Chapter 4: Smoke and Mirrors
I woke up in the middle of some kind of office, and I figured I was locked in. I looked around and didn’t see Loz or Kadaj in the room. I sighed and shook my head “Not again…! We were caught?!” I heard Loz’s voice nearby and realized he was trying to talk to me. I approached the wall and heard him “Hey, we can get out, don’t worry. I still have my strength!” I replied “Ok, that’s great. But first… what in the world happened in the reactor? The man controlling that roboguard was Hojo!” Loz cried “no way! He stayed at that lab to keep tabs on us, didn’t he? How did we get way out here?!” I sighed “I wish I could tell you… was that really him?” Loz grumbled “Mm, man! I hate this kind of thing that doesn’t make sense! You figure this out, Brother… because im clueless!” I shook my head “I don’t know anymore than you do right now. Let’s just get out of here first…” Loz said “Ok, that I can do. I think Kadaj is still out cold, though… should we wait?” I answered “Let’s wait. She’ll wake up.”
Meanwhile, at the isolated laboratory…
Hojo was working on his computer trying to locate Yazoo’s gang, and he couldn’t find them at all. Hojo angrily cried “Gah, come on! Were they discovered?” JENOVA asked “You cant find them?” Hojo shook his head “No, nothing. Their signals went out ten minutes ago, and I cant pin their coordinates at all.” JENOVA replied “Then they were caught by the enemy. But what happened..?” Hojo sighed and got out of his seat “I don’t know. But if I go myself, I can certainly find out. Im a former associate, so if they’re in Shinra Headquarters, I’ll be permitted full access up to the labs.” JENOVA asked “Are you sure you can fight off anything that comes your way?” Hojo put some thin black gloves on and nodded “I will do fine. Do not panic. Ive kept myself battle trained in case you require a fail-safe system at times like these.” JENOVA nodded in understanding “Alright. Be careful. Whoever took them out must be strong. Especially since you’re on your own.” Hojo left and ran outside to head for Midgar.
Back at Shinra building, with Yazoo and his siblings…
Loz broke my door and let me out after Kadaj had woken up, and then he used his strength to free her last. Kadaj asked “Yazoo, was it really Hojo controlling that machine we fought…?” I shook my head “Im still not sure. We didn’t get any warnings of unidentified targets from him on our phones, so it is a sketch… but it doesn’t make sense. There’s no way he would have gotten here before us. And its no coincidence that the Hojo we saw in that reactor knew we were coming.” Loz cried “Wait… you mean he spied on us?! That whole time?!” I said “I cant say. But im suspicious, and its definitely likely given the things he’s pulled on us in the past.” Kadaj argued “But wasn’t Mother with him at the old lab in the woods? There’s no way he’d be able to sneak out without her noticing… You cant just run from Mother and get away with it. Not to mention he knows he cant beat her in a fight. He might be ignorant, but he’s not dumb enough to try something like that…” Loz grumbled “Man, I hate thinking games. I wanna guess instead…” I agreed “Good point. I hope we can find out what’s going on here. This is crazy.” I led us through the rather vacant hallways, and came face to face with Hojo, who was also strangely wearing black gloves at the time. He didn’t smile at us or anything which I thought was strange. I got angry “Hojo, goddang it! Why did you trick us in the reactor? For your stupid experiments?” Hojo was shocked at my display and grew confused “Hm? Me, in the reactor? Whatever do you mean?” Kadaj was angry but kept silent. Loz said “We saw you controlling that giant robot thing! Don’t pretend you don’t know.” Hojo turned around and put a hand to his face as if to think “Hmm… so you were attacked by another ‘me’ in the final reactor. Something is amiss…” Kadaj cried “wait, that wasn’t the real you?! What in the world is going on, Hojo?!” Hojo turned back to us and looked upward “How I wish I knew… but im afraid I know little more than you three. Aside from the theory that an enemy specimen made a shocking attempt to impersonate me, that is…” I calmed down but kept my gaze hardened “So the Hojo we saw in the reactor was a fake?” Hojo shrugged “That does sound the most likely explanation… but, if I may ask, did you have time to study the other me more thoroughly? Did you notice anything unusual about it?” I shook my head “No. it certainly looked like the real you…” Hojo hardened his expression and tightened his fist “I shouldve known..! Come on, you three! We need to get out of here now!” Loz asked “whoa, wait! Whats going on, Hojo?!” Hojo signalled for us to follow and we ran together downstairs to leave the building. We fled the building, and before long, managed to escape Midgar and get far away from the city without being stopped by shinra soldiers. Hojo stopped running, so did we. We were all gasping for air, and Kadaj asked “Hojo, come on. What is going on here?! Tell us!” Hojo turned back to us and sneered, then shook his head in disgust. Hojo said “Im still not sure, but I am suspecting it was another failure I produced during the project many years ago… Her power is very stealthy.” Loz was confused “Wait, so the you in there was actually a she? What does that even mean?” Hojo sighed “Exactly what I just said. Assuming my theory is correct, that is… but I could have sworn she died during the fire in Nibelheim back then. She at least, Shinra had confirmed dead. The other man you three know as Cloud was absent from the town, so he managed to survive despite being in the face of death during an encounter with your elder brother Sephiroth.” I suggested “But if she was never seen since the fire, this could all be a trick… if the enemy thinks youre a traitor to the company, its only natural theyd do this just to put on a show that would throw even you off.” Hojo shook his head and sneered “Im aware it could be a hoax altogether. But for now, we have to retreat before the other ‘me’ finds out I helped you get away.” We nodded, and Hojo led us back to the Forgotten City where Mother was waiting for us. Mother waved to us and said “Im relieved you’re each unharmed. Hojo lost the signals from the bracelet devices he gave you three, and said your radios went completely fuzzy. What happened in there?” Kadaj hesitated “Um, about that…. Its true we had an accident, but we still don’t understand the gravity of what happened ourselves… Even Hojo was at a loss when Yazoo explained everything.” Mother paused in silence, then said “So there was an ambush… start by telling me what you remember seeing.” I explained the accident in the final reactor to Mother, and she hardened her expression. Mother sighed “So they know Hojo is using them to aid us… I shouldve anticipated this.” I nodded “I couldn’t agree more. If he’s a traitor in their eyes, I also shouldve been wary of this sort of thing. But without Hojo, how could they do this kind of cloning…?” Hojo tightened his fist and replied “Even I cant simply make a fully materialized identical specimen easily. What I did with Sephiroth was not complicated; it was a mediocre experiment. What they ran into requires a lot more work and has much greater complexity. We’re talking about a fully primed ‘me’ made by an enemy specimen here. This is not your average low level experiment that can be easily accomplished.” Loz groaned “Ugh! None of this makes sense! You guys figure it out. Im done!” Kadaj agreed “Im also at a loss… what is going on here? Its obvious that Shinra’s hiding something from us.” Mother said “Its only typical of Shinra to be shady like this. They have a very long history of these crooked ways.” I asked “What do we do about it? If they manage to get Cloud and do something like this with him, we’re in big trouble.” Mother shook her head and shut her eye gently “Little else can be done for now except investigating. You start your new mission tomorrow.” Kadaj asked “What about the bombing mission for the last remaining reactor?” Mother answered “With only one reactor left, Shinra will be in enough of a bind with power management for us to make progress on our core focuses and ideals. I will relieve you three of the mission for that reason. The city will have a full scale blackout before long with only one mako reactor left. That will keep the enemy’s hands full and allow us to buy time and proceed with plans.” I nodded “Excellent. Looks like its still mission accomplished then. Sister, Brother, let’s call it a day and get some rest.” Kadaj and Loz nodded and we went further into the Forgotten City to get some sleep and relax.
To Be Continued…
I woke up in the middle of some kind of office, and I figured I was locked in. I looked around and didn’t see Loz or Kadaj in the room. I sighed and shook my head “Not again…! We were caught?!” I heard Loz’s voice nearby and realized he was trying to talk to me. I approached the wall and heard him “Hey, we can get out, don’t worry. I still have my strength!” I replied “Ok, that’s great. But first… what in the world happened in the reactor? The man controlling that roboguard was Hojo!” Loz cried “no way! He stayed at that lab to keep tabs on us, didn’t he? How did we get way out here?!” I sighed “I wish I could tell you… was that really him?” Loz grumbled “Mm, man! I hate this kind of thing that doesn’t make sense! You figure this out, Brother… because im clueless!” I shook my head “I don’t know anymore than you do right now. Let’s just get out of here first…” Loz said “Ok, that I can do. I think Kadaj is still out cold, though… should we wait?” I answered “Let’s wait. She’ll wake up.”
Meanwhile, at the isolated laboratory…
Hojo was working on his computer trying to locate Yazoo’s gang, and he couldn’t find them at all. Hojo angrily cried “Gah, come on! Were they discovered?” JENOVA asked “You cant find them?” Hojo shook his head “No, nothing. Their signals went out ten minutes ago, and I cant pin their coordinates at all.” JENOVA replied “Then they were caught by the enemy. But what happened..?” Hojo sighed and got out of his seat “I don’t know. But if I go myself, I can certainly find out. Im a former associate, so if they’re in Shinra Headquarters, I’ll be permitted full access up to the labs.” JENOVA asked “Are you sure you can fight off anything that comes your way?” Hojo put some thin black gloves on and nodded “I will do fine. Do not panic. Ive kept myself battle trained in case you require a fail-safe system at times like these.” JENOVA nodded in understanding “Alright. Be careful. Whoever took them out must be strong. Especially since you’re on your own.” Hojo left and ran outside to head for Midgar.
Back at Shinra building, with Yazoo and his siblings…
Loz broke my door and let me out after Kadaj had woken up, and then he used his strength to free her last. Kadaj asked “Yazoo, was it really Hojo controlling that machine we fought…?” I shook my head “Im still not sure. We didn’t get any warnings of unidentified targets from him on our phones, so it is a sketch… but it doesn’t make sense. There’s no way he would have gotten here before us. And its no coincidence that the Hojo we saw in that reactor knew we were coming.” Loz cried “Wait… you mean he spied on us?! That whole time?!” I said “I cant say. But im suspicious, and its definitely likely given the things he’s pulled on us in the past.” Kadaj argued “But wasn’t Mother with him at the old lab in the woods? There’s no way he’d be able to sneak out without her noticing… You cant just run from Mother and get away with it. Not to mention he knows he cant beat her in a fight. He might be ignorant, but he’s not dumb enough to try something like that…” Loz grumbled “Man, I hate thinking games. I wanna guess instead…” I agreed “Good point. I hope we can find out what’s going on here. This is crazy.” I led us through the rather vacant hallways, and came face to face with Hojo, who was also strangely wearing black gloves at the time. He didn’t smile at us or anything which I thought was strange. I got angry “Hojo, goddang it! Why did you trick us in the reactor? For your stupid experiments?” Hojo was shocked at my display and grew confused “Hm? Me, in the reactor? Whatever do you mean?” Kadaj was angry but kept silent. Loz said “We saw you controlling that giant robot thing! Don’t pretend you don’t know.” Hojo turned around and put a hand to his face as if to think “Hmm… so you were attacked by another ‘me’ in the final reactor. Something is amiss…” Kadaj cried “wait, that wasn’t the real you?! What in the world is going on, Hojo?!” Hojo turned back to us and looked upward “How I wish I knew… but im afraid I know little more than you three. Aside from the theory that an enemy specimen made a shocking attempt to impersonate me, that is…” I calmed down but kept my gaze hardened “So the Hojo we saw in the reactor was a fake?” Hojo shrugged “That does sound the most likely explanation… but, if I may ask, did you have time to study the other me more thoroughly? Did you notice anything unusual about it?” I shook my head “No. it certainly looked like the real you…” Hojo hardened his expression and tightened his fist “I shouldve known..! Come on, you three! We need to get out of here now!” Loz asked “whoa, wait! Whats going on, Hojo?!” Hojo signalled for us to follow and we ran together downstairs to leave the building. We fled the building, and before long, managed to escape Midgar and get far away from the city without being stopped by shinra soldiers. Hojo stopped running, so did we. We were all gasping for air, and Kadaj asked “Hojo, come on. What is going on here?! Tell us!” Hojo turned back to us and sneered, then shook his head in disgust. Hojo said “Im still not sure, but I am suspecting it was another failure I produced during the project many years ago… Her power is very stealthy.” Loz was confused “Wait, so the you in there was actually a she? What does that even mean?” Hojo sighed “Exactly what I just said. Assuming my theory is correct, that is… but I could have sworn she died during the fire in Nibelheim back then. She at least, Shinra had confirmed dead. The other man you three know as Cloud was absent from the town, so he managed to survive despite being in the face of death during an encounter with your elder brother Sephiroth.” I suggested “But if she was never seen since the fire, this could all be a trick… if the enemy thinks youre a traitor to the company, its only natural theyd do this just to put on a show that would throw even you off.” Hojo shook his head and sneered “Im aware it could be a hoax altogether. But for now, we have to retreat before the other ‘me’ finds out I helped you get away.” We nodded, and Hojo led us back to the Forgotten City where Mother was waiting for us. Mother waved to us and said “Im relieved you’re each unharmed. Hojo lost the signals from the bracelet devices he gave you three, and said your radios went completely fuzzy. What happened in there?” Kadaj hesitated “Um, about that…. Its true we had an accident, but we still don’t understand the gravity of what happened ourselves… Even Hojo was at a loss when Yazoo explained everything.” Mother paused in silence, then said “So there was an ambush… start by telling me what you remember seeing.” I explained the accident in the final reactor to Mother, and she hardened her expression. Mother sighed “So they know Hojo is using them to aid us… I shouldve anticipated this.” I nodded “I couldn’t agree more. If he’s a traitor in their eyes, I also shouldve been wary of this sort of thing. But without Hojo, how could they do this kind of cloning…?” Hojo tightened his fist and replied “Even I cant simply make a fully materialized identical specimen easily. What I did with Sephiroth was not complicated; it was a mediocre experiment. What they ran into requires a lot more work and has much greater complexity. We’re talking about a fully primed ‘me’ made by an enemy specimen here. This is not your average low level experiment that can be easily accomplished.” Loz groaned “Ugh! None of this makes sense! You guys figure it out. Im done!” Kadaj agreed “Im also at a loss… what is going on here? Its obvious that Shinra’s hiding something from us.” Mother said “Its only typical of Shinra to be shady like this. They have a very long history of these crooked ways.” I asked “What do we do about it? If they manage to get Cloud and do something like this with him, we’re in big trouble.” Mother shook her head and shut her eye gently “Little else can be done for now except investigating. You start your new mission tomorrow.” Kadaj asked “What about the bombing mission for the last remaining reactor?” Mother answered “With only one reactor left, Shinra will be in enough of a bind with power management for us to make progress on our core focuses and ideals. I will relieve you three of the mission for that reason. The city will have a full scale blackout before long with only one mako reactor left. That will keep the enemy’s hands full and allow us to buy time and proceed with plans.” I nodded “Excellent. Looks like its still mission accomplished then. Sister, Brother, let’s call it a day and get some rest.” Kadaj and Loz nodded and we went further into the Forgotten City to get some sleep and relax.
To Be Continued…
