Then I'm passed along to my new partner, who was Sephiroth."

"Wait, hold up. You were dancing with Sephiroth?" Reno raised an eyebrow.

"It's more than just my old crush, okay? It... It felt real. Then... We almost... But then someone showed up. It pissed him off. And at the time I didn't know who it was."

"What do you mean?"

"I forgot about everyone. You. The President. Avalanche. ShinRa. I forgot until she made me remember."

"Who?"

"Aerith, silly."

"Oh, that explains a lot." Reno drifted to his own thoughts.

"What do you mean?"

"Avalanche found you first. They also know about our little secret that you're the boss's brother."

"How did they find that out?"

"A theory by a dead Turk. Or supposed to be dead. Now he walking around like a ghost or something."

"Wait. Turks don't just... Leave." Cloud had a mix of emotions. He could potentially leave? And not be hunted down and killed like Cissinei?

"Yeah well my guess? Another experimental victim by Hojo. Shit, he kinda looked the part, too. Now that I think about it." Reno shrugs it off, not really seeing the potential opportunities Cloud had seen.

But then this flash of doubt came to mind. Why was he so ready to leave? He loves it here. Sometimes the job had hard times, but at least he still had friends. And now family.

Family? He's using you. You frighten him because you had the choice of freedom. He cages you tightly, keeps you close. Don't you want to be free?

Sephiroth's voice didn't surprise him. Cloud considered his words a moment.

"I like my cage." He stated to himself.

Still, the temptation was ever so strongly felt.