Disclaimer: Kit Thespian doesn't own Final Fantasy VII or the characters therein. And she is not making money off of this.
Chapter Twelve
Fine Print...
"No!" Hojo snapped.
"Why not?" Lucrecia crossed her arms and her lips pursed.
"Absolutely not!"
"Would it be such a horrible thing for our child to be named after you if it's a boy?"
"My first name...was my father's..."
"Middle name, I know," Lucrecia then wrapped her arms around her husband and said, "But if we named our baby after you, then he would be named after you, not your father. He'd be Sephiroth Hojo Jr.!"
Hojo raised an eyebrow and spoke flatly, "Junior?"
"It would be so sweet."
"What would be?" Dr. Gast asked as he walked into the laboratory.
"If we named the baby after Hojo," Lucrecia said, "but he's being stubborn."
"I think about it, all right?" Hojo groaned, "But we are not calling him 'junior'."
Hojo made sure that day that there was plenty of lighting in the library, so that Lucrecia wouldn't be so frightened. She was willing to go through the procedure, but she would have to look at her husband every few seconds to gain reassurance that what they were doing was the right thing after all. Hojo himself felt numb, as if he were trying to dull himself so that he could do this. He swabbed Lucrecia's right arm with a cotton ball with disinfectant, and then wrapped the tourniquet around her arm. Gast prepared the serum.
They all knew that once they injected Lucrecia with the Jenova serum, there was no turning back. But Hojo kept thinking to himself over and over that this was the right thing to do. It never occurred to him that it was a voice in his head saying this to him. Such things were...unscientific. To keep Lucrecia's mind off of the situation, Hojo started to talk about random things, like the day they first met on the elevator in Shinra HQ, to the small birthday party that she and Dr. Rosem had given him.
"I wonder how Rosem is doing..." Lucrecia said, looking away from her right arm, "We haven't written to him for a while."
"We have been rather busy," Hojo murmured.
Lucrecia smirked a little, "What was it he said he was doing now?"
"A hobby, slight of hand tricks."
"Sounds like something he would do, hmm?"
"Mm-hmm..."
"All right," Gast held up the syringe, "It's ready."
Lucrecia openly cringed, and Hojo rubbed her shoulders.
"It will only be a few moment's pain," he said.
"That's not what I'm worried about," Lucrecia sniffled, "It's..."
"I know, but everything will be all right. You'll see."
Lucrecia bit her lip and looked away while Gast plied the needle into her arm. She had never been fond of needles, and that combined with fear for her baby caused her to whimper a little. Hojo did his best to sooth her by rubbing her back and her hair.
"There," Hojo spoke once Gast took the empty syringe away, "it's over."
"It's cold..." Lucrecia shivered.
"It will be like that, but only for a few moments."
"It was like that for you?"
"Yes."
Lucrecia seemed a little comforted by that.
Over the next few months, they repeatedly did tests and checkups on Lucrecia to make sure that she and the baby were all right. Her blood pressure had gone up a little, but not so much as to become a cause for concern. The baby's heartrate was a slight bit faster than normal, but nothing lethal. Gast suspected that perhaps it was only the child's metabolic rate increasing. Lucrecia became more at ease with each passing day, since the experiment was showing nothing but beneficiary signs. One day, when Lucrecia was nearing her fifth month, Dr. Gast said that he would have to go to Midgar for a few days. He did not explain why, but only that he would be back in a couple of weeks.
The next morning, Hojo was in the library looking for something to read. Gast had not given them that much to do in his absence and Hojo had finished all the needed work that morning. He heard someone coming down the stairs in a hurry. He looked towards the open doorway and Lucrecia came through it.
"Hojo!" She happily went to her husband and hugged him..
"Darling," Hojo returned the embrace with one arm and reshelved a book with the other, "you shouldn't run down the stairs like that and you know it. It's dangerous for you and the baby..."
Lucrecia bit her lip, "I'm sorry, but I'm so excited! The baby's kicking!"
"Kicking?" Hojo blinked.
"Here," Lucrecia took her husband's hand and put it on her stomach, "do you feel it?"
"...Yes." It was an active little thing.
"That means it's alive; it's okay!"
"...And you doubted it was?"
"Well, I was worried. It's just nice to have some physical proof. Aren't you happy?"
"Of course, I'm happy," Hojo broke into a smile, putting both hands around Lucrecia's waist. To tell the truth, he was more worried than Lucrecia was, and probably more relieved than she was to feel the baby move. He did not tell Lucrecia, but sometimes he thought he heard growls inside of his head, like a creature was living in his mind. And sometimes he thought he heard a voice saying things to him as he slept, but he could never make out the words. He told Dr. Gast, but all Gast did was write it down on a sheet of paper, file it, and told Hojo to ignore it unless the voice was saying coherent things. They knew it wasn't the Planet speaking to Hojo through the Cetra cells; the voice would be clear. And the buzzing sounds had returned again. The only thing that convinced Hojo he wasn't going insane was Lucrecia. As long as she loved him and was willing to be near him, he wasn't insane. She couldn't love and trust someone who was obviously insane. And Hojo hated to admit it, but even Vincent was welcome company next to the sounds. Their conversations (and often, debates) helped him to keep his mind off of, well, his mind.
Lately, Hojo had taken to mumbling to himself when he was alone. He fought the urge to do it when others were near because he didn't want to be thought of as "not right in the head," even if he was not right in the head. What if it was the injection? That made the most sense, but Hojo tried to deny it because the thought that his child might have to go through the same mental agony was horrible. He often asked himself, What have I done? But the baby was alive, and so far Lucrecia had not complained of such things and she had just as many cells injected into her as to Hojo, so perhaps nothing was wrong with the injections. He considered looking up his family history for mental illness, but that could be just as devastating.
Maybe it was only nerves. Yes, nerves at becoming a father and about the success of the experiment. Bad nerves could make one think strange things and do strange things. That had to be it. As long as he kept himself calm and concentrated on Lucrecia and the baby's welfares instead of his own troubles, everything would be all right.
Lucrecia, grinning at Hojo's reassurance, leaned against his chest and wrapped her arms around him. The child kept moving around and Hojo could feel it while Lucrecia was pressing against him.
Lucrecia giggled, "That's our Sephiroth."
"You are absolutely determined to name our baby that, aren't you?"
Lucrecia smirked, "If it's a boy. If it's a girl, I thought that my mother's name would be nice: Kemantha."
"Kemantha?"
"We could call her 'Kemmy' for short."
"What would we call Sephiroth? Sephy?"
"Now, you're being silly."
"I don't want my offspring to hate for the rest of my life for giving him or her a certain name."
"But Sephiroth and Kemantha are good names."
"All right, we might call him Sephiroth, but we are not calling him Junior."
At the Shinra HQ in Midgar...
"I'm just not sure about this, Sir..." Dr. Gast nervously handled his research file as he stood before President Shinra's desk, "Dr. Hojo has been complaining about buzzing and incoherent voices in his head, and he had no such problems until after we injected him with the Jenova serum."
Shinra drummed his fingers on the table, "Voices...Are you sure it's not Cetra powers?"
"It couldn't be."
"But the child seems to be all right, so far?"
"Yes. The heartbeat is strong and it's metabolic rate is higher than normal. Mrs. Hojo hasn't complained about any sounds in her head, which causes me to wonder about Dr. Hojo."
"You think he might be mentally unstable, then."
"If he is, that's the only sign of it. Other than these 'voices,' he's a perfectly rational individual, and extremely intelligent."
"So," Shinra took a sip of the cocktail on his desk, "when are you going to inform them about the rights of ownership?"
Gast bit his lip, "I don't know."
The President chuckled, "Well, you'd best tell them soon."
"But, Mr. President, is it really right?"
The big man's eyes narrowed, "Is what really right?"
"I'm willing to sacrifice much for the sake of science, but...their freedom?"
"Remember, Dr. Gast, one word from you to the general public about the ownership rights, and it will only take one word from me for one of my Turks to cause you to have an "accident," or worse..."
"Yes, Mr. President."
"It is perfectly all right to own someone, but it is not so acceptable for them to know it. It takes away their illusions of security."
"But...you don't legally own the public, but you legally own the Jenova volunteers. Sir, what do you plan to do with that power?"
"That is my affair, Dr. Gast."
"Sir...the Turk you sent with us, Vincent Valentine, is Dr. Hojo's half-brother."
"...What?"
"They share the same father. I also know that Vincent deeply cares for Mrs. Hojo, and I wouldn't be surprised if he had a thing or two to say about the ownership rights when he finds out. As a Turk, he could be privy to such information."
"Well, if he becomes too much trouble, I'll replace him with another Turk. That should take care of things." Normally, Shinra would probably just have the thorn in his side "disappear," but the Turks were valuable and their coldness was difficult to come by. No, it would do merely to have Vincent Valentine relocated. Besides, Turks weren't supposed to become too emotionally attached to anything anyway. If Vincent still showed signs of concern for the Hojos after being relocated, then he would probably have to be permanently dealt with.
"I have given this a good deal of thought," the President said, "and it would suit our purposes more if the child was raised separately from his or her parents."
Gast blinked, "What do you mean?"
"You heard me. The child will grow up under our constant surveillance. We must have his or her complete obedience, and such a thing is not possible with the influence of a mother and a father."
"But...the Hojos will not be willing to give up their child so easily. Mrs. Hojo would rather die."
Shinra leaned forward, "If that must happen, then so be it."
Gast swallowed hard. He had never dreamed it would come to this. He would tell Dr. Hojo first; perhaps Hojo would see reason in the situation and be able to persuade Lucrecia to consent. But then, Hojo would probably want to kill Gast for selling him and his family to the Shinra without Hojo's knowledge. But it was the "laboratory specimen"law; a secret law, but a law: Since it is a laboratory specimen, theJenova creature is the property of Shinra, down to the last cell. Therefore, if for any reasonthe cells inhabit a certain individual, that individual becomes a laboratoryspecimen, and must belong to Shinra as well. No exceptions.
That "fine print" law had been made even before the scientists left for Nibelheim. President Shinra had made sure that he would have every say in the scientific activities concerning the creature if there was the remotest possibility that the thing was an Ancient. The law would only be made public as a last resort to maintain control. As he had said, Shinra knew that people must have the illusion of freedom. There would be less dissention that way. But the law was still binding. The Hojos, without their knowledge, had sold themselves to the Shinra. Gast felt sick; he himself had not known about the law until after he had written the letter to the President suggesting that the Hojos' child be infused. Gast was not by nature an emotional or compassionate man, but his coldness not so much steered towards human beings as it was laboratory specimens. Now he had to live with the fact that he had turned three human beings into laboratory specimens. He had a high respect for Dr. Hojo, but any friendship they had would be torn after this was brought to light.
Gast's blood was running cold and his nerves were numb as he left President Shinra's office, going down the stairs. He saw Rosem on the next floor.
"Hey, Dr. Gast!" Rosem cheerily waved, "You're back! Are Hojo and Lucrecia here too?"
"No, they're not," Gast bitterly replied, "If you will excuse me, I have some business to attend to."
"Hey, why the long face?"
"Just leave me alone!" Gast snapped as he walked past the puzzled physicist towards the elevator.
Rosem stared after him, wide-eyed. Gast had never lost his temper before. What was Gast doing here anyway? Were Hojo and Lucrecia still in Nibelheim? He could only assume they were. Rosem made up his mind to write to his friend after getting home that day.
Author's note: See? Dr. Gast isn't that bad. He just made a couple of very big mistakes.