Final Fantasy: Interferance

Kira woke up in a dazed and dreamy state, crumpled awkwardly on a cold tile floor, her suitcase, looking somehow more dented than when she was packing it, laid a couple feet from her outstretched arm. Shaking her head somewhat free of the fog that clouded it, she sat up and looked wearily around at the odd place she found herself in.

In front of her, there was a large dome-shaped metallic tank and over the tops of several wooden crates, behind her, she could see the top of a curious glass cylindrical room. Suddenly feeling very frightened she stood. Taking deep breaths and kneading her fingers in the wooly material of the olive green plaid skirt that hung just above her knees, she began to calm down. That was, until she saw it.

Through the tiny glass window in the tank she saw the thing that had called her here. It was even more gruesome in person. It's blue, soggy flesh had small bubbles clinging to it and the eye seemed to peer straight at you. Feeling drawn towards it, Kira flung herself back, hitting her tailbone on the floor with a loud cracking sound. Wincing in pain, but still in shock at seeing the thing from her nightmares she used her legs to scoot herself as far away as she could from the haunting window. Finally resting against one of the crates, she relaxed for a moment, hearing footsteps. Surely, who ever was coming could help her get out of here and back home. Surely.

Kira poked her head around the crate she had scooted herself behind, she almost called out to the suited man that was walking into the room, but after seeing the hand-cuffed girl he lead with him, she figured it wasn't a good idea. The man had long black hair and a card hanging from his pocket that read, 'Tseng, Turk, Shin-Ra All Access'. The girl that hung her head as she walked with him had long ringlets of light brown hair that reminded Kira of Syrina's curls. Another man, with glasses and greasy black hair, met with him and walked the girl into the glass cylinder, throwing her in rather violently; he turned and thanked the man called Tseng. Just as she thought she was safe, Kira's wet hair and still-damp clothing brought on a high-pitched sneeze.

The scientist turned quickly at the sound of the sneeze and gave Tseng a significant look. For a moment it looked as if the man would argue back, but he just grumbled under his breath and pulled out a gun, pointing it at the crate. The way he held himself showed that he felt he had complete control of the situation. When he spoke his voice was deep and commanding. "Come out from there now."
Kira's eyes widened, and remembering her suitcase lying in the middle of the room, she realized it was just a matter of time before she was found anyhow. Crawling slowly because of her bruised tailbone, she came out from behind the crate. Looking straight at the barrel of the gun, she resisted tears, analyzing this quick terrible turn in her life.
Tseng was lowering his gun as the scientist spoke in a slick yet deep voice. "Putting the gun away already? I hope it's because you know her and not because you're losing your touch, Tseng."
The longhaired man cast a quick glare at the man and then made his face go back into the calm mask he usually wore. "No, I don't know her Hojo. However, you can see that she is obviously unarmed since her luggage is in the middle of the floor. I wonder how such a great scientist as yourself didn't notice that before though."
The scientist didn't answer but turned to the black-haired girl and looked her over as if analyzing a potential enemy. "Who are you, what are you doing here, and how did you get into my lab?"

She looked up with wide eyes then her gaze dropped, she attempted to speak firmly but a twinge of fear was audible "My name is Kira Felix... I don't know what I'm doing here and I just woke up on your floor... In front of that thing." She didn't turn her head but pointed a slender finger towards the tank.

Hojo smiled like a proud father as he looked at the tank. "Ah, so you've met Jenova. Lovely specimen, isn't she? I'd have to say my research on her is the best to date." Tseng rolled his eyes and walked to the suitcases that still lay in the middle of the floor. He lifted one up and looked at the girl. He felt bad for her, but he needed to know how she got there. "I'm going to go through your stuff."

"Go ahead. Panties and make-up mostly." she said, almost laughing at the fact that her everyday luggage was being viewed as potentially dangerous. It was like airport security all over again. Her thoughts then went back to what the scientist-looking man had said. "It's name's Jenova?" she said almost absent-mindedly, "What exactly is it?"

"Well," The scientist looked almost delighted to hear the question. He straightened up a bit and smiled at the girl before him. "She didn't always look like that. She looked as human as you and I, though her powers make her so much more. It's my hypothesis that she landed here 2000 years ago from another world. She was the most powerful creature on the planet at the time and the Cetra; the natives of this planet back then, were afraid of her. They viewed her as the ultimate evil for some of the things she did and rallied against her to seal her in the sleep you see her in now. However, before they managed to do so she sent out a large plague that killed almost the entire race of Cetra. Now, she is just a shell of her former self." He ended sounding almost sad that she was gone and sighed a bit. He walked to the glass and smiled at the creature inside.
"It's really creepy though." she said lightly then almost giggled seeing Tseng carefully thumb through her belongings. Still, in the back of her mind, she was extremely frightened. But she had a way with putting worries to the side by telling her that everything would be okay eventually. "So, where am I exactly... if you don't mind my asking?"

"You mean besides in my lab?" Hojo looked the girl over as he would one of his specimens. "You're in the Shinra building in Midgar." The scientist quickly glanced at Tseng to see him still going through the girl's things. "What's the last thing you remember?" He asked the young girl, eager to learn more about her. He had his assistant constantly watching the lab and she would've tripped the alarm if she had come to the lab by normal means. He had a feeling he was looking at his next experiment. Of course, she'd have to wait until after he was done with the creature from the Canyon.

"Um... I was packing my things to go see my friend Syrina, before that... " Her voice trailed off unsure if she should tell this man about her dreams. But hoping he would offer an explanation she spoke again, "And I had been having these dreams... About your Jenova. And other images... Like a white mask and machinery and a guy with silver hair... I mean I know I must sound crazy but... they seemed so real, like a memory."

The scientist had adopted a poker face and was now looking at her in a new light. He hooked his hands behind his back and walked a full circle around her like a vulture would its prey. "Hmf, hmf, hmf…" He laughed oddly and then spoke to her, ignoring the worried looks of Tseng. The Turk had finished going through the stuff and was now standing straight, his face a calm mask also. "Jenova once wore a white mask. I had placed her in a machine-tank device in a Reactor near Nibelheim and she wore the mask then. Interesting… Very interesting…" He nodded to a seat at a desk full of scribbled notes. "Please, have a seat."

Nervous, the cold soggy girl walked to the chair and sat. Pulling her damp 'Tool' t-shirt away from her skin she looked up to the scientist, and then pitifully at Tseng, then back to the almost obsessive gaze of the scientist. The Turk sighed and mentally kicked himself for not noticing the girl's clothes before. "Hojo, can't you let the girl get changed before she dies of pneumonia?"

The greasy haired scientist looked coldly at the Turk and nodded. "Yes, but hurry up and change. I want answers and quickly."

Tseng picked up the bags and then nodded to the girl. "Come on, I'll take you to the company showers so you can clean yourself up." He waited until the girl had stood up, though she looked as if she was having some difficulty, and walked beside her, staying just a step ahead so she could follow him to the elevators. "Hojo is a very dangerous man and you have managed to unwittingly become his next experiment. Congratulations Miss Felix."

Kira looked down "Is he really that dangerous? I've never heard of him... I've never even heard of Shinra..." She stepped into the elevator and stared silently out of the glass taking her suitcase from Tseng. Clutching the handle of the battered roll-on luggage carrier, which became increasingly important to her as she realized it was all she had left of the world she knew, she let out a sigh.

Tseng sighed and let his mask fall for a bit. He gave the girl a friendly hug as he spoke. "Hojo is probably more dangerous than anybody or anything else in this world. He will go to any lengths to get what he wants and to be the most powerful and most famous there is. Even if what he does is wrong." He pushed the button for the floor with the gyms and held back against the urge to hug the girl again. He hated seeing an innocent girl under Hojo's experiments, even if she did look as if she had already been through quite a few judging by her abnormal piercings.

"Well, if he's really that powerful, I guess there's no turning back now." she gave a half-hearted smile a she pulled her suitcase into the gym area. Walking past the odd gazes of Shinra employees she walked into what appeared to be a shower room.

Slipping off her damp clothes, she washed herself under a hot stream of water. Over and over, her thoughts returned to Tseng’s words about Hojo. She dried herself with a white towel bearing the Shinra logo and then sat down on a shower room bench to slip new clothes on. After pulling on a pair of red plaid pants she buttoned a fitted black blouse over her chest. Pulling her hair into a headband, she stepped out of the gym area, ready to hurry up and finish whatever Hojo had planned for her.

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