He took another step back as Nero started talking in apparent gibberish. He had seen what the other was capable of doing should that darkness take hold, so he made sure that Tseng was still standing behind him. It was really cute, after all these years he still felt the need to protect the Wutainese warrior, even though he was perfectly capable of protecting himself.
This version of Nero was much younger than the young man in his late teens that Genesis remembered... still... he doubted protocol changed all that much from world to world, since he still recognized the boy.
Kneeling next to the boy again, he ventured to brush back the hair from his eyes so the other could see him clearly. He had been beaten badly. And Tseng was right, Nero had never been a threat to him, as long as the other recognized him still, and what he knew of DeepGround existed in this Nero's time.
"Initiate override protocol for Commander Nero the Sable. Rank - Tsviet. Color Coded - Contrast, Black... pass code... Hail Weiss. Initiate Mainland Linguistics training for designation Nero the Sable. Override designator: Project G... Rank - General SOLDIER 1st Class. Color coded - Contrast Red... pass code: For The Goddess."
He sat and waited until the little Tsviet's mind finished processing the code he had just fed it to see if it took. Watching those crimson orbs to see if Nero recognized him at all.