Artificial 7: Genesis Requiem

Chapter 1: Depression

(Author's Notes: Art work was made by AI.
It is an image of Genesis without his helmet.
On a side note,
Terra is not a replacement for Seth. Terra,
and 3rd person narration is needed to be able to tell this arc.
I may switch back to Seth's POV,
but only if there's nothing to tell regarding Ventus,
Azura,
and Male Terra.
Again,
Male Terra is not a replacement for Seth, and after this arc and the next story, things will go back to him and be told from his POV.
That being said,
enjoy part 2)

Narration: We begin the story following Eraqus Woods as one day during Selena's squad mission,
Eraqus Woods enters the Pope's chambers on official business and pithes an idea to Pope Rekture with Lord Shimura there too as the two practically share an office.

"I have an idea I think would be beneficial to our cause. I call it The Half Breed Project, where we breed the best of the best Exorcist with one of the five Demon Lords we have under our thumbs. They produce us children where we will raise them to be child soldiers for war against all Demons! Disposable soldiers, if you would. By breeding our best Exorcist, they will have mana level through the roof, and combined with a Demon Lords might, they will have nearly unrivaled power. We'll raise them once they become of age, of course, but the parents are only needed until they are five or so. Maybe less if we want to take them away when they no longer need breastfeeding."

The Pope thinks about it,
and even Shimura plays with his mustache that's merged into his sideburns.
In the end,
the Pope greenlighted this project,
and Shimura would be tasked with selecting candidates.
Three days later:
Selena and Alexander were pulled into the Pope's chambers,
where they discussed Genesis,
brought in Ventus for questioning,
and Selena's report she submitted to Himiko after a lot of talking,
Shimura, Himiko,
Pope Rekture,
Alexander, Arthur,
and Elizabeth wanted to promote Terra Woods,
and while Selena does agree to promote him,
she wants them to hold off from doing so to see where his mental health takes him.

So,
per Selena's request.
Pope Rekture and Shimura gave the whole team a paid month off.
Ventus went about his month playing games with Yuzuhara,
Seth, Aiko,
and Haruki,
while Azura Aqua was selected by the London Branch as a whole to be the donor of The Half Breed Project.
Pope Rekture also discussed possibly having some of the Mexico Branch be donors as well,
to which Shimura said he'd think about it.

Male Terra,
though,
spent his time traveling to all the different restaurants his ex loved.
Taco Bell in particular.
Eating her favorite meals to feel some level of connection even if it was a bad one.
Two weeks go by out of the four they were given,
and Terra has practically isolated himself in his apartment,
pulling away more and more by the day, that is,
until Zoey knocks on his door one day. Terra trudge to the door and opens it for her.
"Yes?"
Terra says,
his eyes devoid of life.
"I wanted to check in on you. Clearly, you need help."
Zoey brushes past him and turns on the lights.

"Why are the lights turned off? It's only 2 pm."
Zoey starts tidying up his room,
putting away pizza boxes,
takeout containers,
empty soda cans,
and bottles of water while Terra sat on his couch.
Zoey starts washing his dishes,
putting things up,
and opens his blackout curtains to actually provide light in his room that isn't electricity.
"There all tidy up now."
Zoey turns to face Terra and points at him.
"You look like a bum! You need to shave!"
Terra,
seeing as he didn't have a choice in the matter,
goes to his bathroom and shaves his mustache and beard off,
then came out where Zoey waited for him on the couch.

"Now then, what's been going on with you? What caused you to get like this?" Terra looks at the floor and grips his hand as being vulnerable was never his thing.
So Terra actually opens up and tells her everything regarding him,
AJ and his father,
and why it he's hurting so much.
Terra begins to cry,
and Zoey hugs him and is just being there for him.
Once his crying spell was over,
Zoey stayed with him for a bit longer until he was able to pull himself together and gain a bit of life in his eyes.
The next day,
Terra actually got up after sleeping in and put on his uniform rather than casual clothes,
playing his PS4 for a change and gaming until noon when he heard a knock. "Terra, open up. We need to talk."
Selena says.

"Just a moment."
Terra responds.
"That's an order!"
Terra blinks a few times,
wondering why it's an order but hustles to the door anyway.
He opens up and sees Selena in casual wear,
sporting short brown pants and a red shirt.
"Follow me."
So he did,
and they walked all over London,
going to every single one of AJ's favorite restaurants and barring him from eating there much to his confusion,
then they entered a Mexican restaurant where the whole squad was there except for Azura,
who Selena said was doing stuff.
Terra sits down with everyone,
and they all got to talking, having fun again,
and Selena told him to order anything and that she's treating everyone.

Seth sits next to Terra alongside Ventus, and Seth says he's going to help Terra out.
Seth pulls out his smartphone and not his flip phone/business phone and pulls up an app that's dark purple with the white initials ML and taps it.
Terra looks away,
confused now more than ever,
but places his order and ate with everyone anyway.
Orders are orders,
after all.

Once lunch was over,
everyone went back to their apartments say for Selena and Terra,
who they continued walking around and listed off other areas he was barred from,
which were mostly bars and other places that could potentially remind him of AJ, though he doesn't quite peace that together yet.

Finally,
after an hour of walking,
they stopped at an ice cream shop where Selena got chocolate ice cream in a cone, and Terra ordered cookies and cream in a cone.
The two ate outside under an umbrella table,
and Selena drops the hard news on him. No sugar coating it,
no blowing smoke up his ass.
Just the blunt and hurtful truth.

"Terra, I called you out here because your mental health nose dived after the mission. You acted on impulse, and while I do understand that AJ Carter means a lot to you. The next time this happens might be yours or ours last time. There is no I in team. Any decisions made in the field make the difference between life and death. So, as of right now, you need to decide if you're Terra, the civilian, or Terra, the soldier, because if you're Terra the civilian, you need to turn in your notice. I'll even help you with the paperwork so they can ease you into a normal human life."

Terra's eyes widen in shock as he now has to make a life changing choice,
and Selena is keeping a straight,
cold,
stone face.
Terra naturally would feel overwhelmed by it,
but rather than leaving him to think and possibly engage in more self-destructive tendencies,
Selena stayed and didn't rush him.
If music was playing,
only the sadest songs out there would be playing.
Selena finishes her ice cream first as Terra lets some of his melt while being stuck in his own thoughts.
"Hey, eat it before it all melts."
Selena says in a lower,
more sensitive tone.
So Terra eats it,
but he couldn't bring himself to look at Selena until he finished it.

"Do you need an answer today?"
Terra manages to get out.
"No. Not today, but I will need an answer before two weeks. At the end of the month."
Terra nods,
and once again,
instead of leaving him,
she waits for him,
and they walk home to their apartments. Three days later,
Selena slides an appointment card under his door,
and on the back,
it says she's paying for him to go to therapy and to not worry about the cost. That Friday,
Selena knocked on his apartment,
and she drove him to Mexico's temporary base of operations in London, where Terra gets therapy from an actual paid professional that works purely for the Mexico Branch.

When he came out,
Seth, Zoey, Ventus,
Selena, Himko,
and Shimura were waiting on him,
and all Terra did was bitter sweetly smile back at them as he came to realize he has genuine people who care for him and his well-being.
He takes the first steps forward,
and so begins his next chapter in life and changes for the better.