016 | Not-so-much Fallout?

[neverbeamemory]

Characters: Sephiroth & YOU
Setting: Anytime between 28th Feb and 5th March. Locations in below.
Format: Prose to start, can switch to Action if preferred.
Summary: Recent events taken into account, Sephiroth had best prepare some for the return trip down the elevator. If you could please put dates/times in your replies, so I can order it around in my head.
Warnings: Usual Sephiroth violence warnings, though he's not much in the mood for picking a fight.

[Location: Dormitory 03-02 & Dormitory Floors]
What a month. Between their visitors from another world, Ruana's games and all the fallout from his preemptive exploration downstairs; Sephiroth had a lot to take in. A lot of truth, or rather that which he had seen with his own eyes, had been revealed and it all had to have the time to be considered. Gaia, for example, had to have been destroyed in order for his soul to even have been extracted to this place. It had been his Planet after all. In some ways it was a relief to finally have some clarity in what exactly was his position here, in others it only served to further frustrate him. It all made such terrible sense now.

Needless to say Sephiroth hasn't had very much of a desire to leave the Dormitory for the last few days. Other than the essential trips out to the bathrooms twice a day, even then they had been quick showers. There was no way he was going to stay out in that mist with it's whispers inside his head. Just repeating over and over what has now been largely proven, what he feared to start with; there wasn't going to be anyway back. He's been sleeping a lot out of mental exhaustion, largely ignoring his room mates, re-reading the letters that he'd kept from his first day in the Tower, pouring over the details in Shion's survival 101 as if there might be some detail he's not considered before. As if there may be a great loophole somewhere in their existence here. Finally he went out in search of Ganondorf when the mist had lifted, indeed it would be vital to share his information considering the plot that lay waiting in the wings. Soon afterwards the terminals had lit up and couldn't be ignored.

It really was never-ending, wasn't it. Sephiroth hates it all the same, the level of utter disgust at his containment here has just been inflated by it all. Though, as only would be inevitable there came a point that Sephiroth resolved he would have to move on. What good was it doing after all, isolating oneself away when the answers- no, the direction he should be taking was undoubtedly out somewhere in the fabric of the Tower. There was a great amount of work to be done. He'd start with a patrol of the Dormitory levels, similar to how he had on his first day, even if the only fact that might be gleaned from this would be how their visitors had all left as abruptly as they had arrived.
--------
[Location: Gymnasium Fl 39]
It's time to put that incident with KOS-MOS to the back of his mind. The events within the Administrator levels and all of the revelations, though not as shocking to Sephiroth as they may have been for other residents, still weighed heavily on his mind. KOS-MOS had delivered only one of undoubtedly many deaths that Sephiroth would have to endure and be remade from in his time here before-

Before what exactly. One of those videos overseen on the network had certainly hinted at an end. The same end that had taken Gaia from him? And then where would his soul go? The extension of theories was enough to make anyone feel more than a little sick. Perhaps he should be more than a little grateful at least, that while being contained in the Tower, he has a body. Isn't that what he had wanted?

Not to be contained, so powerless without an anchor in this realm, of that fact Sephiroth was certain.

Though, if their souls are transplanted into new vessels every time they die then one could question what the point of training in the Gymnasium is. Improving physical prowess would only go so far as the next death and then one would be reset to the condition they had when they were first pulled here. Whatever condition they had 'on file' for each person? Before then being messed with in some way that doesn't bear thinking about. But in order to have any chance of avoiding that next death, clearly Sephiroth needed to continue to improve himself physically. To be stronger, to be faster, to be more prepared for whatever experiment their Hosts dared to throw next.

Ganondorf had made no illusions that certain death awaited them in their pending expedition. Indeed, there was a lot to prepare for. Which is why every day since the 28th Sephiroth can be found training as hard as ever in the Gymnasium. He needed to be at his best. Heavier weights, grueling circuits and there was more than enough room to practice near-ground, faster aerial maneuvers as well - sure he might have to do all of this training again in his next vessel but he'd just have to work as hard in that body as well, it wasn't an excuse for being lazy. Vicious circles.

Comments

39;

[uzuki]

Because thoughts of her android draw her presence Shion entered the gym during one of Sephiroth's circuits. After failing at keeping their entire group alive while spying on Jason, Shion realized she might need to keep herself in good shape for whatever might happen in the future. And not being as reckless (this time) as some of the others from her home universe, she opted to train at the gym, instead of the monster infested floors.

On some level, Shion knew that most men probably didn't like being bothered while working out. But that knowledge was overshadowed by her social nature. So when she ended up near Sephiroth, she gave him a friendly smile.

"Hello."

39

[neverbeamemory]

Eight...Nine....Ten....

This particular set of abdominal crunches was the third in the sequence of quick, controlled bursts of movements in a sit up motion with twists to each side at the top. At this, the 30th repetition, Sephiroth relaxed onto his back for a few moments of cool down. Burning muscles needed a quick break before going again.

Armor, trench coat and harness are in a pile not more than a few feet away and had been for a while while he's worked through this more core-based circuit out in the matted area. Sephiroth certainly hadn't expected anyone to just out and out approach him in the middle of this work. Green eyes snapped instantly to the voice off to the side, straight away raising the hairs on the back of Sephiroth's neck - he wasn't about to get caught out by an attack without warning again. Like last time he'd been in here with that android

Body followed eyes as Sephiroth sat up and regarded Shion. He remembers her being there, when he'd stormed off past everyone, so keen to infiltrate the Admin's area on his own...He doesn't return the smile but he's not one for being rude.

"Hello."

[uzuki]

"Sorry! I didn't mean to interrupt you. But, it can get a little boring exercising all by yourself, right?"

Surprisingly, keeping up that cheerful attitude wasn't a workout on its own. Shion moved to one of the racks of weights and began to carefully test the dumbbells. Since, the last time she had messed with them, their size hadn't been an indication of their actual weight.

"I'm Shion, by the way." She looked over her shoulder and smiled again.

[neverbeamemory]

Sephiroth had never gotten bored exercising all by himself. The fact of the matter is there weren't too many people that could keep pace with his level of workout and so such things had always been done alone. He really had no comment to reply to Shion with in this regard but instead still watched her carefully from his seated position.

It was a public area, anyone could wander in off the stairwell and use the equipment in here but this was one of Sephiroth's areas and he can't help but feel that anyone else being here when he is, is a little invasive. Maybe it's just a hangup after what had happened to make him stay away for a while. But then, after what they'd all gone through why shouldn't others have more of a care for their capabilities now?

Her introduction reminded Sephiroth that not everyone here knew who he was, despite his efforts to impose his presence on this place and on those who had come across him so far. It couldn't be helped, people came and went from the Tower often enough.

"Sephiroth." Though she had to have already known that, right? Even so he's not quite without the manners to not answer an introduction when it's offered. After all, one never knows where such things may lead.

[uzuki]

She had started to turn back toward the weights, but his answer stopped her halfway.

"Sephiroth?"

She wished she could have changed her tone almost instantly. She tensed up. It had seemed that he didn't recognize her. Or perhaps, maybe he didn't remember their conversation over the network. If she was lucky, maybe he wasn't angry anymore!

She knew that wasn't entirely likely though. Not after what KOS-MOS had done. Slowly, she turned to look at him once more, trying to gauge his reaction.

[neverbeamemory]

All words on a screen, Sephiroth never video calls or logs or anything like that on the network. Such things to him are like waving a big red flag at their Hosts going 'Look at Me!'. For that reason, Shion is lucky enough that Sephiroth wouldn't know her from that heated exchange on the network unless she made some sort of indication.

Like the way she'd quite obviously tensed up when he'd introduced himself. Hm, maybe she has heard of him after all! Enoch had called him out to try and stop him before, maybe she now recognized him from that?

"Yes." Carefully Sephiroth refrained from demanding to know what had caused that reaction in her; it could have been anything! Though those eyes regarding her were now a fraction narrowed, silently asking her to elaborate anyway.

[uzuki]

"Hm... I think I've heard that somewhere."

She gave a casual shrug and smiled. If he didn't remember, she definitely wasn't going to remind him. She knew that strategy might prove more damaging in the long run, but at least she could avoid conflict for the moment. And as much as she had been testing her limits (and the limits of allen's trust in her ability to stay alive), it was probably for the best.

"Maybe I just overheard your name in that elevator."

Okay, so that was a blatant lie. It was true, she had seen him then, but she hadn't caught his name. But the best lies always held an element of truth, right?

[neverbeamemory]

"Hmph, possible. There are two of us."

Having reached the conclusion that Shion really wasn't any threat, and there didn't seem to be any reason for him to be concerned with what she was doing here either, Sephiroth lay back down. He counted to five silently and pumped out another ten crunches in quick succession; he's clearly used to doing this.

That elevator. Indeed. Sephiroth paused at the end of his set again to reply; he see's no harm in talking to anyone about what happened. Indeed, there had been those broadcasts with Ruana making such blatant reference to their excursion downstairs so any information he may have been hoping to keep close to his chest was out of the question already.

"Hm, I suppose there will be a great many more people now wanting to better themselves."

[uzuki]

"Two of you? You mean there's someone else with the same name?"

She might have found that odd, except for the fact that there were actually a few other Shions in the tower. Even though her name had been an extremely uncommon one where she had come from.

But, since the conversation was steering away from revealing their past connection, Shion went back to selecting her dumbbells. When she had found two that were manageable, she simply turned back to Sephiroth.

"Oh yes. I imagine everyone in the tower understand how serious the situation here is now."

march 1, gym

[puppy_lancer]

[Lancer was already getting increasingly irritated as he pokes his head into the gymnasium. Granted, this isn't where he would usually expect Ayaka to be, but it's still one of the relatively safe floors.]

[Unfortunately, all he could see was some white haired guy.]

Hey, have you seen anyone else coming up here? Short girl, black hair, wearing glasses?

March 1, Gym

[neverbeamemory]

[Way to go Lancer, right as he was all curled in at the punching bag. Sephiroth knows it's foolish to stop a swing once it's been thrown but pauses before he throws the next one, taking a glance around in the direction of the voice.

He was being sensitive enough to his surroundings though, that no one could really have stepped onto this floor without him sizing them up. But no, no short black haired girl with glasses.]

Not here.

Re: March 1, Gym

[puppy_lancer]

Tch. Not again.

[He punches the wall in his frustration.]

March 1, Gym

[neverbeamemory]

Children will wander.

[Another two, precise strikes at the punching bag follow. Strong enough to move the bag so slightly but not overpowered to the point they might break the equipment.]

Unless of course she's gone completely.

[puppy_lancer]

[He shakes his head.]

Impossible. She has to still be here. I just need to find her.

[neverbeamemory]

[He's not going to argue with Lancer. Let him believe what he likes. Sephiroth won't go so far either, as to suggest to check the name plate outside every dormitory - it's always been the first indicator for him that someone has left the Tower. For those not connected to the Jenova-web, so to speak.

He'd known not instantly, but shortly after both Hojo and Cloud had vanished, after all. By natural instinct.]

You can be so sure? In a place like this?

[puppy_lancer]

I'm a hero. I swore to protect her. There's no reason that I would be unable to.

[neverbeamemory]

...If she vanished. And you are left here on your own.

Floor 39

[culbutiri]

Funny that running laps had been Nesir's all time least favourite activity in the temple and now she did it out of choice. She was also having issues wondering what the point of training was, but for different reasons. She had seen the power of their captors. She still had no idea how she was supposed to fight them. How did you fight people who could turn your limbs off on whim, who could take away thumbs without being seen. Who could mess with your mind and use things that you had never spoken aloud to anyone against you.

How could you fight those that owned your very soul? It was like fighting the gods and they held all the power. But she didn't have to win, she had accepted this as a suicide mission and that's what it would be. She knew that, yet she was determined to make it count.

It would be worth nothing if they died before they got anywhere at all.

She saw Sephiroth and stopped drawing closer, quietly watching him, as she did whenever she saw any she knew would be going down in the elevator with. She was interested in those who Ganondorf had chosen, and had no wish to die with weaklings or idiots.

Floor 39

[neverbeamemory]

Here goes for another day in the Gym, it's got to be the 3rd consecutive day that he's been keeping up this routine of training. Sure it might make him more predictable for anyone that would want to search him out but Sephiroth for now is uncaring. There are much bigger things to be concerned with other than which other residents figured he might be in the Gym at any given time, and even when the Admins were considered; well, Sephiroth in some ways hoped that they were watching him. He'd show them, one way or the other in the end and his determination matches his willpower in it's solidity. Sephiroth stepped off the stairwell having, as usual descended here from the elevator which stops at Floor 41.

Since the incident with the android, Sephiroth will never just leave his equipment in the Dormitory anymore when he comes to work out. So he's armored, coated and booted just as when anyone ever sees him when he's wandering the Tower. It's dangerous to go anywhere in the Tower not prepared, especially when less death equals less soul exposure. Literally.

Taking a controlled glance around the floor, to check for monsters first more than anything, Sephiroth noticed someone running laps around the track but given the distance it wasn't clear who it was until he approached. It's that girl that was there, at their meeting, who had seemed infinitely more clued up and, well, at least less excitable than certain others. Richtofen.

He'd only felt the need to inform Ganondorf of what he'd witnessed downstairs, being the only one of the 'club' that he'd at least had more than one or two things in common with. And while it was his plan after all, it was important to Sephiroth that Ganondorf appreciated what lengths Sephiroth was prepared to go to in order to find out as much as possible about this place. Though, given the actions by one other that had been down there, plus the video broadcasts (intended or not!) he needn't have bothered. It was likely common knowledge by now.

Sephiroth offers a meaningful nod to Nesir as she drew closer, taking care to keep any other expression from his face as he stopped by one of the benches near the track and took his gloves off first, placing them on the bench. He might come to the Gym in full equipment but weightlifting with most of this leather (and armor) still on is much too awkward.

[culbutiri]

That's a lot of armour, she slowed and jogged even closer, nodding back at him in response. She drew to a stop and began stretching her wrists and legs. "It did be Sephiroth yes?"

[neverbeamemory]

One pauldron is shrugged off and placed on the bench with the gloves before Sephiroth looks back over his shoulder a little at Nesir. Turning a little but not so he would be fully facing her. Quite obviously she'd need to stretch out after a workout. Even an uncomplicated jog can leave dangerous acid left in the muscles.

He wasn't surprised really that she already knew his name. He'd come across her only a handful of times but, well they were supposed to be becoming team mates in a few days and also, he's not one for hiding his presence here at all.

"That's right." He's not one for the pleasantries of asking her name in return. Names instantly cross a line of familiarity and he wouldn't want any of that baggage getting in the way of what might need to be done; he'd only learn her name if she offered it.

[culbutiri]

Well she's not going to offer it, as she assumes he probably already knows it and hence isn't asking. But she isn't really one for pleasantries when she's not pretending either, and she doesn't need to pretend in front of him.

She looked at the armour with interest, it wasn't something she knew a lot about, some warriors of the temple worse armour, mostly leather though. "Do you be a warrior?"

It may sound like an odd question, it's her way of asking if he had powers or not, she still hasn't quite broke out of the mold of expecting things to be like home.

[neverbeamemory]

As Sephiroth went about un-fastening the other pauldron and setting it down by the other one he could almost feel her eyes on his equipment. He's just ultra observant like that, being so defensive in so many ways. Even more so since he's been brought here.

It was a little of an odd question but Sephiroth couldn't help but smirk about it. She made it sound so clear-cut, like it had been before, in SOLDIER days that he doesn't clearly remember.

"That depends on what exactly you mean by warrior. I'm proficient in a great many skills that I can kill with." That, perhaps was the easiest way of putting it without giving too much away at the same time. He doesn't so much brag though, as state the clear and obvious facts that he's proud of.

[culbutiri]

Well that was a good answer, she nodded, "In my world a warrior would be referring to one who do be a fighter but who do no be blessed by magic."

Sort of, it would also mean they were trained in the temple, which obviously wasn't true for people outside of her world, instead of being a general guard, mercenary or soldier.

[neverbeamemory]

"In mine, a powerful warrior does not limit himself to physical means. Though most magic was only accessible through Materia - items which would have to be used. Channeled." Sephiroth made a dismissive noise before nodding again to Nesir.

"But there are many ways to be powerful."