Diamond in the Rough (FFVII Dirge of Cerberus)

Chapter IV

Vincent slowly peeled his eyes open. He was in a tank of water, completely submerged. He'd been through that experience before, a long time ago. He could almost imagine Lucrecia standing outside his tank, peering in at him. But this time, it wasn't her, it was a certain redhead behind a desk.

"Well look who's awake," Shalua said, her single blue eye gazing at Vincent from behind her glasses. The male looked around in confusion. "Hold on, I'll release you."

She stood, going over to press a button to drain the tank. Once the water was gone, it opened, allowing Vincent to step out, still dripping with water. He didn't recognize his surroundings.

"Where am I?"

"Safe inside the WRO Headquarters," the woman explained. "I carried you back here from Edge after you collapsed during your fight with Deepground. It seems like the beast inside you went a little wild back there. This happen often?"

"Went wild? Do you mean...Chaos?"

Shalua looked shocked to hear that. "Chaos? Your body harbors the Chaos gene? Oh, so that explains your relationship with Dr. Lucrecia Crescent. Were you the product of one of her experiments?"

Vincent looked away in thought, hearing that for the first time. "Lucrecia's...experiments?"

Shalua only just realized she probably sounded a bit insensitive. "I apologize. That wasn't what I meant."

Vincent wasn't easily offended, besides, he had other questions. "Wait. Lucrecia...was researching...Chaos?"

"Don't tell me you didn't know," the woman said with surprise. She went to her computer and opened a file on the scientist. "Lucrecia Crescent. General Class A scientist specializing in biotechnology. In her research thesis, 'The Planet's Pulse', she refers to Chaos as one of the sentient xenoforms residing among us. However, the theories she presented were so abstract and..." She was pacing as she spoke, reciting everything she'd studied on Dr. Crescent.

Vincent was staring absentmindedly at the computer screen, Lucrecia's last words echoing in his head. I'm so sorry... Awaken... He still didn't quite understand why she was so apologetic, but he was starting to piece things together, little by little.

"Are you alright?" Shalua asked, noticing the man wasn't paying attention to her ramblings.

"Can I see that thesis?" he abruptly asked.

"Unfortunately, no. On top of being obscure, it was never even submitted to the Shinra database. All I know is what I saw going through the company's archives."

The automatic door suddenly opened and Reeve walked in. "Vincent! Have you recovered already? Great! We have things to discuss, starting with what happened in Edge."

~~~~~

Vianca sat quietly on the desk nearby while Shelke typed away on the computer. Her pale violet gaze went from the gold materia laying beside her to her crystal pendant. I'm doing this for you, she told herself, trying to justify her actions and decisions. Whoever you were, I will remember you...I have to. It was as if the desire to know who she was before her slumber was eating away at her.

"Shelke..." She spoke up, earning only a hum in response from the redhead. "You haven't found anything about me, have you?"

"I haven't looked yet," the younger girl answered simply, her blue eyes not once leaving the screen in front of her. "I've been far too busy. You should really just forget about these ridiculous pursuits. Knowing the past is irrelevant to what our mission is now."