Vagaries of Fate

Terms

Chapter 38

Clarissa was lost in a sea of broken images and thoughts that slipped away before she could grasp them. Even so, she knew there was something else she needed to be doing. Vaguely, she realized she must be dreaming, but that didn't help her. No matter how hard she tried to focus, things wouldn't coalesce. It wasn't until she started hearing voices that she was able to make any sense at all.

They were fuzzy and far away at first, but when they became clear enough to understand, she suddenly realized it wasn't a dream. Not all of it anyway. She was having difficulties comprehending what was said, but she recognized one of the voices, and she knew she needed to listen. To do that, she needed them to believe she was still out of it. At least long enough for her to try and understand what was going on.

She somehow managed to steady her breathing and turned all her focus to the words. The voice she didn't recognize was the next to speak. "Will you submit her to the same treatment you have the rest of the Soldiers then? Will she become a Raven?"

The voice she recognized as Fuhito's made a disgusted noise. "Of course not, idiot. Do you not realize the potential she represents? Not only is she the single example of a woman that can handle mako, but I have seen proof that she assimilated with the Jenova cells she was subjected to. She has already mutated, but there are no signs that she will ever degrade. And that is only the beginning. Imagine what we could do with a new generation of enhanced Soldiers that are all that way from birth."

The other voice huffed and seemed to get a little farther away before he responded. "Of course, you can breed her, but she's only one person."

Fuhito scoffed. "You think too small. There is no need for her to carry the children. We can harvest her eggs and either use surrogates or insemination tanks. The possibilities are endless. Plus, I have plans for her that do not include children. Not for now."

The unfamiliar voice didn't respond right away. Clarissa nearly lost it when he was much closer when he spoke again. "You want her to fight for you, but that isn't going to happen. Not without breaking her."

Fuhito's voice was also much nearer when he answered. "I have some ideas. Nothing will happen right away, but we have time. No one knows where we are, and even if they looked in this area, they wouldn't find us. I will be able to find the right combination to make her the weapon we need."

Clarissa heard the sound of shuffling papers for several seconds before the unfamiliar voice finally responded. "You said the same thing about Elfe and see where she is now."

It was hard to miss the note of rage in Fuhito's voice when he spoke next. "I miscalculated when I decided not to take more drastic measures with her. I thought we could rely on her memory loss and gratitude. That is a mistake I will not repeat."

The other voice sighed gustily before he spoke as he seemed to be walking away. "Well, you are right that we are well hidden. You know where you can find me if you need help. I'll leave this to you."

There was a disgusted scoff from Fuhito after the sound of a door closing rang through the room. After that, the only things Clarissa could hear were muffled footsteps and shuffling papers. That didn't mean she relaxed. She was just waiting for Fuhito to leave as well, so she could try to figure out how to get the hell out of the bindings across her body.

After several minutes she was finally awake enough to try to coordinate movements without tipping the man off. She tried to minutely move her limbs. Just enough to see if there was any give for her to work with. She wanted to scream when she realized she could hardly move more than her fingers. Still, she wasn't ready to give up. She wasn't without resources, as long as she was awake.