How To Save A Life

Part I: Trauma

Prologue: Circumstances

„In the light of recent events in the North Crater, a team of ambitious scientists lead by Professor Akira has left Midgar to uncover the nature of the strange activity recently registered in the deepest known cavity of the expanse. Both the World Regenesis Organisation and the ShinRa Scientific Research Institute reassured us that there was 'no reason to worry' in their joint press release this morning and that a reason for the unnaturally high mako levels measured would soon be uncovered. The excursion to the research site is set to last a full month before the scientists are scheduled to return to evaluate their findings. Alongside Prof. Akira and his assistent Dr. Med. Grayle, seven researchers including geologists, physicists and biotechnicians are joining the expedition that, according to inside sources, could easily bring forth ground breaking results, as has almost all research conducted in the Crater so far. As always, we will be covering the events meticulously so make sure to tune in for the latest updates."

A young man straightened his glasses and gave a nasal snort in disgust. As usual, the plebeian crowd was spoon fed only the fraction of information deemed appropriate for such simple minds and as a result, his visionary work was slighted, reduced to nothingness, by the lack of intellect in the crowd collective. Worthless, the lot of them. His ideas, his visions for the future of science, of medicine, were unparalleled and if he found what he was looking forward, human kind – or a part of it – would face a shining future in a new and shining world.

He reached to push his glasses further upward on his nose, as they had slipped for the umpteenth time that morning as he sat, hunched as ever, in the helicopter carrying him and the just barely competent people accompanying him north. Hand-picked and yet he was disappointed in the utter lack of vision in their educated minds. Still, they were the brightest heads in the world and he supposed they would be of some use, though he had no doubt that they would screw up as much as they did right. Beside him sat a younger man, the only one in the blasted vehicle that he held a modicum of respect for. Artemis Grayle was a fine doctor, a medical genius, specialised in enhancement surgery and genetic modification, and had proven himself useful a great number of times. Much like himself, science was all this blond, blue eyed Junonite deemed worth of his time and thus, the pair of them often found themselves locked away in the laboratories for weeks on end, only speaking when strictly necessary and only leaving their workstations to take care of maintaining nutrition and expel the resulting waste products. It was a symbiotic relationship, Akira found, in which he benefited from the very creative and practical approach advocated by the younger scientist who, in return, gained access to a (limited) portion of the vast knowledge acquired by both Akira himself and that of his predecessor, Prof. Hojo. Hojo's exceptional mind. Of course the latter's intellect had been reduced to charts and reports, diaries and logs recorded in the past before he had been killed in cold blood. Still the fragments of the brilliant scientist's visions remained, currently locked in Akira's private laboratory in Midgar. Safe and out of sight of those who argued that he, Akira, was too extreme in his ambitions just like Hojo had once been.

The murmur among the researchers aboard rose to new volume when, outside, their destination came into view. In an almost reflexive motion, the green-eyed professor smoothed back the sleek black hair that crowned his head that was almost more hawk-like than human in appearance due to his unfortunate genetic inheritance. The glasses on his nose could easily have been replaced with a quick, painless procedure to his optic nerve but ironically, he had chosen to forego surgery arguing that since he could not perform it himself since it required general anesthesia, he would have to trust someone else to not blind him, which, in turn, was out of the question. And thus, he remained bespectacled in addition to hunched in posture and greasy in hair. But what was a flawed physique when compared to superior intellect?

His eyes flickered to the eight men and women seated around him, gaping out the window like school children and he clicked his tongue in distaste. None of them were aware just what they were about to bring back to where it belonged, but oh Minerva, were they about to find out. He smirked, a crooked, almost crazed grin breaking on his face reminiscent of other nightmares long since gone.

'WRO & ShinRa: Breakthrough in the North! Scientists uncover uncategorised, exposed mako source.

Even after the reactors built by the former ShinRa Electric Company were shut down in favour of more sustainable energy resources, mako continues to seep from the ground and form pools that require immediate attention. Long-time effects of exposure to unrefined mako or prolonged usage of materia can cause severe medical conditions such as various types of cancer, auto-immune disease and a myriad of conditions of the reproductive system.'

Deeper, they had to venture deeper into the cavernous system if they were to find what they looked for. The scientist tipped his thin finger against his thinner lips, lost in contemplation. In front of him, a crystalline structure, broken and shattered, hinting at it's destruction at the hands of someone or something else at some other point in time. He was searching for something similar – something oh so similar and yet inherently different. The crystallisation of something – someone – different from the person who had once been encased here, slumbering where the one he searched for was not asleep but dead to the world.

„Professor, we can begin our descent. The mako flow has been halted temporarily, granting us a window of opportunity that should last long enough to reach the chamber."

He smirked, the excitement in his assistant's voice almost palpable. It was almost a joy to watch the younger scientist scurry in the face of greatness.

„How long?"

„Estimated two hours."

Excellent.

'North Crater: Scientists uncover mysterious crystal formation containing unknown organic material'

It was perfect. Grayle's jaw threatened to hang open, making him appear more the awestruck school boy than the studied academic, in the face of this spectacular sight. Perfect, pristine material underneath unyielding, transparent crystal. And it was all theirs.

'North Crater Expedition Ended! Scientists to return to Midgar on May 13th alongside their findings.'

'Breaking News: Helicopter containing Crater Expedition team crashed! Only two surviving scientists confirmed.'

„In the wake of the accident in which six members of the intellectual elite and scientific community were lost to a tragic helicopter crash, the two remaining scientists, Prof. Akira and Dr. Grayle have returned to Midgar in what can only be described as a state of severe shock and grief. Grayle went on record at his arrival, stating that 'our findings were due to their clarity of mind, their brilliance and their visionary ideas and they will be dearly missed'. Prof. Akira was unable to comment on the tragic accident and is reported to be distraught by the loss of his colleagues. The findings, that these brilliant men and women sacrificed their lives to procure, have been securely transferred to the care of Prof. Akira and Dr. Grayle who hope to uncover something significant in their analysis, if only to insure that their colleagues didn't die in vain. Rachel Crown, MIDGAR News."

„It seems, our ruse has been both bought and paid for, Professor," the sleek voice of one Dr. Grayle echoed through the otherwise silent laboratory in Sector 0 where different labs belonging to different scientists working for the same, re-branded company had once worked tirelessly on different projects to benefit different goals. The sterile environment was state of the art, a fortune spent to ensure that nothing was missing. It was every scientists' wet dream with machinery and equipment to carry out even the most difficult of procedures. And here he was, three years out of university, watching Prof. Akira work magic. When applying for the job, he had expected the dark-haired man to be much older than the thirty-two years he had turned out to be. He seemed older too, his hunched posture and awkward shuffle hardly added to the image of the youthful research god, but it mattered little in the end. He was brilliant and ruthless – much like he imaged that Prof. Hojo had been when he had been, well, alive. Grayle's eyes flickered to the centrepiece of the room. A large, stainless steel prism welded to the floor served as an operating table and was currently occupied, an immobile form lying ready for inspection.

It had been almost ecstatic, the feeling, when they had found it. It had been pristine, perfectly preserved. Nothing marred the unparalleled, lethal beauty of the specimen contained in the crystal. The look in the professor's eyes had been one of awe and calculating madness as they had dislodged their findings only to swiftly repackage it so that it's nature would remain concealed from prying eyes. They had travelled north to find it and found it they had. And once the disposable idiots had been taken care of, well, all that had been left to do was take the specimen back to Midgar, to the laboratory where it had all begun.

Grayle sighed and rotated his shoulders to get rid of the stiffness in them. The specimen lay lifeless on the steel table while the Professor worked a few feet away, almost as if disinterested in the flawless creation at his mercy. He knew it not to be so, however. The professor was very interested, almost obsessed with what he had found. It was a relic of their predecessor's brilliant work, his greatest creation and now it was theirs, the perfect specimen returned to science's hands.

His eyes flickered anew, this time to two cylindrical chambers on the far side of the laboratory, filled with the luminescent glow that only mako could bestow. They would serve an equally visionary purpose soon enough, hold potential just as pristine and enormous as the one the steel table currently cradled.

Grayle found himself grow impatient. It was only a matter of time until the main components to the largest experiment ever conducted on living specimens were assembled in this very room. Akira seemed fairly calm, considering how close they were to continue the work of the greatest mind ever to grace the wretched planet. But then again, the professor was always fairly calm, collected in an almost maniacal way. It made little sense, but even through bipolar episodes of maniacal ecstasy and listless depression, he never seemed to lose his composure.

A bone-chilling scream desperate enough to awaken even the dead echoed throughout the space, stemming from the isolation unit in the annex to the laboratory expanse. It should have forced his blood to curdle, chills to run down his spine and horror to spread on his face but instead, his heart fluttered in excitement. He had expected it to take another couple of hours but it seemed, he had been wrong. He hated being wrong. Another quick look to the lifeless body lying on the table and then, the blond surgeon moved, noting how his superior did not move at all despite the voice that seemed to tear the air with it's volume and it's terror. Women did have annoyingly squeaky voices, he thought, wondering if her vocal cords were instrumental to their project of if he could convince the professor to let him sever them. It would make their life so much easier.

He pressed his hand to the control panel controlling access to the isolation unit containing the screaming and trashing mass of chromosomes he had waited for so long to see breathe life anew. The door swept open and unveiled the second specimen, no longer limply lying in the glass cage constructed to keep the woman who was so much more than just a woman safe from everything but their eyes and hands. He and Akira were going to change the world. And all they needed to do so, were these two perfectly imperfect specimens that had been wasted for so long. Grayle smiled and slipped through the door.

A/N.: While I haven't abandoned my other AeriSeph story, this has been sitting around for too long and needs to be published. I appreciate all kinds of feedback.