Sephiroth paced in his room angrily as he had been for nearly an hour since hearing the news. He brushed strands of soft silver hair out of his eyes. Gast was dead? He thought. How could that be? The famed professer of Shin-Ra had promised Sephiroth a wealth of knowledge of his parents, but was cowardly in waiting so long to tell him. Now, Sephiroth thought miserably, he would never have the chance, and Sephiroth knew Gast had been his only chance for the truth.

Sephiroth's caretaker, Serena, had stopped by to drop off the news that Gast's body had been found by Icicle Inn, shot dead. This was a very uncomfortable task to accomplish for Serena, of course. Sephiroth had simply glared at her blankly for several moments before turning to face the wall until Serena finally gave up and left. He'd turned away from her, his arms crossed with an adult gait and his face furrowed into a deep frown.

Now, Serena had returned to force Sephiroth through more tortures. She opened the door to his cell and Sephiroth looked at her with great discontent. The strong look in his eyes frightened Serena, who wondered how a boy so young could possess such a menacing aura. "Sephiroth," Serena said in a quiet tone, careful not to arose the boy who was called "unstable" by so many other Shin-Ra employees. "Professor Hojo wants to see you right away."

Sephiroth glared at her miserably, but followed her up to Hojo's office. What did he want now? He'd already had his shots for the day.

The walked to the elevators at the end of the hall and boarded. While Serena stood beside the control panel, choosing the lab floor, Sephiroth stood with his arms folded over his chest, eyeing down the Hundred Gunner that guarded the shaft as if daring the machine to attack. The Hundred Gunner merely hovered in place, its status light blinking as Sephiroth continued to challenge it with his eyes. Serena sighed, watching this silent but rageful exchange. Sephiroth was a disturbed boy. There were things floating through his mind that she could not even begin to imagine.

They reached the lab floor and Serena led the way to Hojo's private laboratory that was located at the very end of the floor. Sephiroth fell in step behind her, still with his arms folded and a frown on his face. As they walked, they passed Gast's lab, which had been boarded up with two-by-fours of wood.

"Hojo plans to expand his lab into Gast's," Serena said, and immediately regretted it. Sephiroth stopped walking and stared at the boarded lab. He could still see Gast's name slider on the doorway. His frown deepened and his eyes narrowed to cat-like slits. Serena swore she saw his eyes glow brighter than usual for a brief second. "Come on, Sephiroth," she said.

Sephiroth scowled and followed to Serena to Hojo's lab. Sephiroth marched straight to the lab and Serena closed the door behind him, waiting patiently outside as the boy entered.

Past the waiting area and the main labs, was Hojo's office. Not seeing Hojo in the labs, Sephiroth marched straight to the back and entered his office without so much as knocking.

He sat in a chair in front of Hojo's desk, where the despicable Professor was sitting reviewing files as if he had not seen the child enter.

Afterlong, uncomfortable moments, Hojo finally looked up at Sephiroth, who was beginning to act nervous He swung his legs to and fro in the chair, brushed his hair out of his eyes, and continued to scowl in Hojo's direction.

"Don't fidgit so, boy," Hojo instructed coldly. He leaned over his desk to take a closer look at Sephiroth. His eyes were such a strange color, a deep black that made Sephiroth's blood feel cold. Hojo's gaze could easily disrupt anyone's nerves. "I suppose you know why you're here?"

"Why?" Sephiroth asked. He refused to look away from Hojo or show him even a slight amount of fear.

Hojo leaned back again. "Hmph. I gather you have heard of the unfortunate death of Professor Gast?"

"Yes," Sephiroth answered calmly, still staring straight ahead at Hojo.

"Ha, well, that puts me in charge of the Shin-Ra science department, as I have been in the time since he disappeared. I wanted to let you know, Sephiroth, that from now on you must answer to me. There'll be no more running off to complain to Gast. Everything from here on in goes as I say. You are under my complete control. Do you understand, Sephiroth?"

Sephiroth narrowed his eyes. "Hmph."

Hojo raised an eyebrow and leaned forward to deepen the eye contact between him and his charge. "What was that?"

Sephiroth shuddered, but kept a defiant look on his face. "Fine."

"Good," Hojo said. "Let's see... ha, ha... tommorow I want you in the lab first thing in the morning for a Type 3 shot."

Oh, no, Sephiroth thought. Type three is the shot that's always glowing green... I only get those every other week.

"I just had one three days ago, Profes-"

"What did I just say, Sephiroth?" Hojo snapped. "I say what goes around her from now on! Do you want to be punished?"

"No," Sephiroth said. "I was just saying that -

Hojo slapped him hard across the face. "You will listen to me with out back talk!" He screamed. He pulled his phone off its hook to his ear. "Serena!" he snapped. "Get this child out of here!" he slammed the phone down. "Out," he told Sephiroth.

Sephiroth carefully stood and walked to the door. His cheek still stung from Hojo's blow. But he wouldn't show the pain.

No, He wouldn't cry.

Hojo entered the lab, a folder in his hand and a smug look on his face. He walked over to a cylindrical, transparent holding cell with a woman curled up shivering on the floor of it.

Hojo walked over the cell and peered into it. "Ah, Ifalna. How are we doing this evening, hmm?"

Ifalna slowly rose her head and glared daggers at him. "Where is Aeris? What have you done with her, Hojo?"

"Don't worry about her anymore, C-1." Hojo said spitefully. "Specimen C-2 is in good hands."

"C-1?" Ifalna gasped. "C-2? What kind of sick game are you trying to play?"

"Ha, ha, ha," Hojo laughed. "This is not a game, Ifalna. Now, I hope you won't try any tricks like you did with Gast the last time. You will pay dearly if you do."

Ifalna sighed and pressed her hands against the glass and lowered her head. "Please don't hurt Aeris, I'll do anything..."

"Shh, hush now," Hojo said sweetly. "You need to rest for what's to come."

Ifalna's weak state finaly took her, and she fainted against the glass.

"Ha, ha" Hojo laughed as he walked towards the incubator on the other side of the room. There lay Aeris, quietly sleeping in the transparent tube. Hojo inspected the tiny baby and smiled before walking off to his ajoining office.

When he reached it, he pressed a button on his intercom.

"Dr. Stephens!" he called through the phone. "Get in here!"

A few brief moments later, Dr. Stephen's rushed into Hojo's office. "You wanted to see me, sir?" he panted.

"Sit down," Hojo instructed. "Have you researched the Cetra at all today?"

"Which one?" Stephens asked.

"C-2," Hojo snarled.

"Oh," Stephens breathed. "I'm afraid it will be quite some time before the Cetra can breed. You see, she's only about eight months old-"

"I know how old she is," Hojo snapped. "What do you take me for, Stephens, some sort of fool? I know that it will be several years before she can breed. It will be several years for Code 1 as well. What I want to know is whether she will be ready by the time Code 1 is sixteen? I'm willing to wait a few years, but if the time isn't satisfactory, I'm going to have do something to speed up the process."

"By the time Sephiroth is sixteen, C-2 will only be nine." Stephens answered. The possibilty that the Cetra will be ready to conceive by that time is very low. And so far, her biokinetics have shown that she may develope slowly."

Hojo tapped his pen on the desk. "Hmm. That will certainly have to be fixed, now won't it? I want a sample of her blood brought to me tommorrow for testing."

"Right," Stephens obeyed.

"Dismissed."

When Stephens was gone, Hojo sat back his chair and stared at his blank computer screen in deep thought. What were he to do now? C-2 would most likely not be ready in time, he thought, and C-1 was much to old for Sephiroth. Maybe he could find another use for her.

As for C-2, something would certainly have to be done to speed up her development. Perhaps hormonal shots of Mako? Maybe Jenova would be able to help. But something would have to be done.

• Chapter 2