Hojo shifted impatiently in his seat. Were they seriously still talking about this? Yes, the huge reactor was certainly an important topic, but more important than the recent attack on his laboratory? Hardly. It only made him angrier, knowing that if the invaders had attacked something like the President's office, then the matter would be getting the true attention it deserved.
"Construction has resumed as of yesterday, sir. The delays due to the ongoing fighting have been frustrating, I know, but I can assure you that the reactor will be fully operational within a few days at most."
The President had a scowl on his face as he stared at the construction manager, but that wasn't an unusual sight these days. "I see. And the expected results? Have the constant interruptions had an impact on its ability to generate mako?"
"No, sir. At least, I don't believe so. We won't know for sure until it's fully up and running, but I'm confident it will function according to plan. The output should equal, if not rival, that of all of the reactors here in Midgar combined."
"Excellent," the President said, steepling his fingers and almost looking pleased. "In that case, how fares the progress on the Sister Ray?"
Hojo perked up slightly at the mention of the giant canon. While it still wasn't the subject he wanted to be discussing, it was at least far more interesting than the reactor.
"I'm happy to report that the construction is proceeding as planned, without delays. Once the reactor is operational, it will easily be able to provide the required amount of mako in order to fire the canon."
The President nodded. "That only leaves your son's job of finding their primary city," he said, looking over at Hojo. "Have you had any word from him on the matter?"
"Not yet," Hojo said with a scowl. "He should be arriving back at the Tower shortly. I'll make sure to follow up with you about whatever he has to report."
"Pardon me for saying so," the construction manager said hesitantly, "but at full power, the Sister Ray is more than capable of destroying Midgar itself in a single blast. I can't imagine the Ancient's city would fare any better, meaning that the loss of life would be . . . catastrophic. Isn't there another target that would suffice to get them to surrender?"
"Surrender? After everything they've done?" The President laughed sharply. "That's hardly my goal. Once they've been wiped off the face of the planet we'll be free to create a paradise in our Promised Land. A new, bigger, and better city of the future. Neo-Midgar."
The manager looked ready to speak up again, but before he could the President continued, his tone growing sharper. "Your services are appreciated. Now, get back to your job and ensure there are no more delays, understood?"
"Yes, sir."
As the man hurriedly left the meeting room, the President turned his attention to Hojo. "I assume you're still here because you're upset about the attack on your lab? We've already been over this, Hojo. I've increased security in the Tower and my son is working with the Turks to track down the intruders. What more do you want?"
"I want my test subjects back! They stole my Ancients!" he stated, shocked that it had to be explained at all. "It took years to finally procure those samples, and before I was able to perform even a single experiment on them, they were snatched away! If it had only been the male then I wouldn't have cared as much, but they somehow managed to get the female out of my maximum-security container as well. She was marvelous. Oh, the plans I had for her . . ."
"I fail to see how I am responsible for any of this," the President said. "In the past, when I've offered to provide additional security for your lab you've always refused, saying you had everything well under control. If anything, I should be the one who's upset by what happened. We had the chance to eliminate two more Ancients and instead, they're out there plotting against us once more."
Hojo grinned widely. "Well, whoever it was that rescued her won't last long. They failed to drain the tank of the mako gas before opening it, meaning that they'll be mindless slugs, drooling on the floor before long." He'd discovered the results completely by accident and had since begun experimenting on various life forms to see exactly how they responded to the gas. His favorite results by far were the bloodhounds he'd kept in the lab.
The President raised an eyebrow. "I'm surprised you'd risk your prized Ancient in such a way."
"Ah, but that's that fascinating part," Hojo replied, rubbing his hands together. "I had my theories based on my experiments with the glass orbs and how mako relates to whatever it is the Ancients use to create magic. The gas didn't appear to cause the female any harm, but what it did do was prevent her from being able to use her natural magic. Unfortunately, I'd left to retrieve the original healing orb to see if she could still use that when the attack happened."
"Wait a moment, are you saying we could weaponize this gas and use it to negate their ability to use magic completely?"
Hojo nodded enthusiastically. "That's exactly what I'm saying."
"So not all bad news then. This discovery will shift the war dramatically in our favor. I want you to focus on finding quick and efficient ways for our soldiers to be able to use it in battle, understand?"
"As you wish. Such research won't be cheap, and I'll remind you that the consequences of an accident with a weapon like this will be . . . particularly unfortunate."
The President dismissively waved his hand. "Money is of no concern, not for a matter of this importance. The appropriate funds will be sent. As for the dangers, well, the benefits far outweigh any risk—ignore them."
Hojo nodded before turning to leave, a wide smirk on his face as he walked away. He'd already created fully functioning grenades to disperse the gas weeks ago, which meant that he'd be able to use the new inflow of money to advance his much more interesting experiments. In particular, his attempts to inject raw mako into soldiers had run into a brick wall recently, frustrating him to no end. Hopefully, this new funding would allow him to finally make some real progress on that front.
Opening the door to his office, Hojo stepped inside and immediately saw Sephiroth leaning against the far wall. It was the first time they'd seen each other in two years, largely because of Sephiroth's heavy involvement in the war, but also because of how much he'd begun to unnerve Hojo. His loyal obedience as a child had slowly faded away, and while he'd done nothing to directly oppose any of Hojo's instructions, his occasional hesitance was growing . . . concerning. Hojo needed an obedient tool, not a person, and especially not one who'd begun to question orders. He still hoped there was a way to fix him, although even that was slowly fading with time.
"I see you've returned," he said as he made his way over to his desk. "The President wants to know if you've had any success in locating the Ancient's main city or if you've continued to fail in that regard as well."
"I haven't," Sephiroth calmly replied, shaking his head slightly. "Found it, that is. The forests are vast, ancient, and unwelcoming to intruders. If my performance is insufficient, then you and the President are more than welcome to try other means."
Hojo barely refrained from grinding his teeth. His son obviously knew that if he was struggling, then the average soldier stood absolutely no chance. The fact that he didn't seem to care about his failure was what bothered Hojo the most. There had to be some way to make him as obedient as he'd been in the past.
"While you've been gone, the terrorist organization staged an attack on the Tower itself. Not only did they raid my personal labs, they stole a female Ancient I'd managed to procure, which, I'll point out, you've still failed to provide me with."
Sephiroth's clearly amused reaction to the news only served to further stoke Hojo's anger. "Oh? You finally got your hands on one and then managed to lose them? I'm surprised you weren't more careful."
"If you'd done your job properly then I wouldn't have to be careful in the first place!" Hojo snapped. "Year after year you have failed to accomplish anything of note! You are useless. Not only have you never captured an Ancient, but you weren't even around to protect the one I captured on my own." He dropped down into his chair, glaring at Sephiroth. "I expect you to track down these thieves and return my stolen property by the end of this week."
"No."
Hojo froze in shock. This was the first time Sephiroth had explicitly refused to follow his instructions. "What did you say?"
"I said no. The President has instructed me to find the Ancient's capital city and that's what I intend to do. If I manage to capture an Ancient in the process, well, I'll consider delivering them to you. Maybe."
"Maybe?!" Hojo spat, jumping to his feet and using his hands to brace himself against the desk as he leaned forward. "Who do you think you are? I made you. You owe me everything! I don't care what the President has asked you to do, my orders take precedence, do you understand me?"
Sephiroth smirked before pushing off the wall and crossing the room to the door. "I'll make my report to the President personally. It was . . . enjoyable, to see you again, Father. Good luck with your experiments." With that, he left the room.
Hojo blinked once, then twice. It took all of his self-control to prevent himself from grabbing one of the spare orbs on the desk and hurling it at the closed door. He was better than that, above such base displays of emotion. But oh was it tempting. How dare the President turn his own son against him. What had the man offered? Money? Women? It didn't make any sense. Taking a deep breath, Hojo closed his eyes. Slowly, he released the breath and reopened his eyes. As frustrated as he was, this was ultimately only a minor setback. He didn't need Sephiroth. Once his worthless son realized the President was only using him then he'd come crawling back, begging for forgiveness.
There were far more useful and productive things for him to focus on, such as his mako injection experiments. If they were successful, he'd be able to create dozens of loyal and obedient followers, all far more powerful than his failure of a son. Settling back down into his chair, Hojo pulled out his notebook and began going over the results of the last experiment. It had been a failure, yes, but as any good scientist knew, learning from your mistakes was the most important step.
"Subject Zero," the first page began. "Immediately upon initial mako injection, the subject began thrashing violently against their bindings. Ensure for future safety that bindings are heavily reinforced. Heart ceased functioning after four minutes and twenty-three seconds. Abject failure."
Hojo turned to the next page, his eyes flickering over the image at the bottom of the page of the final result but not particularly paying it any mind.
"Subject One. Injected half the previous amount of mako. No discernible difference despite the reduction. Subject appeared just as distraught and perished after a mere two minutes and forty-one seconds. Failure."
He flipped past the next five pages, all of which contained reports of various attempts to change the dosage and yet all with identical results to the first two experiments. Failures, all of them.
"Subject Seven. Multiple microscopic dosages applied over the course of three weeks have produced the most promising results so far. Investigate options for better soundproofing of the containment room as extreme levels of noise for such a prolonged duration of time proved to be frustratingly distracting. Patient ultimately expired before any real tests could be performed. Failure, but encouraging."
With a sigh, Hojo rapidly fanned through the remaining seventy pages. None of them contained the breakthrough he'd hoped for, despite a handful showing promising signs. At the end of the day, none of the subjects had proven strong enough to withstand the sheer might of the power of mako. None of them had been worthy. No, what he needed was . . .
Sephiroth.
It hit him like a lightning bolt. The most obvious, simple answer he'd somehow overlooked until this moment. The man had proven his strength time and time again, if anyone was capable of handling a mako injection it would be him. Once he had a working prototype, then it would be far easier to devise a way to apply the results to others, allowing him to grow the ranks of his supercharged soldiers. A smile spread across Hojo's lips as he rubbed his hands together. It was fitting, that one of his largest failures would result in his most glorious of successes.
Thaaaaaaat's right, Hojo is back! Yay? On the plus side, this is the last PoV chapter for him, so moving forward we at least won't ever be stuck inside his head again. We get a bit more insight into Shinra's plans here, both with this huge reactor, and what it's meant to power—the Sister Ray. The President is determined to completely wipe out the Ancients, and with this weapon that's becoming a very real possibility. The mako gas comes up again and is also being weaponized, despite the fact that it's arguably more dangerous to the people using it. Again, yay Shinra...
And then things wrap up with a touching reunion between father and son... kind of? Hojo doesn't know what to make of Sephiroth at this point, and he's incredibly frustrated with how he's changed as he's gotten older. For his part, Sephiroth seems extremely amused, which only upsets Hojo even more. Hojo has also been experimenting with making this universe's version of SOLDIER, although without Jenova cells it's not working at all. At least, not yet...
Next Chapter: Weapon