The Fifth Act, Chapter 30

[sinnatious]

Title: The Fifth Act

Rating: T for violence.

Summary: FFVII Time-travel. Gen. Cloud has an accident with a Time Materia.

Author's Note:  FFXIII comes out this week!  Anybody remember how I sort of vanished off the net for a while after FFXII came out?  Yeah, maybe should expect that again.  Chapters should still be coming out on Sundays, though.  I'm going to have to work out a playing schedule or something.  It's far too easy to go 'just until the next save point!' which then turns out to be an hour away. 

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The Fifth Act
Chapter 30

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Cloud heaved in a gasping breath, struggling to stay conscious.

 

"One week and two days," Hojo observed from the safety of the observation window.  "Specimen did not reappear within the exact same coordinates as he did in the shorter jumps.  This is in keeping with the pattern developed in the previous five-day jump.  Given the logical fallacies in maintaining one's relative position in space when considering planet rotation and orbit, the mechanics of the jump must be closely related to the principles of Exit materia. Drift can be accounted for by the gradual shifts in the mako currents within the asthenosphere."

 

Jump after jump after jump. Hojo was eating away, bit by bit, the precious time he had left before Nibelheim.  And worse, he couldn't be certain how far off a Nibelheim event might be.  The timeline might have changed dramatically with Genesis's cure.

 

Cloud pushed himself to his feet once he had his breath back. Based on the activity in the next room, they’d be doing another jump almost immediately. They didn’t usually stop unless they made some discovery they needed to analyse, or something went wrong. He preferred to be standing for the jump. Just in case another opportunity presented itself. He’d appeared outside the cage twice more, both on longer jumps, and while in neither case had he been in any condition to act on it in time, he needed those openings. So far, it had been the only chance he’d seen of escape.

 

They’d enlarged the cage after the last incident, though – not by a lot, but apparently it was enough to accommodate for that margin of error. Cloud didn’t understand the details, and didn’t care. They would be careless eventually. Zack waited four years, but it had happened. He simply needed to be ready to seize the moment when it came.

 

“Calibrations complete. Next test to begin in five, four, three…”

 

A sharp whine – familiar now – rose in the room. Ribbon began to warm. He closed his eyes, but his vision snapped white anyway.

 

Despite his best efforts, Cloud choked and stumbled. Only this time, hands caught him before he could hit the bars. Through the ringing in his ears, he heard a shocked exclamation, but couldn’t make out the words.

 

The words weren’t important. He didn’t think – simply reacted. Cloud threw himself forward, barrelling his shoulder into the chest of the person who’d grabbed him. No co-ordination yet, get them off-balance first. They stumbled back, but held their feet. Not enough. Cloud hooked his leg around, trying to trip them up, but they jumped over it. Too slow?! Growing desperate, he threw a wild punch.

 

It was caught. And held. 

 

No trooper, no scientist. That took the strength of another SOLDIER.

 

“-Cloud?! Is that really you?”

 

At last, the world started to come into focus again. 

 

The same cage, in the same depressing room. Scientists still visible through the window, already setting up for the next jump. Everything remained the same, except that all of sudden, a SOLDIER Second Class shared his cell.

 

“Hey, you’re not looking so good,” the newcomer murmured, finally releasing his fist.

 

Cloud let it drop to his side, and felt his horror mount as he at last registered the familiar voice.

 

"Kunsel?"

 

 

…………………..

 

 

Genesis sat on the bleachers at the edge of the gym, watching Sephiroth finish running his sword katas, long bored of the study. He’d seen the General run these flashy routines many times, but saw little point to them these days – never once had they been used in actual battle. He’d long concluded that it must have been like Zack doing squats, or Angeal fawning over Buster Sword. Mindless activities they could perform while thinking of something else.

 

Genesis had no need of such physical distractions, perfectly capable of sitting still when in need of quiet contemplation.

 

Zack fiddled with his PHS nearby. The gym was empty, save them – it was the end of the week, and most SOLDIERs who lived on premises had retreated to pursue relaxation and social endeavours. Once upon a time, he, Sephiroth and Angeal – and for a brief period, Cloud too – would have met for drinks in the General’s office. Now they haunted an empty gym, where they could brainstorm without eavesdroppers or interruption.

 

Not that brainstorming appeared to be doing them any good. It annoyed him that Sephiroth had been given all the tools to find Cloud. Genesis wasn’t exactly jealous, but he didn’t think it fair. He owed such a great debt to their missing colleague, yet was once more relegated to the sidelines by ShinRa’s favourite SOLDIER. 

 

It didn’t bother him as much as it might have before Wutai, but that was a far cry from liking it.

 

Zack grumbled and slipped his PHS back into his pocket. “Must be out of range, still.”

 

“Sergeant Kunsel?” Genesis guessed.

 

“Yeah. He hasn’t come back from the West Continent yet. Service is kind of spotty over there.”

 

Genesis frowned, but didn’t comment further. Unless the oh-so-mighty Sephiroth started living up to his genius reputation, Kunsel’s investigation stood as their last lead of any real substance. They could only hope he was taking so long because he’d found something to follow up, and not because he’d found nothing, but kept looking out of stubbornness.

 

Sephiroth continued whirling and slashing at air, brow furrowed in a near ever-present frown. The Training Room would have been more satisfying for him, no doubt, but the Training Room had a security feed the Turks could access. The Turks were being particularly neutral regarding their efforts, but that could change at any moment. Better they not reveal any progress.

 

Especially since General had gone curiously silent on the matter of his connection with the blond after their last discussion - a response that made the Commander more than a little suspicious.

 

It didn’t look as though Sephiroth was going to finish anytime soon, so Genesis took a page from Zack’s book and removed a shiny black PHS from his pocket, flipped it open, and began thumbing through the contents for what must have been the fifteenth time now.

 

“Hey, isn’t that Cloud’s PHS?” Zack asked, craning his neck to see.

 

“I have it for safe-keeping. And thought it might provide some clues.” It hadn’t, aside from the fact that Cloud had a very unusual contact list – far more unsettling than Angeal’s initial reports on it so many months ago had led them to believe. Most of the numbers returned a disconnected message. If Kunsel’s efforts failed, Genesis’s next plan was to trek out to Corel to meet Barrett Wallace, and then to Rocket Town to talk to Cid Highwind. Both claimed to never have heard of Cloud Strife, but he wondered if they would change their minds with a rapier at their throats.

 

“Clues?”

 

“The names inside. Not to mention the phone itself.”

 

“What’s weird about the phone?”

 

“I haven’t found a store in Midgar that carries this model yet.” Which had been problematic when it came to recharging it after the battery died, soon after they’d reclaimed it in Banora. It had taken him literally weeks to visit every store in the city, even the ones in the slums, searching for a compatible charger. None of them had recognised the model – couldn’t even tell him the brand – and eventually, he’d resorted to coercing a lackey in engineering to jury-rig him something with the right voltage and connection.

 

“Weird. In all of Midgar? It must be a custom job or a designer model or something.” At those words, Zack’s eyes lit up in realisation. “Then-”

 

Genesis nodded. “Precisely. If I can find out where it came from, it might give us a new lead.” How embarrassed Sephiroth would be then, if even with his mysterious connection, his old rival made the most progress.

 

At that moment, the PHS trilled.

 

Zack started, and Genesis nearly dropped it in his surprise, then stared at the ringing device as though it were some kind of new, mysterious species of razor weed. Cloud never got calls - and the only mail he received was spam from some company called 'Treasure Princess', which had become ever more urgent in its frequency of late.

 

“Aren’t you going to answer?” Zack prodded after the third ring.

 

Genesis glanced at the number. It wasn’t one of those in Cloud’s contact list. 

 

He picked up.  Silence.

Bad connection?  "Hello?"

More silence.  Then... "Is this Cloud Strife's number?" The voice was smooth and deep, possessing the same sort of timbre he associated with Sephiroth.

"It is," he confirmed.  "I’m minding his PHS for him. You are…?"

 

For a moment, he didn’t expect a response. Then, “…Vincent.” No last name? The pause before answering made him think it had been omitted on purpose. But then, thinking on it, he could recall seeing the name on the contact list, just not attached to this number. “I’m an acquaintance of Cloud’s.” 

 

“Genesis Rhapsodos,” Genesis introduced himself in turn, mostly to see what the reaction would be. His name had become instantly recognisable, thanks to the press on the Wutai War.

 

He was not disappointed. "Commander Rhapsodos. You are close to General Sephiroth.  Then Cloud has infiltrated your inner circle."  He sounded thoughtful.  "You should warn Sephiroth he's in danger - Cloud intends to kill him."

"Oh, we already know about that," Genesis declared breezily.  "He's tried it a few times already."

Another pause, then… "I shouldn't be surprised.  I take it he was unsuccessful."

"Sephiroth's just fine, if that's what you're asking."  This conversation became more interesting by the sentence.

"Where is Cloud?  May I speak to him?"

“Unfortunately, he’s not here right now,” Genesis drawled. Idly, he noted that Sephiroth had stopped his katas to come listen in. Zack also made absolutely no secret of the fact he was eavesdropping.

 

“Will he be back soon? I have important information on… some progress in an important matter. For something he wanted done as soon as possible.”

 

Genesis paused. Could it possibly be-? “Do you have the cure?” he snapped.

 

“…I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”

 

“The cure! For degradation! Are you the person Cloud was waiting on?” Genesis demanded.

 

“…You must have the wrong person. I’m calling about something that had been… misplaced.”

 

Genesis’s shoulders sagged, before he remembered his audience and straightened once more. It would have been too good to be true, if Angeal’s cure had fallen into their laps like that. But it didn’t make the disappointment sting any less.

 

Regardless, they had a new contact to interrogate about Cloud. Given the scarcity of information on the blond, they couldn’t let him get away so quickly. “I see. My apologies for the misunderstanding. We’ve been waiting for word on it for so long – I thought perhaps…” Genesis stalled.

 

Zack tilted his head at him in question and made random gestures that might as well have been a chocobo’s mating dance for all the meaning they held.  Sephiroth fared slightly better, using a quick series of field hand signals, which normally meant to draw enemy fire, locate the wounded, and report ally positions, but in this context he figured ordered him to break cover and ask Vincent if he knew anything outright.

 

“I understand,” Vincent was saying. “When would be a good time to call back?” A rather casual way to avoid offering his own number to return the call.

 

Genesis considered for a moment, and decided they didn't have anything to lose.  "Actually, I should confess that I haven't been entirely forthcoming with you.  Cloud is currently missing.  We've been trying to find him for some time now, but we're not altogether sure he even wants to be found."

 

Silence. 

 

He could certainly imagine Vincent being a friend of Cloud's.  They were both excellent at avoiding giving more information than absolutely necessary and maintaining awkward silences long past the point where most people would assume the connection broken. 

 

Then, abruptly, "It isn't safe to have this conversation on the phone.  I'll look into it, and be in contact in person soon."  The line went dead.

 

Genesis closed the PHS.  "Delightful fellow."

 

"He thinks Cloud's PHS is tapped?" Sephiroth asked with a frown.

 

"More likely he was calling from a public phone. ShinRa does monitor those from time to time. It wouldn’t surprise me if the Turks had put out a notice to trace anything that called Cloud’s PHS." It made Vincent a paranoid bastard, but if he were friends with Cloud, he almost expected it.

 

Speaking of paranoid bastards. “Do you think he could be a threat?” Sephiroth mused.

 

Genesis flashed the General a mocking smile. “Hardly. His very first thought was to warn me that you were in danger from Cloud. Rather late, but it’s the thought that counts, surely?”

 

Sephiroth didn’t look particularly amused, and Zack was trying – and failing – to stifle laughter.

 

It troubled him, however. What news could Cloud have been waiting on other than the cure for Angeal?

 

 

……………………

 

 

“Where did you come from? I’m not just imagining this, am I?” Kunsel asked.

 

Cloud didn’t get the chance to answer before Hojo gave the order to start the next jump.

 

“Begin recording. Initial test for the transportation of multiple subjects within the same materia field. Power levels rising. Seventy percent… eighty percent…”

 

He slammed into the ground again, but forced the fog from his brain and peered through bleary eyes, seeking the other occupant to the cage, still not convinced he hadn’t imagined it.

 

“Ten minutes and three seconds. Error level, less than one percent.”  The speakers crackled, as impersonal and uncaring as always. “The gauges recorded an unusual energy spike moments prior to the jump, and the second specimen’s biometrics have left the safe zone.”

 

The purple jumpsuit and standard-issue helmet were still there. He reached out, and tentatively poked the prone form. The fabric gave way under his prodding. Not a hallucination. 

 

Cloud sat up and pushed his fellow SOLDIER over. It had only been a short jump, but Kunsel was in a bad way – the visible portion of his face had turned paper-white, he could hear his heart racing, and his hands were badly shaking.

 

He thumped him once on the chest. “Breathe,” he urged.

 

With a jerk, Kunsel choked, then rolled onto his side, coughing and wheezing. His face flushed with colour. 

 

Distantly, Cloud could hear Hojo’s murmuring, picked up in the background by the microphone. "Interesting. The disparity in the results could only be explained that way. Mako levels appear to be a primary factor in both inducing and surviving a successful jump.” A pause, then, “No. I’ll need to revise the equation with the new data first. Lock it down for now.”

"What is this?  What just happened?" Kunsel croaked.

"Hojo's using Time materia to jump things into the future," Cloud explained in a whisper. “Just focus on breathing. You’ll feel better soon.”

 

Kunsel did just that. Cloud sat quietly, watching the scientists scurry about through the observation window like needlebirds building a nest. At least the glass wasn’t mirrored, so he wasn’t surprised when the lights flickered out, plunging the room into absolute darkness.

 

"What's going on?" He felt Kunsel start next to him, struggling to rise into a sitting position. Cloud grasped him by the arm and hauled him up.

 

"It looks like they've gone for now.  They've got some new results to go over."  He’d figured out something of the logic behind the experiments. Hojo appeared to be fine-tuning the amount of energy he needed to pump into the materia to make a stable jump, but apparently any number of variables, from the length of the jump, and now probably the number of people involved, could influence it, so occasionally he’d get a break whenever the scientist found anything unexpected he wanted to analyse. Normally when the lights went out, he could be guaranteed at least a few hours respite.

 

"Is it safe to talk?"

 

"Yeah.  I tested it out. There aren't any microphones on this side, just cameras.  Hojo doesn't care what his specimens have to say."  He couldn't keep the bitterness out of his words.

 

"Infrared?"

 

Cloud paused, and Kunsel added, "The cameras."

 

"Oh.  Yeah."  He didn't know for sure if these ones were, but based on experience, Hojo wouldn't turn off the lights otherwise.

 

"So much for that plan of escape," he muttered.  His voice sounded steadier now, but hadn't quite lost its breathiness yet.  The jump had really knocked him around. “And I guess there’s no chance of rescue from within ShinRa, if the head of the Science Department is running things. They always get the lion’s share of the budget, you know. Always wondered what they spent it on.”

 

Cloud made a small sound of agreement.

 

“Do you think the President knows that we’re here?”

 

“Probably. He gives Hojo whatever he wants.”

 

“Yeah, that’s what I heard, too.” Kunsel cleared his throat, and asked, "Anything to eat?  I must have been in here for about two days before you suddenly turned up."

 

"No."  Cloud's stomach grumbled at the reminder.  He'd woken up to find ration bars next to the water two or three times, but had no way of measuring how long ago that was.  In his perspective, it might have only been a couple of days, but due the jumps it had to be longer.  With trepidation, he murmured, "...How long have I been gone?"

 

"You don’t know?”

 

How could he? He’d tried to keep track, but spending so much time sedated, and then the jumps on top of that…

 

“Cloud, you've been missing for nearly five months."

 

He froze. 

 

Five months?  Already?

 

Cloud knew that with the experiments Hojo had been eating away far more time than what he could keep track of, but he'd been guessing something in the realm of a month, two on the outside. It felt like forever, but he’d been sure…

 

Five months.

 

His head spun, and he squeezed his eyes shut.  Gaia, it was happening again. 

 

"Four years?  Don't mess with me!"

 

"Cloud?  Hey, you with me, man?" Kunsel's voice took on a worried note.

 

He shook his head, chasing out a memory he knew to be one of Zack's.  “Sorry. It’s just-” The words caught in his throat. How much longer did he have? “Just… give me a minute.”

 

“Sure.” After an awkward pause, Kunsel ventured, “Are you sure you’re okay? You weren’t looking so great when you appeared out of nowhere.” He sounded as though he’d finally returned to normal strength, but it still alarmed him that the Second Class had handled a comparatively short and stable jump so poorly. 

 

“It was just the jump. I’m used to it. Takes a minute or so to shake it off,” he muttered. Too much to take in. Things were moving too fast, and the situation now… "How did you wind up in here?"  Kunsel wasn't supposed to be here.  Out of everybody he'd dealt with, he had the least to do with the horrors of his original timeline.

 

"It’s kind of a long story.”

 

Cloud shrugged a shoulder. Kunsel laughed. The walls seemed to absorb the sound, muting it, as though it were unwelcome. “You’re right. I guess we’re not exactly going anywhere.” He shifted, trying to get into a more comfortable position. “Zack and I have been looking for you ever since you disappeared.  The Commander and General, too. It's been tricky, trying to make progress between missions without upsetting anyone.  And we hardly knew where to begin.  All Zack could remember was that you said you originally came from Nibelheim.” He heard the Second scratch the back of his neck – as he always did when embarrassed. A bad habit he’d picked up from Zack, probably - or maybe vice versa. “Would have been here sooner, but it's hard to get missions over to the West Continent - they normally give them to SOLDIERs stationed at Junon.  But eventually I got lucky.  The Science Department wanted a SOLDIER escort for some highly classified research they were transporting to the Nibelheim reactor.”

 

In the darkness, he could barely see Kunsel’s silhouette slouch in place. “I’d planned on completing the mission then looking around the area. But as soon as I’d finished the escort to the Reactor… Guess I’m still a long way from First Class, if a Turk can take me out.”

 

The Turks. Seemed like they hadn’t changed much in this timeline. “Which one?”

 

“Tseng. At least I got taken out by the leader.” He chuckled mirthlessly. “Weirdest thing, though. Right after he got me, he said something strange. ‘We’re lucky it was you.’ But then, I guess he’s friends with Zack, and wouldn’t want to fight him. The whole mission must have been bait.” He grumbled something uncomplimentary about ShinRa personnel policies under his breath.

 

Bait? It would be just like Hojo to order a mission for the sole purpose of getting another SOLDIER to run his experiments on. But somehow, something bothered him about the timing. If he guessed right, Kunsel’s mission would have come up only a week or so after he’d given Hojo his scare.

 

Escorting highly classified research? To the Nibelheim reactor?

"Jenova," he breathed.

He finally knew where she was.





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