Professor Hojo believes his office is his private domain. His conversations are confidential. His words are too important to be overheard by the wrong person.
But I am the watcher. I see everything.
I see two smug middle-aged men, sitting in Hojo's little wet bar cove, sipping brandy or whiskey or whatever it is that self-important scientists sip while they talk about their specimens in cold, clinical terms.
"We had to put the young one back into the tank," Dr. Hyde says.
Professor Hojo looks irritated by the subject. "The infantryman?" With confirmation from Hyde, he grimaces. "I know I'm going to regret asking this, but why should I care?"
"Well, since all of the other Nibelheim residents have been released to test your 'Reunion' theory, I thought you wanted to monitor the behavior of this one in close quarters."
Hojo lets out a long suffering sigh. "Do you have any idea what I hate most in the world, Klaus?"
Dr. Hyde scoffs. "I don't know. Kittens?"
"Being told things I already know, particularly things I said myself, and even moreso, my own plans. I detest it when people insinuate that my intelligence is as pathetically low as theirs."
Dr. Hyde doesn't rise to the bait. He stares blandly back at the professor.
"Fine," Professor Hojo says with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Why did you have to put the boy back in the tank?"
"He woke up and panicked again. He was thrashing around so much that his stitches tore open and he was bleeding heavily." Hyde shakes his head in disgust. "Damn it, I knew I should have redone your abhorrent stitching."
Hojo scowls at him. "If he panicked the first time, why didn't you have your assistant strap him down?"
"He was strapped down, but he thrashed so much that he broke one of the straps."
Dr. Hojo grunts. "That's what you get for ordering substandard generic parts. Stupid cutbacks. Doesn't Shinra understand the importance of my work? I'm—"
"There was nothing wrong with those straps," Hyde cuts in. "He shouldn't have been able to break them."
"Oh, come, now, he's barely more than a child," Hojo says with disgust.
Hyde smirks and takes a leisurely sip of his drink. "A child who destroyed your perfect soldier," he says calmly.
Hojo looks ready to snap back, but then his expression changes to thoughtful. "Yes. That's right. Then tell me, Klaus. How do you think he was able to snap those restraints?"
Dr. Hyde shrugs. He's not as invested in the answer Hojo seeks in the boy. He is there to make sure that whatever mistakes Hojo made with Sephiroth are not repeated with Zack. Still, he is a scholar by nature and can't help speculating. "Fear, maybe? Perhaps his response to adrenaline is more pronounced than usual. Whatever extraordinary capabilities he possesses must lie within his mind."
I don't like the slow smile that appears on Hojo's face. He tips back the remainder of his glass and sets it down on the table. "Fear. Yes. I can work with that."
"Yes, good," Hyde says impatiently. "Now can we move on to the more pressing issue? Your primary specimen?"
The smile drops from Hojo's face. "What's the problem with him?"
Dr. Hyde scowls. "Zack is becoming more belligerent since he saw the boy. We removed him to his own room before the sedative wore off, so Zack has no idea that he had to be put back into the tank. I can't imagine how much worse he would be if he knew. Honestly, it's like trying to pull teeth from a rabid bandersnatch to get him to do anything."
"For Gaia's sake, can't you control him?" Hojo stands and returns to the wet bar to refill his glass from the decanter. "I didn't realize you were incapable of handling one single, dim-witted man. If the orderlies are insufficient, you can always call the enforcers to subdue him."
"I realize that, but as you said, his compliance—"
Dr. Hojo's brows sink, and Hyde catches himself. He clears his throat and starts again. "I believe that Zack will be significantly more cooperative if we let the boy stay in the same room. I also think that the boy will likely be calmer if he sees someone familiar when he awakes. Zack…may be right about that."
Professor Hojo returns to his chair, a full glass clenched in his spidery fingers. He doesn't offer to refill Hyde's. "Fine," he says dismissively. "Next time the boy wakes up, put them in a room together."
Dr. Hyde looks relieved. I don't think he expected Hojo to agree so easily. Hyde gets up to leave, grabbing his lab coat from the hook by the door.
"Oh, and Klaus? Talk to Alex about redesigning the security system. I don't ever want to hear about Zack getting out of his room again."
Dr. Hyde nods grimly.
Great.
Chapter 2: Together Again
Blip-blip.
Zack tensed and watched the door. It had been four days since he saw Cloud being wheeled down the hall in a soaking hospital gown. In that time, he steadfastly refused to do any further tests or examinations for Dr. Hyde. He was certain that he would soon be at the receiving end of a needle, and he had no intention of making it easy for them. But Dr. Hyde seemed prepared to compromise this time. Instead of outright refusing to discuss Cloud, he came with a morsel of information. "Your young friend had to be put back in the tank. He injured himself when he awoke."
Zack perked up. "Is he gonna be ok? How much longer does he need to be in there?"
"Not much longer," Hyde said vaguely. "There's nothing else we can do for him right now. However, our entire schedule has been thrown off due to your refusal to cooperate. Are you ready to continue with the infusions now?"
Zack focused on the doctor with a calculating look in his eyes. This was the opening he had been looking for. "I will cooperate with whatever you want, on one condition."
Dr. Hyde's eyes narrowed. "You have conditions now?"
"Just one," Zack said. "I'll do whatever you want, whatever you ask of me for the rest of this…treatment, as long as Cloud can room in here when he's better. When he's done being healed, I mean. Done with the tank."
Dr. Hyde crossed his arms and studied Zack. "The experiment has to take priority."
"It will, I swear!" Zack insisted. "I'll be the most cooperative patient ever. But I'm going crazy in here without someone to talk to. I can't call or text anyone, and Hojo won't even tell me how long I'm gonna be stuck here. I need this. For my sanity."
"Mm hmm." Dr. Hyde squinted at Zack over his tiny spectacles. "Well, let's see how you do the next few days. If you can prove your willingness to support the project, we can arrange for you to share a room."
Zack whooped out loud. He picked up the doctor and swung him around, oblivious to his startled cries. "Oh yes, thank you doc! You won't regret it, I swear."
"Zackary! Put me down!" he ordered sternly.
Zack quickly set him back on his feet. "Sorry. My bad. Sorry."
Dr. Hyde straightened his lab coat, brushing out imagined wrinkles, but Zack could swear there was a hint of amusement is his eyes. "Right. Then let's get started. We need to restart the infusion sequence, so get comfortable on the bed. I'll send one of the lab techs in to get the IV started, and someone will check on you every hour."
"Uh, can't I have a nurse button or something?"
"No," Hyde said shortly. "We don't have that technology here. Sorry." He spun around and let himself out the door.
Zack scowled and settled himself onto the bed. "Didn't sound very sorry," he grumbled. "That technology? Gimme a break. You can make super humans but you can't put in a fucking call button? That's a load of bullshit." He wasn't really worried for himself. The mako protected him from almost everything. He rarely got sick and he knew how to handle pain, but with Cloud in there, still vulnerable to human injuries and illnesses, he didn't like the idea of being unable to reach anyone if something happened. He flipped through his phone, wondering how he was going to kill the next several hours.
Blip-blip.
He glanced up to see a familiar mop of black hair. "Kyle! What's up, my man?"
Kyle just stared at him, not entirely sure if he was being mocked. "Uh, I'm just here to start your infusion." He pulled a rolling IV stand behind him with the solution already prepared in the bag.
Zack propped his arms behind his head. "Loosen up, Kyle. I'm not gonna bite. Hey, you work in the tank room, right? Is Cloud back in there?"
Kyle blinked nervously as he fumbled with the needle. "Yeah, he's in there."
"He look ok?" Zack asked casually. He really had to figure out how to get this guy to relax and trust him.
"Sure, I guess. I mean, he looks the same as before."
Zack nodded. "Are you gonna be the one in there when he wakes up?"
Kyle was looking more uncomfortable by the second. "Look, I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be talking to you about—"
"Because if you are, I can tell you how to calm him down. Just tell him you're taking him to see Zack, ok? Even if he freaks out again, he should mellow out when he hears my name."
Kyle pulled down Zack's right arm from behind his head and busied himself inserting the needle. He struggled a bit – a SOLDIER's skin is much tougher than a regular human's – but finally managed to jab it through. "Thanks," he finally mumbled.
Without another word, Kyle collected the plastic wrappings from the equipment and let himself out of the room.
Zack laughed and shook his head. "You're a weird dude, Kyle."
She was there with him again. Cloud felt the warm glow of her presence. As usual, he was in a field of gray. Lightning flickered in the background, but even with the brief flashes of illumination, there was nothing to see. "You're back," he said softly.
"Of course," he heard in her caressing tone. "I told you I would be."
"But when I was awake, you weren't there. I called out for you—"
"In front of the Other?" He felt her displeasure as a sharp pain to the gut.
He gasped and shook his head. "No! No, in my head. I didn't call out loud."
The pain eased. "Alright. Good. It's very important that you never tell the Other about me. He could sever our connection." Her voice turned to silk again. "You don't want that, do you, love?"
"No! No, I want you with me! But why weren't you there when I was awake? You said you would be, and I needed you."
She was silent for a moment. "Our connection is not yet strong enough. You aren't letting me in."
"I tried! I don't know how. Please, show me how," he begged.
"I can't. It's not something that can be taught. You just have to stop resisting me."
Cloud sat down. He couldn't see a ground, or any kind of walls, or really anything that indicated three dimensionality except for his own body, but just the same, he could stand and sit in the endless expanse of gray.
"I like it here, guardian angel. I don't want to go back."
"I'm sorry, but you must. At least for now. Someday we will be together forever, but not yet. Our bond must be stronger."
"But do I have to wake up?" He knew he sounded like a child, after he'd worked so hard to shed the boy he used to be, but it was different now. He sensed that she understood, that she liked to feel needed, and he liked to please her.
"Soon, but not yet, love."
Cloud sighed. He would just enjoy this time with her for now. "I'm glad you found me, guardian angel. Do you have a name?"
Her warmth surrounded him like a hug. "Just call me…Mother."
The infusion made Zack sleepy, but he didn't want to sleep. He was thinking about Cloud, about the way he used to look when he was healthy and whole. Thinking of the pale, sickly Cloud made him sick to his stomach, and it wouldn't wash away.
He picked up his phone and scrolled through the gallery, looking for something to replace that image. He smiled when he came across the previous year's cadet graduation ceremony. Cloud was lined up on the stage with all the other cadets, looking sharp in his freshly pressed uniform and shiny buttons. He still stood out with that crazy blond hair, which Zack suspected he kept spiked to give himself a little extra height. He wasn't that short, but people in the SOLDIER program tended to run on the larger side, generally at least six feet. If he had been anyone else, Zack would have tried to talk him into pursuing the covert ops track, but Cloud had his mind made up. It was SOLDIER or nothing.
Zack's smile faded.
By the end of the ceremony, it turned out that it was nothing. Cloud hadn't been promoted to the next class. When the names had been called, when they were past the 'S' names and it was clear that he wouldn't be moving on, his face showed not a trace of emotion, but Zack knew it had to be tearing him up inside. He had wanted it more than anything.
Zack had caught up with him at the reception afterwards.
"Hey, man, sorry about the cut. Those guys are idiots if they can't see your potential."
Cloud shrugged and looked away. "It's fine. I'll just…"
But it was clear that Cloud had no idea what he was going to do. The idea that he wouldn't make it just never crossed his mind. It hadn't crossed Zack's, either. He truly did believe they were blind to pass Cloud over.
"Hey, don't even worry about it," Zack said, putting on a cheerful tone. "Just re-enroll next year. You'll have another year to grow and, hell, by then you'll be top of the class."
Cloud looked down at his cheap plastic punch cup. "I don't think so, Zack," he said quietly.
"What, are you kidding?" Zack put his arm around him and tried to pull him forward, but Cloud stiffened.
"I'm not kidding," he said. "I'm not cut out for it. I should just go home. Learn how to farm." Finally, a trace of bitterness crept into his voice.
Zack crossed his arms and looked at his friend. Cloud stared back, unwavering. Finally, he gestured to Cloud's glass. "What are you drinking?"
Cloud looked startled at the change of subject. "Uh…punch."
"Just punch?"
"Yeah just punch," Cloud said, the sarcasm heavy in his tone. "Still just fifteen."
Zack rolled his eyes and took the glass from Cloud's hand, chucking it into a nearby trash can. "Come on," he said, forcibly dragging Cloud toward the exit.
"Whoa, wait. Where are we going?" Cloud asked.
"Away from here," Zack said casually.
Cloud put on the brakes. "Zack, I can't. I'm not allowed to be off campus this late at night."
Zack scoffed. "You said you're not re-enrolling. So you're no longer a cadet. You can go anywhere you damn well please."
He relented and let Zack pull him out into the cool night air. They walked along in silence for a few minutes, which was actually pretty difficult for Zack, but he wanted Cloud to be the one to break it. Eventually, he did.
"So, are you gonna tell me where we're going?"
Zack smiled mysteriously. "Somewhere fun." They turned into Sector 6 and entered the part known as Wall Market.
Cloud's suspicions were rising. When they came within sight of the Honeybee Inn, he stopped walking. "Zack! They're not gonna let me in! I don't even look close to 18!"
That was when he taught Cloud that a big ass sword and a glint of mako in your eye answered a lot of questions. The bouncer didn't even give Cloud a second glance.
As they stepped into the lounge, Cloud looked around at everything with wide eyes. They found a table and Zack signaled to a waitress dressed in a ridiculous honey bee costume. She strutted over, wiggling her little stinger.
"Zack!" She exclaimed. "Well, ain't this my luck. I haven't seen you in ages, and when you finally show up I'm stuck in the lounge all shift. I guess it's not my night, huh?" She actually looked disappointed.
Zack shrugged. "I'll stay here and keep you company, Sharla. Get us a couple of my usual to start. My friend here wants to visit Lola, though."
The waitress's eyes got huge as she took in Cloud. "Oh, you are just adorable! Lola's gonna love you!" she squealed. She wiggled off to fill their order.
By the time Cloud figured out what he meant, she was long gone. "Zack! What are you doing? I can't do that!" he hissed.
Zack leaned back, tipping his chair onto its back legs. "Ok, if you don't want to," he said casually. "Just hang out and drink with me then. The drinks are way overpriced, but the scenery is worth it," he grinned. He wasn't worried. He'd change his mind before the end of the night.
Cloud relaxed a bit, turning to watch the stage as six honey bees trotted onstage and started dancing. Sharla returned with their drinks and set them in front of the boys. Cloud didn't even notice.
Sharla bumped Zack's shoulder with her hip. "Your friend a SOLDIER too?" she asked. "Lola's getting excited."
"Not yet," Zack responded. "Listen, can you tell Lola to hold off for now? He's not quite ready yet."
Cloud reached blindly for his drink and took a big swallow. He grimaced, but didn't take his eyes off the stage.
Sharla snickered. "He will be soon enough. I'll let Lola know."
She wiggled off again, and Zack sat back to enjoy the show. The dancers' costumes must have had some kind of magic on them, as they became more sheer as the performance went on. Cloud took two more big gulps, and Zack grinned at his flustered expression. They used those stingers in some very creative ways.
Zack set his phone down on the nightstand. That night felt like a thousand years ago now. The infusion had its claws deep in his consciousness, and he was fighting to stay awake. Yawning, he nestled into his pillow and let sleep pull him under.
Cloud didn't like being forced to lie down and be pushed in the gurney like a damn baby carriage – he felt perfectly fine, thank you very much – but the guy with the black hair had told him they were taking him to see Zack, so he tolerated it.
He stared up at the cement ceiling as they rolled along. The large woman pushing the cart was giving him the eye, as if she expected him to jump off and run at any moment. Not that it hadn't crossed his mind, but he did think he remembered seeing Zack recently. He was willing to wait and see before acting rashly.
Blip-blip.
The gurney pushed through a door, and then he was practically mauled by an overexcited animal that turned out to be none other than Zack Fair. With a grin splitting his face, Cloud swung his feet over the side and stood, only to be hauled backwards by the strings of his gown. The back of his legs hit the edge of a bed and he tumbled onto it.
Wendy had untied the strings with that yank, so she grabbed the front and yanked it forward as soon as he fell back. "What the hell, lady!" he exclaimed.
"Damn, Wendy, do you have to be so rough all the time?" Zack asked mildly, crossing his arms. "I thought he just got out of the tank."
"Yeah," Wendy said, deadpan. She held the wet gown in her hand. "That's why I made sure he got on the bed and didn't hurt himself."
Cloud stared at her, unsure if she was joking or not. With a slight smirk, she tossed the wet gown in the bin and walked out, leaving him standing there naked.
Zack looked over and gave a short laugh. "Yeah, she did that to me, too." He walked over to the corner cupboard and dug through it. "I'll get you some scrubs right away. They're way better than the ass-hanging-out-gown." He tossed him a pair of yellow scrubs in his size.
"Thanks," Cloud said as he caught them and began getting dressed. He felt only a slight twinge in his back when he leaned forward to pull the pants over his legs, which made no sense. The fact that he was alive at all didn't make sense, if his memory could be believed. "So, where are we, Zack? What's going on?" He sat back down on the bed, gripping the edge with his hands.
Zack sat on his own bed and crossed his legs in front of him. "Near as I can tell, we're in some kind of Shinra facility. Doc called it a hospital, but I don't think it is. They're doing some kind of experimental procedure on us."
Cloud looked troubled. "I don't want to be experimented on."
Zack sighed. "Yeah, I know. Doesn't seem like we have a choice." He leaned against the wall and shrugged. "They've been treating me ok, though. And, you know, both of us came out of a fight with Sephiroth in one piece, so there's that."
Cloud pulled his feet up onto the bed. They were still bare, like Zack's, but it was comfortably warm in there. "So did you already get debriefed?" He tried not to let on how nervous he was about that question – how much Zack may or may not have revealed about his role in it.
But Zack shook his head. "No. And it's really weird. I haven't been able to talk to anyone from Shinra except Professor Hojo, and he's not exactly forthcoming."
"Hojo?" Cloud asked.
"Yeah. I've heard of him before. He has something to do with the mako procedures we went through for SOLDIER, so at least I know he's with Shinra. He just says there are cameras in the reactor and Lazard knows everything he needs to know."
"Oh." Cloud couldn't decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing for him. His fight with Sephiroth was mostly a blur of red, but he thought he might have been the one that attacked first.
Blip-blip.
Cloud tensed as he looked toward the door. A small, balding man with tiny glasses perched on his nose entered the room, holding a clipboard in one hand. He gave Zack a quick nod before extending his free hand toward Cloud.
"Hello, I'm Dr. Hyde," he said as Cloud tentatively grasped his hand. "How are you feeling?"
Zack leaned back against the wall, looking relaxed, so Cloud let himself take it down a notch, too.
"I feel pretty good, actually. I thought I was…" he trailed off, gingerly touching the slash on his chest.
"Yes, you were quite badly injured. I patched you up," he said, matter-of-factly.
"Oh. Uh, thanks," Cloud said awkwardly.
Hyde pulled out the blood pressure machine from above Zack's bed and pushed up the sleeve of Cloud's scrub top. For the first time, Cloud noticed the flexible mesh attached to his arm. Instinctively he reached over to pull at it, but the doctor slapped his hand.
"Leave that alone, child."
Cloud was a little annoyed at being called a child, and even more than a little at being treated like one, but he swallowed it back down. "What is that?" he asked as the cuff was wrapped around his arm.
"It's for the mako tanks," Zack supplied. "Helps you breathe and stuff."
The doctor looked annoyed at his simplified explanation. He must have had a hand in the design; he certainly seemed proud of the technology. "Yes, basically. It absorbs the oxygen from the solution, among other things, and delivers it to your bloodstream. It also pulls the excess CO2 from your blood."
"Is that why we can't move in there?" he asked. "So we don't try to breathe?"
"Yes," the doctor said, looking pleased that he had caught on so quickly.
"But isn't breathing only involuntary when the body is in need of oxygen? And it shouldn't ever need oxygen if we're getting enough through the filter things, right?"
The pleased look disappeared. "For the most part, but sometimes the body thinks it needs it sooner than it actually does. Now please stop asking questions, boy. I need to examine you."
Cloud was a little put off by his sudden dismissal, but he let the doctor go through the motions. He answered questions about his name and rank, birth date, the company he worked for, his mother's name, and the current date. He wasn't entirely certain on that last one, but it must have been close enough, because the doctor seemed satisfied.
Once the examination was finished, the doctor started putting away the equipment. "Everything seems fine to me. We're going to start your baseline testing now."
"What are we testing?" Cloud asked cautiously.
"Various things," Dr. Hyde said vaguely. "Nothing terrible, although it does go much easier if you go along with it. Right, Zack?"
"Yeah, sure," Zack said.
"Ok," Cloud said hesitantly. "So what now?"
"Now, an orderly will come to escort you to the fitness room." Without waiting for further questions, Dr. Hyde swept out of the room, leaving them alone again.
Cloud looked over at Zack. "What exactly are the baseline tests?"
"Nothing too bad," Zack said with a shrug. "It's not much different than the stuff they do at the Academy."
At first, it was a lot like the tests at the Academy: endurance, strength, mental acuity. But on the fourth day of his testing, things got more intense. He was led down a long hallway into an octagonal room. The walls and floor were made of a reflective metal that was slightly disorienting, although his bare feet seemed to grip it extremely well. The solid wall changed to a glass pane ten feet above the ground. Behind the glass seemed to be some kind of viewing area. There was an unfamiliar man standing there in a white lab coat, watching him intensely. He had brown hair pulled back into a greasy ponytail and wore wire-rimmed glasses.
Cloud was watching the man behind the glass so intently that he didn't even notice the giant mechanical beast that fell from the ceiling until it was almost on top of him.
"Wha!" Cloud rolled out of the way, barely avoiding being squashed into the shiny metallic floor.
The machine had four legs that hinged in the middle and the top. The "body" on top of the legs was also metal, shaped like a melting flan. A sharp circular blade slid in a vertical track around the body, spinning like a table saw.
Cloud looked around for some kind of weapon to use as the machine stomped toward him, but there was nothing else in the room. He was in a pair of scrubs with no pockets and bare feet. He tensed as it approached, dodging the whirling blade and rolling to the side once it got close enough. The machine was slow to turn around, buying him a few seconds to get a better look at his surroundings, but it could move fast once it was turned.
He knew he had to use its slow cornering ability if he wanted to continue dodging it, but after a dozen times leaping and dodging, he wondered what he was supposed to be doing. He would get fatigued if he had to do much more of this, and he had no idea what kind of capacity the machine had. After another dodge roll, he glanced up at the glass, looking for some guidance. The man didn't give any sign of acknowledgement at all. He just stood watching with his hands clasped behind his back.
Cloud threw up his arms, trying to ask for some instructions. He shouldn't have let himself get distracted. The circular blade came around, gouging a long scratch on his shoulder and down his arm. Somehow the skin of his arm was shredded, but the filter was completely untouched. He had a moment to wonder what kind of material it was made from, but the machine didn't give him much time to ponder it. He dodged to the side and rolled behind one of the front legs. The cut on his arm stung as it pressed against the ground, leaving behind a big splotch of blood.
When the mechanical leg came down on the spot of blood it slid a few inches. Cloud was starting to slow down, and he was nicked by the blade the next two times he tried to dodge. More blood was dripping on the floor. As the mechanical leg slipped on the larger spot, he got an idea. He worked in a small circle, letting his wounds bleed freely in that space.
He had the machine almost turning in circles, and he spread the slippery blood around with his feet, creating a vivid red skating rink. It interfered with the grip of his feet, too, but Cloud was a country boy raised in the mountains. He knew how to work with ice instead of against it. When he had the blood smeared enough to be underneath all four of the machine's legs, he dove directly underneath the machine and slid on his back. It was a risky move, and he paid for it. The blade sliced up the side of his face, creating a deep gash that barely missed his eye.
It worked, though. The machine tried to turn, slipped on the slick floor, and after several drastic adjustments to try to establish balance, its legs slid out in all four directions. It landed on its body with a thud, and the whirling blade spun straight into the metallic floor. It made a horrible grinding noise as it tried to keep going, but whatever the floor was made of was much tougher than the blade.
Cloud skated over and used his momentum to jump on top of the body. The machine was still trying to regain its footing, but it was no use. Its legs slid every time it managed to bring them up at all. As he suspected, a control panel was set into the top of the body. He smashed it with his fist, over and over until the panel had loosened. He ripped off the face of the panel to expose the wiring and ripped out a handful. He could have simply turned it off, but he had no intention of fighting the thing again. The machine stopped moving. Sparks flew from the panel and electricity jumped dangerously. He slid down the rounded side of the machine's body and landed on the floor, almost losing his own balance on the slippery surface.
He looked up to the window for some kind of signal from the man in the white coat, but he was gone. A moment later, a smooth sliding sound accompanied an opening in the wall that widened into a door. The man he had seen behind the glass entered, looking down his nose at Cloud. He was accompanied by a freckled redhead girl who carried a clipboard and looked excited to be alive. Two bulky-looking orderlies in green scrubs followed behind them.
"I'll ask you not to damage my property next time," he said in a scratchy voice that grated against Cloud's nerves.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" he exclaimed. "That thing would've killed me!"
The man waved away his concerns. "G2-6 rarely kills anyone. I shut it down before it gets that far."
Cloud blinked. "Rarely?"
"Anyway, I suppose you did well enough to earn your healing session in the mako tank. As long as you perform well enough, you will be allowed to use that when you are injured."
Cloud started to back away. "Wait a minute, is this going to be some kind of regular thing? You're just going to throw me in here defenseless against something that's trying to kill me?"
"Well it won't be the same thing," the man said in his grating voice. "They will have different abilities, and I do try to remedy any weaknesses that are revealed in an octo-room session. For instance, your slippery blood trick won't work again."
Cloud took an angry step toward the man. Two iron grips clamped onto his arms, holding him back. "Are you insane?!" he seethed.
The man looked down at him with distaste. "Are you always so whiny, boy? If so, I won't be granting you an audience after your sessions." He turned away and walked toward the door. The orderlies prevented him from following, but the girl stayed back for a moment.
"That was ingenious," she whispered, as if he weren't standing in a spreading pool of his own blood.
Cloud looked at her incredulously. "Are you actually ok with this? What he's doing?"
"Lissa!" the man snapped. "Don't speak to the specimen."
What did he just call me?
Lissa gave him one last elated grin and trotted after the man in the lab coat. The orderlies forcibly pulled him forward. Cloud stumbled once and then got his feet underneath him. He walked to the mako tank under his own power, although he was starting to feel a little weak. He wondered how much blood he'd actually lost. It didn't seem like it would be something he could repeat more than a few times without seriously endangering his health.
When they reached the tank room, he walked up the two steps onto the platform. If he hadn't known that she would be waiting for him in the gray place, he might have had some trouble being voluntarily enclosed in that claustrophobic tube. He turned to face the front as the glass slid closed. A hissing sound grew slowly louder until a warm mist sprayed down over his head. He could feel it beginning to pool around his feet. He glanced down and grimaced at the liquid filling the tank. His blood was being mixed with the fluid, tinting it to a dark brownish-yellow.
Soon it became obvious that the things stuck to his arms and legs were pulling in enough of the fluid from the shower. He felt no urge to breathe and his muscles locked in place. The glossy scene in front of him began to fade away.
"Welcome back, my love," she purred.
Cloud sighed happily and lay back on the invisible ground. "I'm so glad you're here, Mother," he said. "There's something really strange going on in that place. I don't trust those guys in the white coats."
"Forget them," she said softly. "You only have a short time with me today." Something silky glided over his forehead, although he saw nothing in the gray.
He felt his muscles relax into glorious warmth. Whatever she was doing felt wonderful. He let his eyes drift closed, and the next thing he knew, he was staring through a wavering yellow film. He could just barely make out the mop of black hair and green eyes until the liquid dropped below his eye level. He reminded himself that he didn't need to breathe and he would be able to move soon. Those reassurances lowered his anxiety slightly, but it was still a terribly uncomfortable feeling.
He fell forward when the glass slid open, but this time there was no burly woman to catch him. Kyle simply stood back and let him catch himself on the floor. He landed on his hands and knees on a surprisingly soft mat.
Cloud blinked and looked up at Kyle. "How long have I been in there?" he asked.
"Only a few hours," Kyle said. "Your wounds were all superficial. It doesn't take long."
An orderly he hadn't noticed standing there hauled him up by his arm. It was one of the beefier green-scrub guys again. He watched Cloud closely, but he let him walk himself back to the room he shared with Zack.
Blip-blip.
The orderly opened the door for Cloud, but didn't enter. Cloud walked in and heard the door shut securely behind him. He glanced around the small room, finding it empty. Zack must have been off getting some kind of test or treatment.
Cloud shivered. He was still wet and slightly sticky from the tank, and he remembered how the dried mako had felt in his hair last time. A shower sounded really great. He dug in the cupboard behind the door for some clean scrubs before making his way to the bathroom.
He turned the shower on hot and stepped in front of the mirror to see how badly that gash on his face was going to scar. He leaned closer, unable to believe what he was seeing. There was nothing. Not even a scratch or residual redness. His skin was clear and unblemished. He reached his hand up to touch it. Maybe he was overreacting about the octo-room. The cuts had hurt at the time, but if he was healed in a matter of hours, was it really such a big deal? The man in the lab coat had said that he would stop the machine before things got out of control.
The mirror was beginning to fog up, so he stripped off his wet scrubs and stepped into the shower. Like Zack had said, it was nothing too bad. He just had to get used to it.
By the time he exited the bathroom, Zack was back. "Hey!" he said cheerfully. "You didn't steal all the hot water, did you?"
"Uhm…I'm not really sure," Cloud responded, rubbing a towel against his wet hair. It had been a pretty long shower.
Zack started toward the bathroom anyway, stripping his clothes off as he went. "Eh, it doesn't matter. That was a hell of a workout. I could go for a cold one anyway."
Cloud watched as he disappeared into the bathroom. So Zack hadn't gone into the mako tank that day. Thinking back over the week, he couldn't remember his friend ever returning to their room looking like a drowned rat, although their schedules didn't align, so he wasn't always there when Zack returned. He probably just showered before Cloud came back.
Zack reappeared 10 minutes later underneath a belch of steam from the bathroom, wearing a towel around his waist. Cloud stared at the raised scar on his chest. Like his own Mesamune scar, it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been, but it didn't look like it had tickled. "How long do you think we were in the tank when we first got here?" he asked.
"Dunno," Zack said with a shrug. "You were in there two weeks after I got out, so maybe another week before that?" He stretched out on his bed without bothering to find a clean pair of scrubs. "Hey, you remember that time we went to the Honeybee in Sector 6?"
Cloud laughed and sat down on his bed, crossing his legs in front of him, facing Zack. "Yeah, not really something I can forget."
Zack turned his head to look at him. "You remember the lovely Lola?"
Cloud's face flamed red. "Also not really something I can forget."
Zack laughed loudly. "Oh gods, Cloud, the next day you were so hilarious!"
"I'm glad you found it funny," he muttered, leaning back against the wall.
"You were so shy! I mean, you wouldn't give me any details. I paid for it, man! It's the least you owe me."
Cloud glanced around the room. "Hey, do you have the remote? Let's watch something."
Zack threw a pillow, which Cloud caught just before it nailed him in the face. "Quit trying to change the subject! Come on, that was like a year ago. You can't still be that embarrassed about it."
"We can find an action movie or something. I'm in the mood for something violent and mindless."
"Cloud! Would you stop?" Zack laughed. "Seriously, was Lola your first?"
Cloud sighed and let his head fall back against the wall. "Yeah. She was. Now can we please talk about something else?"
"No way!" Zack said. "I asked for details. Come on, buddy! I haven't had any excitement for months!"
"You saw Aerith just before we left on this trip," Cloud said, rolling his eyes.
"Yeah, but there wasn't time. Pleeeeeease indulge me," Zack begged.
"There's really not much to say," Cloud said awkwardly.
"You liked her though, right? I mean, Lola's really gentle. I knew you'd like her."
"Sure," Cloud shrugged. "She was nice."
"Nice?" Zack laughed. "Honeybee girls aren't nice."
"She was, though," Cloud said, leaning his elbows on the pillow in his lap. "She was sweet. It was just…uh…short. Like, really short." Zack threw back his head and laughed. Cloud whipped the pillow back at him. "You're not really encouraging me to give you details in the future."
Zack stifled his laughing with an effort. "No, I'm sorry. I mean, it was your first time, you were young. It happens to everyone. To…different degrees."
Cloud scoffed and laid back on the bed. "Now can we talk about something else?"
"No, no, no. We can't leave it like that. You had other encounters after Lola, right?"
Cloud rubbed his eyes. They felt gritty and sore. He wondered if that was a side effect of the tank. "Yeah. There were others."
"So tell me about one of those. Tell me about one where you were such a stud that she screamed your name. Tell me how you rocked her world."
Cloud threw an arm over his eyes. "Gods, Zack, stop!"
Zack sat up to look at him. "You're thinking of it right now, aren't you? Your face is turning so red! Oh my god, it's adorable!"
Blip-blip.
Cloud was saved any further torment by the entrance of a lab tech in blue scrubs. She looked normal enough, unlike the green-scrub orderlies that looked like they ate steroids for breakfast. She had long brown hair, pulled back in a loose plait that trailed down her back.
"I need to get some blood from you, Zack," she said, lifting her little tray of tubes.
Pain streaked across Cloud's chest. Her hair reminded him so much of Tifa. He'd had more than a few fantasies involving her, especially after the first day they arrived in Nibelheim to investigate the reactors. She certainly didn't look the same as the 13-year-old girl he'd made the promise to.
Cloud pulled back the sheets on his bed and hastily slid under the covers, turning his back to Zack and the giggly technician. He shoved the corner of his pillow in his mouth and bit down, willing himself to be quiet as the anguish washed over him. You'll come save me, right? Yeah, he'd done a great job keeping that promise, hadn't he? She was barely alive when he found her on the reactor floor. There was nothing he could do for her. The rage that ripped through him had driven him to pick up that sword and shove it through Sephiroth's back, but it didn't matter anymore. Not for Tifa.
That was one fantasy that would never come true.
The next day, the boys were in for a surprise. They were actually going somewhere together. A couple of the green-scrub orderlies stood just inside the door to their room, wearing identical blank expressions. One had a scruffy black beard that blended with his long black hair. The other was clean-shaven with close-cropped brown hair on his head.
"Time to go," the scruffy one announced to the room at large.
Zack and Cloud glanced at each other. "Who are you talking to?" Zack asked.
"Both of you," the same orderly said.
Two pairs of raised eyebrows looked back at him. "Really? Where are we going?" Cloud asked.
"Octo-room. Come on, let's move." The boys glanced back at each other. Zack shrugged, and they both got up to be escorted down the hall.
"I wonder what the Octo-room is," Zack mused as they walked down the empty corridor.
"You've never been there?" Cloud asked.
"No…you have? Already? You've only been out for like 5 days."
"Yeah," Cloud said, frowning. "It's like an arena where some machine is dropped in to kick your ass."
"What?!" Zack gaped at him, just as they arrived outside of the doors. The lines of the doorway were visible from the outside, but Cloud knew that they were indistinguishable from the walls when he was inside.
The doors slid open and the orderlies stood to the sides like a pair of sentries. The boys entered between them, scanning the room and looking for any possible advantages or weapons they could use. Like the previous day, there were none, but Cloud wasn't nearly as apprehensive this time. Zack was there. Zack could defeat anything.
They walked to the center of the arena and waited for their opponent to drop in. After a few minutes of silence, an impatient voice screeched over the speaker. "What are you waiting for? Fight!"
They looked around again. "What the hell are we supposed to fight, Hojo?" Zack yelled back. It hadn't even occurred to Cloud that they might be able to hear him in the observation deck.
That asshole is Hojo? He's the one in charge here? That's just brilliant, Cloud thought bitterly.
"Each other!" Hojo grated.
Zack and Cloud met eyes again. "Uh…a spar? With no weapons?" Zack suggested.
Cloud shrugged. "I guess so." He put his fists up and stabilized himself with a wide, bent-knee stance.
Zack mirrored him and grinned. "Alright, let's go."
Zack was like poetry in motion with a sword in his hand, but Cloud was far more experienced in scrapping. He was quick, good at dodging and parrying, and Zack was having a hard time hitting him. "Dude, you're telegraphing every move," Cloud laughed. He showed him a couple of examples. "See, when you wind up like this, I can always tell what your next move will be." It felt weird to be the one teaching. Zack had always been the leader in their dynamic.
"Don't teach him, you imbecile!" Hojo said irritably over the speakers. "You're supposed to be trying to incapacitate each other!"
Zack rolled his eyes, but his back was turned to Hojo. Admittedly, he was intentionally holding back his full speed. If he did land a punch, he didn't want to knock him out. His grin was an open challenge to Cloud. "All right, show me how it's done, bitch. Hit me when I'm not—"
Cloud punched him in the jaw, hard and fast. It startled Zack more than anything, and he stumbled back a few steps. He couldn't be seriously hurt by anything Cloud could do without a weapon, but that didn't mean he couldn't be taken by surprise. Before Zack could even understand what had happened, Cloud hooked a leg around his ankle and pulled, dropping him to the ground on his back.
Cloud squatted down by his dazed friend. "That's how it's done, bitch," he said with a grin.
Zack sat up, rubbing his head. "Well damn, kid. You're—"
"What are you doing?" Hojo's irritating voice came back over the speakers. "You're not supposed to stop and chat! Take him out!"
Cloud gave an incredulous look in the general direction of the observation deck. "Does he seriously think we're gonna try to kill each other?" he asked Zack in an undertone. He stood and held out his hand to pull Zack to his feet.
The door in the wall slid open, and Hojo stomped out to the floor. "What is wrong with you two? You're not even trying!"
Zack put his hands on his hips and turned to face Hojo. "You're right. We're not. Why the hell would we want to hurt each other?"
Hojo's eyes bulged. "You need more motivation? Fine," he snapped. "Take Zack back to his room," he said to the orderlies who had come in behind him. "We'll give the young one some motivation."
Zack's eyes narrowed. "Wait, what do you mean? What are you doing?" He took a protective step toward Cloud, but the orderlies held him from moving any further.
Cloud shook his head at Zack. "It's fine, Zack. Just go back to our room." He expected more of the same from yesterday. It would hurt for a while, but then he would get to see her again and be healed in a few hours.
Zack stared at him for a moment longer, measuring his sincerity. Cloud nodded again. "Just go."
Hesitantly, Zack allowed himself to be pulled out. Hojo followed behind them, not bothering to say anything else to Cloud. Seconds after the door slid closed behind him, the hole in the ceiling opened, dropping something large and heavy behind him.
Zack sprawled out on the floor, anxious for Cloud to return. He hadn't been the least bit reassured when he left him behind in the Octo-room, but his brief test of the orderlies' strength had been surprisingly firm. Upon closer inspection, he had identified a faint mako gleam in their eyes.
He was starting to get a bad feeling about this place. What did Professor Hojo mean about giving Cloud some motivation? Zack forced himself to relax. He felt almost compulsively protective over Cloud, but Cloud had told him over and over to stop. He was strong and capable. There was no reason to worry about him so much.
Zack was staring blankly at the ceiling when something new caught his eye. A camera was mounted in the corner. He sat up fast. That hadn't been there before. If it had, he never would have gotten away with knocking out Dr. Hyde. On the other hand, if they were being watched now, at least he wouldn't have to worry about being unable to get anyone's attention if something happened to Cloud.
He checked the rest of the room. There was nothing obviously out of place, but when he opened the cupboard above his bed, he found it empty. The medical equipment they had been storing there was gone. He checked the cupboard behind the door. There was one pair of clean scrubs in each of their sizes, but nothing else.
Scowling, Zack walked into the bathroom. There were exactly 2 towels, 1 small bottle of soap, and 1 of shampoo. What did those guys think they would be doing if they had more soap than they needed? Then Zack smirked. He had done damage with a lot less than that before. After examining every remaining nook and cranny of the room, he returned to his bed and flopped down. He put his arms behind his head and stared at the camera in the corner. What had changed? Why did they suddenly need constant supervision? Why did they need to remove anything that could be used as a weapon?
In addition to worrying about Cloud's "motivation", he was anxious for him to return so that he could talk to him about their new room decorations, and Zack was really no good at waiting. Deciding that he needed to distract himself for a while, he reached over to the nightstand and picked up the remote. They had a selection of movies and shows to stream, but there weren't any kind of news programs to be found. Zack scrolled until he found a television series that looked interesting and started it up.
He was eight episodes in by the time his eyelids started to droop. It was incredibly late, and Cloud still hadn't returned. He got up and paced around the room for a while until he felt alert enough to stay awake for a while longer. By 3 AM, he had given up hope of them coming back that night, and there definitely wouldn't be any orderlies coming from which he could pry information.
He decided that he just needed to go to sleep. If Cloud wasn't there in the morning, Hojo was going to have some serious questions to answer.
Cloud could no longer scream. He felt like his ribs had been crushed. He lay on the floor, waiting for the mallet to come around to crush his head. His vision blurred as it lifted the mallet straight above him, ready for the final vertical smash.
Then it stopped. He really wished it hadn't.
His leg was crushed to a pulp. His ribs were broken into shards that were probably already digging into his internal organs. It was excruciating. Mother! Help me! he cried out in his mind.
The voice he heard was not Mother's, though. It was the reedy, obnoxious voice of Professor Hojo as he stood over him, looking down. He was shaking his head sadly. "Not a very good way to end your baseline week. Disappointing." Cloud drew in shallow breaths, but every one sent a dagger of pain through him. "You really haven't earned treatment in the mako tank today, but I'm afraid you have some nasty internal bleeding there." He nudged Cloud's ribs with his foot, sending another cascade of pain rippling through his body. "Well, we can't have you dying yet, so I suppose I have no choice. But you haven't earned a sedative for the trip down to the mako room," he said, grinning maliciously.
The machine rolled backwards, releasing his leg. The pain multiplied as blood pushed its way through the damaged limb. "Call Wendy to come get him," Hojo said to someone standing nearby. He leaned down to address Cloud again. "Try harder next time, hm?"
Blip-blip.
"Good morning, Zack," Dr. Hyde announced as he came in. "Didn't sleep well last night?"
Zack raised his head blearily. "Ugh. No. Where is Cloud? Why didn't he come back last night?"
"Are we going to start this again?" Dr. Hyde asked, his tone laced with disapproval.
"Yeah, we are, if you're going to start keeping secrets from me again!"
Dr. Hyde sighed. "Fine. He asked to have a separate room last night."
"What?" Zack sat up. "Why?"
"I don't know," Hyde said with a shrug. "Maybe he just needed some time to himself. Don't take this the wrong way, but you can be a bit…intense sometimes." The doctor set down the little black bag he was carrying and pulled out a blood pressure cuff. "Just sit back and relax, please. I need to get your vitals before breakfast."
Zack was too stunned to argue. It wasn't that he didn't realize he could be a little hyper, but Cloud should have been more than used to it by now. Did I say something to piss him off? I don't remember anything. He seemed fine yesterday, but he didn't hesitate to send me back to the room, either. Damn it, he always bottles up shit like that. Why can't he just tell me if something's bothering him?
Two days passed before Cloud was finally returned to the room, much more subdued than the last time he'd been there.
"Hey, buddy," Zack said, looking up with a smile. "Where have you been?" He wasn't sure if he trusted Hyde's word, so he planned to get it straight from Cloud before drawing any conclusions.
Cloud blinked and looked away. "I was just…uh…they wanted to observe me when I was sleeping or something. So I just slept somewhere else."
Zack's smile faltered. "What about during the day? I thought they'd send you back here."
Cloud busied himself straightening imaginary wrinkles on his bed. "Yeah. They were just doing more baseline testing and stuff during the day." He scratched his head. "I'm gonna go take a shower," he said without looking up. He turned and shuffled toward the bathroom.
Zack didn't know what to think. Cloud was a terrible liar. Maybe that meant that Hyde was telling the truth after all. Maybe Cloud was just sick of him. The shower was obviously just his way of getting out of talking to Zack. His hair was still wet from the shower he took before he came over. Fine, he thought. If he wants his space, he can have his fucking space.
