Beware the long-winded explanations! Do point out to me if I get anything glaringly wrong XD

It had taken the better part of a day to decide who was best suited. Or rather, it had taken all of five minutes to discard both General Sephiroth and Lieutenant General Rhapsodos as too unstable, Director lazard as too unknown, and Zack as too... well-known. He just didn't want to involve his best friend, the best friend he'd ever had next to, perhaps, Tifa, and she was a different kind of best friend. This mission was to dangerous in too many ways to risk that Zack got involved.

Which left Angeal. But the mere possibility that Angeal might break Zack's heart again over some stupid ideal of honour was not something he wanted to risk. Ever. Unless he had no choice, which was the reason he hadn't acted the previous day. Despite it all, despite all the misery and sadness, hadn't they reached the best possible outcome? As Tifa said; sadness was the price to see it end. If he made it so that none of it happened, would the Planet be able to survive? How was he going to prevent the ShinRa Company from sucking the planet dry without Sephiroth as the catalyst? And also, even if he could pull down the President himself, Rufus had been... worse, which still seemed impossible, until that near-death experience.

Cloud had no idea what exactly had happened at that time, hadn't cared at all about anything beyond his little family and those he called friends, but somehow, Rufus had acknowledged the guilt he carried, the blame ShinRa Company carried and that was not something Cloud thought he could duplicate.

But still. He just could not risk losing Zack again and preventing Sephiroth from going mad was the safest way to protect Aeris and unless he acted, everything was going to go the hell in a hand basket, probably in less than half a year. Maybe.

He just didn't know. His memories of his previous time in the military were vague at best, and he suspected that even if they weren't, the amount of information he had known then would be minimal and all but useless.

And so, now he was standing outside of Angeal's office, having made certain that Zack was elsewhere, welcoming the other new SOLDIERs, who had still been in bed the previous day, giving them the tour and the speech, something Cloud had received after dinner yesterday, not that there was really all that much to be told. No command jobs until, unless, you make First, do what you're told and be efficient and whatever you do, Respect Sephiroth.

It was funny, really, how especially that last had been capitalized.

Thinking about such didn't get him anywhere with his current mission. He could act respectful with Sephiroth if he ever needed it, right now he had more important things on his mind.

Carefully slotting his plan of action into a semblance of order, he knocked and promptly received permission to enter.

Angeal was sitting and looking through reports but looked up when Cloud opened the door. "Yes?" He asked, putting the stack slightly to the side to allow Cloud his full attention.

"Angeal. Sir. I have a question and it's very important that you answer me truthfully."

He could see that his serious, imploring tone took the First aback but he nodded, leaning forward a bit and signalled for Cloud to continue regardless. Cloud had his full attention.

"When a SOLDIER dies, they disappear, dissolving into lifestream and nothing else. Like monsters."

"Yes. It's due to the mako in our blood, it acts as a-..."

"I know," he interrupted. In truth, he could probably give Angeal a much more detailed review of the hows and whys of the process, being forced through lectures akin to this at the very beginning of his stay with Hojo while he had still been lucid. Terrified, yes, but aware. That, and he could still remember what it felt like to die. "That's not my question." He back-tracked suddenly, realising that pretending to act like a fourteen-year-old, insecure and seeking guidance had been thrown out the window. Cursing mentally he continued nevertheless, trying for a less rude tone of voice. "I wanna know what exactly makes us different from monsters; we kill like they do, mercilessly, and when we die we're erased just the same. What makes SOLDIERs different from monsters? What makes me different from a monster?" There. Angeal would have to say something placating now, he couldn't possibly condemn a newly instigated SOLDIER to the belief that he was a monster before he had even killed another human being.

The question, though, seemed to be more shocking than Cloud had anticipated and Angeal took a good while to answer.

"I don't want to just give you some placating half-truth; it would be easy saying something like 'because of our appearance' or 'because we're smarter', but that only makes us more efficient, doesn't it?" He hesitated again, steepling his fingers and frowning for another minute or so. "I believe that what makes us, you, me, Zack, everyone, different from pure monsters is our purpose. We kill, yes, but we kill with the purpose of bettering other people's lives not just for selfish gains. Maybe, instead of saying it's purpose that marks the difference, you could say it's our heart. Or our soul. Are you religious, Cloud?"

Cloud shook his head in the negative, walking closer to the other SOLDIER to look into his eyes. "Do you really believe what you just said?" He asked.

"On such short notice, that is the only answer I can give. I'll admit it's not something I've used a lot of time contemplating but I can tell you that here and now, I believe it."

"What if we changed appearance? The mako already mutated the structure of our muscles and the receptors of most of our senses. What if we suddenly, say, grew wings?"

"Wings? I... don't suppose it would make a difference, really, as long as your mind was still the same. Although I imagine that finding out you had wings could be a severe blow to your sanity."

The Third Class bend over the desk, scrutinizing how honest the answer was, not caring one bit for exactly how disrespectful he was acting just then before nodding, satisfied.

"I guess you're gonna have to find out exactly how unsettling it is."

"Excuse me?" Somehow, Angeal thought, he had been reduced by this lean, young boy to some kind of... examinee. And somehow he had the feeling that he had only just passed whatever exam he had been subjected to.

The sharp smile Cloud replied with was hardly reassuring, carrying nothing but grim amusement. "How long will it take you to finish your paperwork? I came here at the end of the day, hoping you'd be almost finished, but it doesn't seem like you are."

"Strife." And suddenly it wasn't a slightly confused but overbearing man Cloud was facing, but rather his commanding officer, Lieutenant General Angeal Hewley, and he was just about getting annoyed. "I should thank you to keep your tone respectful when speaking to a superior officer." Angeal followed the order, there was no way it could be interpreted as simply a request, with a firm look in his eyes.

"Yes, sir. Sorry, sir," Cloud replied, well within respectful, but they both knew that it was merely an empty formality.

Angeal sighed. What had happened to the very quiet and ever respectful boy they had initiated? True, new SOLDIERs tended to lose some of the formalities but not all at once. It usually took at least a week, when they had gotten used to their new strength and had truly realised that they had succeeded. Genesis took great pleasure, every so often, to thoroughly show them that they may have made SOLDIER but they were still far from the top.

"Tell me what it is you wanna tell me," he ordered, instead of delivering a lecture and an appointment with the volatile First. Despite himself, Cloud's earlier remark had roused his curiosity. "What did you mean, 'I'll find out'?"

"I'll tell you, Angeal. But it's gonna take time and I doubt you'll be able to do any more work afterwards. I just thought you'd wanna finish first."

"I see. But there's nothing here that can't wait until tomorrow and you've raised my curiosity. Now tell me what it is?"

Cloud nodded and opened his mouth to give Angeal the edited version of what had happened during his mako injections.

"Please don't interrupt until I'm finished, this is gonna be weird enough as it is. You remember that I said my mako injections were a bit more concentrated than they were supposed to?" Receiving a nod, Cloud continued. "There was a reason for that. Not from Hojo!" He hurriedly said, recognising the anger his words were provoking. "The Planet, it... sent me a mission through her life blood, it... I know this sounds crazy, but I was sent a vision of the future. Or a possible future." Sounded insane, yes, but not quite as insane as claiming to have lived through all these events would.

"In this... vision, Lieutenant General Genesis Rhapsodos defected from ShinRa, from SOLDIER, because of some terminal illness and madness, I think, caused by what made him a SOLDIER in the first place. A few months later, you followed. I'm really not sure of the details, but feeling guilty or dishonoured you somehow, eventually, cornered Zack and forced him to end your life." The abrupt paling of Angeal's features, Cloud thought, spoke well for the First. "I don't suppose I'll have to tell you what that did, will do, to Zack." He sent a sudden cold glare towards the commander, ensuring that he understood how very serious Cloud really was. "And I suppose you'll understand that I'll do anything, anything at all, to avoid that it'll happen." Including killing you myself, was left unsaid, but hung almost tangible in the air between them.

"A year or so later General Sephiroth goes on a mission to what turns out to be where he was born. He learns of the experiments surrounding his birth and consequently loses his mind and without either one of you nearby, there's no one close enough to him to pull him back." If it had even been possible with Jenova's influence hanging over the general's head. "He starts hating... everything and will cause a cataclysm, big enough to destroy the planet entirely."

He stopped, staring earnestly into Angeal's eyes. What he had told was the bare bones of course. If Angeal chose to go to Sephiroth or Genesis with any of this, the result could be that the whole process was simply sped up. In truth Cloud wasn't entirely sure whether he preferred Angeal believing him or not, but Cloud had never been one to plan things. Situations had always just fallen into his lap to be fought. He had never had the time to plan anything beyond "kick its ass" and he had never needed to, but unless he wanted to risk everyone who had ever even talked with him (and knowing Shinra like he did, he had no doubt that that was exactly what he was risking), he needed to do this entire thing... covertly.

Maybe he had had better luck going to the Turks, except for the fact that the Turks were ShinRa's lapdogs and wouldn't care whatsoever if the world burned as long as President Shinra (and perhaps Rufus) were safe.

The sound of a deep sigh dragged Cloud out of his musings and he focused once more on the man before him. "I hope you realise that I cannot, in good conscience, take this at face value?"

"No, of course not, but can you afford to dismiss it? You're friends with both General Sephiroth and Rhapsodos. Can you afford the risk that they'll both go mad and take the world down with them?"

"What are you suggesting that I do, then?"

"Help me look. We need proof either for or against the possibility and we need, above all else, to keep it from those two involved. If there's the slightest possibility that the knowing alone will send them over the edge, it's not a risk I... we... can afford to take." He was really, really going to have to get used to speaking with Angeal as his superior again. The memory of people doing what he told them just because he told them was too clear. He had to remember how it had been to be a cadet again.

Angeal's amused smirk told him that the First had caught his slip. "So... proof first. That sounds reasonable enough. I suppose that's why you went to me?"

"Yeah. I'm almost certain the whole thing, the last mission of Sephiroth's at least, was, will be a set up by the Science Research Department. That means Hojo. If Hojo's behind any of it..."

"Then we're gonna have to do something about him, which means basically going against the company. You realize what will happen if anyone finds out?"

"Why do you think I made sure not to involve Zack? If we're found out... they'll likely give us to Hojo. We'll be his... test specimens. " He sneered, forcing the last words out as though they were something repulsive.

Angeal raised his eyebrow at that. "I would have said that we'd be executed without even the shadow of a trial. But of course, they might give our remains to Hojo."

His reply made Cloud's eyes widen slightly before a wry smirk crossed his face. It was weird, thinking that Angeal was the more naïve of the two of them. Even if he thought of himself as twenty-seven, that still made Angeal three years his senior. Maybe that was a little sad, too, but of course, Angeal didn't know the depth to which ShinRa's corruption reached. Hadn't experienced it on his own body, periodically the executioner.

"In any case, that doesn't change the fact that if you're right, I will help you, but..."

"But you still don't really believe in any of this, which's nothing more than I could expect." He sighed, running a hand through his spikes, thinking. "I'm not really an expert hacker, but... Your computer is linked with the mainframe, right? I should be able to get deep enough for some kind of proof, at least." Shelke had tried teaching him, and although she had declared him hopeless and despairingly lacking in subtlety, he felt comf... He cursed, silently lest Angeal thought there was something more wrong than what he had already told him. And there was. Only, Deepground, which he had all but forgotten even existed, had always seemed like Vincent's territory. And it wasn't like he didn't want to save Shelke before the experiments on her made her permanently stuck in the body of a nine-year-old, but... somehow, it seemed like an invasion of privacy. Shelke had always been Vincent's in a weird way, because of her connection to Lucrecia Crescent, and even though the girl-woman had stayed in 7th Heaven for a while, that hadn't changed the fact that meeting her, knowing her, had healed something previously broken in the silent man, beyond even what losing Chaos had done.

Cloud sighed. That was something he was going to have to think about (great, more thinking) later. Right now, Angeal was giving him access to ShinRa's main server through his own computer, and while the First stood attentively behind him, making sure Cloud didn't do anything beyond what he had promised, that was still preferable to having been thrown out on his ass. It was obvious that while Angeal did doubt him, he knew that he couldn't afford to dismiss him if he was wrong.

It was weird how easy it was to hack into the main frame, beyond Angeals clearances. Shelke certainly hadn't been put to use yet or he would maybe barely have been able to do this, considering that the computers were from a previous decade. They had been even more sophisticated when Shelke had tried teaching. More sophisticated and with a firewall made by Shelke herself.

"You seem to know what you're looking for," Angeal commented.

"I do." Cloud tapped his temple for emphasis before he continued. "The Jenova Project, what gave birth to Sephiroth. Sephiroth's mother was named Lucrecia Crescent, a scientist. I'm not sure how, and frankly I prefer not to think about it, but she became pregnant with Hojo's child and agreed to subject the fetus to an injection of Jenova cells. When Sehiroth was born, he was taken from Dr. Crescent immediately. She never got to even hold him and died shortly after from the infection of Jenova cells."

"How... do you know this?" Surely all that had to be... impossible to know.

"Because I'm supposed to put him down when he goes mad. No," he interjected before Angeal could ask. "I know nothing of Genesis. Genesis isn't as big a threat as Sephiroth, and the Planet doesn't, can't care for individuals. My guess, though, is that you and Genesis was more or less born or created in the same way, which is what I'm looking for now."

"I... see. What... what is Jenova, then?"

"She... at the time of the Jenova project, the scientists still thought she was an Ancient, a Cetra they had excavated and who had been lying dormant for thousands of years. She's not, though. She's an alien life form, travelling the cosmos with the sole purpose of destruction. She was the one who all but wiped out the Cetran race. She works as a two-way conduit, able to adopt the traits of her prey, but she can also map her own traits onto it." He hesitated then, wondering if the last bit of information was appropriate, but considering how much he had already told, the last bit couldn't make it any worse. "All SOLDIERs are injected with Jenova cells as well as mako. It helps our body to cope with the mako, among other things, but... it also makes us susceptible to control, both in general and by Jenova herself."

"And... is this something you can prove as well?"

"Uh, I might."

"Because if you can, we will at least have all the SOLDIERs on our side."

Angeal's comment made Cloud grin, both because it was all but a straight out admission from Angeal that he trusted him and because it was the truth. And if they had all the SOLDIERs on their side ShinRa didn't stand a chance. But that was only if they could prove it, and that Cloud somewhat doubted. Right this second, he would only have to find files that proved the existence of the Jenova Project and possibly that Sephiroth, Angeal, and Genesis had all played major, if ignorant, roles in it.

- - -

Being Hojo's favourite past time, you would think, made it easier to see the man and get him to speak with you. But of course, the rule that made it possible, even probable, for the pest to disturb the general at all hours of the day (and night) did not count when it was the general seeking out the scientist.

Of course, Sephiroth mused annoyed, he could have complained about some "undue ache" and the madman would have been all over him in seconds, poking and prodding and taking samples and strapping him down "just as a precaution" in case the tissue samples upset him unduly or other such nonsense.

Which was why he had not complained about anything hurting and instead had tried the long tedious process it was to access the man through normal means. Or rather, tried to access the man once it had become apparent that Dr. Swendsson had 'mysteriously disappeared' and therefore was unable to answer his questions concerning Strife.

Which boded even worse for Strife than for Swendsson, really.

Since Swendsson had answered Strife's question, disappearing like this could mean two things; Hojo had not meant for Strife to know of any anomalies or Hojo had not known there were any anomalies and had therefore not guarded whatever test result closely enough before his assistant had seen them. In both cases, it meant that the anomaly was interesting enough for Hojo to keep it a secret.

No, it didn't bode well for Strife at all and Strife had better be grateful for what he was about to do.

As the sliding door swished open with the hiss of compressed air being released and Hojo stepped out, Sephiroth all but stalked over to the little pest, booted feet panther light on the carpeted floor.

"I will not have you take Strife for your experiments, Hojo," he said, tone just on the snarling side of firm.

"There's no need to take that tone with me, boy," Hojo replied dismissively, although the way he pushed his glasses up his nose revealed his agitation. "And there's no reason for you to concern yourself with Strife, we'll offer him an excellent bonus for agreeing to let us run a few tests."

Sephiroth stared, couldn't help himself as Hojo pressed his glasses up a second time. Did he really think anyone would fall for that? Okay, it was true, maybe a naïve fourteen-year-old would believe that it would just be a few tests, probably some blood work and tissue samples and that would be it. But Hojo wasn't speaking with a naïve, fourteen years old boy, he was speaking with a long since disillusioned, thirty years old general and General Sephiroth was very much aware what 'a few tests' entailed.

Finally, Hojo realised that his star specimen wasn't going to let it go. "Anyway, it's not like you have any say in the matter. There really is no need for you to concern yourself with him."

"Strife is the single most promising candidate to have ever entered the SOLDIER program. He will be a strong SOLDIER, beyond what almost anyone else is able to. I doubt President Shinra will allow such a valuable asset to become nothing more than a specimen for you to experiment to death."

The first flash of real emotion flashed over Hojo's face. He had not expected the boy to be anything but a normally talented candidate, easily replaced, but if the runt really was talented enough that Sephiroth, his normally unemotional experiment, was willing to argue like this on his behalf, then the president might very well actually listen to his general. That was the trouble with turning lose an experiment; they tended to suddenly and unexpectedly start thinking for themselves and making a mess of it.

"The boy would be an excellent study on how to make SOLDIERs accept more mako than we've previously established as a safe dose," he tried arguing, finally trying to reason with the general. "We could improve the SOLDIER program to make everyone invincible!"

The argument, however, fell to the ground. "That's hardly necessary. We're already far superior to any other fighter. Besides, the only threat we're facing now is Wutai and it's only a question of time before we conquer their land. But I won't be unreasonable," he added, suddenly remembering something Angeal had mentioned once. "If you can get Strife to sign a contract that allows you to experiment on him, I won't stop you as long as I still have access to him and you don't break that contract." He barely held back a smirk. If Strife really did have latrophobia, and there was no reason to doubt Angeal on that, then there was no way the kid would allow Hojo more than perhaps some tissue samples and a few vials of blood.

Hojo seemed to realise the same, as he frowned, not even trying to hide it this time.

"In any case," the taller of the two continued, "discussing Strife's future career possibilities wasn't the reason I came here. I heard from Strife that the concentration of mako in his injections was higher than what is normally given to clean individuals. I want to know how it could happen and I want to know exactly how high the concentration was." All traces of his previous amusement, faint as they had been, was gone now, replaced with the tone Sephiroth usually reserved for giving orders. Firm and sure of his own power. The tone he only used with Hojo when he wanted no arguments whatsoever.

The scientist, in spite of the numerous failings that characterized him, recognized the tone and the significance. Sephiroth would not leave him to his experiments until he had his answers, which was really a shame.

"How it happened... I can only guess, as the fool in charge of diluting the injections insisted that she made no mistakes in the process. I fired her, of course, but she filled out the forms correctly and the tests she seems to have done implies nothing of what happened. As for the level of mako in Strife's blood..." he almost grimaced, would have if he hadn't been standing in front of anyone. As it was the tightening around his mouth and eyes was more than enough for Sephiroth to detect. "The initial test showed a score of between 27% and 34%."

"Thats... impossible!"

"At the very least highly improbable." The white-coated man took obvious pleasure in the silver-haired general's shock at his news. Truly shocking the impassive man was something he normally had to work on and being able to do so had been part of the reason he had told him in the first place.

"I would like, for one, to have a second test to measure the exact level, but you see why I believe he could be of use? Surviving levels of that height in and of itself makes Strife an individual worthy of further study, but the fact that he retained both sanity and mobility as well..."

"I see." Yes, that would indeed make Strife a prime candidate for experimentation. "The subject, however, is not up for debate. I'll get Strife to agree to that additional test, though, as long as I am present and I will know the exact result you reach."

Without giving the scientist the chance to reply, and feeling exceptionally self-satisfied with the clean victory, Sephiroth left. Certainly, Hojo would try to avenge this insult to his dignity, as though Sephiroth were supposed to eternally treat the man with gratitude for the things he had done, for all those years of loneliness and pain, as though his power in any way made up for that, but Hojo's indignation could wait. It wasn't like the pest could think of anything new to do, anything he had not already done.

Instead, the general was mulling over the information he had just been given.

The fact that the Strife kid had survived getting shot with that amount of mako wasn't just a miracle. It was an impossibility.

Newly initiated SOLDIERs got diluted shots of mako and ended up with three to five percent of mako in their blood depending on their body type and how well they took to the foreign substance. When raised to Second another round of shots were administered, the exact amount depending on how well they received those first shots, and the process was repeated when, if, the SOLDIER made it into the First Class. As a result, the Firsts, except for himself, Angeal and Genesis, had a concentration of mako between fifteen and twenty percent. At most.

Angeal and Genesis both had concentrations of between twenty-five and thirty percent and he, himself, was at thirty-two percent. Strife had survived what it had taken the three strongest SOLDIERs in history years to accommodate.

But surviving wasn't the only impossibility. The sheer amount... that much mako. Not only would it have had to be undiluted, something which would scorch your veins, it would have had to be concentrated. And highly concentrated at that, which would have, should have, made it impossible to squeeze it into the boy's veins in the first place.

No wonder Hojo had been desperate enough to get to the boy to actually try to reason with him.

Which only made it all the more imperative that he make sure the madman never got his hands on Strife.

- - -

In the meantime, Cloud was debating whether he should just leave and come back another day, once Angeal had had time to digest the information he had found. Not enough to prove anything at all, really. Just enough to prove the existence of the Jenova Project and the three initial test specimens, but considering everything he had told Angeal first... he really shouldn't have been surprised at Angeal's reaction when they had it black on white that the First had been born with alien genes infesting his body.

But he really didn't want to stay, waiting for Angeal to stop being sick in the adjoining bathroom.

Quickly, he memorized the file before closing down everything and erasing any trace that Angeal's computer had been anywhere it wasn't supposed to be before writing a probably less-than-consoling note and slipping out.