Chapter Summary:
Refusing to let Gast use him or Sephiroth and his friends as guinea pigs, Vincent embarks on a journey to Nibelheim to look for answers in Hojo's hidden laboratory. The gruesome secrets he and his team find there are enough to make their blood boil, but they have little time to delve into the information they found. In their absence, a crisis has emerged inside Shinra, forcing them to rush back and leave their research behind for the time being.
—
Even if it was a Sunday and Vincent had told him the Turks would be with him, Gast was still mildly surprised when Rude opened the door to the Head Turk's apartment not wearing his trademark black uniform but cargo pants and a black t-shirt; he was also barefoot and not wearing his characteristic sunglasses. There was a glass of orange juice on his left hand and a piece of toast between his teeth, which he quickly grabbed with his right hand once he closed the door behind Gast.
"Good afternoon, Rude. How are your eyes today?"
Rude shrugged. "Not bad. Afternoon, by the way. Everyone's in the kitchen or living room."
"Late breakfast?"
"Sort of."
Knowing how tight-lipped the Turks were when they didn't want to explain themselves, particularly Rude, Gast decided not to pry. Instead, he followed Rude to the living room and wasn't as surprised anymore when he saw the other five Turks out of uniform and drinking and eating various things, from tea and coffee to toast and fruit. Vincent was the only one not eating and drinking plain water, very cold judging from the droplets of moisture clinging to the glass he was using.
"Good afternoon," Gast called. After everyone returned his greeting, he turned to Vincent. "All done with your breakfast, Vincent?"
Vincent smiled but it was Elena that answered.
"I made him waffles with fresh strawberries with a side of hash browns and bacon. He ate all of it with a cup of chai tea."
"He had a good dinner last night, too," Reno added.
"I was wondering how come you ate so much last night, Vincent." Cissnei said.
"Too many transformations in a very short time," Vincent said. "I burnt an excessive amount of calories and got hungrier than usual as a result. It'll take me another day or two to recover and then it's back to all of you patrolling my eating habits."
"It will be easier with you in lockdown, yo."
"Speaking of which…" Vincent said, looking at Gast.
The professor nodded. "Where should we do this?"
"Here's fine. Rude, Tseng, would you bring some chairs from the kitchen?"
A few minutes later, Vincent was sitting on the couch between Tseng and Cissnei; Reno, Rude, and Elena were sitting on chairs from the kitchen set in front of the couch, while Gast sat on an armchair at the head of the coffee table. He was holding a tablet and had his briefcase open on the coffee table; several folders, loose papers, and a book lay inside the case along with a notepad and several pens and pencils.
While Gast pulled up the files he needed on the tablet, Vincent reached for the book. It was an old, dog-eared copy on Cetran history apparently focused on flora and fauna. The gunman was about to set it down because the writing was too faded and in a very archaic Northern Continent dialect when he came across a drawing of a creature that looked a lot like Galian. It was far less humanoid than when Vincent transformed into the beast but the main features were the same: a purplish tone to the skin and some of the fur, large and dark horns, a greyish mane, and a cranial structure reminiscent of a behemoth's.
"That looks a lot like Galian," Cissnei said to Vincent's right.
Gast looked up sharply and his expression turned grim. "I was hoping to ease you into that."
"There's no need to tip-toe around the subject, Professor. You already told me that Hojo is involved so I'm prepared for pretty much anything you might've found."
Gast nodded and handed Vincent the tablet after setting up a playlist with two videos.
"I'll get to the book in a moment—you need to watch this first. The first video shows Galian's cells interacting with a sample of Jenova cells. The second one shows an interaction between Chaos and Jenova."
Vincent played the first video with all five Turks huddled around him to be able to watch.
In the first video, the Jenova sample stood by its own for a few seconds before Galian's cells were added to the petri dish. Almost immediately after, Galian began to quiver before zeroing in on Jenova. In a blur of movement, Galian's cells lunged towards the alien cells and began ripping into them. Through it all, Jenova didn't move or change in any way.
"Are they… eating Jenova, yo?"
"Bluntly speaking, yes," Gast said. "Keep watching."
The video ended when Galian's cells finished absorbing—or eating—Jenova's. At first, it seemed as though Galian's cells had only expanded after consuming Jenova, but after a few seconds they began oxidising and eventually died.
"What the fuck, yo!"
"Calm down, Reno," Vincent said softly.
"I'll explain after you watch the next video," Gast said, not bothering with admonishing Reno for his language.
The second video started much like the first, with Jenova's cells sitting alone in the petri dish. A few seconds passed and, suddenly, the cells began to quiver and retreat towards the walls of the dish. Then Chaos's cells were inserted unto the dish from the right side, forcing Jenova to retreat to the opposite side. Chaos just sat there for some seconds and all the while Jenova's cells bunched up as far away from the other cells as they could.
"There," Tseng said, pointing to the side of the dish where Chaos's cells were.
"It's trying to catch Jenova unawares," Cissnei said.
The cluster of Chaos's cells had stealthily divided in two, one section staying put while the other slithered along the edge of the petri dish in two directions, effectively cornering Jenova and forcing it to move towards the other section of Chaos's sample. It took about twenty seconds, but eventually Chaos forced Jenova into the centre of the dish and completely surrounded it. Jenova's cells were moving rapidly in place and seemed to bubble up. Little by little, the greyish mass of Jenova cells turned into the nearly black shade of Chaos's cells. By the end of the video, Jenova had been completely wiped out by Chaos, leaving nothing behind.
Without a word, Vincent replayed both videos twice. When the second video ended again, he silently passed the tablet back to Gast and waited for the professor to explain what they had all just witnessed.
"Jenova doesn't seem to react to Galian, at least not to this version of it."
"Him," Vincent corrected.
"All right: him. As you can see, Jenova stood there and did nothing to try to escape or defend itself when Galian attacked it. Galian, on the other hand, didn't hesitate to assault Jenova. He succeeded in absorbing it and neutralising it as a threat, but he was unable to stop Jenova from killing him afterwards.
"That aside, this is just a cellular-level interaction. In such a situation, all Galian can do is absorb Jenova—eat it, like Reno said. On a larger scale there are more options."
"Killing it would be the most logical route," Elena said.
"But Vincent said Galian wants to mate," Rude added.
Gast gave the dark-haired man a questioning look that Vincent met evenly.
"They know everything I do about this matter. So, like I said, there's no need to tip-toe around the issue."
The professor looked at each Turk in turn and found nothing more than attention. Not wanting to delve into Turk psychology, he decided to go on.
"You're right, Elena. In a natural setting, if Galian were to meet Jenova face-to-face, he would try to kill it."
He reached for the book that Vincent had set back on the coffee table and handed it to the blonde Turk while he took his notepad, flipped to the page he wanted, and gave it to Vincent. The gunman read the passage twice, his frown deepening with each line he read.
"What is it?" Cissnei asked.
"It says Galian's race once numbered in the thousands. They lived mainly in the Northern Continent and were loyal to the Cetra. When Jenova crashed, the Galians didn't trust it but, since the Cetra did, they couldn't attack it. Once Jenova showed its true colours and began killing the Cetra, Galian's race was free to act on their instincts and helped weaken Jenova. They payed a high cost, though, given that apparently the entire race was wiped out."
"Wait. How come you have Galian with you, then?" Reno asked.
"That I'm not sure about," Gast said. "My best guess is that Hojo must have gone back to the area where we found Jenova and got his hands on a Galian specimen that he later grafted onto Vincent."
"That doesn't explain why Galian wants to mate with Sephiroth."
"Jenova wasn't complete when they found it but its very nature allows it to preserve itself under the roughest of circumstances. I doubt Galian's race had that ability, so whatever Hojo found must have been in an advanced state of decay, even with the aid of permafrost. In order to reconstruct it and bring it to a level where it could be viable to graft it onto me he must have tampered with it, possibly adding behemoth DNA. Behemoths have distinct mating seasons, and mating and killing are all about control and dominance. It's not strange, then, that Galian's impulse to kill Jenova got twisted into an instinct to mate with it."
Everyone looked at Vincent like he'd just grown a second head. With a faint blush, he shrugged and explained himself.
"My father had a degree in Genetics, so he kept a lot of books and medical journals on the subject. I was often home alone so I read them all. Also, Chaos has been running some analyses of his own since yesterday so he came to more or less the same conclusions as I."
"And I," Gast admitted. "Unfortunately, there's no way to be certain about this because Hojo didn't think to leave any specific records of what he did to you."
"I don't really care about that. Can Galian's impulses be controlled?"
"I don't know," Gast admitted. "Frankly, I don't think so. You say you don't care about how Hojo did it but I think it's important. Otherwise I'll be forced to experiment until I find the right combination of hormone replacement therapy to eliminate Galian's impulses."
"Can't you just, I dunno, cut 'im outta Vincent, yo?"
"Again, I don't think so. The reason we never tried is that we don't know what removing Galian or Chaos will do to Vincent. It could kill him or leave him severely incapacitated, at the least."
We can wait it out, Chaos said. You can work from here and Sephiroth can stay at his parents' until it passes. After the summit, we can go back to Nibelheim and see if Cloud and Kunsel missed anything. Some of Hojo's notes mentioned a cellar that connected to the sewer system that came all the way down from the reactor up in Mount Nibel.
"What's Chaos saying?" Tseng asked.
"He says we can work around it until the summit passes. After that, he says we should go back to Nibelheim and check an old cellar that connects to the reactor through the sewer system. Hojo mentioned it in some of his private journals, so he might have stashed notes there to keep the company from finding them."
"Sounds like a good idea, given what you saw in the second video."
"What was that?" Elena asked.
"That was Chaos neutralising a threat to the Planet," Gast explained. "At least that's what Ifalna and Aerith concluded."
Vincent drew in a sharp breath and went very still.
Easy. It was to be expected.
"Sephiroth knows, doesn't he?" Vincent asked tersely.
"Yes," Gast admitted. "I had to tell him. I know you probably didn't want him to know, but—"
"Like Chaos just told me, I should've expected it."
The Turks all looked like they wanted nothing more than to comfort Vincent—and hurt the professor, some of them—, but they knew he wouldn't want them to do so with Gast present. As difficult as it was for them, they remained in their seats and waited for him or Gast to resume the conversation.
"What else did they have to say about it?" Vincent asked after a long pause.
"As I'm sure you all know, Chaos is part of a binary Weapon system designed by the Planet to preserve the constant circulation of life. Basically, when the Planet itself is nearing its final stages, it will call forth Chaos so that he may send all living things back to the Lifestream. Omega, the other Weapon, would then gather the entirety of the Planet's Lifestream—that is, its soul—and take off into the cosmos to find a new world in which to restart the cycle of life. As part of his duties, Chaos is also in charge of ensuring the purity of the Planet's soul, meaning he has the necessary strength and abilities to destroy any alien matter within the Lifestream or the surface of the Planet."
"That's why it was able to eliminate those Jenova cells completely without dying, unlike Galian," Tseng said.
"Yes. Again, this is all on a cellular level so there's no way to know how the interaction would play out with complex organisms."
Vincent frowned and directed an unfriendly glare to the professor.
"That's why you sounded so excited earlier on the phone. You've no idea what to do about Galian but you're itching to get your hands on Chaos and experiment with him to cure Sephiroth and the other two."
Gast looked taken aback. He had anticipated that Vincent wouldn't agree right away to further experimentation but he hadn't expected him to be so hostile towards the idea, either.
"Vincent, I assure you—"
"How are you even going to do that?" Vincent interrupted. "You know damn well I'm not going to let you use any of them as guinea pigs."
"We still have Jenova's main body. We can use that as a base, replicate Hojo and Hollander's experiments on laboratory-grown tissue to prove our theories."
"That's not going to work," Vincent insisted. "Jenova's very nature precludes the possibility of duplicating an experiment's results exactly. That's why Hojo's plan to breed an entire army of Sephiroths failed."
"We have to try! Genesis continues to deteriorate and Sephiroth heard Jenova's voice again yesterday at the labs."
"It must have been reacting to Galian and Chaos. Sephiroth didn't succumb to its call so don't try to use that to sway me, Professor."
"What about Genesis, then? If Chaos can purge Jenova from his body then his healing rate should go back to normal and he'd feel better."
"Should? And what if it kills him? Are you willing to shoulder that?"
"Are you willing to shoulder his death if we do nothing and his body continues to decay?"
"Do not try to blackmail me," Vincent said, some of Chaos's otherworldly rumble mingling with his voice. "You've always had my full cooperation, Professor, but only because you've always had the data to prove to me that your experiments wouldn't harm anyone. You don't have that right now. All you've shown me is that Galian can get rid of Jenova at the cost of his life and that Chaos can eliminate pure Jenova cells—you don't know what will happen to hybrid tissue. I'm not willing to let you poke at Galian anymore to send him into some stupid suicide mission and I'm not letting you play around with Chaos when you have no idea what removing Jenova entirely out of those three men will do to them in the short and long term."
"Even if they're fully aware of the risks and are willing to try?"
Vincent recoiled as if he'd been struck, finding himself at a temporary loss of words. Picking up on this, Tseng spoke up.
"Did Sephiroth volunteer?"
"Not exactly," Gast said. "But I know him, and I know he'll be willing to try anything that might lead to a cure for Genesis and himself. I'm sure Angeal and Genesis will feel the same way."
"You realise what you're asking of me?" Vincent managed to say.
"Ifalna drew us a pretty clear picture," Gast answered. "When Sephiroth realised she and Aerith have known about Chaos's power over Jenova since you came back he was quite upset at them for not saying anything. Ifalna made him understand that there's never been a guarantee that we'll able to find a way to exploit Chaos's abilities to purge Jenova from his body. Also, as you have pointed out, there's no way to know what its absence will do to anyone who carries its cells."
He paused and took his glasses off, pinching the bridge of his nose before continuing.
"She also anticipated your reaction. She was certain you'd hesitate to cooperate because you literally sacrificed your life in order to try to save Sephiroth from Hojo and Lucrecia, so why would you agree to something that can potentially kill him now?"
"What did Sephiroth say to all that?" Cissnei asked.
Gast put his glasses back on and smiled sadly as he answered.
"Not a lot, really. He was slightly more preoccupied with trying to make sense of his feelings overall."
Vincent looked up sharply at the professor.
"Feelings? You mean his wish to become friends with me?"
"Aerith and Ifalna seem to think he wants more than that but the truth is he's not sure himself. He wants an opportunity to talk things over with you but, in order for that to happen, we have to figure out a way to suppress Galian's impulses."
The Head Turk brought a hand to his forehead and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. He felt the familiar warmth that signalled Galian's excitement course through his entire body and he had to fight back the wave of nausea that came with it.
Noticing Vincent's distress, Elena rushed to the kitchen for a bottle of cool water. Tseng made room for Gast to approach Vincent and the professor checked his temperature and heart rate manually.
"Talk to me," Gast said.
Vincent shook his head quickly and regretted it almost immediately when he felt his breakfast trying to come out the same way it had gone in. He fought back the impulse to vomit and shakily accepted the water bottle Elena offered him, instantly grateful for the cool sensation against his overheated skin. Gently pushing Gast away, Vincent drank almost the entire bottle in a single go, sighing deeply and breathing heavily when he was finished.
"Can you talk now?" Gast asked.
After a couple of false starts, Vincent managed to answer.
"Galian. He got… nggh… excited when you mentioned… your son. Chaos is trying to get him back to sleep."
"So now we can't even mention him or Galian goes berserk, yo?"
"It appears… so," Vincent panted.
"Forget Chaos's plan to wait," Rude said. "We have to go to Nibelheim right away."
"I'll go," Reno said. "Like I told Tseng yesterday, I'm not involved with the summit planning and I'm not on Avalanche duty."
Vincent nodded slowly. He thought about it for a moment before slipping into business mode.
"We'll leave tomorrow morning, then. Tseng, where is Cloud stationed right now?"
"Wait," Gast said. "You're not planning to go to Nibelheim, are you, Vincent?"
"Of course I am. There are no maps or blueprints of the sewer system and Hojo was quite creative when it came to hiding places for his notes and experiments. I don't doubt Reno and Cloud will find the cellar on their own but it will go by much faster if I'm there to help."
"But your condition—"
"Only presents itself when I'm close to your son or when he's mentioned. There's no real way to avoid the latter but the former is easily remedied if I'm in an entirely different continent. As long as there's cold water nearby I should be fine."
"And if you're not? What if you collapse or lose control of Galian?"
"Cloud and I can handle him," Reno said.
"You can give Reno the tranquillisers you used on Galian yesterday, too," Vincent added.
Gast looked at the redhead and saw nothing but fierce determination in his green eyes. When he turned to look at Vincent, he found the same. Knowing arguing was futile, he sighed and slumped on the armchair.
"Fine. Even if you're still on medical leave I know there's nothing I can do to stop you."
Tseng had disappeared briefly into Vincent's studio and returned with the gunman's tablet. After logging in to his account, he located the necessary information.
"Cloud is in Rocket Town on a low level mission. Do you want me to send a message to Lazard asking for Cloud's help?"
"Yes. Tell him Reno can fly a replacement for Cloud early tomorrow."
"On it."
"What's Rufus's schedule for the next three or four days?"
"He'll be in town the whole week," Tseng said as he typed.
"Good. Then you can man the office and Cissnei can stay on top of Avalanche with Elena and Kunsel's help. Rude, I'm afraid you'll be left with most of the field work."
"No problem, Boss."
"We will be."
Vincent exhaled slowly and looked towards Gast.
"Is there anything else, Professor?"
"Not for now, no. I'll call it a day and leave the rest of the tests for tomorrow. Call me if you find anything."
"Certainly. Thanks for stopping by and have a good day."
"No problem. You, too."
Rude walked Gast to the door and locked up as soon as the scientist was out in the hall. He then rushed back to the living room and found Vincent kneeling on the floor, breathing heavily and bracing himself on the coffee table. Tseng was on his right side, supporting some of the gunman's weight while rubbing wide circles on his back. Rude could hear their second-in-command whispering something in Wutain on Vincent's ear, apparently a calming mantra or maybe even a lullaby.
Reno was perched on the back of the couch, typing away at Vincent's tablet; Rude was fairly sure he was making arrangements so that a helicopter would be ready for them first thing the next morning. Elena and Cissnei were on the chairs in front of the coffee table, looking on worriedly as Vincent struggled to get his breathing back to normal.
"He was putting on an act for Gast," Cissnei said softly. "As soon as he was gone…"
"Chaos said something to him but we don't know what," Elena said.
"Prob'ly offered to take over, yo," Reno said as he tossed the tablet on the couch. "Everything's ready for tomorrow."
"Good," Vincent managed.
"Shh, don't talk, itoshii. You need to rest up if you're going to make that trip tomorrow."
"I should go with them," Rude said.
Vincent shook his head but wasn't able to say anything. Tseng looked up at Rude and also shook his head.
"Three Turks away from headquarters on a possible wild goose chase will attract too much attention. Not even Gast would be able to cover for us. If it's just Reno then I'll be able to better answer to anyone who thinks to pry. We'll just tell everyone that Vincent is still on medical leave and can't be disturbed; that ought to buy us time."
Rude nodded and sat on the armchair Gast had been using before. He waited in silence along with everyone else for a few minutes until Vincent's breathing evened out and he was able to sit on his haunches. He was sweating and his pale skin was flushed but his eyes were clear. Cissnei passed him a bottle of water and he drank all of it more calmly than the previous time. He leaned against Tseng once he was done, apparently too tired to stay upright. The Wutain wrapped an arm around the gunman's waist and pulled him close, tucking Vincent's head under his chin.
"I think we need to get you back to bed, itoshii."
"I don't think I can stand."
Rude took that as his queue and gently picked Vincent up, careful not to jostle him up. He then took him to his bedroom and tucked him under the covers. The other four Turks followed and stood by the doorway while Rude tended to Vincent.
"Stop looking at me like I'm dying," Vincent said, already sounding a lot better. "It just takes a lot out of Chaos to keep Galian under control and even then the hot flashes hit me almost full-on. I'll be fine as soon as Galian falls asleep again."
"All right. We'll be here all day so if you need something, Vincent-sama, just give us a yell."
"We'll spend the night again, too," Elena said.
"I need one of you to stay with me," Vincent said.
"I'll do it," Rude said. "My eyes are killing me."
Vincent nodded and lifted the covers so Rude could join him. The rest left and closed the door.
Vincent cuddled up to Rude and the taller man tucked the gunman's head under his chin much like Tseng had done before in the living room.
"Rest up, Boss. We've got you."
"I know. Thank you."
Vincent hadn't returned to Nibelheim since Cloud found him at Shinra Manor and he wasn't particularly thrilled to be back. The place brought back a myriad of memories, many of which he didn't want to rehash. Everywhere he turned on their way through the reconstructed town was a scene from his first stint as a Turk. The well under which he stood while Lucrecia and Hojo embraced one another passionately under the town's entry sign; the Strife household where Cloud's mother, now deceased, sheltered him from a storm with a warm bowl of homemade soup; the inn to which he retired after Lucrecia turned him down.
Save the well, all of the buildings had been either partially or entirely rebuilt after the fire that took the life of Cloud's mother, but Vincent's memories didn't care. They continued to attack him, demanding his attention. That was why he was reluctant to check in at the inn but Reno was under strict orders from Tseng that they should stop, eat, and rest for a couple of hours before tackling the sewer system. Since Cloud sold his house after the fire, the inn was their only option. Cloud wasn't particularly happy about it, either, but the redheaded Turk was no pushover so they followed his lead on the matter.
It was nearly three in the afternoon when the two Turks and the Soldier Second Class reached the hidden passageway in the manor's basement that led to the sewer system connecting the town to the mako reactor up in Mt. Nibel. Even though Cloud and Kunsel had searched the basement up and down twice, they never came across the door. Vincent himself would had missed it now if Chaos hadn't directed him to it.
I took over and wandered around the place once or twice in the first year or so, he explained. I managed to open the door but I didn't go very far into the tunnel. I was anchored to this place, somehow. I was planning to try again but either Hojo or one of his aides came back and locked the door from the outside.
Vincent was certain Hojo had found a way to bind him to the basement in case he woke up with enough strength to try to escape. It was likely he noticed that Chaos had been wandering about so he then decided to go for something much more archaic, like a bolt and key. His mind insisted on coming up with an explanation to the madman's actions but he refused to dwell on it. He had a feeling he would find the answer to that and many other questions plaguing his mind once they found the cellar. The more he thought about it, the heavier the possibilities weighed on his mind.
They'd been walking along the tunnel for about ten minutes when they arrived to a two-way fork in the road.
"I suppose you don't want us to split up, Bossman."
"Preferably not."
Go left. I can feel something in that direction.
"Chaos thinks we should go left."
"A'ight, yo."
Every time they came to an intersection, Chaos would feel out the options and tell them which path to take. In case they had to go back, Cloud made a map on his PDA as they went along. They eventually came to what appeared to be a dead end but further inspection showed that the roof had collapsed some time ago, blocking the way. The men were forced to take out their collapsable shovels and dig a way through the obstruction. It took them nearly an hour but their efforts were rewarded when they found a rusted door right behind the rubble.
"Something tells me the roof didn't collapse accidentally," Cloud pointed out.
"Crafty bastard," Reno mumbled.
Without a word, Vincent tested the door. The hinges squeaked in protest when he applied minimal pressure to the centre of the door, giving him enough confidence to ram the door with his left shoulder twice. This sent the door tumbling inwards, revealing a large underground library encircling a laboratory of sorts. Stepping into the room, Vincent felt around for a switch on the walls and found a button that brought the lights to life with a crackling buzz.
"Let me rephrase that," Reno snarled. "Gruesome son of a bitch."
There were two examination tables in the centre of the room, both stained with blood and who knew what else. Several carts, trays, and cabinets filled with surgical equipment and drugs were set around the tables; some of the cabinets were open or missing, and there was a lot of broken glass on the floor. Three conservation tanks were mounted on the far wall; one of them had been broken from the inside, the second was empty and apparently undamaged, while the last one was filled with mako syphoned directly from the reactor. Inside this last tank floated the remains of a small behemoth-like creature; a closer look showed that it was a mixture of at least three different samples, sown and stapled together in an attempt to hold its shape.
Vincent approached the tank and pressed his palm against it. The creature inside twitched and floated towards the glass, pressing itself against the shape of the gunman's hand. It scratched feebly at the glass before resting its forehead against it in apparent defeat.
"Is that…?" Reno couldn't bring himself to voice the question.
"Galian." Gold flashed across Vincent's eyes as Chaos explained it to him. "Rather, whatever's left of the Galian specimen Hojo found and as many as three different breeds of behemoth."
"How is it still alive?" Cloud asked. "I mean, even with the mako…"
"I don't know, but he's in agony," Vincent said softly. "And we'll have to take him back with us."
Reno and Cloud exchanged an uneasy glance before silently deciding it would be best if they got started on the many books, notebooks, and files on the shelves. Vincent remained by the tank a while longer, looking at the creature inside with pity and some degree of compassion.
Can Galian sense it?
No. He's so deeply asleep he won't bother us. Besides, there's not enough of Galian left in that sample, really. But it might help Gast find out what's driving his impulses.
Over thirty years, Chaos. This poor creature has been sitting here for over thirty years, alone, afraid, in pain. He paused before adding, A lot like us.
Which is why we'll take it back with us and make sure its suffering isn't in vain. But this is only part of what we came for, so put yourself together and help Blaze and Chocobuckle sort through Professor Deranged's squiggles.
A small smile tugged at Vincent's mouth but he sighed sadly as he stepped away from the tank. Ignoring the examination tables and all the equipment around them, he went to the largest section of bookcases. There were a lot of books on the Cetra that he decided not to bother with but he did take a few about behemoth behaviour in case Gast needed the reference. Other than that, nothing in that section seemed to have been written by Hojo so he moved along to the next area.
He was scanning through a book on gene splicing when he heard Cloud curse.
"What is it?" he asked, not daring to move from his spot.
"That sick motherfucker had a depraved sense of humour."
Each step taking more determination than the last, Vincent forced himself to approach the blond man. When he was a couple of feet away, he saw that Cloud was holding a binder and looking at it with contempt.
The blond handed the binder to Vincent. "I only looked at the first page—it has a copy of your resumé and a picture of you. I… I don't think I have a right to read the rest."
The binder was labelled 'Fail-Safe'. Vincent caught on to the meaning behind Cloud's comment about Hojo's sense of humour when he remembered that the young Soldier told him he'd had to find clues all over the manor to put together the combination to the safe on the second floor. Other than a monster that was likely part of Hojo's side projects, the safe contained the key to the room Vincent was locked in.
"Fail-Safe," Vincent read out loud. "So that's what he called me." He took the binder in less than steady hands and nodded slowly. "Thank you, Cloud. Where did you find it?"
The blond Soldier pointed to a small file cabinet wedged between two bookshelves. "There's nothing else inside, though."
The gunman checked, all the same, but Cloud was right. He looked at the bookshelves on either side of the cabinet and noticed they all contained notebooks and files written by Hojo and his assistants. He asked the blond to gather everything and put it in one of the cabinet's drawers to make it easier to transport them. He then went to Reno, who looked disgusted by the book he held.
"What did you find, Reno?"
"Some sort of encyclopaedia, Bossman. Except it's a compilation of Greasy McFugly's early experiments."
He turned the book towards Vincent; it was open to an entry about the 'successful' offspring of a Razor Weed and a Touch Me. The resulting hybrid was a toad with a mane of grassy spikes on its head that, according to the caption, could be thrown at the enemy to inflict an array of status ailments.
"Does it say anywhere what happened to those experiments?"
"No, but I know Soldier was ordered to dispose of a lot of them when they raided the Science Department's hidden labs. I've no idea if they got 'em all, though."
"Bring the book along, then. Lazard must have some database compiled that can be cross-referenced to this book."
"Got it."
After closing the book and tossing it in a small pile he'd been putting together, Reno finally noticed the binder under Vincent's arm.
"What's that, yo?"
"Well, the good Professor was kind enough to put together a file on yours truly. I haven't read it yet so I don't know what's in it, but I have a feeling it'll be more than I want to know."
Reno winced. "Oh. Are we still going through the rest of this stuff?"
"Yes. I don't fancy a return trip."
"Hear, hear."
It took them about an hour to pack everything they deemed important enough to take back to Midgar, including the specimen on the tank. Additionally, Vincent had Cloud take pictures of the books they were leaving behind in case Gast or anyone else back at headquarters had use or interest in them. They were about to decide who would carry what back to town when a shiver ran all through Cloud's body, making him knock over an empty vial off a table.
"What's wrong, yo?"
Rubbing his upper arms, Cloud shook his head slowly. "I just felt a chill. Is there a draft?"
Standing behind Cloud, Vincent nodded. "Yes. There must be another door somewhere."
Following the draft led them to an empty bookcase. Reno and Cloud pulled it away from the wall and, sure enough, there was another door behind. Unlike the door leading to the laboratory, this one was made of wood and didn't seem rotten enough to push or kick open. It had three sets of locks and a large bar across the middle.
"Shiva's Veil, don't tell me we have to hunt for clues to find a safe to get a key to open the damned door!" Cloud said.
Reno giggled and brought out a lock picking kit from his jacket. "Calm down, blondie. I got you covered."
It took Reno less than five minutes to pick the lock. Pulling the door open turned out to be more difficult; whatever material Hojo had chosen for the door was heavy and had swollen with damp.
"Pity those company issued haversacks don't come with axes or hatchets," Reno grunted as he pushed the door with all his strength.
"No, but…"
Vincent stopped pushing and brought out his shovel. He told the others to move aside and began hitting the bottom of the door with the shovel. The concrete gave way, old as it was, and Vincent tried the same with the sides of the door. As it turned out, the laboratory's walls were nothing but tightly packed dirt and, overtime, it had weakened significantly. With a triumphant smile, Vincent told Reno and Cloud to get their shovels and start chipping away at the door's frame. Within minutes they'd knocked down enough dirt that pushing the door was a lot easier.
The door led into a corridor so narrow that the three men had to walk in single file along it. There were no lights along the corridor so Vincent, being the tallest of the three, took the rear and used his flashlight to light the way in front of Cloud. Reno had his hand on Cloud's shoulder and Vincent had his free hand on Reno's shoulder to keep from stumbling into each other; Cloud was holding his sword with one hand and using the other to feel along the wall for any possible detours.
A few feet in, Cloud stopped abruptly, causing Reno to crash into his back with a curse while Vincent managed to stop in time to avoid running into the redhead.
"What the hell, yo? Why'd you stop like that?"
Unable to speak, Cloud hastily walked into the room in front of him and fumbled with a light switch to his left. When he managed to flip it, the room lit up with a rumbling sound that was accompanied by the buzzing of electrical equipment. Reno and Vincent stepped into the room and were at a loss for words, too.
It was much smaller than the laboratory they came from and, unlike it, the walls and floor were lined with metal plates. There was a main console in the centre with several monitors and a keyboard. The monitors, however, were all smashed in and were smeared with dry blood, like the keyboard and the swivel chair that sat in front of the panel. A tattered lab coat rested on the back of a chair, clearly forgotten by its owner.
All around the room were shelves filled with video and audiotapes, each neatly labelled and apparently in good condition, except for those that had been knocked to the floor and trampled over. Tracks of dried blood and something that lost its colour long ago passed over the tapes and disappeared under one of the panels.
"I thought I saw someone," Cloud whispered, "but I think it was just the lab coat casting weird shadows."
"Those tracks… there's another room somewhere," Reno said, also in a whisper.
Without a word, Vincent followed the tracks and stood in front of the panel under which they disappeared.
At least whatever it was came out and didn't go in there, Chaos pointed out.
Look at the tracks, Vincent said.
There was a pause as Vincent stared at the tracks and Chaos took them in. The Weapon's outraged cry made Vincent stumble back a step.
"What is it, yo?"
"Take a closer look at the tracks."
Reno and Cloud exchanged another uneasy look and knelt to do as Vincent said. It took them longer than Chaos, but eventually they stood up, looking disgusted and shocked.
"Please tell me that it was a Goblin or a chimp or something," Cloud said.
"McFugly didn't believe in pre-human experimentation, yo."
Vincent felt around the wall until he found a groove. He pulled on it and a small panel opened up with controls to the door. The gunman wasn't too surprised to find that they worked and the metal plate disappeared into the floor. The pungent scent that wafted into the room hit Vincent full on, making him gag and cough as he took a few steps back, covering his mouth and nose with his hand. Neither of the other men in the room needed to ask what was wrong this time as the odour soon made its way towards them. Luckily, the way the cellar and sewers were built allowed for most of the noxious air to be sucked out in a few seconds, leaving behind just a trace that was easier to ignore. All the same, Vincent and Reno fished out mint gel from their pockets and applied it under their nostrils; Reno then passed his to Cloud.
Once he was sure he wouldn't throw up, Vincent steeled himself and entered the adjoining room. It was about the same size as the lab/library but far ghastlier. The lights were already on so Vincent didn't need to bother with that, which ended up being a good thing because he found that he couldn't move.
The far back was lined with conservation tanks, all but four of them undamaged and still filled with mako. There were labels on the four broken tanks and Vincent didn't need to get closer to read what they said. When he saw Reno trying to get closer, he grabbed his arm to stop him.
"Don't go further in. You'll disturb the scene and I'm afraid we'll need to take pictures."
"Do we really?" Cloud asked from behind both men, not wanting to go inside. "This…"
"Gast will need it," Vincent said even as he turned to leave. "We'll get it done tomorrow, though. We all need to rest."
Neither Reno nor Cloud protested and were quick to follow Vincent out of the cellar.
That swine, Chaos grumbled as they left. If I could pluck his loathsome soul from the Lifestream and strand him here before Omega took off it wouldn't be punishment enough.
You know what the truly terrible thing is?
What?
Even if he's dead, he's the only one who can fix the mess he made.
Hn.
As soon as they stepped into the manor's foyer, Vincent's phone began to ring. The caller ID told him it was Tseng and, for some reason, that made him uneasy.
"Tseng? Is everything all right?"
"Where were you? I've been calling all day but none of you were answering."
"The sewer system runs deep. We probably didn't get any reception until we stepped out."
"Oh. Well, did you find anything?"
"Yes, but we're not done. We'll need to go back in tomorrow to search at least two more rooms."
"I see."
Vincent frowned and stopped walking. They were already on the dirt road that led to the city's main square. Cloud and Reno stopped, too, leaving their boxes on the ground.
"What is it, Tseng?"
The Wutain's sigh was long and laboured. "There was a meeting today about the summit. Rufus, Lazard, Gast, Reeve, Scarlet, Heidegger, and I were there. Word about your medical leave had already spread by then and I don't exactly know what Gast told Rufus and Lazard but they decided to pull Sephiroth from the summit and send Zack instead. However, given the information Cissnei and Elena gathered on Avalanche, it was decided that we will play things out as if Sephiroth's replacement is last minute. Publicity won't change and no one other than those of us involved with the summit's planning should know."
There was a pause before Tseng took in a deep breath and blurted out, "Avalanche knows, Vincent."
"There's a mole," Vincent said, covering his eyes.
Cloud and Reno looked up sharply at him but neither said anything.
"Yes. Cissnei, Elena, and Kunsel are trying to find out who it is. I sent Rude to interrogate Palmer—his attempt to sell the rocket prototype doesn't seem so innocuous anymore."
"Who else knows?"
"Just us Turks and Kunsel. I ordered him not to tell anyone at Soldier, just in case Lazard is involved."
"All right. We can't go back now, Tseng. What we found…" He sighed and felt terribly tired all of a sudden. "We can't just leave it behind. We'll do our best to wrap up tomorrow but it'll depend on what we find."
"Well, there's a bit of good news in that regard. After the meeting, Rufus had Gast and I stay behind. Gast gave the game away almost immediately—I think he was trying to get back at you for going off to Nibelheim against his wishes—and I couldn't deny that you were gone. But Rufus wasn't angry, more concerned, really, so he arranged it with Lazard to send Zack overnight. He should be in Nibelheim by sunrise."
"We could use the extra pair of hands, for sure. If you can, make sure he brings a videocamera, since we only have the instant photo one."
"And an axe, yo! Or even better, a battering ram."
"Oh, right. An axe, too. Unless we still have one of those compact battering rams about. We might need one of those."
"I… I'll see what I can find. Do I even want to know?"
"No… But you'll hear about it when we return, all the same. We'll go back into the tunnels early tomorrow, so you might not be able to reach us all day again. I'll try to send you a text message from the cellar, see if it gets through."
"Roger. I'll go put in that equipment request now and add a signal booster, just in case."
"Okay. Rest up, Tseng, and good luck."
"Same to you."
The call ended and Vincent rubbed his face with his hands, grunting.
"What was that about a mole, yo?"
Vincent explained what Tseng told him and Cloud and Reno looked at each other in confusion.
"How can there be a mole so high up in the chain of command?" Cloud asked.
"It's the only way whoever it is got past us," Reno said, kicking a nearby rock in frustration. "Anyone below Vincent's tier we have under tight surveillance, but everyone in an executive position gets an absolute vote of confidence. Even Slutbag and Grubby-Hands."
Cloud had worked with Reno on enough occasions that he knew Slutbag meant Scarlet and Grubby-Hands could be none other than Heidegger.
"Rude's interrogating Palmer." When Cloud gave him a questioning look, Vincent explained. "We have him under custody because he was trying to sell a prototype he stole before leaving Shinra to a rival company. It's not a stretch that the money could be going to Avalanche."
"I know I'm stating the obvious here, but he wasn't at the meeting," Cloud pointed out.
"No, but he was a major suck-up for all other execs, so if any of them is involved, he'll know."
"And you think he'll just give them away?" Cloud asked.
"Even if Rude weren't the one interrogating him, he wouldn't last long," Vincent said.
Cloud simply nodded and they dropped the subject.
They decided to take the files and sample to the helicopter for safekeeping. Afterwards they returned to the inn and, in spite of the horrors of the day, had dinner. Cloud retired to his room to call Tifa while Reno decided to hit the local bar to unwind and Vincent simply went to his room to rest. He'd had half a mind to read the Fail-Safe file overnight but, after finding the last room at the cellar, he decided that it would be best to wait until they were back at Midgar. Except the mole business would probably prevent him from doing that as soon as he'd like.
When it rains… Chaos said.
This isn't rain. It's a storm.
Zack arrived at sunrise, like Tseng predicted, loaded with a standard issue haversack plus a videocamera, two axes, a signal booster, and a battering ram. After giving him a quick briefing of the previous day's findings and the plan for the day, the team set out to explore the second laboratory and whatever else they might find in the depths of the cellar.
"I don't understand how no one knew about this," Zack said as they made it to the first lab.
"Hojo was very secretive about his research, as well as paranoid," Vincent explained. "Besides, as long as he provided the company with the results they wanted, they'd turn a blind eye to anything else he was doing. Nibelheim was his playground and he didn't have to account for anything that went on here."
"To think Tifa and I were probably playing up in Mount Nibel while he…"
Cloud couldn't even finish the sentence. Zack placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder and the young blond smiled shakily at his friend.
"Let's just get this over with, yo," Reno said as he opened the heavy door that would take them to the control room.
Once in the control room, Zack took the videocamera while Cloud kept the instant camera and they began to document everything. Vincent and Reno stood on either side of the door leading to the second lab. While the two Soldiers went about their task, Reno turned to Vincent.
"Why wouldn't you let me go in that room yesterday, really?"
Vincent looked at him sideways before answering. "You'll see when we go in."
"All done," Cloud said.
The Head Turk nodded and motioned for him and Zack to go inside.
"Follow the tracks," was all he said.
Zack went first, doing as Vincent instructed and following the tracks back to their source. As he went, he felt his skin breaking into goosebumps and his stomach knotting; his hands grew less steady until he had to stop and put the camera down.
"I'm sorry, but… what the fuck happened here, Director?"
Vincent had remained outside, not wanting to appear in the video Zack was taking. With a heavy sigh, he entered the room, following the same path the dark-haired Soldier had taken. Once he reached him, Vincent silently took the camera from the younger man's hands and resumed recording.
"The tracks originate on the conservation tanks' area," he said as much for the video as for his companions' sake. "There is broken glass all around the laboratory's floor, as well as traces of what can only be some sort of organic matter. Additionally, there are grooves and indentations on the floor and walls, as well as on some of the equipment, that seem to have been caused by claws or talons."
He walked towards the tanks and recorded each one as he spoke.
"These three broken tanks are labelled Project SB, Project GB, and Project AB. Given the nature of Hojo's research and the information we found on the first laboratory/library, it is safe to assume the samples held here belonged to secondary projects branching from Projects Sephiroth, Genesis, and Angeal. The next tank, also broken, is labelled Galian Beast, and the one next to that is Chaos. Then there are Hell Masker, Death Gigas, and Jenova. Although these four tanks remain untouched, they are also empty. We haven't read up on all the information gathered so there's no way to know just what Hell Masker and Death Gigas are or were.
"The longest set of tracks originates from Project AB's tank. After that, longest to shortest, come Project GB, Project SB, and Galian's. Pending a thorough review of the surveillance tapes, I can deduce that AB escaped and freed his companions, then Galian reacted to the Jenova cells in them and managed to escape his tank, too. A struggle followed in which Galian was killed, probably taking SB with him. AB and GB tried to escape but only AB made it past the door; there is nothing to indicate GB's fate. It is unclear at this point what happened to AB, whether he was simply stopped by the lab's personnel, killed, or died as a result of whatever experiments were performed on him."
He had followed the tracks back to the control room as he spoke, taking in as many details as he could. When he reached the end of AB's tracks, he stopped talking and recording. He had to take a deep breath before adding the next part of his assessment.
"Judging by the size of the tracks, I think SB, GB, and AB were all children under six years old. End of recon video."
Vincent handed the camera to Reno, who took it and stared at it as if it were responsible for the things his boss had just described.
"We wouldn't have been able to sleep at night," he said after a moment. "That's why you didn't let us in yesterday."
"That, and I wouldn't have been able to get you back here if another trip was necessary," Vincent added.
"I'd love to tell ya that I would've done my job no matter what, but I'd be lying, yo. I'm having trouble staying here and not bolting back to town."
"What kind of monster would experiment on little kids?" Zack asked, his fists shaking in anger at his sides.
"The same monster that would take his only child and pump him full of alien cells just to make a super soldier and win his rival's position as head of department," Cloud pointed out.
"As ironic as it is for me to say this, you need to forget about all that now," Vincent said. "We need to take all these tapes back, collect samples from that room in case Gast can use any of it, and make sure there aren't any more hidden rooms around. And I would greatly prefer to have all of that done today so we can go back to Midgar tonight."
The three men currently under Vincent's command looked at each other with unease for a moment before finally nodding and looking back at him.
"I don't know anything about collecting samples but I can pack like nobody's business," Zack said as he did a few squats.
"I'll get some drawers from the other room and help you with that," Cloud said.
"I'll help you with the samples, Bossman."
Vincent nodded. "Good. You all get started on that while I check for hidden doors."
Again, all three men nodded and set to work.
Vincent went into the second lab and checked the tanks again.
I think Professor Deranged was planning to graft Hell Masker and Death Gigas to you, Chaos said. Whatever happened here with the children must have put him off that idea.
You were here, it seems. Do you remember anything?
No. I can't retain memories without a physical body. Honestly, I'm afraid to find out what happened here. If I harmed those children…
It's not your fault, Chaos.
What happened to Sephiroth wasn't your fault, either. It doesn't stop you from letting guilt rule a big chunk of your life.
Touché. Let's make a deal then: If you were in any way involved in whatever happened in here, you won't let it eat you up. In exchange, I'll try harder to follow my own advice and leave the past where it belongs.
Deal. Now let's hurry up and wrap up here. In addition to this place giving me the creeps, I have a bad feeling about this mole business.
That makes two of us.
Much to his annoyance, Vincent did find another door in the second lab.
At least we get to use the battering ram, Chaos said, clearly excited.
After breaking the door in, Vincent grabbed a flashlight and entered a storage room for various compounds and even more journals in Hojo's nearly undecipherable squiggles. Frustration threatening to take over, Vincent took a deep breath and scanned the labels on some of the jars. His heart skipped a beat when several items had names that started or ended with F-S.
"Fail-Safe," he murmured. "What the hell were you up to, you sick bastard?"
Reno came up to his side then, carrying a bag filled with the samples he'd taken from the previous room.
"I'm all done with both rooms, Bossman. Need any help here?"
"Yeah, but we'll need cardboard boxes."
"There are some empty crates back in the chopper that the previous pilot forgot to unload. I cursed him up and down when I noticed, but I guess it was a good thing, in the end."
"Yeah. Take Cloud with you and bring… I don't know, five or six over, just in case. Take back whatever's already packed, too. My text to Tseng didn't go through and every minute we spend away from Midgar makes me even more uneasy."
"I know. I feel like we fuckin' dropped the ball, yo. A mole. That's like…" He grunted and mimicked strangling something with his free hand.
Vincent couldn't help but chuckle. "Calm down, Red. We'll get it fixed. And once we do, I'll have a nice, long chat with our young President about absolute-confidence votes. Long story short: never again. Not even us."
"You've been back long enough to have realised that we're the only department Rufus knows he can rely on one hundred percent. And he's the only exec we can absolutely trust."
A small smile tugged at Vincent's lips. "I suppose. It was very different with his father, so I guess part of me is still hung up on that."
Reno shrugged and patted Vincent's shoulder. "Rufus can replace everyone but us, and we only need him. The rest is just trimming. I'll go get those crates now."
Vincent nodded and, as Reno left, he took a walk around the room just to make sure there weren't any more surprises. A little over half an hour later, he heaved a sigh of relief when he was certain Hojo didn't have anything else stashed away and leaned on the wall before slumping to the floor with his head between his hands.
That's how Zack found him a few minutes later. The black-haired Soldier seemed at a loss for a moment before sitting next to Vincent.
"Everything all right, Director Valentine?"
Vincent huffed a chuckle. "Not at all, Lieutenant Fair."
"That was a pretty quick response."
"Well, I've had a horrible half-week and it's only going to get worse. No need to think of an answer."
Zack nodded. "I can sort of understand that."
He paused, trying to figure out whether or not it was a good idea to speak his mind. In the end, he took a deep breath before continuing.
"Listen, I know some of what's going on so I'm not going to say anything to stir the pot, but Aerith made me promise I'd tell you that she would like to talk to you as soon as you have a few hours to spare. She knows it might not be anytime soon, but still."
The gunman looked at Zack with a slightly bemused expression. The Soldier laughed and shook his head.
"I didn't think Turks could look so at a loss, Director."
"Well, that was rather unexpected, Lieutenant. But, tell Ms. Gainsborough that I would love to have a chat with her as soon as things clear up a little."
"Awesome. So, all we need to do is finish packing this room and the tapes?"
Vincent nodded. "Thankfully. I don't want to spend more time here than absolutely necessary."
"No kidding. Cloud's very shaken up, too."
"To know your hometown was the epicentre of so much evil is not an easy thing to come to terms with. I hope he can forgive me for dragging him here again, but he's the only person with sufficient knowledge of the area that I can trust."
"He doesn't blame you, Director. He's happy to help."
"I know. That's one of the reasons I'll talk to Lazard and put in a formal recommendation to promote him to First Class. Kunsel, too. He's helped us a lot with Avalanche."
Zack grinned and playfully bumped his shoulder against Vincent's.
"Thanks, Director. They'll be really happy to hear that."
"Not a—"
He stopped when he heard someone running towards the room. A few seconds later, Reno skidded inside with a crate in each hand, panting.
"Vincent, we gotta run. Tseng called while we were coming back and said they found the moles. Slutbag and Grubby-Hands have been selling us out for nearly a year."
Zack and Vincent jumped to their feet. Before they could say anything, Reno dropped the crates and his green eyes blazed with anger.
"They escaped, Vincent. Not only that, but Elena and Kunsel are missing as well."
"Missing?" Zack asked.
"Taken by Avalanche."
Reno was about to say something else when he caught Vincent's eyes. They were flickering between crimson and gold and the redhead was sure he could see something crawl underneath the gunman's skin.
"Vincent?"
"Director? What the—?"
"Finish packing up now," Vincent said, his voice mixed with Chaos's. "Scarlet and Heidegger's days are numbered."
—
Hi, all!
So, another chapter's gone by. Sorry if it seems like this didn't go anywhere, but there are things I wanted to mention that would've gotten lost in later chapters. I'll try to have that done by next week, by the way, but my internet situation is kinda crappy so we'll see.
Also, I made a mistake in chapter 4. At some point I typed that Seph was thirty when he's actually 31. I'll go back and fix it as soon as I can but yeah.
Thanks to everyone who has commented, favourited/followed/given kudos. It means a lot to me :)