Over at his own desk, Lazard stripped off his gloves angrily. He shoved them into a pocket as he muttered about A-copies, chemical spills, and evacuations.
Another week passed, then two, and finally, as promised, Hollander's construction project was almost completed. Only the central cylinder in the main lab for Angeal to grow inside was still in work, the copies currently installing a complex array of equipment for its base. In support of that final task, the not-so-good doctor sent Genesis and his copies out on a variety of covert missions to retrieve "necessary tools, supplies, and samples to support and direct Angeal's regeneration."
The quiet seemed very strange after all the construction noise. Zack kept expecting to hear thumps and bangs, or scraping and drill whines, or to sense the ceiling vibration when something heavy was dragged or dropped. Instead he only noticed occasional, mild thuds above the grating hum of the air circulators. Even the air equipment didn't seem as loud anymore.
Sephiroth kept Angeal in the lab with Hollander almost all the time now. Zack rarely saw his former superior, and suspected that he slept in the lab. Sephiroth had stated that they'd all need to keep an eye on Hollander and Angeal, but he'd originally wanted them to take turns. It seemed, though, that he'd taken all the responsibility upon himself.
Whatever. As long as he kept Hollander under control.
To fill the weird silence and his sense of empty isolation, Zack found himself venturing into Lazard's control room. Just for the sound of human voices. They were only television and radio announcers mouthing propaganda amid portions of real news—Lazard kept an eye on everything Shin-Ra put out—but those newscasters at least reminded Zack that the world outside Centralia kept living.
In response, Lazard put Zack to work updating the group's bug-out plan and compiling a new checklist. They had several new people (including Angeal), and the old plan hadn't taken the increased numbers or the complexities of a head in a jar into account. Zack didn't really feel there was too much special about taking care of Angeal. He and Sephiroth had managed just fine even crossing two continents and an ocean, but it was a nice luxury to actually plan for the sudden need to evacuate and move to a new, safer location.
Some was just plain common sense, like drinking water, food, money, first aid and hygiene supplies, fuel, power, sleeping bags and tents. Others took a little more thought: cooking tools and camp stoves, can openers, pots, basic eating utensils, scissors, needles and thread, water purification and disinfection systems, heating and lighting sources, weapons. Plus more nutrient fluid for Angeal. Zack and Sephiroth had done without some things on the list, but the expanded group made a more complete inventory necessary.
His military training served him well in this endeavor. Every operation had bug-out plans, and they were usually quite elaborate. It was work he could normally do in his sleep, but he wasn't familiar with all the vehicles and supplies in the Centralia mine base. He spent a large amount of his time tracking them down and itemizing them.
At present, he hunched over his laptop—was the computer just another theft by the G-copies, or had Lazard brought it from Shin-Ra?—and scowled. Why were there personal checklists included in the group plan? Everyone should maintain their own bug-out bags for clothing and whatnot. Especially Hollander. His supplies were so specialized. Drugs and lab equipment were a far cry from essentials like water, food, simple medicines, and clothing. He needed to make his own lists.
Zack supposed Lazard et al were just being thorough and making sure nothing was forgotten. He determined that he'd have to go to the lab and talk with Hollander himself.
Over at his own desk, Lazard stripped off his gloves angrily. He shoved them into a pocket as he muttered about A-copies, chemical spills, and evacuations. Zack swiveled around and opened his mouth to ask for details, but kept silent at Lazard's intense focus on his own work. Lazard glared at his screens and typed furiously. Text and images scrolled on the displays. He stared at the information for a few moments, breathing hard, then abruptly stood up. His hands clenched into fists so tight the knuckles grew bloodless.
"I'm going to see Hollander," he announced and stalked from the room.
Zack stared after him. What had him in such a bother? He'd looked and sounded furious and also—alarmed. Disturbed. Frightened, even.
Zack went to the abandoned terminals and took a look. In his distress and rush, Lazard had forgotten to clear or lock them from prying eyes. Or perhaps it wasn't anything that needed to be kept secret. Lazard routinely scanned official public sources along with subversive, anti-Shin-Ra ones like Shin-Ra Truths. Zack already knew all about those. Lazard had no reason to hide them.
On one display Zack read an update from the company's official publication, Shin-Ra News:
Shin-Ra Response to Mine Chemical Spill
From: Shin-Ra News
Contents:
The Shin-Ra company has sent evacuation teams to the Green Chocobo Iron Mine in response to a massive toxic chemical spill. Additionally, experts have determined that a large gas cloud escaped the mine and, as a result, a number of local towns and villages are also under evacuation orders. The Shin-Ra Company will be responsible for the well-being of all residents and their relocation to predetermined safe destinations. At present, the Green Chocobo Iron Mine and the towns of Emmie's Last Chance, Fool's Gulch, Hashima Village, Birka's Blessing, and Odinston are all heavily contaminated and declared disaster zones. After evacuation, they will be off-limits to unauthorized personnel until further notice. Containment procedures are underway.
The article included a few stock photos of the mine.
There was more text, as well: basically some information about the dangers of the chemical spill and how it got so large. There was also advice for residents of those locations on what to pack and take to the Shin-Ra sponsored refugee communities—they were advised to only take necessities with them—but it wasn't anything particularly compelling to Zack. He recognized the names; almost all were towns that he and Sephiroth had either visited or camped near during their escape from Midgar. What a shame. Most had been cute little places. He regretted the damage to Emmie's Last Chance in particular, mostly because he was still frustrated that he'd never learned how it had gotten its peculiar name.
He supposed he'd probably never find out, now. The town might end up toxic, unlivable, and abandoned forever, just like Centralia.
He switched his attention to the adjacent screen. It showed a recent newsletter from the underground source Shin-Ra Truths, and was far more interesting, if ridiculously speculative. The information hit close to Zack's heart.
Flying SOLDIER man: Dead or alive?
From: Reporter
Contents:
Unidentified flying objects are being reported from every town and borough on the Eastern Continent. Witness accounts point to several common traits, and lead to the conclusion that, contrary to previous conclusions about peculiar monsters bearing his face, it is in fact Angeal Hewley. Angeal's death was thought to be certain after Shin-Ra's announcement of his execution, so what could these latest sightings mean? Did Shin-Ra stage a false execution to cover up—what?! What could be so heinous that Shin-Ra would need to fake the execution of one of their elite First Class SOLDIERs? Perhaps the strange occurrences and, in this reporter's opinion, the fanciful and unrealistic descriptions of mutated flora and fauna in the Junon Mountains? Or could it be related to the evacuation of an iron mine and a number of small towns between Midgar and Junon? Is Angeal actually alive and working under deep cover, investigating the causes of these bizarre events? This reporter is committed to bringing you the truth, no matter how sinister it may be!
Zack chewed on his thumbnail. Obviously, the unnamed (not to mention amateurish and breathlessly credulous) investigator had stumbled upon more reports of Angeal copies. Just how many were out in the world? The article made it sound like A-copies were everywhere on the Eastern Continent. As far as Zack knew, they couldn't reproduce on their own. Hollander had said as much, so where were they all coming from?
Maybe he needed to talk to Hollander.
Like Lazard? He'd just gone to see Hollander after muttering about copies.
Maybe, Zack thought, he needed to talk with Sephiroth, too. And where was Sephiroth usually located these days? In Hollander's lab.
That was his next destination. He could kill two birds with one stone. So to speak. As he exited the control center, he chortled to himself at the inevitable connection his mind made between birds and the winged Genesis and his G-copies.
Zack took the stairs two at a time. As he approached the lab, he saw the door was ajar, as though Lazard had left it hanging open in his rush, and heard raised voices within. One was Lazard.
"—are spreading! How is that possible? You said it wasn't possible!"
Hollander spoke next: "It wasn't possible for the old type of A-copies."
"The old type?"
"Angeal's cells are different now that Hojo's activated his latent genetic potential and forced him to become a Jenova-type organism. It was stupid of him, but what's done is done."
"And that means?"
"It means everything's different now! Old theories no longer hold. I need more time to study this phenomenon."
"But then the new copies—?"
"Are still essential!" Hollander snapped. "We all agreed. You agreed!"
"Not those! The new ones spreading on the Eastern Continent!"
Zack had been inching toward the door, eavesdropping shamelessly, but stopped dead at the last few statements. Holy fuck! A Jenova-type organism—an alien? Hollander wasn't even pretending that Angeal was still human! Zack recalled that Hollander had previously said Angeal needed a human template to grow a new human body. He'd never actually claimed that Angeal would become one hundred percent human, though. Just the opposite, in fact. Hollander had emphasized that Angeal would never be the same person again, though the way he'd described it had, to Zack's mind, downplayed the drastic changes.
Was this real? Angeal was fully alien now? Was that what Hollander had meant?
No! Angeal still had human in him! Zack knew he did!
Minerva help us all, he thought, desperately hoping he was wrong, that he was jumping to crazy conclusions. He stopped just outside the open door, pressing against the wall to avoid being seen. He didn't want the conversation inside the lab to end prematurely. His arrival would surely interrupt the argument.
He caught a whiff of some lab odor—like old, half-cooked meat with a barely perceptible note of human sweat. Not pleasant, but not pungent, either. It was gone almost as soon as he noticed it. Probably it was just from some lab experiment. Labs always smelled weird, though Hollander kept his own disinfected, ventilated, and as sterile as possible. Zack had never smelled anything like old meat in it before.
In his distraction, he missed some of the conversation.
"—hell does that mean?" Lazard said.
Hollander said, "From my studies, I've determined that his cells no longer need to be stabilized in cooperative tissues."
"Explain that!"
"The individual cells are independent entities. They prefer to gather and aggregate into tissues and organs, Reunion instinct I presume, but it's not necessary for them. They can reproduce and spread on their own with or without conscious direction by a superior organism, in this case Angeal. But he's in no state to control anything outside this compound, and I have my doubts about—"
"Doubts?!" Lazard yelled. "You have doubts about what you're doing?! About what's going on in here?!"
Hollander also raised his voice, but didn't quite shout: "I have no doubts about why we need to get him fixed up and awake—"
"It's insane!"
Hollander became aggravatingly reasonable again. "It's Jenova biology. You knew there were risks."
Zack heard a rustle of fabric, as if Hollander had shrugged. Zack could imagine the dismissive gestures the arrogant scientist was making now. He heard someone walk toward the door at an agitated clip, and made ready to bolt down the hall to a better hiding place. Then the footsteps receded again. Zack thought one of the pair was pacing—he focused on the cadence of the steps, and recognized the familiar gait as Lazard's. Hollander stayed still, portraying himself as calm and rational in the most obnoxious, superior way.
Someone ought to slug him. Zack clenched his right fist and imagined, not for the first time, how wonderful it would feel to plant it right in the center of Hollander's smug face.
"It's really beautiful, isn't it?" Hollander said with a strange lilt. "Jenova biology. The way it works."
Lazard laughed bitterly. "Beautiful? You're warped."
"No, I just appreciate the wonders of biology and biochemistry. The whole world is full of the most amazing biological processes, and the universe—it's even vaster, miraculous. So infinitely complex, and yet—I can almost visualize the whole scheme, how it all fits together. Just a little more, and I'll know—I'll know everything, understand everything—an interconnected web of all life—growing more connected day by day—becoming one—one life; one universal, cosmic soul—and it is beautiful—"
Zack heard a sudden smack of flesh against flesh.
"Wake up, you fool!" Lazard screamed. "What are you babbling about? Focus! We have to stop what's going on! What are—"
The sounds of a short scuffle came through the open doorway, then Lazard shouted, "Fucking G-copy! Let me go!"
"You're a short-sighted, ignorant simpleton," Hollander said calmly. "Just like most of the uneducated rubes of this world. Hojo was right in his assessment of the great unwashed masses, at least. You fail to understand—"
"There's nothing to understand! The world—"
"Lazard, do you actually want to fight me on this? You idiot! Remember, what we're accomplishing here. Sephiroth and Genesis need my skills. I'm necessary. You are not."
"Fuck you, you bastard! I won't stand for this!"
"You're welcome to leave anytime you want." There was a pause, then Hollander added, "Let him go." Presumably, he had given that order to the G-copy holding Lazard.
"What the fuck is wrong with you—?"
Hollander said, "This is tiresome. I recommend you leave."
"Leave?"
"Leave my lab. Leave the compound, if you wish. Leave Centralia. Or stay as you've done so far. Whatever you do, leave me to my work and cease to be an obstacle."
"Obstacle, huh?" Lazard uttered a short laugh. "You'd let me go, just like that?"
"Just like that."
"Shin-Ra's out there. We're all marked men. Suppose I left Centralia, where do you recommend I go to avoid them?"
"That's your problem, not mine."
"If they capture me, interrogate me—you know their methods, this base won't stay secret. We'll all be doomed. They'll find out, they'll stop you, take over, give Hojo everything... They'll stop what's going on. I know they will."
"It sounds to me like you'd better stay, then."
It sounded to Zack almost like Lazard wanted Shin-Ra to get involved.
"Fine," Lazard huffed. "I'll go back down to the monitor room."
"You do that." Hollander sounded supremely uninterested.
Footsteps again approached the door, hard and heavy. Zack beat a swift retreat and ducked around a corner.
Lazard didn't even notice him. He was fuming, muttering angrily, and he stomped to the stairwell in rage.
Zack thought over what he'd heard, all straight from the horse's mouth. Hollander's words had spawned even more questions. Zack thought back to the official news about evacuations of entire towns on the Eastern Continent, and how the Shin-Ra Truths reporter's essay had touched on A-copies and...
Mutations. Unspecified mutations among flora and fauna in the Junon Mountains. Plants and animals. The reporter had not claimed they resembled Angeal, but had left them unspecified. Maybe he or she simply hadn't received any concrete descriptions or images.
Zack and Sephiroth and Angeal had spent a lot of time hidden in the Junon Mountains. Sephiroth had changed Angeal's nutrient fluid several times.
Zack remembered back to when they'd first arrived in Centralia and described their voyage of survival, how Hollander had been displeased to hear that Angeal's cells had been set loose in the environment when Sephiroth had disposed of the old fluid, and said he expected a few A-copies to pop up. Hollander hadn't been very concerned, but he had definitely taken note.
Zack shivered. Could he trust Hollander? He didn't think so, not considering what he'd just heard. Hollander didn't care. He seemed to like the idea of what was going on outside Centralia. He'd called Jenova biology "beautiful" and rhapsodized over it.
Zack didn't know what to do. Hollander was their only option to fix Angeal. They had to control the mad scientist somehow and keep him on course. Sephiroth had been handling that so far with success. He'd have a plan. He was the best bet.
Yes, Zack decided, he really needed to talk to Sephiroth.
NOTE: The Keepers of Honor message was adapted from a canon email received by Zack in Crisis Core.