arin_rowan (arin_rowan) wrote in shinobi_soldier, @ 2007-12-05 21:08:00 |
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Current location: | dorm |
Current mood: | sleepy |
Current music: | FFVII/FFX music |
Trial Run
The bunny was artismundi's fault. I think icedark-elf had something to do with it as well, but I can't remember enough to assign blame. This is technically an ffvii/naruto crossover, albeit one that breaks the third wall. Contains references to Crisis Core (Note: I wrote this about three months before Crisis Core came out so I made assumptions about the canon) FFVII, Naruto up to the second part, and surprise guest at the end.
Summary: What do Angeal, Zack Fair, and Itachi Uchiha all have in common? Or failing that, what about Sephiroth, Cloud, and Sasuke?
Disclaimer: I don't own them.
“That’s it,” she snapped, slamming her hands down on her supervisor’s desk. “This project needs to be terminated.”
He barely glanced up at her from the photos on his desk. They seemed to be mostly pale blonds, one of them ash and another a brunet. “For the fifth time, the project in question is still in the developmental process and thus not open to termination.”
“Cut the crap,” she snapped. “This is your third test run, and the previous two attempts failed on an increasingly spectacular level.”
He sighed and pushed away from his desk, resigning himself to a pre-recorded conversation. “The purpose of-“
“The original purpose of the project is to provide each subject with a mentor figure to guide them through life and offer console,” she interrupted. “Role of mentor figure may be as older brother, other family member, senior in line of work- I should know, I outlined the damn thing. And each one has been a failure.”
He pushed at one of the photos with a pencil. “The first model Angeal was deemed a success.”
She snorted. “Right, success- he wound up abandoning both his charges, Sephiroth and the second model Zackary Fair. Sephiroth then proceeded to go insane, massacre an entire town, and attempt to reclaim the planet from humans. And that’s just the first time he was alive.”
He started massaging his temples. “It was agreed that Sephiroth’s case contained a number of unmitigated circumstances that were not directly related to the project, and thus his actions can’t be judged on whether or not the absence of his mentor was responsible. And as we’ve discussed, he was the first model and it was a trial run. Glitches occur.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Your second model Zackary Fair dragged his assigned charge into that mess after the brilliant idea to clean up the first model’s mistakes.”
He sighed again. “The idea had initial success, and while Cloud Strife was placed in unfortunate circumstances-“
“’Unfortunate?’” she repeated disbelievingly. “He was tortured and experimented on for five years to the point where his mind was almost irrevocably shattered, pushing him into a vegetative state for more than a year.”
“The model was also undergoing those circumstances, and helped him escape at the first opportunity, at the cost of his own life,” he reminded her, drumming his fingers on the desk. “Overlapping the model’s role into his head allowed the second subject to regain consciousness, repair most of the mental and physical damage, and eventually save the planet.”
“Only after he suffered a nervous breakdown at discovering most of his memories weren’t actually his and provided Sephiroth with the means to destroy it in the first place,” she pointed out.
He sifted through his files. “Yes, but he got over it and found a way to counter those means. In research the specifics of the case aren’t as important as the end result. Spare me your comments- let’s just skip ahead to where you tell me what the third model’s done this time.”
The knuckles on the hands gripping his desk turned white. “While I consider them failures,” she said through gritted teeth, “ I will admit that both the Angeal model and the Zackary Fair model had some level of success. But the Uchiha Itachi model has had none. Absolutely none.”
He selected a file and opened it. “First model to be a direct family member, first to be involved in the formative years of a subject, and first one not implemented on Gaia. I’ll agree with you, we’ve had more problems with him than the others-“
“The model’s insane,” she said flatly. “Absolutely, completely, bat-shit insane.”
He sighed. “Some mistakes can be made in the developmental process-“
“Mistakes?” she demanded. “Mistakes? He slaughtered his charge’s entire family, which also happened to be his own, joined an evil organization and keeps sporadically appearing in Sasuke’s life to mind-fuck!”
“Once more, we’re still in the experimental stages and experiencing some glitches,” he said wearily. “I’m aware his role as a mentor leaves much to be desired-”
“His mentoring actions have given Sasuke severe Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, made him extremely paranoid and withdrawn, and culminated in him abandoning his friends and village to go train under a sociopathic immortality-obsessed hebephile!”
He blinked, suddenly nonplussed. “Uchiha Sasuke left Konoha village to join Orochimaru?”
“No, he stayed and married Sakura,” she snapped. “Yes he left to join Orochimaru! And almost killed Uzumaki Naruto in the process, like the Itachi model suggested!”
He blinked again. “That... was unexpected.”
She threw her hands up in the air. “Anything involving that model’s unexpected! Sasuke’s relationship with Naruto was one of the best things that’s happened to him since his family was slaughtered, and thanks to some idiot quest for revenge that Itachi ingrained in him he threw it away!”
“His betrayal was actually fairly predictable,” he said distractedly, flipping through papers in the file. “We just expected he’d join the Akatsuki and reach a settlement with Itachi.”
She stared at him in disbelief before she started shaking her head. “Jesus Christ-“
“Watch your language,” he reminded her, finally locating the paper in question and starting to scribble notes.
“First why don’t you try watching your mental processes!” she snarled. “If you were paying any attention to Sasuke’s actions at all you’d know the model has long since pushed him past the point of reconciliation. And that you predicted his betrayal but somehow thought it was better for him to be near the model instead of with the network he’d built up in Konoha-“ she stopped and shook her head again.
“Is this like how you thought having Cloud develop romantic relations with Aeris would improve his psychological damage?” she demanded. “Or how pushing the Zack model to fill Angeal’s place for Sephiroth would prevent fallout?”
“We had no way of knowing that Sephiroth would kill her or that the second subject would respond so vehemently to her death, and as I said earlier, Sephiroth’s case had a large number of mitigating circumstances.” He put his pen down and looked up at her. “Once more: this is a trial run. Mistakes are made.”
Her eyes widened and she started shaking her head. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“You yourself just admitted that the Itachi model is clearly unsuitable,” he reminded her blandly.
“All the more reason to terminate the project altogether instead of creating a fourth run!” she cried. Her eyes narrowed. “What, has the board just been waiting for the collateral damage on this one to reach a critical level so they could move on to the next model without budget complaints?”
He ignored her. “It’s already in the works. We’ve made a number of changes to the basic design this time- many of which you suggested- and we’re fairly confident we can avoid any of our past mistakes.”
“So we’re just going to leave Sasuke Uchiha to his own devices like we did Cloud and Sephiroth, instead of taking some responsibility for our actions?” she demanded.
He waved his hand dismissively. “As you just were saying, the second model made a failed attempt to clean up what the first model had done, and the second subject eventually from the loss of the second model. ”
“Cloud Strife only recovered after suffering from severe depression, illness, and having the first subject come back to life for the third time!”
“Once more, the end result, not the details.” He turned to rummage in one of his drawers. “I’ll provide you with a copy of the specifics to complain about.” He found the file and turned to offer it to her. “The fourth model will be female, will not be directly related to the subject, and will be overseeing her charges from the moment of their births.”
She eyed the file like a dead rat. “Their?” she asked, a vague hint of interest in her tone despite herself. “You’ve decided it’s too easy to fuck up just one individual’s life so you’re going to try doing it to two?”
“Any simulation we’ve run shows a higher rate of success if the subject has another individual in their peer group to offer support,” he said patiently. “At worst, it will provide us with a type of control group, but if you look over this you’ll see how unlikely the need will be.” Still frowning, she relented and took the file. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms behind his head. “The fourth run will be a success,” he said confidently.
“What are you calling this one?” she asked resignedly, flipping through the specs.
“Rem Seibrem. Her two charges are going to be twins; nothing’s solid yet, but they should be identical boys.”
“Their names?” she asked, still flipping.
“Vash and Knives.”
.........
Yep. No problems looming on the horizon in that Verse. None at all...