#xbroken-science

|| Sephiroth - Answers ||Text Message Meme\Prompt || Status: accepting|| Secrets (Hojo)|| Verse:CrisisCore ||

@xbroken-science

Expectedly the response was quick. Painfully so.

It always was.

He stares at the screen, the message, angered by it's simplicity.

Three sleepless nights, and he, Midgar's shining hero, sat. Body tense, and feral, fearing a fourth. Or worse...the night terrors again--

The smoke, a monstrous thing wearing his own skin, dead serpantine eyes, that blurry mountain village in flames....and blood...Gaia, the blood--

The headaches worsened, the voice-like buzzings becoming more maddening in age, and Sephiroth's increasingly frequent bouts of insomnia.

As required, he kept Hojo informed, leaving out the small detail of the monstrous sleeping visions of this self he did not want to understand. Reluctantly to say the least. It wasn't the rumors and whispered mockery that disturbed the silver General. Let them joke about 'Hojo's pet project', 'Shinras spoiled poster child'.

Irritants, but nothing more than a bug bite really. No. There was something chilling...wrong, perhaps something kept secret about the professor... It was in his eyes. Hidden behind lust for knowledge, and layers of expertly carved masks. There was something likened to torment. Sephiroth found his own need to understand it disgusting, to the point his resentment grew stronger the more he had to meet those eyes. To ask these poorly answered questions.

He types the words 'You're hiding something' without knowing... He only knows he's done this when the screaming static in his skull grows dim, and the text upon the screen comes back into focus.

Deleting the words. The silver soldier crushes his phone... And suddenly...there is quiet, there is weight to the fibers in his muscles, enough to feel drained entirely.

@xbroken-science​ liked for a small starter !

       “Guess, ya know why I’m ‘ere. No sweat, I’m gonna mind my own business while ya mind yours.”

@xbroken-science​ ❤’d for a starter.

Everything in life is a choice. It was a mantra to live by. Words of wisdom on which Aerith could stake her entire world view. It had been a choice to come back to Shinra. A choice to sit in that four walled cell; to take command of her destiny and clutch with both hands at the fleeting dregs of control so scarcely afforded to her. It was a choice that had spared Marlene; one that allowed her to retain her innocence and naivety to the inner workings of the world. For that reason alone, it was the right one to make, ( a point the ancient had been forced to remind herself repeatedly ) - although face to face with the Professor, she was finding it a particularly bitter pill to swallow. 

It wasn’t that she hated the man; for all her faults, the florist didn’t have it in her to hate anyone - but there was certainly no love lost for the scientist, or his warped ideas of progress for that matter. How her father had ever tolerated the man was anyone’s guess, but even poison had its uses. Straight backed and silent, the brunette had listened to his tirade, snippets of data interspersed with anecdotal evidence as she’d resisted the urge to rise to his taunts. Ifalna had taught her patience; humility, forgiveness - three things she was struggling to remember when emotions were raw and left to run uncheck, but despite her dislike, and whatever sinister machinations endured within that ever complicated skull - the truth of the matter was, Hojo had answers that nobody else did. Answers that the flower peddler craved, even if she would rather have coaxed them from him with the assistance of a swift kick and a sturdy boot.

𝔹𝕖𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔹𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕥 || @xbroken-science​

There were many ways Arialla could have entered ShinRa HQ undetected. However. not many would give the result she wanted. She used a familiar tactic that got her into most places. Fortunately, enough for her, she wouldn’t need to try too hard to get to where she needed. The poor unfortunate soul she chose wouldn’t be as lucky. Stored away where no one could find her, Arialla assumed the woman’s shape down to the last strand. Out of all the people she shifted into this one in particular wasn’t exactly the shape of Midgars finest models. Even the dark strands seemed oily and untouched by mortal amenities. Arialla enjoyed finding new humans to play around with but this one didn’t interest other than her current use. Needless to say, the calamity continued forward into ShinRa HQ.

Arialla didn’t have many interactions with the woman she turned into. There were times they happened to “bump” into each other but all she could recall was a fearful young girl obedient to the science departments leading scientist---the man she wanted to strongly converse with. That is the personality trait she used to gain access to the Specimen facilities. Residue of an old soul remained here. Even before opening the lab doors, she felt it. She hated it. It disturbed her insides. It almost made her feel completely ill. After collecting herself, she opened the doors. A resonance of the horrors that took place in this lab spread throughout her body. Sickness almost threw her into vertigo. It was as if her brethren were crying out to save her. Their cries echoed in her senses. Were they her brethren or the lives lost and howling in the lifestream? It was hard to tell who was calling out to her. She sat down to keep her appearance together.

Her eyes caught all the normal utensils a lab would carry. She gripped one of the scalpels and examined it. Though the blade wasn’t dull, it showed the wear and tear of its use. Who were the professor’s victims? If the rumors were true, was her ancestor Jenova one of them? That is the question she wanted answered among other things. Would he willingly give her information? Arialla instantly knew he wouldn’t without any distributing material. The rest of the crew left for the day, but she stayed behind waiting for the man of the hour while twirling the item around her fingertips. 

It was the last thing she ever wanted to show or to feel, those things that ate her from the inside out. Hidden behind a counter in a lone lab room she clutched within her hand a syringe. The delicate mixture of a sedative she created to not put her to sleep, but to ease the pain of those emotions...to help shut them back inside.

Her eyes shut tight she tried to resist, but she simply couldn’t. Those uncontrolled breaths spilled from her as she tried to hold back tears, tried to keep those feelings from consuming her as she angles the needle and slides it into her arm, quickly releasing it’s contents into her system. Shutting it all away. With a sigh she lets the empty syringe drop to the ground and holds her head between her hands. 

She did her best to hide from others, to avoid being seen in such a state. But she should have known that the Professor would have caught her at some point. 

“Thank you,” he grunted, crossing his arms grumpily. Why was she so excited about his birthday? As far as he was concerned, it wasn’t any different to any other day. But that last thing she said...

“What would you mean by that?” he asked, raising a brow. “This better be important, my dear.”

“Oh, I think you of all people will find this very important.”  Her fingers wind around his arm, giving him a small tug to let him know he’ll have to follow. When it came to space and boundaries, Isrieal certainly didn’t know the first thing about those. Unless of course, she was doing it all to purposefully bother people. Especially him. 

“Let me show you.” She beckons with a finger then turns to lead him into the mainframe room she usually spent most of her time in. “But you cannot tell another soul, Professor. People would most certainly abuse this. Do I have your word?” She slips in front of the central computer and pulls up a rather complex looking file in a secret database she has created.

“I also have to know that you won’t use this against me.” She says with a shifty eyed look cast in his direction. “This...” She highlights a section of the strange script upon the screen. “Is human code.” She says with a grin. “Translated into...well, this.” She gestures at the whole system. “I uploaded it.” She says with a disbelieving shake of her head. “I fucking uploaded a piece of my consciousness.” So this is what she’s been spending all her time in here doing.