LEFT BEHIND
Forced Care
June 18 – Detention Center
She sat in the corner glaring at the door.
She had recovered from the drug that her own traitorous brother had given her and sat silently in the room. The doctors had given them that needle to help Errow, when he was in a lot of pain. She never thought her brother would turn it to her.
Her own brother…
The door opened and Tseng entered as well as the blond guy with the mako eyes.
"Scared, Turk. I didn't think there was anything left of SOLDIER." She muttered but didn't' move. She didn't think there were any SOLDIER's left. She was sure that they were all dead or disbanded after Sephiroth's death and the failure of them to maintain their own ranks.
"I was never a SOLDIER," the blond muttered and frowned at her. He was fiddling with the sword in his hand, turning it slowly as he looked at her.
"I am not known for being a fool," Tseng said. "I can't say the same about you."
She tried to keep her anger under control, but she knew that it showed on her face as the blonds' hand tensed around the sword and held it in a more ready position. The guy was not one to let his guard down. You could see that. The way his eyes narrowed as she spoke. He was ready to strike. Interesting. He said he was not a SOLDIER but he was acting like one.
"We never knew about Errow." Tseng said.
"Then why did that damn Hojo come?" she growled. She took her attention off the SOLDIER in denial and turned her anger back to the stoic Turk that was glaring at her; turning back the anger to the employee of ShinRa.
Tseng shook his head. "I know nothing about Hojo going there. I just learned of that from your brother." Of course, he would have talked to Lore first. She wondered what her brother had told him already. But then, it really didn't matter. He was a traitor to her family now.
"Well, he found out. It was after they announced that Sephiroth died in battle." She sneered. About 3 months after that press release went out, Hojo crew arrived in town.
She found her attention turning back to the blond who was shifting uncomfortably. He seemed to twitch every time the Sephiroth was mentioned.
"Did Sephiroth know about Errow?" Tseng asked. She knew that these questions would come.
She nodded. "He knew." She smiled a bit as she said it.
"How did he respond to that?" The blond asked. Tseng gave the blond a glare but the blond didn't seem to care. She knew that most people respected the Turk from the looks of this; the blond was something that didn't seem to care about the Turks. Interesting. The blond was more than just muscle; maybe more that just a SOLDIER in denial. Very Interesting.
"He visited." She said. "He only came once," her eyes were right on the blond, "before he was killed." Yeah, the blond did not like this conversation. She wondered who he was and why Tseng brought him in instead of another Turk. This guy was not dressed like a lap-dog of ShinRa. He looked uncomfortable and angry. What was he and why was he here? What did Tseng have on him? Or maybe it was the other way around?
"Hojo must have found out from Sephiroth." Tseng said. "I found no indication that he had a son, in my investigations."
"Yeah, the slimy little lab rat, almost got on my good side until he called my son a replacement for loosing his prize subject." She snarled. "Didn't get him though, got the most of the crew that he brought with him, but missed the weasel. Is the rat still around?"
"He's dead," the blond said and started to twist that sword in his hands. He seemed to be quite satisfied with the thought of Hojo dying. He wondered if he had a hand in it? From his tone, he was pretty sure that he did.
"Are you sure?" she asked.
"As dead as things get around here," the blond muttered and frowned as if he just tasted something that was bitter.
"I want the medical staff to look at you." Tseng said. "Your brother mentioned that you had the geo-stigma and is still suffering from after effects."
"They are not touching me." She said simply. "I will not become an experiment! I have had enough of that crap. You will not get your talons in me again!" She reflexively put her hand to her throat and let her hair fall around her face. She was not going to allow ShinRa doctors to examine her!
She watched as the blondes eyes seem to stare right through her. Did he notice? Did he know that there was more wrong with her neck other than the needle mark? There was knowledge in his eyes that normal people didn't have.
Yeah.
The guy was interesting and she didn't like him at all.
Conference
June 18 – Medical center – Conference room B
Lore sighed as he sat in the wheel chair that they had him strapped to. He looked nervous and uncomfortable as he looked at the people around the room.
Tseng sat and listened to the doctors as they asked questions of Lore who seemed to slump further in the chair with each question that came up. He let the Reeve take the lead on the questioning; after all, it wasn't supposed to be an interrogation.
Lore spoke freely about his sisters condition as well as what he knew of his nephews.
"They both had that geo-stigma and they both were nearly dead when that went away," he said simply. He already knew this. "It was a month after that Errow started to have the new pains. Errow was never a very healthy child. There was always something wrong with him, but the doctors could always find something to help him get better. It is part of the reason that Lira is quite overprotective of him." He sighed heavily. "I know that it wasn't right and I know that her thinking wasn't right, but all she was trying to do was to protect and save Errow."
"What ailments did he have as a child?" Reeve asked. Lore rattled off quite a few names. The kid certainly had not been a healthy kid.
"What about this pain that they boy's been having? I witnessed one of his bouts and we are still assessing it. Has it gotten worse as the time wore on?" Reeve asked in a clam and low voice.
Lore nodded. "His screams were unbearable at times," his voice shook as he spoke.
Tseng noticed that Cloud shifted uncomfortably beside him. He told Cloud that he could go home and that his services were no longer needed, but Cloud shook his head. "I don't want surprises showing up at my door again," was his answer.
Tseng didn't blame him for his tone as well.
The questions went on about his current condition continued. The doctors were frantically scribbling details on the boy.
Reeve sighed heavily as he stated. "Hollander was the one that helped her recover from her mako poisoning when she fell into the life stream."
Lore nodded.
"We have no records of that," Reeve said.
"I was 8 years old when that happened," Lore said.
"What can you tell us?" Reeve said.
"Everyone liked him. He seemed to be concerned about my sister and me." Lore sighed heavily. "I know better now."
"And why would you say that?" Reeve asked.
"She recovered. I was grateful for that, but… she was not the same. She had those glowing eyes, and she was more aggressive after that as well. I mean, she was always pushy and all, being the older of us, but she wasn't like that before." Lore said. Tseng watched as he kept his eyes on his lap. He knew more that he was telling here.
"You didn't leave your sisters side during her recovery?" Tseng asked. He knew Lore was hardly ever out of his sister's sight. He doubted that it was any different from when they were children.
Lore just nodded.
"How did they help her recover?" Tseng asked. He knew they were all looking at him. He was supposed to be asking these questions. This was not supposed to be an interrogation.
"Needles," Lore said and shivered. "I didn't know what was in them."
Tseng paid close attention to those words. It wasn't a bold face lie, but it sure as hell wasn't the whole truth. He made a mental note that he would have to ask him further details when he was interrogating him. He leaned back in his chair to indicate that he was done with his questions under Reeves stern gaze.
Reeve continued the questions.
"So the geo-stigma set something off in her and her son?" Reeve said after a bunch of questions that involved more medical tests. Lore seemed to be quite fluent in his understand of the medical terms.
Lore nodded.
Cloud made a grunting noise but remained silent. He seemed tense and it looked like he wanted to say something but was holding back. What could Cloud have to add to his conversation?
Phones, not just one, but a few started to go off. People delved into their pockets of their white coats or press the buttons on the side of there beepers. "He is having a seizure." Someone said.
Lore sat upright in his chair. "Errow!" The restraints held him down. He looked panicked.
People were leaving the room.
"I can comfort him! I can help!" Lore pleaded and looked like he was going to burst into tears. Tseng felt sorry for him but it still was not going to change his decision. "He is my nephew!"
A woman rolled his chair out of the room. The meeting obviously over as they went to stare at the boy having a seizure. Tseng had no desire to see that.
"You guys are a bunch of idiots," Cloud mumbled to no one in particular.
"Excuse me," Tseng said as he looked at the sullen warrior as he rose from his chair.
"He is holding back information." Cloud snorted.
"I can see that," Tseng said as he stood also.
Cloud sighed. "Let's go outside Tseng. We need to chat." His jaw was tense and he looked a little edgy.
More to it
June 18 – Outside Medical Center
"There is more to her than just falling in a mako pool?" Cloud stated. "Was she another one of Hojo of Hollander's sick experiments?"
Cloud remembered his time as a test subject. It was a time that he wished that he didn't get his memories back on, but they crept on him from time to time. Seeing that boy, and the crazy woman with eyes that glows of Mako, made old memories seep back in. He was getting mightily creeped out. He could feel his skin itching with old memories that he did not want to surface. Hearing to Lore talk, didn't alleviate any of his anxiety.
Tseng explain again what he understood of a child hood accident that caused her to fall into the life stream and nearly died of mako poisoning. ShinRa had helped her recover from her illness. It wasn't Hojo but Hollander. Not that, the was any better. He was just as twisted, but he didn't have the same amount of power. He had heard this before and knew that there was a layer of crap that was there.
"Mako enhances people's natural strengths. You are well aware of this fact, Cloud." Tseng said simply. "I want to check on Reno." He did. He was wondering how the Turk was doing.
"You dragged me into this!" Cloud said. "Aren't there any records? You don't get like that just from falling into a mako pool! What are you hiding Tseng?"
Tseng turned to him and looked like he was going to say something. Cloud cut him off. "Look, I know that has been the line, okay, but it is the mako when it is mixed with… with… whatever it was they decided to mix it with. I have looked into this. SOLDIERS did not become SOLDIERS just because they had a shower under some mako. There were other things that helped them become the monsters that we became." He shuttered involuntarily. He had 4 years, where they tried to make him into Sephiroth. Four years of poking, prodding and immersing… he still did not know how he survived those experiments.
"I am not aware of that," Tseng said simply.
"Bullshit," Cloud said with a snarl. He clenched his fist. "I remember some of my time in that basement, Tseng. So don't bullshit me!"
Tseng lowered his head slightly and stopped walking and turned to Cloud. Cloud never could read the guy. His eyes and face were passive. "The people that were involved in that are no longer working for the company, even those that were supposed to be under my employ."
Cloud stared at him and felt old anger emerging; the anger and fear that nearly consumed him and destroyed him.
"I lost a friend as well," Tseng said. "But that is the past and I cannot change things that I did not know at the time." He looked at the medical center building where Lore was incarcerated. "There are many things that I regret in my career, Cloud, talking about them, will not make things better."
Cloud snorted, "No, but it explain what she is!" He said. "What was she injected with to become so unstable and don't tell me you didn't see the signs of degradation that were on her neck, hiding behind that hair of hers. Hell, you could see that she was coloring her hair too. Tell me that you saw it or are your observations skills that lacking?"
He saw the shocked look on Tseng's face as he spoke that.
"You really didn't notice," Cloud shook his head. "It was like what happened to those other SOLDIERS that were friends of Sephiroth. I remember seeing those clones and how they degraded as well. It is happening to her, so she is not an S cell recipient, but she can be a G cell recipient."
Tseng blinked and tried to gain his composure. The words Cloud was saying quite stunned him. Cloud was supposed to be a supposed ex-SOLDIER not a scientist. He didn't think Cloud had any memories of that time. He never gave any indication that he remembered the time before he was a lab subject.
Cloud shook his head. "I know I am not one of those lab rats, but I can see that in that woman that is there. Why the hell don't you guys see it? You better the hell fill me in on what the hell is going on here because she going crazy like that Genesis or Angeal did."
Tseng straightened his back. Cloud didn't realize that the Turk had slumped. "We shall have to talk with the medical staff that Reeve has assembled. I am afraid that there is not many people left around that are familiar with the works of both Hollander and Hojo. Most defected with them and hence, are no longer around to talk with us."
"Great. I get to be a medical expert on S cells." Cloud muttered. "I am not going to be poked and prodded for their sakes."
"I would not expect you to," Tseng said. "But I believe your insight will help us resolve this issue we are having."
Cloud frowned heavily. "Damn it and it seemed that no one was bothered by the fact that Lore knew about all this stuff, when your illustrious idiotic lab rats don't even have a clue."
"He has not stated that he knows…"
"He knows. You should ask him about G cells and see what type of answer that you get from him." Cloud snorted and adjusted the sword on his back.
"I think I will," he whispered. "I wish to speak to Reno, if you do not mind."
Cloud grunted. "Yeah. The rat was awful quiet when we drug him out of the room."
Tseng nodded. He was worried about Reno. Even in pain, Reno was not one to be silent. The man even talked embarrassingly in his sleep, there was nothing about him that was quiet unless he wanted to be.
To be continued
Next Chapter…. Report.
