Chapter 5. Theories
Sephiroth's POV
Gathering with the Turks first thing in the morning wasn't exactly my favorite way of starting the day.
It was late February and the air around us threatened to froze every anatomical component that wasn't properly covered. Not that I needed extra clothing. Since I had known myself, I was strangely tolerant to cold temperatures. I felt it, of course, but it didn't bother me or weakened me to a fading point. Just like it happened with the majority of my men, SOLDIER under my custody.
At seven a.m., February the 25th, year 0001, the conference room at the highest point of Shinra headquarters was already crowded. Turks and SOLDIER 1st class were there, as well as I were. In fact, from SOLDIER 1st class representatives, there was just Zack Fair and me, The General.
The suspicious looks of the Turks fell on us rather discreetly, but it was easy to figure out what they were thinking about, the direction their minds took. Angeal and Genesis. Those names passed by us in a torturous silence. And the disgusting smell of shame also passed by that silence, personified by the actions of those former SOLDIER 1st class. Desertion. It sure was a dishonorable action to take account for.
And in silence we all remained, as Zack and I sat, under the scrutiny of the man standing opposite to us, by the edge of that oval table.
Tseng, the head of the Turks, informed us the President was visiting Junon. Military inspections, the man justified. And, with that rebellion group AVALANCHE constantly putting the company at risk, the President's departure justified high security. Which, of course, included more than just the Turk guard. SOLDIER were needed as well.
Given the lack the options, Zack Fair was the only one available to accompany the Turks and make a decent surveillance job. He was well trained and I made my point clear about his qualifications. Well, Fair was more than qualified. And this was a prevention mission, not exactly war.
Besides, I was needed in the headquarters of Shinra and the President had made no reference to my presence being extremely required. There was no way headquarters were supposed to be left… unguarded. And… without Genesis and Angeal we, the SOLDIER Elite, had it more difficult. I would have to consider, in time, recruiting more men. The body of SOLDIER was at risk of growing weaker. Desertion of superiors wasn't exactly the adequacy of behavioral role model.
Once all the details had been informed, the Turks responsible for the surveillance remained there, showing interest of speaking with Zack about the details of this mission. Reno, a redhead with too much nerve, was the one leading the conversation.
Politely, I excused myself out.
"We will keep you informed, General." The eccentric red haired said.
"As always." I said, my tone neutral and dismissive. "Later, Gentleman."
And now, as I walked out of the building towards SOLDIER headquarters, all I could think about was how could I search and find my former SOLDIER companions and bring them to justice, as images of the slaughtering that took place in that battlefield in Fort Tamblin filled my mind, my memory so vivid as my sword took down Genesis. One time, another, another and another. Each copy of Genesis that I reduced to nothing energized me to find the real one.
I will find you, Genesis. And when I do, I won't be merciful.
-/-
Curiosity overwhelmed me to a rather extraordinary level. Later that day, almost bored to exhaustion, I found myself walking towards the building I avoided with all my might since I was a grown, independent man.
The Science Division. The Labs. That white-coated personnel with very few of human inside them, following blindly the orders of those… of those above them. Even if that meant hurting. Even if that meant experiment. Even if that meant stretching – clearly, the laws of ethics.
Sighing, remembering maybe too vividly those memories I tried to erase, I kept walking. My eyes scanned the place as I approached, only to conclude that place was exactly the same. On the outside, that dull, grey concrete remained identical… as I recalled, years ago.
Cold. Hard. Tough.
Just like me.
The automatic doors opened, as my presence was sensed. A blue stare met me from the inside, surprise bathing the face of the woman sitting at the front desk. A "reception" label stood exactly above her, in bold, capital letters. And as I approached the dark wooden desk, the woman in front of me gulped, before speaking directly at me.
"May I help you?"
"I'm here to see Professor Medina."
"Is the Professor expecting you?"
"No."
"Hold on, please."
As the woman grabbed the phone and resumed to contact the Professor I took my time to discreetly, look around. The walls, the doors, the… smell of this place. The whole place reeked like it used to, that particular sensorial memory eliciting a slight nausea from me.
"Sublevel 2." The woman said, earning my immediate attention. "Just walk-"
"I know how to get there." I interrupted, my eyepower serious against hers. "Thank you."
Yes, well, I sure knew the way to that sublevel. I had walked it so many times.
The elevator ride was fast and, not to my surprise, sublevel 2 held the same color, smell, frame and… claustrophobic design. Green and grey, it was all too much of the same for me to feel any sympathy for this place.
The halls were silent, and inside the labs, white-coated ants worked focused in their doing. And yet, I wondered. Where would the professor be… and where would that woman be held?
The answer came right away. By the end of the hall, there was a high security sector.
As I walked, all I had to do was follow my instinct.
I knew she was in there.
Because it was where I had been too. Long time ago.
As I reached the security door, I was greeted with… an automatic lock. With password.
"To what I owe your visit, General?"
The soft and friendly tone of Professor John Medina interrupted my line of thinking. I turned to face him, bowing my head slightly. He was an honorable man. A great scientist and a respectable physician.
Unlike others working for Shinra.
"Professor." I greeted.
"Long time no see."
The face of the man in front of me couldn't be more transparent. Yes, he didn't see me for years, and I basically knew him for his glorious deeds succeeding in the Science Division. Well, good thing the man was competent and competitive.
"Yes, well…" I started, trying to find an evasive justification. "…the field keeps me mostly apart, as you well know."
"Yes, it is understandable."
"May we speak in private?" I asked, my tone low and discreet.
"Yes, of course."
We both walked inside the sector, Professor Medina inserting the password without veiling, which meant he was obviously allowing me passage anytime I wanted. Secretly, I wondered if any scientist working here would have access to this sector. And by any, I meant the ones working in sublevel 1. Hojo, that despicable prospect of human being.
Once inside the good Professor office, I closed the door behind me and I sat, my eyes meeting his awkwardly.
"I would like to know how you are proceeding with the woman."
I had been very direct. I wanted to know the reasons behind that woman being held in such secure perimeter.
"We are still running tests..." Medina breathed, pausing, as if considering what to say next. There was something bothering him, I could sense discomfort flowing from him. "She appears to be…"
Silence. And a lot of thinking.
"Yes?" I insisted.
"A little off."
Off. Off? Definitely, he had to be more explicit than that.
"How so?"
"Off. Off of this place, off of this planet… just simply off."
His justification was far from gratifying.
"What did you find?" I asked.
"This morning the lab retrieved her genetic analysis." Medina searched inside a file he had on his desk and held a piece of paper. Towards me. "I have been keeping this for myself, for now."
I took that piece of paper and read it carefully. Not that it had much to read on it. It consisted of an extensive genetic sequencing and the result couldn't be more obvious, written in bold letters.
"Unknown." I said. In fact, I was only reading the "result" section of the test.
My eyes met his at once. And I had the strangest feeling, as I expected him to say something.
"Her genetic pool… is completely different from ours." He said, his face grave and elated at the same time. "She's completely… foreign. Genetically speaking, of course."
I heard him, and I blinked several times, taking in consideration his words. My thinking ran very fast, maybe at the speed of light, and I found myself considering if I was actually staring at a embryo prospect of Hojo-like greediness and cruelty when it came to… well, these situations.
So, I rose from where I was sitting, and I put that piece of paper back on his desk. My eyes met his once more, this time… piercing.
"Will this be a problem?" I asked, genuinely measuring my words. I had enough to worry about, I didn't need this. "Will I have problems with this… woman?"
Medina seemed a little taken aback.
"Well, from what I've realized until now… I believe not."
Of course not.
"But?" I anticipated, expecting his reaction.
Medina let out a sigh and rested his back against his comfy, leather chair. He seemed to consider his words and the content of information he was about to share. Finally, he spoke.
"There is something about the way she looks at… us, the environment around us that isn't regular." He paused, and breathed a couple of times before launching the bomb. "She does not mention it, but I have the feeling she actually-"
"Recognizes." I said, foreseeing his speech.
"Yes." He admitted. Our stares remained locked for a while, and there was a long, uncomfortable silence.
Until I inevitably ended it.
"I don't feel particularly pleased by knowing a genetic modified organism simply knows me."
There, I've said it. I didn't know what on the Planet that woman was… and I didn't want to know.
Medina seemed a little displeased with my choice of words.
"She's not modified, General."
I breathed evenly, calm. Those little details were really something, weren't they?
"You're not implying the woman is some kind of alien, are you?"
No, because that would be ridiculous. Not to mention insulting, to us, human beings as we were.
However, Medina's answer surprised me.
"Maybe she's only… special." Right, special. Sounded like very much alien to me. "Maybe… she has some characteristics we don't know of yet."
For the Planet's sake. Where was the objectivity of science when we needed it the most?
"And maybe she's just psychiatric and you should run the genetic testing again, instead of considering she's a clairvoyant being of some sort."
I knew my words had been harsh, but I couldn't simply accept such idiocy. Medina was being very very conjectural, and I absolutely despised… theories. Not to mention these kind of theories, that were as unreal as… unlikely.
"I am just open-minded…" Medina justified, crossing his hands on the file resting on his desk now. "… and I don't reject hypothesis. I test them."
Right. Whatever.
"You do your testing." I said, excusing myself from his office. "Let me know if something comes up eventually."
"I will." Medina answered me while I was reaching the door knob. I didn't bother looking back at him.
"Thanks for your time, Professor."
"You're welcome, General."
His last words were subtly muffled by the door closing.
And off that place I went.
-/-
Right before my hand reached the steel doors that would exit me from the high security sector, I froze. My feet stopped, my mind still hazed with Medina's information. It was too much information, too much… of a complete nonsense to be even considered. But he, the man in charge, the Scientist, Professor, Physician, considered all the options equally. All of it.
My mind, however, snapped towards a different direction. To the right, where another steel door decorated the wall.
I knew that door, I knew the arquitecture of the chambers and corners, counters and glass beyond that door.
Because I had been there once.
And now… someone was there as well. There was a presence – several ones, inside. The woman was being tested, I was willing to bet.
Before I knew it, my hand reached the new steel door and I entered the premises, after typing the password again. Not very clever, making use of the same password for all restricted access, I considered.
Once inside, I walked swiftly to the restricted corner of that spacey pre-chamber, with several lab materials, and I resumed… staring, through the thick glass that allowed me a total view of the events inside that "room".
Five. They were five scientists, – white-coat personnel, inside that main chamber, busy, with devices, notepads, masks on their faces. Two of them were women, judging by the way they touched the immobile, frightened female, even through those thick black silicone gloves the scientists wore. The woman remained still, with her back to me – she wouldn't know I was there, standing, seeing what was being done to her.
With decisive moves, those two women next to her brought scissors on their hands. And, without a word, without a stare or a reassuring sign, they started to tear her clothing. First, from her arms, then, from her back and torso, and finally, from her legs and feet.
In less than ten seconds that woman remained bare. I could only see her form from behind, shivering and with her face down, judging by the moves of her long, half-curled brownish hair, dancing slightly, reaching her middle back.
The scientists in front of her stared and wrote. And wrote. And wrote some more. No one said a word. They just stared and analyzed. I knew that stare.
Gulping dry, I remembered too well how it felt. Being bare, seen, scrutinized by strangers and who knew what else would follow... all in the name of Science.
I thought, for a glimpse of a moment, about how the woman should be feeling. Alien or not, she must have feelings. Would she be at the verge of crying? Most likely.
I knew by experience, how constricting and violating that could be.
And, because I knew exactly what would follow, I left.
I left that chamber, that place, walking automatically until I reached the outside, where the chilling, freezing air of the upcoming night greeted me, clearing and comforting my mind.
And only I knew how bad I needed that.
A/N – Okay, dear readers, this is going slow as it should. Oh, this is going to be a long fic :D Anyway, I hope you enjoy our dear General's POV, it wasn't supposed to get this big but inspiration stroke and well, here it is :)
As you all know, read and review… let me know what you think, your opinion is essential!