animus_network | ☥ 001 ⌊video→t e r m s⌉

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☥ 001 ⌊video→t e r m s⌉

[A crimson color ripples across the screen, before a shadow devours the sight. A moment before light focuses into view a dark man in red and black.

Dark eyes stare intently at the device, a mouth partially hidden behind a collar of red held together by a series of small black belts.]

What world is this?

[Perhaps others would have better insight than those he has come across thus far.]

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He was sitting in the grass, running his fingers over and over the tips of it, his legs drawn up to his chest, and his mind far away. Cloud had ended up here for a moment of peace, using the time to sort through his memories and what he had found out in the tower so far.

And of course he had to think about Zack. It was weird to see his friend again, especially now with all the history behind him. Zack was at the age he remembered him the best - still smiling, still hyper, although he could see some of the concern, it wasn't as tainted as those few brief moments from the year of being dragged towards Midgar.

At the sound of someone entering the area, Cloud stopped, dropping his hand to the small sword sitting next to him.

Vincent's crimson eyes hovered over Cloud's being, the spiked blond hair, the pale white flesh, the blue - deep - hue of those eyes. "Cloud." He remained just feet away, focusing on the other –– uninterested in the area Cloud chose. He couldn't imagine any appropriate place here in which to meet anyone from Gaia at. The tower, their prison, whatever it was, they did not belong here and as far as he felt, he and all the others were stolen.

And so much more, their fates now carried a heavier burden, because not only did their sins from Gaia still follow them here, but whatever sins they committed here would also be felt.

Vincent. Cloud relaxed slightly, and stood up. Not much time had passed since he had last seen the former Turk, though it had felt like a long time since he had woken up to this place. The field was one of the few open places in the tower and gave him an illusion of being free from worries. He wished he had his motorcycle here, if only to race it across the grass and touch a little bit of the freedom with that, but for now there was other matters to deal with.

"Have you talked to anyone else yet?"

First thing was first. Cloud needed to find out what Vincent knew about the tower.

"Reno.." Though he restrained from asking if there truly were two of them –– and that business about Reno and unfamiliar history. "A few others.." Some he collected names from, some he has not.

"Nobody in charge." Though he relied too heavily on his roommate for information, but soon into Loki's lead, Vincent discovered only lies. He drew in a breath, felt the scent of grass filter down in his lungs, and exhaled. The green of the field brought his thoughts to the green of his collar and he reached up to his neck, pulled down the red fabric, and displayed the collar for Cloud to see.

"I don't think we will see much of those in charge. They sometimes talk to us but they act as if we should be grateful and let them do their thing with us instead of actually trying to get out of here."

Cloud nodded at the collar, tugging his shirt aside to show the blue one around his neck. Experiments. Captives. Pets. Whatever they wanted to be called that was what they were for now.

"According to Reno, these things are given to us to keep us alive," he said, his hands dropping to his sides. "It is also not unusual to have doubles or people from different times from the same world. I've talked to two Renos when I first got here. Sephiroth and Zack come from a time before Nibelhiem, I come from after the Remnants were defeated, one Reno comes from around the time of Meteor Fall and the other one from when the Plate was dropped. I also think one of the Renos was friends with you on some kind of boat..."

He shook his head. It sounded confusing to him and he sort of got where it was all coming from.

"You better be careful; Hojo is here."

Grateful. To be alive, to have survived, to be given this chance; no matter how many times, be it the first, second, or third chance at life. Vincent closed his eyes, opening them once again, but not on Cloud–– not until Cloud's last warning. Hojo. Suspicion came heavily onto Vincent's shoulders and he felt the weight of an annoying insecurity fuel his anger. A flash of crimson and his eyes were scanning the area, as if to find Hojo rising from the blades of grass that surrounded them. Vincent was tense, and still, waiting.

But when nothing but a breeze disturbed the plane, Vincent's eyes moved back to Cloud's.

"He would be." He decided, thinking on the truth that even without Cloud's warning, Vincent would feel Hojo's presence (even if Hojo was not physically here), Vincent carried the haunt of that man among many others. Just as he would feel her because of want, not because of physical evidence.

His demons always prepared appropriate obstacles for him. Even here, it would seem.

"He probably brought some of JENOVA with him."

He had found blueprints of his most prized possessions in his trunk, so why wouldn't Hojo have some of his with him? It made sense. Cloud just hoped there were people that would stop it from happening here.

"There are a lot of strange creatures here, and a few helpful people as well. Doc Brown is one as is a man by the name of Gandalf."

Vincent would not believe Hojo was here without some ailment of choas; an element for destruction. It was in Hojo's nature, much as he had disruptions of his own that haunted his footsteps.

Though Hojo was a man of choice, of control, it was the path that the scientist left behind him that rotted with decay and grew back with remnants of Hell.

Vincent gave a nod at Cloud's acknowledgment of helpful people. "Anyone else?" The few people he's talked to were not any faces he's recognized –– save for Reno and Cloud. He wondered, however, at the idea that there would be someone else, that there could be someone else. Both Lucrecia and Aerith came to mind, a selfish (and guilt-driven) wish that both women he failed to help save would be here.

"I haven't met very many people."

Cloud stayed away from others out of wariness and confusion. He didn't know all of them and he sometimes felt that this was one screwed up dream. It was hard to shake off that feeling and actually talk.

"I think there might be, but I haven't been keeping track of people."

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☥ 001 ⌊video→t e r m s⌉

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