Chapter 2: Intense Research
(This section will focus on Hojo as the speaker) It was my second day running JENOVA Foundation. Of course, I arrived at HQ much earlier than the other staff that work here. After all, it was my job to decide what we would focus on, and when said experiments and other work would begin. I had spent much of my first day studying thoroughly about JENOVA's trio of remnants. While the information I found on Yazoo and Loz didn't keep my attention much, the leader of the three had me in deep thought. Once a larva, Sephieroth had the most interesting past and events in battles; especially very intense ones. Unlike the other two, she had the potential to go from her perfect winged angel form to her larval form--and this transformation supposedly had much greater potential: she was said to fuse with JENOVA completely when under intense stress. I couldn't find any evidence to prove this, but I couldn't help wondering what granted her such great overall evolution ability. This Kadaj was different and clearly stronger than the one I originally knew about, everything I learned said that for certain. I also learned that she was designed to survive long and intense battles, and served as a weapon for overwhelming JENOVA's enemies with this power. It was no surprise even Cloud couldn't handle her; she changes shape a lot. The question I simply couldn't answer was 'why' she could do this. So, here I was on my second day of work, hoping to learn the secrets of Sephieroth's unspeakable power. I decided to keep my theory simple for the time being and assume the cause is likely a high fluctuation of her JENOVA cells. That, at least, made a certain amount of sense with her form changing. However, certain laws in this kingdom prohibit me from running ideal experiments or testing that would be necessary to prove whether my theory was correct or not. For that reason, I grabbed my phone and called JENOVA, hoping to get permission for this. As I expected, she answered almost immediately "Hojo? Did something happen?" I replied "No, not at all. I'm calling to ask your permission on a very important study I need to prove... it concerns Sephieroth's evolutions. I would like to take her in to understand why she transforms the way she does, if you don't mind. If you want a valid reason, the information I would reap from the experiment could help strengthen future Cetra generations--make your kind stronger, in simpler terms." She sighed "I should've known you would delve into that... I approve your request, but if she dies or becomes fatally injured from anything that happens in your lab, you will be relieved of your position as foundation president; and I will also issue a severe punishment to you. Be careful, or suffer the consequences." I reluctantly said "Ok, fine. If you think I'm going to kill her, I don't know why you would want me in charge, but so be it." Then I heard static, assuming she cut me off. I shoved my phone into my lab coat pocket and shrugged "Well, I wouldn't kill her on purpose, anyway... No risk, no reward." I heard someone enter the room, and turned to see Sephiroth holding Yazoo. I approached him, and asked "Ahhh, Sephiroth... good to see you. What happened to young Yazoo?" Sephiroth sighed "I'm afraid I don't know. He attacked Cloud in JENOVA Manor, and for some reason he simply collapsed when Cloud said something about my kids to stop him. Neither of us know why." I added "Hmm... that is strange. I will have him fixed up in no time, though, I can assure you that." Sephiroth handed him to me, and I took him to an empty table, gently laying him on it. I placed my hand over his chest, but nothing seemed unusual about the energy waves from his JENOVA cells "Very strange... no abnormal signals here." Sephiroth asked "Then how did he black out?" I shrugged "No clue, but if you told me more about what happened, I might know something. Did Cloud tell you anything else?" Sephiroth paused, then answered "He did tell me that Yazoo was holding his head and complained about some discomfort that seemed to be in his chest. If Yazoo was holding his head, however, that also means whatever happened also affected his mind." I nodded "Correct. If it started in his chest though, something would have malfunctioned with his reactor... which means something went wrong with his JENOVA cells. Either they went dark, or they temporarily weakened during that moment." Sephiroth seemed confused "But how? Cloud didn't attack him... at least, he doesn't look like he was physically attacked. It doesn't make sense..." I shrugged "Well, I explained what I know about this. He doesn't seem very weak at the moment, though. He should wake up soon." Sephiroth asked "Can you calculate his reunion rate?" I laughed under my breath "All too easy. Of course I can." I reached into my box of tools, and got out the device I used for the task at hand. I pulled a syringe from my pocket, gently poking his arm with the needle and filled it completely. I emptied the fluid into the device and watched the numbers for a few minutes. Sephiroth asked "How does it look?" I answered "Ahhh, he's plenty healthy. A balanced 300CPM--or cells per minute. Seems normal for his overall strength, so I wouldn't worry. Yazoo is well." Sephiroth seemed relieved "Good. He will be fine, but we still don't know what went wrong that made him black out..." I agreed "True, but it could be something more common such as fainting due to stress. If he has severe PTSD, I wouldn't be surprised at that. Even that can shut off his JENOVA cells for a brief moment." Sephiroth sighed "We all have that... I do, Sister does, Loz does... sadly, it almost feels like a family thing thanks to Shinra." I said "I'm terribly sorry. I wouldn't be surprised that a confrontation with Cloud could do that to him, though. You should understand this better than anyone." Sephiroth turned away from me "Hmph... sorry? I don't buy it. Do good things for the legacy, and maybe I will believe that... or at least help our beloved Mother smile. Please." There was a long moment of silence, but Sephiroth broke it "Cloud got injured as well. I will bring him to you, and expect that you fix him up. While it wouldn't be as serious as Yazoo dying, I ask that you ascertain he is fixed and survives as well. I don't know what Mother has planned for him, but I wouldn't interfere with her plans if I were you. If you do, you'll bring Mother's wrath upon yourself. Just do your job, and do it right." I decided to ignore him and turned back to Yazoo, and saw his eyes were beginning to open up. He moaned "Unngh... where am I?" He sat up, and I helped him down "Can you see alright? You blacked out at the manor. I heard from Sephiroth." He walked around a bit, then turned back to me "President Hojo? Thanks... I have to go find Little Sister, though. She might be worried about me, and I'd rather she not be on edge like that, because.... bad things happen when she is." I stopped him "No, wait. Don't go yet; I have to make sure you're safe to go first. Stay here for the next hour. That's the fail-safe time here." He grumbled "Ahh, fine... but I need someone to make sure she knows I'm ok." I turned back to Sephiroth, who left the room and went downstairs. I looked back at Yazoo "About her, Yazoo... I don't think that will be necessary." Yazoo seemed to turn wary "Huh? What do you mean?" I approached the master computer and started working there, sending a notice to one of my teams ordering that they bring Sephieroth to me. Yazoo was apparently eavesdropping on my actions "Hey, stop! You can't just send people to confront and capture her! What are you thinking?" I replied "I have no choice. How else do I get her here, ask her to show up? Like that's gonna give me results." Yazoo sneered at my response "You are an idiot. Don't say I didn't warn you." I ignored his words and focused on finding her exact coordinates so I could lead my employees in the right direction. When I completed the task, I smiled, my curiosity about the secret of her powers lighting up within myself. I laughed "Oh, yes... this will be a fun project." I kept my attention on the security feed displayed on my screen, waiting to see my employees successfully catch her and bring her to me. I thought I heard Yazoo crying behind me, and he shouted "You monster..!" I turned back to him and argued "If we don't learn the truth behind her abilities, how can we improve the future of this kingdom? If nothing is carefully studied and researched, what future does any world have?" Yazoo was very firm, and his tears stopped "This isn't the way to accomplish what you speak of. What you're doing will only sow fear in the family and hurt the legacy; it's nothing but trouble." I shrugged "Well, I can't expect everyone to agree with my philosophy. Advancing science, to me, is the key to a strong and successful future--a necessity for any world to prosper. Just think of the generations that could have even greater power with this research if it's successful." Yazoo kept silent, then slowly turned away from me without speaking. I decided he gave up the argument, and turned back to my monitor to keep eyes on things, and make sure everything went according to plan.
To be Continued...
(This section will focus on Hojo as the speaker) It was my second day running JENOVA Foundation. Of course, I arrived at HQ much earlier than the other staff that work here. After all, it was my job to decide what we would focus on, and when said experiments and other work would begin. I had spent much of my first day studying thoroughly about JENOVA's trio of remnants. While the information I found on Yazoo and Loz didn't keep my attention much, the leader of the three had me in deep thought. Once a larva, Sephieroth had the most interesting past and events in battles; especially very intense ones. Unlike the other two, she had the potential to go from her perfect winged angel form to her larval form--and this transformation supposedly had much greater potential: she was said to fuse with JENOVA completely when under intense stress. I couldn't find any evidence to prove this, but I couldn't help wondering what granted her such great overall evolution ability. This Kadaj was different and clearly stronger than the one I originally knew about, everything I learned said that for certain. I also learned that she was designed to survive long and intense battles, and served as a weapon for overwhelming JENOVA's enemies with this power. It was no surprise even Cloud couldn't handle her; she changes shape a lot. The question I simply couldn't answer was 'why' she could do this. So, here I was on my second day of work, hoping to learn the secrets of Sephieroth's unspeakable power. I decided to keep my theory simple for the time being and assume the cause is likely a high fluctuation of her JENOVA cells. That, at least, made a certain amount of sense with her form changing. However, certain laws in this kingdom prohibit me from running ideal experiments or testing that would be necessary to prove whether my theory was correct or not. For that reason, I grabbed my phone and called JENOVA, hoping to get permission for this. As I expected, she answered almost immediately "Hojo? Did something happen?" I replied "No, not at all. I'm calling to ask your permission on a very important study I need to prove... it concerns Sephieroth's evolutions. I would like to take her in to understand why she transforms the way she does, if you don't mind. If you want a valid reason, the information I would reap from the experiment could help strengthen future Cetra generations--make your kind stronger, in simpler terms." She sighed "I should've known you would delve into that... I approve your request, but if she dies or becomes fatally injured from anything that happens in your lab, you will be relieved of your position as foundation president; and I will also issue a severe punishment to you. Be careful, or suffer the consequences." I reluctantly said "Ok, fine. If you think I'm going to kill her, I don't know why you would want me in charge, but so be it." Then I heard static, assuming she cut me off. I shoved my phone into my lab coat pocket and shrugged "Well, I wouldn't kill her on purpose, anyway... No risk, no reward." I heard someone enter the room, and turned to see Sephiroth holding Yazoo. I approached him, and asked "Ahhh, Sephiroth... good to see you. What happened to young Yazoo?" Sephiroth sighed "I'm afraid I don't know. He attacked Cloud in JENOVA Manor, and for some reason he simply collapsed when Cloud said something about my kids to stop him. Neither of us know why." I added "Hmm... that is strange. I will have him fixed up in no time, though, I can assure you that." Sephiroth handed him to me, and I took him to an empty table, gently laying him on it. I placed my hand over his chest, but nothing seemed unusual about the energy waves from his JENOVA cells "Very strange... no abnormal signals here." Sephiroth asked "Then how did he black out?" I shrugged "No clue, but if you told me more about what happened, I might know something. Did Cloud tell you anything else?" Sephiroth paused, then answered "He did tell me that Yazoo was holding his head and complained about some discomfort that seemed to be in his chest. If Yazoo was holding his head, however, that also means whatever happened also affected his mind." I nodded "Correct. If it started in his chest though, something would have malfunctioned with his reactor... which means something went wrong with his JENOVA cells. Either they went dark, or they temporarily weakened during that moment." Sephiroth seemed confused "But how? Cloud didn't attack him... at least, he doesn't look like he was physically attacked. It doesn't make sense..." I shrugged "Well, I explained what I know about this. He doesn't seem very weak at the moment, though. He should wake up soon." Sephiroth asked "Can you calculate his reunion rate?" I laughed under my breath "All too easy. Of course I can." I reached into my box of tools, and got out the device I used for the task at hand. I pulled a syringe from my pocket, gently poking his arm with the needle and filled it completely. I emptied the fluid into the device and watched the numbers for a few minutes. Sephiroth asked "How does it look?" I answered "Ahhh, he's plenty healthy. A balanced 300CPM--or cells per minute. Seems normal for his overall strength, so I wouldn't worry. Yazoo is well." Sephiroth seemed relieved "Good. He will be fine, but we still don't know what went wrong that made him black out..." I agreed "True, but it could be something more common such as fainting due to stress. If he has severe PTSD, I wouldn't be surprised at that. Even that can shut off his JENOVA cells for a brief moment." Sephiroth sighed "We all have that... I do, Sister does, Loz does... sadly, it almost feels like a family thing thanks to Shinra." I said "I'm terribly sorry. I wouldn't be surprised that a confrontation with Cloud could do that to him, though. You should understand this better than anyone." Sephiroth turned away from me "Hmph... sorry? I don't buy it. Do good things for the legacy, and maybe I will believe that... or at least help our beloved Mother smile. Please." There was a long moment of silence, but Sephiroth broke it "Cloud got injured as well. I will bring him to you, and expect that you fix him up. While it wouldn't be as serious as Yazoo dying, I ask that you ascertain he is fixed and survives as well. I don't know what Mother has planned for him, but I wouldn't interfere with her plans if I were you. If you do, you'll bring Mother's wrath upon yourself. Just do your job, and do it right." I decided to ignore him and turned back to Yazoo, and saw his eyes were beginning to open up. He moaned "Unngh... where am I?" He sat up, and I helped him down "Can you see alright? You blacked out at the manor. I heard from Sephiroth." He walked around a bit, then turned back to me "President Hojo? Thanks... I have to go find Little Sister, though. She might be worried about me, and I'd rather she not be on edge like that, because.... bad things happen when she is." I stopped him "No, wait. Don't go yet; I have to make sure you're safe to go first. Stay here for the next hour. That's the fail-safe time here." He grumbled "Ahh, fine... but I need someone to make sure she knows I'm ok." I turned back to Sephiroth, who left the room and went downstairs. I looked back at Yazoo "About her, Yazoo... I don't think that will be necessary." Yazoo seemed to turn wary "Huh? What do you mean?" I approached the master computer and started working there, sending a notice to one of my teams ordering that they bring Sephieroth to me. Yazoo was apparently eavesdropping on my actions "Hey, stop! You can't just send people to confront and capture her! What are you thinking?" I replied "I have no choice. How else do I get her here, ask her to show up? Like that's gonna give me results." Yazoo sneered at my response "You are an idiot. Don't say I didn't warn you." I ignored his words and focused on finding her exact coordinates so I could lead my employees in the right direction. When I completed the task, I smiled, my curiosity about the secret of her powers lighting up within myself. I laughed "Oh, yes... this will be a fun project." I kept my attention on the security feed displayed on my screen, waiting to see my employees successfully catch her and bring her to me. I thought I heard Yazoo crying behind me, and he shouted "You monster..!" I turned back to him and argued "If we don't learn the truth behind her abilities, how can we improve the future of this kingdom? If nothing is carefully studied and researched, what future does any world have?" Yazoo was very firm, and his tears stopped "This isn't the way to accomplish what you speak of. What you're doing will only sow fear in the family and hurt the legacy; it's nothing but trouble." I shrugged "Well, I can't expect everyone to agree with my philosophy. Advancing science, to me, is the key to a strong and successful future--a necessity for any world to prosper. Just think of the generations that could have even greater power with this research if it's successful." Yazoo kept silent, then slowly turned away from me without speaking. I decided he gave up the argument, and turned back to my monitor to keep eyes on things, and make sure everything went according to plan.
To be Continued...
