Sephiroth was coming to rather despise the long silences that fell after he pointed out some horrific detail everyone else seemed to overlook… or perhaps purposefully avoided thinking about?

He glanced at the clock on his PHS. 2352. Nearly midnight.

He decided not to say anything.

Instead he simply exited the menu to begin playing again.

"So we're just gonna go on?" Zack asked, voice low and hard. "Just like that?"

"What would you suggest we do?" Sephiroth asked.

The boy looked tense, ridged from internal conflict as he glared angrily down at the floor in front of him, as if it had offended him. Then, quite suddenly, he turned and punched the wall by the TV, causing everyone to jump. So… a third hole in his wall (which made him feel conflicted). And then, before Sephiroth's eyes, the boy just deflated, shoulders slumping. In that moment, he seemed to age a decade or more and just looked so exhausted.

"I dunno," he answered. "I just… don't feel much like playing a game right now, I guess."

"I suppose it's good for you, then, that you are not the one playing it. I haven't felt like playing this particular game for days," Genesis responded, a little shortly. The Commander didn't state the obvious, that they had played it anyway. It still felt tiring to think about it.

Zack just slumped more.

"Yeah," he muttered. Then he wandered back to his place and plopped back down, almost despondent. He seemed nothing like the Zack Sephiroth had heard about from Angeal, or come to know in the past week. He found himself surprised at how much that scared him. He didn't like people changing like that… he never had, but especially now…

"Hey," Angeal said softly, putting a hand out to the boy's head. "You don't have to watch, you know. It's late. Why don't you head to bed?"

To his credit, it looked like the boy considered it rather than just reacting, but then he shook his head. "Wouldn't be able to sleep if I knew you guys were still playing."

Angeal looked so touched. Sephiroth frowned and Genesis snorted.

"You take too much on your shoulders, Pup," the larger SOLDIER said.

"Far too much," Genesis muttered, then raised his voice. "We are First Class SOLDIERS. We can take care of ourselves. Especially when it comes to a silly – if disturbing – video game."

Zack didn't look up or answer for almost a minute.

"You guys didn't see it…" he said softly. "You guys haven't watched you all fall." He shook his head, then looked back over his shoulder, catching all three SOLDIERS in his steely, determined gaze. "I didn't do enough in the game – didn't know enough to do anything about it all. I do now. Even if all I can do at the moment is offer support, that's what I'll do."

This. Child.

"So," he gestured to the screen that was just starting to fade into what looked like a boardroom of some kind, "Play on, sir."

Angeal's proud look had returned and Sephiroth couldn't help but smile, ever so slightly, at them. Those words and the boy's utter dedication were, indeed, impressive. Even Genesis looked amused.

Before anyone could say anything else, Sephiroth decided to continue the game, effectively drawing everyone's attention to the screen.

And Cloud standing in the front of the room.

"Wait, is there no recovery time?" Genesis asked, getting right back into his critical commentary. Zack seemed to find this amusing as he snorted what sounded like a chuckle. It was small, and weak, but present and Sephiroth would take it for now.

"Seeing as recovery time in this game lasts the length of a couple of bars of music, I assume not," Sephiroth said.

"They don't have a lot of time for recovery with Meteor coming," Angeal pointed out.

"That is no excuse for lazy writing!" Genesis insisted.

Again, Zack snorted. Genesis shot him a look, but didn't seem inclined to say anything.

This time, Zack at least caught movement, even if he didn't catch the expression, because he elaborated. "Not so much 'lazy writing' as keeping player engagement. Most gamers just hand-wave it and say that the recovery probably just happened off-screen. A time-skip."

"Hand wave?"

"Um," the boy blinked and glanced at Genesis, who looked entirely too amused and like he wouldn't be any help in the slightest (typical in Sephiroth's opinion). "Er… brush it off, I guess? Push aside? Think that it's not important, or less important than playing the game? I've seen people actually wave their hands at the screen?" He blushed a little, so maybe some of that 'hand-waving' was done by him? He had pointed at his game in the hall. Was yelling at the screen, perhaps, a step down?

"...Game insanity?" Genesis said, a little pointedly and obviously put out.

"I suppose some of that could be, but more likely, it's more... keeping the player from getting distracted from playing. Letting them get right back into the action."

Genesis only looked somewhat mollified.

Truthfully, Sephiroth couldn't tell what the red-head currently felt towards the boy. He decided for sake of time to not mention anything.

On the screen, Cloud had turned to face a familiar group of people as they stood on either side of the large, wooden table in the center of the room.

Then he apologized.

"Why is he apologizing?" Sephiroth asked. "He has done nothing wrong."

"That doesn't necessarily stop someone from feeling guilty," Angeal said. "His illness affected others to their detriment, so he blames himself."

The silver-haired man sighed, wondering if he should point out that it isn't logical again. Then again, Zack had reminded him that feelings aren't logical. He wasn't wrong.

At least Nanaki encouraged the blond to stop apologizing.

Cloud, however, went on to summarize everything he and Tifa had discovered in the Lifestream. How he wasn't SOLDIER, how ashamed he'd been for not making the cut (Sephiroth still thought there was something off about that), and how he had made everything up because he couldn't face the truth.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Zack looking away, but didn't draw attention to it as the boy fixed his focus on the screen again seconds later.

Barrett commented on how Cloud had had to make up a rather strong 'illusion'.

Genesis shot upright in his seat, his expression a mix of stunned shock and dumbfounded realization.

"An unreliable narrator!" The red-head then slumped just as quickly. "How could I not have seen?"

"What do you mean?"

"It is a literary technique, not common overall, but often used in certain genres. I had not actually considered this game as a valid method of storytelling. I've just now realized that, for all it's many flaws, it is still a story" Genesis' expression shifted from shocked comprehension to deeply thoughtful. "I dismissed or denied the thought due to the medium. It also... well, it doesn't explain, but justifies a few major issues we've noticed. And if I'm willing to accept this game as possibly worth analyzing like I might a book or a play, then I must also point out that, even dismissing the 'future' eeriness, the emotional aspect is likely very much intentional.

"We knew something was off. I just hadn't considered the issue to be the narrator. We haven't really had the time to consider it."

Angeal hummed thoughtfully, but didn't comment, so neither did Sephiroth. Zack did look like he wanted to comment, (with all his knowledge of games, had the boy already known?) but also remained silent.

On screen, the blond nodded, saying he is physically built like a SOLDIER and that Hojo's plan to make a Sephiroth Clone wasn't that difficult – that it was the same process for creating a SOLDIER.

"Whoa, whoa! Hold the phone!" Zack said, then turned to the Firsts, looking worried. "Are they saying that all SOLDIERS are like these 'Sephiroth Clones'? Does that include us?!"

Sephiroth saw where the boy was coming from, as Cloud seemed to use the terms interchangeably, but…

"'Like' is the key word here. I have heard Hojo speak of the process of enhancing and even overseen some cases myself." Zack still looked skeptical, though, so he tried to find an analogy that would fit. It took him a moment to remember one he felt the other would grasp easily.

"In Wutai, I overheard a debate between some troopers about the differences between tea and coffee. The relevant part of the argument is that some insisted that there wasn't truly a difference, because the process of making them was the same. So, if the term 'same process' is used that way here, I do not believe that interpretation is the truth."

"He could have gone behind your back," Genesis pointed out a little too nonchalantly. "You didn't know about…" he looked pointedly at the screen, "other things."

He… had a valid point. The thought was not… comfortable. At the very least, he knew that Genesis and Angeal weren't 'copies' of himself… and wasn't that a huge relief. But the idea that Hojo had used Sephiroth's cells to make super soldiers did not sit well with him. He couldn't even point out why. If it were true, none of the SOLDIERS would be different than before, but…

"I… believe that will be in the information I acquired from the Science Department," he finally answered, albeit uneasily.

The other two Firsts nodded solemnly. Zack, on the other hand, frowned.

"What information?"

"We'll explain later, Zack" Angeal said.

"Wait, does this have to do with borrowing Kunsel this afternoon?"

"Later."

The boy didn't look happy about it, but he nodded and turned back to the screen as Sephiroth clicked for the scene to continue.

Cloud went on to explain that SOLDIERS aren't just infused with mako, they are also injected with Jenova cells.

"What?!" Zack asked angrily at the same time that Genesis pointed at the screen, yelling, "How would he even know that?!"

It was a valid question. Hojo only explained his processes when he was gloating or wanted to scare his 'subjects', and he rarely gave away all the information necessary to make sense of any given situation.

Sephiroth, on the other hand, frowned. Was Cloud implying that if (and only if) SOLDIERS were enhanced with both Mako and Jenova cells, then to make a 'Sephiroth clone', one simply had to substitute Sephiroth's own modified Jenova cells for the original? Why? What made his cells so much more desirable? Or desirable at all? Were they somehow easier to work with? What, exactly, was the difference? He had some thoughts, but no actual conclusions. And why did someone injected with S-cells become a supposed clone of Sephiroth while those injected with Jenova cells still kept their own identity?

This brought up far too many questions.

"I'm writing this down so we can look for the answers when we go through the information," Angeal said, taking out his notebook.

"How would that information explain how Cloud knows all of this?" Genesis asked.

"Not that," Angeal shot him an unamused look. "About what SOLDIERS are injected with."

"Ah," the red-head said.

"Hojo does tend to… brag sometimes, when he is feeling particularly cruel," Sephiroth said.

The other three turned to stare at him.

He ignored them. He had to right now. He considered passing off the controller, but decided to try to make it through the conversation they were watching. He'd only hand it off if he needed to.

On the screen, Cloud said that for better or for worse, only the strong can get into SOLDIER. Sephiroth wondered what his definition of 'strong' was. He was pretty sure Cloud's and Hojo's definitions differed. Or… maybe they were similar and that was the problem? Was Cloud even referring to his physical or mental prowess?

Then the blond said that it had nothing to do with the Jenova Reunion (twinge), but weak people like himself got lost in the whole thing.

"You're not weak, Cloud!" Zack said.

The younger teen's words were in vain as Cloud went on to say that the combination of Jenova cells, Sephiroth's strong will and Cloud's own weakness were what created him.

"You're WRONG!" the Third yelled.

"Zack," Angeal said, putting a hand on his shoulder. The boy looked up at his mentor, who spoke kindly. "We know."

And suddenly the anger left the boy for what… fear? Pain? Sephiroth wasn't quite sure…

"You promise?" he asked.

"From what I have seen of Cloud, both in game and out of it, he does not strike me as weak," Sephiroth said. "Unsure and inexperienced? Yes, as many people his age are. But if this game is remotely true, then he is not as weak as he internalizes. I believe he simply compares himself to the ideal of the people around him." And of course he wouldn't measure up to that. Sephiroth remembered doing something similar at a young age, although he was disillusioned rather quickly. Memories of Hojo gloating washed through his own mind and he closed his eyes. He didn't want to put anyone through that disillusionment.

"Why do you think that?" Angeal asked, drawing Sephiroth's gaze.

The General chuckled dryly. "It is a common problem among new SOLDIERS. They compare themselves to me, or one of you, and burn themselves out trying to live up to that. I have had discussions with a few troop counselors, as well as multiple squad leaders and captains, about many of their subordinates." He couldn't say more than that without breaking confidentiality, but it should illustrate his point well enough.

Besides, if Sephiroth was so strong, why did he completely lose his mind in the game (the future…)?

No, he wasn't strong. Stubborn, perhaps, but not strong.

The other three SOLDIERS seemed contemplative as they thought about Sephiroth's words.

"Wait, we have counselors?" Zack asked quietly, confused. It didn't sound like an actual question he'd posed, but Sephiroth blinked over at him anyway.

"Of course we do. Though, they do tend to have a high turn-over rate. The positions are often vacant."

"I… see. I didn't know that."

Sephiroth didn't know what to say to that, although he did shoot a pointed look at Angeal, who got the message and nodded that he'd explain that to Zack. Good. (They could address that with the rest of SOLDIER later too.)

The General nodded back, then turned his attention back to the screen and continued the game.

Cloud went on to say that he'd been trapped in his own illusionary world, but that he couldn't remain there any longer. That he wouldn't live his life pretending.

Sephiroth felt strangely proud of him. It seemed to mollify Zack as well. "Good for you, buddy," the boy said with a firm nod. "Although you're still not weak."

"If anything, the man in the game is a survivor," Angeal said. "He created a world he could live in until he had the support he needed to face reality."

"There were moments of weakness," Genesis said, "but that hardly makes someone weak."

That… sounded like a well-worn justification to Sephiroth. He eyed his friend speculatively, but only turned back to the game when the red-head narrowed his eyes in challenge.

Then Tifa said Cloud sure messed up.

What.

The other three yelled at the screen (all at once it was near impossible to pick out what any one complaint was, especially since he was trying to focus on the game), but Sephiroth was getting tired of this and clicked for it to go on.

Barrett said that meant Cloud was 'no different than before' Mideel. This resulted in more yelling. Loud enough that Sephiroth decided to wait a moment to continue.

Zack spoke up again after the three all finished whatever they initially shouted. "There's teasing and lightening the mood, but that's horrible timing! I know you mean he's still the Cloud you knew in some ways, but, sheesh, man!"

The Silver General did not huff. It was getting later by the minute and their self-imposed deadline steadily approached. "Are you going to protest every nonsensical statement the game characters utter, or may I continue?" After another moment with no additional commentary, Sephiroth pointedly pressed the button to proceed… again; Fortunately, to silence, if some annoyed glares.

Cait Sith finally asked what Cloud would do now.

Cloud said he was the reason why Meteor was falling and that he'd do everything in his power to fight this thing.

"Because obviously it couldn't be the fault of the megalomaniac who actually summoned the planet-ending weapon," Genesis scoffed. Then he glanced at Sephiroth. "Not you."

Sephiroth rolled his eyes.

"I commend his dedication, but Genesis is right," Angeal said with a shake of his head.

The General just clicked for the scene to continue.

Barrett approved. Cloud said it was like Barrett always told him. Red asked what he meant by that.

Then multiple people spoke up as several boxes appeared on the screen and the airship music began to play in the background. 'There ain't no gettin' off this train!' Even though the screen didn't say, it was likely Cloud, Barrett and Tifa who spoke.

"When has he said that?" Genesis asked, annoyed.

"A couple of times," Sephiroth replied, thinking back. "In Midgar in particular."

"Still seems rather… asinine to me," the red-head muttered.

"And cheesy," Zack added.

Sephiroth agreed with Genesis. He wasn't sure how cheese applied. Another game term?

On the screen, everyone cheered and left. Cloud seemed to stretch, and then Sephiroth had control again. He moved Cloud to follow everyone out of the room (ah, they were on the airship), but before he left, the crewman who tended to be there in the room every time they visited spoke up saying that Cloud's story really moved him.

He went on to say that he was a really weak person and so he could understand where Cloud was coming from.

Sephiroth still wasn't sure he understood what they all meant by being weak. And what on Gaia would this version of Cloud and a random crewman have in common? A shared history of being a 'grunt'? Why would that make someone weak? Sephiroth could acknowledge that he was physically stronger than more or less everyone else, but that didn't make him mentally strong. He didn't feel mentally strong.

He remembered back to Angeal's pep talk a couple of nights before, when they'd just gotten into all of this.

He certainly hadn't felt strong then…

Then the crewman said no one knows when the fighting will begin again and to get ready. What that had to do with being weak and Cloud's story moving him, though, Sephiroth didn't know.

In any case, the screen to change characters in their party came up.

"Who are all these people?" Zack asked.

Angeal sighed and began explaining while Sephiroth picked the other two people who would make up his new party. He picked Yuffie again because he still hadn't gotten her attack and defense numbers where he would have liked, but then paused. Barrett's numbers had been the highest of the three people in the previous party and it seemed they could not switch out Cloud again. So he vacillated between Vincent, Nanaki and Tifa.

Eventually, he decided on Tifa, mainly because she'd been out of the party the longest as she'd been at Mideel.

"Why Tifa?" Genesis asked, curious.

Sephiroth gave his reasons and the red-head nodded. Then he snorted. "I notice you didn't even consider the traitor."

Sephiroth shot him a look, but it felt more… like a glance shared between conspirators than anything. The red-head just smiled and shrugged. Sephiroth felt the corner of his mouth twitch up.

"Wait, you found him in a coffin?! In the ShinRa Mansion basement?! Is he a vampire or something? Wait, now that you mention it, I think I saw him in my game… huh, if this is possibly an older game… cameo?"

"What's a 'cameo'?" asked Angeal.

"I actually know this one." Genesis grinned in amusement. "Cameos are appearances made by actors of reputation, usually in small and unexpected ways."

"Really?" Zack asked in interest. "I only know the term from video games, when a character from one appears in another, though 'small and unexpected' is the same. So, I guess that's where the word came from? That's actually pretty cool."

Genesis actually chuckled at Zack's outburst. Even Sephiroth couldn't hold back his smile this time.

While Angeal continued explaining, Sephiroth exited the menu screen and then the room on the ship. It immediately took them to the bridge of the Highwind with Cloud standing at the head of the deck facing the crew.

Before Sephiroth could do anything, Cait Sith stepped forward and spoke of the underwater reactor in Junon. He said it was out of the blue, but Genesis groaned.

"Oh, we're on this again?" Because one of them had mentioned it before, at Fort Condor. Cait Sith hadn't been there at the time, though, so his ignorance of this fact was excusable.

"Well, it seems we're headed back to Junon, then, as insane as that idea is," the commander continued with a put-upon sigh.

Sephiroth moved Cloud to speak with the pilot (now level 8) and they ended up on the screen showing the world and the airship. It took them less than a minute to find the Junon cannon. At that point, Sephiroth went to set the ship down.

"Wait," Zack said as Cloud appeared outside the ship and the music changed. The SOLDIERS all looked at him, although Angeal seemed a little annoyed at having been interrupted. Apparently he hadn't gotten through everyone traveling with Cloud and their backgrounds yet.

Sephiroth raised one eyebrow in question.

"Aren't you going to grind a bit?"

The Firsts all blinked at him.

"Grind?" Sephiroth asked slowly.

"Yeah. It's usually a good idea to take a couple of minutes and find some tougher fights to up your stats so you go into the next part of the game prepared. Extra work. Grinding."

Oh. So that was what 'grind' meant. Well, that did make sense now that Sephiroth thought about it. However, the last time they'd gone into an area they'd been in before, they hadn't had a problem, and they were returning to Junon.

"I… will keep that in mind," Sephiroth informed him. "But do not think it will be necessary now."

Zack just shrugged. "Okay, then." He turned back to Angeal. "So Nanaki is a talking lion-beast that was experimented on by Hojo, right? How did he become part of the crew?"

It was Angeal's turn to let out a put-upon sigh as he continued to explain and Sephiroth moved Cloud towards Junon. They came across one fight and it was, as expected, extremely easy to beat.

He'd almost entered the city when something Zack said practically demanded his attention, albeit unknowingly.

"Wait, Aerith was in the party? That's awesome! Why isn't she with them now? Did she go somewhere to hide from ShinRa again?"

Silence except for the music from the game fell over the room as the three Firsts exchanged uneasy looks.

Zack seemed oblivious to this as he continued happily. "In my game, she was my girlfriend, you know. I… kinda feel bad because she's really cute and totally my type and I do think I might already have a crush, but I don't want to expect that she'll even give me the time of day here, you know? Not really fair to her. I mean, Angeal and I only just met her, and he did all the talking that first time 'cause I was injured and all. Then she let me vent this morning, but that was… I mean, I could still ask her out and let her decide, I suppose. But I don't know if I want to put that on her 'cause she's super nice both in the game and when she talked with me and… I…" he faded off, finally noticing the growing looks of horror on Angeal's face and pity on Genesis'. Sephiroth made sure to keep his own face completely blank.

"Um… Sirs?" Zack asked worriedly.

Genesis glanced at Angeal, held up his hands as if to say 'no' and shook his head. Sephiroth looked away when he met the larger SOLDIER's gaze. He couldn't bring himself to explain that right now. Not to Zack.

Angeal, for his part, just looked resigned and he took in a slow, deep breath.

"She died, Zack."

That seemed to catch the boy flat-footed because he just stared up at them, his expression neutral, as if he couldn't comprehend those words.

"She… what?" he finally croaked out.

Angeal licked his lips, looked back at the other two (Sephiroth had no idea why), and then leaned forward. "Once Game Sephiroth summoned Meteor, she left the group to go North, to the Forgotten City of the Ancients and tried to summon Holy to protect the planet.

"We… don't know if she succeeded – I certainly hope so, for the planet's sake – but…" The brunet glanced back, this time specifically at Sephiroth, as if asking for permission.

He didn't want to see those emotions in the man's eye – the pity and worry and fear… he was asking though. And Zack deserved to know, if he was going to be in on this.

Sephiroth looked away, swallowing. Then he nodded.

Angeal continued. "She was trying to stop Game Sephiroth. He… tried to have Cloud kill her, but that didn't work and so he… killed her himself."

"He… what?!" Zack asked in a harsh whisper, then turned an accusing glare on Sephiroth, who looked away again.

"Zack," Angeal admonished. "The man on the screen and the man currently playing the game are completely different. Do not blame our Sephiroth for this."

The boy stood, back to being angry again. Funny, Sephiroth had likely seen the boy upset more in the last couple of days than he had in the entirety of the time Zack had been in SOLDIER.

Not that he could really blame the boy now. He looked on the verge of angry tears as he glared at the hole he'd made in the wall. Sephiroth got the distinct impression he was doing so to avoid glaring at them.

"It won't happen," Sephiroth found himself saying, and deliberately put the controller down so he didn't break it.

"What?" Zack demanded as he whipped around to face them.

Sephiroth looked the boy in the eye. "It won't happen," he repeated. "Not… this time."

He didn't really know when he'd started to think of their current situation as a 'this time' – as another chance at something that had already happened, but he did. This was a chance at changing the future of so many lives and people.

Zack didn't seem to know what to say to that as he just stood silently, still on the verge of tears but hands no longer clenched into fists.

"I won't become him," Sephiroth said quietly, pointing to the screen.

The younger boy took a deep, silent breath and licked his lips. "You… promise?"

Sephiroth didn't know if he could promise that. Not truthfully. He was pretty sure he hadn't wanted to go completely insane in what the game presented as their future.

But he couldn't say that. Not when confronted with the half-hopeful, half-pleading expression on the boy's face. This boy who looked up to him so. He honestly reminded Sephiroth of a sad, pleading, hopeful puppy at that moment.

"I promise," the General said.

Zack looked about ready to collapse in relief. Angeal seemed pleased and Genesis looked thoughtful, eyebrows raised pointedly.

Sephiroth ignored him.

"Thank you, sir," Zack said, his voice practically a whisper.

The General just nodded and then turned back to the screen as he couldn't continue to look at the boy anymore. That boy who had likely seen his fall if what he'd said was anything to go by, and who still trusted him to do the right thing.

Sephiroth could only hope that his faith wasn't misplaced.

xXx

AN: I kind of feel like this chapter was a little confusing, but I'm okay with that seeing as the SOLDIERS are pretty confused as well. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

Thank you to Quathis and Imagination7413 for their help on this! I really appreciate it!

Also, thanks to my Discord peeps. It's not a super active place, but you have no idea how going on there occasionally and polling people to see their opinions on certain things or character actions helps me IMMENSELY.

Discord: discord. gg/ezzFnGJ (no spaces)