Disclaimer: Final Fantasy belongs to Squaresoft and various other interested parties, not me. I'm not making any money from this, and no infringement of copyright is intended. This is a work of fandom, intended as appreciation of the original work.

Chapter 4

There were an awful lot of things the recruiting officers neglected to mention when they were handing out brochures, Cloud reflected. They were always talking about glory and honour and the thrill of battle, about serving with the best military on the planet. And most of all, about the SOLDIERs and how strong and fast and admirable they were.

What they didn't tell you was that as a grunt, the vast majority of your working time was spent on patrol or guard duty. They didn't mention how mind-numbingly boring it was to walk through the empty halls of the Shinra Corp tower, or to stand motionless for hours in front of a door somewhere.

On the other hand, there were moments when Cloud would happily have volunteered to spend a double shift standing guard over the least important door in the compound, if it would get him away from the duty he'd been assigned instead. This was one of those times.

Coming around a corner, he caught a glimpse of movement ahead and nearly panicked, jerking his rifle up and around to aim. Just before his fumbling finger found the trigger, he finally registered the blue uniform that was the same as the one he was wearing. "Zack?"

The older boy had been facing the other way, and he jumped visibly when Cloud called his name. Turning, Zack scanned the dim room until he saw Cloud at the other end. "Hey Cloud! Don't sneak up on me like that. I nearly fired on you."

"I nearly fired on you," Cloud retorted, moving up to join him. It did make him feel a little better to know that Zack was just as jumpy up here as he was. He did his best not to look around too much as he walked, not wanting to look too closely at the things in the tanks and specimen jars. "Hades, but the laboratory levels are the creepiest place I've ever been. I hate patrolling up here."

"You and me both," Zack replied ruefully, tipping his helmet back so Cloud could see his face. "Hell, us and the entire rest of the army, that's why these levels always get assigned to the tenderfeet. And these helmets don't help, they cut off half your line of sight. Who the hell designed these, anyway?"

"Not someone who was ever going to have to wear them," Cloud agreed sourly, pulling his own up far enough for him to be able to look around properly. The helmets included goggles that could be switched to a night-vision mode, which would have been more useful if not for the interference given out by all the lab equipment. Even outside of the interference, though, the night-vision was hardly worth the horrible restriction to your field of vision imposed by the narrow lenses. Not to mention the way everything became washed in shades of red, making it hard to distinguish between colours.

"Probably the PR people," Zack said, rolling his eyes. "Just think of all the identical soldiers in their neat little ranks in parades and such. Never mind the fact that having our vision restricted might make the difference between winning and losing a fight, and it's our asses on the line."

"Or maybe it's to make it easier for the brass not to think of us as people," Cloud suggested with a shrug. "So they don't have to feel bad if they send us out to die. If they can't see our faces, we might as well be toy soldiers."

"You might have something there," Zack snorted. "Well, either way, there's not much we can do about it. We'll just have to make SOLDIER soon, they don't have to wear helmets." He grinned. "Three months until the next exams. We'll have to work our asses off, but we can do it!"

"I know, Zack," Cloud said with exasperated good humour. "You've reminded me at least five times a day, every day for the last week!"

With a sheepish laugh, Zack shook his head. "Well, it bears repeating. Motivation, and all that. And part of getting in involves not getting caught slacking off on duty, so let's get moving. We'll patrol together, all right? Maybe then it won't seem so creepy."

"Are we allowed to do that?" Cloud asked in surprise as they tugged their helmets back down.

"Sure, I've seen other guys bunch up in twos and even threes," Zack said, shrugging. "It's not like this level is so big it needs multiple people patrolling in the first place. They just need something to do with us all."

Following along as Zack set off down the hall again, Cloud did his best to focus on his friend rather than everything else around them. "Do you suppose it's less creepy during the day?" he asked, fingering the trigger guard on his rifle nervously. "I mean, there'd be people wandering around, and presumably they'd bring the lights up?"

"I dunno about that last part," Zack said thoughtfully. "I heard the lights are mostly kept dim, at least in this area. Something about potential damage to the specimens. But yeah, surely with people around it's got to be less spooky."

"What are they doing up here, anyway?" Cloud wanted to know. Despite his best efforts not to look around, he kept getting glimpses of dead animals stuffed or otherwise displayed for view, and other less recognizable things that were probably best left unidentified.

"Studying the monsters that have started appearing outside Midgar, I think," Zack said, squinting at one of the displays. "I heard some people think they're connected to the way the soil out there is drying out, though I don't really see how that could be. Nobody knows where they're coming from, so they're probably trying to figure it out."

"Strange creatures shouldn't just appear out of nowhere, should they?" Cloud asked uncertainly. It seemed pretty unlikely to him. "I mean, they have to have come from somewhere. Up in the mountains where people don't go, maybe?"

"That's the most popular theory," Zack agreed. "I think their food supplies must be affected by the same thing that's destroying Midgar's farms, and they're just ranging farther afield in search of food than they ever have before. Still, it's good to study them, we can probably learn a lot. And the guy who runs the labs is the same one who came up with the SOLDIER process, right? They probably do lots of studies on that, finding ways to improve it or lessen the side effects so more people can withstand the transition."

"I'd hate to have been one of those first few people they made into SOLDIERs," Cloud said, shivering. "Can you imagine? Undergoing an experimental process like that, not even really knowing what it would do to you."

"I dunno, Sephiroth was one of the first, and he turned out pretty well," Zack laughed. "But yeah, I hear you. I'm glad they've got most of the bugs worked out now."

The conversation died out; it was hard to find innocuous things to talk about in this atmosphere. As they walked Cloud found himself sneaking surreptitious glances at Zack, though it didn't do him much good. It was hard to read his friend when all he could see was the lower half of his face.

He'd been watching Zack a lot over the last week, though. He couldn't seem to help himself. The older boy had never said or done anything to indicate that he remembered the drunken kiss, and Cloud was seriously starting to believe he'd just imagined the whole thing.

That didn't stop him from thinking about it, though. Somewhat to his embarrassment, he found himself thinking about it rather a lot. He'd tried to tell himself it was only to be expected, after all... having a guy kiss you wasn't something you'd forget any time soon. And if it had really happened, it was his first kiss, too.

Still. Cloud tended to blush at odd moments, especially if Zack caught him looking and teased him about it. He'd never had the courage to ask about it, and wasn't sure he really wanted to anyway. What would he do if Zack remembered, and said it hadn't been a mistake?

What would he do if Zack remembered and it had been a mistake?

Shaking off his thoughts, Cloud risked a look around to distract himself. They'd entered the live specimens area now, which was at least a little less creepy than looking at rows of dead animals and body parts. The cages ranged in size from one as small as Cloud's hand, to one that took up nearly half a room. Not all of them were full; in one Cloud saw a lizard-like creature with dull red scales, with a black VI tattooed into its shoulder. Beside it were two apparently sleeping creatures that looked like blue mounds of fur, the closer of which had an XV tattoo visible.

A sharp bark and a sudden thud from his other side startled Cloud into swinging around, his rifle levelled and finger on the trigger. Beside him Zack had dropped to one knee to get out of Cloud's line of sight, his rifle trained on the now growling animal as well.

Only a mesh of wire stood between them and the snarling creature. Hoping the cage was strong, Cloud studied the massive dog-like animal. "Zack, that's a Nibel Wolf!" Cloud exclaimed, his eyes wide. "They live in the Nibel mountain range. Only I've never seen one that big before. And it doesn't quite look... right."

It was half again as large as any wolf Cloud had ever seen in the mountains, and its claws and teeth seemed out of proportion even for the larger size of its body. Muscles bunched in odd places on its limbs, and its muzzle was longer and narrower than what Cloud was used to.

"Maybe they live in the mountains around here, too?" Zack suggested, slowly straightening from his crouch. "Or some kind of cousin to them?"

"Maybe," Cloud agreed doubtfully. "There haven't been any reports of strange creatures showing up anywhere other than Midgar, have there?"

"Not that I've heard," Zack shrugged. "But they'd probably be keeping something like that quiet to avoid a panic, so it's hard to say. You really think that's a Nibel Wolf?"

"I don't know," Cloud confessed quietly, staring into the wolf's eyes. It looked back at him with an uncanny intelligence, and he shivered. Some instinct told him that whatever this creature was, its intentions were entirely malevolent. "I guess not. Nibel Wolves aren't all that smart, for one thing, and this one..."

"Yeah, it's pretty smart," Zack agreed. "Looks like it's trying to figure out how to get its paws around the latch."

"It cannot escape." The sudden and unexpected voice from behind them made Cloud yelp, and they both jerked their rifles around to aim at the man who'd entered the room. Apparently oblivious to the threat of the guns pointed at him, the man moved forward to pat the cage holding the wolf, equally oblivious to its snapping fangs just short of his fingers. "All the cages are quite secure, and designed specifically with the capabilities of the contained specimen in mind."

Recovering from the surprise faster than Cloud, Zack cleared his throat. "This is a restricted area, sir. May we see your pass, please?"

The man's shoulders were shaking beneath his lab coat, but it took Cloud a moment to realize he was laughing silently. Turning to face the two troopers, he raised an eyebrow at them and pushed a stray lock of hair out of his face. "Well. Guards who actually do their job, how refreshing. I trust this will be sufficient clearance for you?"

He pulled a badge from his lab coat pocket and held it out; from this angle Cloud could only get a glimpse of the picture, but Zack would be able to read it.

The helmets kept him from seeing Zack's expression, but he knew his friend well enough to read the sudden intake of breath and tension in the older boy's shoulders as shock. "Professor Hojo, sir!" Zack came to attention and saluted, and belatedly Cloud did the same. His brain caught up to him a moment later as he finally recognized the name, and he drew in a sharp breath of his own.

The man who had pioneered the SOLDIER program regarded them with a faint trace of cynical amusement in his expression for a moment, before waving off their salutes with an irritable gesture. "I have no patience for your military formalities. You are tonight's guards, I take it?"

"Yes, sir," Zack confirmed, dropping the salute. "I apologize for not recognizing you, sir."

"Bah." Turning, Hojo moved away from them to study the large red lizard, smiling as it breathed a gout of flame against the glass walls surrounding its cage in an attempt to burn him. "I'd much rather have overzealous guards who question everyone than the lackadaisical ones I usually seem to be burdened with. I was beginning to suspect Heidegger of deliberately assigning his most incompetent men to me in an attempt to sabotage my department.

Zack and Cloud glanced at each other, and Cloud repressed a snort. Somehow he didn't think it would be very politic of him to mention the fact that only green recruits were assigned up here, specifically because it was considered the worst job on the whole guard roster and nobody else would do it.

"Perhaps I should request to have you assigned here regularly," Hojo mused, and Cloud stiffened. Having to patrol here all the time instead of just every so often as it came up on their squad's roster would be the worst thing he could imagine. He'd never sleep properly again, considering the nightmares he was sure he was going to have tonight.

"With respect, sir, I believe the duty roster is regularly rotated to prevent anyone from becoming complacent with a familiar assignment," Zack said smoothly. As usual Cloud had to admire his friend's ability to think on his feet under questioning - this time he might even be telling the truth, too. "If we were always assigned here, we'd end up becoming as careless as the people you're complaining about, just for different reasons."

"I'm not certain that's entirely sound reasoning, but I'm a biologist, not a psychoanalyst," Hojo shrugged. "At any rate, I will be working late tonight. You will guard the door. You may patrol the rest of the floor if you like, but under no circumstances am I to be disturbed, is that understood?"

"Sir, yes sir!" Cloud and Zack acknowledged in unison, saluting again.

"Good," Hojo said, gesturing at the door. "Off with you, then. Remember, no interruptions. That door is to remain shut even if the building is burning down around us."

Both of the troopers made quick time back to the door they'd entered by, and Zack closed it behind them. When they were standing out in the hall again, they tugged their helmets back and looked at each other wide-eyed.

"What was that all about?" Cloud wondered. "What kind of experiments would he need to be doing at midnight, without even any techs around to assist him?"

"Maybe that's the point," Zack said, shrugging. There was more than a hint of unease in his voice, though. "I mean, maybe it's something so delicate he can't risk having anybody else around to ruin it, so that's why he's doing it so late. I bet people are always barging in on him during the day with 'emergencies' and administrative crap. Probably drives him nuts."

"He's creepier than the rest of the lab combined," Cloud declared, shivering.

"Yeah. Charismatic though, when he wants to be," Zack said thoughtfully. "And he can't be just an absent-minded scientist type, if he's this high up in Shinra's cut-throat political environment. I heard he's got a lot of influence on the president."

"Where do you hear these things?" Cloud asked, momentarily diverted. "You work with the same people I do, and I never hear any of these things you're always so casually repeating."

"That's because you just work with them, you don't actually talk to them," Zack replied, laughing and rapping smartly on Cloud's helmet, making his ears ring. "You always hang back and let me do all the talking, when you participate at all. You need to be more outgoing Cloud, seriously."

"I'm as outgoing as I want to be," Cloud retorted, rolling his eyes. "I've got you to drag me into being more sociable than I want to be, already."

"Yeah, and you love it," Zack teased him, grinning broadly as he knocked Cloud's helmet the rest of the way off and caught it in one hand, using the other to mess the smaller boy's hair vigorously. "C'mon, admit it. What would you do without me? Wither away in your dark little corner, probably."

"Zack! Cut it out!" Cloud protested, trying to duck away from the ruffling. As always when Zack got this close to him he found himself thinking about the kiss, and his heart was pounding. At least if Zack bothered to ask, he could write off the faint flush in his cheeks to embarrassment from the current teasing. "You are such a pain!"

"And you are way too cute for your own good," Zack replied, laughing. The words were so similar to what he'd said that night that Cloud froze for a panicked moment, half expecting another kiss. Instead Zack jammed his helmet back on his head, putting it on deliberately askew so that Cloud could only see out of one side of it.

Grumbling, he reached up to adjust it, giving Zack time to step back out of range of retaliation. "So you think we should stand guard here, or go patrol some more?" Zack asked as Cloud straightened himself out.

Thinking about the rows and rows of disturbing samples in some of the other rooms, Cloud swallowed. "Stay here," he decided. "If we go patrolling we might miss someone, and they could come knock on the door or something. The professor said he didn't want any interruptions."

"True enough," Zack agreed. "Door guards it is then. At least we don't have to stand motionless. I suppose it'd be a bit much to pull out a deck of playing cards, though?"

Cloud knew Zack wasn't serious, because for all the older boy's teasing there was nobody who took his duties more seriously than Zack. Still, he was half tempted to take him up on it, just for the distraction a game of cards would provide. He didn't want to be caught slacking off either, though. Neither of them could afford any black marks on their record if they wanted to make it into SOLDIER.

He was about to say as much, but his words were pre-empted by a sudden shrill scream from behind the door they were guarding. It was a high, thin noise, almost more of a shriek than a scream, and it sounded like an animal in mortal pain.

"What was that?" he asked, his head jerking around to the door so fast he was surprised he didn't break something. "What's he doing?"

"I don't know, but it doesn't sound pleasant," Zack said, grimacing. There was another scream, this one ending in a choked sounding cry. "Fuck. And he wonders why he can't get decent guards to stick around."

"Y'know what?" Cloud said. His words came out a little too fast and high, but he couldn't seem to calm them. "I think I changed my mind. It'd be stupid if someone got in and messed around in the lab while we were just hanging around here, right? Maybe we should patrol after all."

"I... can't fault your reasoning," Zack agreed, glancing at the door again as a third cry came, this one little more than a whimper. "We'll just make sure nobody gets this far, and that will keep him undisturbed too." He jammed his helmet back down, and headed back the way they'd come at a trot.

They didn't slow their pace until they were past the first room full of samples. Cloud decided that compared to having to stand outside that door and listen to animals screaming, the rest of the lab was downright homey, not creepy at all. "How often do we get assigned up here?" he asked, proud that his voice trembled only a little.

"Too often," Zack replied, shaking his head. "Way, way too often."

"Hojo gives me a bad feeling," Cloud said softly. He felt like a chicken saying something like that, as if admitting he was too scared to face the man. But this was the sort of 'bad feeling' that twisted in your gut until you felt nauseous, and you were sure that whatever it was your subconscious was worried about, you never wanted it to happen.

"Well, surely he doesn't work this late every night," Zack said, reaching out and squeezing Cloud on the shoulder. It felt like a gesture meant to reassure him as much as Cloud, and in an odd way that was the part that comforted Cloud most of all. "With any luck, we'll never run into him again."

Return to Final Fantasy VII Page

Return to the Main Index

Email Miko no da