Sephiroth looked to Angeal's specimen container. Zack followed his gaze and frowned. It looked a bit crowded in there, with all the new tissues.
"Assuming we continue to let him grow as he is, he needs a bigger container," Sephiroth said quietly. "We will also need more nutrient fluid to fill it."
The A-Ahrimans continued to laugh, but this time their target was Zack, whose spiky black hair had been shorn. Twisting his lips, Zack ran his hands over what remained. It really wasn't that bad, he told himself firmly. It wasn't like he was bald, after all; enough remained to be parted and combed to the side. His spikes, of which he had been justly proud, had been butchered into the bland obscurity of a typical salaryman's haircut. It felt so...flat. Boring. What annoyed him most was that the locks around his face and over the nape of his neck were completely gone. His fingers rubbed the shorter hair around his temples.
"As the length of my hair was too identifiable, so was yours," Sephiroth said smugly as he replaced the scissors in the first aid kit. "Particularly the spikes and the long bangs you trained to fall around your eyes. They were something of a trademark for you."
"Yeah, yeah," Zack grumbled. He hadn't disagreed when they'd both discussed his own disguise, but now his hair felt...weird. He missed the sensation of it brushing against his face and neck.
"Be glad black is such a common color," Sephiroth told him. "At least you don't need to dye it. Or bleach it to a lighter shade, in your case. I understand bleaching dark hair is a much more drastic process than simply dyeing light hair to a darker shade."
The A-Ahrimans snickered. They actually snickered.
"Shut up, Angeal," Zack snapped in irritation, taking a page from Sephiroth's book. He thought enough of Angeal was in those monsters as to make no difference, whether they shared his mind and soul or not. Ultimately, they were all part of Angeal.
The A-Ahrimans fluttered a little off the ground, but at least they stopped laughing. They stared at him reproachfully.
"I'm sorry," he said, immediately feeling guilty for his flash of temper. "I'm not mad, I'm just not used to short hair like this." He ran his hand over his head again.
The A-Ahrimans didn't stop staring, but they settled back down to crouch on the earth. Zack got the sense he'd been forgiven.
Sephiroth stood by the truck and also stared at him with an unreadable expression. "Zack, we need to plan our next move."
"Still heading to the Western Continent?"
"Yes, but I don't want to lose the truck. It makes transporting Angeal more convenient, and it has our supplies as well."
"We can buy new supplies," Zack said, but Sephiroth's first point was the most salient. He looked at Angeal's container. "It will be hard to just...carry him around, I guess."
"Many cargo ships run between the Junon Area and Costa del Sol," Sephiroth said. "Others go to more industrialized ports on the Western Continent's east coast, as well, and often take vehicles. We should avoid the ports at Junon City. Its large Shin-Ra military presence could prove difficult."
"That's an understatement," Zack muttered.
"Many ship personnel are grossly underpaid and can be easily bribed. The guards tend to be bored, not watchful. We only need to avoid being identified, but it would still be better to take ship from a different location." Sephiroth checked their latest burner phone for emails. "So far, Shin-Ra still hasn't announced anything to the public about either of us being AWOL. It's possible the regular army doesn't know anything. They probably haven't been ordered to look for us."
"Yes, they're terrible gossips," Zack agreed. "No way that many people would be able to keep quiet for this long. Someone would have made a comment over a beer or something by now. Shin-Ra must still be covering up our escape."
"That was my thinking, as well."
"That's all well and good for the regular infantry, but what about the rest? Like, the ones with security clearances, or SOLDIER, or the Turks?"
"SOLDIER would have mixed responses. Most would probably find ways to overlook us. The Turks are always a problem, though."
"Do you think our new disguises will help? I mean, they're Turks. They're chronically suspicious. Can different hair and sunglasses really be enough?"
"The beat-up truck is also of assistance in our disguise. We must look and behave as though we are just mundane civilian residents, perhaps from the old fishing villages in the surrounding areas. I believe we should pass muster. However..."
Sephiroth looked to Angeal's specimen container. Zack followed his gaze and frowned. It looked a bit crowded in there, with all the new tissues.
"Assuming we continue to let him grow as he is, he needs a bigger container," Sephiroth said quietly. "We will also need more nutrient fluid to fill it."
Zack started to nod, then said, "Wait, what do you mean by 'let him grow'?"
Sephiroth focused on Angeal's head and looked...disquieted. "He does not have room for much more growth in there."
Zack supposed that was an answer. Sooner or later the container would stunt Angeal's progress, but he didn't like the disturbed expression that had flitted across Sephiroth's face. Maybe he was thinking of how Angeal was going to get squished in there pretty soon. "That's true," Zack allowed.
"I'm going into the next town. It's part of the iron mining operation north of here, larger than the villages we've been to before, with more amenities to accommodate the mining staff."
"An iron mine?"
"The steel to build cities like Midgar has to come from somewhere."
Zack rolled his eyes at the lecturing tone. He knew that. Midgar, Junon, Rocket Town, even the much smaller towns and villages—they all needed iron products like steel and titanium-iron alloys to build and maintain their development. Steel was used in the manufacture of weapons, robots, vehicles, and a zillion other things necessary for civilization. He'd just been surprised Sephiroth wanted to go to the pit mine at all. "What are you after there?"
"Medical supplies," Sephiroth stated. "It is similar reasoning as going to Rocket Town. They'll have a full staff in addition to miners, plus engineers and materials scientists and other experts, so they'll also have need of medical support. It should be safe now that we are sufficiently disguised so as to not stand out."
"A place like that will have Shin-Ra guards, too."
Sephiroth treated him to a faint smile and ran a hand through his brown, shoulder length hair. "I can avoid guards. I won't be going to the mine itself, anyway. I want to find a medical supply depot, something that provides medicines and tools to the local clinics. If we're lucky, they might even have a full hospital."
"You think you'll be able to find supplies for Angeal there?"
"Yes, I do. A new container, more nutrient fluid, and some other items. I won't be able to replicate the fluid perfectly, but I've read the labels on what I took, and I believe the nutrient solutions used in IVs for patients who cannot tolerate solid food will work, at least temporarily. This can be supplemented with blood serum or plasma if necessary. We will need a portable refrigerator with its own power source, preferably batteries or materia-based. Hojo's chemicals were stable at room temperature, but the IV solution and blood products will not be."
"You're talking about...about putting together a mobile lab?"
"I'm afraid so. As we've not been able to locate Hollander, it has become essential. It will of necessity be small and hyper-specialized. It's another reason why I don't want to abandon our truck." Sephiroth looked intently at Angeal for a moment, scanned the A-Ahrimans, then glanced back to Angeal. "I want you to wait here with Angeal and his copies."
"Wait here? No way, we need to stay together!"
"And if the copies follow us? They will give us away. Angeal's presence should keep them here, and I need you to watch over Angeal." Sephiroth stared him down. "Zack, I understand this is a risk, but it is a necessary one for Angeal."
For Angeal. Zack sighed and acquiesced. "It's a long time to be split up."
"A few days, at most. Angeal's copies will protect you, should it come to that."
"Right, protect me," Zack huffed. While he didn't doubt that the copies liked him and Sephiroth, he wondered of how much use they'd be in a real fight.
"Help me unload the truck," Sephiroth said. "You'll need to set up a temporary camp for yourself. I will leave the motorcycle here, so you'll have transportation if you need it. I'll also leave most of our supplies with you while I am gone."
