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Darkened Skies	By : Cynthia Category: Final Fantasy VII > AU - Alternate Universe Views: 949 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: Final Fantasy and all characters are the property of Square Enix. I do not profit from this fanfiction, it’s for entertainment purposes only.

Chapter List
- 11
- 12
- 13
"Darkened Skies"
Chapter twelve: Recovery
A Final Fantasy 7 AU fanfiction
~***********************************~

            The morning after their return to Midgar, Genesis and Angeal paid a visit to Sephiroth's quarters, with Zack in tow—literally. The youngest of the three wanted nothing to do with another intervention, but he was already dug in too deep and his companions wanted him there to give his account of the events. Sephiroth greeted them with ridiculous cordiality and let them into his room, smirking a little as Genesis practically dragged Zack with him. The four of them sat down to talk about everything that had happened during their time apart and just as Angeal and Genesis expected of him, Sephiroth calmly confessed his actions as if another person had made them.
            When the discussion finished, there was a long, awkward stretch of silence. Angeal stood with his arms crossed over his chest and a brooding expression on his face. Sephiroth sat in the armchair beside the couch, his emerald gaze thoughtful and opaque. Genesis sat on the couch with Zack, with his left ankle crossed over his right knee and his gloved fingers absently drumming against the leather surface of his boot. Zack looked between his three pensive companions and of course, he was the first to break the silence.
            "Hey I just realized I'm the only one here that doesn't have a wing."
            The other three Soldiers looked at him and he felt like he'd just called them all fat or something. "Uh…just saying, it kind of makes me feel like the odd man out."
            "Poor you," Genesis remarked caustically. "Being the only non-monster in the room must be sheer torture."
            All the smacks he'd earned from Sephiroth must have rubbed off on Zack, because he reached out and popped Genesis on the back of the head impulsively. "You guys aren't monsters, so stop saying that."
            "Excuse me, did you just—"
            Angeal smoothly took a seat on the couch, putting himself between his protégé and his lover before Genesis could do more than sputter indignantly. "Be that as it may, Zack raises an interesting point. We aren't 'normal' anymore and however we see ourselves, we need to be careful about exposing our nature to the civilian population."
            "Rumors are going to spread," Sephiroth reasoned. "If they haven't already. Word is eventually going to get out that SOLDIER has three winged operatives."
            "But there's no reason to exacerbate it by showing off in public."
            Genesis raised a brow at the big man. "Why did you look at me when you said that?"
            Sephiroth smirked. "Hmph, I can't imagine."
            Ironically, Zack came to the redhead's rescue. "He's not that bad, guys. Cut Gen-Gen some slack."
            "Thank you," said Genesis graciously, "and stop calling me 'Gen-Gen' or I'll rip your spine out."
            "Cranky," observed Zack. "So anyway...our main reason for being here is to check in on Sephiroth, right? He says he's doing fine so we can go, can't we?"
            "Do you have somewhere better to be?" Genesis asked.
            Zack checked his watch. "Well, yeah. I need to do some training and I've got a mock mission at eleven."
            "I have inspections to do," murmured Sephiroth. "And I'm meeting up with Valentine for further mental exercises later."
            "What about you guys?" Zack prompted, looking between Angeal and Genesis. "Don't tell me they've got you both on the shelf, now."
            "Just me," grunted Genesis. He gave a nod in Angeal's direction. "He's being reinstated, today. They've got him instructing recruits again."
            Zack grinned at the red-clad Solider. "Yeah? So what do they have you doing, Gen-Gen? Group therapy? Finger painting?"
            Genesis narrowed aqua eyes on him. "Anger management."
            Angeal patted the redhead on the leg in a subtle gesture of support. "If you'll restrain yourself and cooperate with them, you won't have to do it for long."
            Sephiroth smirked. "I imagine telling the analyzing doctor to fuck himself sideways on the Junon canon didn't leave him with the impression that you're in control of yourself, Rhapsodos."
            Zack looked scandalized for approximately two seconds, before bursting into helpless peals of laughter. "He said that? Aw, man! To be a fly on the wall!"
            Angeal even grinned a little, though he gave Sephiroth a puzzled look. "How did you hear about that?"
            "Lazard," answered the general. "He called me early this morning, just before you came to my door. He asked me to please talk some sense into Genesis, if I could. It appears that he's operating under the delusion that I have some influence on your behavior, Rhapsodos."
            "How slowly they learn," responded Genesis dryly. "But he needn't worry. I've come to the sad conclusion that the fastest way to get out of this is to just play along and cooperate."
            Angeal and Zack stared at him with surprise and Sephiroth raised an eyebrow.
            "You don't think I'm capable of doing it?" challenged Genesis.
            "I don't think you have the patience, these days," explained Angeal, "but I won't discourage you from trying."
            "Cool, so Angeal's training recruits, Seph's doing hypnotherapy with Valentine and Genesis is spanking his inner moppet. I feel like my schedule is pretty mundane now. I've got nothing to do except focus on my training."
            Angeal laid a hand over the youngest Solder's shoulder. "That's a good thing, Zack. You never should have been burdened with the responsibilities you've been forced to shoulder. I'm glad that you can get back to focusing on your training and advancing through the ranks."
            Zack smiled, but it was tempered with a bit of regret. It was too late to save his relationship with Cissnei. Even if he called her up and promised his schedule was a lot more open and predictable now, he knew she wouldn't give it another chance. Maybe she was right and the two of them just didn't fit together.
Thinking of Cissnei naturally made him think of girls in general and he looked at his companions thoughtfully. "You know, you guys still kind of owe me for putting me through all of this crap."
            The other three Soldiers glanced at each other and shrugged. "Then how can we make it up to you, Zackary?" asked Angeal.
            Zack considered the question. "Hmm."
~************************************~

Later that evening:

            Angeal sat miserably, staring at the Mako lamp in the center of the table to avoid looking at the abundance of female flesh surrounding him. "This was not what I had in mind."
            Sephiroth sat reading a book beside him, trying to tune out the noise of the booming dance music. He spoke just loudly enough to be heard. "You sound surprised."
            The big man heaved a sigh. "I was hoping for something simple, like a new sword or combat gear."
            "It's Zackary." Sephiroth smirked, not looking up from the book in his gloved hands. "Women and sex occupy every cell in his brain that isn't dedicated to SOLDIER. As his mentor, you above all people should have expected something like this."
            "As long as he doesn't expect us to hire a prostitute for him, I suppose we can endure." Angeal tried to make the best of the situation and he looked around for a waitress. He saw Zack coming back to the table, returning from the bathroom. Of course, he had a topless girl on each arm and a broad grin on his face. The girls were helping him carry drinks back to the table and they seemed to adore the handsome young Soldier—or they adored his wallet.
            "Hey guys! Seph, what are you doing?" Zack stared at the general as if gravely offended. "You can't read a book in this place! Look at all the women surrounding you!"
            Sephiroth glanced up and cast a disinterested look around the club. "Yes...we're surrounded by half-naked women. What exactly do you expect me to do about that, Fair?"
            Zack thanked his lady companions and took the drinks from them, setting them on the table. "What guys are supposed to do at strip clubs, man! Look at them! Get lap dances! Stuff money in their g-strings! Buy drinks for them!"
            "Waste a month's pay on ladies I won't be sleeping with," corrected Sephiroth. "I'll put the book away, but I have no interest in interacting with these females."
            Zack shook his head. "You're hopeless. What about you, Ange? Want a lap dance? My treat." He whistled at the brunette with the perky breasts that had helped him bring the drinks to the table. "Hey, could you give my friend a lap dance?"
            "N-no, thank you Zack," declined Angeal. His chiseled features revealed his horror at the thought. "I'm not interested in a lap dance."
            "Aww, come on," coaxed Zack. "You never go on dates and you just bum around the ShinRa building when you're not on assignment. A little time with a woman won't kill you!"
            "You're embarrassing him, Zackary," advised Sephiroth with a glance at Angeal. "We agreed to accompany you on this...endeavor. None of us agreed to let strippers undulate in our laps."
            Zack sighed and shrugged, putting an arm around the smiling girl that he'd been ready to pay to dance for Angeal. "Fine...that just leaves more for me. Where's Gen at, anyway? Maybe he'll get a lap dance with me."
            Sephiroth snorted and glanced sidelong at Angeal. "Doubtful."
            At the mention of his lover, Angeal became concerned. Genesis had gone to the bathroom shortly after Zack left to go, but he hadn't returned yet. They had arranged for he and Genesis to go out on the town with Zack—which incidentally compounded his humiliation, as the authorities knew exactly where they were. If Genesis took it into his head to escape this situation, the authorities would track him down and charge him with violating his parole.
            Zack suddenly perked up and grinned. "Oh, there he is. See? He knows how to have fun. Huh...I kind of thought he was gay, but I guess I was wrong."
            Angeal and Sephiroth wore matching frowns of confusion as they followed Zack's gesture with their eyes. There stood Genesis Rhapsodos at one of the stripper platforms, holding a gil note between his teeth and leaning over the stage for the well-endowed blonde dancer to take it from him with her teeth.
            "Interesting," Sephiroth muttered, the expression on his angelic face probably the closest thing to surprise anyone would ever see.
            Angeal literally had no words. He sputtered and stared at Genesis, wondering if perhaps the redhead's madness really had returned—or maybe it never faded to begin with. Without saying a word, Angeal got out of his chair and made his way across the room, squeezing past other patrons and topless waitresses.
            "Genesis," he called when he made it to the other man's side, "What in hell are you doing?"
            Genesis let the stripper have his gil and he shrugged at Angeal, leaning close to speak to him without being overheard. "I'm doing what all of these drooling idiots are doing, Hewley. You're the one always begging me not to draw un-necessary attention to myself, so I'm blending in." He nodded at Sephiroth, who still sat at the table, watching them with curious green eyes. "You and our falcon should take a page from my book. The two of you look utterly out of place in here, between him reading his book and you acting like you'll catch the plague if a female rubs up against you."
            "I just...it's objectifying," protested Angeal uncomfortably. "My mother raised me to respect women and—"
            "—And you're in an establishment designed to objectify them—and the fools who toss money at them—to the business owner's best advantage," interrupted Genesis, "I might add that these ladies chose this line of work. If anything, you're disrespecting them more by sulking and refusing to play along."
            Angeal couldn't quite understand that logic, even as he couldn't deny it.
            "I'll never grasp your way of thinking," he muttered. "But I'll try not to be so...obvious."
            "Good. Now quit staring at me before people think we're gay."
~************************************~

            The night eventually passed, much to the relief of everyone except Zack. He was unsteady on his feet by the time they left the club and Angeal half-carried him to the cab. He helped the corporal to his room when they made it back to headquarters, while Genesis went straight to Angeal's quarters to have a shower. The big man resisted a smirk at his boyfriend's eagerness to wash the smell of the club off of his body, and once he got Zack into bed and secured in his room, he hurried back to his own quarters to join Gen in the shower.
~*******************************~

            A few days passed and true to his word, Genesis made a conscious effort to be civil at his next psychiatric evaluation. He reclined on the couch with a dramatic sigh and the doctor sat down and began. "Now, Mr. Rhapsodos, the last time we were in here, you were quite hostile. Do you think you're ready to work with me?"
            "Yes, doctor." Genesis mentally recited "Loveless" in his head while he waited for the next question.
            "Good. Why don't you tell me how you're feeling?"
            "I feel fine," answered the Soldier. "How are you?" He found a coin in his pocket and he started to flip it into the air, watching it spin end-over-end.
            "I'm feeling fine too," answered Doctor Sato. "Thank you for asking. Now, would you care to give me more details on that? You seemed to have a lot of anger, when we last spoke. I'd like to help you deal with that, if you'll let me."
            "There's really nothing to deal with," said Genesis. "I got it out of my system."
            "All the same, I would like for you to talk to me about the reasons for that anger, even if you summarize it for me."
            Genesis sighed and begged Minerva for patience as he caught the coin. He kept picturing Angeal's face staring down at him as he watched the spinning ceiling fan blades overhead and he knew the big man would remind him that as soon as he got a clean evaluation, he wouldn't have to suffer through this bullshit anymore.
            "I'm angry about being lied to. I'm angry at the company, because the lies started with them. I'm frustrated to be in this situation and I'm also a little hungry."
            "Mm-hmm. All of that sounds perfectly reasonable to me. I have a tuna sandwich here in my lunch box. I'd be happy to split it with you, if you like."
            Genesis frowned and caught the coin again. It was on the tip of his tongue to ask the man if he was aware he was too old to be carrying a "lunch box" around, but he heard it open and he smelled the tuna when he unwrapped the sandwich. His stomach rumbled and he turned his head to look at the doctor. Sato was holding up two halves of a sandwich, offering one of them to him.
            "Mother always warned me not to take candy from strangers," Genesis said, unable to resist a bit of sarcasm.
            "This isn't candy and I'm no stranger," countered the older man calmly. "I'll take the first bite, if you're afraid I've drugged it."
            Genesis considered the offer, holding the doctor's gaze. Finally, he shrugged and sat up to take half of the sandwich. "Don't think I'm not aware of the subtle purpose behind this."
            "And what purpose would that be?"
            Genesis smirked and lifted the bread to examine the contents of the sandwich. "Wild beasts are tamed through a process of steps…usually beginning with food."
            "But you're no beast," protested the doctor.
            Genesis glanced up from the sandwich. "That would depend on whom you ask, doctor. Humans are animals and animals are beasts." He smirked, his mind going to completely inappropriate places. Actually the 'beast' was Angeal, and that was just how he liked it.
            "You're a very interesting young man, Genesis." The doctor took a bite of his half of the sandwich.
            Genesis took a bite of his half too, saying nothing.
~*******************************************~

            And so it progressed day by day until finally, Dr. Sato reported that he was satisfied that it was safe for Genesis to resume his duties—under observation, of course. The probation was lifted and he no longer had to wear an electronic tracking device. Angeal moved up a rank within a few months and Zack started to help with the training of recruits. There was some decent cash flow coming in for the SOLDIER program and the ranks began to build back up again. Sephiroth's reliance on Hojo's treatments waned until he finally mastered the ability to shut out or at least muffle Jenova's voice, enough not to require the intervention any longer.
            The lack of expected visits from the general began to trouble the professor, and he called Sephiroth into his lab when he knew his schedule wasn't busy. Hojo studied the silver-haired young man quietly when he arrived and he shooed his assistants out so that he could speak privately with him.
            "I'd appreciate it if you would get straight to the point," Sephiroth informed him in a bored tone. "I still have duties to fulfill, this afternoon."
            "Of course, of course," Hojo responded in a wheedling tone. "I called you in here because I'm concerned for your well-being, my boy. I haven't seen you in over three months now, except in passing. It's very unusual for you to go for this long without treatment." He narrowed his eyes on the Soldier, looking him up and down for any suspicious signs of change.
            "Everything is fine," Sephiroth assured him, gazing at him levelly. His serpentine eyes were unreadable, as was his marble expression. "I know how relieved that must make you."
            "Er...yes." Not for the first time over the past year, Hojo felt ill at ease. "Tell me, has the voice remained dormant, or has it simply been quiet enough to endure without my treatment?"
            Sephiroth crossed his arms over his chest and smirked. "I just don't listen to it, anymore."
            Hojo frowned. "That isn't possible."
            "Isn't it?" The general looked darkly amused. "Why, because you say so? I think it's time for you to accept that you aren't as in control as you like to believe, Professor."
            Hojo could appreciate the truth behind that, no matter how much he wanted to deny it. Everything was unraveling bit by bit, and he had reason to believe that Sephiroth suspected something about the pet project in Sector zero. He kept his calm and he gave the Soldier an oily smile.
            "I'm only trying to protect you, Sephiroth. You are, after all, my pride and joy." He decided to test it. "Jenova? Can you hear me? Are you—"
            "She won't answer you," interrupted Sephiroth with a frown. "Because I won't let her. You have no power over me any longer, Hojo. I suggest you get used to that fact and have a care not to cross me, from now on. Your usefulness to this company is the only thing staying my hand."
            "Is that a threat, boy?" Hojo began to reach for the security button under his data desk as Sephiroth approached him, those emerald eyes locked on his. "I created you. Do you think you have power over me?"
            Sephiroth's masamune swung out before Hojo could even begin to press the button and the scientist froze, his black eyes going wide behind his glasses as the razor-sharp blade stopped just short of decapitating him. He didn't even feel the cut it made as it rested against his throat, but he felt the trickle of blood. Sephiroth's eyes narrowed on him and the general uttered a low warning.
            "I think I can kill you whenever it pleases me," assured the swordsman.
            "Release me," demanded Hojo.
            Sephiroth smiled coldly and the sword didn't withdraw.
            "I said release me," urged the professor, his unease quickly giving way to fear.
            "It seems your subliminal commands no longer work on me either," announced Sephiroth, sounding pleased. "I wondered. Now I have proof."
            "Don't be a fool," urged Hojo, swallowing nervously. "If you kill me, you lose everything you've worked so hard to achieve and I'm your own flesh and blood!"
            "Genesis didn't seem to mind killing his parents for their betrayal," mused the general impassively, holding the masamune steady. "And he tends to be more emotional than I am."
            When Hojo had no response for that, Sephiroth finally lowered his blade. "As I said before, Professor, I recognize that your work is still required in this company. Consider this a reminder that you don't own me. Have a pleasant afternoon."
            With that said, Sephiroth turned on his heal and walked out of the lab, leaving Hojo pressing one hand over his bleeding neck and staring after him. When he was gone, the professor got to work on his data logs immediately.
            "He can't have obliterated all of it," muttered Hojo. "The deeper suggestions I've implanted can't just be...wiped out...so easily! How did he do it? How did he subdue the Ancient and how did he overcome my basic commands? I must know!"
            He kept muttering to himself as he went over his well-hidden, encrypted notes for any clues he might have missed. If he was losing control of Sephiroth, then he would need to come up with a way to protect himself. All he could see in those slit pupils was his own death, despite Sephiroth assuring him that he understood the importance of his continued research. Hojo's control over the situation was slipping steadily and if he could no longer command his actions, he could not guarantee that Sephiroth wouldn't one day decide to turn on him completely. He hated him; there was no doubt about it.
            "I will not allow myself to be slaughtered by my own specimen."
Hojo wracked his substantially gifted brain for options. He could always try to create a new specimen to defend him from Sephiroth...possibly a superior one. That process could take years, however—and he was being watched. The other alternative was to implant suggestions into the mind of an existing specimen. Of course, there were none as perfect as Sephiroth, but Hollander's boy and Rhapsodos weren't total losses, now that their deterioration was corrected. Genesis in particular had untapped potential—as evidence showed with the project Hojo had taken over when Hollander went rogue. Of everyone in SOLDIER, that hulking Angeal and his poetic companion were the only two likely to pose a real challenge to Sephiroth in a fight—unless one counted Zack Fair, who was improving day by day.
"But Fair has an uncooperative genome," grumbled Hojo. "Are his wits too thick to be penetrated by subliminal command, as well?"
            The more he thought of it, the more he came to believe that the idea of using Zack as a defensive measure was a bad one. The pup could barely listen to regular commands without getting distracted. Subliminal ones weren't likely to be any difference. Hewley might not be the best subject, either. The big man's stubborn sense of honor was so deeply ingrained, even implanted suggestions might not be able to compromise it.
            That left Rhapsodos. "But the question is, how to access him?" Hojo mused to himself, tapping his pointer finger against his thin upper lip. Genesis wasn't likely to come into his lab of his own free will, and attempting to catch the man by surprise to drug him would likely be a suicide mission.
            "I haven't lost complete control yet," reasoned Hojo in a whisper. "I have time. An opportunity will arise, sooner or later."
            His phone went off and he answered it eagerly when he saw the ID that showed up. "Mr. President, I've been meaning to speak with you about something. I'm afraid my research progress will be hampered, unless you can intervene."
~************************************~

            Lazard certainly wasn't expecting a visit from his father. He had no chance to prepare; his secretary didn't even buzz him to tell him the man was coming. President Shinra used his master keycard to unlock Lazard's office door and he walked in with the arrogant self-assurance of a man that spent his life in privilege. Lazard was working on the SOLDIER payroll and he was just about to take a bite out of his deli wrap when the rotund blond man came in, with Heidegger at his side.
            Lazard put his food down and stood up, forcing himself to be cordial despite his burning resentment. "President," he greeted. "Mr. Heidegger. I wasn't informed you were coming."
            "I'll get straight to the point," President Shinra said, brushing off Lazard's hint at the breach of protocol. "You've placed Professor Hojo under investigation without informing me, haven't you?"
            Lazard swore inwardly. "Yes. I didn't want to burden you with it. I thought after the events with Hollander—"
            "Call off the investigation," interrupted Shinra. "Immediately."
            Lazard frowned. "Sir, I have good reason to believe that Hojo is involved in some underground operation, conducting illegal experiments with Mako. I think until it can be confirmed that he isn't, he should be closely monitored."
            "You'll do as I tell you to do," demanded the president harshly, "and I'm telling you to call off this investigation! Professor Hojo has my trust, and I promised him complete autonomy. I won't have you impeding his work over a hunch brought about by your dislike of the man, and you've already pushed your authority far enough. Don't ask me for more favors, Deusericus. My patience is wearing thin."
            Lazard glanced at Heidegger, who was wearing a lopsided grin on his bearded, ruddy face. The head of Public Safety seemed pleased—probably because he still resented Lazard for getting some company funds re-directed to SOLDIER, rather than the standard military. He knew he couldn't win this argument. His father was clearly convinced that Hojo wasn't a liability like Hollander, and he foolishly believed the threat was gone now that the latter was locked away and Rhapsodos was back in the "fold". Lazard was too worldly to keep pushing a battle he knew he couldn't win openly, so he conceded as gracefully as possible.
            "Whatever you think is best, President Shinra." He gave a respectful nod, keeping his true feelings carefully concealed.
            "Good." The older man seemed pacified by the show of cooperation. "See it done immediately, Director."
            "Of course." Lazard watched the two men leave together and he gritted his teeth when Heidegger blurted that awful horse's laugh of his.
~***********************************~

            Lazard arranged a meeting between himself, Sephiroth, Genesis, Angeal and Zack that night, after he obeyed the president's order and called off the investigation on Hojo. He insisted on meeting everyone away from Headquarters, where there was no chance of anyone listening in on their conversation. They met up at a run down motel under the plate in sector seven and Genesis did an interesting little jig to stomp a couple of cockroaches when they approached the door to the room Lazard had rented. Angeal knocked and the curtain in the window fluttered to reveal Lazard's bespectacled face briefly. The door unlocked and the blond SOLDIER director ushered them all in, keeping an eye on the parking lot behind them.
            "Thank you for coming. Until I have the opportunity to thoroughly search my office for bugs, I couldn't risk a meeting there. You weren't followed?"
            "Nah, we took the sewers," Zack said.
            Lazard frowned at him.
            "Kidding," Zack said, spreading his hands. "We took a cab."
            "If anyone followed us, they deserve to find us here," Genesis remarked as he shut the door behind him. He brushed imaginary dirt off his newly tailored jacket—which looked exactly like his old red leather jacket. "We were careful."
            "What is this about?" Angeal asked somberly. He and Sephiroth didn't share Zack and Genesis' sarcastic attitude about the impromptu meeting.
            "I assume it has something to do with your order to cease surveillance of Hojo," guessed Sephiroth.
            Lazard nodded and checked outside the window once more before gesturing at the beds. "Please, have a seat. I'd offer chairs, but as you can see, there aren't any."
            Genesis took one look at the twin beds and grimaced. "I prefer to stand, thank you. Who knows what sort of fluids those sheets has erstwhile absorbed? Not to mention the strong possibility of bed bugs and lice."
            Zack was halfway in the process of sitting down when Genesis said that, and the brunet changed his mind and stood back up with a mistrustful look at the bed. He scratched his sooty, spiked hair and frowned at the thought of lice. "I think I'll stand too."
            Angeal and Sephiroth likewise remained standing and the general regarded Lazard with quiet curiosity. "I nearly came to speak with you the moment you gave the order," he said, "but my time in working with you has taught me you rarely do things without a good reason. So, let's hear what that reason is, Director."
            "President Shinra would be the reason for that." Lazard slipped his hands into the pockets of his pinstripe blue trousers and sighed. "He came to me today and gave me a direct order to cease the investigation on Hojo, immediately. I tried to reason with him but I got nowhere. I can only assume that the professor lodged a complaint and for whatever reason, my f—the president sided with him. He wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer."
            Angeal sighed. "Hojo must have influenced him, somehow. That man has a strange way of getting people to do what he wants."
            "Yeah," agreed Zack, sobering. "Why else would President Shinra risk the security of his own company? Hojo and Hollander are two sides of the same coin, if you think about it. Just because one of them got caught and is in custody doesn't mean the other one's in the clear. Old man Shinra might be greedy, but I never thought he was stupid."
            "No," agreed Lazard, "he's definitely not stupid, more is the pity. The president is shrewd; but he's also arrogant. He thinks his judgment is infallible and Hojo has him convinced he's trustworthy."
            "Or the president is involved in whatever Hojo's up to," Sephiroth murmured, narrowing his eyes. "SOLDIER unit 14: Lost Force. Do you remember me asking you about that, Director?"
            "Yes." Lazard's brow furrowed. "What does it have to do with Hojo or the president? Have you found new information?"
            "No," answered the general, "but given all the different branches of the company, I've long suspected that someone in charge knows something about it. You and Reeve are clear, but I can't confirm the same for the other executives—including the president."
            "It isn't beyond the realm of possibility that the president would conduct a secret operation of some sort without informing me," sighed Lazard. "If he were to share such a thing with either of us, Rufus would be his first choice."
            "So all the executives except Lazard and Reeve might be in on a big conspiracy?" Zack's face screwed up.
            "Where is the proof?" demanded Angeal sternly. "I'm sorry, Sephiroth, but this is all in theory. Hojo is a likely suspect but we'll just work ourselves into paranoia if we assume everyone outside SOLDIER is in on something nefarious."
            "Why not?" Genesis asked with a shrug. "You saw how they all behaved at that damned summit. I wouldn't find it too difficult to believe that most of them were involved in something pungent. Of course, it stands to reason that if we presume it has to do with Hollander, he might have some information for us."
            "But will he share it?" asked Lazard.
            They all looked at each other thoughtfully.
            "I think I can convince him to talk," Angeal said grimly. "I'll pay him a visit tomorrow."
~************************************~

            "All I can tell you is that some of Genesis' samples were being used in genetic splicing procedures," Hollander obliged when Angeal arranged a visitation with him and questioned him. "I was replaced by Hojo before I could learn much more than that."
            Angeal didn't even have to threaten him. Hollander was much more cooperative these days—possibly because he saw the potential in getting back at Hojo through cooperation with Angeal.
            "Why would they want to use Genesis' samples?" Angeal queried. "He was 'unstable', until you found the solution to change that."
            "True, but his cells had untapped potential," answered the doctor. "To the best of my knowledge, the president was considering using favorable results to further enhance SOLDIER operatives. You would be wise to have Professor Hojo monitored, Angeal."
            Angeal frowned, but he refrained from informing Hollander that the president ordered all official investigative measures against Hojo stopped. "Have you told me the truth, Hollander? Can I trust any of this information you've given me?"
            "I have no reason to lie to you," answered the older man. "Not anymore."
            Angeal sighed. It didn't bring them any closer to finding out what was going on, but it did lend credence to Sephiroth's suspicion that the president was somehow involved. "Thank you."
~***************************************~

            Angeal reported his findings to Lazard, first. Having confirmed that there were no hidden monitors of any sort in the director's office, it was now safe to do so there.
            "So we can safely presume that there is a government conspiracy happening beneath our noses," Lazard said after discussing the matter with Angeal. "Wonderful."
            "It feels like conspiracies have ruled my entire life," murmured the big Soldier. "This isn't so different."
            "Well, there's not much we can do about it openly," sighed the director. "My father made it clear that he doesn't want me or this department interfering with anything Hojo does. That means we'll have to resort to some covert doings ourselves, if we're to keep an eye on the professor. To do that, I'm afraid we need someone with more impressive hacking skills than ours."
            Angeal frowned in thought. "What about Tuesti? He's known for being technologically savvy, isn't he?"
            "With engineering," answered Lazard. "I'm not sure that would carry over to computer hacking, but considering he's probably the only executive we can trust right now, we might be best off speaking with him about it."
            Angeal nodded. Even if they uncovered some mass conspiracy, he wondered what they could do about it. SOLDIER was overseen by Lazard, but the program belonged to the company, above all.
~************************************~

-To be continued
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- 13
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Darkened Skies