Disclaimer: Kit Thespian does not own FFVII or the characters therein, and she is not making money off of this.
Author's note: Fans of "Up a Treehouse" will appreciate the latter half of this chapter.
Chapter Eight
Jenova
The expedition to the Mako reactor went without incident. But there was something about Mako reactors that frightened Lucrecia. Whenever she was near one in Midgar, she didn't want to stay there for long. So, as usual, when the three scientists stepped into the reactor, Lucrecia clung to Hojo. Vincent and their guide, Mr. Lockheart (A/N: This is Tifa's grandfather) had to stay outside. Vincent thought it was ridiculous that he, a member of one of Shinra's elite groups, should not be privy to a reactor's secrets.
Hojo personally thought that it wouldn't have mattered anyway, since the "secrets" of a Mako reactor were so complex only a scientist or an engineer would have understood them. Still, better safe than sorry. Now that they were actually inside of the reactor, Hojo would have preferred it if they had left Lucrecia outside. They entered into a walkway which had no railing, and they had to go to a ladder and climb down, and then cross another walkway to get to the interior of the reactor.
They all managed it well, all things considered. There was one brief, frightening moment when Hojo took a moment to peer over the edge of the final walkway to look below. There was an endless-looking pool of Mako streaming below. If one fell in, there would be no coming out. He had seen what had happened to the specimen that had been given the 111 degrees of Mako. That specimen had lived no more than two weeks. Ironically, it had died of starvation. Its system was so jammed with crystalline Mako that its bloodstream couldn't nourish it.
"The organism is up these stairs," Gast said, "Prepare yourselves; I haven't been given any information on what it looks like."
Nothing could have prepared them for this. The organism, contained in a clear glass tube, was a monstrosity. The head looked slightly human, but had rows of hair-like tentacles flowing from it. It had two breasts, but Hojo seriously doubted that they were mammary glands. It had dozens of tentacles, big and small, emerging from its torso. It looked dead, but something in Hojo could not accept that. To him it appeared only to be sleeping.
Lucrecia gasped, putting her hand to her mouth. Even Gast was taken aback.
"What is that?" he said.
No one replied, because they all knew the answer. It was their job to find out.
In the laboratory...
"It's extraordinary," Gast said, peering through the microscope, "the organism was found in a 2,000 year old geological strata, and yet...well, take a look."
Hojo looked at the sample cells that they had taken from the organism. They showed no sign of deterioration. It was as if the organism had been born the day before. The organelles, seen through the transparent celluar membranes, were moving about and functioning.
"How is this possible...?" Hojo murmured outloud. He moved aside and let Lucrecia look. He said, "How?"
"I have a theory," Dr. Gast scratched his chin, "it's quite improbable, but it just might..."
"What is it?" asked Lucrecia.
"It could be an Ancient, the last of the Cetra."
"An Ancient?" Hojo raised a skeptical eyebrow, "Fairytales..."
"On the contrary, Dr. Hojo, there has been archeological evidence that the Ancient story has basis in fact. They discovered a city, not too long ago and not too far off from where the organism was found, that could have been built by the Ancients. The architecture was too advanced for early man."
"What are we going to do?" asked Lucrecia.
"I will write a letter to the president, and see what he thinks on the matter. We should not proceed with anything without his approval. Still...if we could produce people with the power of the Ancients, think of the possibilities! The Ancients were said to have been able to speak with the Planet."
"Speak...with...the Planet." Hojo thought this was getting more and more ridiculous, and his cynical expression showed it.
"But, Hojo," Lucrecia said, "What if it were possible?"
"All the same," Hojo addressed his mentor, "what exactly do you mean by 'producing people with the power of the Ancients'? Do you mean to infuse human beings with these cells? We don't even know for sure if that organism is an Ancient or not. I am not an expert on these legends, but weren't the Cetra supposed to look like us, human beings? There was nothing truly human about that thing in the reactor."
"It's still alive after all this time," Gast remarked, "the Cetra were said to have agelessness."
"How did it get in that strata in the first place, and why weren't there others like it?"
"Yes," Lucrecia said, siding with Hojo, "there was supposed to be an entire population of Cetra."
"Well, we won't find out if we don't do the research, will we?" Gast said, "And we won't do the research until I get approval from the President. So, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to write that letter. And you two, in the meantime I suggest you find a book on the Cetra (I'm sure there's one around here somewhere) and get brushed up it."
Hojo had not seen such a glint of excitement in Dr. Gast's eyes since the success of the experiment with Captain Tamrelan and the Mako infusions. At least one person was happy in this place.
"It is fascinating, though," Lucrecia said as she and her husband walked arm in arm up the stairwell in the secret passageway, "What if it is a Cetra?"
"If it is, then I'll be willing to admit that I was wrong, in the name of science," Hojo answered, "but basing a scientific endeavor off of a legend is still something unheard of."
When the couple entered the stair landing, Lucrecia noticed Vincent on the bottom floor in the hall, playing solitare. He looked up at the sound of their footsteps and said, "Hello. How did it go?"
"Just fine," said Hojo. The tone in his voice suggested that nothing more was to be said on the matter. He and Lucrecia started down the stairs.
"Say, Hojo," Vincent said, sounding like he was trying to be diplomatic, "you know how to play five-card draw?"
Hojo was surprised at the offer, but he nodded his head. His grandparents, ever the gamblers, had taught him every card game that ever was, right down to blackjack and go fish. He didn't play cards a good deal, but he had the skill. He consented to a few games with Vincent.
Lucrecia didn't play, but sat aside and watched with fascination. As you may imagine, Hojo and Vincent had the best poker faces in the entire world. The only muscles on their faces that moved (except for when speaking) were the ones helping their eyelids to blink. They were winning the games in a fairly even streak.
However, the peace was interrupted when Lucrecia giggled. Hojo turned his head towards her and asked, "What?"
"You two are so cute!" she laughed. However, in the time that Hojo took to ask his wife what the problem was, he let his cards tip down just a little. Vincent leaned over a bit to see what Hojo's cards were. Unfortunately, Hojo caught him.
Hojo was not the type to snap, so he said coolly, "You're cheating."
Vincent wasn't going to be called a cheater (whether he was or not) so he replied, "I am not."
"You are too," Hojo's brow furrowed.
"Am not."
"Are too."
Lucrecia couldn't believe her eyes and ears. What was going on here?
"I saw you peeking at the cards; you can't deny it," Hojo said.
"I'm not denying anything!" Vincent's face started to turn red.
"You are so!" So much for Hojo not being the snapping type.
"I am not!"
"Are so!"
"Am not, you deranged jackass!"
Lucrecia gasped. Hojo's eyes widened and he retaliated, "Who are you calling a 'deranged jackass', you...pompous neanderthal!"
Vincent threw down his hand of cards on the table, "What? Psychotic twerp!"
"Brainless nitwit!"
"Stupid mad-scientist!"
"Trigger-happy dolt!"
Vincent growled and pounced on his half-brother. Lucrecia jumped to her feet, stifling a screech. If the situation weren't so revolting, she probably would have been laughing. The two men were rolling on the floor, scuffling.
"Stop it, you two! Stop it!" Lucrecia exclaimed but to no avail. She saw that Vincent had a glass of water sitting nearby and she went and took it, "If you're going to act like a couple of dogs, than I'm going to have to separate you like a couple of dogs!"
She hurled the glass' contents on the faces of her husband and brother-in-law. They both coughed and sputtered and ceased their fighting for a moment as they looked at Lucrecia with nothing less than disgusted looks.
"My dear," Hojo said, sounding like his normal, calm self, "please stay out of this."
"Yeah, stay out of this," Vincent agreed. And he and Hojo continued on in their wrestling match. Lucrecia stood agape at the spectacle for a moment before storming off towards the broom closet, looking for something to whack her husband and the Turk on the head with.
But by the time she came back, the broomstick was apparently not longer needed. Vincent and Hojo were lying on the ground, huffing and puffing.
"What...were we fighting about?" Vincent asked Hojo.
"I have no idea..."
Silence.
"Let's get some dinner," Vincent suggested.
"Good idea," Hojo conceded and the two got off of the ground. They passed a shocked Lucrecia on the way to the kitchen and Hojo said, "Will you be joining us, my dear?"
Lucrecia absently nodded and followed the two, still wondering what on earth had just happened here. That incident was how Vincent and Hojo were introduced to the wonderful world of sibling rivalry.