For Honor or Glory

Next Steps

Chapter 79 

The following morning dawned bright. The fog was already burning away as if it was part of a bad dream, and the sun was shining brightly off the roofs of the village in the distance. Alex wasn't sure if the drastic change in the weather made her feel better or not. Or it could be the conclusion she had come to before she finally managed to get to sleep the night before. She was already second-guessing herself but resolved to at least bring it up.

Everyone gathered in the foyer while they ate a quick breakfast. Once they were done, all eyes turned to Alex as Angeal asked, "So what now? The labs are somewhere in this house, right? Where can we find them?"

Alex sighed as she shrugged. "I don't know exactly. All I know is that there is a hidden entrance in one of the rooms upstairs. I don't know what it looks like or how to get in, but I'm sure we can find it. There is a basement below where everything is kept."

Genesis sneered as he said, "Well, I suppose that means we will be knocking on walls then?"

Alex ignored the snark in his voice and said, "Actually, before we try to find the labs, there was one other thing I wanted to bring up."

She then turned to Bugenhagen and said, "Something occurred to me last night, and I wanted to see if you agreed."

When he nodded, she continued, "It is about Jenova. We have had absolutely no luck trying to mitigate the damage her cells could cause, and it makes me wonder if part of it is because of her influence."

The elder put his hand on his chin as he considered her words. However, it was Sephiroth that said, "What do you mean? Did you not say that her remains are estimated to be over 2000 years old? How could she influence anything?"

Alex gritted her teeth. It was a valid question, but not one easily answered. She could tell them that she had visions of something horrible happening to them all, and it was somehow due to the alien's influence, but that would require her to share more than what was feasible. Instead, she opted to go with what could be proven with science. That was her forté anyway.

"I am unsure if I mentioned Hojo's Reunion Theory, but the premise is that all of her cells, no matter where they are, will eventually try to find their way back to the largest specimen that is nearby. He tried this with smaller samples and noted there was a reaction. There is no explanation yet for why, but since we do share her cells, there is the possibility of any or all of us being affected in some way.

"Given that information, it may be plausible that whatever is causing that reaction could also be interfering with our tests. The only real way to find out is to eliminate the possibility. That is something that needed to be done anyway to prevent future repeats of what was done to us."

Bugenhagen nodded as he said, "Ho, ho, I believe you may have a point. I had not considered it, but I do agree that eliminating the source might be our best course of action before we begin."

Angeal was frowning as he added, "While I do not have a problem with heading to the reactor, I still wonder if that is best. If what you say is true, then would we all be more affected the closer we got?"

Alex shrugged with a grimace. "It is a possibility. However, the remains will need to be destroyed eventually anyway. If there is even the possibility that doing so first could aid us, then isn't it worth a try? I mean, we are closer now than ever, and none of us have shown any adverse reactions. It is a gamble, but one that I am willing to take."

There was silence for several seconds after Alex was finished speaking. Finally, Angeal nodded as he said, "I agree that it could be for the best. However, if I remember correctly, the reactor will not be easy to reach. We will need a local guide."