Yes, another chapter. I've had this half typed since FOREVER. Hope it makes you happy! Thank you my glorious Beta Esmeraude11 and Zephyrus Genesis who has been BEYOND helpful in getting me through a few snags I was having in my story. Without my reviewers there would be no story!
Disclaimer: Wish FF7 was mine!
Chapter 12
The Calamity Beckons
Hojo paced his office relentlessly. He was losing his ability to focus, day by day for the past few days. He growled to himself. He had somewhere he needed to be, somewhere he had to go. There was something important he should be doing, he just didn't know what. It was driving him insane.
He forced himself not to scream in frustration as he sat down in his office chair to sit and think. He relax his body, his mind his only concern. And then he felt it. Like the brush of a feather against his mind and someone whispering in his ear.
He closed his eyes and strained to hear. Behind his eyelids glowing red eyes burned him to soul. Startled, his eyes nearly flew open and yet something held him back. He knew those eyes. And finally the words came to him.
Hojo. Hojo. Hojohojohojo.
His body jerked as he recognized his name, and his eyes flew open yet he still could see that terrible, burning gaze. He felt weak and insignificant, a feeling that both angered and terrified him.
He clutched his head, fingers gripping his hair as he hunched over himself. Was he going mad?! Unacceptable! He couldn't lose his brilliance to mental deterioration! He wondered briefly if this was somehow a side affect of having experimented on himself with a small amount of JENOVA cells.
The voice persisted.
Hojohojohojohojohojo.
"Stop it." He half whispered and half shrieked. "Stop it!"
There was a brief pause of silence.
Hojo.
This time the name was less frantic and more like a lovers caress.
"What do you want from me?!" He demanded, desperately hoping this was some sort of bizarre dream.
I need you. Was the silken reply. Come to me.
Fear and intrigue gripped him.
"Who are you?" He could still do nothing but whisper to his silent office.
I am the Goddess from the stars. And you are the one who has given me my children. You found me when the Cetra trapped me. And it is you who have made me stronger then the pathetic weaklings that imprisoned me could have ever dreamed.
Hojo puzzled over that but for some reason he could not protest the voices claim. He knew it was wrong yet every second he felt less and less sure of that.
"Children?"
Yeeesssss. You are not one of my children, but your desirers and your blood reach me still. I command you as I command them. Come, my puppet. With me you shall have what you desire. I shall give you the tools to make more of my children. Powerful SOLDIERS.
Hojo felt the desperate need to obey. It was burned into his very DNA. He didn't try and fight it. The offer was far too tempting. He didn't even think to ask how. Or why there was even a voice in his head.
"But I don't know where you are."
Yes you do. The answer is inside you, you already know. Come. Hurry. Let nothing stand in your way.
Hojo pulled out his PHS and dialed the number for his personal helicopter. The pilot had been trained by Deepground at his instruction. He had long since ceased caring of anything beyond Deepground and his service to Hojo, he rarely spoke and followed orders perfectly.
Hojo couldn't help the smirk that stole over his face. Deepground had definitely been one of his greater ideas. A place to train SOLDIERS that could do the dirty work that not even the Turks could be trusted to do. Hojo wasn't stupid enough to buy the fact that the Turks were loyal to the President. Unlike his sons, he was too much of a fool to inspire true loyalty.
His phone clicked and he snapped back to reality.
"Sir?" Was the quiet answer.
"I wish to depart to area 0. Password JENOVA." For some reason, saying the name sent a pleasing shiver up his spine.
"Yes sir." Was the curt response.
Hojo looked around his office and stuffed a few notebooks and folders into a laptop case he'd set beside his desk for abrupt trips. It wasn't unusual for him to leave to check on things in certain cities from time to time. He left his office briskly, approaching one of his scientists with a stern expression.
The mans short brown hair was mussed and he looked like he hadn't slept in awhile, his thick glasses and lab coat askew. He was hunched over a pile of loose papers and notebooks. He frantically went back and forth between consulting the papers and writing in the notebooks.
Hojo raised an eyebrow and cleared his throat. The distracted scientist didn't acknowledge him at all. Hojo narrowed his eyes.
"Michaels!" He snapped.
The brown haired man jumped.
"P-professor H-hojo sir!" He stumbled.
"I'm leaving again for awhile. You're in charge. Don't let Hollander do anything stu-are you listening to me?" He noticed that, after his initial surprise, the man went back to his frantic writing and calculating.
"Sorry sir." Micheals said, but continued.
Hojo glared.
"Michaels I don't have time for this nonsense."
"Sir I think I've found a new form of Mako."
And just like that Hojo was laser focused.
"What?" He didn't seem to notice how to frantic need to leave vanished instantly.
"I got this from a blood sample off one of the cadets." Michaels began, lifting up a folder. "He fainted for seemingly no reason. So I ran a few simple tests with no results. But his blood….its amazing! He slid beneath the microscope to his left and handed it to Hojo. 'Take a look at that. Do you see the dark looking cells that seem attached to the blood cells?"
Hojo bent to look, frowning.
"Is it some kind of disease?"
"That's what I thought. I looked at it closely though and its cellular structure almost resembles Mako." He held out a print out of what the machines had been able to detect. "Now, look what happens when you add Mako to it." He put in a different slid.
"This looks like a blood sample from a SOLDIER."
"The cells sort of…activate. It's as if the Mako was put in a dormant state only to be revived at the introduction of active Mako!"
"You say you got this from a cadet?" Hojo asked in disbelief. "Who?"
"Cloud Strife."
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