"I used to want to be like Sephiroth, so I joined SOLDIER," Cloud said. As if it were that simple, but Sephiroth still appreciated the sentiment… even if, somehow, said sentiment had turned to something much harsher later.

Cloud claimed that the two of them became friends.

"No mention of either one of us, again," Genesis pointed out darkly, indicating himself and Angeal.

The blond went on to say they were more like war buddies until 'one day…'

The game switched to a flashback (at least, that's what Sephiroth assumed) and showed the inside of a vehicle.

"Rather large for something issued by ShinRa on the Western Continent," Genesis commented.

Over the next several minutes, they learned that Cloud used to act a lot like Zack. Apparently, he'd joined SOLDIER after the war had ended (Sephiroth, for once, hoped the game was right and that the war would end… soon), he cared about those underneath him, and he'd never had motion sickness. Sephiroth wondered what had changed him from a Zack clone to the cynical person he'd become…

They also learned that the group on screen was on a mission to investigate a faulty reactor.

Which… made no sense at all whatsoever.

"Why would they send two SOLDIERS to investigate a reactor?" Angeal asked, frowning. "SOLDIER firsts, even."

"Clearly there is something else we aren't privy to going on here," Genesis said, almost dismissively.

Sephiroth frowned. "Such as?"

"Well, there could be some particularly bad monsters in the area," Angeal ventured unsurely.

Genesis scoffed. "Unless its those monsters that Wutai makes or those found in the far north, there isn't a monster that would bother any of us, let alone Sephiroth. Especially if he has an entourage of infantry with him."

"Perhaps there was another enemy spotted in the area? Current AVALANCHE or the like?" Sephiroth proposed.

"Better," Genesis said with a nod. "Although it would have to be one of the higher ups for them to send Sephiroth and someone to watch his back." It went unsaid that they likely wouldn't discuss anything aloud in front of the troopers were that the case. It would simply be presented as a case of brutal monsters… which is exactly what game Sephiroth had said.

"Maybe we'll find out more later," Angeal suggested. Genesis nodded and they continued with the game.

Of course, then they found out that Cloud was from Nibelheim. All three of them exchanged glances.

"That's where the file says Strife is from, right?" Angeal asked, double checking.

"Yes," Genesis and Sephiroth answered at the same time.

Well, that settled it. Strife was somehow involved with this game, which meant that either they would be questioning him, or the Turks would. Sephiroth made a mental note to look the kid up and set up a meeting, partially for his own curiosity, partially because questioning by Turk was never a fun experience.

His focus was drawn back to the screen as the vehicle jerked and the two game SOLDIERS end up in a monster fight.

"They have dragons in the Nibel mountains?" Angeal asked.

"Yes," Genesis said. "I've been there. They aren't the most dangerous dragons I've run into, but they are their own brand of nasty."

"Hmm," Sephiroth said.

"A better question would be why would a SOLDIER first have such low comparative stats?" the red-head mused, nodding to Cloud's numbers on the screen. They were… paltry, at best.

None of them had an answer to that.

Then Cloud went on to say that Sephiroth's power and strength was far beyond whatever stories the others had heard.

The SOLDIER in question wanted to shift in discomfort, but refused to let himself do so. Did the rest of the world really think that?

Were they right? He didn't exactly have the best comparisons at hand…

He decided not to voice the question, unsure if he wanted to hear the answer.

Then they arrived at Nibelheim, where the game Sephiroth stated that his mother was indeed Jenova and didn't say anything about his father. The real Sephiroth didn't know who his father was. Although he had suspicions that he didn't particularly like to think about…

Then again, so did game Sephiroth apparently.

The idea that the game developers would be able to even guess at something that personal so accurately was… disturbing to say the least.

Then Angeal had Cloud speak with the other soldiers and his similarity to Zack became even more prominent. Talking about practicing poses… something so ridiculous was only something Zack (and apparently Cloud) would do.

Barrett interrupted to draw a connection between Sephiroth's mother and the headless body they saw at ShinRa.

Sephiroth couldn't help how his fists tightened. He did not want to let such insult go and made a mental note to track down the game developers personally. He'd prove to them that he didn't kill people on a whim. No. They may wish for death by the time he's done with them though...

Thankfully, Tifa got the game back on track. Apparently, in the past Nibelhiem, the two of them were reunited (although he did find it rather odd that Tifa didn't contribute to the actual story, seeming happy to sit back and just let Cloud tell it – that didn't seem like something she would do as she'd been so outspoken about issues she was involved in earlier).

The game went back to the flashback, where Sephiroth told Cloud to get some rest.

"Only one lookout… on a trip that required two SOLDIER firsts?" Genesis asked, then looked over at Sephiroth, unimpressed. "Seriously?"

The General returned the stare with a hard look of his own. "That," he said, gesturing to the projection screen with his head, "is not actually me."

Angeal shot Genesis his own Disappointed Look™ and the red-head cleared his throat.

"True. My friend do you fly away now, to a world that abhors you and I? It seems they don't have you're entire personality down, then."

It wasn't an apology, but it was about as close as they would get, so Sephiroth shot one last frown at the Commander before returning his attention to the game, where the Sephiroth on screen told Cloud he could visit his family and friends.

One of the villagers came out of a nearby building. After having Cloud walk up to them, they said they wanted to take a picture with Sephiroth (along with some other inane things). They left him waiting and ran around to the different houses, starting on the other side of what looked like the central square, simply because it looked like the inn and the items shop (useless in a flashback) were on the side they'd already been facing.

Starting at the top, they went in to find Cloud's house. The future Cloud was about to (rather sensibly in Sephiroth's opinion) move on to more pertinent matters, but Barrett and Aerith asked him to talk about his family. So he did, describing his mother… and then the fact that she'd died a couple of days later.

Well, that was ominous… perhaps the monsters attacked the town while they were out looking at the reactor? Sephiroth frowned. He would rather hate to have such a failure on his record, not to mention it would hurt Cloud. Did he blame Sephiroth?

In any case, Cloud spoke to his mother, who fussed over him, welcomed him back, told him he was handsome, that she was worried about him… Sephiroth couldn't relate. He'd never really had that kind of relationship with anyone. The closest he came was with Angeal and Genesis… He glanced to the side, seeing their gazes fixed on the screen. Somehow, it wasn't comparable at all.

He wondered what it would be like if his mother had survived his birth. Would she have been like that? Would he have liked that? Or would it have bothered him?

He didn't know, and honestly, it was pointless to think about, so he shook the thought from his head and focused back on the screen himself.

The next house was Tifa's, and, for the first time, the game suggested that going into someone's house might not be the best thing when Tifa (presumably from the future) asked if Cloud went into her house. Naturally Angeal said 'no' and went back outside and to the next house.

The next house had a woman who recognized Cloud. She also had two kids who seemed rather awed by a Shinra SOLDIER. They probably hadn't been old enough to recognize Cloud from before he'd left.

How old was Cloud in this? That could at least give them an approximate time period this would supposedly happen in. 'The next decade' didn't exactly give an accurate estimation… and they weren't even sure if that was entirely correct. But there were no answers to that here, as Angeal moved Cloud on.

The only other building they could enter (besides the Inn) was what Sephiroth had assumed was the items shop. As soon as they walked in the door, Cloud started to have memory problems and Barrett got annoyed, so they decided to head to the Inn. In the flashback they were, after all, supposed to get some rest.

On the top floor, they found Game Sephiroth looking out one of the windows. He said he felt like he knew the scenery when asked.

Sephiroth frowned. He'd never been to Nibelheim. Why would it look familiar?

After that, Game Sephiroth turned to Cloud and told him to get some sleep. Angeal picked the agreement when a menu came up. Sephiroth informed Cloud that he'd hired a guide, that she's young but he hoped they could rely on her.

"Why would they need a guide?" Angeal asked, puzzled. SOLDIERS were used to hiking around wilderness, after all, and they should have a map to where the reactor should be.

"The Nibel mountains are… treacherous," Genesis replied. "Hiring a local is not a bad idea. They would know migration patterns of the local fauna and would be more likely to get everyone up the mountain safely. Not that it's really necessary with two SOLDIER firsts, but it could save them a lot of time."

"Ah," Angeal replied, nodding.

The screen faded to black and then back into the central square with different lighting, presumably the next morning. Sephiroth didn't know if Angeal was moving Cloud or if it was the game, but he headed up to the top of the screen, an area they'd skipped 'yesterday' as that was likely where the reactor would be.

Surely enough, Cloud met Sephiroth and the rest of the entourage there.

And, apparently, Tifa was their guide. With how she could fight, Sephiroth didn't have any issues with that (although this was in the past, so maybe she hadn't been as competent?). Tifa's father didn't seem to approve of her being a guide, though. Were all parents that protective?

Tifa also didn't seem to recognize Cloud today.

Odd.

The man from the previous day asked to take a picture, and they cajoled Sephiroth into actually posing. At least they had that part of his personality down. He didn't much care for pictures or propaganda, no matter how much ShinRa required it of him.

Then it went to a cut scene showing a very spiky mountain, a reactor, and a rickety looking bridge right by it. Then it faded to show the group walking along a path (that looked rather obvious to Sephiroth, but that could have been the limitations of the game). Of course, said rickety-looking bridge happened to collapse with the two SOLDIERS and Tifa on it.

"I'm sure that's supposed to be far smaller and less sturdy looking than it actually looked," Genesis said dryly. "So why do they have such a flimsy thing leading up to a ShinRa reactor?"

"Funding," Sephiroth and Angeal said at the same time. They shot amused glances at each other before returning their gazes to the screen.

The scene faded in to Tifa and Cloud lying on the ground. They begin to move just as Sephiroth and an infantry man come around the side of a nearby boulder.

"So the grunts fell too," Genesis said.

Neither Angeal or Sephiroth dignified that statement with an acknowledgment.

"Well, one of them," the red-head amended as the Game Sephiroth explained how they didn't have time to look for the missing trooper. Sephiroth frowned at the idea of leaving a man behind, but he could also see where Game Sephiroth was coming from in that they weren't in an active war zone, but they were on a mission with potential time limit if there were dangerous monsters involved that could attack the town (or AVALANCHE leaders...). In that situation, he would want to complete the mission then head back to the village. If the infantry man wasn't there, he'd likely organize a search party then. He assumed that was Game Sephiroth's train of thought as the party moved on.

The next monster they ran into happened to be another dragon.

The fact that it took two hits for Game Sephiroth to take it out said a lot about the dragon's ability to take blows. Either that, or the game developers had a very inflated view of Nibel dragons.

Then the party entered a cave and stopped to talk about mako energy… for some reason. Wouldn't everyone there know about it?

Game.

Insanity.

Perhaps they needed to explain to make sure anyone playing the game was on the same page, but with the characters involved not knowing something like that… he just couldn't call it game logic anymore.

The group eventually came to what looked like a mako fountain. Game Sephiroth confirmed that thought a moment after the real Sephiroth thought it.

And then the game decided to explain magic and materia to everyone there, who (again) should know it.

Why did people play these things again?

At least Game Sephiroth commented on Cloud not knowing even that. Of course, that did seem like something Zack would forget from what he'd heard from Angeal… these two were incredibly similar in their youth. Part of him wondered if young Zachary would grow into a hard, cynical person too… He hoped not. As much as he would like Zack to be a little more serious sometimes (his reports, by Gaia, his reports), his natural optimism was catching and even inspiring. This coming from a man who hadn't even met the kid face-to-face yet. If only a side affect of that sort of personality didn't seem to be extreme naivety. Or, at least, selective naivety in Zack's case.

Then the game had to go and throw a wrench in everything by having Game Sephiroth state that materia held the knowledge and wisdom of the Ancients. Well… that was news to him. He'd heard the theory that mako is the condensed form of memories of the dead, and mateira even more so, but Ancients? He'd never even heard of them until this game. Did the game developers simply assume he 'knew' some of these things?

Cloud said that Magic was a 'mysterious power'.

Sephiroth frowned. Hojo would have issues with that term.

Game Sephiroth laughed. It didn't look like a happy laugh, but something a little more mocking and cruel…

The game designers really didn't like Sephiroth, apparently.

Then Game Sephiroth said something that almost froze Sephiroth's blood in his veins: "A man once told me to never use such unscientific terms as 'mysterious power', and that it shouldn't even be called magic."

A beat. Then his mouth opened, almost of its own accord. "Hojo said that to me. Almost word for word."

He wasn't sure what disturbed him more: the fact that this Sephiroth seemed to be adopting Hojo's way of thinking or that the game designers would know the scientist had said that…

"We have to find this mole," Angeal said. Out of the corner of his eye, Sephiroth saw Genesis nod his head. The General agreed as well. This… this was too much.

Then the game almost redeemed itself by calling Hojo 'inexperienced' and very much implied that he wasn't that good of a scientist. It also, very accurately, stated that the man was a walking mass of complexes.

Yes, almost redeemed.

Almost.

The group continued on up the side of the mountain, eventually reaching the reactor at the top, at which point the group split up. Cloud and Game Sephiroth went inside the reactor, sensibly ordering the remaining infantry man to keep Tifa out.

This reactor looked more or less the same as other reactors the game had shown.

"Why do they climb down chains?" Genesis asked, still on his personal mission to point out everything wrong with the game that he possibly could.

Sephiroth approved.

The red-head continued. "There should be an elevator and easy access to the reactor." Or at least, reasonable access.

The game glitched when Angeal tried to move Cloud ahead of Game Sephiroth and wouldn't let him, so they simply waited for the silver-haired clump of pixels to head through the door. Then, for some strange reason, Game Sephiroth was at the top of the stairs in the next room… which looked far more old-fashioned than the other reactors.

"How old is this reactor?" Angeal asked curiously.

Genesis snorted. "It was one of the prototypes."

The other two turned their heads to stare at him.

He frowned at them, then rolled his eyes, then sat back smugly. "Ripples form on the water's surface The wandering soul knows no rest."

"You're honestly going to quote Loveless at us?" Angeal asked, deadpan.

"I told you, I've been there," Genesis said, exasperated. "Not to the reactor specifically, but to the mountains. I remember picking up the random trivia that it was one of the first places in the world outside of Midgar to have mako-powered electricity. Thus, it's a prototype. Unlike the Midgar reactors, I doubt it has been upgraded."

The General exchanged glances with the larger SOLDIER as if to verify that the other would believe their friend. Then Angeal shrugged. Verdict said they either believed or humored him, apparently. Sephiroth nodded and they turned back to the screen.

That was when Sephiroth noticed the name above the door at the top of the landing and his blood froze again.

"What…?" he heard himself whisper.

Jenova.

What is his mother's name doing above a door inside a prototype ShinRa reactor? His hands clutched his folded arms harder and he had to consciously relax them.

"Isn't that your—" Angeal started.

Sephiroth cut him off. "Yes."

This time, Genesis and Angeal exchanged glances. Apparently they'd come across something else they needed to verify.

The red-head sighed, sounding put-upon. "I'll begin looking for missions in that area," he said, taking out his PHS. People could say what they would about Genesis, but Sephiroth did appreciate his tendency to be proactive.

Apparently, in the game, the door wouldn't open.

Sensibly, Game Sephiroth returned to the mission (although somehow, he seemed to know exactly where the problem for the malfunction was… did he see it on the way up? Sephiroth doubted it. He would have been fixated on the door with his mother's name above it had he been there) and told Cloud to close a valve.

Then Game Sephiroth moved so Cloud could reach said valve.

Why didn't Game Sephiroth simply close it himself? Sephiroth wasn't above a little grunt work… unless he saw something else he wanted to take a closer look at. As Cloud finished and walked up to Sephiroth, he looked into one of the strange pods Sephiroth had never seen in a reactor anywhere, old-fashioned or not.

'I see, Hojo. But this will never put you on the level of Gast…' Game Sephiroth said.

The uneasy feeling in Sephiroth's stomach intensified.

Game Sephiroth then went on to explain to Cloud that Hojo had taken the general process for making materia and added something to it, then stepped aside so Cloud could take a look.

The moment was ruined when Angeal couldn't seem to make Cloud take that look until they talked to Game Sephiroth again.

Game Insanity.

When Cloud looked through the window, the screen faded to show… a monster? Sephiroth felt his eyes widen. That wasn't a monster he'd ever seen or heard of. It almost looked...

"Is this saying that they experimented on humans?" Angeal asked, sounding angry. Neither Sephiroth or Genesis answered, although the former noticed he wasn't the only one who had clenched his hands into fists. The Commander's hands rested on his knees, balled tightly. In one of those fists, he still held his phs, which creaked quietly. If he wasn't careful, he'd break it.

"It's ShinRa," Genesis said darkly.

"They had to get the 'recipe' for SOLDIER somehow," Sephiroth added on, trying to keep his tone even. He wasn't sure how successful he was.

Game Sephiroth went on to explain the basics of SOLDIER (to a SOLDIER… Cloud really was as oblivious as Zack could be at times). Then he went on to explain that the 'people' in the tanks had been exposed to a far higher degree of Mako.

"How do you… er, how does he know that?" Genesis asked. "Just by looking?"

Sephiroth shot him an unimpressed expression. "There must have been some precedence we aren't privy to."

Or more game insanity.

Cloud called those people monsters.

Game Sephiroth agreed.

While he could understand them thinking that initially, Sephiroth didn't agree and was upset his game counterpart did. Of course, that brought up the question of what actually made a monster? How far could someone's body and mind be pushed before they couldn't be considered human anymore?

That… made the whole SOLDIER process far more uncomfortable than he'd like…

Game Sephiroth continued to explain that Hojo had created the 'monsters'. He'd give that to the game. The only other person who could have even come close was Hollander and he had a completely different MO.

Then Cloud had to prove that he had just as big of a mouth as Zack did because he asked if Sephiroth was different.

"All three of us are different," he heard Angeal mutter and felt a pressure he hadn't noticed lift from his chest. Right. No matter what, his companions could relate, and he would definitely call them human.

He turned and nodded in solidarity at his friend, shooting him ha grateful smile… well, Angeal should recognize the smile. He didn't like to broadcast his emotions, but the brunet could usually read him.

Of course, then Game Sephiroth had to ask the question of whether he'd been created that way too and the weight came right back. He wasn't the only one who didn't like that question if Angeal and Genesis stiffening was anything to go by.

And somehow, Game Sephiroth could also swing a 2 meter sword in a space that only had a couple of inches…

That went beyond insanity.

And… apparently, so did Game Sephiroth. Or, at least, he didn't take the question well. Not that Real Sephiroth could blame him. He wasn't taking that question well either.

He had to keep in mind that despite the track record, this 'reveal' might not even have any merit to it. They'd have to wait until one of them could go and inspect the Nibel reactor first.

Game Sephiroth had no such reassurance and proceeded to hit his Masamune against the pods… like a child throwing a tantrum. Or, he supposed, a scared, scarred, lonely SOLDIER 'freaking out', as some of his thirds would say.

Cloud seemed to be at a loss. Sephioth couldn't blame him either.

Game Sephiroth said he'd always felt different from others – special in some way.

"Is that true?" Genesis asked.

Yes.

"I've been told that I'm the elite since I was old enough to remember. So it looks as if those feelings have been cultivated in me, yes. I've had little reason to believe otherwise. The only other two who can give me a fight are you two." And they had to gang up on him to really push him. He didn't say that though. There was pointing facts out and then there was rubbing people's faces in said facts. He refused to go that far.

"So our mole may have heard you being told or reciting such words back and decided to put it in the game," Angeal postulated.

It was the most plausible thing Sephiroth could think of.

He didn't much like his private feelings being put out there for the world to see.

Then, likely due to Game Sephiroth's tantrum, one of the pods broke and fell apart, spilling the 'monster' inside on the ground where it almost immediately died. It looked rather like a crossover of a human, the Ifrit summon, and a crystal formation…

Disturbing on too many levels to really acknowledge.

Thankfully the narrative took a break and showed Cloud and his little posse in the Inn at Kalm. Of course, only after the blond SOLDIER asked the same questions Sephiroth's mind had been fielding…

Then Red pointed out that there had been an increase in monsters recently… how he would know that from the inside of Hojo's labs, Sephiroth didn't know. He could have overheard the statistics being mentioned, the General supposed.

The game makers must have realized that this was taking quite a while because it asked if they wanted to rest for a bit before continuing on. Unfortunately, they didn't really have the time if they wanted to get as far as they could before work the next day, so they decided to keep going.

Sephiroth hoped they wouldn't regret it. He didn't hold high hopes.

xXx

AN: Conclusion next week.

I've had some people say that Genesis and Angeal haven't mentioned that they're not in the story. They have. At least twice. Once before the Airbuster and once more when they're discussing SOLDIER (although, before the Airbuster it was more subtle eluding to the fact that the President only remembered Sephiroth and why not the two of them?). Hope we're on the same page now. :)

Come to my Discord! discord (period) gg (forward slash) wMRR6R6

I've gotten some people saying that some of the previous links didn't work. I really don't know why, as they were supposed to be infinite uses with no expiration date, but if there are still issues, I will do my best to get you a new link if you can't get onto the network and want to.

Also, I may not be able to answer many reviews, but I look forward to and consider each and every one. Thank you!